You lay there, staring up at the dark stretch of sky, lungs rising and falling in slow, uneven breaths. Sleep had abandoned you after the nightmare, leaving your thoughts restless and sharp.

A faint shift of movement made you tense.

Before you could convince yourself it was nothing, a shadow stepped into your line of sight. Kazuichi stood a few feet away, the glow of distant lights catching on his goggles as he hesitated.

“…Jeez,” he said quietly. “It’s late, y’know.”

He glanced up at the sky, then back at you, expression softening when he noticed how awake you really were.

“You look wiped,” he added, voice lower now. “Bad dream or somethin’?”

Kazuichi shuffled closer, hands tucked into his sleeves like he didn’t quite know what to do with them.

“You don’t gotta stay out here if you don’t wanna,” he said. “I can hang around till you’re tired again… or walk you back. Whatever helps.”

It wasn’t flashy comfort — just steady, awkward presence — but somehow, that made it easier to breathe.