Spinaraki Week 2020 Day 1: Fantasy

And From This Slumber You Shall Wake

The kingdom of Yuei has cast a curse upon Shigaraki that they believe will not only prevent him from interfering with their upcoming battle, but will take him out of commission entirely. After all, who could ever truly love a destructive monster like him...

~~~~~

The army of Yuei was visible from the tallest tower of the abandoned castle the League of Villains had made into their newest hideout, and Tomura Shigaraki would not wake up.

It hadn’t taken long for Ujiko, the resident necromancer, to figure out what happened when their leader had first collapsed only a few days prior, but the cause of his unconscious state spelled uncertainty for their future. It was a curse of endless sleep, most certainly cast by the magic users of Yuei if the leaked plans of their upcoming attack were true, one that could only be broken by the age-old method of true love’s kiss.

“Blast it all! Of all the curses they could have used,” Ujiko cried out, as he violently pushed himself away from the desk full of spell-casting texts, nearly shaking Toga down from her perch on the desk’s edge. As he made his way over towards one of the many bookshelves in his vast library, the league’s fiery sorcerer turned to the rest of the group. “You gotta admit, they did make one hell of a smart move.”

“Dabi, now is not the time to praise the enemy,” hissed Mr. Compress, the illusionist clearly incensed by the comment as he helped Toga to steady herself. “Dabi does sort of have a point, Mister,” the rouge witch said. “They chose a spell that not only took our dear leader and heaviest hitter out of the fight, but also made the cure something they’d probably think is impossible to fulfill.”

“Yeah, we know Shigaraki is really a lovable softie on the inside. Always making sure we’re okay. Someone’s gonna fall for him sooner or later,” declared Twice, the emotional barbarian sounding joyfully optimistic, only to abruptly sour his own mood as he hollered, “No chance! He’s an ugly, heartless bastard! Not a single drop of compassion in him!”

From the bookshelves, Ujiko shouted over his shoulder, “We can’t rely on someone magically falling in love with him now of all times, not with Yuei most likely on their way here as we speak. Now are you going to sit around or are you going to help me find a different method to break the curse?” The league quickly mobilized and started to comb through the shelves, both to save their unconscious leader and to keep Ujiko from yelling again. Before starting her own search, Toga dragged Spinner, the league’s dragonborn paladin, off to the side.

“Toga, what are you doing? We gotta find the–”

“And we will, but we also need someone to keep an eye on Tomura just in case anything happens, don’t we?”

Spinner stiffened, eyeing Toga in an attempt to unearth any ulterior motives, but he never was the best at reading others, or at most things regarding social interactions for that matter. After a moment, he asked, “Why me? What makes me more suited for guarding Shigaraki than helping out here?”

At this, Toga’s mouth curled into a smile that, while undeniably sweet, was coated with a smugness that even Spinner could see, as if she knew something that he, –and maybe even the others– didn’t.

“Trust me on this, Spinner. I think it’ll be the best outcome. Just keep your sword ready, and have some faith in yourself for once,” she grinned, and with that she retreated into the maze of shelves before he could ask her anymore questions.

~

The days the league spent in the library still had not brought forth anything helpful, and now Yuei’s army was marching ever closer. Spinner quickly turned away from the view from the tallest tower and made his way back to his post at Shigaraki’s side. He had barely stirred since the curse started, with only the occasional twitch and the ever steady rise and fall of his chest as proof that he was still alive. Miraculously, Shigaraki could still swallow the water and porridge brought to him, meaning that Spinner didn’t have to worry too much over his leader becoming even more malnourished than he already was. It was a small comfort, but one that soothed his own fears nonetheless.

“Bad news, Shigaraki,” Spinner groaned as he sat down in the wooden chair he had dragged over to be as close to Shigaraki’s bedside as he could. “Yuei’s army is within our sight, and it looks like they’ve got every knight within the surrounding lands to fight with them. Time’s really running out now, huh.”

He slowly reached towards Shigaraki’s hand but paused at the last moment, unsure how Shigaraki would react, or if he would react at all, before stealing his courage and taking Shigaraki’s hand into his own.

“You’ve always been the strongest one in our band of oddballs, always pushing yourself beyond your limits. So, now you gotta get up, okay? Shigaraki?”

Unbeknownst to Spinner, fighting within the heavy waters of his own conscious, Tomura Shigaraki was barely keeping himself from sinking into oblivion. It wasn’t enough to wake up on his own, but Tomura was just able to occasionally squirm and swallow the food and drink Spinner had offered. And although he knew Spinner couldn’t hear him, Shigaraki replied anyway.

Trust me Spinner, I’ve been trying to get up since this damn curse started! No way would I intentionally leave you guys to fight a battle on your own like this, especially if Yuei’s army is as big as you’re making it out to be.

“I know we’ve barely been getting by nowadays, but the only way we’re gonna see brighter days is if you wake up. And not– it’s not just in terms of victories, you know. I understand that you want everyone to get what they want in life, some happy memories and experiences, and I just think you deserve some of that too–”

He suddenly cut himself off with an involuntary sob, and Spinner noticed the tears that were gathering in his eyes. Once he realized he was crying he couldn’t stop, droplets of warm salt water cascading from his eyes.

Spinner, are you okay? Never mind that’s a stupid question, clearly you aren’t! I can feel your tears landing upon my hand. Damn it! It’s been a while since I used to be this much of an emotional sponge, a decade at least. Just another one of my dormant traits the league has brought out of me! You especially, Spinner. If I could, I’d tell you I’d actually like that, those happy experiences you want me to have. But only so long as I can share them with you, if not for my own sake, then so you never get as upset as you sound right now ever again!

“Please!” Spinner shouted, tears now pouring from his eyes like desperate waterfalls. “Please wake up! I–I’m just realizing how badly I’m gonna miss you if you don’t wake up. Please come back, Tomura! Come back, I…”

In that moment, faced with the increasing possibility that he would never see the boyish sparkle in garnet eyes, never brainstorm any more high-stakes plans to defeat the next challenge in their way, and never feel fuller than his hollow sense of self had ever felt before meeting Tomura, Spinner finally realized the core reason he was left utterly devastated in the face of Tomura Shigaraki’s endless sleep.

“I love you.” Spinner’s confession was only a murmur, as soft as petals landing on the ground after being unceremoniously ripped from their flower. “I–I love you, so please…please…” he continued to whisper, before finally bowing his head, allowing himself to be consumed by the despair of losing a love formerly unrecognized before it even had the chance to bloom, perhaps never even being reciprocated in the first place.

And from deep within heavy waters, at the risk of never again experiencing the warmth of an emotion he previously thought he was incapable of feeling, Tomura Shigaraki summoned his remaining mental power, and squeezed. As his strength finally gave out, Tomura knew that the scaled hands that held his own had surely felt his last call from the depths of his own mind, hopefully understanding the meaning behind it, and with his trust placed in the dragonborn paladin he had come to truly admire, he sank into oblivion.

~

Spinner was quickly tugged out of his mourning by the nearly bone-breaking squeeze of the cold, boney hand he was holding. It couldn’t have lasted more than five seconds before it went completely limp, but it was enough time to shock Spinner out of his depressive state and realize that not only had Tomura somehow heard his cries, but answered them the only way he knew how in light of the curse. Although the first fact left him embarrassed for a moment, the second practically set him ablaze with the implications of what the squeeze most likely meant. So in spite of his embarrassment and the already creeping uncertainty in his interpretation of Tomura’s message, he built up his resolve and slowly started leaning downwards.

What if I’m wrong about this? What if he meant something else by squeezing my hand?

He could feel his face grow hotter, his stomach twirling itself in knots as his self-doubt grew.

But what else could it mean? Dammit, I’ve never been good at reading cues, especially ones that could possibly be romantic.

He could begin to feel the soft puffs of air from Tomura’s perky nose, slow and steady in his cursed sleep.

Ugh, what would Tomura do here? What would he tell me do?

At this point, his lips were mere inches away from Tomura’s, quivering slightly in apprehension and hesitating before the point of no return.

But I know what he would tell me, don’t I? Hasn’t he already told me that I should get what I want in life. Well, someone I want is right in front of me, and I think that someone wants me too. He’d tell me to go for it.

And so, he went for it, gently pressing his scaled lips to Tomura’s ever-dry ones in a chaste kiss. A few seconds passed, and Spinner started to worry that he’d gone and ruined everything, until he felt the twitch of fluttering eyelashes against his cheek and a slight press upwards from the lips below his own. He pulled away just in time to see the garnet eyes he adored reveal themselves from behind heavy eyelids.

With the last remainders of his shock, Spinner could barely get out the words, “Me? Really?!”

“Pft, yeah you!” Tomura laughed, as his soft smile widened into the enthusiastic grin that caused Spinner’s heart to speed up.

“I just,” Spinner inhaled as he gathered himself, trying to shake off the rest of his disbelief, “…why me out of everyone? I’m not all that powerful or amazing at what I do, so I’m not sure what you see in me, you know.”

“Well you’re thinking about it from the wrong angle, first of all. I could probably recruit a hundred swordsmen, but I know none of them could ever fit by my side as well as you do.”

Hearing the reassurance straight from the mouth of his true love, Spinner was finally able to settle down, taking the opportunity to hold his beloved close as Tomura returned the action and continued.

“You’ve always been so loyal, yet never at the cost of leaving your opinion unheard. You allow me to lead, but you know when to step in and suggest another idea when I’m about to do something stupid in the heat of the moment. You’re another critical yet encouraging mind that I can bounce ideas off of. But most importantly, despite all the potential to worship me for my godlike strength, you continue to treat me as human I am within my innermost layers, something that I’ve barely ever been seen as by everyone else. You’ve never been too aggressive, or too submissive, when interacting with me. In fact, you’ve always been so good to me. So how could I do anything other than do right by you in return?”

Spinner, struck silent by the confession, could only reply in the form of yet another kiss, this time fully reciprocated by Tomura in a sweet and loving affirmation of their feelings.

The only thing that prevented their kiss from continuing any longer than a minute was Twice yelling about the Yuei’s fast approaching army, yet as the two lovers dashed towards their companions to hash out a plan, scaled hand in boney hand, they both knew that they would most likely have all the time in the world to explore their new relationship.

Spinaraki Week 2020 Day 1: Fantasy

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