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Chishiya had long since become attuned to the sound of Kuina's breathing beside him at night, which was a skill he'd never boast about even though he was immensely proud of it. He knew from the steady rise, and fall of her chest when she was peaceful, and he could tell the exact moment her dreams' turned against her when her breathing would pause suddenly, and her brows would pull together like a wound being stitched shut.
It was like that now, as Chishiya's eyes' blinked open, incredibly in tune with Kuina's well-being that he woke up to the sound of her nightmares'. Her breathing was heavy, fast, and laboured, and she groaned as she squirmed on the mattress.
'Poor, Kuina.'
It hadn't been long since they adjusted to whatever the 'thing' should be called that they had together, but it felt as if it had been forever. They spent all day at The Beach together, divising plans', laughing at the pure idiotic nature of the other players', swearing at Niragi when he couldn't see or hear them, sleeping together, eating together, showering together; all of it should've been classified as things couples' did together, but that had never been established so he said nothing.
"Kuina." His voice was clear, and smooth, just loud enough to wake her without startling her into consciousness. Chishiya had shaken her awake too many times, and he knew it always ended with a grumpy frown, and a mopey Kuina. It was way too early for that.
"Kuina, wake up, you're fine." Chishiya reached out to her, Kuina's jaw slackening as air got caught in her lungs, and laid a warm plam on her chest. Her heartbeat was frantic through the thin fabric of his shirt, and it pained Chishiya in a way he didn't know was possible for someone like him. Kuina deserved peace, especially in her sleep, not the constant fear that shrouded her.
Dark eyes' snapped open, and before Chishiya could process what had happened he was flat on his back. There was a strong hand around his throat, another on his wrist, and blood rushed to his face as his air-supply was cut off.
There was nothing in those eyes' but hatred.
"Kuina." Chishiya croaked, effectively pinned by the knees' Kuina had locked around his hips'. His wrist was burning, he knew Kuina would snap out of it if he pushed just that little bit harder, and he noticed tears spring to her eyes' as he fought to squirm beneath her. He wasn't strong enough though, and the last thing he wanted was to hurt Kuina trying to fling her off of him.
Kuina blinked, and the hands wrapped around him vanished. Kuina's whole face distorted into one of horror, and her weight disappeared to the far side of his mattress as he coughed.
His throat was on fire, his wrist aching, and his whole head throbbing as blood began to flow out of it to where it should've been all along. It hurt, but the way his heart clenched beneath his ribcage was worse when he saw the way Kuina was looking at him.
"I'm fine," He promised, raising his palms' in surrender as he rose to his knees'. Kuina was bone stiff like a statue, her eyes' wide with fear, and her face was one of pure terror as Chishiya shuffled towards her. "Can i touch-"
"Don't." Kuina snapped, and Chishiya dropped his hands' to his thighs'. Her eyes' shone due to the moonlight, locked on his throat, more specifically locked on the way his neck bloomed red, and purple, and Chishiya wanted nothing more in that moment than to wrap her up in his arms', and never let go.
Silence filled the room. Chishiya's eyes' wandered, and his shoulders' slumped as he folded his fingers' in his lap. Kuina looked as if she would bolt at any moment, and he didn't move incase that was the trigger for her to run. Her breathing was quick, and sharp, brows knotted with distress, and Chishiya could just feel her thoughts gripping her throat.
"Kuina," He started when the silence had been too quiet, and had felt like it had stretched on for far longer than he liked. She didn't look at him, her dark hair shadowing her face as it was so messy, but her shoulders' stiffened at the sound of his voice. "I am okay, I was just suprised."
Kuina's body had begun to tremble, coiled tight, and Chishiya craved affection as he watched the weight of her past crawl onto her shoulders'. It wouldn't help though, not when Kuina didn't want it.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, sounding a moment from tears. She wouldn't lift her eyes' stubbornly, and when Chishiya inched a palm towards her over the sheets, she flinched away. "I don't-I'm sorry."
Chishiya's sigh was soft, and he shook his head as he retreated. "Would you like to tell me what you were dreaming of?" Maybe he needed a new game plan, treating the situation as if it was a regular occurrence might work. "It might help you."
A scoff, and a drealock was flicked as Kuina shook her head. There was a sad frown on her face, but she moved to sink into the pillow she slept on in his bed, getting as far away from Chishiya as she could get, and that was a win in his books'. Atleast she hadn't bolted.
"Same shit as always," She sounded a little less away from crying when she spoke, more exhausted rather than distressed, and she pulled the duvet up over her shoulders', tucking her chin into her knees' as her eyes' shut. If Chishiya didn't know her as well as he did, he'd assume Kuina was as relaxed as she looked, but he could feel the guilt radiating off of her. "What's there to talk about?"
Chishiya was quiet as he moved to crawl back under the duvet, drawing it up over himself as he settled against his pillow. The burning sensation against his throat had since eased, and although his wrist twinged when he rolled it, he could ignore it easily enough. He was fine, truly. There was nothing Kuina would be able to do that would shake him of his trust for her.
"Can i touch your arm?" Chishiya asked instead, his gaze soft where it glanced at Kuina's fixed posture. She wouldn't be going back to sleep that night, and he knew that. Sometimes she was able to after a nightmare, coaxed into sleep with sleepy kisses', tucked against Chishiya's side, but he had a suspicion that tonight would be a night where her thoughts' remained behind her eyes' until the moon went away, and the sun rose.
Kuina didn't answer immediately, and Chishiya could see the war taking place in her brain through the sharp set of her features, and the tension in her shoulders'. He waited patiently, her fingers gripping her knees' roughly beneath the covers, and Kuina shook her head harshly.
"I don't think you should." It wasn't a no, and Chishiya had never been a person who was afraid of pushing. Kuina trusted him, he was certain of that, familiarity, and time had warned him when the right time to touch her without asking was.
He reached out, fingertips' pressing into the fine hair on Kuina's forearm, warm, and so soft that it could have been dismissed all together. Kuina's body went stiff, but she didn't push him away, and Chishiya held his breath, observing as the tension bled out of her in increments.
"You're safe, Kuina." He whispered, and his heart hurt as dark eyes' locked onto his. She didn't deserve the war in her mind, and Chishiya wanted to strip it away from her, kiss it away until the only thought left in her pretty little head was warmth, and joy. Instead, he settled with wrapping his fingers' securely around her arm, his palm warm, and firm against the taught skin. "I won't let anyone hurt you again."
She didn't reply, but it didn't matter as Chishiya whispered a quiet 'I love you' into the darkness of his room, hand still curled around Kuina's forearm. The last thing registering in his brain before sleep claimed him being a soft kiss pressing against his hand.
Kuina was safe with him, and he would make sure it stayed that way.