Work Text:
Shuichi Saihara’s POV
The water around me was cold. Cold and dark. I was enveloped in it. I couldn’t tell which way it was to the surface. If I didn’t figure that out soon, I was sure I would drown. But strangely, I wasn’t panicking. In fact, I almost felt at peace.
My body began to shake. I didn’t fight it. I was losing control. my limbs floating in the freezing black. I wasn’t swimming anymore. For the first time in a long while, I felt like everything was going to be alright. It would all be just fine, if I could just let go.
I closed my eyes. My muscles relaxed. They were always so sore from being wound so very tightly, but now I didn’t feel anything at all. Everything was going to work out.
Something seized my wrist. My body was suddenly being pulled through the water. I recoiled. It didn’t matter. Whatever had my wrist grabbed on tight, and it wasn’t going to surrender.
Faster and faster, I was being pulled toward warmer waters. I could see the surface, the sun far above me. I could see what, or rather who, had been pulling me. A man I didn’t recognize had my wrist in an iron grip, swimming with enough strength for both of us. That didn’t seem right. Could anyone really be that strong?
He was drawing me to the surface. I didn’t want to go. I resisted. I kicked back. It didn’t matter. I was going against my will, about to break through the water-
-and suddenly I was on a cloud. I could see the night sky stretch out in front of me. Stars dotted the darkness as far as I could see. A melody was playing, far in the distance. Was that... Claire de Lune?
Someone was there, far off in the clouds. Her golden hair reminded me of someone, someone very close to my heart.Maybe she even was that someone. But that couldn’t be right, could it? After all, Kaede was-
-right there. Sitting at a piano, playing a calming melody in the clouds. It was her. I was sure of it. “Kaede,” I said to myself. My best friend was really here with me. Her death was a terrible dream. It must have been. She was here, really here, wasn’t she?
I ran toward her. “Kaede!”
The melody abruptly stopped. She rose from the piano and turned toward me, her eyes widening slowly in surprise. “Shuichi...? What are you doing here?”
I opened my arms to embrace my dearest friend.
She pushed me back.
“Why...?” My heart wrenched. This wasn’t like her.
Tears welled in the corners of her eyes. “You don’t belong here.”
“What does that mean?”
“Remember what I told you before?”
I did.
“I meant it,” she said. She stepped toward me. “I know it feels like you’re alone now, but you’re not. There’s going to be people out there for you.”
I could feel the tears threatening me. A pressure behind my eyes. A swelling in my throat. “They won’t even be you, though.”
“Hell no, they won’t,” she cracked a slight smile. “And they shouldn’t be. You can’t compare everyone you meet to me.”
I couldn’t respond.
“Shuichi... Promise me. Promise me you’ll try to live. Do it for both of us.”
“How?” Tears streamed down my cheeks. “How am I supposed to do that when you’re not here?!”
“I’m not saying it will be easy, but I am saying it will be worth it.” She wrapped her arms around me, but I couldn’t bring myself to embrace her back. “You’re stronger than you think. Live for the both of us. I’m counting on you to do that.”
“Kaede...” I lifted my arms to embrace her.
She pulled back and grabbed me by then shoulders.
The look in her eyes was strong and serious, almost as if she was scolding me. Or perhaps warning me?
“Don’t you dare come back here until your time is up. You got that?”
I nodded.
“Good.” Her smile was back. “I won’t forget you. We’ll see each other again some day. I promise.”
She pushed me back. I lost my balance. I reached out for her, for anything that keep me standing up, but all I had was clouds. My fingers ripped right through them. I was falling. My hand still extended toward Kaede, my best friend who was smiling down at me so serenely-
I slammed back into my body. I was in a bath tub full of cold water. I vaguely recalled falling asleep here, back when the water was warm. My face had dipped beneath the surface. Falling asleep in a bath tub was a dumb move, I know, but...
...Reality came crashing down. Kaede was dead, I knew that. But, for a brief moment, in my dream, it was like she was really there. Of course she would scold me for being so reckless.
I laughed to myself, thinking about it, even as the all too familiar pressure returned behind my eyes.
I pulled myself out of the tub and brought up a search engine on my phone. Live for the both of us, huh? Maybe I could do that. Maybe if I kept Kaede alive with me, some part of her would go on.
I found what I was looking for on the internet. A place where I could take piano lessons. I would live for the both of us. I would keep her alive.
And the next time I saw her, many years from now, I would play Claire de Lune for her.