¢нαρтєя ƒινє

✎ Life is not fair.

 ༶•┈┈⛧┈♛

ᴄʜɪᴢᴜᴇ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ news was fake. Everyone thought the news was fake. He didn't want to believe it. No one wanted to believe it.

He was in Kamasaki District when he and everyone else in Kanai Ward found out they were all homunculi—defective homunculi. Makoto Kagutscuhi broadcasted a live stream of him revealing the truth behind Kanai Ward. It felt too much, and it wasn't just for him. Every resident of Kanai Ward couldn't wrap their head around the fact they weren't human, that their original human counterpart was eaten by one of them—they could have eaten their human counterpart themselves—they were all failed experiments, they needed to keep out of the sun to keep themselves from turning into actual zombies, they needed to eat human food to keep themselves sane...

And do not even get him started on the meat buns.

Chizue found himself in an empty alley, needing to stay away from everyone. He was a homunculus, but he didn't feel like one. He remembered everything from before Kanai Ward was isolated, but his heart sank when realizing they weren't his memories. They belong to the real Chizue Abe, the human version of him. The one he might have eaten alive himself.

Being alone wasn't helping, but being surrounded by other people wasn't what he wanted either.

"There you are."

He jumped at hearing Vivia's voice. He backed away as far as he could until his back pressed against the wall of a building. "Don't come any closer."

He held his hands up in peace. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"But what if I hurt you?" Defective homunculus could be dangerous, especially towards humans. If everyone in Kanai Ward was a homunculus, then outsiders like Vivia were humans. He didn't want to hurt him.

"You're not going to hurt me." Vivia took one step forward.

Chizue's back pressed harder against the wall. "That's probably what someone thought before they got eaten by their best friend's homunculus."

"You had some human meat to eat a while back, though. It should last you enough time to have this conversation. Even if it doesn't" —a faint smile appeared— "I wouldn't mind getting eaten by you."

"Don't say something like that..."

His face turned serious. "I won't as long as you let me at least stay with you."

He wouldn't go away. Was there really any point in making him?

Vivia tried taking another step forward. Chizue didn't move, making him try another. More came until he was right in front of him. It wasn't often they were both standing, and Chizue realized Vivia would be taller than him if his posture wasn't so bad. It was Vivia, though, and he loved that.

Vivia hesitantly wrapped his arms around him, light as if he was unsure. Knowing he was a human while he wasn't made Chizue's stomach churn. He hugged back tight, forcing Vivia's grip to tighten.

He wanted to let go before he hurt him, but he couldn't.

They stayed silent for a few minutes. Then, Chizue asked, "Why are you here anyway? Aren't detectives busy with everything going on? You have better things to do..."

"The best I can do right now is be with you." Vivia's head rested on his shoulder. "Also...why wouldn't I be here? You're nice to be around."

A small smile was on his face. "You can't say what I said to comfort you..."

"I like what you say."

Chizue pulled him closer. He didn't want to be alone, and he didn't want to be in a crowd, but being with Vivia was always the better option.

"Are you going to be okay?" Vivia asked. "The news..."

"I don't know... I don't want to think I ate my human self."

"You don't know that."

"I might have."

"You could have eaten some other person."

"I don't want to think about that..." Thinking about it made him think of meat buns. At least he couldn't remember eating humans during the Blank Week Mystery—though it wasn't a mystery now.

"You can get through this... I believe in you."

The smile on his face grew. "Thank you, Vivia."

They could pull back from their hug, but they didn't. Chizue liked feeling Vivia so close to him. He felt a little cold, but he was a distraction from the non-stop rain, the recent news, and the thoughts poking at his mind. Vivia was someone he could go to for help, support, and a distraction. Vivia was who he needed.

"I never got to thank you," Vivia said. "For making me go to work after my boss died. I know it didn't go as planned...but I think it would have been worse if I didn't go. Thank you."

"I didn't do anything..."

"You did a lot. You can't imagine how much it is."

The firmness in his voice made his heart flutter.

"Let me repay you by at least being here when you need it. Granted, I can't comfort anyone...but I can give you my support."

"That's fine—"

"No it isn't. You can cry, talk about all of your problems, whatever you want. I will give you all of my support."

"You didn't cry when we were at the hotel."

"That was different."

It wasn't really, but he was being too cute to be truly upset. Chizue only smiled and leaned back to meet his eyes.

Seeing his face made him lose his confidence, like normal. He still managed to whisper, "Thank you, Vivia."

Vivia only smiled back, but that was enough of a response as anything.

They were close together, their noses just about to brush together. Just pushing his head forward a bit would change their relationship. It would be going in the way Chizue wanted it to, but after thinking about his initial plan of flat-out confessing his love after Vivia never showed up, he wasn't going to try to force him into loving him.

Which was why it was Vivia who kissed him.

For a second, Chizue couldn't breathe. His lungs forced him to remember their existence, which made him pull back. Which also ruined the moment.

"Sorry," he quickly said.

Vivia tilted his head, leaning back slightly. "For what? You didn't do anything."

"It's..." He shook his head. "Can we restart that?"

So, they kissed again. This time, Chizue was prepared and could breathe. He felt too much to count, both physically and emotionally. He felt Vivia's rough lips, the raindrops falling onto them, Vivia's arms still around him. He felt joy at their kiss, worry he might mess up, and love from being with him.

Vivia was someone who could be relied on for help, support, and a distraction. Chizue never knew he needed Vivia until now, but he knew he could never let him go now.