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A light breeze made the grass sway all around where Wels sat. His garden was quiet in the night, nothing to disturb him after finally getting home.
Wels had gone on a journey for three weeks to finally get rid of Hels once and for all. He had promised everyone he would return home shortly and victorious.
He promised.
And yet here he was, home, but with a clean blade.
Wels was a disgrace and he knew it.
He had taken off his helmet already, setting it down on the grass next to him, putting a clear dent in the soft blades of green. Wels slowly took off the rest of his armor, attempting to be as quiet as possible as to not alert anyone of his return.
First his chest plate, setting it down next to the helmet. Then the boots and leg armor. Wels was left standing in a loose white undershirt and simple pants. He sat back down, letting the breeze consume him into the cold.
Wels reached for the katana beside him, admiring the craftsmanship of the blade while being carful to avoid his reflection. Wels had no interest in witnessing the failure that brought disgrace to his name.
He dropped it into his lap as he wiped away what tears had begun to form. Wels didn't want to kill himself, but he knew that's what he was supposed to do, what he needed to do.
He thought about all the people he would be leaving, all the friends he had grown to love. He would leave behind Jevin, XB, Keralis, Xisuma, and everyone else, including Hypno. Wels really didn't want to leave them all behind, especially Hypno, there were far too many things left unsaid between the two, but it was too late for Wels now, he knew what he needed to do.
His eyes were filled with tears as he slowly brought the blade closer to his chest, and then his neck, and then his chest again as he continued to change his mind on how he wanted it done.
Wels was a disgrace, a truly pathetic one at that. He was an absolute mess as he let the blade pierce his shirt. He shuttered when the cool tip of the katana touched his skin. He didn't push any further, too scared of what was next.
He sat like that for what felt like an eternity, alone in his garden, a blade ready to take his life once he was brave enough to push just a little further.
Tears flowed silently down his cheeks when a small noise caught his attention. The sound of his gate being slowly pushed open was unmistakable. Someone was intruding on his castle, and more importantly, on him in this vulnerable state.
His back was turned to the wall the gate opens from, allowing Wels to be grateful that whoever was there was not seeing his tear stained face.
"Wels! You're home!" A voice exclaimed from behind him. Wels recognized it instantly. It was the voice of a man he loved to listen to. A voice he would never hear again after this night.
"Go home, Hypno. It's late," Wels responded, trying to hide the knot in his throat. He knew Hypno well enough to know he wouldn't leave so easily, and to know he would hear the struggle in his voice, despite him trying to hide it.
Hypno took a step forward, closing the gate behind him. "I— I don't want to leave you right now." Hypno tried to stand his ground, not even knowing why he felt the need to stay, but something about Wels' words felt wrong. "How did the mission go?" Hypno stayed by the wall, not wanting to risk Wels getting more upset at him.
Wels didn't respond right away, he knew he could probably lie, maybe even yell, just to get Hypno away so he could do what was necessary, but a part of him wanted Hypno to stay. A large part of him. Most of Wels wanted Hypno to be by his side, to give him comfort, to beg him to stay, but Wels knew he needed to ignore the pleas of his heart. "I failed, Hypno. I failed in the worst way imaginable." Wels couldn't bring himself to lie to the only person he knew cared more about his life than himself.
Hypno didn't respond, he was not sure what would have been the right words in a situation such as this. He knew next to nothing about the culture and traditions surrounding the title of samurai, but he could tell failure was far from anything to be proud of.
"I failed so bad Hypno." Wels' tears began to become more audible to the man standing behind him. "I had Hels in my arms, I had every opportunity to get rid of his torment forever. To do what I set out to accomplish. But I---" Wels paused as he took a shaky breath in, making it clear to Hypno he looked pathetic as he cried. "---I just couldn't kill my brother. I still love him even after all this time and all the suffering he brought me. I just can't hate him. I couldn't kill him, Hypno."
"Oh... it's okay- It's not easy to hurt those we love," Hypno began as he slowly walked closer to Wels. The grass folded beneath his feet, the breeze wrapping around his ankles. Hypno wasn't sure how to continue trying to comfort Wels, he was always bad at this part. He knew the basic sentiments anyone should hear, but he was bad at giving specifics, especially personal ones. Hypno was more the type to get angry rather than sad, so he never understood how to help.
Wels let him get closer, but he didn't lower his katana, knowing full well Hypno was bound to see it. "I appreciate you trying to help, but nothing can fix my mistake." Wels pushed the blade ever so slightly deeper into his chest, just enough to sting as a small amount of blood stained his shirt.
Hypno finally got close enough to see what was going on and he instantly panicked. Without a single ounce of hesitation, he kicked the katana out of Wels' hand, the tip slicing a small portion of his shirt and chest below. "WHAT THE H*LL ARE YOU DOING?!" And there it was, anger instead of fear or sadness. Hypno had always been scared to show Wels how he yelled instead of cried, fearing that Wels would never want to talk with a man who overreacted so easily.
"I'm doing what's right!" Wels yelled back, albeit nowhere near as loud. Wels was in pain, physical and emotional. Blood dripped from the fresh cut at close to the same pace as the tears dripping from his eyes.
"How could this be right?! You're killing yourself because you couldn't kill someone else?! you see how dumb that sounds, right?!" Hypno didn't care if he woke the neighbors with his shouting, but he did care about how Wels would react once they had both calmed down, but for now, he just needed to make sure Wels didn't try anything else stupid.
"You wouldn't get it." Wels' voice was scratchy and uneven. He refused to look Hypno in the eye, knowing he couldn't face whatever emotion he was feeling. Wels knew Hypno was angry, that part was obvious enough, but there was almost certainly something more. Maybe a sadness that matched his? Maybe even a different feeling Wels felt as well but had always refused to say.
"Then make me get it! Why would you kill yourself after I just got you back?! Did you know how much I feared you wouldn't return every single day?! It's not fair to give me false hope like that! So make me understand why you think killing yourself would make any sense!" Tears had pooled in Hypnos eyes, the first tears he had felt in a long time, but they were well earned tears. He held onto Wels' shoulders, trying to get him to look at his eyes so he would be more likely to tell the truth.
Wels refused to look up, he continued to stare off into the grass as it began to still with the breeze fading. The metal of the katana reflected a full moon just above their heads, Wels was just barely able to see its beauty from behind the grass. "It's just that- if a samurai fails, he is not meant to return home. He is meant to kill himself in dishoner." Wels' tears had paused but his voice remained uneasy.
"That's the worst answer ever! You want to kill yourself, you want to take yourself away from me because some tradition told you to?!" Hypno knew his words were giving himself away, his need to imply Wels was his made his feelings obvious, at least to him, but that didn't matter right now. All he cared about was Wels getting the help he needed, and Hypno knew that wasn't him, but he was going to try his hardest.
Wels managed to catch onto the grammar that implied exactly what he thought it did, but he was too scared to get his hopes up. "Trust me, I don't want to. I want to stay here with everyone, I want to stay here with you, Hypno. But it's not that easy."
"Yes! Yes it is that easy! It's not that hard to break tradition, especially when I know so many people wouldn't want you to, especially me! Every single day I hope you are okay and you are not about to ruin that now!" Hypno, who was still holding Wels' shoulders, collapsed into a hug around him. From the feel of it, Hypno would not be letting Wels out anytime.
Wels' eyes began to tear again,but this time from the comfort he wanted so badly. Wels, both trying to lighten the mood, and maybe confirm his suspicion, made a small joke. "A little gay to think about me everyday, dontcha think?" His voice still hurt, but there was a small smirk on his face finally, proving to Hypno he wouldn't pick the katana back up anytime soon.
"And so what if it is?" Hypno responded with his head buried in the crook of Wels' neck. His voice had finally calmed down from the yelling, but the tears stayed, whether they were sad or happy tears now was hard to decipher. He held on tight to the man, even if he now knew this wouldn't be the last time he got to.
Wels' face flashed a light shade of pink before he returned the hug, wrapping Hypno just as tightly, also not wanting it to end any time soon.
"I'm not leaving you till morning okay? I just want to make sure you're safe." Hypno's voice was somewhat muffled as his face was still buried.
Wels gladly accepted the conditions without letting go. He was tired, really tired, but he didn't want the moment to end anytime soon. He finally had Hypno in his arms and he wanted to stay like this as long as he could.