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"So, did ya like yer birthday, Kaz?" Majima prompted as he slid in the bed next to Kiryu. Kiryu shuffled in close to him, not touching, but close enough that their arms could touch if they wanted. He flashed a small, warm smile at Majima, before speaking in his honey-thick voice laced with sleepiness, "Yes, I did. Thank you for that, nii-san."
"Aw!" Majima cooed, bringing a hand up to pinch Kiryu's cheek, "Anytime, Kiryu-chan! It's yer birthday, I wanna make sure it's good." Kiryu pulled his face away, but was still smiling. Majima moved forward to press a kiss on KIryu's nose, before bidding him goodnight as he slipped his eyepatch off, something he oddly hadn't done earlier. He rested his eye, and soon fell into a deep sleep, a smile plastered on his face as he recalled the earlier events of that day. How happy Kiryu had looked, how he laughed, smiled...
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"You got us parfait?" Kiryu asked as Majima strolled back to their table, two parfaits in hand. Majima sat down and placed Kiryu's in front of him. The parfait had a chocolate filling, but on the bottom were strawberries, while at the top there were more strawberries and a scoop of pink ice cream, which was, if you couldn't guess, strawberry flavored. Alongside it were two small brownie squares. The whole sight made Kiryu's mouth water, and he was sure if he opened it drool might come out. Majima's parfait was vanilla, and at the top was a strawberry, sliced in half, with a small amount of blueberries, two banana slices, and a scoop of vanilla that had three pocky sticks sticking out of it.
Kiryu swallowed, tearing his eyes away from the parfait to look at Majima, who was staring at him with a smile. "You know yer adorable, right?" Kiryu blushed but attempted to keep his face neutral "No, I didn't know that, nii-san." "Well ya are!" Majima hastily replied, "Yer lookin' at yer parfait as if it were a gift from God! If I had known you liked parfaits this much I woulda' gotten ya a whole warehouse full of 'em if ya wanted."
Kiryu blinked, eyes almost stuck open. "Ah, well then thank you..." He regained his composure, able to ignore some of the embarrassment by looking away from Majima.
"Ya know, I never expected you of all people to have a sweet tooth. Always assumed you were more into spicy things." "I like spicy things." "But you don't look at spicy foods like ya do with parfaits, do ya?" Kiryu's cheeks burned, the tips of his ears flushing red as Majima cackled. But it wasn't a malicious one, he could tell. So that helped him relax. "Well enough 'a me laughin', try yer parfait."
Kiryu, with much more eagerness than he had intended, grabbed the spoon between his fingers and scooped up a strawberry with the chocolate filling, immediately putting it into his mouth and nearly melting at the flavor of it on his tongue. Majima chuckled at his reaction before eating some of his own, making sure to try the ice cream part first.
"Well damn!" He exclaimed, "If I had known they'd be this good, I woulda started eating them sooner! No wonder ya love these."
"They're really great, nii-san." Kiryu reaffirmed, already putting his third scoop into his mouth. "I wanna try some 'a yers!" Majima said, leaning over the table to gather some of the parfait onto his spoon. Damn, it was good. Fuckin' amazing. Even after there was none of Kiryu's parfait left on his spoon he continued to lick it, trying to get even a smidge of the phantom taste.
"Could I try some of yours, nii-san?" Kiryu's voice interrupted Majima's brain static which had started since he first tried Kiryu's parfait. "Aw," He cooed, "Of course." He pulled the spoon out of his mouth and gathered up a big scoop, holding it up to Kiryu for him to take.
"That was just in your mouth." He grimaced.
"You've had worse than just my spit in yer mouth, Kaz. So open up!" Kiryu blushed, but took the spoon into the mouth. Almost moaning. God, parfaits were unfairly good.
"It should be your birthday more often if it means we get to go out and do stuff like this!"
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A scream tore Majima out of his dream. He immediately jolted upwards, looking around as sleepiness quickly washed itself away. His eyes landed on the writing figure of Kiryu next to him, who had tears streaming down his face as he cried out like he was dying. Majima could feel his heart shatter into millions of pieces. He moved quickly, grabbing onto Kiryu's shoulders and trying to shake him awake. "Kaz, Kazzy, wake up! Kazuma!"
Kiryu shot up with a wet gasp, eyes wild and wide as he hyperventilated. Majima backed off to give him some space. That idea didn't last long, though, once Kiryu started raking his nails down his arms, hard enough that pinpricks of blood sprouted. Majima quickly grabbed his wrists, causing him to flinch violently as his breathing, if even possible, quickened. He struggled in Majima's grip, attempting to scratch himself again. Majima shot the attempt down as he spoke. He was worried, but he refused to let it show in his voice.
"Kazuma, are you here with me? Please, I need you to breathe. I know it's hard, I know it is. But try and match my breathing, please. Please." He pleaded as he took deep breaths, trying to get Kiryu to follow along. He did, eventually, which was an impressive feat with how much he was still frantically crying. Majima let go of Kiryu's wrists when he calmed down enough to not try and hurt himself again.
He had never seen Kiryu like this before. Never so loud, so sad, so scared, so human and vulnerable. He knew that Kiryu had to have nightmares, every Yakuza does, no one is exempt from them. But he didn't expect them to be so loud and... and so heartbreaking. With Majima's, he goes deathly still and cries silently; his are subtle and don't attract attention. Kiryu's...
He snapped back to reality when a wail tore itself out of Kiryu's throat as he slumped over, putting his head in his hands. Majima moved in quickly, pulling Kiryu into his lap and resting the younger man's head on his shoulder. Kiryu wrapped his legs around Majima as he tried to grasp desperately on a shirt Majima wasn't wearing, instead looping them from under his arms and over his shoulders. Majima rubbed soothing circles on the warmth that was Kiryu's back, whispering to him, "It's okay. Yer safe, I'm safe. Everyone is alright. I promise. Nothin' will hurt you." Kiryu just continued to sob grossly into Majima's shoulder, staining his skin with salty tears.
Kiryu calmed down eventually, his loud sobbing now just weak sniffles. Majima was ever grateful, if he had to hear his Kazuma cry ever again he's not sure he'd survive. He knew Kiryu had gone through pain before, but to hear it so vocally was a grim and evil reminder.
"You alright?" Kiryu tiredly pulled himself away from Majima's shoulder. Tear streaks were marked down his cheeks, and he looked beyond exhausted.
"I'm sorry." Kiryu answered hoarsly. Causing Majima to stare in... well, he didn't know how to feel. Shocked, Distraught, Heartbroken? There just wasn't a word for all three.
"Sorry? For what?" Majima cupped Kiryu's jaw with one hand, which he leaned into. The other stroked over his eyebrow. "For ruining it."
"Ruining what?"
"This." He attempted to gesture, but he was too weak to move his arms. "I... we were having fun. Today was good, and- and I ruined it for us. I'm- fuck, I'm sorry." More tears pricked the corners of Kiryu's eyes, which Majima swiped away. His heart had already shattered more than once tonight, and every single word Kiryu spoke was just overkill.
"No, no." He leaned in close and didn't speak until Kiryu looked at him, "You didn't ruin anything. You can't control your nightmares, and you should never apologize for havin' 'em."
"I probably woke up all of Kamurocho."
"The city doesn't sleep, Kiryu. And ya didn't. Yer tired, alright? Let's get you to bed, I promise there'll be no nightmares."
"...Okay. Can you hold me?" "Of course."
Majima guided them both down onto their sides, and wrapped his arms around Kiryu, pulling them impossibly close. Kiryu buried his face into Majima's chest, who had an arm around Kiryu's waist and one on his back, rubbing soothing circles again. He clung tight to Majima's body, as if he was prepared for him to leave and was desperately trying to prevent that.
"Please, be here in the morning. Please, please, please." Tears glossed over Majima's eye as Kiryu spoke.
"I'll never leave you." He responded, swallowing thickly.
It didn't take long for Kiryu to fall asleep, as nightmares take all the energy out of you. Majima buried his nose in Kiryu's hair and let a tear shed.
"I'm sorry things are like this."
When Kiryu woke up that morning, Majima was still holding onto him.