Nine Lives

21. Suffer

Seijurou stares at Tetsuya in fear from next to the bed. The moment he heard his scream, he knew. He's been dreading this since Tetsuya started having the dreams. The fire was by far one of his worst deaths.

Seijurou reaches out to hold Tetsuya's arms as he writhes and sobs and begs for help. He pulls his arms down and away from where he was clawing at his skin and crouches next to the bed so he's face to face with Kuroko.

"Tetsuya! Tetsuya it was a dream! Tetsuya!"

Seijurou's words don't seem to be getting through to Kuroko. His shirt is soaked in sweat and he's coughing violently between cries for help, his eyes are screwed shut and tears are streaming down his face.

"Help me! Please! The fire!" He says, his voice cracking. "Get out! It's burning!"

"Tetsuya!! Look at me Tetsuya! It was a dream! It's over now! Tetsuya!" Seijurou begs, holding him by the shoulders and trying to get him to open his eyes. Seijurou is panicking.

Kuroko's breathing is hard and fast and his body is shaking, but he can hear Sei's voice. He can hear the fear in his voice and feel the blistering heat of the fire.

"Sei! Get out Sei! The house! Please Sei!" Kuroko sobs.

"I'm here Tetsuya! I'm okay! The fire is gone!" Seijurou reaches up to cup Kuroko's cheeks. "Open your eyes, Tetsuya please! Open your eyes!"

Kuroko reaches his hands up shakily and holds Sei's wrists. He's gasping through his sobs and the tears obscure his vision, but he opens his eyes to look up at the familiar. Seijurou is relieved.

"Good! That's good Tetsuya." His voice calmer now. "It was a dream. I'm okay. I'm here. It's okay now Tetsuya."

Tetsuya's eyes are wide as he looks at Sei. His chest heaves irregularly with his sobs and he tries to speak. For a moment he only opens and closes his mouth, still shaking, still crying. There's a banging at the apartment door but Kuroko can't hear it and Seijurou ignores it.

"Sei."

"Yes. I'm here Tetsuya. It's okay now."

Seijurou tries to smile reassuringly to Kuroko. He strokes his thumb over the boy's cheek, catching a few tears before they are soon replaced.

"Sei." Kuroko repeats. "Sei!"

His body stops shaking so violently and the smoke and flames become smaller. He stares into the familiar's red and yellow eyes before he starts to sob again. Seijurou pulls the blankets away and sits down on the bed in front of Kuroko.

"It's okay, Tetsuya. It's okay."

Kuroko crawls over to Seijurou, wrapping his arms around the familiar's neck like a child. Seijurou lets him, shifting so Kuroko can sit comfortably. He wraps his arms around Kuroko's back as the boy sobs into his shoulder. Kuroko's legs wrap around Sei's waist as he clings to him, repeating his name over and over. Seijurou holds him, leaning his head down against Kuroko's damp hair.

"It's okay." He whispers.

Seijurou rubs Kuroko's back as he listens to his muffled voice. The sound of the front door opening catching Sei's attention. He turns his head to the bedroom doorway to see a worried Momoi appear there. She stops in the doorway and takes in the scene before her with wide eyes. Seijurou observes her for a moment but doesn't say anything. His attention shifts quickly as Kuroko starts to speak words that aren't the familiar's name again.

"The house... Why would they..." Kuroko hiccups, he still can't stop the tears.

"Shh, it's okay Tetsuya. They were just humans who acted in fear of what they couldn't understand."