Running on Empty

It's a long road up to recovery

Waking up was... disorientating, because Hitoshi couldn't even remember falling asleep. The last thing he could recall was feeling sick in the detective's office, after that things were all fuzzy. Every time he tried to grasp at the memories, they only seemed to drift further away. Frustrated, he decided that that was a problem for later and opened his eyes to a sea of white. He almost panicked at the unfamiliarity of it before he realised that it was breathing.

Blinking the sleep from his eyes he raised his head slightly to see that it was Luna, taking up more of his pillow than he was. He huffed a laugh and tried to ignore the throbbing in his head as he manoeuvred to a sitting position.

A glance around the room told him that he'd been out of it for a while. The interview had been mid afternoon but the curtains were drawn and no light was shining through so he could tell that it was much later now. There was a mug on his bedside table, but one touch of the china told him the drink was stone cold.

He sighed and ran a hand through Luna's hair, pursing his lips at the way it shook. He was feeling all jittery inside, like someone had put his organs in a bag and spun them in the washing machine, then tried to put them back the same. Everything just felt a little bit wrong.

He looked back at the mug, tempted to drink it anyway, and noticed a sticky note on the surface next to it. He rubbed his eyes with one hand as he picked it up, squinting in an effort to read the cursive.

Hey Kiddo! This might be cold by the time you wake up, so feel free to heat it up. Sho and I are both around, come find us when you feel up to it, or just text one of us if you want! xx

Hitoshi smiled at the little drawing of a cat that 'Zashi had added to the bottom, it looked more like a squished frog but in his opinion that just made it better.

He stuck it on his wall next to the two drawings and swung his legs over the edge of the bed with a groan — the pounding in his head had lessened slightly, but he still didn't feel great. The journey to the living room took far longer than usual, but the blinding smile that Hizashi sent his way when he saw that he was up made it worth it.

The voice hero didn't even get the chance to stand as Hitoshi immediately stumbled over and deposited himself in his lap. He wrapped his arms around his back and let his warmth and the scent of honey surround him. He felt Hizashi pull him closer and kiss the top of his head.

Neither of them spoke, they just sat like that for a while. Every now and then 'Zashi would hold him a little bit tighter, like he was reassuring himself that Hitoshi was really there, but other than that they were still.

That was, until Hitoshi felt something drop onto his head and realised his guardian was crying. He looked up in alarm and Hizashi blinked furiously before sending him a watery smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get emotional."

"Why are you sad?" Hitoshi asked, worried that he'd done something to upset the man. There were multiple hours he couldn't account for, he could have done or said anything.

"I was just worried, we couldn't get through to you at all earlier, it was really scary."

"I'm sorry." Hitoshi apologised nervously, he didn't know what else to say considering he couldn't even remember that.

Hizashi looked vaguely panicked and he let go of Hitoshi to wave his hands frantically, "No, no kiddo, it's not your fault at all. I meant that I'm really relieved now that you're up and about; I've been wanting to hug you since we sat down in that stupid office."

"But you stopped hugging me." He pointed out with a pout and Hizashi chuckled.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I won't do that again." He wrapped his arms back around Hitoshi.

"Ever?"

"Never." Hizashi promised and squeezed him tighter as he laughed.

"You're going to have to let me go at some point."

'Zashi pretended to consider it for a while before shaking his head, "Nope, you're stuck with me now."

Hitoshi smiled at that and rested his head back on the hero's shoulder, "I think Shouta might get jealous if I'm getting all your hugs."

Hizashi laughed at that, "Sho's had plenty of my hugs before, I think he'd be more upset that he wasn't getting yours."

"Nah, you give better hugs than me."

"I can assure you, I do not."

"No you can't, you can't hug yourself."

"Neither can you." Hizashi countered and Hitoshi pouted.

"We need a third party to be judge." He declared.

"We'll ask Sho when he comes back."

"Ask Sho what?" A voice chimed in from the doorway and they looked up to see Shouta with a steaming mug in hand.

He made his way over to the sofa, sending Hitoshi a smile and ruffling his hair on the way past.

"Who gives better hugs out of me and 'Toshi," Hizashi announced with a grin. "You're judging!"

"This sounds like a trap." Shouta sighed and Hizashi's smile only grew.