Another chapter so soon?!
14
The two sit on bench in a quiet part of the city. After Hotsuma learned Shusei hadn't eaten he went to a convenience store and bought some food and drinks for him despite the others protest. Without listening to Shusei's complaints, Hotsuma throws the bag of food onto the other's lap.
"Really, I'm not gonna fall apart if I don't eat, you know."
"Shut up and eat." Hotsuma says. When Shusei glances at him from the corner of his eye, Hotsuma threatens to shove the food down his throat himself only earning a small laugh from the brunet.
"Hotsuma, you aren't here to make sure I'm fed." Shusei says ignoring the food, "What's really going on here? Is something wrong?"
"Who says I'm here to see you?" He pretends to be preoccupied by the sights and sounds of the city when he's really focusing all of his attention on Shusei. Hotsuma has no idea how to approach the situation. How can he tell Shusei he is a reincarnated warrior with special powers that he uses to fight demons? Hell, he still can't believe it!
And then he remembers the warnings given to him by Tsukumo and Takashiro.
His memories could destroy him.
"You have strange dreams, don't you?" He says. Instead of just telling him, Hotsuma decided it was better to see what Shusei knows instead.
"Doesn't everyone?"
Damn. Shusei doesn't make things easy, does he?
"I suppose."
Silence comes between the two for a moment. It makes Hotsuma fidget but Shusei is content with it.
"Don't you ever wonder…" Hotsuma carefully says, "If dreams aren't just dreams?"
"You mean premonitions?" Shusei guesses.
"Perhaps." Not exactly where he was going with this, but it's a start.
"You don't seem like the type who would take an interest in this kind of thing." Shusei says while playing with the wrapper of one of the snacks.
"Not really but…" Hotsuma fears to dig any deeper. After all, he isn't sure of what to make of their past life together.
He looks over to Shusei who is pretending to be preoccupied by the food which he still hasn't eaten. He really begins to notice how fragile he is.
Maybe he isn't meant to fight in this life.
And that doesn't bother Hotsuma.
As long as he is here and safe, what does it matter?
...
Shusei carefully studies Hotsuma's expression. There's pain there, that much is for sure. He starts to take in all the little details he's never really seen before like the fiery color of his golden eyes, the creases caused by his scowl, his lean but strong form, the wild way in which his hair lays.
It's all so familiar….
While he doesn't actually know Hotsuma well, he is able to read him like an open book. Hotsuma's the kind of person who wears his heart on his sleeve. While his intimidating demeanor may cause others to be wary of him, he actually has a kind and caring heart.
But his familiarity with Shusei cause the brunet concern. It always has since they first met. Why would someone take such an interest in him? For what purpose? No one in this life has ever truly cared for him the way he has and the kindness completely unnerves him. Shusei can never afford to let down his guard.
Do I know you?
While reminiscing about his short time with the blond he feels a numbness comes over him as well as a sense of foreboding. This sudden sense of anxiety takes control of his senses and Shusei's chest begins to tighten like a pair of cold hands are constricting his heart. His nerves begin to go haywire and his hands tremble.
What is this? What's going on!?
His eye sight begins to blur and his vision doubles. Breathing becomes difficult and turns into a wheeze and he brings his hands to his throat in an attempt to ease the difficulty in breathing.
"Shusei? What's wrong!?" Hotsuma jumps up and within a second he has both his hands on Shusei's shoulders, "Talk to me! What's wrong?"
Shusei stares into the eyes he only studied moments ago. Behind them, he sees another pair of golden eyes, the same ones, only this pair is far more desperate and pleading than the real ones.
He can't separate the two images he sees before him. And he's slowly becoming unable to separate reality from the hallucinations. These voices of another time and place overlapping the here and now.
Yes, that's it. It's the dream…it's colliding with this world now.
At least, that's his best guess.
He looks away from both pairs of Hotsuma's eyes and looks down. On his chest, he sees red.
"Blood!" Shusei gets up and screams, so abruptly he knocks Hotsuma back.
He senses Hotsuma staring at him while he runs his hands across his own chest, trying to find where he is bleeding from.
"What's going on?" He whispers to himself.
"Shusei, you need to tell me what's going on!"
Ignoring Hotsuma's pleas, he continues dwelling on his delirium, "Am I dying?" Shusei wonders.
Hotsuma hears the questions and immediately jumps in, "No! You're not! Listen to me, I am right here! Concentrate on my voice!"
The pull of this Hotsuma's voice is powerful and Shusei feels drawn to it, but the lingering fear still has a tight grasp on his mind, "I can't…"
"Don't give me that crap, of course you can do it!" Hotsuma says in his usual abrupt way.
Another voice creeps into Shusei's mind one that chills him to the bone. A voice that's familiar and yet so foreign. A voice that reminds him of despair and chaos.
"You haven't changed at all Shusei." It laughs, "Some powerful Zweilt you are. Still succumbing to you own weakness…"
"Who are you?" Shusei asks pitifully.
"Oh, you don't remember me? I'm hurt." The voice feigns pain.
"Who are you!?" He asks again with slightly more force in an attempt to sound stern, but still his voice faltered with fear.
"You really don't remember? It's me… Grave."
Shusei hears the name and feels his knees weaken and falls into darkness.
...
Hotsuma stands by hearing a one sided conversation. He desperately wants to reach Shusei but doesn't know how. He dosen't even know what's really bothering him. If he were a passerby, he would think he's witnessing a man having a mental breakdown.
But being a Zweilt, and Shusei too, he suspects it's not that simple.
Again he tries to reach him, "Shusei, please, talk to me! Let me help!" He pleas.
No luck, Shusei is absorbed in the darkness of his own mind.
The he hears Shusei say something that has no relevance to this lifetime, "Grave…" He breathes out as he falls to the ground.
Hotsuma hurries to his side leaning Shusei's body against his chest and repeats the word over and over again, "Grave? What did you say that for Shusei?"
Again, he replays the word over and over in his mind.
Grave…Grave…
Then it hit him like a train.
It's a name! I know it, but why?
Shusei stirs in his arms and a moment later his eyes slowly open.
...
The rain hits his face, cool and gentle but a welcome feeling compared to the burn he feels all over his body. Burning from wounds and from the warm blood that covers him. He tries with all his might to open his eyes and somehow he manages it but the small motion drains what little energy he has left. Looking up he locks eyes with the same golden eyes he used to look upon so fondly. Only this time the fondness turns to the feeling of betrayal and he chokes back a soft cry, not allowing himself to show this pain to the one he used to trust so much.
He tries to pull away from Hotsuma's embrace but fails, "Let me go." He says cooly.
...
"Let me go." Shusei whispered with a tinge of hate.
"What? After what just happened? Are you mad?" Hotsuma says.
His words fall on deaf ears. He sees Shusei looking down. He watches closely as Shusei brings his hand up and observes it with dread.
"Shusei? What is it?' He asks.
"The blood… and rain…" He says tiredly.
"What?" Hotsuma is beginning to panic.
He's hallucinating!
"Shusei, there is no blood." He says with the firmest voice he can pull together, "And it's not raining." He looks to the sky to prove his point, "Look, you can see the moon, no clouds!" . He sees Shusei looking through him and he knows his words aren't reaching him.
Shusei tries to pull away as if his touch disgusts him, "Let me go." He says again with a little more fervor.
"Shusei, you're not well. You need to let me help you!"
As if the wounds he imagined were suddenly gone, Shusei pulls himself away and drags himself to his feet, "Why do you care! I'm nothing! Nothing!" He chokes out, "Please just go away. I don't want to see you again!"
"Shusei, pull yourself together! You're smarter than this!" Hotsuma begs. He in no way imagined any of this would happen. Persuading Shusei that he was an ancient warrior would be preferable to his current breakdown.
Faster than Hostuma thought possible Shusei ran off. He was almost out of sight before Hotsuma started going after him.
I'll try to be a little quicker with updates now that I am getting back into writing , but I can't promise anything.
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Thanks for reading!
