After Death ー A Short Yabusame One-shot (Yttd)

After Death

"Uhk!!"

"Shit... Yabusame!"

Pleading eyes stare down at the dummy. She can't speak. She can barely breathe.

Reko Yabusame will be hung, just as her brother could have been right before they saw each other again.

"Hold on - I'm going to get help! Please! I'll come back!"

Her vision is blurring. Tears. Lack of oxygen. Everything is numb.

In her final moments, Reko wishes she would've just...forgave her brother and taken the bongos. Tried to understand why he killed a man. Accepted him as a brother. He was always trying to make it better. When they were young. In the middle of a death game. He always tried to help her. To fix them.

Now he's gone. And he never got to hear her forgiveness.

I've always been...such an asshole...

She's gasping. Trying to hold on as he did, for just a second longer.

Alice...

In the end, struggling makes it worse. Even though she wants to live. Even though she hears Kurumada screaming and hoping for her to stay alive a little longer. It's all futile.

Reko Yabusame will ー

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Suddenly, dark eyes open. It's bright. Did she finally die? Is this heaven?

She can breathe again.

Reko has never realized how nice it is to breathe before now.

She stands, trying tomake sense of her existence in the moment...

...only to stop.

There's a man. Tall. In a black and white striped shirt. He's always worn such prison-like colors, hasn't he? And he dyed his hair when she asked to try. It's still pink and yellow on one side. She wonders how he kept it touched up for two and a half years, kept in a cell.

Her eyes are wide. As are his.

"...R...Reko..."

It's so relieving. Hearing his voice again.

She takes a step forward. Then another. The next few come quickly. Reko crashes into her dear brother, wrapping her arms around him. Savoring in the warmth from his own arms catching her in an instant.

"Alice..."

She stops, realizing her own voice. She's crying. Sobbing. Embarrassing herself and getting his clothes dirty with her eyeliner. But he still holds her. Holds her closer, if her senses are right.

"Gh... A-Alice!!"

"Hey, now... It's alright." He's so calm, slowly lowering to sit her on the ground. Stroking gently at his sister's hair. Reko can't remember the last time she's gotten his reassurance. Or, more accurately, the last time she let his kind words mean anything.

Before he speaks again, the man suddenly sobs, letting himself break down in front of Reko. The woman who'd usually tell him to stop crying. Toughen him up. Oh, what he'd give to take away her tears. To hear those harsh words in this moment.

He has to stop entirely, struggling to find her cries through his own. "R-eko... It's okay now..." That trembling voice says otherwise. Trembling hands. Breathing. Tears. "It...is safe here. You are safe here. I've got you. I've got you."

And for a few minutes, it seems like Reko will never stop crying, only barely feeling his hand on her head. The way his own breath staggers as he tries to compose himself for her. To seem strong for her, even though they both know he isn't. The constant affirmation and occasional kisses he presses to the top of her head.

And then it all stops.

Eventually, Reko grows tired. The crying lulls to silence. Her breathing allows. She stops clawing at the back of Alice's jacket, seeming to understand that he won't disappear if she lets go.

"...Reko?"

"Alice...

I love you, man."

"...!!"

" 'm sorry... Always thought that saying it would make me look all soft, so...I never did. S'okay if you don't wanna say it, or--"

"Thank you."

The relief is overwhelming. Even Reko can sense it. Feel it. Hear it. Looking up, the woman sits in shock.

Tears suddenly flow from Alice's eyes, trailing down his cheeks and finally dripping down from his chin. His mouth contorts into a strangled smile to muffle his cries. Not to make her worry...but to no avail.

"S...Sorry, I... was trying not to...

...I love you, too, Reko. More than you could ever imagine."

"....

God!!" Reko groans, effectively making her cough just after. She did just spend a good time crying, after all. Sitting back, she scrubs at her face to remove the sticky feeling. To dispose of the new tears before they get the chance to leave naturally. There's probably eyeliner everywhere... "You tryin' to make me cry, dipshit...?"

...A smile, behind Alice's tears.

Reko shoves him without a second thought, and he can only laugh.

"You're so harsh on me...! Even now..."

"Well, so~rry, you can't handle a little push... I'm surprised I'm even seeing you again, so--"

"Stay like that.

I...find that I enjoy the way you act with me."

"Dude...

You're makin' this all types of weird."

"N-Not like that!! Reko! That's disgusting!!"

Now it's Reko's turn to laugh. Except, she bursts out in laughter. Never once has she held back on him.

Who knew.

Despite all odds, Alice Yabusame doesn't feel like he's died.

After losing her brother and dying herself, Reko Yabusame doesn't feel like she's died.

As a matter of fact...

...they've never felt more alive.