Work Text
“Good morning, Mikan-chan!”
Beautiful smile, shining eyes, the girl of her dreams held out her hand to her.
“Good morning, Chiaki-chan…”
Mikan Tsumiki took her hand, giving an uncertain smile back.
“Another nightmare, was it?” Chiaki tilted her head. “Well, let me take that from you! No more bad dreams when I'm around!”
With her other hand, she reached into her chest — grasping something only she could see, her hand phasing through and grabbing her heart. When she pulled back, Mikan gasped, the dreams that haunted her dissipating from her mind, solidifying into Chiaki's closed hands as stars.
“Thank you for the meal, Mikan-chan!” Chiaki led her away to her house, that cottage she lived in alone, with a wink, “Just give me a little to eat, and then we can play, okay?”
“...Are my nightmares really so tasty?” Mikan wondered, and Chiaki giggled.
“Of course! Dreams taste best when they're from someone you love, you know!”
Her hand slipped from hers to open the door, and she set down a plate, placing the stars on them. “Yours are kind of spicy, actually.” Chiaki wrinkled her nose. “I don't really know what that means… papa could have told me, but…”
Like always, Chiaki Nanami looked sad, talking about her family. Quietly, Mikan slipped her hand in hers, and she looked up, forcing a smile.
“I'm fine,” she said with that sad, tragic smile. “You saved me, after all.”
Mikan swallowed. “No,” she whispers, “You saved me.”
She blushed. “I didn't do much,” she denied. “Eating your nightmares feed me, you know. And I can't do a thing for you, not in the waking world.”
“It's enough,” Mikan leaned in, pulling her hand to her lips, “You're enough.”
She still remembers their pact: the dreams Chiaki took, replacing them with one's of the two of them, in this dream land. Their deal, sealed with a kiss.
Chiaki looked down, conflicted. “...It's not a lot of stars, is it? When we began, you had a lot more nightmares. …But I'm glad. I don't want Mikan-chan to have bad dreams.”
“...It's still enough, right?” Worry creased her brows. “You won't starve… right?”
“...I'll be fine, Mikan-chan,” she smiled, glancing at her from under her bangs. “It's enough.”
She looked away, back down at the stars. “...They were mean to you again, weren't they?” She murmured. “That's why the stars are so bright.”
Mikan glanced down at them, hesitating. “...They're always mean. You're the only one who isn't.”
And she frowned, squeezing her hand. “I'm sorry,” she says, “That's not fair.”
Mikan squeezed back. “I know,” she whispers. “But… At least, through it all, I have Chiaki.”
Chiaki only looked down at the stars, troubled.
“....You're mourning, aren't you?”
The fox stares at her with eyes that shine even in the dark. Mikan stares back, her face blank and empty.
“What wish do you want?” She asks her. “Whatever wish, there will be a cost. But I will see if I can grant it, in the end.”
“Spirit-sama, I want my friend, my Baku back,” Mikan says.
“A life costs a world,” She raised an eyebrow, “Are you willing to pay that?”
“Anything,” Mikan Tsumiki agrees. “I'll give the entire world nightmares if that's what it takes so she never starves again.”
Junko Enoshima smiled.