6/16: akechi

[randori]

[ He could barely stand to be there any longer in the garden. The moment he was let free, Natsuo had turned tail and left without even waiting to see the results of the votes. He'd gone through the rest of the day. It's getting late. Instead of going to his own room, he slides down in front of the one where Akechi and Eichi will be coming back to, trail of blood that would have been there, smeared under his shoes like the blood Akechi had somehow managed to hide until the very very end.

To be honest, he isn't sure he wants to see Akechi's face again. He isn't sure if Akechi wants to see his.

He thought they were friends. ]

Comments

[doublecrows]

[it's late. it's very late, and it's only after most of the castle has settled down that Akechi finally risks emerging from his room. he head sot the kitchen for some coffee, and when he gets back. . .]

[Natsuo is there]

[he freezes, eyes widening immediately, because Natsuo is one of many people who left him speechless at the trial. and he doesn't know what to say]

[randori]

[ That icon is going to haunt my dreams tonight.

Natsuo struggles to his feet when he sees Akechi approach. He's bleeding, but not as much as he was before, the pain a dull throb and easily ignored for the pain that squeezes his heart and constricts his throat instead.

He wants to yell. He wants to punch Akechi in the face. He wants to... to...

He casts his eyes down instead, lips pulled back and addressing Akechi's shoes. ]

Why didn't you talk to me?

[doublecrows]

[even in the dim lighting, Akechi can see the blood, and the weird spike of concern that accompanies that observation is. . . foreign?]

Natsuo-san-- you're bleeding? Why are you here, if you're injured?

[stop bleeding! stop!!!]

[that isn't an answer to the question]

[randori]

[ He's bleeding but a lot of it is staying in the soggy bandages; maybe his body can reabsorb it? who knows ]

I'm here because I wanted to see you. I can't chase you like this, but I can wait for you, so I waited!

[ Injuries will get better with time. With Akechi, it feels so dangerously one way or the other, he's afraid if he doesn't see him tonight, he never will. ]

[doublecrows]

Why. . .

[does Natsuo want to see him? after everything that happened? after everything Akechi did?]

[but instead of asking that question, he just comments, blandly]

You're going to bleed to death if you don't get that taken care of.

[randori]

I know that!

[ He staggers towards Akechi, intent on grabbing his wrist so that he can't run. ]

But this is more important— I can't let you disappear, and I won't let anybody take you away. So you gotta talk to me!

[doublecrows]

[he can grab it pretty easily. Akechi isn't exactly in the best mindset to run right now, rooted to the ground by his bewilderment]

Talk. . .

[talking? feelings???? feelings??????]

[his expression darkens]

You aren't going to have much of a say in me getting taken away. There's no way I'm going to survive the week, Natsuo-san.

[randori]

I won't let them take you!

[ He's saying it as much to himself as he is to Akechi, both hands wrapped around his wrist and fingernails digging into his skin. ]

As long as you stay with me, I'll make sure nobody will touch you! Eichi is worried about you! Souji says it's okay if you want to sleep over with him and me sometimes! I bet Sanji will look after you and cook for you like he does for me! Rebecca and Summer and Rapunzel! They're good people and we're friends- we'll be okay!

[doublecrows]

[that. . . kind of hurts, and yet Akechi doesn't pull away. he's far too shocked by Natsuo proclaiming rather loudly that he'll do what it takes to protect Akechi from whomever may be seeking revenge (or just an easy target). and the names he drops-- Souji, Sanji, Rebecca, Summer, Rapunzel-- why would any of them care a lick about what happened to him after today?]

Why. . .

[his need for validation is strong, and kind of pathetic. he knows it. but he's asking, anyway]

Why would any of you care about what happens to me?

[randori]

Because we're friends!

[ I hope Akechi wasn't wishing for some concrete reason why somebody would care, but for Natsuo, this is as concrete as it could ever get. It's because they're friends that he care— not even past tense- they are friends and even if Akechi is a little shit, even if all of it was a lie, that doesn't erase everything that'd he and Natsuo had shared together.

Everybody else, maybe they really couldn't care less about what happens to him. But for Natsuo, it's just this much. ]

Because I know you have reasons. Because I want to know those reasons. Because I want to get to know you. Because I don't want to give up on you.

[doublecrows]

[because we're friends]

[he says that now, even after everything, and he's so earnest about it that Akechi-- even in his insecurities-- can't find himself able to doubt it. that's terrifying, isn't it?]

[. . .]

[hesitantly, he twists his wrist in Natsuo's to take his hand, grasping it tightly]

Please, come sit down with me so I can see how bad your injury is. I'll tell you everything.

[randori]

[ He was ready to take another breath to continue shouting over Akechi's continued insistence that his injury mattered at the moment but—

"I'll tell you everything." ]

Everything. Everything, okay? You promised. No lies. No hiding. I'll go with you then.

[doublecrows]

Everything.

[EXCEPT THE HISTORIAN PART OOPS. . . but that's fine it'll come up on Tuesday]

This way.

[and now he'll lead Natsuo to the. . . tailor's? he needs some strips of cloth with which to wrap those injuries since he has no first aid supplies]