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It's another night of watching over Mahiru as she recovers from fresh wounds, another night of watching over her battered friend slowly lift herself away from the brink of death. Yuno watches her chest rise and fall under the blanket she brought, faint and weak but never wavering.
It's just another normal night of looking after her– until it's not.
"Can I tell you a secret?" Mahiru asks in the dead of night, voice quiet and raspy from disuse. She mumbles the question into her pillow, drifting between wakefulness and sleep.
"Sure." Yuno replies, brushing strands of hair away from her face with cold fingers. It's a beautiful colour– like honey, she thinks.
"If I were to fall asleep right now, and never wake up… I wouldn't really mind."
Yuno pauses, fingers stopping for a moment.
"Is that so?" The palm of her hand rests against warm skin. She mulls on her words before responding, "…Then, can I tell you a secret too?"
"Mhm," Mahiru nods gently back, forehead leaning into the touch. Yuno is careful not to agitate the bandages that wrap around her head.
"I haven't felt alive for a while, myself…" it's funny how when she says it out loud she can feel her skin growing cooler– clammy, even. "So it's a real shame, for someone so warm to feel that way, too."
Mahiru's eyes half-open at that, bleary from sleep. They blink slowly up towards Yuno.
"Really…?"
"Yeah."
It doesn't feel like a secret, to speak it into existence, when the thought has lived and breathed in her mind for a while. However, there's a solidifying reality to the words left hanging in the room between two people that know what they mean. It's a little scary, even. But despite that… there's something reassuring about choosing to do it with a sleepy, half-conscious Mahiru in the middle of the night.
A small silence follows before Mahiru replies, as she becomes a little more awake, as the sentences sink in. Her eyes search her friend, a doleful expression washing over her face.
"I didn't… I didn't know you… but you're always so upbeat, and– and so positive all the time, and–"
"–And so are you." Yuno cuts in, unable to help herself. Her words are bitterly cold, absolutely sub-zero in temperature, but…her eyes gaze back at Mahiru's with a little warmth. Tepid, even.
The room goes quiet once more, but words are silently spoken between the two prisoners. The resentment of being judged for the way that they love, and having that love bring them to a breaking point. The feeling of being selfish despite it all. It's a resounding sentiment of 'I understand you' that fills the empty space.
After what feels like hours, Mahiru speaks up.
"Yuno…thank you. For you to come and help me… even when you're feeling the way you are… you're not really a cold person, are you?"
She lifts her good arm out of the sheets and blankets to place a hand on top of Yuno's.
"Well–" she adds on, "you are cold, like, to the touch. But not on the inside! I–" she interrupts herself with a series of coughs, chest jolting with the force of it, "I… just know it."
"Hey, let's stop talking for a while, okay? Your chest sounds terrible and I don't want Shidou chiding me for doing a poor job at being your nightwatch." It's all she can think to say in response to such heartfelt words, which, in retrospect she decides is very shitty of her. So she chooses instead to double down and do what she does best: be silly and change the topic. "I can imagine it already– his puckered up face like he's just sucked on a sour lemon. 'Yuno, thank you for your help, but please… our poor patient can't keep handing out exceedingly nice comments! She'll die of complimentitis!' …did I do his voice right?"
It's a moment too late to realise that sending Mahiru into a fit of giggles is a terrible idea before it happens anyway. As expected, it goes from giggles to coughing fits, and Yuno wonders for a brief horrifying moment if she'll have to actually get Shidou and explain to him what happened…but thankfully, Mahiru handles it like a champ and composes herself. The trickles of burbling laughter that ebb away do find a way into Yuno's own chest, blooming into a small warmth. A very small warmth amidst the cold, but a warmth nonetheless.
"Are you okay?"
"I… I'm fine! You're just… very funny." Mahiru giggles again, quietly this time. "It did sound a lot like him, by the way. You're way too good at that!"
Yuno allows herself a smile.
"Okay, good…phew, I thought I was in trouble for a minute there!" She starts smoothing out the bedding, "but seriously, let's get you settled and off to sleep. You really need the rest, Mappi."
The patient in question ruins her good work by grabbing the corner of the sheets and blankets and peeling it away.
"Okay, but…let me warm you up."
"…Mahiru–"
"You're cold, aren't you? I'm not letting you sleep in that chair, that's way too uncomfortable." She begins to slowly shuffle to one side of the bed– which is something she absolutely shouldn't do in her state– but does so anyway, smiling at her handiwork. "See? There's loads of space… it can be like a sleepover!"
Yuno stares at the empty spot in the bed and wraps her icy hands around herself.
"I'm just gonna make you feel worse."
"That's impossible," she counters back confidently, "because you've already made me feel a lot better. So," one hand pats the mattress, "let me do the same. Please."
The warmth from earlier blooms a little more, and Yuno can't find it in herself to argue further. So she takes off her shoes and ever so carefully slides herself into the bed beside Mahiru. With the bed being a double and not a single, there's thankfully enough space for the two of them without having to worry about breaking the other arm by accident.
Mahiru turns her head to look at Yuno snug under the covers. "How does it feel? Is it warm enough?"
She thinks about it.
"…Yeah, it's nice." It's very nice, with both the bedsheets and the blanket and Mahiru next to her like a little heater. Yuno doesn't feel warm… but she doesn't as cold as she normally does. So in that way, it's a success.
"Good!" Mahiru's cheeks glow brighter, and she looks up at the ceiling, closing her eyes. "I'll make sure you don't freeze…"
"And I'll make sure you wake up in the morning."
"Mhm."
Yuno watches over Mahiru, making sure she drifts back to sleep, until her own eyelids start drooping and she falls asleep too.