𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 ||𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐚||

▪️epilogue▪️

As a cold stethoscope was put on Daichi's chest he was asked to inhale deeply and then exhale as if he didn't already know it himself.

"Well, I think you're really lucky nothing bad has happened to you" the doctor spoke with amazement written all over their face. "The mold in that place is insane and a health hazard. Considering you spent a few hours, face down in that mold,  I'd say you're lucky to be alive"

"...right" Daichi said quietly.

"I think you're good to go, your blood tests came back normal, your lungs are fine and we found no damage from the mold" with those words, the doctor was gone and Daichi was left to stare that the white hospital wall. Approximately seven seconds after the doctor left, Kuroo and Ushijima rushed into the room.

"So, good to go?!" Kuroo asked as he placed his hand on Daichi's shoulder.

"Yeah... I guess" Daichi sighed.

"Why are you so unhappy? You literally defied the laws and survived!" Kuroo sat down on the bed next to Daichi who seemed to be lost in thought. "Maybe they should scan your brain or something"

"What happened back there?" Daichi finally looked him in the eyes.

"Well, it was supposed to be a prank. The planks on one of the windows had been broken and we wanted to scare you a bit so we created this elaborate plan of inviting you to visit this old haunted house and leaving you alone in it. We made scary noises from the outside, but... after a few minutes, we got worried. We couldn't hear you and we thought maybe you escaped through another opening." Kuroo fiddled his fingers, knowing it was his fault for putting Daichi in grave danger. "We walked around the house, but everything else was boarded up. We really thought that you somehow escaped so we even went back to the house... That was my mistake. That's why you laid there for hours.  So... we went back and climbed inside.  We found you collapsed in a room full of this disgusting blackish-greenish mold. Apparently you had entered a room that was sealed shut and got knocked out somehow."

Kuroo wanted to continue, but he couldn't find the words.

"We called an ambulance and I carried you out because Kuroo had tears in his eyes and was sobbing all the time", Ushijima chimed in. "By the time the ambulance arrived, you had just woken up"

"Oh... I see... So it was all just a couple of hours" Daichi's heart was barely beating, he wished he could forget, but the memories were as fresh as they could be. Just yesterday he was with the love of his life and today he was back to the cruel reality.

"I did some research on the mold and it's really dangerous. Some people grow it in abandoned places because it gives you hallucinations" Kuroo laughed, but Daichi didn't. He was broken.

Everything he had was ripped away from him.

His love.

His new life.

His accomplishments.

His newfound family.

His everything.

He spent the remaining hours of daytime just listening to Kuroo's apologies and rants, telling him to shut up as he had already forgiven him. His hand moved swiftly as he tried to sketch the face of his lover, but by minutes the memories were slowly getting blurry and he couldn't accept that. If only he could live through that once more. See him once more.

It's like his limbs moved on their own and he found himself sprinting to the old house in the dead of the night. The window had been boarded up, but Daichi's kick was enough to break through the fragile lock on the door. He followed the footsteps that all lead to the same green door... a very familiar door just like the one at the old witch's house that lead to nowhere.

He opened the door and inhaled deeply, almost immediately he felt dizzy.

Daichi felt his body hit the cold ground...

It took a few moments. His body soon started shivering and convulsing, it almost felt as if something was crawling under his skin. Many sensations at once, it was hard to pick out a specific one, but Daichi took a dare and opened his eyes - meeting the sky as he did.

"Ah, you're finally awake!"

the end.