Running on Empty

An unexpected feeling

It had not slipped Shouta's notice how quiet his husband had been since he'd brought the battered teen home and he'd been itching to talk to him since he'd stepped in the house. So as soon as Hitoshi had been patched up, given a drink and sent off to bed, he took Hizashi's arm and dragged him to sit on the sofa.

"Talk to me." He prompted after a couple of minutes of silence and Yamada finally looked up at him, before turning his face away with tears in his eyes.

"Those cuts on his face..." It was almost a whisper. Shouta didn't think he'd ever heard his husband speak so quietly, he reached out to take his hand and sighed.

"He was muzzled when I found him."

"When you found him?"

"He was going to jump 'Zashi. He didn't even hesitate, it was like there was no reason to stay."

Hizashi grimaced at the statement, looking even more concerned than before as he squeezed Shouta's hand.

"Whoever did this to him, I swear, I'm gonna..." Shouta gritted his teeth as his husband frowned.

"We're gonna tear them to shreds Sho, they'll regret ever laying a finger on that kid."

And so it began, the pain and concern they'd both felt when they saw the state Hitoshi was in started the steady transformation into rage at whoever the hell could have done such a thing, and sitting on that couch in the early hours of the morning both men swore to themselves that no one would ever hurt that kid again.

However, as was usually the case in their hectic lives, the peace didn't last long.

Their moment of silent determination was broken by the sound of sudden movement coming from the guest bedroom and Shouta was on his feet in an instant, making his way to the door with Hizashi hot on his heels.

"Hitoshi." He knocked. "Is everything all right?"

He got no response but a quiet whimper, and so after another knock and a nervous glance shared with his husband, Shouta opened the door and turned on the light.

Hitoshi was tangled in his sheets, thrashing around desperately on the bed as he fought whatever horrors his subconscious had conjured up.

Hizashi ran and got some water as Shouta rushed to his side to try and shake him awake.

The terrified teen woke with a gasp as soon as Shouta's hand touched his shoulder, and he immediately pushed himself as far away from the adult as he could, curling into a ball in the corner, arms wrapped around his head defensively, his entire body trembling as he struggled to breathe.

"Hitoshi, " Shouta started, hovering for a moment beside the bed before deciding he'd probably seem less intimidating if he sat and opting to perch on the very edge instead. "I'm not going to hurt you, you're safe here, I promise."

The boy didn't answer, and his breathing didn't slow either as he gasped for breath so Shouta tried a different approach. He reached forward and tapped his knee twice.

"Hitoshi, can you do that back for me?"

It took a few minutes, and a couple more gentle taps from Shouta before the shaking teen tapped his own fingers twice on his knee.

"Good." Shouta praised, Hizashi watching curiously from the doorway. "Now can you find five things you can see."

Hitoshi raised his head slightly at that and looked wildly around the room, eyes settling on a few different places, he didn't say anything, but Shouta took the vague twitching of his fingers as a sign that he was doing as asked.

When he stopped, Shouta asked him for four things he could feel, and continued to work his way through the senses as the purple-haired teen slowly began to regain awareness of his surroundings and control of his breathing. When he'd finished Shouta gave him another minute to collect himself before opening his arms.

Hitoshi stared at him for a long while, and Shouta had the terrible thought that maybe this kid just ...didn't know what a hug was?! But then he shifted forward hesitantly and rested his head on Shouta's chest, his arms snaking around behind him.

Shouta barely registered his husband joining the hug, making sure to leave Hitoshi room to get out if he wanted, he was too busy thinking about how right having the boy wrapped in his arms felt.

They sat like that for a long time, just the three of them curled up together, each lost in their own thoughts.