SaiOuma Stories

Quiet Hour

[Hope you like a little bit of fluff wrapped in a smol one shot. I feel like with all the social distancing and school closing it should be easier to write and post things? But inspiration is harder to come by and life has gotten significantly more difficult. I'm always writing! This one—out of many, many drafts—made the cut. Bare with me y'all, I want to give you good content.]

"Shuichi..."

A small hand nudged the shoulder of a boy who lay next to him. They both went to bed an hour ago, on a spring night where everything's quiet and still. Just in the perfect stillness for everything to go drastically wrong. Kokichi worriedly blinked back stinging fog as he shook off a little nightmare.

"...Shuichi." He whispered again. This time pulling at his shirt. He really didn't want to wake him up, but half his mind was stuck in a horror world, while the other was repeating a silent chant. All to calm the other side, by saying everything's fine. DICE is safe, Shuichi is here, he himself is together, and he can breathe.

"Shuichi." Kokichi is hardly saying his name. He doesn't want to wake the overworked detective in a panicked frenzy. If he does that, Shuichi will bolt upright, immediately filled with anxiety as he reached for Kokichi. Pleading with him to confess what was wrong.

He didn't want to have that happen, not again. "...Sorry," he muttered, before moving his hand down to poke his side. A more sensitive part of him, if Shuichi was awake he would have jolted alive laughing. "... I've stressed out again."

There was a low hum. Shuichi's head turned to him slowly. His eyes still closed and his movements still sluggish. "...why'er you awake...?" Shuichi muttered, feeling over to find Kokichi's hand.

Their hands met and Kokichi squeezed his fingers firmly. Which prompted Shuichi to open his weary eyes to peer at his love. "...can't sleep?" He whispered, tugging lightly on his hand to encourage Kokichi closer.

"...maybe." He sighed. Relaxing at the sound of his milky smooth voice. "...Just has a bad dream. Sorry for waking you up."

Shuichi hummed softly again. Unbothered, and content. "...s'okay." He murmured, "...wouldn't have married you if this bothered me." A reasonable reply. Kokichi frowned at the mention. His sleepy voice laid guilt on his heart.

He was working all-nighters for the past two days. Kokichi had been out running for his life with DICE to escape the remnants of despair. Who has come up with new and creative ways to slaughter the innocent. Of course, it would haunt Kokichi and provoke bad dreams.

He came home to a very exhausted Shuichi. When he found him hunched over at his desk, writing his life away, he only quietly leaned over his shoulder to press his lips against his cheek to snap him out of his working stupor. The detective's hair was disheveled, his face pale, and his eyes strained.

Shuichi only sighed in relief when he saw Kokichi, getting up to pull him into a heavy hug as Kokichi hummed. Guiding him to their small kitchen to replenish Shuichi's energy. He always dehydrated himself, practically starving himself too. They shared a short lingering kiss as Kokichi pulled him into the bathroom and turn on the shower. They both needed one, and with tired yawns got in together.

After, they fell numb onto their mattress and cuddled up to one another. Still damp from the shower, but too drained and unfeeling to dry up anymore.

When Kokichi was younger, he would have been laughing more to cover up how nervous he is. And bothering Shuichi as he tried to sleep. He isn't so much older now, but he's wiser. More trusting in his beloved now that he's spent one year dependent on him.

Shuichi's hair was still wet from the shower, but it was much more dryer than Kokichi's. He had much longer hair that doesn't dry fast. He reached up to brush his fingers through his darkened blue hair.

He found it beautiful, even after one year of dating, one year of striving to find someone to marry them together and a couple of months of being official. "...I still don't get why you love me." Kokichi whispered, inching himself closer to Shuichi's open and welcoming arms. The pressure he received from his arms felt secure, it was comforting, and just what he desired to feel safe.

Shuichi's golden eyes slipped close once again. "...Want me to list off reasons? The... list's long, I understand why you forgot..." He hummed, his velvety rich voice came out so softly. "...one, you have a gorgeous laugh,"

Kokichi winced as Shuichi's voice cracked. He sounded so terribly exhausted, and yet he was still trying to piece together a list of why he adores him. "...ah, don't start." He hushed him.

"...two, you're very, very special to me..."

Kokichi choked out a quiet laugh. "...Shuichi, you're sleep-deprived, go back to sleep..."

"Three... your eyes tell me everything. So I knew the moment I said I loved you... you loved me back." Shuichi combed his fingers through Kokichi's wet hair. He held him securely, unlike the blankets that lay around them loosely.

Kokichi sighed as he closed his eyes. Shuichi was so sweet. Too sweet. Sacrificing his sleep to comfort Kokichi when he was stressed, and troubled. "Four... You're strong and beautiful..."

Just as he said that a blast from outside sounded, the airwaves shook their safety home. A home settled halfway underground to keep secure from the explosions and chaos that ensued outside. Kokichi had flinched, his whole body freezing in panic as the sound echoed throughout their home, that they hardly managed to scrap together. His DICE family should be okay. They should be at their sanctuaries with their loved ones. Still, he reached his arms around Shuichi and clung to him tight.

"...steady, unyielding ruler." Shuichi kept talking through the noise. Hushing him softly, even though he never cried. Not a sound of distress left his lips. His dear detective still heard them and quieted the storm in his mind. "...caring and good-hearted." He pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead. "...my little leader."

Kokichi huffed out a begrudged sigh as he gripped Shuichi's shirt. "...thank you." He whispered. Pulling back a little to slid his hand around Shuichi's cheek. Noticing his gold ring still sitting on his finger, the other belonging to the boy beside him. "...now go back to sleep, Shu-mai." He sang out his nickname softly, ignoring the muffled thumps of explosions in the distance.

Shuichi easily fell back asleep, holding him so close, and so tightly. "...wake me up again if you feel uncomfortable." He whispered as he started drifting back off.

Ah, yes. Kokichi hummed in acknowledgment. Shuichi always loved doing him small kindnesses when they were together. Asking if he wanted water, or breakfast in bed, or a calming shower together. Even down to getting things for him so he doesn't have to get up, and giving back massages when he gets rigid and stiff.

Kokichi kissed his lips softly when he knew Shuichi fell asleep. "...Love you." He whispered. Fading to sleep as his mind fell into peace, all thanks to his love who took the time to soothe his worries. Even if he didn't know what they were.

He will always love his husband.

[Forgive Author's writers' block, she is trying. XD]