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He felt cold. There was nothing around him but unending darkness.
He was alone.
…
“Hikaru?”
Nothing.
“Hikaru! Are you there? Hello?”
No response.
“Hikaru…”
He didn’t know when he had sunk to his knees, but he didn’t have the strength to remain upright any longer.
“No…”
He drew his knees into his chest, burying his head inside of them.
“Please…”
He couldn’t stop the rush of hot tears running down his cheeks.
“Please don’t leave me too…”
He sobbed quietly, all alone in the dark, until…
A bright light.
It was shining directly onto him from ahead.
He raised an arm to shield his eyes from the sudden flare.
The light intensified, filling his entire vision.
And with it, the sound of an approaching engine, the screeching of tires, and then…
A crash.
~~~
He woke with a scream.
His heart was beating so violently in his chest that he felt it throughout his entire body. The rush of blood in his ears was deafening. His breaths were short, ragged, and yet they didn’t seem to fill his lungs with any oxygen.
Around him, the darkness shifted and swirled.
It took a while for his body to realize that he wasn’t dying. That he wasn’t in any apparent danger. Just lying in his bed, late at night, having just woken up from a bad dream.
He lay back down, grabbing his head as he rolled onto his side.
Damn it. He hated his nightmares.
They left him with a suffocating feeling. A primal state of panic, in which even breathing became too complicated, and he woke up choking on invisible tears every time.
He rolled onto his back again, staring at the ceiling he couldn’t see in the darkness.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath in and tried to relax.
…
He sighed in frustration.
It was useless. He wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep any time soon.
He reached over, switching on the lamp on his nightstand.
The soft light illuminated the room partially, creating a cozy atmosphere he didn’t really care for right now.
When he sat on the side of the bed, ready to get up, and just do something – anything – to pass the time until his body collapsed again, his eyes fell onto his shadow. The light of the lamp behind him cast his silhouette onto the wall. His outline, which was so strikingly similar to Hikaru’s… he could almost see him, sitting on the side of his hospital bed, smiling gently at him.
“Hikaru... “
That’s right. Hikaru was his reason for doing all of this. He was the reason he had left Japan and gone to this strange foreign country. The reason he had handed himself over to the Orion Foundation.
His hand found his way down his left leg, to the mark just above his ankle. The sign of Orion.
He had made the right decision. The Orion Foundation was a world-wide renowned organization. Their influence reached far and they were affluent. They could provide Hikaru with the surgery he needed...
Why was he doubting himself now? He was so close to achieving his goal. Soon he would be sent off to Japan to fulfill his final mission.
Yet the closer his departure drew, the more unstable he felt. The nightmares hadn’t been this intense in a long time. Was it because he was returning to Japan? Where old memories lay buried? Or was it because he was going to see Hikaru again? But why would he be getting nightmares about being alone then? After all, once they finally reunited, he wouldn’t be alone anymore.
That’s right. He wasn’t alone. He had Hikaru. Even if they had lost both of their parents, they still had each other. They only had each other. He didn’t need anyone else as long as he had Hikaru.
That’s why he couldn’t waver.
No matter what happened, he had to keep going. No matter how low he had to sink, what atrocities he had to commit, he would bear it all.
For him.
For Hikaru, his everything.
He stood, deciding on a way to occupy himself until sleep found him again.
Outside his field of vision, the darkness grew heavier and deeper.