Asphyxiation

Pinned Beneath the Primary Colors - 6

The strange metamorphosis Noboru's mind was undergoing began to reach its crescendo when he arrived home. The day Noboru had just endured seemed to stretch infinitely behind him. It had begun at the train station, at the intoxicating, impulsive thoughts of — erasure. Noboru wanted Kana erased, out of the picture, and out of Y/n's reach. But then Y/n — Noboru's heart leapt. The (h/c) boy... noticed him; waved at him. And Noboru couldn't stop obsessing over it. Then — then Kana and the clay — Y/n speaking to him —

"You're talented."

Noboru slammed his front door shut behind him, his chest rising and falling at an exaggerated rate. His back collided with the door and his legs weakened. He sagged back against it. It wouldn't stop echoing in his mind. The words wouldn't stop... The images wouldn't stop drowning him either. The way Y/n looked when he complimented him, or even the wrinkle in his brow when he expressed concern for Kana — all the variations of his face, of the light hitting it, of the highlights and the lowlights of his bone structure —

He's... Noboru suffocated on the thought.

Most surprisingly, his voice. Noboru had heard Y/n speak, never to him but in his general vicinity. Noboru hadn't considered it before. But his ears were just as particular as his eyes. His taste in music was precise, like a surgical blade, and Y/n's voice — there was nothing remarkable about it; nothing Noboru could directly pin down. He could not say the octaves complimented a cantata in a piano's E Minor. Noboru could only truly say his eardrum had not been irritated by the vibrations of Y/n's voice.

He's... Noboru's eyes clenched shut, his legs feeling weaker by the moment and his heart beating faster.

He's beautiful, the confession seemed to pull from a vulnerable tear in Noboru's mind.

Objectively, Noboru found many things admirable. He could see the potential for art, expression — beauty — anywhere, with any possible subject. These inspiring moments could simply just happen whenever. Typically, the potential was never reached. It was never fleshed out and explored beyond one or two sketches by Noboru, or a brief consideration of an auditory piece. But this is different.

There was no evidence of this claim other than the pounding of Noboru's heart, or the way he found it hard to catch his breath every time memories of Y/n resurfaced. No evidence other than how weak he felt now, or how taken he was with every word that came out of the (h/c) boy's mouth.

Noboru pushed himself off the door and stumbled through his house. The rich abode was evidence that Noboru's eccentricities were inherited. There was crystal decor lining the entranceway, outlined with wires of pure gold. There was marble tiles on the floor, liquid black and streaked with shattered lines of pure white. The smell was even rich, vacant of warmth and nostril-stinging with non descriptive cleaning agents and floral arrangements. Abstract paintings of only the highest appraisal dared to occupy the walls.

These were mere afterthoughts; familiar sights and landmarks to Noboru who had lived here in unquestionable luxury nearly his entire life. He avoided the doors and climbed up the spiraling staircase to the second floor. Murals and exotic plants paved the way; Noboru found himself nearly teetering on the highest step, his mind racing all the while. It felt as if he were heartbeats — thunderous heartbeats — away from an important revelation.

He reached his bedroom and slammed the door behind him. He was quiet, however, when his hand searched for the lock and he activated it. He could not be interrupted.

Noboru stood in the darkness for a few minutes, gathering his thoughts and steadying his breaths. Then, at a snail's pace, his arm reached over and light switch flicked on. The illumination revealed a large room decorated with the finest Parnian furniture bed frame cast in hardy ebony wood. There was a mural on the same wall, one Noboru had personally painted. In black, there was the silhouette of a grand willow tree, whose weeping leaves were given silvery detail. There was a set of wide bay windows and a couch. There were amenities for entertainment, a station for his passions, and a personal closet larger than most cheap apartments.