Shared Agony // Aguni Morizono x reader

4. Stay here

No matter how hard you tried, you found it very hard to keep quiet around Aguni. You were always a very talkative and bubbly person, and you couldn't stand silence. Which was why you started filling it by babbling about canned peaches (and how they could never beat fresh ones), books you'd read, movies you'd watched; life before the Borderlands. Aguni simply listened, staring ahead into nothingness. He didn't seem very interested but never told you to shut up, so you kept talking.

It was the morning after your talk about Akane, and you were sharing a can of rice pudding on the carpet. After waking up and both feeling like shit, you'd decided to take one more day to recover. You both still had enough days on your visa from the ten of hearts game.

'I used to love running,' you said, bringing your spoon up to your mouth. 'I started every single morning by going for a run in the woods.' You closed your eyes, trying to relive that sensation. The wind blowing through your ponytail and your strong legs carrying you wherever you wanted. 'It made me feel alive.' You frowned at your injured leg. 'Guess that's not going to happen for a while now.'

Then you turned to face Aguni, who had now found a Rubik's cube and was trying to solve it. He really sucked at that.

'You really suck at that.'

'Shut up.'

'Did you have something like that? Something that allowed you to escape all your problems?'

With a sly smile you added: 'Not Rubik's cubes, I hope?' When he didn't reply, you continued talking. 'I also loved reading, but I haven't gotten a chance to pick up a book here.' You squinted your eyes, tapping your arm with your fingernail. 'Which is weird since I do have a lot of free time here. It's not like we have to play games all the time. My favorite book was always Before the coffee gets cold.' You shook your head and sighed. 'That one really made me bawl my eyes out.'

Without a warning, Aguni abruptly rose to his feet. 'We're going to find some fresh food,' he announced.

You frowned. 'What, why? We still have plenty of cans.'

'If we want to avoid getting scurvy, we need some fresh fruit or vegetables.' He already had his hand on the doorknob when he looked over his shoulder. 'Don't you want to taste a fresh peach again?' he asked.

You gasped. 'Blackmail!' you yelled, but you immediately got up and walked out after him.

You decided to search the neighborhood first. Maybe some people had been tending to a vegetable garden or some fruit trees before disappearing.

While you walked the streets, it occurred to you that you hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time, and even Aguni seemed at ease.

He still didn't say much, though, and you were guessing the way he'd talked to you when he was stitching you up really was a one-time miracle. Which was why you were surprised when out of nowhere he said:

'Hiking.'

Your eyebrows shot up in astonishment and you looked at him from the corner of your eye.

'Sorry?'

'You asked if I had an escape from my problems. I always loved hiking.'

You couldn't help but smile as you imagined him with sunnies and a sun hat, wandering about the woods with a map in his hands.

'Guess we're not so different then. Where did you hike?'

He named a national park and you almost jumped up in your excitement.

'No way!' you exclaimed. 'I used to run there!' Still smiling, you added: 'Maybe we've met before entering this land, without even knowing.'

'Probably not.'