"Sir! Wait! You can't go in there!!" the fire fighters called after him.
He didn't care. He didn't want to care. There was only one person on his mind... one woman who was on the verge of losing her life. Matsuda wouldn't allow her to suffer the same way Takada had. Matsuda wondered if Kira was still alive... toying with his emotions... playing with his mind. He wondered if Kira intended to kill the whole Yagami family. It was difficult for Matsuda to accept that Light was Kira... somehow he still felt like kira was watching their every move... tracking them only to hunt them down later for a bounty.
The smoke burned his eyes as he lept into the flames. "Sayu!!" The coughing from lack of oxygen was making his voice hoarse and weak.
Matsuda was beginning to wonder if he was really going to make it out of this alive... and what about Sayu? Was she already dead? Or had she escaped from the flames already? Would he ever know?
A woman's voice screeched from nearby, "Help me!! I-I'm -cough- I'm stuck...!!"
He followed the sound. To his disappointment the woman was not Sayu. She was pinned to the ground by a fallen beam; Matsuda was surprised that the woman was still concious. Her eyes pleaded silently for his aid. "Hold still!!" he ordered.
Matsuda wasn't about to just allow her to perish in this fire. He hefted the beam up as far as he could, which added up to about 4 inches above her body. She slid herself out from under the beam's path. As soon as she was safe, Matsuda dropped the beam. It was only then that he noticed the woman he'd saved was pregnant.
"Are you -cough- okay?" Matsuda managed to ask.
She nodded, "Who are -cough-...?"
"Get out of here! It isn't safe! There's -cough- an opening that way... do you think you can make it?!"
She attempted to ask again through her coughing spells, "Who are you?"
"Matsuda Touta..." He pushed her out of the way of another falling beam, "This roof is gonna collapse any minute! Go!"
He didn't have to say anything more to her before she left. The woman was lucky he'd found her. Matsuda hated to think of what harm would have befallen her had he not come to her rescue. Unfortunately, the time he spent saving her only increased the chances of his not saving Sayu.
xXx
Aizawa flipped on his television. He figured that he should check up on the News. He reached for his TV remote, punching in the numbers that would take him to the News Channel. Aizawa went into his kitchen to make himself a glass of coffee, opting to listen to the news rather than watch it.
'This fire that broke out across the Ibara Complex nearly an hour ago only seems to be getting stronger as time goes on...' The News Lady said.
He listened intently, knowing that Sayu lived in that area. With any luck, she was one of the many who were already rescued from the flames... at least for Matsuda's sake if not for the girl's own good. Suddenly, there seemed to be some sort of commotion as a young woman raced out of a hazardous section of the natural disaster. The TV news crews and medical officers were all over her in a matter of seconds, asking her questions and examining her condition.
'It seems one of the remaining people trapped in the fire has found their way out! Miss! Miss! Can we get your name?' The reporter inquirred.
The woman looked at the camera blankly. Her face was covered in sweat and soot, and the split ends of her hair were slightly singed. 'My name is Yuhari Nami...'
'Miss. Yuhari, can we ask what happend?'
Aizawa planted himself in front of the TV with a fresh cup of coffee in his hand.
'I was stuck... under a fallen beam. No one could hear me calling... but then... a man... a man came and saved my life...'
The reporter seemed thrilled with her answer, 'A man? Really? How very interesting, could you tell us more about him? Was he one of the residents, a fire fighter, or do you think he was some sort of appirition?'
The pregnant woman smiled. 'He wasn't any of those... but he was looking for someone... a girl... I heard him say her name was Sayu.'
Aizawa spit his coffee all over the sofa. Sayu? As in... Yagami Sayu?
As if the reporter could read his thoughts, she asked, 'Could this girl he was looking for perhaps be Yagami Sayu? She's still missing to our knowledge.'
'It's possible.'
'Alright, one more question, please? Do you know what this stranger's name was?'
All Aizawa could think in his head was... Please don't say Matsuda Touta, please don't say Matsuda Touta!!
She smiled again, 'As a matter-of-fact, I did happen to catch his name... he called himself...'
Please not...!!
'Matsuda Touta.'
Aizawa stood from his seat, "WHAAAATT?! Matsuda! That fool!!"
His wife came into the living room, rubbing one of her eyes sleepily, "Honey? What's the matter? The girls are still asleep, can you try to be quieter? What's going on?"
'Well there you have it! A mysterious Mr. Matsuda is frantically searching through the fire for the still missing locals. We will continue to keep you upda-'
Aizawa turned the TV power off. "I have to go..."
"Go? But you just got home!" She argued.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, "I know... but this is of life and death importance... I promise I'll be home before breakfast. Don't worry."
Aizawa kissed her forehead affectionately before hurrying out the door. That idiot Matsuda was always caught up in some form of trouble.
xXx
Sayu army-crawled her way across the littered floor of her flaming appartment. She was completely surrounded by fire. There was no way she was going to escape out of this with her life. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. At least she'd gotten to hear Matsuda's voice one last time before she joined her brother in death. She turned herself onto her back to stare up at the ceiling. Sayu wiped some sweat away from her brow with the back of her hand. This was it. This was the end. She closed her eyes, prepared to willingly walk into death's arms.
"Sayuuu!"
Her eyes flared open. It was impossible. He couldn't really be running around in this death trap looking for her, could he?! No... she was just imagening things. The thought of death plays with the mind's notions of reality. She sighed, hearing the crackling and popping of the fire. Somehow, the sounds had become quite comforting to her. Why wait? The fire was slowly enveloping everything... why not speed the the process up by jumping into the fire herself?
Sayu heard the ceiling begin to crack, the plaster crumbling onto her face some. She could perhaps wait for the ceiling to cave-in. That certainly wouldn't take too much longer. Yeah... cave-in sounded pretty good. Sayu really didn't feel like moving around too much.
His voice came again. Louder this time. Sayu's brows furrowed. She didn't want to believe that he was actually here being stupid as usual, and... oh no. Stupid as usual? Stupid... Matsuda was incredibly stupid!! What an idiot!! He was really here looking for her, wasn't he?! There was no way her mind was playing tricks on her now. Sayu sat on her knees, not wanting to stand all the way up. She didn't know if he was headed in her direction or not. She hoped not at least. The roof would collapse any second now, and she didn't want him getting crushed along with herself.
"Sayu, are you in here?!" Matsuda called, he was beginning to wonder if she was even still alive at all.
What would she do? The ceiling was beginning to give way. If she responded to him he would only get crushed too... if she didn't... who knows what would happen to him. She didn't know if he would keep searching or if he would just stop.
"Matsu-cough-I'm over-cough cough cough cough-!!" Her sentence was completely interrupted by a coughng spell; she didn't even know if he could hear her.
"Sayu?! Where are you?" He sounded as though he was pleading.
"Over he-cough cough-re!"
He followed the sound of her voice and was met by a wall of flame seperating himself from her. Matsuda could tell she was just on the other side. "I'm coming to get you!"
Her eyes widend, was he really that stupid?! "NO!!"
"What?!"
"The ceiling is-cough-about to collaspse! You'll never make it out in time!!"
"I don't care! I'm coming in to get you!"
"Matsuda, no, y--!!" The roof fell on top of her, cutting her sentence short.
Matsuda had been spared from the roof's fury, but he couldn't believe that he'd come this far just to lose her. "Sayu!! Sayuuu!!"
Matsuda lept through the flames, not caring that they singed his clothing or burned his skin. He dug frantically through the pile of cinders and burning floorboards. Her body lay limp and lifeless on the bottom. He couldn't form words to describe his feelings or even to describe what had just happend. There was only one word that could escape his mouth in a hushed whisper, "No..."
He gathered Sayu in his arms. If nothing else, he had to escape with her body. Matsuda lifted her form with him as he stood. The floor below him would break down soon, and he didn't want to be standing on it when it did. He was carrying Sayu's body bridal style, trying to choose the best paths out that would not hurt either of them. Eventually he made it to safety. As he emerged from the endless fire, he was bombarded by the press, medical officers, fire fighters, and police men who wanted to ask him questions or reward him some way.
Matsuda fell to his knees craddling Sayu in his arms. Aizawa knelt down beside him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. The medics hurried to place Sayu on a stretcher, though Matsuda was reluctant to remove himself from her. The paramedics also gave him a rough examination before deciding it would probably be best if he was taken to the hospital as well. Aizawa volunteered to escort him there.
The two men got into Aizawa's car and drove off. Matsuda was sitting in the back, sprawled out across the seat. "What were you thinking?!" Aizawa scolded him.
Matsuda couldn't really hear him anymore, he was exhaughsted, and tired. He hadn't slept since yesterday... and even that wasn't a very good sleep.
"Matsuda! I'm talking to you!!"
"Look, I dunno, okay?!" He was getting kind of cranky.
Aizawa smiled some, "It's okay. I was only going to say that you did the right thing."
"Really? You mean it? Honestly?"
"Yeah. You ended up saving a lot of peoples' lives today... but only because no one else was stupid enough to go into that firey pit!"
Matsuda didn't know if he was supposed to take that as an insult or a compliment. Aizawa continued, "You know... you're all over the news right now. Saving people and whatnot. As soon as the press finds out what room you're in they're going to be all over you... I'll try to keep them at a safe distance though."
"Okay... thanks, Aizawa." Matsuda said half-heartedly.
He really was grateful the Aizawa wasn't mad at him and was actually willingly to help him out, but he was too busy thinking of Sayu. Of what he was going to have to explain to Mrs. Yagami when she finds out that not only did her husband and son die, but her daughter as well. The aching pain in his heart was hard for him to ignore.
"We're here." Aizawa announced, "Let's hurry up and get you inside."
Please review! Thanks.
