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Sougo wakes to Woz's hand on his shoulder, gently shaking him. "Mmm... what is it?" he says, slowly opening his eyes.
Next to him, Woz is sitting up in the bed, and his focus is somewhere behind Sougo when he says, "It seems we have a visitor."
Sougo rubs the sleep from his eyes, rolls over, and immediately freezes. Standing next to the bed, with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open, is his eighteen-year-old self.
"Oh," Sougo says when he gets over his own shock. He didn't realize how close they were to this day.
His younger self sucks in a deep breath and looks back and forth between him and Woz. It's only then that Sougo recalls that neither of them are wearing much of anything, and that his scars are in full view.
He feels the mattress shift, and then Woz is fully dressed and standing next to his side of the bed. He bows. "Greetings, my young demon king."
Sougo rolls his eyes, but before he can say anything, his younger self is taking two shaky steps backwards and running for the first door he sees. He closes it behind him and there's the tell-tale click of the lock securing into place.
Sougo sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He remembers this -- how confused he had been to be transported into the future only to be greeted by the sight of his future self in bed with someone he hadn't expected.
He gets up and as he gets dressed, Woz comes around the bed. He places a hand on Sougo's shoulder and asks, "Are you alright?"
He nods, because as strange as this is for him, he's had a long time to think about what he's going to do. He has a script ready -- one built from his own memories and solidified by years of theorizing what-ifs. He covers Woz's hand with his own and squeezes it in gratitude before making his way over to the bathroom door.
"Hey," he says softly, knocking.
He doesn't get a response, and he doesn't expect one. He waits, and the second hand on the clock on his nightstand makes a complete circle before he hears movement and the sound of the door being unlocked.
"I'm coming in," he announces.
His younger self is where he expected him to be: sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, hugging his knees to his chest. He raises his head and asks, "You're me... aren't you?"
Sougo nods and shuts the door behind him. "It's 2027. You've traveled here because of that Another Rider's attack."
His younger self sits up a little straighter. "How did you know that?"
Sougo asked his future self the same thing all those years ago, and it feels nostalgic in the strangest way to be reliving this from the other side. He offers his younger self a smile. "Because I was once hit by that same attack and ended up where you are now."
His younger self takes a second to process that. "Oh."
"Don't worry. Tsukuyomi and Woz will find a way to return you to your time soon," he tells him, even though he knows that this isn't what his younger self is worried about. "You won't be here very long."
His younger self swallows and his gaze drops to Sougo's chest where his most prominent scar is now hidden by his shirt. "Is that from... how did that happen?"
"I can't tell you without altering the timeline," Sougo says, hating that he can't spare his younger self the fight where it happened. He takes a seat on the ground and crosses his legs. "But that's not what you really want to know."
His younger self looks away. "You're not king."
"What makes you think that?" He knows his younger self is picking up on the fact that their apartment is modest, and nothing like the palace he hoped to find in the future.
"This place... it's not..."
"That doesn't mean I'm not king."
"Wait, are you king then? Does that meant we succeed?"
Again, Sougo wants to answer but doesn't. Revealing too much information will ruin his younger self's chances of creating this peaceful future in the first place.
"You can't tell me that either, can you?" his younger self asks.
Sougo shakes his head. "I'm sorry."
His younger self sighs, but then perks up again. "But then... what about...?" His gaze darts to the door but he quickly lowers his head as a flush dusts his cheeks.
The corners Sougo's lips quirk upwards. He also remembers this from his own brief trip to this time. The thought of him and Woz together, even as unexpected as it was, sent a thrill through him -- a jolt of unexpected excitement that he didn't understand yet.
Still, it took a long time for him to trust Woz, and it took even longer for Woz to stop thinking of him as a king to guide, let alone for Woz to develop feelings for him. "You and your Woz still have a lot of history to live before anything happens," Sougo says carefully.
There's silence as his younger self takes this in and Sougo feels a sudden rush of compassion for who he was -- this young man completely unaware that the worst is yet to come. He brings himself to his feet and offers his younger self a hand up. "Your time here is almost over."
"How much time do I have left?" his younger self asks, taking his hand, but the second he's standing, he starts to glow. He stares down at the pinpoints of light dotting his skin and then meets Sougo's eyes, frowning. "Can you tell me anything else about the future?"
He can't, not really, but there is something he's able to share -- a small gift he was given when he was the one confused and disoriented by this glimpse into the future. "Even if things don't go according to plan, you're going find ways to be happy."
His younger self's brows furrow at the same time some of the tension bleeds out of his shoulders. "I'll be... happy?"
"Yeah," he says, smiling, but his younger self doesn't get a chance to hear or see him before he vanishes in a swirl of light, sent back to his own time.
As Sougo stares at the spot where he was just standing, he can't help but wish that there was more he could've offered without destroying the fragile threads of fate, but he breathes easier with the knowledge that one day, his younger self will get to where he is now.
He goes back out into the bedroom where Woz is waiting for him, and when Woz pulls him close and wraps his arms around him, he takes further comfort in knowing that his younger self won't have to get there alone.