I'll Keep You Safe||Budo x Taro Yansim Fanfic

Chapter 3

When school had ended, Taro invited Budo and Raibaru over to his house. He didn't feel safe after everything that had happened today, so having two people who could protect him was comforting. Not only that, he also felt like he was getting closer to both of them and he felt like having them around would take his mind off of this whole mess.
When they entered his home, it was quiet; his parents never really stayed home much after Hanako's death, finding it easier to absorb them selves in work instead of spending time as a family.
The trio walked into Taro's room, it was like any other average 18 year old's room; beige walls with a couple of posters relating to his favourite bands and shows, a desk filled with work and text books, and a large bookshelf filled to the brim with fiction and non-fiction books alike.
Budo looked around, his eyes stopping at a half-open chest of drawers that was filled to the brim with pink letters.
"Hey, Taro, what are those?" Budo asked as he eyed the pink paper.
Taro's face darkened with worry, his lips quivering as he walked over to the drawer containing his daily nightmares, taking the drawer out of the furniture and picking a letter up. This letter was different than the rest, marked in a red highlighter; signifying the start of the nightmare that was his life. The other two looked over his shoulder, reading the letter he held onto tightly.
'Hello my dear senpai, you don't know who I am but I know who you are. The moment I saw you I couldn't bare to take my eyes off of you for even one moment! Those glistening, black eyes just consume my every thought, I am entranced by you completely, I hope you could feel that way about me, perhaps one day?  Tomorrow? Next week? Month? Year? Expect more of these letters senpai, expect...changes to the school in the next few weeks, but I beg, please do not fear me Senpai, I would never do anything to harm you!
I hope we get to talk properly, in the near future.
-Your Secret Admirer.
The room was so silent that you could hear a pin drop and the sound would be deafening.
Taro knew the two wanted to ask something, but didn't want to be invasive. It was a question he asked himself every time a new letter was added to the pile.
Why did he keep the letters?
Why would he keep something that damaged him so much?
He guessed he could have used these letters to potentially help the cops with finding a suspect, or maybe he wanted to hold onto what was left of his friends; sometimes the letters referenced them, telling Taro to stay away from the girls who he grew to be close with...maybe he could have saved them if he stayed away from them? Or would have nothing changed?
Budo squeezed his shoulder tightly, breaking Taro out of his trance.
"Let's watch a movie yeah? Or find something better to do with our time." Budo forced a smile and Taro nodded.
"Yeah! Let's brighten our mood." Raibaru replied with another strained smile.
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Taro screamed and covered his eyes as the other two either side of him laughed. They decided to watch a horror movie, though not by Taro's choice.
Taro clung to Raibaru's arm as the next jump scare popped up on the screen.
"Can we please watch something else?! I've had enough scares to last me a decade!" Taro begged as the two continued to laugh, Budo patting Taro on the back in a friendly gesture.
"Sure, sure Taro. What would you like on instead?" Raibaru asked, being the first to recover from the attack of laughter she had.
"Yeah, what would our highness like to watch?" Budo teased as he sat up to get the remote.
Taro laughed, "Hmm, how about that new action film that came out last week? The trailer seemed quite good."
"Sure, what was the name again?"
"It's called...."
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After the movie, the three set up their sleeping situations in Taro's room, he had spare sleeping bags from previous camping trips with his family and they raided the sofa of all the pillows to make it more comfortable. After all that was set, the trio didn't waste any time in tucking themselves into the blankets and falling asleep.
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He was running through an isolated corridor, blood painted the walls, floor, ceiling, doors. Everywhere.
'Please don't run Senpai! It had to be done, we both know that... they were getting in the way of us! Our love!' He could hear that same feminine voice that haunted his very being.
Tears prickled his eyes as his joints and muscles ached from running.
He could hear his own begging, the terror and sadness in his voice as he continued running until his eyes stopped at a familiar figure.
'Osana!' He heard himself scream, only it wasn't Osana, at least, not the Osana he remembered.
Her once vibrant skin that was so full of cheerful life was pale and scarred. Blood stained the rags she was wearing, her body skinny and frail as she croaked out deathly words from her broken, dehydrated windpipe.
'Ta...ro...why..didn't you save me Taro? I...I thought we were friends? Childhood...friends?'  The words repeated in his head.
'This...is your fault...it's always been your fault...how could you be so naive and selfish?'
She's right. He should've done something, anything. He...He should have looked harder! Maybe then he would have found her!
'Osana...I'm so sorry...' Taro fell to his knees as he cried before his once best friend.
'Senpai! There you are darling!' A voice called out, he was too far gone to care.
'Thank goodness! I thought you were gone for good! I would have been heartbroken if you had left me, but I guess there is no need to worry now.' She hugged him tightly, bloody arms holding him hostage.
'We'll be together forever...'
Taro awoke with a start, breathing heavily as sweat trickled down his forehead.
He was crying, his eyes red as he tried to cover his sniffles with his shaking hands.
He felt someone shift next to him, startling him.
"Taro? What's wrong!? Are you hurt?" Budo whispered worriedly, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to wake up a bit.
Taro couldn't speak, the words clogged up in his throat as tears fell from his eyes more.
Budo just stared at him with an uncertain look on his face before he lay back down, dragging Taro with him. Budo shifted his arms around Taro to gently hold him, as well as giving Taro an opportunity to escape the grasp.
"Everything is gonna be okay, Taro." Budo whispered.
"None of this was your fault, you couldn't have prevented the outcomes from these past few weeks, and we'll make sure nothing bad will happen again. Megami knows what she's doing, she'll get the monster who did this." Budo said in an attempt to calm him down and comfort him. Taro nodded laying his head on Budo's shoulder.
"Thanks Budo, this really means a lot to me." Taro replied softly.
"Hey, what are friends for?" Budo smiled and the two chuckled as they both fell asleep in the safety of each other's arms.
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*Author's Note: I'm sorry this chapter took a while to come out! I didn't know how to continue this from chapter 2 so I lost a bit of motivation. Anyway, I hope the Taro and Budo fluff made the chapter worth it! Thank you for reading!*