Breaking Through the Iron Wall - Aone Takanobu x Reader

Chapter 17

In an instant, I sprung up from my bed - no longer tired. "I'm coming." I stated, immediately changing into to some more appropriate clothes than the pyjamas I was wearing at the time.

Speeding down the stairs, I grabbed a hold of my coat, while clumsily fumbling with the laces of my shoes. My dad seemed to be disturbed by the humungous racket I was causing, standing at the summit of the stairs, tiredly rubbing his eyes, his voice raspy from being abruptly woken up. He must have noticed the panicked expression on my face, understanding the situation rather quickly – giving me a sullen smile, "I'm proud of you, kiddo. Come back when you're ready." He said, waving me off with a sleepy hand.

I hastily locked the door behind me, almost running down the street – even though the moonlight barely lit up the pavements before me. Even after squinting to try to get my eyes to adjust to the lack of light – I could hardly see a thing; but even so, my legs carried me the whole way to Takanobu's house, as if they were being called towards it.

Someone must have kept the front door open for my sake, as I had no trouble in opening it. Trying my best to make as little noise as possible as I stepped over the threshold into the house, I laid my eyes upon the scene on the living room's floor. Both Ejiri and Takanobu were sprawled out on the carpet, either side of Shiro – both of their pairs of eyes brimming with abundances of tears, with some already cascading down their faces.

Somehow, Shiro appeared even more sickly than the last time I had seen him, his hair much sparser, his bones protruding more than before, his eyes glistening with a type of pain I had never seen before – pleading for a sense of relief that no one could grant him.

Underneath Takanobu's eyes sat sunken bags, the pallor of a bruise. His expression sullen, sapped and unchanging – seemingly exhausted from being far too anxious to sleep. His cheeks were gaunter, parodying those of a malnourished child – it was obvious that he hadn't been eating either – too internally turmoiled to do anything.

Whimpering and cowering on the floor, Shiro began gasping frantically for whatever air he could fathom – the colossal amounts of anguish he was experiencing reverberating from his frail self.

I couldn't help but run straight towards him, beside the broken figure of Takanobu, whose eyes were shining with a stinging shade of red. Collapsing onto the floor, I ran my hand over Shiro's back, feeling unnerved by each of his vertebrae jutting outwards. I tried my best to console his cries, softly telling him that everything would be okay. But I wasn't really saying that to Shiro, I knew, in reality, that I was actually uttering them to solace he who sat to my side.

Almost instantly, Takanobu's head fell down onto my shoulder, immediately letting himself go – as if all the sorrow and trepidation he had been bottling up inside were tumbling outwards. First, he lightly sobbed onto me, his breath hitching slightly, then, he began blubbering and weeping as if it was his last day on Earth – which, being frank, was probably exactly how he felt.

In a matter of minutes, his grieving grew so intense that he struggled to intake oxygen, with his face still buried in my shoulder, lamentation taking control of his body. Gingerly, I raised my hand until it sat atop his hair, gently caressing it while I let it swirl and run around my fingers. He almost seemed to sink at my touch, his shoulders releasing the tension they were holding, the pressure inside of him completely fizzling out. For the time being...

While Takanobu nestled into my shoulders further, he never let his eyes leave his companion laid on the floor – who has quickly losing his grasp on the living world. By his side, Ejiri sighed with an undertone of unease laced into her expression – and from my inference, I knew exactly what she was thinking.