Kunikida shot up, eyes wide open. He dripped with cold sweat, and his heart was beating rapidly. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. The world around him seemed blurry, oddly enough. He grabbed his glasses off his bedside table and put them on his face, but the fogginess remained. It was practically the middle of the night though. He looked around the room, it was his bedroom, just it felt a bit off. He couldn’t place his finger on it. The space next to him on the bed was empty as well, while Bram was nocturnal, something told him to get up and go find him. So, he stood up and opened the creaky door to their shared bedroom. Everything was dark, but it didn't feel scary to Kunikida. It felt…welcoming? He fidgeted with the golden, pure diamond ring on his finger as he trudged on. The hallway stretched on ahead of him, it felt as if it kept increasing in length with each step. There were a few photos hanging on the wooden walls, most of them were rather normal. There were a few photos of Bram and Kunikida’s wedding, Bram had insisted that they do a wedding only a few months after meeting him. Kunikida found the idea to be utter lunacy, so Bram took his answer and the matter seemed to be over with. Until a few months later Bram proposed again, and then again, and then again, until Kunikida finally cracked and said yes. He already knew he would never regret saying yes, even if he and Bram didn’t get along well within the first few weeks of knowing each other, they had grown to love each other thanks to Aya. Walking a couple steps further down the hallway, there was another photo. It was the day that Kunikida adopted Aya. He and Bram hadn’t been married at the time, they actually only just moved in with one another. She was so excited to find out that she was able to leave that awful home. She stopped thinking that she was only there to be useful to others. Kunikida also had to deal with way too many questions about working in the Armed Detective Agency. He knew that she wanted to be a “warrior of justice”, whatever that meant, but found it very endearing that she saw what he did as a job she wanted to do. She would tag along sometimes and talk with the other members. She really enjoyed Yosano and Kyouka’s company and also messing with Atsushi with Ranpo. He smiled fondly at the memory. Eventually, Kunikida reached the end of the hallway. There was some light peeking out from under the door and some soft sounds of movement could be heard from behind it. He reached out and turned the doorknob, pushing open the door and leaving it open behind him. It opened up into a dining room, a fairly simple one. The lighting was dark and dim, the only thing that was illuminated was a circular wood table in the center of the room. There were three chairs around the table, and there were Bram and Aya, both up. Bram was sipping idly at a cup of tea, and Aya was scribbling away on a piece of paper with some crayons. Bram noticed him and gave him a small hum, focusing on the teacup in front of him. Aya didn’t acknowledge Kunikida’s presence. He walked over and leaned on the table next to Aya, peering over her shoulder. He examined her drawing for a few seconds, if he wasn’t mistaken it seemed to be a crappy drawing of f*ckuzawa. It looked like there was some kind of explosion happening behind him, Kunikida couldn’t make sense of it. He spoke softly, not wanting to disturb the peaceful silence of the room.
“Hey, what are you doing up this late Aya? You have school tomorrow.” But she didn’t respond. She didn’t even spare a glance at Kunikida, making him a bit upset, obviously. She usually treated him with a normal amount of respect, but right now she was treating him like he was invisible. “Hey, Aya?” He raised his voice a little bit, pausing before waving his hand in front of her face. She looked around for a second — her expression seemed a bit distressed— then returned back to drawing with her crayons.
“I wouldn’t disturb her.” Bram spoke up, Kunikida turned his attention to him. He placed his teacup down, “She was having a hard time, so I decided I’d stay with her until you joined us.” Kunikida nodded and sat down at his spot at the table. He eyed the empty cup in front of him. There was a noticeable lack of a teapot at the table, it made Kunikida wonder if Bram was actually drinking tea.
“A hard time sleeping?” Kunikida asked, messing with the cup in front of him. He simply held it in his hands. Bram nodded.
“Nightmares. I’m certain we are both well accustomed to them.” Now it was Kunikida’s turn to nod in understanding. They all had been through a fair share of horrors in the past, he also knew that even Aya had some troubles she carried with her, even at her young age, so it made sense.
“Speaking of which, I just had the strangest dream.” Kunikida’s head swam, trying to recall the nightmare he just woke up from. He leaned slightly towards Bram subconsciously.
“Oh? Pray tell.”
“I can’t remember it all, but there was some kind of apocalypse going on.” He laughed softly, “It seems ridiculous, but you became Fyodor. It looked painful; your skin was torn off and underneath was Fyodor.” He shuddered at the visual that remained in his mind’s eye.
“And after that?” Bram was listening attentively. Kunikida decided to forgo messing with the cup and messed with his wedding ring again. He was more fidgety than usual, it might be because he didn’t have his notebook on his person.
“It’s a bit of a blur, Fyodor took the holy sword and amenogozen and, sort of, smashed them together from what I could tell. I remember seeing Ranpo, f*ckuzawa, and the hunting dog, Teruko Okura. There was this huge explosion and then I woke up.” Bram studied his husband for a few seconds and picked up his teacup again, sipping from it. “It was just a dream anyway, at least we’re okay now.”
“But this isn’t real, Kunikida.” Bram said. Kunikida froze.
“What?”
“This,” Bram nodded to the room around them, “Isn’t real. None of it is. I’m gone, Doppo.” Kunikida laughed nervously.
“What are you talking about, you’re right here, Aya is right there, I’m right here!”
“We are both gone, Doppo, this is the dream.” Kunikida’s mind raced.
What did he mean, gone? Surely the Agency couldn’t have… wouldn’t that mean the world was ending?
“It’s not your fault, love, you did what you could. But Fyodor won. The Agency, the Decay of Angels, the Port Mafia, the Hunting Dogs, everyone played right into his hands. Putting him right where he wanted to be.” Kunikida looked over to Aya, still drawing peacefully.
“Even Aya?” He spoke feebly, clearly distressed. He wasn’t the type to cry, but he was certainly reaching that point now.
“Even Lady Aya. As I have said before though, Doppo, none of this is real. None of this ever happened.” The hallway outside the small dining room started crumbling, the wallpaper peeling and the photos smashing on the ground. It was being consumed by this bright light, like it was a very slow explosion. Kunikida looked down at his hand, the wedding ring he was fidgeting with was missing.
“Can I at least stay here awhile?” He mumbled. The world was ending. Was he selfish to want to stay in this infinitely small slice of serenity that he always yearned for deep inside? Aya seemed to look up from her drawing now, she got up and stood next to his chair. She hugged Kunikida’s waist tightly. He placed one hand on her back. Bram stood up and walked behind him, wrapping his arms around the other man. He rested his head on Kunikida’s shoulder. Kunikida held one of Bram’s arms tightly to his chest.
“Okay.” Bram said softly. Using what little strength Kunikida had left in his body, he held the two of them close, tears pricking the corner of his eyes, as the bright light swallowed all of them whole.
