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“Don’t leave me,” Nobara whispers, desperation etched in her voice.
Outside the four corners of the abandoned fortress they seeked refuge in, the storm raged on; window panels hitting glass with a definitive bang as the wail of the thunderous clouds steadily picked up, the sound breaking through the rare easy evening they were then having.
There are dark clouds boiling on the horizon as the windstorms coil together, strong enough that Nobara is hard to hear even so close.
Maki pauses in her hold of the gray wool-knit sweater that smelled faintly of jasmine and vanilla. Where she was going, she was going to need every bit of comfort. She counts to five before turning.
“You know I don’t want to,” and she really doesn’t, with every fiber of her being and every second spent suspending belief over what is happening outside she is less sure about walking away than sleeping the terrors away— “But I have to. We’re running out of supply.”
“Then we’ll starve,” Nobara starts, closing the distance between them in a matter of seconds as she reaches for the sides of her face, fresh tears welling her—their—faces. “Or die. Whatever. Anything is better than this.”
Maki takes in the red rim of Nobara’s eyes, the ghostly hallows of what was then supple cheekbones, her collarbones peeking out from the ragged jumper thrice her size. It was the most heartbreaking thing she’d ever seen, the gradual dulling of the brightest light she’d ever seen turn into stagnant hues of bleakness.
From outside their room, past the chain links and barbed wires and metal fences that blanketed their safe haven from the devastating view of the wastes, something rumbles deep within the hearth. It snaps her back into reality.
They couldn’t go on like this.
Slowly, gently, Maki pries the fingers cradling her face and laces them together with her own. “We’ll be fine. It’s not my first rodeo, you know. How do you think we managed to survive Tokyo?” she jests, trying to make light of a situation all too painfully dark.
She should have known Nobara wouldn’t back down.
“We had Gojo! Even Megumi stepped up to help, and there was also.. he made sure we got out first.. he..” she was starting to choke on the words, struggled to form syllables around the one person who sacrificed more of himself than what they thought he was capable of that night: Yuji.
Maki knew all too well the gravity of all they’ve lost since they were all separated, from the moment the first patter of rain hit pavement and all hell broke loose.
Which is exactly why she needed to set out past the secluded forest they stumbled upon a week ago, find the nearest source of life if any, and maybe, just maybe; make it back home.
She needed to do this more than they needed to be safe.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” Maki whispers, as she brings their faces closer, breathing in the familiar scent of belonging. She wouldn’t be able to for a while, might as well take stock of what she can.
“Promise me you’ll make it back to me,” Nobara finally relents, closing her eyes as she imprints this last memory of their togetherness in the face of a world that wanted them apart, nestles it deep inside her memory vault for safekeeping.
Maki smiles, gentle and soft, in direct contrast to the war raging outside. “Always.”