『バウンド』 Bound

A Perplexing Discovery

"And here is my cabin. Mind where you step, boy, I grow a vegetable patch." Tatsumi looked down and watched his foot steps as best as he could in the dark. He was guided inside the housing and was motioned to take off his shoes. Armon then lit up several lamps in the open living space and stepped into the kitchen area while Tatsumi stood awkwardly. His eyes wondered around and fell upon a shifting blanket that raised and lowered serenely.

"You can make yourself at home. Just don't disturb our guest." Armon announced. Tatsumi chose to sit on the floor and observed the figure more with nothing else to do. Once he returns to full help, he can venture back to the base. Of course, he will have to defend himself against any wandering Imperial soldiers...

Tatsumi's eyes widened as the sudden realization of his imperial arm missing dawned onto him. Shit, that might give the empire a clue on where he might be. Afterall in his condition, there is no way to suspect that he could get very far.

"Tatsumi..." He jumped from his thoughts and blinked when a dinner tray was placed on the floor in front of him. Armon sat on the edge of the couch with a breathy grunt.

"Sir, who's also here with us? I wouldn't want to cause you and your room mate trouble." Tatsumi asked as his anxiety rose.

"I mentioned before that I saved someone's life before yours. That's the guy, he's in a pre-coma state. Dunno when he plans to wake up but it did help when I patched him right. The only stitch I could use was the last bit of those threads around his hands. Strange fella."

Tatsumi felt a painful stab at the side of his head when he was reminded of Lubbock.

"Yeah..."

"Of course I can't lead him back to where he came from in his condition. I might have to take him to my headquarters. Hopefully, he doesn't turn out to be a wounded soldier frm the empire." Tatsumi ate silently and set his fork down.

"Could I stay a little longer?" Armon grunted in a questioning manner and Tatsumi was careful to elaborate, "My elder from my home village said to always be polite under any circumstance, especially to well... older folks. You did technically save my life and gave me a temporary shelter. So the least I could do is help you care for this person and then go back to my friends. I'm also sure by then the capitol won't be searching for me in this area, which would be a lot easier to travel once I feel it's necessary."

"... You must not have heard the part where I said the boy's in a pre-coma state. Meaning there isn't any telling of when he wakes up."

"Just a couple days then. I wouldn't want to seem ungrateful." Armon nodded curtly and handled both of their empty dishes.

"It's rare to see such politeness in a world like this. I'll take you up on that offer. First job of the day, wash these dishes for me and you're sleeping on the floor." Tatsumi gladly took this deal instead of trying to find his way around a dark forest full of blood-thirsty regiments.

"Thank you, sir." He said while taking the dishes from Armon, who immediately stomped to his room to rest. Tatsumi let out a breath of air in relief. He felt like he was being interviewed every second. He always gets nervous when trying to please an older figure.

After finishing the dishes, he went back to the living and sat on the bear-skin rug. For some reason, Armon's descriptions of the person under the blanket resonated with him. Perhaps it was because it somehow related to his beloved lost friend. His mind rang with curiosity as he edge closer toward the couch. He wondered what this person looked like. Maybe he would or would not recognize him. Or maybe they could go to Night Raid together. After the many fallen comrades, he could use another male in the team if the Revolutionary Army is still active. After all, Esdeath could be going on a crazy killing spree at the moment.

Tatsumi forced his thoughts not to seep into his dark imagination and lightly grabbed the blanket. Just a small peek won't hurt of course. This person is in a small coma.

He pulled the soft, brown material down and froze with a pounding heart at the familiar green hair.