Radiance

Confrontation

|Lucas| 

Lying. Lying lying lying. I could see it in all of them. Every person at that table, besides Tewtiy and Sabre, had that air about them. 

It was the next day and I was up early. Not like I could have slept much anyways. I had already thrown off my sleep schedule, no thanks to Tewtiy. But... Not like I could blame him for that. Heh. He and I both had horrid sleep schedules that neither of us bothered the other about. 

The floor creaked gently underneath me as I walked down the hall. I had been pacing the halls a bit, trying to not look suspicious while I was in reality, waiting for one of the leaders. In specific, the Red one.

I was about to start my third lap around the building when I heard the peals of thunder from outside. My nose tingled and instantly, I made a beeline to the side of the building that I had heard the lightning from. As I get closer, I heard a familiar voice thank someone who walked away, then see him. Sure enough, there was Red leader. He spots me as I make my way to him, then nods. 

"Oh, Hello Lucas. You're up rather ear-" 

"I know you are lying." I let the words slip out of my mouth without thinking, then curse at myself quietly for the lack of politeness I had been trying to practice again. The Red Steve looks at me, confused and fingering the book he had tucked under his arm. "Wh-What do you mean by lying. If I was lying, it'd be obvious. I'm not that well of a liar." He shifts his glasses before I exhale a bit roughly. "I know you all are keeping secrets from us. I saw it when you walked into my room, I saw it all around the dining table last night. I wasn't going to pry at first with just you, but whatever it is, is serious. It doesn't need a genius to see that."

He freezes, then looks around nervously. With a sigh, I cross my arms. Similarly, he exhales, then looks me in the eyes, a look of pure sadness in his eyes.

"If I tell you, you have to promise me you won't tell this to... Anyone else." I take note of his pause, knowing he wanted to say something else, then nod. A part of me knew he wasn't going to if I didn't agree to this, so... Yeah. The Red haired man takes a moment to compose himself before he finally spoke again. "Among us Leaders and Elites... We believe that Light Steve is no longer with us. We all have agreed to hold a funeral procession for him. However... Ugh. We don't want Sabre to know." He pauses a moment as I stood there, in shock. "Sabre hasn't seen Light since everything. I out of everyone agreed that his mental state wouldn't handle the news well at all..." After he finished, I finally found my words to talk.

"That's Ka-nāc." He starts at my words as I continue. "Out of everyone, you don't want the one person who would probably want to know the most about this guy's passing, to know. How messed up is that?? Look, I know it has been ages since I've seen Sabre, but hiding major things from him, like this, will break his trust! I've learned that through the time I knew him when we were in our younger years." My words come out as a hiss, the incredulous feeling I had, showing through my tone of voice. M shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked stressed, but I knew that this secret hiding was going to get found out soon. Sabre wasn't dumb. Well, sometimes he was, but not all the time.

"That's the thing, I know. I don't want to break his trust and hurt him further, but he just started therapy and I could see him being more open and happy. You think that we were just going to bring it up right then and there at the dinner and ruin his day? He was happy, the happiest and most relaxed I have seen him be in forever. If I can just let him be happy for a couple days longer, then I will. I will spare him that pain." The words tumbled out of his mouth in a hushed way, striking through my anger I felt and hitting me right in the heart. If I can just let him be happy for a bit longer, I'd spare him that pain. Those words were so relatable. My lips draw into a thin line and I turn my eyes down to the burgundy carpeted floor. There was a silence between us for a while before I spoke up. "That's... A feeling I understand fully." I mumble quietly and look back up at the Red Leader. His eyes betrayed that he was close to tears. So close to just crying. But he widens them a bit in confusion.

With an exhale, I continue. "I care a lot about my friends' happiness and safety. I've killed a person just to keep them safe. That longing for just having them be happy for a while is the biggest wish I've ever had in my life. And honestly, they mean as much to me as family, ever since the day I lost my own one." My words filled the space between us. Even though we had only known each other for nearly a week, we both knew each other enough to trust the other with our cares.

"So..."

"I won't tell him. I'll let you all do that once you are ready."

My words fill the space between us and the Red head looks relieved beyond all measure. There's a silent acknowledgement between us, then I start to walk off.

"By the way..." His voice catches my attention and I look back over at him. "You are super observant if you managed to gather that from my body language." His ruby-like eyes stare at me while I let a small smile cross my face. "I know how to read a room." I simply say, then walk off. If this was true... Light was dead... I had to keep Sabre preoccupied for a while. Maybe I should take him out and about in the town? Him, Tewtiy, and I haven't had much time to ourselves.

Yeah... That's a good idea.