The Rat and The Tower

Chapter 5

The vent eventually lead to a drop off, down into what seemed like yet another hallway.

Mono came down first, cautiously looking around in fear of running into another ambush. He carefully looked at each corner and turn for anything, before feeling at ease as he found nothing.

Seven walked forward, down the hallway, a tall door at the end. The Teacher said Rain would be in there, they were almost done here, finally.

But... he still had questions...

He looked over to his partner, Seven looked spaced out, distraught over something. Through the shade of his bangs, Mono could see his dark blue eyes swirling with thoughts.

He needed to talk to him one last time, privately.

"Seven."

The boy stopped, turning his gaze to the other. He didn't speak, but he did acknowledge the other with a small staring contest, waiting for Mono to continue.

His eyes looked tired, and Mono finally got a good look at his friend for the first time this whole trip.

His cheeks were dirty and scarred, his freckles looking more like rust smudges with the dirt on them. His bangs were greasy, hiding his dull blue eyes that once held so much spitfire energy inside them.

He was thin, way thinner than the last time he properly remembered him. A red, fresh scar was over the bridge of his nose, still tender and sore from the inflammation around it. If Mono focused hard enough, he could hear his partner's just ever slightly congested breathing from some kind of previous illness.

He looked like a shell of his old self. Mono wasn't sure if he could try to repair their friendship from whatever made him to look like this.

Mono saw the other narrowd his eyes. Crap, he didn't realize he was staring!

"Seven, we need to talk about what happened,"

"I told you all I know-"

"No, not that. We need to talk about the elevator incident."

Mono could see the other tensing up, a low growl escaping him. "No, no we don't."

"Yes, we do. We can't just ignore the elephant in the room for forever."

Seven went to snap, but only a small squeak could come out. Mono looked to him, and for a moment, swore he thought he saw Seven's eyes suddenly turned glossy.

"No, we need to get going,"

"Sev."

Seven turned to leave, only stopping when Mono reached out and grabbed his arm.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," Mono muttered. He tried to meet the other's gaze, but couldn't get the other to look at him.

"I don't know what all I did... to you or to Rain. What I do remember, I never meant to be mean or rude. I'm sorry for hurting you like that, but I don't feel the same. You are my best friend, even if you don't think the same about me."

Silence laid between them for a moment, nothing tense or awkward, just an oddly comforting quietness.

After a moment, Mono loosened his hold on the other, thinking he won't be able to get an answer from the other.

"I loved you..."

Mono looked up to the other, finally meeting his gaze. His eyes were watery, tears threatening to fall. The boy in the trenchcoat frowned. He didn't mean to make him cry!

"I looked up to you. You saved me from traps and adults. You were the one I cared for more than anyone and thought I could have spent my life with. I trusted you, and you tried to get rid of me a feeling I couldn't control."