As I walked home, I thought about the events that took place in the last 2-3 hours. I met Akutagawa under innocent circumstances, we walked around Yokohama for about 15 minutes together and I met his sister who just happened to be the one that gave me a threatening note yesterday.

I took a deep breath as I approached the place I called home. It wasn't much considering my pay but it was a roof over my head so I couldn't complain. I walked up the steps and unlocked the door to enter. Once the door was shut firmly behind me, I took my shoes off and went to the kitchen to get a drink of water.

It was a little past 1 in the afternoon and my first day of my break, and I was already dying to go back to work. I can't stand not doing anything and the inability to do what I wanted was driving me insane. It was going to be a long and boring week unless I am able to do something.

With a sigh, I set my glass down on the counter and looked out the window. Clouds had begun to roll in, blocking out the sun that was shining just moments ago. I sighed knowing that this wasn't a storm that was going to last through the night. Looks like this is going to be another night of no sleep.

I walked into the front room and turned on the TV before going back to the room to change. I pulled on some black sweatpants and a grey hoodie, not bothering to put a shirt on underneath. I pulled my comforter off my bed and drug it to the couch. Once I was bundled up, I pulled my headphones out of the table next to the couch and plugged them into my phone for easy access when the storm starts to get bad.

I could only hope that it's not going to be as bad as it looks.

A few hours later, my phone lit up and I found a text from Chuuya waiting.

Chuuya
are you home?

Me
yeah why

Chuuya
because someone wants to pay you a visit but doesn't know where you live and forgot to ask you for your number

I thought about it for a second before coming to the conclusion that it was probably Akutagawa. But to be sure, I asked who it was.

Me
who is it?

Chuuya
are you really that big of a dumbass
who do you think it is

Me
Akutagawa?

Chuuya
ok maybe you aren't that big of a dumbass, but a dumbass nonetheless

Me
ok I get it
you can either give him my number or address
i don't care which

I didn't get a reply after that. I set down my phone at the exact moment a clap of thunder filled the silence of my home. I jumped and stared out the window with wide eyes.

I looked away with a shaky breath before my phone went off again. This time, it was an unknown number.

Unknown
I just got your number from Chuuya
it's Akutagawa

I saved his number before answering

Me
kk

Ryu
what are you doing?

Me
nothing

Ryu
do you mind if I come over

Me
no, i'll send you my address

Once I did that, I thought about the storm and regretted letting him come over. How was I supposed to explain my flinching everytime a clap of thunder or flash of lightning filled the room? I could only hope that I didn't get thrown into a panic attack and start having flashbacks.

Just over 10 minutes passed when I heard a knock at the door. I got up from the comfort of my blanket and walked over to the door and opened it. The second the door was opened and the person on the other side was revealed, thunder sounded and I jumped involuntarily.

I heard a soft chuckle emit from the other male as I stepped aside so he could come in.

"Go ahead and make yourself at home. Do you want anything to drink?" I asked.

"No thanks." He smiled as I closed the door and he stripped himself of his shoes and jacket, leaving him in a black, long-sleeved shirt, and grey sweats. We walked over to the couch and I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders once more as I pulled the small blanket off the back of the couch and handed it to him to use.

Once we were settled, he just stared at me with a soft expression, eyes filled with curiosity.

"What are you looking at?" I asked.

"You." He replied bluntly. My face began to heat up at his comment and I looked away, the action emitting a chuckle from him.

"Why?" I mumbled without looking at him.

"No reason. Just curious is all."

"Curious?" I asked.

"Yeah. This is going to sound a bit strange coming from someone you just met in decent circumstances a few hours ago, but I want to know more about you." He said. "If you're okay with that."

I just nodded as another roll of thunder sounded. I managed to keep myself from flinching but I did tense up. Sadly, he noticed this.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I was about to nod but ended up jumping in fright as it thundered again. This time it was louder and I could tell that the worst was yet to come. It was a little past seven in the evening and I felt like a coward in front of Akutagawa. I silently hoped he wouldn't ask about my reactions to the noises coming from the sky but I wasn't fortunate enough to be granted that kind of luxury.

"Are you scared of thunderstorms?" He asked, his voice soft and laced with concern.

I just covered my head with my blanket before nodding slightly. I was expecting him to laugh or scoff at my childlike behavior, but what he did was the complete opposite.

I heard him move on the couch before I felt his arms wrap around my shoulders and gently pull me into his chest. I allowed him to move my body until he was comfortable before relaxing a bit.

"Relax Atsushi." He murmured. "It's going to be okay."

Little by little, I relaxed my body until I was fully laying against his chest. My head rested over the place where his heart was and I listened to it's steady thumping, finding it oddly comforting.

I felt his fingers messing with the hairs at the nape of my neck, causing an involuntary shiver to course through my body.

As the storm continued and the thunder grew louder, I couldn't help but flinch or tense up at the noises. I was doing okay until a particularly loud one sounded and caused me to go into a panic attack, not failing to throw the flashbacks in as well.

My surroundings began to change into ones from the orphanage. I started out by sitting in front of the headmaster as he yelled at me. I was crying. When the memories changed, I was chained to the wall in the cell I was kept in. It was raining and the barred window didn't do much to keep the rain out.

My breathing became shallow and my vision was starting to go blurry. I felt something touch my arm and I flinched before pushing whatever it was away and moved so that I was further away from it.

The voices of my headmaster and the other people at the orphanage filled my head as they continuously told me that I was a good for nothing and that the world would be better off if I had just died in a ditch somewhere.

I was hoping that it would all go away after that, but it didn't. It just got worse. It went from insults to the heated metal and pain in my side.

Everything after that was just a blur. There was a faint voice in the background followed by hurried footsteps and a door opening and closing. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders and pull me into their chest. I tried to push them away but their grip tightened. It was then that I heard a voice talking in my ear. It was still muffled, but it was there. As I was brought back into reality and the memories disappeared, I was able to gain some of my surroundings and make out the furniture in my living room. Now, I could hear the voice more clearly.

"Atsushi, it's okay. Take a deep breath. they're not here. Shh, it's okay. Everything is going to be okay." I was able to pick out that it was a male. A dark haired male was standing by the front door with a shocked expression on his face.

My breathing began slowing, but I was shaking pretty bad. I held onto one of the arms that were wrapped around me. I hid my face in the inner part of his elbow and took a deep breath to calm myself.

"Just breathe Atsushi. He isn't here to hurt you and neither are the others. You are in your home in Yokohama, not the orphanage." I managed a small nod to show that I understood what he was saying. Gradually, I felt his grip slacken and he slowly moved away.

I allowed him to back up and give me some space.I looked up and found, to my slight surprise, Chuuya sitting beside me. I turned my gaze towards the dark haired male who seemed to be relaxing more now that I was freaking out.

"Akutagawa, get him a glass of water." Chuuya said. Akutagawa nodded before going to my kitchen to get what was asked of him. He turned back to me and placed his hands over mine that were in my lap, still shaking. I looked up into his calm blue eyes, with my wide purple and yellow ones.

Akutagawa came back and held the glass of water out towards me. I was about to reach up to grab it but Chuuya beat me to it. He gently placed my shaky hands around the glass and made sure I wasn't going to spill it before standing up. I took a sip before setting the glass down beside me and pulled my knees up to my chest. I rested my head on my knees and felt myself start drifting off to sleep. I could no longer hear the storm. The last thing I heard was the sound of Chuuya's voice talking to Akutagawa. Then, I fell asleep.

_________________________________________
Just letting you know that I've never written a scene about a panic attack, so if something is off or incorrect, please let me know.