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Makoto has been terrified of the ocean ever since he was young. It was understandable too; he had lost someone very dear to him during a storm. His swimming team’s training camp had worsened that fear, and he continued to blame himself for what almost happened to his friend Rei. He would never admit it to anyone, but every night after that, he would have vivid nightmares about what happened, and he would wake up crying.
It had been around two months since he last had a nightmare, in fact he had even forgotten that he had them. He was beginning to get used to sleeping peacefully and getting enough rest. That night, however, he had that nightmare again, but this time it was worse than usual.
In his dream, he could hear Rei drowning, and he would swim as fast and as hard as he could. No matter how long he swam, Rei only seemed to be getting farther and farther away. He didn’t know how long he had been swimming, it felt like it had been years, and all of a sudden he couldn’t see Rei anymore. Had he lost him? Had Rei given out and drowned? His worst fear was coming true, he was going to lose another friend.
Before he could process all of this, he felt someone pull on his leg. Suddenly he was being dragged down to the bottom of the ocean, and he could fill his lungs starting to fill with water. He screamed for help, hoping someone, anyone, could hear him and save him. He struggled to loosen the grip of whoever was dragging him down, but his lungs were on fire and his entire body started to ache. He was panicking and his vision started to blur…
He woke up screaming. It was hard for him to breathe, and he couldn’t stop crying. He looked around and processed that he wasn’t in the bottom of the ocean, but rather in his room, safe and sound and not near the ocean at all. He looked at his clock. 3:27 am.
Wonderful, he thought to himself. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep, he still couldn’t get that dream out of his head. He knew it was silly; both him and Rei were fine, but he couldn’t stop shaking. It was at times like these that he hated being alone. Normally, he would just get some water to try and calm down, but he knew today it wouldn’t be as simple as that. He just wanted that bad feeling to go away. So, he figured he could call one of his friends.
But who could he call? He thought he might call Haru, but he doesn’t like getting woken up, and as much as Mako loves him, Haru isn’t exactly the easiest person to talk to. Nagisa was like Haru in that he hated being woken up as well, but to a more extreme degree. Calling Rei would be awkward. Sure, he got along with the guy, but how could he explain that he was in his nightmare without sounding rude?
In the end, he decided to call Rin. He hadn’t talked to Rin in a while, but he hoped that he would answer; he needed him now more than ever.
"Hello?" His voice was soft and Mako knew instantly that he had made the right decision in calling Rin.
"Hey Rin, it’s me, Makoto. I’m sorry for waking you up, but I can’t sleep."
He heard a small laugh coming from Rin. “It’s fine, I’ve been meaning to catch up with you for a while, I just hadn’t hoped it would be at three in the morning. What’s wrong?”
"I had a nightmare."
Rin was silent for a while, and Mako thought he had said something that made him angry. Of course he would be angry, he thought, I woke him up over a stupid nightmare!
"Makoto, I’ll be there in twenty minutes." The line went dead.
Wait…what?
What?!
No, this wasn’t what he had planned. He was just hoping he could talk to him on the phone for a couple of minutes, he didn’t expect him to come over! What if he was just coming over to yell at him? What if he made him cry? No no no this isn’t what he wanted!
Before he had time to calm down (again), he got a text from Rin.
Hey. I’m outside. Open up.
Had it been twenty minutes already? Oh my god he wasn’t ready, but he couldn’t leave Rin waiting. Taking a deep breath, he went downstairs and opened up the door.
Rin didn’t say anything, he just walked past Makoto and directly to his room. A very confused Makoto followed after him.
"Rin, if you’re mad at me I understand, I’m sorry for causing-"
"Makoto, it’s okay," he interrupted. He laid down on Mako’s bed and gestured for Mako to lay next to him. When Mako didn’t move, he spoke again. "I know how bad nightmares can be, and when I get them, I just want to lie down next to someone and have them tell me everything is okay. So, that’s what I’m going to do for you. Now hurry up and get in here, I’m cold and tired."
Mako had no words, he just smiled and did as he was told. Slowly, he cuddled into Rin’s arms and held onto him. Without realizing it, he began to cry. These weren’t sad or angry or even scared tears, he was crying because he was happy. He was happy that he was okay and he was happy that everything was going to be fine but most of all he was happy that Rin was here.
Rin held onto him as he cried, reassuring him that everything was okay and letting him know that he was here, that he wouldn’t go.
Before he realized it, Makoto had fallen asleep in Rin’s arms. Rin smiled and kissed his forehead before going to sleep as well.
Makoto didn’t have any more nightmares after that.