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Nacht sighed, surveying the base.
It was definitely different from when he had been there last—there were more chairs at the table, more couches, and it was even messier. But he’d known that already from looking through the shadows, so why did it matter so much to him now? The Black Bulls were nobody to him. Nacht barely knew any of them, except Yami, and he hated Yami more than he hated anyone else in the world. Asta was okay, Nacht supposed, but that kid was too willing to risk his life and rush into something without a plan. Nacht couldn’t stand those kinds of people. He couldn’t stand anyone, really.
Morgen had been the only one who’d understood that.
Somehow, it was Yami who snapped Nacht out of his thoughts before he could begin spiralling. “Oi, are you gonna come in, or are you just gonna stand there?”
Nacht glared at him, and Yami smirked.
God, Nacht absolutely hated when Yami smirked. That man always made him feel like he was dying of a disease of having fallen in love with such an idiot like Yami. He hated Yami so much, with every fiber of his being.
Almost immediately, the troublesome ones with fire and lighting magic—Magna and Luck—started up an argument that was a mix of yelling at and flirting with the other. Even after observing this squad for years now, Nacht would never get used to the fact that there wasn’t a single person here who wasn’t accepting or gay themselves. The world was such a different place from how it used to be, even only ten years ago.
While Nacht entered the base and continued surveying things, flashbacks of his childhood played through his mind—Yami, Morgen, and Nacht racing through the streets together—Nacht pulling Yami into an alleyway and kissing him until they were both out of breath—and then, of course, that horrible day with the summoning… Nacht struggled yet failed to push away the memory of Yami grabbing the knife from his hand and following him through the portal as he tried to get away, to hide.
He was never going to forgive Yami for that.
How had Yami been the man he’d once loved…?
The strange girl with cotton and wolf magic, Charmy, prepared a gigantic dinner for the entire squad, and chaos continued through the evening. Nacht simply sat there as everyone went on with their usual antics. He didn’t expect anyone to be giving him a ton of attention, of course. These were the Black Bulls, after all; being distracted was what they were all about.
Slowly, the room emptied, and eventually it was only Yami and Nacht left.
Great.
“Y’know…” Yami eventually spoke up. “We have a lot of catching up to do with each other. It’s been a while.”
Nacht’s eye twitched. The audacity of this asshole…Why would Nacht want to reconnect with someone he despised? “Why should you even care?” he found himself asking.
Yami frowned—good, make him feel bad for what he did. “Why wouldn’t I? You’ve been gone for over a decade now in another kingdom. I feel like I have a right to be worried about you.”
Something ached in Nacht’s heart, but he ignored the feeling. “I don’t mean to stay.”
“I didn’t expect you to,” Yami replied. “But as long as you’re here, we might as well do some talking.”
Nacht pushed back his chair then, and stood up. “We’re done, Yami. The past is the past. We may have been friends—or whatever we were—before, but that’s all from years ago. I want to go back to avoiding you, and I would like you to do the same.”
Yami’s hand was holding Nacht’s wrist before he could even try to open a shadow portal.
“I’m not going to let you run away this time,” he said.
“Leave me alone, Yami.” Nacht tried to pull away, but Yami’s grasp remained firm—fuck, why did he have to get so strong in the past ten years?
“Why do you always act like you’re fine? You’re clearly not.”
“I am!” Nacht exclaimed, voice raised, in exasperation. That was a lie, though, and he knew it. Knew that he wasn’t at all fine. If he had been fine, then he wouldn’t still feel guilty about Morgen’s death, even after all these years. If he was fine, then he would have forgiven Yami. If he was fine, then dark thoughts wouldn’t haunt him every single night, and lead to Nacht not even trying to sleep anymore.
No.
Nacht was not fine. He knew Yami saw that, too.
“Fine! You’re right, Yami? Are you happy?! I’m not fine! And I haven’t been for the past eleven years. My brother fucking died, and it was all my fault. Do you know what it’s like to live with that guilt? Do you know what it’s like to know that you could have prevented the worst thing from happening, but you didn’t? No, you fucking don’t. So you tried to stop me from killing myself without even understanding, because you never had any empathy for anyone! And I’m sorry if you missed me while I was in the Spade Kingdom, and I’m sorry for myself that I missed you! But I was so glad to be away from the person who ruined my death that I stayed away for longer than my mission was for. And now, I’d like to get back to that life. So leave me the fuck alone!”
Yami’s eyes were wide when Nacht was finished. And Nacht was embarrassed to admit that he felt tears welling up in his own. Yami’s hand was off his wrist now, so he turned away as if to leave. But for some reason, he didn’t create a portal.
“I never wanted to hurt you,” he heard Yami say. “I didn’t know Morgen’s death had taken that much of a toll on you.” Nacht flinched at the mention of his brother. “So, when I saw you cutting vertical lines down your arm, all I could think about was the fact that I loved you, and I wanted to protect you. I didn’t want to lose another friend. And even though I may not have understood at first…I’ve thought a lot, in the past decade, about why you probably felt the way you did.”
Nacht didn’t say a word. It took him a moment to realize he hadn’t inhaled in sometime, and he quickly took a breath to steady himself.
“I don’t expect you to forgive me, Nacht,” Yami went on. “All I’m asking for is a chance. And I still love you, even if you don’t feel the same way.”
Fuck, why was Nacht crying now?
His body seemed to move on its own as Nacht turned toward Yami and collapsed into his arms.
“Yami, I’m so tired,” he managed to get out through the tears.
“It’s okay,” he replied, wrapping Nacht in his arms.
“I love you,” Nacht muttered. He leaned up to kiss Yami’s rough lips.
The man smirked—he had won, clearly, and just this once Nacht was going to let him have the victory.
“We’re really doing this here?” Yami gestured to the common room around them.
“No, idiot.” Nacht opened up a portal, and they tumbled onto Yami’s bed a moment later. His room still looked pretty much the same, except there were a bunch of used cigarettes in a pan of ashes and the room smelled of tobacco.
Nacht grinned. “And here I thought smoking was my thing, asshole. Give me one; I haven’t smoked in a decade.”
“You quit?” asked Yami, sounding surprised.
“Well, it’s a bit hard to find time for things when you’re spying in enemy territory. Remember when you first tried a cigarette when we were sixteen and you spat it onto the ground because you couldn’t handle it?” Yami frowned at him, annoyed, which caused Nacht to laugh at his expense. “You were a fucking idiot back then…you still are. Damn, nicotine hits different after ten years.”
“I should try it sometime.”
“Yeah, you should.” Nacht let the leaves burn for a minute or two more before discarding the cigarette so that he could kiss Yami instead.
“I’m sorry I never visited,” he mumbled eventually.
Yami sighed. “It’s not your fault. I’m sorry I made you feel like you had to stay away.”
“Wow, Yami Sukehiro, of all people, is apologizing? I must be dreaming.”
“Well, this is definitely reality.” Yami pulled himself on top of Nacht and kissed him again. And again.
God, Nacht was so in love with this man.
And now, maybe he was a little more willing to admit it.
The next morning, Asta waved eagerly to the two of them when they entered the main room. “Good morning, Captain Yami and Vice Captain Nacht!” he shouted. “Hey, is everything okay? You two were pretty loud last night.”
Nacht choked on air as Yami started laughing.
It took Asta a second to realize the implications of his words (though they were probably true either way). “I-I mean…when you were arguing! You were loud when you were arguing!!!” he tried to clarify, but it was too late. He’d already gotten the attention of the rest of the squad.
“Bakasta, what in the world are you saying?” Noelle asked, flushed bright red.
“You’re such a dumbass,” sighed Zora.
“Does anyone want to fight me?!” Luck exclaimed.
Out of nowhere, Yami grabbed Nacht and kissed him passionately. Right in front of everyone.
The Black Bulls pretty much lost their shit.
Vanessa was laughing, Asta was confused, and Finral said something about a bet that he had made.
Nacht just smiled, and kissed Yami back.