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“Machine mode” was starting to become a reoccurring problem for Kazuichi, he couldn’t recognize it when it was happening but there were more than a few times where he would slip back into that way of thinking in the weeks after everything had happened. Luckily his classmates had begun to recognize the warning signs and they each had their own way of dealing with him when he got into such a state.
Admittedly most strategies weren’t very effective, with the only one that truly worked being removing Kazuichi from his workshop until his mind could recognize his own humanity again. But even that wasn’t always guaranteed to work, when he seemingly judt couldn’t shake the mindset they’d call in Gundham.
Gundham always seemed to know the right places to touch and the right words to say to bring Kazuichi back down from his Kazuichi Bot episodes, to the outside view it seemed like witchcraft. Of course it wasn’t witchcraft, Gundham was just observant. He always had been, even before he was officially dating Kazuichi he already knew what exactly the mechanic responded positively to and what tended to only make things worse.
The class assumed it most likely stemmed from the man’s talent and affinity for animals. Afterall humans are animals too, and just like wild animals humans tell ypu a lot through their body language. As it turns out comforting a frenzied animal and a Kazuichi bot were quite comparable most of the time.
Except for when it wasn’t.
Except for when Kazuichi would spiral too far too fast and suddenly not even Gundham’s soft words could get to him.
— — —
Kazuichi didn’t know what kickstarted it this time, all he knew was that he was sitting on the floor of his workshop staring at his bare arm as if it owed him money. Kazuichi wanted nothing more than to peak at what underneath made him run, what was it that made his gears turn. A small rational part of him recognized what exactly he was wanting to do but that was drowned out by the cacophony of thoughts telling him that this was his chance to finally peak under his hood.
He got so caught up in his attempt at disassembling his arm that he didn’t notice the door open, didn’t notice Fuyuhiko’s terrified gaze, didn’t notice the way the baby gangster immediately called out to Tanaka with an unprecedented amount of urgency. Kazuichi was laser focused in on the pocket knife in his hand, not even flinching when it made contact with his skin.
He hadn’t made much progress when he felt a hand forcibly pull the blade away from his arm, he jumped and looked up to see Fuyuhiko gripping his wrist hard enough to almost cut off his circulation.
“Kazuichi! What the actual fuck are you doing?” He yelled, perhaps a little too loud as Kazuichi flinched slightly. Could you really blame him though? I mean he had just walked in on his friend trying to slice his own arm open after all!
“Hiko don’t worry I was just trying to get a look at my wiring that’s all” Kazuichi protested, as if that was at all a sane response. Granted this hadn’t been the first time that “machine mode” made Kazuichi into a genuine danger to himself, but normally it was through general self neglect not… this.
“The fuck are you talking about? God why do you keep getting like this!” Fuyuhiko snapped, “You’re not a damn machine Souda! You know this!” He didn’t know why he was having this argument with him again, he knew that Kazuichi never listened when he was like this.
Fuyuhiko had been so busy yelling at Kazuichi that he hadn’t even noticed Gundham in the doorway, the look of terror on his face matching Fuyuhiko’s. For a moment he didn’t say anything, opting to instead quickly rush to Kazuichi’s side, pulling out a small roll of bandages and quickly wrapping his beloved’s wounds.
“Kuzuryu you may unhand him” Gundham glanced for a moment at Fuyuhiko who finally let go of Kazuichi’s wrist, sending the knife scattering to the ground. Gundham’s eyes roamed over Kazuichi’s arm, pink already slightly seeping through the bandages.
“My love what is the meaning of this?” His voice was a little louder than he intended, he couldn’t help it given the situation.
“Fucker was trying to get a look at his wiring apparently” Fuyuhiko replied for Kazuichi, who in turn nodded in affirmation.
Gundham took a deep breath as he helped Kazuichi to his feet, being careful of the injuries “I see… the fiends have invaded your mind once more haven’t they my prince?” Kazuichi looked at Gundham a little confused as to what he meant although he nodded anyways because it sounded pretty right.
“Come now, let me bring you away from this wretched workshop” he started gently guiding Kazuichi out the door as he spoke.
— — —
This time Gundham brought the two of them to his room in favor of Kazuichi’s, it had slowly been proven to him that the temptation of the projects littered about the mechanic’s dorm was too much for him whilst in this state. Kazuichi protested slightly but Gundham knew he had to be removed from his workshop for his own safety.
He sat on his bed and promptly pulled Kazuichi onto his lap, his hands immediately finding their usual place within Kazuichi’s hair. Gundham knew he’d have to speak with his paramour after he came back to his senses, incidents were happening far too often and it only left everyone in a state of constant worry.
“Why” he asked softly, his fingers still gently running through Kazuichi’s hair “why would you attempt to partially disassemble yourself my dear? What would’ve happened to you had Kuzuryu not found you when he did?” It took every bit of strength he had to keep Gundham from crying as he spoke. He already hated seeing Kazuichi’s “machine mode” and this latest incident was only making him hate it more.
“I wanted to see if I could upgrade my arm” Kazuichi responded with a slight frown but an inquisitive glint in his eyes “I also just… wanted to know what my wiring looks like I guess” he looked down at the blanket beneath him as he fiddled with his jumpsuit slightly.
“You…” Gundham paused, he knew there was no reasoning with his beloved when he was in this state but it didn’t make the matter at hand any less distressing, “You could’ve caused permanent damage to yourself my darling” he settled on that being the way he worded his worries. The last thing he needed was his love believing he was upset with him over this.
“I know… I know” Kazuichi frowned as he looked away “but how am I supposed to be the ultimate mechanic if I can’t do a simple repair on myself?” It took everything Gundham had to not grab his boyfriend by the shoulders and remind him that he was not a machine. He knew enough about delusions, which was what his best guess as to what this all is, to know that doing so would only make things worse but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted.
“My beloved, if I am incapable of caring for a panda do you think they’ll simply take away my ultimate?” Kazuichi looked at Gundham with confusion clearly not grasping the point that was trying to be made “What I mean to say my dear, is that one singular gap in your abilities does not suddenly diminish everything else you are capable of. You are the tamer of automations for a reason Kazuichi”
“Yeah, I guess you have a point” Kazuichi sighed as he stood up, much to Gundham’s alarm “My dark prince why are you leaving” within seconds Gundham was standing at Kazuichi’s side, knowing damn well why the mechanic was trying to leave.
“Well I have to go back to my workshop, I have stuff to fix. And my job is fixing things so I need to be doing my job or else-” it didn’t take a genius to guess where Kazuichi’s rambling was going to go so Gundham decided to nip it in the bud “My dearest you are already fixing my loneliness by being here alongside me” he countered, earning a laugh from the mechanic.
“Your loneliness isn’t a machine, that’s different” he shook his head while Gundham wrapped his arms around Kazuichi’s waist, pulling him close to his chest.
“You’re right it is not, and yet you’re fixing it nonetheless” Gundham practically carried Kazuichi back to the bed, lying him down before lying beside him, “Just stay here with me for but a moment longer alright?”
“Ok fine”
— — —
‘But a moment’ very quickly turned into Kazuichi falling asleep curled up next to Gundham just as Gundham intended. He knew that when Kazuichi starts slipping into machine mode the first thing to go is his already nonexistent sleep schedule so it’s always a fair guess that he’ll be tired if he’s been in that state for any substantial amount of time.
Gundham sighed as he looked down at the bandaged on Kazuichi’s arm with a frown. This situation seemed to only be getting worse and, as much as he would want to, following Kazuichi around 24/7 is not an option. If anyone could just pinpoint exactly what flips the switch in Kazuichi’s head each time he shifts from normal ot machine mode this all would be so much easier.
But for now the true root of it is unknown, which means that everyone has had to be on edge and watch for the slightest change in Kazuichi’s behavior at all times in hopes of catching him before he falls too deep. He knew Kazuichi hated these episodes of his just as much as anyone else, yet he was equally as clueless on how to stop them as well.
But surely Gundham could figure out something to help right? There had to be a way to at the very least have an alarm system of sorts set up, to alert the nearest person whenever the mechanic is headed into this machine mindset that’s proving itself to be incredibly dangerous for him to be in.
He doesn’t even want to think about what would’ve occured had Fuyuhiko not found Kazuichi so quickly, even just a second of considering it was enough to make his skin crawl. He had to find some way to help his beloved, but how?