『バウンド』 Bound

A Gloomy Step Forward

"Lubba!" Tatsumi searched around the mansion while calling out the teen's name. He huffed with exasperation when he was unsuccessful. The area was storming severely so there was a slight delay in their departure. In the meantime, he and Lubbock had dug graves for the Heartfields in the front of the mansion. The atmosphere was thick with guilt, loss, and sorrow as they had buried each body.

"Oh..." Tatsumi looked out the window to see Lubbock sitting in front of the graves. The brunette exhaled heavily and exited the front door to go out into the rain beside Lubbock. He could clearly see his friend shivering, this being the cause of his gesture to slip off his jacket and lay it over Lubbock's form, who had froze for a second.

"You'll get sick like this." Tatsumi said as he kneeled beside Lubbock.

"That's fine." He barely heard the response.

"You should head inside." He tried again. Lubbock continued to stare dully at the graves.

"I will."

"Before you catch hyperthermia."

"Yeah."

Tatsumi ruffled his hair in mild frustration. He understood how deeply devastated Lubbock was, but he did not want him to develop self-destructing habits. No matter how small it seemed to be.

Out the corner of his eyes, he saw Lubbock jolt when he suddenly sat down beside the male.

"Hey, Mrs. Heartfield." Tatsumi started, feeling green eyes observe him with confusion. "It's me, Tatsumi. I'm sorry for not being able to save you. I'm also sorry for not being able to save Erin and Houstin or your husband. Trust me when I say I wish I could have gotten to know them more. They seemed like good people. I mean if I ever talked to Mr. Heartfield then he would have also been a good person to me because... ah anyway..."

Tatsumi then placed a hand on Lubbock's head and the other male stared transfixed, "I swear I will do everything in my power to protect your son. He may be a stubborn prat sometimes, but I'll keep him happy, comfort him, be there for him, you name it." Tatsumi said with a small smile, "He's in good care. Well, as good as it gets. Hope the heavens are doing great for you and everyone else. I'll make sure to avenge all of you. Then, me and Lubbock will come right back here as we had promised before. Just cause guys are in a different place doesn't mean it'll stop us from coming back."

With that, he patted Lubbock's head and flinched when he saw tears trickling down Lubbock's cheeks.

"W-wait, that wasn't supposed to make you cry more!" Tatsumi pleaded and Lubbock finally looked at him with teary grin.

"You're a real idiot, you know that, Tatsu?" Before Tatsumi could respond, Lubbock firmly leaned against Tatsumi's arm while holding the jacket closer to his form. "You did your best. I really am glad to have met you."

...

With the storm clearing up, Tatsumi and Lubbock packed what they could. There wasn't really a lot and Tatsumi was waiting on the couch. Finally, he heard footsteps and stood while turning around.

"Ready to go-?" He stopped with an examining look. Lubbock had blinked at him with a questioning stare. "What's that?"

"Huh?"

Tatsumi strode up to Lubbock with furrowed brows and held a hand at Lubbock's neck.

"The hell are you-" He pulled at a thin silver lining on his neck and trailing his hand down until it stopped by a small locket.

"What's in it?" Tatsumi asked at once. Lubbock's hand covered his in a weak attempt for him to let go.

"A drawn picture of everyone I found in my dad's office. Well except Lauren after you told me what happened. I just don't want to forget their faces again."

"I see. What about a picture of me?" Tatsumi asked teasingly and Lubbock flushed.

"I-I don't need one. You're already too much as it is."

"Rude." Tatsumi complained with a small smile. "I'm telling your mom on you." He joked and Lubbock scoffed.

"Ha ha."

With one last look at the lonesome mansion and graves, the two boys exited from the silver gate.

"Okay. We only have a few more miles to go. If we walk for several hours, we can make a short pit stop by this lake. It's kinda taking me a while to scrub the blood off my hands. Rather my dignity." Lubbock explained as he pointed to several locations on the map. "Anyway, we'll rest by the waterfall because truth be told, I haven't been able to sleep in a while. Also-"

"Hey, hey. Let's just focus on the first task. Which is walking." Tatsumi said with a raised eyebrow. Lubbock had flushed, but nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's most of the plan." He summarized while folding up the map. Once it grew quiet, Tatsumi decided to bring up a topic.

"So, what do you think will happen once we find our base?" He asked.

"Dunno. I'm just hoping we don't end up finding out that someone is dead. Not that they would care if I was." The moment it slipped out his mouth, Tatsumi narrowed his eyes disapprovingly at Lubbock.

"What was that?"

"A-ah I mean let's just hope for the best." Lubbock stuttered. Tatsumi played the words over and over in his head. What did Lubbock mean by that statement? Was he inferring that he was not important?

"Right." Then again, Tatsumi did have the same thoughts back when he was locked in the dungeons. He remembered feeling hopeless and well dead on the inside. Chances are Lubbock is emotionally numb and Tatsumi cannot stand to be any more useless. Not since he promised to take care of Lubbock.

In that case, Tatsumi walked closer with Lubbock. The older teen had looked up at him but he kept a straight face.

"I think... Najenda would be excited to see you." Tatsumi said. He figured the subject of the boss would raise his hopes up. Lubbock only shrugged.

"Great, I guess."

"So great she'd marry you right on the spot." There it is. The small acknowleging laugh from Lubbock.

"Too bad I'm not carry a ring on me." He said humorously.

"It wouldn't hurt to make one from your strings. Ah, if you had any." Tatsumi said and Lubbock placed a hand on his own stomach over his shirt.

"All that's left is this bit of wire in my stitch. I have to take it out soon, because the wound has been closing up. Any long and it might get stuck, gross enough." Tatsumi thought over the explanation.

"How do plan to take it out? I didn't see any doctors around."

"I'll have to do it myself." Tatsumi stared wearily.

"Yourself... Wouldn't that hurt like hell without any prosthetics?" Tatsumi warned and his response is an indifferent look. "You can't wait any longer until we get to the base?"

"I could, but that would make the situation even worse. It's been about two weeks already and just the thought of waiting makes me nauseous."

Tatsumi sighed.

"Well... would you need any help?" Lubbock shook his head while self-consciously clutching his own shirt tightly.

"Um... I'll be fine on my own. Shouldn't take too long."

"Then you'll let me see your scar?"

"Just knowing about it is as good as it gets."