Work Text:
Yoshiki wasn’t used to this. He wasn’t used to being so… paid attention to? It was confusing, especially since he was now a forest monster's object of affection.
Hikaru always seemed to avoid eye contact with him. Whether in class, on the train or outside their favorite shop, Hikaru would always be in his own world, facing away from him.
Even after he accepted that Hikaru was no longer in his own body, in his own mind, Yoshiki still assumed that ‘Hikaru’ operated in his own head, keeping all his thoughts to himself. After all, the old Hikaru did.
”Humans are so silly.”
‘Hikaru’ sat up from the bed, giggling at his phone screen. They had decided to crash at Yoshiki's house for the afternoon, with ‘Hikaru’ glued to his phone and Yoshiki at his desk messing around with the map of the town. He glanced over at ‘Hikaru’ from his seat at the desk, waiting for him to continue.
‘Hikaru’ bounced up and off the bed, bounding over to him, the phone screen stretched out to show off what he had been looking at. He gently held ‘Hikarus’ phone still as the monster thrusted it in front of his face. It looked like a small passage, with a sentence in quotations, typed out in a bold font at the bottom.
"Eyes are windows to the soul."
Yoshiki only skimmed over the paragraph. Something about always believing what your gut says about a person with a scary story attached to it.
He raised an eyebrow, "It's just some vague scary post, there's hundreds of them." He pushed himself away from the desk to face ‘Hikaru’ fully. "It's a metaphor, no one actually believes it." ‘Hikaru's' face drops slightly, making that small pout he does when he's confused.
He is startled slightly as ‘Hikaru’ leans forward, placing his hands on the arms of the chair. Yoshiki is suddenly met with two piercing red eyes staring into his own, only a couple inches away. His immediate thought is to push himself away, but he doesn't. ‘Hikaru's’ pupils are moving, glowing, wiggling around in his eye. He squints slightly, like he's trying to find something.
He can't breathe, Yoshiki can only focus on how close they are, how weird his stomach feels just from the eye contact. Everything suddenly gets really quiet as they look at each other. Yoshiki feels himself let out a shaky breath as the eyes he's looking into seemingly come back to reality. ‘Hikaru’ tilts his head and giggles again, Yoshiki feels his heart beat a little faster.
"I believe it, I can see yours right now." ‘Hikaru’ whispers, gently pulling away from their close contact.
He lets out a weak breath, "You can see my soul?"
‘Hikaru's' eyes morph again, his pupils almost look like hearts as he squints. "Yes, it's… warm."
Yoshiki knows ‘Hikaru’ didn't mean it. He didn't mean to scare him, to latch onto him, or to attach himself to Yoshiki like that.
It felt cold, like being dipped into an ice bath. Then it didn't feel like anything, maybe it was numbness but he didn't care, he was too focused on how it was inside of him. How it moved from his throat to the back of his eyes. Like he was being suffocated and held at the same time. It was a horrible thought, but it almost felt gentle.
‘Hikaru’ clung to him. The poor boy was almost shaking, holding him like he was going to disappear. Yoshiki couldn't help but lean into him. Threading his hands through the white hair in an attempt to calm the monster down. He couldn't help but think how dramatic this forest spirit was, like a kid with abandonment issues.
Yoshiki watched as tears started to roll down ‘Hikaru's’ face as he whispered, "I don't care who ya' talk to, just don't leave me."
His stomach felt uneasy again, but Yoshiki couldn't help but laugh. He cupped the poor monster's face in his hands, looking into the now wet eyes that still wobbled. "Yer' just a brat aren't you."
‘Hikaru’s' pupils dilated, blinking away the last few tears caught in his eyes. Yoshiki could practically hear his heart beating as ‘Hikaru’ leaned closer to him again. His lip wobbled slightly, mouth hanging open to show off his jagged tooth. He looked pitiful, who knew a monster could display such a human emotion?
Yoshiki watched the blood red eyes melt and snap back into circles again. Without noticing it, he moved closer to ‘Hikaru’, practically breathing against the monster's lips.
Their staring contest came to a close when he watched ‘Hikaru’s' eyes flicker down to his lips.
It Snapped him back to reality. Yoshiki leaned back and covered his mouth with his hand. He quickly pulled his face away from ‘Hikaru’, looking off to the side instead.
"I should get goin'." He whispered. Glancing back at ‘Hikaru’, Yoshiki saw that he was still staring.
The summer wind blew at Yoshiki's face, warm air filling his lungs as he looked out at the ocean. They were sitting on the beach, clothes still wet from being in the water.
‘Hikaru’ was right, he is very different from the old Hikaru. Sure they share the same body, some of the same reactions, jokes and laugh, but Hikaru used to keep to himself. He used to look like he was in his own world, one that Yoshiki wasn't a part of. Hikaru liked talking about the future, about where he wanted to be and who he wanted to be. He never looked at Yoshiki, not in any special way.
But this ‘Hikaru’? He likes completely different things. ‘Hikaru’ likes to share how he feels because Yoshiki is the only person who knows that it's his first time feeling it. He is so much more emotional, so much more open and it makes Yoshiki's head spin.
‘Hikaru’ loves movies, eating ice cream, he likes school and is amazed at what he learns. In the deepest part of Yoshiki's heart, he wants to know more. He wants to watch ‘Hikaru’ learn more things, he wants him to love more, he wants him to be more than just what is inside his dead friend's body.
Yoshiki looked over to where ‘Hikaru’ sat. A vague memory of when they last came out to the beach replaying in his head. This time, ‘Hikaru’ was looking back at him.
Yoshiki was caught off guard, his eyes widened at the sight. Suddenly, he felt that they were too far apart. ‘Hikaru’ must also be a mind reader because he moved closer to him.
‘Hikaru’ looked nervous, his hands fidgeting in his lap.
"Yoshiki, let me look into your eyes more."
What?
"What?" Yoshiki could feel a faint color come to his face. ‘Hikaru’s' eyes dart off to the side as he also develops a faint blush.
"I- uh, I like looking at your eyes."
Yoshiki swallows the spit in his mouth, his chest hurt from how hard his heart was beating. "Okay."
‘Hikaru’s' head snaps to his, eyes widening for a split second before his whole body relaxes at once.
Suddenly a hand comes up to Yoshiki's face, gently holding him as ‘Hikaru’ leans in closer. They were way closer than before, faces almost touching and with the added contact of ‘Hikaru’s' hand on his cheek, he could feel his face burn.
‘Hikaru’s' pupils are going crazy, widening and sharpening every second, melting off his eyes before he blinks them back into place. He darted between Yoshiki's right and left eye, not picking one to look into.
Yoshiki was panting, everything felt like too much. He could feel his hand come up to hold where ‘Hikaru’s' hand was on his face. Not pulling it off, but using it to make him feel more grounded.
‘Hikaru’s' eyes slipped off his, down to his lips again and back up. This time, Yoshiki didn't pull away. The monster continued to swap between looking at his eyes and his lips, his eyebrows furrowed as he seemingly tried to make a decision on where to settle on.
"What is it?" He felt himself whisper softly. Which, ironically, he said as to not scare ‘Hikaru’ off.
"Can I touch you?"
"Um-"
‘Hikaru’ cleared his throat, dropping his hand off Yoshiki's cheek. "Like, can I touch you."
"What? like with your insides?"
"Yeah."
Yoshiki's heart skipped a beat, the memory of ‘Hikaru’s' insides on him last time was still hazy in his head, along with the vivid conversation with Ms. Kurebayashi.
It was a horrible, stupid decision, but in that moment Yoshiki couldn’t help himself. "Uh, okay."
‘Hikaru’ looked surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah, just don't try to kill me this time."
‘Hikaru’ swallowed but leaned back in again.
He watched as ‘Hikaru’s' right eye wobbled and spit again. The tendrils spilling out were slower this time, cautious even. They halted for a second in front of his face before carefully making contact with the cheek ‘Hikaru’s' hand was on before.
It was still cold, still a bit slimy but it didn't feel as jarring this time. Yoshiki felt the tendril slowly run down the side of his face and come back up, caressing him. It made him shiver harshly. ‘Hikaru’ must have felt him shudder because he stopped, waiting for Yoshiki to say something.
Yoshiki just looked at him, and nodded slightly. He watched ‘Hikaru’ melt again and the tendrils resumed, running themselves down to the side of his lips and down his neck.
They moved closer, they’re noses brushed against one another as the tendril made its way up the other side of his face.
Yoshiki suddenly felt very aware of what was about to happen, but neither him or ‘Hikaru’ seemed to pay any mind to it.
The tendril started to retract back into ‘Hikaru’s' eye as he felt cool lips press against his own. It was short, only a small peck but it felt like the deepest thing they have ever shared.
Yoshiki's head spun as they pulled apart, the feelings of what they just did sinking into his heart.
‘Hikaru’ grabbed his hands as they split, holding them tightly as if Yoshiki was going to run away.
"I love lookin' at your eyes. They really do lead straight into your soul.
-And it's beautiful."