𝑳𝑬𝑺 𝑭𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑰𝑳𝑬𝑺 •𝒃𝒙𝒃•

you're somebody else ~ 45

AN: Quick warning, folks. This whole chapter is a dream that Yuma has, and I'd rather put up the warning immediately, since there will be rather... unsettling? scenery.

It was nearing nightfall when Yuma got off work.

Somehow, he was lucky enough to make it so he got off earlier than usual. It took a bit of time, but he managed to talk his superiors into allowing him to do so.

Today was a special day.

Alas, he knew that by the time he got home, it would be pitch black. Winter tended to be like that. Day turned to night in the blink of an eye and four o'clock felt like midnight.

Snow crunched beneath his boots and he lightly reached his arms out as to balance himself. The moment he did so, cold assaulted his senses and he quickly brought his arms back around himself.

As he huffed, he watched the air escape his lips and turn into white steam as the sky darkened above him.

He couldn't wait to go home and be greeted by his lover's warmth.
_

True to his unspoken words, it was pitch black when he opened the front door.

The weird thing was that... it wasn't only dark outside.

For some reason, the instant he opened the door, something felt out of place. Usually, he'd be greeted with a lit up house and almost immediately he'd hear the little pats of Lukewarm's paws as she ran towards him like her life depended on it.

But there was nothing.

Only silence, and a foreboding chill.

He shook his shoes off, careful not to make any noise. Maybe Shouto was sleeping? Maybe Lukewarm was with him? He spoke to himself, but that didn't stop his worry.

It was... cold in the house.

"Shouto?" Lightly raising his voice, he called out through the hallway.

There was no reply.

He hung his jacket on the side, barely managing to get it on the hook, and began walking forward. The fluffy rug muted his footsteps as he made his way forward. There was no way for him to tell where what was, so he had to rely on memory alone. He pressed his hand onto the wall as he walked, fingers brushing over the wooden frames of their shared photos.

It would take him forever to find the forsaken light-switch, so he gave up on even trying.

"Shouto?" Once again, he called out, but the outcome was the same.

It was... beginning to scare him.

When his hand slid off the wall and pressed into nothing, he figured he was outside the living room. He took one more step forward and looked to the side.

That was when he smelled it.

Something burnt.

Something disgusting.

Did Shouto perhaps end up burning their dinner? But, thinking about it, it didn't make sense. Never before had Shouto screwed up while making food, it was always Yuma who had to clean his own messes.

And this... this smell...

It was... off, somehow.

He patted across the side of the wall, where he knew a light-switch was, and found it within moments. But, when he flicked it, nothing happened.