『バウンド』 Bound

An Unfortunate Event

A day went by and Tatsumi nearly forgot about the rising conflict with the Capitol. Mainly because Night Raid was so homely that nobody really thought of the day where they would march straight to battle. It was when Lubbock had not come into his bedroom for nearly an hour that he started to think.

"Hey, Leone have you seen Lubba?" He asked, hoping he would not be teased for seeking him. Leone hummed and pointed down the hall.

"Try the study room. He's usually there doing work or reading. Dunno why he would do that right now, but it's the best I got if you can't find him anywhere else."

"Ah okay. I hope he's alright." Tatsumi said and thanked the woman before turning to leave. He knocked on the door to the designated room and heard muffled 'come in'. Opening the door, he came across Lubbock seated at a desk building what seemed like the holder for the CrossTail threads.

"Oh thank goodness." Tatsumi breathed out in relief and Lubbock blinked at him.

"Huh?"

"I mean hey. How long will you be working on that?" Tatsumi asked as he stood by the desk, watching the other teen work.

"Just doing a little patching up so it shouldn't take too long. I'll head to bed once I finish." Tatsumi sighed and kneeled on the ground, resting his head on the desk.

"You need sleep."

"I started an hour ago. I'll be fine." Lubbock reassured, setting down a needle to run his fingers through Tatsumi's hair. "You go on to bed."

"Nah. I'll just watch." Tatsumi said, instantly relaxing from the stroking in his hair.

Lubbock shrugged and continued working. Tatsumi exhaled in the quiet room.

"A lot happened." He said. Lubbock's handwork faltered from his sudden start of a conversation.

"Yeah." He agreed. "It's amazing that's it's only been a couple weeks."

"I feel the same. How's your scar healing up?" Tatsumi asked.

"Pretty good. It'll take at least a month for it to be completely patched up. How is your shoulder?" Lubbock asked while keeping his eyes on his work. Tatsumi rubbed his own shoulder with a grin.

"Aside from you nearly breaking it, I think I'll live."

"Heh, that's good." Tatsumi looked down in silence and suddenly remembered his nightmare. It has been a while so he had not thought much of the strange voice in his head. If he could recall, the voice sounded dark and demonic. It also sounded like it knew him personally. 'Stop pushing me away'. What did that exactly mean?

"Lubba... I have a hypothetical question." He said. Lubbock glanced at him while sewing the threads into the two newly-built holders.

"Hm?"

"Well, let's say... you heard something weird, and nobody but you heard it."

"Like what?" Tatsumi swallowed.

"Like, a voice asking you to stop pushing them away..." He grew nervous when Lubbock abruptly stopped sewing. "U-Um hypothetically!"

"... Right."

"Okay." Tatsumi exhaled in relief, "Would you say maybe there was something wrong with your mental state? Or that maybe there really is someone or something out there... waiting for you?" He suggested carefully.

"In my opinion it could be the latter." Lubbock said. Tatsumi could not see his expression since his long green bangs covered the side of his face. "If there was a voice in my head saying that, it could be possible that there was a significant moment in the real world where you encountered such a statement. However, if it is a warning sign that this voice does no good, then it would be best to meditate and sort my thoughts the best I could. But since I'm not the one experiencing this, what would you prefer, Tatsumi?" Lubbock said while staring straight into the other boy's eyes with a stern look. Tatsumi hesitated. Was he already seen through?

"A-Ah I never said I was-"

"I'm not an idiot. You wouldn't 'hypothetically' bring up such an important matter. When did this even start happening to you?" Seeing as there is no point in retorting anymore, Tatsumi sat back with an uneasy look.

"It was around the first couple days after leaving Armon's. I mentioned having nightmares, I didn't exactly tell you what they were about. I was just worried you'd think I was crazy and leave- Ow!"

Tatsumi looked up while rubbing the top of his head as the corner of his eyes teared up. It seemed like Lubbock did not regret hitting him pretty damn hard on the scalp.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you this time?" Tatsumi blinked confusedly at Lubbock's exasperate statement.

"H-Huh?"

Lubbock stood up from his chair to kneel in front of Tatsumi with a sigh.

"I could care less if you started spouting demonic nonsense. No matter what happens to you, I... I'm not... going to stop caring for you." Lubbock said with a growing blush. "If anything, I'm disappointed that you didn't tell me this earlier. A-After all... you're my problem now."

This is probably the only thing that would ever make Tatsumi blush extremely heavily, have a racing heart, and feel the harsh fluttering of butterflies all at once. There are a lot of people that cared about him, and he appreciated it. However, seeing how Lubbock cares so much for him and being able to hear the words verbally made him feel reassured, loved, and feel as though anything is possible in the world now. How Lubbock could easily affect him like this was scary, but nonetheless admired.

"You're making this awkward by not talking so..." Lubbock had trailed off and leaned in slowly. Tatsumi saw the hint in the action and leaned in as well.

"Ah, my bad." He apologized. "It's just... hearing you say these things-"

"Okay okay I get it, I'm a sap." Tatsumi smiled. He was no longer worried about the nightmares or the voice as long as he has Lubbock. Perhaps, it really was all in his head and that he was thinking too hard about it.

He blinked several times when his vision began to indifferently blur.

"Tatsumi? Are you okay?" He barely heard Lubbock asked. Unusual thing is, he did not even know himself. Hands grabbed at his shoulders and the last thing he dimly remembered was distant shouting.