꧁༒𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊༒꧂ ~𝓜𝓲𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓪𝓶𝓪

🌸 Chapter 20 🌸

Okay, two posts in two days... Gotta be my record.

<Mirio>

My brows furrowed as I skirted past stray bricks cast along the pavement. I had arrived later than I hoped, the sky already turning a milky gold as the last warm rays of sunset dimmed. The search party would conclude in thirty minutes and with them gone, the chances of finding him rapidly decreased.

Backpack slung lopsided on one shoulder, I tried to hurry my pace, the distinct slap of my converse against the pavement filling the empty silence. I was walking endlessly to a destination that I didn't know the whereabouts of, that is, if you could call Tamaki a destination.

I trailed a lone finger along the crimson brick-work of an exterior wall too demolished to call a house; it's jagged surface grazed almost painfully against my finger pad, as though sand paper were gradually scraping away the plush peach skin. I redrew my index, delicately rubbing my thumb over the irritated skin revealing blotchy red spots blossoming from beneath. Was this irritation, this pain, anything like Tamaki felt? The answer was most likely tenfold.

The act of one hurting themselves, as I just, was seen in the light of self destruction, however minor the pain. That is, at least, what I would have said a month ago. Now, as I applied gradual pressure to the sore, I was seeing things from a new perspective. I wasn't hurting myself, I was stepping into Tamaki's shoes, experiencing the pain that hindered him so, even if simmered down.

That is what I needed to find Tamaki. I had to think, feel, act as though I were him, this city had become the stage and I was the star actor.

I continued to scavenge the region, finding that the longer I looked the darker the sky grew until my search became frantic in the dimmed grey light as I began to rely heavily on the sense of feeling. The world around me had morphed into darkened silhouettes, the only light trickling from the crevices between the clouded sky that blocked the natural twinkle of the constellations.

I gasped when my hands brushed over something frigidly cold, icy and hard to the touch. I grasped at it, finding that my fingers curled perfectly around it, my free hand blindly sifted through the abyss, revealing that there was not one but two, no three- four, like rows of cool, metal? Cutting me of from something or rather. Long strips of metal, bars? Metal bars... a fence, maybe?

Curiously, I kneeled to the floor, my hands following down the metal bars until my finger tips weaved through what felt like damp strings. I tugged at a handful finding that it snapped, releasing a sweet earthy scent reminiscent to that of... grass?

<Tamaki>

I flicked my tongue over my parched lips despite knowing it would lead them to crack further. Night had long fallen yet once again I found myself sitting solemnly on the bench, however today I felt no comfort hiding behind the park walls, today I felt unease. I tilted my head to stare at the wispy clouds that began to unveil the starry nights secrets, streaks of moonlight spilling over my vast green sea.

I kept my stare fixated on the fully revealed silver moon but began to gnaw on my bottom lip as the leaves rustled around me. You couldn't consider the park quiet, it housed life, an entire ecosystem however the wind today was null leaving me with the throbbing question. What was creating that sound?

<Mirio>

I had scuttled my way into what I now assumed was a park, after all, Tamaki adored nature. My movements could only be seen as clumsy as I found myself tangoing with tree roots on several occasions though with moonlight ebbing it's way across the park I could finally walk in a semi-straight line.

Wading through bushes would've been easier with the aid of my quirk however I was counting on returning home fully clothed, not semi-naked and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I ended up with a face full of dirt and a swollen cheek. I scrubbed clumps of soil off my face and wrenched of the vines tangled with my legs, stumbling into what seemed to be a clearing in the overgrowth.

<Tamaki>

Alarms blared obnoxiously in my head and I was on my feet cradling my arms before my brain even began to process the figure that stumbled onto the path with a grunt.

The shadows kept his face shrouded in darkness, but I couldn't find the will to back away even when he turned his full attention onto me. I was to focused on the unkempt golden mop that swept over his forehead and the blazing blue eyes that burned behind it.

"M-Miriam?" Fuck- Japanese? Never heard of her.

He took a few stuttering paces towards me until the moonlight fully illuminated his eyes, shining like lapis jewels that began to pool at the edges.

And suddenly I was yanked down as his knees buckled, drawn into a desperate embrace. His hands bawled fists in the fabric and his nose connected to the crook of my shoulder where he erupted into a mess of wrangled and chocked sobs muffled only by my ratty t-shirt.

"I'm s-sorry", were the first rattled words he spoke after months of radio silence. "I-I'm so so sorry, I'm sorry y-you had to fight on your own" a gasped breath followed by a stuttering howl "I'm-m sorry I c-couldn't find you in time. I'm s-sorry I didn't save y-you when I h-had the chance". I could almost taste the salty tears dribbling down my neck. "A-a-and I'm sorry that I... blanked... your f-feelings when", he paused and I heard him sniffle in my loose grip "W-when I obviously f-felt the same w-way".

My muscles stiffened and he must have felt it too because he pulled away giving me a good view of his puffy pooling eyes and swollen red cheeks. He scanned my face, eyes desperately scanning for some tell-tail sign hidden behind my glassy indigo hues. Our eyes locked and he leaned in so that our noses nuzzled together snugly. His hands still draped around my back, he whispered, his feather-light breath warming my lips "I really do love you, Tamaki Amajiki".
And with that he pressed his lips gently against my own, his hands gliding up my body to caress my cheeks as my own hot tears spilled from the corners of my eyes as my lids grew heavy and I leaned into the kiss.

The moment you've been waiting 20 chapters to read.