Work Text:
(Clear’s Point of View)
There was always voice coming out from beyond the locked room. It was Mink’s.
Clear could hear every words and breath he left out wildly. There was nothing special about them, and yet a certain word he kept mentioning took his attention nonetheless. Mink often softly and carefully spoke this word with all of his heart that it easily sank into Clear’s system.
“Aoba”
This word was said so sweetly, full of feelings Clear could not, yet understand. Of course, hearing his master’s name thrilled him. It made him wanted to meet Aoba as soon as possible.
From what he knew, Aoba followed Mink to go to The Platinum Jail. Clear tried search for his master then that accident happened. Oval Tower, the place known as where Toue’s headquarters, collapsed completely. The last destination where Aoba and Mink were supposed to go.
Frantically, Clear dashed towards the ruin, only to find the Scratch members there. They remembered the gasmask from the last mission at Northern District, which was why they were willing to tell him. Aoba seemed to be gravely injured and was taken care of by Mink himself. They saw Mink brought a blue haired man into their usual spot.
Weeks after Oval Tower became nothing more than a pile of steel and rocks, Clear managed to gain the trust of the Scratch members’. He was allowed to approach Mink via changing his food tray, and after observing the situation for awhile; Clear could say that Mink barely ate or even showed himself. No, no one had ever seen him after the tower collapsed.
Mink refused to meet or talk to anyone.
Curiosity caught Clear off guard. He really heard Mink kept talking to (presumably) his master. The words were real and demanded to be answered.
“But, why can I not hear Master’s voice?”
Is that a sign that Master wasn’t there in the first place? If yes, then who was Mink talking to?
Clear got a hunch that every question could be answered when that unwavering door was opened. There was only a tiny bit of hope for the robot to find his Master. Shaking his head, Clear pushed his thoughts miles away from his consciousness. This was not the time to think about negative possibilities. Aoba might be sad if he saw Clear acted like this.
Another day came for him to change the food tray again. Clear found himself standing in front of the closed door, wondering why a man such as Mink could afford to waste food.
Then, a sound emerged.
The sound of wet flesh and creaking bed made Clear felt uncomfortable. This was not the first time he heard this kind of voices slipping through that door. His Grandpa categorized this indecent sound as the ones Clear should ignore. In the reality, The gasmask knew many possibilities about what might actually happened.
“....Hng... Hah...”
Blinking his eyes, Clear told himself firmly to focus on the task at hand. He exchanged the food tray slowly.
“...mm... hah... hah...”
Clear got goosebumps. He couldn’t calm down, not when Mink’s voice was hoarse and deliciously echoing.
“Ah! ....hah.... Aoba...”
The robot closed his eyes and bit his lower lip, trying to convert every rational reason and question to enlighten himself. These “courses” often sounded very desperate. Mink called Master’s name repeatedly as if he might disappear if he stopped. Even when no one answer those calls, the leader of Scratch kept purring his name.
Clear waited until the sound stopped before opening his eyes and started knocking.
“...Mink-san? It’s me, Clear. I changed your food tray, okay? Please eat it.”
A heavy silence returned his greetings. Clear sighed.
“I-I can put it inside if you want. That way, you can easily--- Yeah, that’s a bad idea,” the robot changed the subject as soon as he heard a grunt, “I’ll leave it here. Be careful when you open the door. ...I’m going now.”
Afterwards, he tried to turn on his heels, but he couldn’t. His mind was burdened with many questions and curiosity. He needed to ask Mink sooner or later.
Knock, knock.
The gasmask found himself knocking at the door once again. Confused and thrilled at the same time, Clear opened his mouth, searching for words.
“...Uh... Mink-san, I want you to listen to me,” he didn’t wait any longer for response. “I know, it’s weird for me to ask you something like this, but you are the only one I know who can answer my questions.”
He, soon, told the cold door every events he encountered after they split up back then. How he found out about Aoba, how he gained the Scratch members’ trusts.
“I heard Master’s voice before the fall of Oval Tower. A few times, actually. Then, your people told me that... you brought Master with you.“
This is it. This is the time for him to ask.
Clear gulped, trying to find the right words. “But... after staying here for weeks... never once had I heard his voice. I can’t find his voice! I tried and tried and tried but only your voice, calling his name did I find. Over and over and over again...”
Sobbing, Clear couldn’t contain his tears. Inside the gasmask, his face was drenched with those streaming liquid.
“...Where is he? Where is my Master?”
Clear struggled to stay calm, even though his shoulders were trembling. His words were scattered, slipping out from his lips. He couldn’t really remember what he said. All he knew was his desperate feelings to meet Aoba was streaming out endlessly. He talked, yelled and banged at the door with his fists.
“You know where he is, right?! Please... Tell me! where is Master?! Please, I beg you...”
Click.
“Uh...?”
The door was opened? With the slightest touch, it creaked open.
Putting all fears behind, Clear stepped into darkness. The first thing he noticed was Mink, standing away near a closed window. No one else. His back was watching Clear sternly. The room was dark and damp. The light slipped through the wall’s cracks, abused the twinkling dust to drop down in one rhytm.
Then, there was a strange smell. It was a mix between a man’s fluid, cinnamon and rotten meat. Yet, the disgusting fragrance didn’t stop Clear to step even further inside.
Three, four, five steps he took. Clear closed the door behind him in respect to Mink who allowed him to enter.
“Mink-san?”
“What do you want?” Mink asked with bewildered voice. The man turned and finally showed his face, oddly pale with dark circles around the unfocused eyes. There were tracks of dried blood and tears on his cheecks. Furthermore, other than his remaining muscles, Mink looked pretty thin. Anyone can see that he starved himself and had become really sick.
“M-Mink-san? Are you alright?!”
Mink huffed. “If you got time to worry, then scram!”
Ignoring the threat, Clear cupped Mink’s face with both of his hands; trying to see beyond those eyes. As he thought, the cold, unnerving eyes were no longer there. They were dull and lifeless now.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Mink snapped and pushed the robot away. The man acted like he didn’t know Clear at all. His eyes weren’t looking at him.
“M-Mink-san?”
“You kept pestering me about Aoba. You are a real pain in the ass!!”
“No, I didn’t mean to--!” This was not Mink whom Clear knew. This man was Mink, but at the same time he was not.
“Tch. Name your reason.”
“What?”
“The reason why you want to meet him, gasmask.”
Clear’s face brightened up. “So, you actually know me! Ah, Mink-san really got me there... I’m here just to meet him. He is my master. There is no other reason than that. Would you let me to m--...” he stopped.
Deeper inside the room where the bed was, something disturbing stayed in silence. The source of all the decaying smell.
“...Mink-san. Is that what I think it is?”
“Fuck off.”
A hand dragged Clear out of the door frame. At this point, the robot looked at Mink from head to toe. Believing that what he just saw was the truth, his will to take Mink out of the room grew stronger. He must take him far away from whatever was left on that bed.
Thousands of words and questions won over his curiosity, trying to change the reality from what he believed. They were the ones that made Mink changed so much.
“So Master is actually with you...all this time... Why are you keeping him a secret?”
Those pair of golden eyes avoided Clear’s as he answered, “You won’t understand.”
“Then, explain it to me so I can.”
Slam! The door was shut right in front of Clear’s innocent face.
“U-uwah! Miiiink-saaaan?! Hey!” Banging the door with his fists, Clear was getting furious. He could hear Mink walking away and sat somewhere in shadow, ignoring whatever noise the robot was making.
Mink hadn’t answered any of Clear’s questions.
The gasmask clearly saw something similar like his Master, sleeping beautifully. He only needed another minutes to look at him to confirm his suspicion. Yet, he still didn’t get the opportunity, nor that he understood why the smell grew thicker.
Angry and irritated, Clear used the last powerful trick he knew. He took out a pin and toothpick from his pockets, proceeding to hack the key lock without making any sound or apparent movement. It was the same trick he used to open Aoba’s veranda door.
When he finally managed to waltz in, there were intimidating fumes spreading out. He was ready to counter attack any aggression from the owner, but it never happened.
There was this forlorn atmosphere. Mink sat beside the bed, leaning his side against it. He was talking in a low voice, slowly staring at the thin air. His voice was deep and stern with flickers of gentle flavor in every word. He didn’t notice that Clear’s nonchalantly trespassed at all. The man was even showing an expression, one shouldn’t give to the death.
Mink was smiling.
As horrific as it sounded, Clear walked closer to feed his curiousity. It was one thing that he should never do. Now, everything was revealed. He wouldn’t forget the scene he witness; a scene he could never erase for the rest of his life.
The man reached out his hand to the occupant of the bed, torturing himself as the game of make-believe still went on.
Mink whispered, “No, there’s nothing wrong.”
He put his head to the mattress, closing his eyes and breathed in. He wasn’t disturbed by the disgusting smell entirely. Instead, he seemed to enjoy it.
“You are mine and mine alone, flower.”
END