To The Stars | Tokito Muichiro x OC

20 • Letting Go

Muichiro woke up to the sound of thrashing and obnoxious cawing. He rubbed his eyes, contemplating just going back to sleep, but curiosity took over him, so he stood up and went outside. With all that had happened, they decided to stay the night at the Wisteria House. It was supposed to be a quiet night if not for the ruckus coming from Inori's given room.

Realization dawned upon him like a tidal wave, and he immediately rushed toward her room. Still being as quiet as he could, he slipped into her room. He frowned at the sight of Inori rolling around the floor, Kanamaru trying his best to get her to stop.

"Inori." Muichiro walked towards her, holding her shoulders down to stop her from thrashing too much. He didn't want to have to slap her again, especially when she was not in immediate danger, but Muichiro didn't want to see Inori looking so pained either. "Inori! Wake up!"

Muichiro narrowly dodged the punch aimed at him. He kept his distance from Inori, who was now awake but not aware yet. He watched as the girl palmed the fabric around her chest, hunching over as she tried to regain her breathing. Muichiro didn't like it, he didn't like how wide and hazy her eyes were, he didn't like how fast her breathing was, and he didn't like how painful her expression was. He didn't like it at all.

"Mu...Mui...Mui...Muichi—" Inori choked on her own breath, coughing out her gasps as she palmed her yukata even tighter.

"I'm here." Muichiro scooted closer to her but made sure to still keep his distance. He watched her hazy eyes slowly clear as the seconds passed. Her grip on the yukata loosened, her hand falling to the floor with a soft thud. Muichiro only came closer to brush his hand over hers when Inori slumped in relief.

"I'm sorry...did I...did I wake you?" Inori leaned into the warm hand that started combing through her damp hair, grateful that Muichiro didn't seem too disgusted by all her sweat.

Muichiro didn't answer her question, choosing to pull her into his embrace. His fingers twirled the ends of her damp waves, placing his chin on top of her head. "What happened?"

"Just a dream," Inori mumbled, burying her face into his chest. She inhaled his comforting scent, sighing in contentment as she felt Muichiro playing with her hair. "I'm sorry if I woke you up. I'm not usually that loud."

"Usually?" Muichiro did a double take. He tilted her chin up, brushing his thumb over the tears clinging to her lashes. He didn't know why he hated the thought of Inori enduring her nightmares alone. "You had...these dreams before too? Has anyone ever helped you? The girls at the Butterfly Estate?"

Inori shook her head, burying her face back into his chest. "I don't usually sleep, so...and it's not like I'm always that loud. Besides, the Butterfly Estate is the corps' medical headquarters. The girls there are busy, they deserve all the rest they could get."

"How often do you get these...dreams?"

"Not that often." Inori closed her eyes, willing herself to go back to sleep. "Just once in a while. It's usually never this severe. It's probably because of our fight with Lower Moon One. I just...remembered a few unpleasant memories."

Muichiro didn't like it. He didn't like the bubbling anger in the pits of his stomach. He didn't like the fact that nobody, not even himself, realized she had been suffering in her dreams. He didn't like how Inori tried to take the burden of everything alone. He didn't like how she viewed her life as meaningless and disposable. He didn't like how he didn't know why he didn't like it.

The same with the incident during the day, Muichiro knew he probably would've berated anyone else if they were to be controlled by a demon and cried about it to him. Were it anybody else, he probably wouldn't even care, he might even call them weak for seeking out help.