Skeleton Flower | kurokura time travel AU | chrollo x kurapika

Chapter 5

Kurapika's body aches for a good night's rest, to recover his strength for the first time in months, but his thoughts refuse to slow down.

The entire day could have been a dying hallucination, nothing more than a desperate hope brought to life when he was damned to his demise. After years of dreaming of the dead, of those he couldn't save, only this time did he save Kuroro instead of being plagued by his nightmare. But why would he delude himself with dreams of his former enemy instead of his loved ones?

Kurapika is certain that dreams shouldn't last this long. They certainly shouldn't be realistic enough that he can hear Kuroro at the foot of the bed, breathing quietly in his repose. The soft sheets whisper against his skin as he turns to peer over the edge of the bed. He steals a glance at Kuroro through the darkness, where the silhouette of his chest rising and falling in slumber dispels his doubts.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, is the recognition that something must have happened during the precious moments between surrendering his life on the Black Whale and ending up in Meteor City. But what?

The only conclusion he arrives at is the manifestation of some latent Nen ability that guided his return to life. Even then, transcending time makes no sense.

Kurapika rests his head back against his pillows. He can feel his body betraying himself to exhaustion, refusing to allow him to dwell on this any longer. When he closes his eyes, he doesn't expect to wake up tomorrow.

Somehow, he does.

There's softness all around him, making him want to sleep for another lifetime instead of opening his eyes. He's being lulled back to that gentle, dreamless world, when his calm vanishes at the sudden awareness of another presence beside him—a familiar aura that he hasn't felt this close to him since the sinking ship. A shadow falls across his face, blocking out the light striking his eyelids.

In his other life, his second life, Kuroro's face is what he wakes to.

Kurapika lashes out before he can even think. His fist slams into Kuroro's face, sending him stumbling backwards on the floor.

"Ouch—"

Kurapika jolts upright on the bed, tangled around blankets, his mind disoriented but his body aware. His arm is outstretched in a punch, his knuckles throbbing with rosy splotches blooming over them. The stinging pain he feels couldn't possibly be from a dream.

Adrenaline flooding his body, Kurapika risks a glance around him. The room is small and sparse, with dust reflecting in the lamplight. An innumerable number of books line the shelves on the wall. His gaze falls to the floor, where Kuroro is recovering from the force of impact, looking more stunned than pained with one hand pressed against his eye. And he also looks ten years younger than when Kurapika last remembers seeing him.

The realization settles that he's in Kuroro's bedroom. Kurapika wills his heart to calm down, but even as a teenager, Kuroro still manages to trigger his stress response.

"I'm—" Kurapika cuts himself off because all he can think is I'm not sorry. "You startled me. What do you think you're doing?"

"Waking you up for breakfast," Kuroro answers slowly, blinking up at him in mild surprise. Kurapika responds with scrutiny, his eyes narrowing with palpable suspicion. "I wasn't going to kiss you or anything, so there's no need for you to look at me like that."

Kurapika's fingers grip onto the fabric of his blankets, searching for something to strangle. "Ki—?"

He manages not to raise his voice in his disbelief, but he can't bring himself to repeat that. He draws the covers over himself, all the way up to his collar, as if this is going to protect him from unseemly advances. "I'm more inclined to believe that you were trying to kill me."