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Yoshiki knew something was wrong when he woke up with a scratchy throat and a runny nose, or technically one of his nostrils was running with snot and the other one was completely blocked. Reaching over to his nightstand, he withdrew a tissue from the tissue box. With a loud blow he soiled the tissue with a big glob of mucus. Begrudgingly, he looked down to find yellowish-green liquid on the napkin. It made his face cringe in disgust. Eating ice-cream in the middle of the night in November was a really bad idea. Any human over the age of 10 knew that, but Hikaru was no human and so he kept badgering Yoshiki to eat popsicles with him. Though he'd never admit it out loud, He has never been able to resist it when Hikaru looked at him with those big eyes that were for him and only him.
His mother knocks on the door and comes inside. Yoshiki could tell that she was here to tell him to get ready for school but once she surveys his condition, she sighs and brings a thermometer from the other room. After taking his temperature, she gives him the medicine and tells him to rest while she goes to the kitchen to make soup for him. He obliges however about 10 minutes after she leaves, he hears loud footsteps thumping towards his room. No one in his house walked like that, so the footsteps could only belong to the only person who frequents their house so much that he practically lives here. Hikaru. The realization lifts up his spirits and sure enough a few seconds later, his door bursts open revealing a panting fiend.
"Yoshiki, yer mam said you were sick. Is that true? Yer not comin' to school today?" Hikaru's face is filled with devastation. They type that sends a brief sadistic pleasure through Yoshiki because it's a reminder that he is cared for.
"Yeah, I have the flu, so I won't be comin' to school today. You should go ahead." At those words Hikaru's eyes widen and he shakes his head insistently.
"Nah school is not more important than you" Pause "Are ya gonna be, okay? Flu isn't deadly for humans, is it?"
"Not common flu like the one I have. And I'm taking medicine, so I'll be fine in about a week"
"That's so long"
"It's the average recovery time for humans" Yoshiki starts to explain but Hikaru gets lost in his thoughts in the middle of it. Yoshiki's mother comes in with the soup and offers some to Hikaru as well, but he declines politely and then dives back in his thoughts. Yoshiki slurps at his soup while watching his friend closely, he had never seen him in such deep contemplation. Well technically he had seen this Hikaru in deep thought before, but the previous Hikaru rarely ever let a thought fester in his brain. Yoshiki could remember all the times his old friend had made half-baked plans for mischief and then got them in trouble. This Hikaru on the other hand was calculating and careful of any loose threads in anything he did. His first priority was always to keep Yoshiki safe. Looking at them through a microscope, there couldn't be any comparison between both Hikarus. They both seemed to be the same but, in their habits, they were different as they could be. Finally, Hikaru broke out of his thoughts and looked at Yoshiki.
"Let's mix" Yoshiki's sputters on a spoonful of soup. He carefully places the bowl on the nightstand before exclaiming.
"Huh? What the hell are ya talking 'bout?" Hikaru wordlessly crawled towards Yoshiki until the latter's back was pressed against the bedframe.
"Didn't that Kuribayashi lady said that if you mix with me lots, you'll become part of the monster? Let's do it. Don't be a human, it'll only hurt ya"
"Enough hikaru. I can't believe ya. Ya want me to become an impurity while that's the very thing we have been trying to prevent at all costs."
"That was before. Situa-shon has changed"
"The situation is the same. I was susceptible to illnesses before just like I am now." Yoshiki exasperated at his friend's odd behavior.
"Yoshiki. I'll never let you get hurt again." Hikaru sneered. He ripped open his uniform shirt (okay? dramatic much), sending the buttons flying everywhere. His chest opening widens and red, blue and purpled goo oozes out of him. Yoshiki's eyes dart over to his bedroom door left ajar. The monster catches on to his field of vision and sends a part of his insides to shut the door. Yoshiki's shoulders relax but now there is another problem in front of him with his chest wide open. He gritted his teeth and tried to get through to him.
"lets talk about this first. i promise to listen to ya."
Hikaru doesn't register Yoshiki's words, seemingly too caught up in his own emotional turmoil. Yoshiki understands his friend's desperation. If he was in hikaru's position he would probably also do his best to find a way to relieve his pain. The difference lies in the concept of consent. He understands it. Hikaru doesn't and yet he has done his best to ask for permission everytime he does something creepy.
He doesn't know how humans work. It must be so hard being so confused all the time. I know what it feels like.
"Ya promised not to hurt me again. Hikaru, please." Yoshiki tried again. This time however the bright tendrils halted their fast progression. Hikaru still didn't seem lucid but the tendrils gently caressed Yoshiki's face. At first Yoshiki wrinkled his face in disgust but as the goo continued it's ministrations. Yoshiki felt oddly loved. He closed his eyes and nuzzled into the feeling. Soon the goo started solidifying and when he opened his eyes it wasn't the insides but hikaru himself that was stroking his cheek gently. He would've melted at the sight if not for the steady stream of tears rolling down his friends cheeks.
"Yoshikiiii! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to lose control. Yer probably right. We should've talked about it first, but you were lookin so sick and I got scared." Hikaru's bawling reminded him of Asako's analogy. A child clinging to his mother. Though Yoshiki would never make the mistake of considering this dangerous entity a mere child, the analogy seemed to fit it's intense emotions and lack of human knowledge.
"It's okay. I know yer working on that". Yoshiki carded his fingers through the drama queen's hair who had thrown himself on Yoshiki's lap.
"But I almost hurt you aga-"
"I trust ya." Yoshiki cut him off before he could spiral any further.
"Ya shouldn't."
"I will" They sit there for a while, letting the tension in the air dissipate. Yoshiki takes that chance to glance at himself in the mirror. He does look really awful. His face has a sickly pallour and his nose is red and blistered from rubbing tissues at it. He gets why Hikaru panicked. He looks like death warmed over. Then he thinks to himself of the time the real Hikaru died and how he felt. He had gotten so sick that he couldn't get out of bed. He couldn't eat. He couldn't sleep. It might've been just because he had seen his best friend's bleeding corpse, Yoshiki had hoped it was just because of the corpse but he knew it was because a world without Hikaru was no world at all. It was hell. This Hikaru seems to love him more than anything. Yoshiki couldn't begin to imagine what he would be like when Yoshiki dies, because he will die. He was human after all. Maybe it would be from old age with Hikaru holding his hand at his bedside. Maybe it would happen one of these days from all these impurities roaming around in the area. Death was a certainty he had prepared himself to face ever since Hikaru died. But this Hikaru was not ready and Yoshiki was sure he would never be ready.
"ok"
"Huh?" Hikaru looked up from whatever he was doing.
"When I get old and can't do much anymore or if we are in a situation where you're certain that I'll die and there is no other option, as a last resort, you can completely mix us and turn me into you." As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Hikaru flings himself in Yoshiki's arm and squeezes tight.
"Don't worry, I know ya won't be happy with this, so I won't do it unless I have to and I promise ya I won't have to because I'll keep ya safe no matter what." Hikaru slapped his hand on his own chest to emphasize his point. Yoshiki smiles softly at that, and it makes Hikaru visibly flush.
Perhaps being a monster is not a bad thing.