His Fault - Etrian Odyssey Nexus Fanfiction

His Fault

Title: His Fault

Summary: 31: "You haven't lost me."

Pairings: Hinted Agata/Rob :'D Yes, you read right.

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"You haven't lost me."

Agata whipped his head around to face him, his mouth agape in surprise.

And Rob had to admit that he was rather surprised himself. Where those words came from, he didn't know. They really shouldn't have been in his vocabulary. And to say them so...sincerely?

Rob flushed and dropped his chin toward his chest to his behind his scarf. Only to realise a second later that he wasn't wearing it. And that he needed to get a new one.

The old one...

It was all Agata's fault.

It was his fault that Agata had pushed Rob aside and took a powerful attack meant for him. It was his fault that Charis started panicking and apologising for not being fast enough. It was his fault that Rob cradled him on his lap as blood spilled from his wounds. It was his fault that Rob's scarf was hastily torn to shreds to act as bandages.

It was his fault that Rob had uncharacteristically screamed out for help.

It was his fault that Rob had to be persuaded into letting him go. It was his fault that Rob sat at his bedside in the infirmary. It was his fault that he wasn't able to sleep. It was his fault that all Rob could do was wait.

And it was his fault that Rob felt intense, undeniable relief when he finally awoken from his medically induced coma.

There was so much Rob had wanted to say to him. Mostly a lot of scolding. A lot of swearing followed by mumblings about him being an idiot.

It was...it was Rob's fault this whole mess started. He didn't like that. He didn't want to be at fault. Didn't want to be the reason why someone got hurt. Why someone...died.

And Agata...he almost did.

He almost died.

But as Rob struggled to find the words to yell at Agata, the high-visible ninja started talking himself. It pained him to talk. But he did. He just talked.

And Rob just listened.

He told him how he had lost someone dear to him. A sister of sorts. How she took an attack that was meant for him. How she died with a smile on her face. How she died in his arms. How he felt being left behind.

That angered Rob at first. Because it appeared that Agata was willing to let him go through that pain.

But Agata continued. Told him how he understood now. Why she did it. Why she had smiled. And how he had felt as though he had been living on borrowed time ever since.

He couldn't go through it again. Not again.

"I didn't want to lose you, too," he had muttered tiredly, smiling that stupid but somehow endearingly goofy smile of his.

His actions, his words...it was clear that Rob had somehow became very important to him. And...for some inexplicable reason, Agata was important to him, too.

And that was also entirely his fault.

Agata continued to stare at him for a few more seconds before that goofy smile of his made a swift return. "Yeah. You're still here. And so am I. Heh. I guess I get to live another day."

"If you do anything like that again, I'm gone," Rob threatened.

It was obvious that the painkillers that Agata was on were starting to kick in. He continued to smile, however, as his eyelids slowly closed. "As long as you stay close, I won't."

Rob forced a sigh as Agata drifted off to sleep. "Great, I'm now the keeper for two idiots with a single braincell between them."

Agata managed to smile in his sleep, responding to him somehow. And Rob himself couldn't prevent a small smile. Half from relief, and the other half from this silent, suppressed tenderness.

Watching over one childhood friend protector and one not sure what to categorize ninja might be more trouble than they're worth, but...someone had to do it.