His Other Half (KiriBaku)

Chapter 31

October 18th, XX84
-2:37 in the morning-

        There were hands on Katsuki before he awoke, screaming, in a room he didn't recognize. Everything hurt and screamed at him to run, but he couldn't.

        There were more hands on him then, pulling him, at his wrists and his hips, forcing him to lie still, obey, submit. He summoned his fire and nothing came, his magic locked away to strain at the seams. Katsuki screamed, screamed, screamed. This wasn't supposed to happen again. Tama was gone, near dead, the bet was gone, because Eijiro—

        Eijiro.

        "—tsuki, please. I've got you, you're okay," his words reached him then, his struggles going limp. "Come here, Kat. Come back to me. It's alright, love, you're safe."

        The hands around him weren't hurting him; just holding him, really. The lingering pain only phantom memories that left him tingly and numb, the floods of adrenaline washing away. Exhausted from his few seconds of desperate struggle, he let himself be pulled on. Let Eijiro wrap arms around him and hold him tightly. A strong hand pushed firmly against his chest, forcing him to slow his breathing. Eijiro brought him back slowly, calmly, whispering reassurance in his ear with soft kisses and the softer tickle of his long hair.

        "That's it. You're okay, Kat," the assurance came as a breathy sigh of relief against his neck. "You're safe here, no one's hurting you. Just breathe, love, it's okay."

        A door slammed open in time with the metallic shing of a drawn sword, Eijiro's growl ripping through the newly lit room for the tensest of seconds before cutting off. Katsuki coiled like a spring under Eijiro's hands, ready to fight again if he needed, despite his exhaustion.

        "Tenya," Eijiro acknowledged calmly, smoothing a gentle hand down Katsuki's arm. The prince listened to his voice and let go of his panic again, tethering himself to keep from floating any further away. He was aware of Eijiro returning a knife to it's hiding place beneath the pillow before Eijiro pulled that same hand through Katsuki's hair, the reassurance so desperately needed. Eijiro was more than capable of protecting him.

        "I heard screaming," the guard answered, but uncertainly. "Actually, I thought I heard—Your Highness?"

        No, Katsuki didn't want to answer. He didn't want to do anything, anything but stay in Eijiro's arms where it was warm and soothing and protected.

        "Your Highness, how in seven hells did you get here?"

        "The prince has been here all night, Iida."

        "I—I've been guarding an empty room?!"

        "Well, can you blame him? His room still looks a mess."

        "No, I suppose not. I should have checked on His Highness. Is... is he alright?"

        Eijiro bent to press a kiss to Katsuki's temple, ruffling his hair again. "He'll be okay. A nightmare, I think."

        A nightmare, Katsuki reminded himself. Just a nightmare. The danger was gone, unable to find him again. He tugged at the hands on him, pulling them tighter. Ei was here. It was only Ei.

        "Let me know if there's anything I can do," Tenya hummed, exiting back out the door. He closed it quietly behind him, again cutting the room off from the light of the hall.

        Eijiro leaned back against the mattress, pulling Katsuki with him. Hands on him carefully adjusted Katsuki into a semi-comfortable position, laid across the broad chest and curled around his torso with his face in the redhead's shoulder, his legs sprawled over Eijiro's hips and thighs. Arms curled at his back and his waist to hold him steady, kisses pressed into his hairline. Katsuki wanted to cry at how good it felt to be coddled like this, held and soothed until the monsters weren't so bad and he didn't feel the pressing need to panic.