#i know milgram is all about the drama asdfsdf but it felt out of place in the fic

[good-beanswrites]

Some Fuuta and Yuno drabble from Thermoregulation that ended up getting cut. Sort of a sick-fic situation, I was thinking about how similar she must have been to his victim (age, appearance, personality,) and how it'd affect him seeing her in temperature-related danger. Every version I played out felt a bit melodramatic, but I figured I'd post the tiny bit that did make it to paper anyway

Shidou was jolted awake by the rattling of cell bars. It was the middle of the night; he shifted in his sheets, confused. Fuuta’s voice filled the panopticon.

“Es! Es!!” He must have been putting his full body weight behind punching and kicking the bars, from the way they seemed to rattle the whole room. The guilty prisoners’ cells had been locking for a long time now, it wasn’t as if Fuuta was learning for the first time they wouldn’t open. 

“Get your motherfucking ass over here! Hey! Where is everybody?”

Shidou stumbled out of his cell as Fuuta somehow achieved a greater volume. “Aren’t you listening? Someone’s gonna die on your watch!” 

The other prisoners shifted and muttered from their cells as Shidou passed by. He couldn’t tell if him being a light sleeper was a blessing or a curse at this point. He was glad to address the situation immediately, but he also didn’t feel like singlehandedly dealing with such an excitable prisoner while the others woke. He wondered why Yuno hadn’t come to pacify her neighbor; she somehow always knew the right thing to say when he seemed extra aggressive to everyone else. He remembered she’d come down with a bad fever earlier in the day. She was likely in no state to talk things out. 

Fuuta paused his banging as Shidou came into view. 

“What’s going on?” Shidou said calmly. “Who’s going to die?”

The boy’s expression was wild. “Where’s Es? They gotta unlock the door! She’s gotta get some help, dammit!”

“I can help. I need you to tell me what’s going on.” He didn’t know where Es was either, but he was confident he could do something.

His anger was quickly dissolving into hysterics. “Yuno… Her fever, it’s too high. She’s not waking up. I keep trying, but she won’t. I told her not to stay in here. I fucking told her, but –!” 

He let out a gasp, covering his ears. Over his shoulder, Shidou spotted a figure curled up on the ground. Those with an innocent verdict shouldn’t have been allowed to stay in his cell, but Yuno wasn’t known for accepting authority easily. 

Fuuta gave the bars a heavy kick before sinking to his knees. Shidou knelt down to maintain his gaze.

 “She’s going to die… She’s burning up… I can’t let her die! I can’t – not another – she –” 

“Fuuta, listen to me.”

“It’s going to be my fault. Again.” His hands were back to clawing at his ears. His voice grew louder as if he needed to talk over someone. “I can’t –! She’s going to die, and I, I –! She’s burning up – she’s burning –!”

“-- Hey!” Shidou grabbed a handful of his uniform through the bars. “You are no use to her like this.”

A single tear streaked down from his left eye. “I’m no use to anyone.”

“Take a breath for me.”

“Shidou, she’s…”

“Take a breath.”

Fuuta did.

“She trusted you, that’s why she stayed in there. Yuno doesn’t trust anyone lightly, right?”

“N-no.” 

“If she wanted, she could have come to me. But she knew you could take care of her. And you will.”

Though Fuuta’s expression still looked crazed, he was listening now.

“Here’s what we’re going to do…” Shidou gave his instructions quickly and clearly.

—

Yuno’s head felt heavy. She groaned, rolling over. A shiver ran through her body.

Her voice came out thick as she said, “it’s cold…”  It was an observation directed at no one in particular, which is why she was so surprised to receive a reply.

“Oh thank fuck!”

She gasped as someone fell on top of her in a hug.

Her floaty thoughts took a moment to reel in. It was Fuuta. That’s right, she had gone to sleep in his cell. She didn’t know why he sounded relieved to the point of tears, though.

He sat up excitedly. “Here, I’ve got blankets –” There was rummaging beside her. “Oh wait. First drink this.” 

A glass of water was shoved into her hand a moment before blankets were piled over her.

Yuno liked to pride herself in her eloquence. She was skilled at following quick conversations and catching hints. She certainly knew what to say upon waking up in a young man’s sleeping space. Which is why she focused her bleary eyes on Fuuta and said, “whuh?”

He didn’t seem to mind. He helped her sit up. She would have much preferred to lay back down and keep sleeping now that she had a few extra blankets, but now that she thought about it, she was awfully thirsty.