The first time that the girl who held Saruhiko Fushimi's heart came to Scepter 4's attention, it was under the most unexpected of circumstances.
A group of rogue Beta Strains had caused trouble at a mall, taking some of the shoppers hostage when they realized that Scepter 4 had them surrounded.
The entire Special Squad had gotten separated during the battle, however, after a long and exhausting battle that had lasted late into the night, the civilians were safe, and the hostage takers arrested.
Everyone had been accounted for, except for Saruhiko Fushimi, Scepter 4's third in command.
Captain Reisi Munakata called the maverick clansman's phone, however, he was surprised when a young girl answered, and informed him that Fushimi was unconscious, thanks to the injuries he had sustained, mostly on his right side of his body. She then provided him their location, asking to have a medical team sent over to help the young man.
Accompanied by Awashima, Akiyama, Benzai, Kamo, and Scepter 4 paramedics, Munakata followed the location on his third in command's phone's GPS, but the scene that greeted them was... somewhat unexpected.
Fushimi was lying on his left side, almost on his stomach, his saber and glasses beside him. One hand gripped the hand of the young girl whose lap his head rested on, the other her wrist; her free hand was in his hair, her affectionate expression as she gazed at the young man illuminated by the light of the full moon streaming through the window that had been blown inward during the earlier fight.
At their approach, she looked up sharply, her hand moving from Fushimi's hair to the knife beside her. She relaxed, however, when she saw that her visitors were wearing the same uniform as her slumbering friend, her eyes moving to Munakata, seeming to recognize his rank as the Captain.
She asked the paramedics to be careful since his right side took the brunt of the injuries that he had sustained as they lay him on the stretcher, and she picked up his glasses and saber from their place on the ground. Much to everyone's surprise, Fushimi jerked awake just as the stretcher was being lifted, grabbing her hand in a death grip, his eyes on her.
Her words, soothing to him, suprised those present even further.
" I'm right here, Saruhiko, " she said softly. " It's alright; calm down. "
The sound of her voice seemed to soothe him, and he lay back on the stretcher, closing his eyes.
But he never let go of her hand.
She had sustained a sprain on her left wrist which had been exacerbated by Fushimi's death grip, although she never complained, seeming to understand his unspoken fear, and putting his well being before her own.
Munakata and Akiyama rode in the ambulance with Fushimi and the girl who had switched the young man's grip from her left hand to her right as she allowed the paramedic beside her to put her injured wrist in a cast.
She had remained silent, her eyes on Scepter 4's third in command as she held his hand.
Every movement she made, even slight, seemed to to be felt by him, because despite his unconscious state, he held her hand tightly, as if he was afraid that she would disappear if he let go...