'No…

This can't be happening

Not him... Please don't let it be him…!'

Those were the only thoughts that ran through Makoto's mind as he heard the address of where a grease fire begun.

x X x

He sat inside the moving firetruck, his heart was racing harder than it ever had. Makoto felt as though he should be used to this by now. Rushing into fires to save people, hosing down the flames that threatened to eat the land- the whole lot of it, he felt he should be ready and has always been ready. But this one time, he was terrified. He hadn't felt this way since the first time he ran into a fire to help a little girl. The others were busy saving the parents and siblings and completely missed her, he knew he had no choice. After that, he got the hang of things and always found a way out of a fire.

But this wasn't like any of those times. Those were people he never knew but had to save. They were lives; that's what matter to him, lives. He would be insane to not care about a life with the job he pursued. However, this one life wasn't like the others. This was a life he cared about since he was still a toddler dreaming about becoming a firefighter.

This life was his life. His world. His everything, so be it.

The firetruck pulled up to the restaurant. All of the men, including Makoto, rushed out and begun taking their positions to drag out the hose and examine the area. A few began charging in, but Makoto was quick to rush to the people outside to make sure they were okay. In the midst of his looking over everyone, he heard the words 'Nanase' and 'inside'. That was all he needed to hear before he hastily put on his full gear and ran inside.

The sounds of cracks and burning greeted Makoto. The sweltering heat immediately took effect on his body and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. But he was used to it, he told himself. He didn't care about himself, though. He only cared about finding that one person and making sure they were okay.

While taking careful steps around, he saw his partners begin carrying workers out. One or two faces he felt like he recognized from whenever he dropped by for lunch.

Shaking his head, he continue his path and quickened his pace.

'Where is he? Where is he?!' His panicked thoughts screamed.

Makoto was about to turn in one direction when he suddenly heard the crash of a piece of, what he assumed to be, metal. He lunged forward, away from the fallen debris, and fell hard against the floor. He groaned from his head knocking against his helmet from the fall, but was quick to begin pushing himself up.

That was when he found him.

He froze for a second, staring through the hole of the wood at the motionless body on the floor. Makoto pushed himself up completely before running over to the hole. He grabbed the wood and began yanking it, tearing it apart bit by bit.

"Haru!" He shouted. "Haru!"

There was no response, there was no reaction...

Everything suddenly went silent for Makoto, with the exception of his erratic pulse rate.

The wood finally gave away with ease and the firefighter climbed through the widened hole. He sprinted over to Haruka and fell on his knees by his body. He put his hands on his shoulders and gave him a gentle shake to see if his eyes would open. Nothing.

'He must have inhaled too much of the smoke.' Makoto thought. He gulped and felt his eyes begin to burn. Not from the flames but from fear. He almost lost Haruka once, he didn't want it to happen again. He didn't want it to happen when he, himself, had the ability to save him this time. Makoto couldn't think clearly anymore and he did what felt right instead. He began to take off his helmet and oxygen mask and he put it on Haruka. Afterward; he put the helmet back on, slipped his hands under the limp body, and picked him up in one swift motion.

Making the mistake of taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he inhaled smoke and began coughing. Gritting his teeth, he controlled the cough and began walking where he saw a clear path. A few steps toward it and a loud crack warned him of another piece of debris was falling. He stepped back and stared at the bright red metal before him. That was when he realized something was going to go wrong if he didn't get out in time.

Makoto decided to go back through the way he went earlier. He didn't care about taking careful steps anymore, he only cared about getting out as quick as possible. The brunet climbed through the hole carefully and began to run through the room of burning chairs and tables. Mumbling a curse to himself, he tried his best to make it through without Haruka catching on fire in his arms.

He glanced down and saw that Haruka's eyes were still closed. His lips set in a straight line and he couldn't ignore the burning in his throat from the smoke.

The entrance was so close. So close, so clear.

They were going to make it. They were going to get out alive and safe.

Or so that's what Makoto thought.

Right before he approached the entrance, large planks of wood fell and created something along the lines of a barrier. From the other side, he thought he heard the other firemen call out his name and Haruka's coworkers call out to Haru.

Makoto looked around to try to find another exit. Just when he thought there was no way out, he found a window with a little flame under it. That was the best option he had and he wasn't about to give it up. He ran over to the window and shifted Haruka's body to hang over his shoulder. With his free arm, he braced himself and slammed his elbow against the glass. It didn't break at first, but he kept trying. Soon the other firefighter outside saw what he was trying to do and banded together to use their axes to break the glass with ease.

When the glass finally broke, he yanked off the extra pieces that he could and handed Haruka to his partners. He slipped off his oxygen tank from his back and gave it to them as well before climbing out of the window.

Finally outside, Makoto took another deep breath and began to hack. He coughed up soot and made a face at the black saliva that came from his mouth.

But that didn't last for long. Not long after, Makoto was rushing to where the firefighters laid Haruka on one of the ambulance's gurneys. What he saw made him freeze and suddenly he felt his face was wet.

A bright orange body bag was being zipped up just as he had gotten there. The last thing Makoto saw was the locks of black hair he so loved to run his finger through at the end of the day.

'Not him...'

Makoto pushed aside his partners and stumbled over to the body bag. He put his hands on the side of the gurney to stop the paramedics from taking him. He looked at them with pleading eyes of denial and all they could do was give him a look of empathy before forcefully moving the gurney into the ambulance.

"Tachibana. We're sorry." The captain of the squad said as he came up by Makoto's side. He put a hand on his shoulder, but the hand soon fell as Makoto's legs gave out. He crashed to the floor on his knees and punched the ground. He was sure that his knuckles broke, but the pain didn't even exist when compared to the tear in his heart.

He was gone.

That's all that ran through his mind.

His world was shattered, his everything was nothing.

He finally lost his best friend…

x X x

Gasping for air, Makoto jolted up from his bed. His eyes were bugged out and his body was drenched in sweat. His heart was beating fast and he couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs. It took a few minutes for him to even remember where he was before he looked at the time. It was almost three o'clock in the morning. The moon was high in the sky and illuminated the room. Makoto felt his eyes burning and he brought a hand to wipe the dampness from his face.

'Was I crying…?'

"Makoto…?" A tired voice mumbled next to him.

"...Haru?" He questioned in return, as though he couldn't believe it was so.

Next to him, Haruka pushed himself up and wiped his eyes to rid of some of the sleep. "Are you okay?" He asked softly.

Without giving a proper answer, Makoto quickly turned and wrapped his arms around him. He hugged him with all his might and the tears become to flow naturally from his eyes.

"Haru… Oh god, Haru." He sobbed into his lover's shoulder.

Haruka didn't need to ask him what was wrong. He knew. It was bound to happen again. The nightmares that haunted the sweet boy he fell in love with. It happened when he almost drowned as a child and now it happened because of the flame incident at the restaurant.

"Shhh… It's alright…" He hushed, returning the embrace and rubbing the other's back. "It's alright…"

Inspired by this lovely piece of fanart: [remove the spaces please] www. carryon-mywayward-daughter. tumblr post/91095092668/what-if-makoto-didnt-get-to-save-him