Silence | Book 1

4-7: Apology

"Er... you know you don't have to do that right?" Tristan said softly, not sure how to handle this situation. He saw Hibiki shake his head on the floor, telling him that he was adamant on doing this.

"It's fine, really, I get that it was a mistake." He tried again, as it slowly began to kill him on the inside to see Hibiki so distraught.

But his words took hold, and Hibiki sat up onto his knees with tears in his eyes. Quickly he tried to wipe them away with his sleeve, even if he wasn't quite done crying yet.

"Just stand up and take deep breaths, you're not going to find anything on the floor." He said a bit more stern, making a gesture with his good hand for him to get up. Hibiki nodded and got up, feeling like a child that had been scolded – but that was the status quo for nearly two hours now.

"Just... come here?" Tristan gestured for him to come closer, and he did so willingly. Before he could resist or pull away, Tristan gave him a firm hug, careful not to get him tangled in the lines.

"I know you didn't mean for any of this." He whispered, and he could feel Hibiki give him an grateful nod and cling on to him. "But next year we'll definitely go celebrate your birthday at your house."

From beneath his arms he could feel Hibiki half-chuckle, half-sob, and Tristan made sure to keep all his attention on him, because from the corners of his eyes he caught Kazuo stand up.

It didn't take Hibiki very long to have the same realisation, and as he pulled away from the hug he made a quick gesture for him to go away and leave them alone. With a quick bow, Kazuo joined the bodyguards waiting outside.

Once he'd left and closed the door, Hibiki reached into his pocket and pulled out two cell phones: Tristan's and his own.

"Oh hey, you got yours back?" Tristan exclaimed as he picked up his own phone and laid it aside.

Hibiki nodded, but then broke down into another sob. Although he knew that it had been Hibiki's actions that got him here, he couldn't find it in him to blame him – not nearly as much as Hibiki appeared to blame himself. He put his good hand on Hibiki's cheek and brushed a few wild locks of hair behind his ear and out of his face. It made Hibiki smile slightly all the while still trembling and avoiding looking him in the eyes.

"Where have you been?" Tristan asked, having so many questions about what happened and how. Hibiki unlocked his own phone, which appeared to be a few scuff marks richer, and began typing. It took quite some effort, as his fingers shook and his eyes were filled with tears.

'I went to the police station to get you free. But I saw you there when they carried you out. I thought I killed you.'

Before Tristan even had the chance to read the message Hibiki had already begun sobbing. Tristan wrapped one arm around him, using the other to hold the phone up and read over Hibiki's shoulder.

"It's not your fault, you didn't know this would happen."

Immediately Hibiki shook his head, but Tristan put a hand on his cheek and forced him to look into his eyes.

"Unless you snuck asthma into my lungs, I don't think it was you."

Hibiki's eyes went wide, too shocked to even cry.

'Asthma?'

He mouthed without a voice, but the question was clear enough for Tristan to understand what he meant. Even though he himself knew that it would have life-long impacts, he was calm enough about it to nod and confirm it.

"Yeah, the asthma made my panic attack worse. It wasn't you." He said with a shake of his head, putting his hands on Hibiki's cheeks. Using both his thumbs, he wiped away the tears.