#byakuya somewhere: hmm i just got a chill

[monkifuraibo]

Having been so focused on trying to say what he'd come to Renji to say, Shuuhei only becomes fully aware that they've arrived at their lunch spot after he's gotten to the crux of the matter. At which point he quickly sits down even as Renji gapes at him, the proverbial bomb having dropped and exploded.

"Everything?" he echoes, both to stall and to point out the obvious that he's certain his friend won't actually want to know everything about this shocking development. As he turns over descriptions of the key turning points in his mind, he realizes that, if said out loud, the whole thing will probably sound like a disaster. But, all things considered, Renji has probably heard worse accounts from him in the past, right?

At that moment, Renji's comment about Shuuhei's relationship preferences can only make him chuckle wryly. "Well… I wasn't, before this, so you're not wrong." Then, he tries to find a place to start.

"I was in a bad way, after…" Tousen's death. "I… it was pretty stupid and reckless of me, but I more or less threw myself at Muguruma-taichou to see what would happen." He shrugs. "Things happened. It wasn't an exclusive relationship at first, but then he asked to make it one. We both took our damn time to sort out our own feelings beyond just the physical side, let alone admit those feelings to each other, but… here we are."

When the round of drink arrives, Shuuhei gratefully takes a sip of his. They don't call it liquid courage for nothing. "I'm simultaneously jubilant and terrified."

--- He turns it over in his mind a couple of times. Muguruma and Shuuhei, Shuuhei and Muguruma.. It is, as far as Renji can judge, not a terrible fit, but his knowledge of the ninth division's captain is, admittedly, rather limited. Still, as with any captain-lieutenant relationship { and he should know, shouldn't he? } there was a power imbalance there, and, for some reason, he had a feeling Muguruma was the kind to use it. He hopes he is wrong in that, because he does know Shuuhei, and Shuuhei is... Soft-hearted, in a way. He'll do anything to please, and has trouble standing up for himself, so a strong personality like Muguruma could easily waltz all over him..

He laughs as Shuuhei sounds so incredibly incredulous about his request. "Well, not everything everything! Just, yanno.. The whole 'how'd it happen' thing!" He listens intently when Shuuhei recounts it, though he has a feeling he leaves quite some space inbetween. Renji is baffled by how similar their situations have been. And still are, it dawns on him. A relaxed smile curves his lips. "Heh, I really can't imagine Muguruma-taichou confessin' feelings, 'm happy for ya." It really is nice.. To see Shuuhei.. A little more settled. His confession that he was 'in a bad way' after Tousen-taichou was nothing short of an understatement, after all.

He watches Shuuhei make grateful use of the drink in front of him, and follows suit, though he is decidedly more at ease. Then, he lays out his findings. "'s nice ta talk 'bout this with someone else. We're in th'same boat yanno. Both datin' nobles while we're.. Well.. Very much not. An' both trynna balance work and private 'cause they're our captains!" Their captains may even have somewhat similar personalities. Muguruma always seemed similarly stoic to Renji, even if he might also be just a bit more inflammable.

He snickers at Shuuhei's last words, "Jubilant.. ya've always had such a way with words, Shuuhei.." He's got a leg up with the nobility there, he supposes, compared to Renji.

"So.. What's his family think?" Because the Kuchikis.. Well, they had accepted him { through Byakuya's pure force of will }, but they did not respect him, and they certainly did not think he and Byakuya would last, viewing him much more as simple another rebellious whim of Byakuya's that will pass sooner rather than later. He wondered if it was the same with the Muguruma family.

[komahinasecretexchange]

Title: All of This Luck

Author: @msjoymaeda

For: @kitucan

Rating/Warnings: Slight blood and gore warning at the start, but it is not too descriptive.

Prompt: One of them has a nightmare about their despair days, and it is up to the other to calm them down.

Author’s notes: 1,301 word count; will be posted on AO3 when posted to the blog!

Their faces… Their faces… He can still see their faces. Corpses with frozen lips and wide eyes lined the streets, soaking in a puddle of blood. They were all of strangers; strangers that were given brief glances and vague details. Squish… squish… squish; the squish of shoes in the crimson liquid echoed throughout the silence. The stench of death and the buzzing of flies made up the soundtrack of the now-ruined Towa City. Squish… squish… squish… crack! Not only did fleshy bodies line the streets, but so did bones and skulls. Crack… squish… crack… squish… He, Izuru, didn’t have a care in the world. Yet, somewhere off in the distance, he can hear the faint voice calling out a name long dead to him. “Hajime… Hajime… Hajimeee”, the voice echoed. The voice had reverb and a gender neutral pitch, so Izuru is unable to identify it. The tone of the voice started off gentle and soft. “Hajime… Ha…ji…me…” However, as time went on, the voice became louder and more threatening. “Hajime… Hajime… Hajime! HAJIME!” A chill went up Izuru’s spine. Squish, squish, squish, squish; no pause in between feet stepping into the blood. Squish, crack, squish, crack, crack, squish… Splash. Black midnight hair became saturated with the crimson and red-staining liquid. A pale-stricken face, created to be extremely devoid of emotion of any kind, had eyes brimming with fear and scared of the uncertain. It’s getting closer. Closer, closer, and closer still… A scream barely escaped his throat. Hajime sat straight up in bed, his eyes wide and gentle tears filling them. A tiny whine escaped him as he wrapped his arms around himself, bringing his knees to his chest. He felt the bed move as Nagito sat up. The white-haired male rubbed his eyes and yawn, still drunk on sleep and not entirely sure what happened. He heard Hajime sobbing beside him, and he didn’t need to hear anymore. Slowly, yet groggily, Nagito wrapped his arms around the other, holding him close. Nobody uttered anything for a long time. No words exchanged, no whispers, no sweet nothings. Silence grew between the two of them, except for the calm heart beat against Hajime’s ear. He can feel Nagito’s chest move as he breathed, the white-haired male’s hands rubbing soft circles into his back. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of silence, Nagito began whispering in his ear, “Shhhh, it’s okay.” Hajime’s tense muscles relaxed from the mellowness of the voice, now burying his face into Nagito’s chest for a few moments. “I had that… same dream again…”, he uttered, feeling the tears appear again. Nagito raised a hand and wiped at his eyes, giving him a kiss on his forehead. “About being Izuru again?”, he questioned. Hajime nodded with an uh-huh noise. He hates it… he hates it. He doesn’t want to be Izuru again. He wants to live on as Hajime. Yet, his dreams have not been merciful to him ever since they left the simulation. Constant reminders of who he was over, and over, and over… And over… And over… Will it ever end? Will he ever be at peace? Will… Izuru come back? These thoughts caused Hajime to break down crying once more, and there was no stopping him. All Nagito can do for now is hold him close, wondering if his presence will be enough to calm him down. Hmm… maybe a drink will help this time? Nagito remembers that he would get himself something warm to drink when a nightmare bother him greatly. “Let’s head into the kitchen, and get a drink,” he offered. Hajime slowly nodded in agreement, his blubbering reducing him to small, frightened child. The two of them walk down into the kitchen in just their boxers and pajama shirts. Nagito retrieved two cups, filling them up with sice cold water and warming them up in the microwave. Hajime wrapped his arms around Nagito’s waist while the cups were in the microwave. Nagito reached a hand up and pat him on the head, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m making hot tea for the both of us. Is that okay?”, he said. Hajime only nods in response, resting his cheek against the other’s shoulder. When the microwave beeped, Hajime stepped back so that Nagito had room. The white-haired male took out a box from the upper cupboard, taking out two tea bags. He placed one in each cup, and allowed time to pass. After a few minutes, he discarded the bags and handed one cup to Hajime. Instead of sitting at a table or on chairs, they simply stood in front of the microwave. They each took a few, slow sips from their tea as it was still a little too hot. There was a small smile on Hajime’s face, feeling the soothing heat radiate from the tea. Nagito chuckled at the cuteness of his boyfriend. “Feeling better?” He asked. Hajime nodded, not being able to respond verbally due to taking another sip of his tea. After taking his sip, Hajime spoke up, “Thank you. You always know how to make me feel better.” Nagito smiled, yet his cheeks flushed and he needed to gaze away. “Yeah… Even after we’ve all been through, we deserve comfort from someone,” he commented. Makoto, Kyouko, and Byakuya can only check up on them so much during the day and night, seeing if the simulation rehabilitated them in any way. Despite the hijacking caused by Monokuma and causing the dreaded Mutual Killing, the former remnants of despair made peace with their destructive behavior while being under despair. They can’t ignore something like that; but, they are trying to be better people and heal themselves from this past trauma. Hajime was the first to finish his drink, placing his cup in the sink of the kitchen. He walked over and kissed Nagito on the cheek. Nagito almost fainted from being extremely flustered at the situation. Hajime headed back upstairs for the time being, getting himself comfortable on the bed. It took a few minutes, perhaps even 15, for Nagito to return to the bedroom. He got himself comfortable as well, next to Hajime. However, the two of them didn’t go back to sleep immediately. With Hajime laying on his back, a smirk came across Nagito’s face. He adjusted himself so that he was laying on top Hajime. The brunette made no secret of his blushing face and wide eyes. “N-Nagito? What are you-” He was cut off by Nagito placing a finger on his lips. “You deserve something else because of the repeated nightmares,” the white-haired boy said. Hajime couldn’t even get a word out before he felt gentle lips press against his. He practically melted into the bed, his eyes closing. He hummed into the kiss, moving his arms to wrap around Nagito’s waist once more. Nagito used his one elbow to hold himself up, and rested his hand on the other’s cheek. His eyelids fluttered. The kiss lingered for a few more seconds before they separated.

A goofy smile was plastered on Nagito’s face as Hajime chuckled. “You silly luckster,” he teased as he booped him on the nose. Nagito leaned in for another kiss, and another kiss they did. After breaking away from this one, Nagito flopped onto the bed next to Hajime. “I am a silly luckster,” he commented, “because I was able to steal of heart of someone like you.” He brought the blanket over the both of them, snuggling close to Hajime. Hajime sighed, running his fingers through Nagito’s hair, smiling down at him. Not only is Nagito lucky, but he is also lucky as well. Having someone to care for him and love him, no matter if he possessed talent or not - that felt like luck to him.