双黒

He’s convinced no matter how alike, not even the sun itself chases after the moon with such desperate conviction.

Oh-

Now that’s just unfair, Hirano thinks.

How can I keep running when you still look at me like that.

When it comes to youkai, they have but one rule.

"Do not become attached to humans."

"Your old world didn't have an ocean?"

"Celes is a country of snow"

"Chuuya is lucky."

"With that ability, you could go anywhere you wanted."

He can't tell if this is punishment.

Or whether it's his or Fai's.

Maybe, it's both.

“I thought you’d be angrier.” 

“…huh?” is the only response Kurogane manages before he catches sight of Fai’s expression; one that makes him stop dead in his tracks. 

“Everything that happened…. My past.. My betrayal… Using my magic against you guys… Forcing the trigger on your curse for my sake…” 

The voice gets quieter despite him drawing closer as Fai turns his head away. 

“…Your arm..” 

Taking a seat next to the former mage, Kurogane shifts his weight and shrugs, pretending to not have heard anything except the only part he could address. 

“Are you still hung up on that?” It works the same as my other one.” 

Mechanical fingers clench into a fist then relax just as easily as if they were still made of flesh and bone. 

“You already paid for a replacement.”

Brief images of Fai’s magic leaving his eye overwhelm his thoughts. How easily the blue swirled into the palm of his hand revealing the light yellow hue underneath, how at ease Fai was handing over something so important without a hint of regret.

….how he had done it in return for him.

He sighs and makes a show of using the replacement by catching a falling petal mid-air. 

“What’s done is done.” 

The vibrating tension beside him relaxes slightly as Fai lets out a weak laugh. 

“That’s not fair, Kuro-sama.”

Nickname aside, it’s the reluctant honesty in the now vampire’s voice that catches him off guard. 

“…treating me the same even after all my secrets are out.” 

It’s true, Kurogane thinks. A younger twin, a prince, an assumed name to hide Fai’s own accompanied by forgotten memories. 

Fai’s even quieter whisper brings him back to the present rather an dwelling over an exposed past.

“I thought you’d be disgusted.” 

Chin resting against his hand, Kurogane huffs,

“Well I’m not.” 

And interrupts his companion before he can say another word. 

“And neither is the rest of them. Whatever past you hand, you’re still Fai. To the princess, the kid, even the white manjuu.” 

Watching Fai’s surprised expression, he leans forward as if daring the former mage to challenge him. 

“Still theirs.” 

A somewhat relieved laugh matches his resolve as a heavy weight falls against him. 

“Then in that case,” 

Wisps of hair tickle his bare skin while Fai’s voice touches louder than before. 

“…am I still yours as well?” 

He hears himself answer without hesitation. 

“Yeah.”  

Brushing aside blonde bangs, Kurogane turns his head as the vampire fully rests against him with closed eyes. 

It rained the night his beloved died.

Stormed well into the morning and even through the day despite the summer sun shining with all its might.

A strange phenomenon that occurred so often after a certain villager’s death, the rest of them eventually gave it a name.

They called it,

’a sunshower.’

If he’s completely honest,

he didn’t think it would end like this.

"Did we die?

"No."

"Only you did."

Misspelled sentences, vague directions all pointing in different directions, the last one word message sent before all replies stopped. 

Part of him knew Dazai didn’t want to be found. If he did, Chuuya wouldn’t have wasted all that time going around in circles, but at the same time, another part also knew as inefficient as it was, even the slightest of contact was clear enough. 

If there was even the smallest chance he made it in time, 

it was the only twisted kindness Dazai would offer him. 

Which is why, the sinking sense of dread only further engrains when Chuuya sees him. 

Half buried in snow outlined by splashes of deep red, Chuuya fears not even time would allow fulfillment of their wishes when pale fingers twitch. 

Gloves yanked off and tossed aside, Dazai’s leaning against his chest before Chuuya even registers the cold biting against his skin.

Melting against his warmth, snow slides down his face and falls only to begin to freeze again  on brown hair. 

Chuuya swallows as realization finally makes itself clear.  

“Dazai-“ 

Brown eyes crack open and struggle to focus before glazing over reminding him of the same vacant expression after near successful attempts. 

“Oh-“ 

A weak exhalation pushes out cold air when Chuuya drops his head forward.

“You found me.”

Trembling with effort, Dazai’s hand more falls into his own rather than rest against it 

“I guess that means in the next life,” 

Weakly lit eyes fade to black as a small smile draws another line of blood from the corner of his lips. 

"But you didn't."

"It seems like you couldn't."

“Forget? I can’t imagine there is anything for me to forget nor have forgotten about.“

and despite Dazai’s best efforts: his thick winter coat, the multiple small fires started, the constant conversations to keep his companion awake—

Chuuya sleeps once more. 

Curled into a ball, the dragon’s faint breathing is the sole indication he’s even alive. The rapid drop in body temperature still alarms him to the point Dazai finds himself staring just to catch sight of the slow rise and fall of Chuuya’s chest, and reassures himself, 

he’s not truly alone. 

Holding his tails close, Dazai listens to the muffled sound of snow and thinks of the empty promise shared on first dark night. 

Chuuya said he wouldn’t sleep. Promised to try and keep him company this time, but unable to fight his nature, the dragon succumbed to the creeping cold and became motionless just like the years before.  

And now… 

…It’s much too quiet.

So Dazai waits. 

Waits for the chirping sound of birds, the ever increasing river stream, the growing hours of daylight that cut through the night. 

“I wish we could’ve made it work."

and quietly, Chuuya thinks to himself only after making sure nobody else is around.

"So did I"