𝐲𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐳𝐚 & 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐱 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

[龍が如く1] Nishikiyama Akira

"Nishikiyama-san? He's just in room 320, on the third floor. Are you family?"

"Something like that. Thank you, ma'am." (y/n) calmly bowed and walked to the elevators of the hospital, with a bouquet of flowers in tow. He wasn't sure of which assortment he'd like, so the man just improvised.

Reaching the third floor and following the signs, (y/n) made it to his significant other's door. It was guarded by two of the Nishikiyama family men, but (y/n) only had to show his face for them to move aside.

As he walked in, (y/n) could see the man he loved, seated up in a hospital bed, half of his body covered in bandages. His handsome features were stained with dark red burn marks along with his easygoing smile missing from his face. Before he came in, Nishiki was wasting his time staring at the blinds of the window, but he turned his attention towards the door to see you.

"Hey, Nishiki. You hangin' in there?" (y/n) said as he closed the door behind him.

"As best as I can." His voice was low and groggy, practically lacking emotion. Nishiki was one for sarcasm but he didn't seem to be in the mood for jokes at the moment. (y/n) came into the room and sat the flowers next to the stand near Nishiki's bed. He pulled up a chair next to the right side of Nishiki's bed and took off his jacket. (y/n) held Nishiki's right hand, gently, like he would hurt him if he grasped too tightly. Nishiki hardly made eye contact with (y/n). He didn't return the grip, he just let his arm fall limply to his side.

"Has Kiryu come by?" (y/n) asked to lighten the mood. "He came when I just got here but he hasn't come back." (y/n) chuckled to himself. "I expected that. He's not one to dwell on these sorts of things." Then the silence had returned. (y/n) even tried to garner a reaction out of him by lightly drawing circles on his hand with his thumb, but he came up with nothing.

The silence continued to fill the room until Nishiki spoke up. "Could you take me up to the roof?" "Will the nurses let you?" "Yeah, I just need to let them know, but I'd need help getting into the wheelchair." (y/n) nodded and called for a nurse. The nurse accepted his small trip up to the roof because she saw it as a good way for him to get some fresh air. Even she took notice of his aloof behavior.

Christmas had long passed, the New Years came and went, yet the winter air still lingered. (y/n) pushed forward the wheelchair out of the door frame and closed the door behind him. He then rolled the man in the wheelchair to a nice spot near the railings of the hospital.

"Is this a good spot, Nishiki?" (y/n) said, rubbing his arms to stop himself from shivering.

"Yeah, this is fine." The male sat back into his chair and closed his eyes, feeling the cold wind over his skin that was still exposed. One side of his body had suffered horrible burn wounds to the point where he's lost feeling in his left arm. (y/n) had proposed the idea of a prosthetic but Nishiki only kept quiet about the subject. (y/n) leaned against the railings and let out a deep sigh.

"(y/n), I want you to know that I'm sorry," Nishiki said, still not making any eye contact with him. "Nishiki, seriously man. You can stop apologizing. I've forgiven you already." (y/n) said. "I know, but I dragged you into my own mess, and I feel so... horrible about it." (y/n) didn't respond again, seeing how Nishiki was struggling with his own emotions. "You don't know how many times I've wished that the blast killed me. Call me a coward as much as you like but I hated having to face you and Kiryu again." Nishiki's voice began to break up, like tears were threatening to fall.

Then, (y/n) squatted in front of Nishiki's chair and took his right hand in both of his hands.

"Look, Nishiki. I think it's completely normal to think the way you do, but I hate to see you like this." Nishiki for the first time all day made eye contact with (y/n). "Ya know, I think Kiryu feels completely responsible for what happened, but he keeps going. Mostly because he would see your condition would worsen if you saw him moping." Nishiki looked to the side with the mention of his brother's name. (y/n) sighed. "I know you don't like to be compared to him, but if he can move on, so can you. I only say all of this because I love you too much." (y/n) laid his heart out in front of his beloved, and all Nishiki could do was laugh.

"What the hell did I do to deserve you?" Nishiki chuckled to himself. "Hmph, I could ask you the same thing." (y/n) got up and placed a kiss on Nishiki's forehead, all while not letting go of his hand. "It'd kill me if I left you how you are now, so let me help you through this. I can't promise you'll feel better overnight so you'll just have to stick with me for a while, okay?"

"I wouldn't mind that."