#hiorin

Hiori had planned to stay up the whole night playing games on his console, but was pulled out of his plans a few hours in when Rin had called him. Rin never called that late, and he'd certainly never sounded so broken.

"Yo... please come-"

Hiori didn't hear whatever else Rin said, and he could barely even hear him on the other end through his shaky breathing anyway. His voice was too small to consider a whisper, and the thought of Rin not being able to gather the strength to just speak concerned Hiori instantly. He didn't bother saving his game before turning it off, his mind had focused in on getting to Rin. He hurriedly peeled open his window and clumsily pushed himself out of his bedroom; a routine he'd performed many times before. Never for a situation like this, though. His slippers made a soft sound every time they hit the concrete on his way to Rin's home.

Rin shut off his phone, staring at his own lap in the dark. He sat hunched over, his tears falling from his eyes and mixing with the streaks of blood seeping from his skin. His whole day had been a blur. Hell, his whole life felt like a blur. He didn't take the time to think before picking up the metal. Everything felt too suffocating, and just being alive exhausted him to no end. Every aspect of his life demanded more and more work, more and more energy. No matter how much he gave it wouldn't satisfy anything. The stinging wounds gave Rin a different feeling to focus on; something other than the strangling demands of life. Somehow, that gave Rin some relief, if only for a fleeting moment. Despite the pain, the exhaustion was still there. In fact, the pain barely even covered up that feeling. He'd only made the mess worse. He'd made a mess of himself. He'd cut too deep, too. His desperations were for sure going to scar.

Hiori gently knocked on Rin's window before quietly prying it open. After some effort, he got it to slide over and allow an entryway into Rins bedroom. Hiori didn't bother shutting the window before approaching Rin.

It was hard to tell anything in the dark. Hiori sat on the side of his bed, his hand falling on the other boys knee. He gave a cautious whisper to Rin, whose head was still down.

"Hey... Rin.. you need me?"

He leaned over, his bright eyes full of concern and dulled by the dark. After considering for a short second, he carefully placed a small kiss on the side of Rin's head, in front of his ear.

Hiori's affection brought out a sob from Rin, which quickly snowballed into him wailing. Hiori pulled Rin closer to him by the waist, his other hand pressing his head into his shoulder to muffle his crying.

"Oh, Rin.."

Hiori kept his voice a soft whisper, kissing the top of Rin's head over and over as he pet his hair. He didn't understand exactly what was happening with Rin right now, but his comfort seemed to be working. Hiori was just fine doing whatever if it meant Rin would be feeling better.

With Hiori's affection and comfort, Rin found his crying begin to calm. Before long, the last few tears slipped out of his red eyes and down his cheeks, absorbing into the fabric over Hiori's shoulder. Rin weakly pulled himself from Hiori's hold, making sure to grab his hand as he did.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't apologize. I'm staying."

Rin seemed to shrink away from him, pulling his knees to his chest despite the comfort. Rin would've loved to believe his words, but he couldn't help the fear they brought him.

Hiori's eyes had adjusted to the dark by now, and he noticed Rin's eyes falling away from him. In response to his withdrawal, Hiori pushed himself closer, tightening his hold on the hand of Rin's he was holding and placing his other hand on Rin's knee. Hiori wanted nothing more than to have Rin's trust.

Hiori's fingers touched his skin, just above his knee. He found himself touching something wet and warm.

Rin flinched at the touch.

Hiori stiffened, he knew what that was. He'd seen the aftermath of it before; hence the streaks of dark skin on Rin's body that he'd been so afraid to reveal to Hiori before.

Before Rin had the time to pull further away, Hiori pulled his leg out, outstretching it on the bed. Hiori muttered apologies under his breath; he was taking advantage of Rin's stunned state to do this. He kept his hold firm as he grabbed Rin's phone by his side, tapping the screen and using the emitted light to see his thigh clearer.

Hiori showed little emotion as he looked over Rin's leg, even as he heard Rin's shaking breaths. It had gone untreated for so long; blood slipped from some wounds and others had already scabbed over. Regardless, most of his thigh had been smeared red. Hiori's hand had been bloodied, too.

"..Rin, don't keep this from me. I'm helping you, alright? Don't try anything."

Hiori stood up, hooking one arm beneath Rin's legs and extended the other to support Rin's back. Rin let out an embarrassing gasp as he instinctively clung to Hiori, clumsily grabbing at his shirt before wrapping his arms loosely around his neck. The shock of being picked up so suddenly dazed him out of crying for the time being, and his current position was humiliating enough to keep him quiet. He wasn't in any position to argue anyway. Not that he wanted to. He hadn't expected him to pick him up like that at all; Hiori's soft looks and compassionate attitude made it easy for Rin to forget that Hiori was only three centimetres shorter than him.

Hiori kept Rin snug against his chest, bringing him to the bathroom. He gently sat Rin down on top of the toilet seat, handling him like he was fragile. Crouching down in front of Rin, Hiori looked up at his face, his cyan eyes wide with concern. In spite of his worry, Hiori made sure to give Rin a gentle smile. He didn't want to risk freaking out the other boy even more.

"Just sit there and look pretty, Kay? I'll patch ya up. Don't bother trying anything."

Hiori placed a kiss to his knee before standing up and turning to rummage through the cabinets of his bathroom, searching for anything that could help with Rin's bleeding.

As Rin watched Hiori look through the cabinets and heard the sound of running water, he let himself slip into his own mind. It didn't feel real. The past hour didn't feel real. Or maybe he just couldn't believe it was real. Hiori was really here taking care of him, letting him cry and comforting him. Right now, it was hard for Rin to think of Hiori as anything but an angel. He almost wanted to get worse so that Hiori could take care of him like this more often. Rin knew it was a horrible thought, but he was pulled from his own head before he could entertain it any further. The feeling of a wet wipe being rubbed on his skin brought him back to the current. Rin must've had a physical reaction to it, since Hiori was quick to mention it.

"Does it hurt? Am I rubbing too harsh?"

"No-.. no it's okay..."

Despite insisting it was okay, Hiori still felt the need to apologize with another kiss to his knee. Rin soon felt the cold feeling of antibiotic cream on his thigh. He watched Hiori rub the cream on one of his wounds, and then place a gauze pad over it before securing it with some sort of wound tape Rin couldn't identify. Hiori repeated the process for every wound, until each one was taken care of and patched up.

"You think ya can lift your leg a bit? I'm almost done here.."

Rin complied, raising his thigh off the plastic lid he sat on. Hiori, ever the careful one, wrapped his thigh up with gauze cloth so attentively Rin almost began to wonder if he really was made of glass.

"There.. how's that? Too tight?"

Hiori looked up at Rin after tying up the gauze on his thigh, searching his face for any sign of discomfort.

"It's okay.."

"Good. You feeling better?"

"Yeah."

Rins voice was so small Hiori couldn't help but find it adorable. He put away the supplies he'd used before turning back to Rin, leaning down in front of him.

"Wanna go back?"

Rin nodded, looking up at Hiori. He felt like a little kid, which would've been humiliating if Hiori was anyone else. Rin willingly snuggled up against Hiori's chest when he was picked up this time. It felt good to accept his comfort; to trust him.

Hiori set Rin down on his bed first, and then crawled into bed with him. Rin reached for him first this time, and Hiori welcomed his touch. His arms wrapped around Rin, and he made sure to give the other boy lots and lots of kisses.

Hiori's scent and the coziness of his bed had lulled Rin into a half-asleep state; he was fighting sleep to be awake with Hiori more. His face scrunched up in annoyance at Hiori's persistent kisses to his cheeks and forehead, but he didn't move away.

"What, ya don't like it?"

Rin mumbled something unintelligible in response, and Hiori took that as a sign to keep kissing him. He brought his lips down to Rin's, and placed a proper kiss to his lips. The other boy tried his best to kiss Hiori back, despite his exhaustion. His lips were all dry and cracked as well, a consequence of not taking care of himself. Regardless, Hiori held the kiss until he was sure Rin had fallen asleep. Hiori was close to sleep, too. Taking care of Rin had taken a toll on him- physically and mentally. Falling asleep next to his warm body was an idea too alluring to deny himself. He whispered a quiet few words against Rin's hair.

"Goodnight.. I love you."

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