Disclaimer: Not mine.
Note: Big thanks to my beta J Luc Pitard, without whom this fic would still be fraught with grammatical errors and in my laptop. ^^
Ways to keep him alive
Haruka had never been one to sit patiently. When her family was killed, it took her very little time to decide that if she wanted to remain alive, she had to take matters into her own hands. After that, she'd always been on the move with her savior and protector.
Haruka had never been one to sit patiently and wait. To say her premonitions were helpful would be an understatement and once she knew how to use them, she became a vital part in most if not all of the small group's plans. Even though she'd learned to defend herself well, 'well' would never be good enough for her. The moment the command to 'capture her alive' had been changed to 'kill her by any means necessary', she was removed from the front line of attack.
Haruka had never been one to sit patiently and wait for the inevitable.
To be locked in her the safe house was a horrible thing. It wasn't that they didn't trust her, but her premonitions had sent her running out of the house and into the line of fire more often than was deemed sane. Haruka had never been one to let her friends die.
For her safety, they locked the door from outside. She climbed out the window to warn them. They barred the windows and she smashed her second floor sliding glass balcony door. They set up alarms and she avoided them. Her biggest weakness was her stubbornness to make sure everybody stayed alive.
Mamoru didn't see what the fuss was. Haruka was trying to be helpful and he approved of that. His biggest weakness was that he sometimes forgot that not everyone was as good at staying alive as he was.
And now they stood in a line, staring at her oh-so-fragile figure surrounded by tubes and wires on the bed through the window.
"Stupid brat," he spat.
Sierra lunged at him in anger, only to by stopped by Igawa's grip on her arm.
"You fuc-" and Ibuki's hand on her mouth. She turned back with every intention of hurting them both, only to see that they were looking at Mamoru with almost pitiful expressions on their faces. She couldn't help but stare too.
She saw that his hands were clenched in anger.
She saw his katana on the ground, for once abandoned for something more precious.
She saw guilt in his face.
She saw his glasses and wondered if he could see her past the glass window.
She saw that for once, he did not run off to seek vengeance straight away.
She saw pain that she didn't know he was capable of feeling.
She saw him and reminded herself that he had protected Haruka countless times.
Only this time, it was Haruka who had protected him. She'd seen the inevitable and decided that it did not have to be inevitable. What good is the power of premonition if she could not save the ones she loved?
She'd seen a way to save his life and chose to forfeit her own.
"You'd better be up when I'm done," he murmured and bent down to pick up his katana. It wasn't until he was at the lift that he noticed they weren't behind him. Turning around, he stated, "Let's go."
They ran to keep up.
On the whitewashed bed, the figure stirred.