#but what about peko without glasses and unbraided hair

[cosmicpeko]

“Christmas Night” | FuyuPeko Christmas Exchange

Word count: 1,787

OTP: Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu x Peko Pekoyama | Danganronpa 2

Story type: Fanfiction

Short summary: Following the end of the Hope Restoration Program, everyone in the Future Foundation headquarters was ready to spend another night in recovery and rehabilitation. Fuyuhiko, however, who managed to regain track of the time and date, was able to find out that night was not like any other. And he had just the perfect person in mind to tell first.

Important notes: This is my gift/fic for the FuyuPeko Christmas Exchange event hosted by @may-we-have-peace! The user I’ve been assigned was @flannelspacegay and since I wasn’t given any prompts, I tried my best with the ones I had in store ;_; Please remember English is not my first language so there might be some grammar mistakes or things that don’t make sense? Anyway enjoy this will be super short!

Read on AO3

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"Won't you sleep a little?"

Between the greasy white walls of room 102 echoed the wind, howling cold from its half-closed, only window. That's how Peko knew it was winter ㅡ the freezing air sliced her cheeks. Since she woke up, she had been rebellious to any sort of request for some reason ㅡ including those of the guard nurses to leave the window closed, so that the toxic fog of the outside wouldn't enter the building's rooms and corridors. Reluctant to give up in spite of the many reminders, Peko's room was assigned an air filtration machine, which unstoppably produced some kind of metallic noise that would keep Peko awake.

Fuyuhiko, on the other side of the room, kept looking at her, leaning with all his weight on the door he had closed behind him. The change in temperature between room 102 and the rest of the building was enough to make Fuyuhiko shiver, but he decided on trying not to antagonize her by forcing the nurses requests on her newly rebellious self ㅡ rather, he carefully approached the little, uncomfortable mattress where Peko's bony, thin body was resting. He helped her be seated then, so that she would feel at ease looking at him on the same height. Her composure always made her look like a soldier, ready to receive an order any time.

Peko was unquestionably skinny ㅡ her athletic structure had been lost during months of unconscious fasting. Although everyone was constantly fed during the simulation, and that was also why Fuyuhiko hadn't lost much weight ㅡ those who were killed in Jabberwock Island entered a comatose state which made their body function irregularly. Depending on how much their body was into the coma, more physical damage was found, like PTSD*. That was also why Peko didn't speak.

As a result of the trauma experienced during her execution, her lungs, and her whole respiratory system was on the edge of collapse ㅡ as she could concretely feel the blades still pierce her body, she was having a hard time breathing. Oxygen depleted, starting again was an extremely difficult task for the swordswoman.

Fuyuhiko found more strength in helping her than helping himself.

Not one day would pass without him trying to guard and protect her, ignoring the rest of his classmates and sacrificing his own recovery. Being without her had been of excruciating pain ㅡ it took him so long to accept her death, until it was proven fake. Since then, a moment couldn't pass without him needing to make sure she was alive. So he wouldn't give up: he would stand before room 102 day and night, fighting whoever got in his way, waiting for visitation time ㅡ and everyone knew that time was Fuyuhiko's only. At night, surveillance was extended to the whole hall, so it was easier to dodge; and he knew he could be finally be with her without worrying or fighting.

The blonde took a sit next to her, facing her side with his entire body, emulating her composure.

"I found an old calendar in the guardhouse and spent the afternoon doing the math. I couldn't wait to tell you what's up today."

Peko, who was deeply insomniac and a little confused, rubbed her tired eyes with her hands and goggled a little, struggling to see without her glasses but still trying to focus on his face, giving him a sign of her attention.

Fuyuhiko smirked again, delighted.

"I think you could tell by my freezing ass-" the girl's sudden coughing caught him by surprise for a second, but while trying to make sure she was okay, he found out she cracked under a little laugh. It took a while before Peko got on her track again, struggling to breath, but visibly humored. He continued, "...but this is Christmas night. It's officially december 25th."

Only by mentioning Christmas, the blonde had Peko beaming. She raised both her eyebrows, then melted in a sweet, little smile. Christmas had always been an important tradition for the Kuzuryuu family. Both Fuyuhiko's mother and father, although very conservative and loyal to the culture of old Japan, adopted this western recurrence for their family. During Christmas night, they used to hide presents and sweets all over the house for their children to find. That Peko knew, because every year, she would be sent from her Master and his sister to find all the hiding spots, making it hard for the Kuzuryuu's to think about more clever solutions for the following year. Just by remembering, she could feel the house's warmth intensely on her skin ㅡ she could picture the oven in the kitchen, too high for her at the time to reach, in constant function, while Fuyuhiko's nanny was busy cooking all kinds of dishes for the day, both western and Japanese.

The boy could notice Peko's smile even though she tried to hide it by lowing her head slightly, letting her silvery hair slide on her shoulders ㅡ only that sight was enough to make him smile two-to-three times brighter.

"You remember, right?! 'Tis a special night, this one, Peko!"

That was the first time in years she had seen her like that ㅡ he thought nothing was going to ruin that moment for them. Nonetheless, they were conscious of the fact that those moments were not to come back anymore.

Brainwashed by despair, they were guilty of many crimes ㅡ including killing their family and masters, who they loved deeply, burning their house down, massacring the closest members of their clan and guiding the rest into their same madness. They couldn't remember any of it, and probably didn't know about it, but they could feel it. But even with that, they weren't able to feel sad or guilty ㅡ like if that ability was surgically removed from their brains. Evil lurked around them without ever touching them. They, who were once despair embodied, were blessed to be born again, could never be infected again.

"I hid something for you to be found, yesterday." now calmer, Fuyuhiko searched for the swordswoman's attention, who immediately raised her head again at his level. That alone was enough to make Peko blush lightly. Her tired, but still flaming red eyes regained strength immediately, as they started flashing quickly from a corner of the room to the other, analyzing the blonde's body and behind his back, with the same curiosity a child would have if they exchanged places ㅡ trying her best, she also moved her body to better observe her surroundings, resulting in a big laugh from Fuyuhiko's side.

However, he decided to anticipate her and unveil the secret, preventing her to make too much of an effort ㅡ he knew she would complete any task for him, to the point of putting her life at risk.

Getting up on his feet, and lowing his back, he managed to pull out from under the mattress what seemed to Peko like a piece of fabric. It took a while to realize that piece of fabric the other was holding was effectively stuffed and shaped as a little panda ㅡ her favourite animal. The black was heavily marked with some kind of ink that resembled that of a pen. The eyes were badly sewn buttons. Overall, it looked creepy. But she couldn't help but feeling overwhelmed ㅡ she freezed, as she was holding the little gift too close to her eyes, trying to capture every detail without her glasses.

Confused by her reaction, Fuyuhiko pouted. "I managed to shape a metallic spring from my bed as a sewing needle with the little knowledge I have of crafting, and literally sewn my sheets." he lowed his head, embarassed, "That's honestly trash, but like, I thought you could use some company when I'm not around."

Lost in his own words, he didn't realize until he heard it, that Peko was sobbing lightly, challenging her own lungs.

Since her awakening, every little emotion had a huge impact on her. From not being capable of feeling much - as she taught to, from a very young age - she was suddenly weak to any small change of mood. To Fuyuhiko, it was like returning to planet Earth and crushing on its surface. He rushed towards her again, sat on the bed, and cupped her face with his hands while brushing away her tears with his thumbs. "Shit- please don't cry," he panicked instantly, and more so when Peko slightly rubbed her cheeks onto his hands, cuddling slowly ㅡ that would be reassuring, if it wasn't Peko he had before him. Something clearly changed after the whole experience in Jabberwock Island.

He took a while to understand what the swordswoman was trying to say. She was happy ㅡ and that was her way of communicating her newly discovered feelings. "We're the only ones left," Fuyuhiko whispered, "who can carry on our family's legacy." His hands slided on her shoulders and arms, until he finally grabbed her hands again. "I don't wanna do it without you, Peko." Hope was good, he thought. He couldn't help but smile because as he watched her being vulnerable and tired, he could see his future ㅡ a bright future, where a thousand more of Christmas nights would happen, and they would spend them in a proper room, where pretty lights would replace those of the beeping machinery above her head, and the heat of an actual house would surround them instead of the cold wind Peko was so stubborn not to defend herself from ㅡ just to feel alive. A future where they would be togheter.

Peko was in love with that hope ㅡ and she was in love with Fuyuhiko. Love doesn't need words, and it goes far, it goes beyond the devotion and the loyalty of a tool. She opened her lips softly.

"Thank you..."

The boy was left astonished by that attempt of hers, but deep down, he knew that was the right time for her to do it.

He kept smirking, literally on the moon. Moving his body towards her, he gently guided her head against his own chest, then rested a cheek among her silver hair. Peko could feel his heartbeat through his bones ㅡ so fragile, yet so powerful. To her, it was all so natural, just meant to be. So she closed her eyes, soothed by that rhythm, and immediately fell asleep, squeezing the little gift she received that night in her thin arms.

Fuyuhiko found out a while later, but kept hugging her and rocking back and forth, like he was holding just the most delicate thing in the world.

"I can't wait to spend my life with you."

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Everyone, meri christmis (~￣³￣)~