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This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Are you Nayuki?”
No, not really.
“Sorry, maybe that’s too vague. Are you Kitakata Raito’s younger brother?”
Yes. In every timeline, every universe.
“Raito-san? Yes… Yes, I’ve found him. We’re in the alley at the corner of—”
No, no, no. Don’t call the fucking fool.
“...Please stop struggling. I have to fulfill my contract, you see.”
Shut up. Let him go. Please, please. He can’t meet him like this.
Heavy footsteps start to ring loudly in Nayuki’s ears. His wrist in this deceptively plain-looking guy’s hand is start to hurt, and if his grip wasn’t so still, Nayuki would’ve considered mangling his wrist in an attempt to wriggle it out because he absolutely can’t look at him—
“Tao! Tao, you said you…!” The footsteps stop harshly at the entrance. There’s a sharp inhale of breath. Nayuki doesn’t even know when the contracted agent guy leaves until his body is pulled backwards into an embrace.
“Nayuki!”
Permanently warm hands always hold onto his, touch his skin, and tug on his clothes. They draw him in like a flame calls to a moth. His voice…it’s different in pitch and sometimes has a lisp, or a drawl, or both—but it always calls for him with the same emotions behind it. Affection. Joy. Contentment.
“Nayuki… won’t you look at me?”
His brother’s current name is on his tongue. His name is always on his tongue. Ready to be screamed. Agony. Despair. Outrage.
“...You’ll remember.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You’ll remember. You’ll remember everything you’ve ever fucking did and then what will have been the point of me running away? You’ll remember everything and justify it again and again and I’ll be the only one hurting because you don’t care about yourself, so I have to.” The anger is hot in his chest but the burn can’t compare to the heat in his eyes.
The warm hands remove themselves from Nayuki. Cold air replaces them. “Nayuki, what are you talking about?”
He clenches his fist. “You don’t know a goddamn thing until you look into my eyes, and at that point, I might as well die.”
“What?” is that tiny, breathless whisper. The warm hands come back to grip at Nayuki’s shoulders, white-hot. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Nayuki, but don’t talk about yourself dying like that. I just found you—”
“That’s some rich shit coming from you!” he can’t help but yell. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here! If it weren’t for your stupid penchant of protecting the weak, protecting me, you could…! You could be happy…! Somewhere else!” His breath comes in gasping inhales. The fiery pressure in his eyes has finally been released, making hot tears run down his face.
Sobbing fills the empty alleyway. Nayuki digs the heels of his hands into his eyes, but a soft pressure pushes on his wrists. Reluctantly, his hands fall.
“Nayuki,” Raito— his brother, his reason, his most hated person— says softly. “Can you please look at me?”
His hands shake in his brother’s hold. “No, no, you can’t. You’ll remember everything and justify it, swear by all your idiocy, and I won’t be able to do a goddamn thing against you.”
“Please, Nayuki.”
It’s hopeless.
Swallowing his guilt, Nayuki reluctantly turns to face Raito.
He can pinpoint the exact moment his brother regains his memories, when twin pairs of green eyes meet, and Raito’s eyes widen to match Nayuki’s to a frightening degree. It’s funny. They were identical twins in the life just before this one.
“Oh, Nayuki,” Raito says softly, his shoulder slumping with relief, sloping with the weight of memories far beyond what a normal person should recollect. “I… I love you.”
Nayuki’s nails dig red crescents into his skin. “I know.”
“I’m glad we’re brothers again.”
“I know.”
“I… I don’t. I want… I need you. To live.”
“I know.”
Raito pulls Nayuki towards him, unfurling his hands and massaging bruised palms before hugging him properly, arms tight around his one and only brother.
“I’m sorry for being selfish.”
Nayuki finds it all too easy to latch onto his brother, hands desperate to envelope and protect him— his brother, his heart, his most hated person— the same way Raito’s hands curl protectively over the back of Nayuki’s chest.
“I know you’re not, you fucking liar.”