Chapter Text
It was just another regular day at this endless game. This mansion that somehow had gotten so many people’s lives tangled in between. On this day (what it felt like a Thursday...?) Luca Balsa was chosen to play a match with 3 more survivors. The place that was randomly selected was the Eversleeping Town, a location that the prisoner didn’t disliked, but something always felt off when he was playing at it. Unfortunately, it was his fourth match of the day. He was tired and felt like he hadn't sat down in hours. However, the reason why the prisoner felt so out of place at that moment was something else entirely.
The survivors of this game were the main cause of his distraction, or at least… one of them was.
Luca just saw a flash of white light appear in his sight, and at the next moment, he was already standing at the center of the map, luckily having a cipher machine nearby. He instantly bent down to start creating his connections, checking which machine was closer to him at that time or that machine looked like it was being decoded. The closest option was one on top of a house, with a somewhat broken floor with a giant hole in the center, but he decided to connect it near the cemetery, preferring that his companions could focus on decoding more and finish their own ciphers first. Sending 48% of his decoding progress, Luca began to type on the machine, trying to start helping in that game. A message from Miss Dyer, one of the greatest doctors he has ever known, appears on his radio: "The hunter is close to me." Luca sighs, sending a message of how much he has decoded, 20%. Another message appears at that moment. “Don’t move im coming”, and before he could see who sent the message, a loud sound is heard in the distance.
A blast of air combined with bells.
Geisha.
A complicated hunter who seemed to have a certain advantage because of her knowledge of the place.
Another message pops up: "45% decoding progess" Naib sent, which was kind of nice to know his progress. He knew that the mercenary had some trouble decoding, so it was a relief to be able to help him further with that.
A scream is heard in the distance, while a message appears again "Focus on decoding" sends the doctor, who had just received a blow. She seemed to be kiting a good distance away, concentrating on the other small house in the corner of the map. On impulse, Luca sent how much he's been decoding now: 35%. But just when he sent the message, he ended up failing a calibration, making him flinch in reaction. It was just a little mistake, he would tell to himself, but he has been making too many little mistakes in one day, it was frustrating. Failing a calibration once was okay, but failing several in 3 consecutive matches was already starting to tire him too much. Luca didn't wanted to make the match harder for his teamates or make them save him too soon. He just wanted to finally get on his bed and rest a little bit, so the better he worked, the faster they could all get out that day. At least his little progress was helpful, since it seemed that Naib's machine was almost finished. Another loud sound was heard at the distance, as he noticed that Dr. Emily was now healing herself near him. "The hunter has changed target, beware" was all he could hear, while the pop of a distant finished cipher machine sounded. Emily, already at full health again, started decoding next to him. But before luca continued decoding, he bent down again and started to fiddle with the machine's cables. One movement there and another movement there and it was all he needed to do to connect his machine to the one placed at two-story house next to him.
He quickly greeted the doctor, changed the machine to 0% sharing progress and parted ways towards the other building, taking special attention to his surroundings. Right now, Luca thought that it was the safest place on the map, so it would be a smart move to try to send the most decoding progress he could share to his teamates from there. His machine was once again set to 48%, trying to help Emily's progress, which was now the most advanced cipher.
Another hit is heard at the distance, causing Luca to fail his calibration again, and now, hold his breath. The prospector, Norton Campbell, had been damaged, and from his strong heartbeat, Luca knew the hunter was close to him. A message saying "Sorry..." could be heard from the radio, but luckily, it seemed that the Geisha still did not notice his presence. The machine he had connected was also finished, so he made another conection towards the next closest machine and continued decoding at the same pace.
It was truly mere luck that Geisha hadn't seen him yet, but just before he could celebrate, the sound of his connection getting turned off could be heard close to him. There goes all his effort once again. And just when he was looking for the next machine he would connect, he heard another message from Naib. "Healing progress, 13%". It seemed that Norton had run to the contrary to ask for his help, which was understandable, considering that they had only just finished two cipher machines in such a short time. Was that truly his great decoder job? Luca laughed to himself in a self-deprecating way. Damn, it sure had been long day, he had to pay more attention to his decoding.
Well, maybe it wasn't his fault. Maybe it was the fault of all those matches that he had played. Of how they almost always called him relentlessly. Of how in each one of those games he had never managed to get out, losing or only taking the worst hits in the end.
Well... Yes, it kinda seemed like it was all his fault. At least that's how all that situation made him feel like. If only he was something else than the decoder that can't get out, kite well or avoid making mistakes when decoding.
Luca sighed once more. At least it looked like Norton wasn't hurt anymore, but he wondered why he hadn't asked him for help first if he was closer to him. Maybe he had heard all the miscalibrations from him? Maybe he didn't want him to make another mistake? Maybe he was upset that he wasn't decoding like he should? Norton had been avoiding him for a long time since a few past matches, and those old greetings and decodings together ended from one day to another. His greetings were still there, but he didn't spend as much time with him as before. All those jokes and little pranks that the opposite did with him suddenly disappeared. And of course, Luca understood that Norton had many friends, so he couldn't spend all the time with him. He knew that he was an introvert and needed his time and space in some ocassions, but even so… it seemed like he continued talking to everyone else normally. Luca didn't wanted to delude himself thinking more about it, but before this distance appeared, he had even come to question his feelings towards the other one. Their closeness, their fun times, their happiness, the warmth that he felt on his chest everytime he was close to Norton, he missed all of that. Being able to tell him his fears, his insecurities, everything was different at Norton's side. They seemed to share something in common, or something different too. Pasts that they wanted to forget, pasts that had already forgot and pasts that they wanted to change.
And oh boy, the way Norton watched him, the way little inside jokes turned into sharing secrets. The way Norton could listen to him talk about anything attentively and be able to hear him back with a smile. Luca had thought that maybe… maybe he had come to feel something stronger than just friendship for him.
Luca just wanted to help, he didn't want to make things harder for everyone. He just wanted to rest from this game for a while or at least be distracted by something other than being chased by hunters all day. And of course, he had been playing for so long that sometimes he forgot how terrifying certain hunters can be. Watching Smiley sprint towards you or have Joseph appear out of nowhere are experiences he is still trying to get used to. But... perhaps fear did not get to feel as strong as other emotions that he was feeling in that moment.
He heard laughter approaching, passing just below him. Luca recognized that voice and it felt like it had a long time since he had heard him laugh. Another sigh came from his lips. That voice spoke again "I couldn't tell him, that's why I trust you Naib."
Sure, trust.
Luca could feel how the beats in his heart began to increase in strength.
It is not his fault that Luca sometimes forgets certain things. At least his memory had improved, but that didn't mean he wasn't smart or dependable or….
No, he was probably talking about someone else, wasn't he? There was no reason why he should feel that lump in his throat. There was no reason why his heart should hurt so badly right now.
They were just friends, but… at least he would have liked to know if they wouldn't be friends anymore. His breathing began to shake, as his tears fell harder from his eyes. That was interesting, he didn't even know that his tear ducts in his left eye still worked perfectly, but he still didn't understand why his heart was pounding so hard.
Was he having… a problem with his heart? Right now?! At the middle of the match?! There was no reason why his heart should be…
Or maybe there was...?