洗脳;

HE HAD WAITED UNTIL HITOSHI GRABBED ONTO HIM TO MOVE ANY FURTHER, gently wrapping his arms around the other, one hand carefully messing with the ends of the other’s hair. ❝Come on. You don’t need to cry, Hitoshi… I’m not angry at you, I was just doing what you asked..❞ After all, why would he ever abandon the other? Shoto had already shown how desperate he was for Hitoshi to stay by his side.

It took him a few minutes to get a hold of the other & pick him up, standing himself as he headed out of the room. ❝I’m going to put you in the bath for now, Hitoshi, & I’ll make you something nicer than salad if you stay there & clean yourself, okay? I’ve left some spare clothes in there already for you to get into… I wanted to be prepared for when you wanted me again. We can watch that movie too, can’t we?❞

        “Y-yeah...” Hitoshi sniffled, fingers buried in the other’s shirt.  He didn’t care if he was right or not.  He just didn’t want to die.  “I’m sorry...”

        Being picked up was... strange.  It made him feel tiny and vulnerable, but there was no way he could walk in this kind of shape anyway.  He waited patiently as the bath was drawn and undressed, before letting Shouto put him in the bath.

HE HAD SPENT DAYS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR WAITING FOR HITOSHI TO CALL FOR HIM WITH A BOTTLE OF WATER & A TUB OF SALAD BY HIS SIDE SO THAT HE COULD CARE FOR HIM WHEN IT HAPPENED, but he’d expected the other to hold out for longer than a few days & he couldn’t say the lack of strength, something he’d grown to associate with his Hitoshi, wasn’t a disappointing thing.

He unlocked the door & pushed it open, using his foot to move Hitoshi out of the way as he did so, having half-stepped into the room when the door was open enough. The tub of salad was in his free hand, water bottle balancing on top, as he did so. Once he’d gotten inside, he shut the door, kneeling down by Hitoshi. ❝Here.❞ He murmured, handing them over. Everything in the salad was large enough to eat with fingers, Shoto not daring to offer Hitoshi any weapon, even a utensil.

❝Are you sorry you sent me away, Hitoshi? It was mean of you to do so, you should apologise. We don’t send people we love away, do we? I was just doing as you asked of me, so I’d suggest you think carefully before you decide to start shouting like you did before.❞

             ( i know you couldn’t survive without me, my hitoshi. )   

     Shinsou couldn’t help it, and by the time he was fumbling with the cap on the water bottle, most of his face was wet with tears or snot.  Shouto really was waiting for him.  He hadn’t just abandoned him to die.  He drank as much as he could before he started to dry heave, clutching at his stomach.

    He glanced up at Shouto with a surprising vulnerability in his eyes, like he was a child looking up at a parent.  Perhaps it was much the same, in that Shouto totally controlled whether he lived or died.  “I-...”  tears welled up in his eyes again before he grabbed onto the sleeve of Shouto’s shirt and buried his face in his shoulder.

HIS GRIP ONLY TIGHTENED THE MORE HITOSHI SPOKE, hands trembling. ❝No!❞ He yelled, letting go only to reach for the knife & hold it to the other’s neck, eyes full of terror, evidently brought on by the idea of Hitoshi leaving. ❝You don’t get to leave, that’s not your choice, you have to stay! If you leave, I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you-❞ Perhaps an empty threat, considering how desperate he seemed to be to have Hitoshi around, but it was still somewhat viable considering he didn’t even seem to know what he was doing.

❝You need to stay here! You’re meant to stay with me, Hitoshi, that’s fate- Fate gave me you & I’m not letting you go, not now! Not ever! You don’t get to leave me, you don’t-❝

    Shinsou’s eyes bulged, staring down at the knife.  He couldn’t move an inch without risking himself.  Shouto was dangerous, quirk or no quirk.  He’d have to convince him more slowly, then.  “Alright,” he tried to put on a more reassuring presence.  “You’re right.  I won’t leave.  We can be together for now.”

WHILE BEFORE HIS EXPRESSION HAD ALWAYS HELD SOME TONE OF FONDNESS OR SOFTNESS, now it was stony, nothing short of furious. ❝Alright.❞ The calm, kind tone of his voice didn’t match the anger that burned behind his eyes. ❝I’ll leave you alone, Hitoshi. All by yourself.❞ He stood up & turned away, headed towards the door. ❝Have fun, I won’t come back & bother you more.❞

Maybe this was cruel of him, but if this was the way he had to teach Hitoshi that there was no one else there, that Shoto was all he was getting, then so be it. He could survive a few days away. ❝Just remember. You asked for this.❞

                                               ( he could sulk for a few days, at least. )

    At first, being left alone was a relief.  The dark and the quiet were comforting, like a blanket, even if it was so dark in here he couldn’t see his hands in front of him.  For the first time in a while, Shinsou was able to sleep.  It was a long time, perhaps half a day, before Shouto’s absence was truly noticed.  At first he tried to ignore it, it wasn’t like he could control or predict what the other did.

     Perhaps a full day had passed before he felt the absence deeply.  Still, he buried his head in his hands and tried to ignore it.  No way he was going to bow down to Shouto after all that, even if he was growing thirsty.  He would rather stay like this.

    Another day passed, and Shinsou scratched at his scabs, trying to keep some sort of sensation.  Perhaps what was under his nails was blood.  He couldn’t tell.  More than anything, he wanted to go home, and he dreamed of it uneasily.  He dreamed of his mother, as she had been when he was young, and he dreamed of having enough to eat and drink, and not being afraid.

IT WASN’T A DIFFICULT QUESTION TO ANSWER FOR MOST, but he didn’t like to admit his vulnerability & the true reason he’d decided to take Hitoshi for himself. ❝You were the first person to treat me like I was worth something, like I was human. You understand, don’t you? All I’ve ever been is a tool to my father, a monster to the media… A demon to the rest of the world. You knew that pain of mine, Hitoshi, but you treated me with kindness even though you didn’t know who I was.❞

It was disgustingly sentimental & he didn’t like it, but that was the truth of the matter. ❝You acted like I wasn’t worthless, you smiled at me when no one ever had… Why wouldn’t I have chosen you?❞

     And at that, Shinsou faltered.  He couldn’t bring himself to fight against Shouto, at least not yet, if he really did care about him.  Few people did, even if Shinsou was loathe to admit that.  He had always driven away other people.

      “You should have just said that,” he grumbled.  “You didn’t have to hit me or stab me or anything.  You’re a good friend either way.  Just let me go and we... can forget about all this.”  At least as long as Shouto stopped burning down buildings.  He couldn’t in good consciousness ignore that.  He just wanted to keep being friends with Shouto.