Poem is "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas, with a slight alteration in the last stanza. Kudos to you if you catch it. Pretty easy to do though, just search up the original. My headcanon that Kyoya just shoved a whole bunch of fancy arts knowledge onto Rouga when they were kids for fun.

Prompt: Poetry

"A-Aragami-senpai, you're back!" Gao exclaims, his face lighting up when he sees Rouga at the door of his house. Rouga can see the bags under his eyes though. His smile's less wide than it usually is. Rouga feels partially guilty for that; if he had stayed around, maybe he could have done something. But he was here now, and that was all that mattered.

"Come wait inside, I'll get Grandma to make some more takoyaki for you!" Gao says, waving him inside to the couch, where he sits awkwardly, waiting for Gao to come back out of the kitchen. He comes out a few seconds with a huge plate piled up the same height as Gao himself, and Rouga wonders how fast his grandma is with making these.

They eat in silence, enjoying the food. "I didn't get to eat all of the food your family made." Rouga says, when they're halfway through the mountain.

"It's fine, we'll make more for you!" Gao says, stuffing a few more in his mouth.

"Where's your buddy."

Gao stops mid-chew. "He's… with Tasuku-senpai." He mumbles. "It's better that way."

"And how is that better?"

"I'm not a member of the Buddy Police Youth anymore, but Drum's an Omni Lord, and they need him. It's a win-win."

"And how is that a win for you?"

"I need some time to think, okay!" Gao yells, and Rouga actually leans back in surprise. It's the first time he's heard Gao raise his voice in anger of all things. Gao seems to realize his mistake and immediately scrambles to apologize. "Sorry, Aragami-senpai! Sorry…"

He looks completely lost right now, Gao, and Rouga isn't used to that. "I'm scared." He whispers. "I'm scared something'll happen. I don't want," his voice cracks, "I don't want to keep losing people I care about. But I'm not getting any better or stronger. I don't know what to do."

Rouga just bites into another takoyaki. "Okay," He says quietly. "Okay." They sit there, in Gao's living room, with the only sound being of Rouga chewing on the food. "You're not going to recover overnight. It takes a long time."

"I don't have a long time." Gao shoots up, worry all over his face. "The Hundred Demons could attack any second, and I can't do a single thing to protect anyone!"

"Trust in your friends a bit, will you." Rouga shoots back. "They're working their butts off trying to keep things safe. It's not as if they're weak either. You should know that first hand." Gao looks guiltier, but nods in agreement. "That's why believe in them, just like how they believe in you."

Gao fidgets with his hands and doesn't meet his eyes, but nods again. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

"Okay."

Rouga really doesn't know how to deal with a depressed Gao, so used to the alternative. It's uncomfortable. "Ikazuchi said I have no right to judge him." Gao mumbles. "His entire family is frozen in stone, and he smiled. I don't understand."

Rouga's not sure how to answer that. But he's never seen Gao look so down before, so defeated. "I think," Rouga starts, "Yeah. You can't really judge things you've never been through. But that doesn't mean Ikazuchi was right."

His own dad might as well have just been a sperm donor, and died of AIDS before he was born. His mom looked after him, before dying of hypothermia when he was six. She was always working, and barely talked to him, always coming home at the end of the day completely exhausted. But she taught him a lot of important things before she left. She had been dragged out to get thrown in the ditch with the rest of the slum people that died. The contents of the pit had long been cremated and scattered in the ocean. Kyoya had been his only family ever since.

Rouga's family hadn't really worked out well, but he wouldn't wish death on them. Kyoya had been the most family he ever had, and he wasn't even blood related. Rouga didn't want any of them dead. "Some people do bad things, and if Ikazuchi's family really was that bad to him, I don't think they deserve to be called family. Those who you care about the most can become your real family. I think you're really lucky to have both." Rouga says. "Ikazuchi doesn't have a family by blood. You can try becoming his new family though."

Gao looks surprised while listening to him talk, and Rouga wonders if he said something wrong. "How?" He asks.

What a silly question. "By doing what you always do. Become his friend."

The corner of Gao's lips tug upwards, and Rouga feels very proud of himself for causing that. "Yeah, I guess. Yeah. Thanks, Aragami-senpai."

They continue to talk about a few other things happening around, and Gao sounds happier talking about others. Eventually they turn on the TV, and watch some strange cartoon Gao's recorded. The kid keeps laughing when Rouga doesn't understand the joke.

"Oh come on, how could you not find that funny!"

"Find what funny?"

"What do you even watch on TV?"

"Mostly just the news."

"Wow, so boring senpai." Gao comments, but switches over to the news channel.

"And the Gaen Financial Group is finally having a conference on the topic of their new expansion plan, the first time Gaen Kyoya has agreed to meet with other business leaders in weeks. It's currently being held at the Gaen Tower, and we will give you an update as soon as it's over. Meanwhile, recently in ChouNagoya, there have been multiple─"

"Hey, Gao," Rouga says, "can you do a favour for me?"

"Over there?!"

"Yeah! Sneak around from the side though!"

The wind buffers at his face, and he has to hold onto Gao's shoulder or he feels like he might get blown off. Gao's buddy skill really is made for one person. Rouga keeps wondering if this is how he dies: falling off a tiny buddy skill a hundred metres in the air because he asked for a really reckless and dumb favour. They fly over ChouTokyo, slowing down when Gaen Tower comes into sight. "Twenty-third floor, to the west. That's the conference room he likes using the best."

They fly around the building slowly, stopping before the window. Rouga leans over and peeks inside.

Kyoya's standing at the front of the room, pointing at a map of Mount Fuji and explaining something Rouga can't hear through the walls. He looks pretty normal, but Rouga can see the tiredness hanging to his face. He was using his left hand less than usual. He probably wasn't exercising normally either. But Rouga could tell by his posture that at least he was speaking confidently.

"Are you sure you don't want to go try to call out to him, or anything else like that?" Gao asks.

"Nah," Rouga answers, watching Kyoya go over the board with fire in his eyes, a smile creeping onto his face. "No. This is fine."

This is fine.

Rouga treks down the familiar path to Mount Fuji. By the movement in the sky, he should reach by around the day before the Gaen project was scheduled to start its actions. He has a fairly good idea of what to do now though, no matter how ridiculous and risky the idea is. But there's no point in hesitating or feeling sorry for himself now.

He reaches the village, and there's a huge dome of ice frozen around the village, creating a transparent barrier against the outside. It's still cold, barely melting, and thick enough that it would take Rouga at least a few minutes to break through if he used his spear. But there's a small section cut out, similar to a door. He can fit through easily, but there's no way the beast on the mountain could.

Next to the entrance is a slip of paper, with a Dark Core on top as a paperweight. Rouga's eyes widen, bending down to pick up the paper, turning it over to read the papers on the back.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my friend, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

"Do you know how inconspicuous it is to be flying around in the middle of the day?" Rouga reads out loud. The poem is written in beautiful calligraphy, and at the bottom of the page are the scribbled words in familiar handwriting. "I'll leave it to you." Rouga smiles.

"Well if you put it that way," he sighs, placing his deck inside the Dark Core. "Disaster Force, activate."