Better Eight Than Never

Chapter 44: Finally together

"So hey, do any of you have my cPod?"

Toda was shaken from his thoughts by Stacey calling from the living room, and he realized that once again he'd spaced out while Hachi was explaining how the masks worked. He hadn't meant to, he was just so utterly exhausted, he might have fallen asleep even with a plate of mochi there.

... Well, maybe not.

"I saw it in Bato's room." He said, stretching and standing up. "I'll go get it."

Bato had started to get up as well, but he instead smiled in relief. "Alright, thanks bud."

He nodded, then turned and walked down the hall, trying not to get lost again in thought, which was hard to do. There was so much to think about, so much to worry about, no one thing was certain. He felt himself slow as he reached Bato's door, fear beginning to well within him. The open crack in his door reminded him so much of a nightmare, and he felt as though the darkness would swallow him up if he stepped inside. He lingered, unable to take that final step forward. What would he find there? It was just going to be Bato's room, it might not be an exaggeration to say he'd been in there a million times.

There was a shifting sound in the darkness and his breath caught as his mind went into overdrive. There was something in there. He ducked to the side, next to the door frame, and stood stock still, fingers digging into the wall.

A moment later, the door moved and Simon stuck their head out, eyes squinted. "Toda? What are you doing?"

A wave of relief crashed over him, followed by the riptide of embarrassment. "I'm... I'm... ah... I just had a nightmare recently."

They rubbed their cheek for a moment, but then shifted into a more alert stance."Need to talk about it?"

Toda hesitated, glancing away; he did, sort of, but... "I'm not sure you'd want to hear it."

"... I'll let you know if it's too much." They reassured, stepping out and leaning against the wall next to him, holding out a hand. "Whenever you're ready."

He looked them over for a moment, then grabbed their hand and took a deep breath. "I-it started out with just me in my room, on my bed, I think I was playing something on my laptop, I don't really remember now... But I was standing up to go and do something, but when I was upright I was... I was standing in water. Then it got really dark, and I wasn't in my room anymore, I was... it was an interrogation room, the place they took me after we got Splatted the other day. Anyway, I heard something splashing, and I turned and... and they were there. Both of them." He paused a moment as he heard Simon's breath falter, but they didn't ask him to stop. "They both got closer to me, and he started walking in circles around me, whispering things, and she transformed and crawled up onto my head–not in it, on it–and sort of covered my eyes, and I started to... see things. The things she showed me when she was in my head, and when I was–" He gripped their hand tighter. "–But after a while, it wasn't the inklings she'd done those things to, it was... it was you, and Jill, and Bato, and my parents, and Bato's parents, and it just got worse and worse, and the whispering got louder, and the black tentacles were wrapping around my legs even though I couldn't see them, and–"

"Shhh..." Simon shushed, cutting in. "You're panicking, take some deep breaths..."

He sobbed, he couldn't help it, he was past deep breaths for now, and as Simon wrapped their arms around him, he pressed his face into their shoulder. Everything seemed to melt away until it was just him and them, and gradually he was able to catch his breath.

"I'll never let them hurt you again." They said. "I'll do everything I can."

He sniffled, tightening his grip around them. "It's things like that... that make me..." He trailed off, remembering their refusal.