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It was dark, pitch black almost. There was nothing terrifying about it, it was a familiar place you always come to during your time of sleep. Speaking of which, you were but you forgot why. You were watching the fifth round of the tournament with Purgatory. The match up was Ryuki and Naidan-
Oh...
Oh, oh yeah, that’s right...
The incident…
Naidan is...
As you begin to wake up, you are greeted with bright white lights and a pale ceiling. From just seeing those, you can assume that you were in the infirmary. With the light stinging your eyes, you had to blink a few times before your vision could clear up. You sat up on the bed, remembering everything before you blacked out. Your train of thought stopped when you heard rustling on your left. You turn your head to find Liu Dongcheng sitting on a chair, worry and concern casted upon his eyes. He shifted from his seat to your bedside, catching you with your body with you slumped slightly over in his direction. You let your head fall on his head, not wanting to think about moving it. Liu didn’t know what to do because he couldn’t really read you after you just woke up. But, it wouldn’t take him long to understand when you lighty gripped his shirt and pushed yourself more into him.
“Liu, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be out there with the rest of them? Why are you here with me?”
“Well, I was the one who brought you here in the first place. It would be wrong of me to leave you here all by yourself.”
He then sighs, wrapping an arm around you. He knew that everything up until your blackout would eventually come to you sooner or later, and it would be up to him to clarify anything that happened. Yet, he didn’t know it would come so soon as your grip began to tighten on his front. Your breathing didn’t change but the atmosphere made it a bit harder to calm down.
“... He’s dead, isn’t he, Liu?”
“I beg your pardon, (Y/N)?”
“Naidan... He’s dead, right?”
To the naked eye, you were surprisingly calm for someone who passed out and woke up knowing your significant other was gone. But Liu knew otherwise, the reason why you were calm is because the shock value was gone and you’re just coming to terms with your reality. He knew you wanted to cry and scream at what happened but he also knows you weren’t someone to do it out in the open. Liu doesn’t say anything, only nodding his head to answer your question. Sighing, you pulled yourself away from Liu. Lifting your eyes up to his, you wondered how he was holding up. He was fairly close with your recently late lover. So you wondered how he was holding up in all of this, after all he was the one who reacted way more than you did. His eyes were hard, not lifeless, but stern. And yet, you notice they slightly soften when you level your eye contact to him.
“Liu, you can go now. I’ll be fine by myself.”
“I’m not leaving you here all alone, (Y/N).” He retorted
“But Liu, you’re competing for Purgatory. You have to go back, you cooled down enough to be level headed and my health is not endangered.”
Liu doesn’t give a reply, he just stares at you. Silence fell upon the both of you, not one of you wanting to speak or say anything. But it suddenly dawned on you what might be going on.
“Liu... You’re... You’re not withdrawing, are you?”
“What!? No, I’m not. I’m just... just thinking about all of this…”
Now you’re worried, he wasn’t someone who wouldn’t just drop anything for nothing. But he was someone who was led more by his emotions than his head. It’s not like you didn’t know this side of him, you have seen it multiple times from your time knowing him. And still, this was a piece of Liu you weren’t used to.
“Liu, please don’t be irrational-”
“I’m not being irrational here, (Y/N). I just want to get payback for a certain someone once I have cooled myself down.”
His fist clenched tightly causing his hold on you to be a bit stronger for your current situation. You tried to push away but only got a little distance between the two of you. Your eyes flying wide as your thoughts bounced to intangible conclusions.
“Liu! You can’t just go over and kill Gaoh Ryuki! Besides Purgatory’s no killing rule that you would be violating, you also will be killing a Kengan Association fighter too! That would be too reckless and dangerous for you!”
Liu rolls his eyes and snorts at what you said. He gave a shit-eating grin to you and the glint in his eyes made you slightly shudder.
“Come on, (Y/N). You can’t be seriously defending him from what he did to Naidan, right? You saw the aftermath, look what happened.”
The tension in the air wasn’t even clearing up. In fact, it was heating up a bit to make your blood warm up.
“But Liu, you felt the atmosphere in the fight. It wasn’t a damn fight and you knew it. I may not be a fighter but I’ve been around here long enough to know what’s a murder match and a fight.”
“So you think that Kid should be off the hook? HE MURDERED NAIDAN IN COLD BLOOD-!”
“LIU DONGCHENG!!! Gaoh Ryuki didn’t murder Naidan out of cold blood!! He did it out of self-defense! And Liu, he didn’t want to kill him. Did you see him?! He looked so terrified for murdering someone in cold blood. Liu, please listen to me-”
You knew Liu had a hard time listening to an opposing side and you were for sure going to repeat what happened on stage. Liu’s fingers digged deep in his hand, deep enough to cause bruises and blemishes.
“So what about Naidan!? Do you care about him?!”
“Of course I do!!! But how can I be certain the Naidan that loved me and was your friend was the true Naidan, not the one on stage?”
He wanted to rebuttal you, saying that the Naidan on stage was the real one. His very friend, and your lover. But he knew you had a point, this was just a huge mess after the other and you two got caught into it. It’s stressful and heart straining and you both knew it wasn’t ideal. There was a part of him that wanted to fight you for the incident. That you should be the one angry, and not him. But he still doesn't get it, how can you be the way you currently are. Sighing, you stretched out your hand to caress his cheek to get his attention. His gaze falls upon you again without the harsh glare.
“Liu, look. Everything is just confusing and stressful right now and I overheard the outcomes of the previous matches in my sleep. However, I know for a fact that Ryuki didn’t want to kill Naidan and Naidan forced Ryuki to kill him. I know it doesn’t sound like him but don’t we all have skeletons in the closet? There’s something going on behind all of this that’s causing the big picture here. So please, the reason why I’m like this is because I know there’s more than what meets the eye, okay Liu?”
He grunts and averts his eyes towards the tv to the current match up that’s going on right now. You loved Naidan, you loved him deeply. But Liu also has a special place in your heart too. However, you wanted to have a clear mind before deciding upon your feelings right now. Wanting his full attention, you gently slide your thumb across his cheek to return it back to you. It works and you have his full attention again.
“Liu, please. I don’t want you to lose yourself and become reckless. That’s all my concern is. I’m not mad, I’m just worrying, that’s all.”
Liu then gets off your bed and walks towards the curtains to leave, saying he needs to go back to the team and see what’s going on. Before pulling the curtains open, you called out to him once more. He doesn’t turn his head but he shifts his head so he side-eyes you.
“One last thing before you go. Please be careful out there, Liu.”
The man chuckles and strides back to you. Oddly enough, he leaned down to place his forehead on yours. Whispering to you that he’ll come out alive and okay. He then kisses your forehead before he walks out of your space. He looks back and gives you a small heading back to the arena. As you sat there by yourself, you can only pray that he’ll be rational. So he’ll be back okay and in one piece. That you’ll await for his return alive and not cry over another loss.