A.N. Here goes the angst. But do now worry, fluff is comming up, and so is the end of the story. And don't forget - leave a review, feed an author ;)
Chapter 34 – The bird
! Izumo POV !
It started like any other day, normally.
The damn alarm clock rang. I groaned and dove under the blankets. Somewhere above me Kotetsu snorted.
"Come ooon….", he rasped.
Mm, sexy voice in the morning.
But still…
"No."
"We have to go to work."
"Why?"
"Eerm, they pay us for that?"
"Not enough."
"You like your job."
"Generally. When it's not cold. Now's cold. And you're warm. I like warm."
He chuckled. "You're babbling."
"I'm allowed to. It is cold and early and … that."
He laughed harder. "Sure."
"…"
"…"
"Come on. Offer me."
"Hm?", he groaned.
"Offer me a way to wake me up properly."
I could hear the smile in his voice. "Well, I can make you some really strong coffee…"
"Kotetsu", I warned.
"Whaat?", he asked innocently.
"…the other thing…"
He gave a dramatic sigh. "Oh, lover, I bribe thee with sex. There, wake up."
Moving the blankets aside I rested my head on his chest and smiled.
"Ah, when you ask so nicely…"
He ginned predatorily.
The sky was stormy gray when we stepped outside. It was cold and the wind was only intensifying the chill. Something, a feeling I couldn't quite describe, clenched my gut and I shivered.
"Cold again?", Kotetsu teased.
"I'm always cold", I said absentmindedly. A birdcall from above made me look towards the sky again. A few black birds were skimming over the gray streets.
"Crows", I muttered.
"Hm?", Kotetsu looked up. "What about them?"
"It's a bad omen…", I said.
He snorted. "That's what you get, being raised by three women."
I frowned, but forced a smile on my face as he teased me some more.
"Get in the car, please. Just… indulge me. Let's not argue today", I pled.
He frowned, but, after giving me a huge sigh, got inside the Mustang. I shot another look up before I took the driver's seat. The crows above us just cawed mockingly.
There was a gloomy feeling hanging in the air at the station. The guys were all grumpy, some blaming the weather (Reiji and Inoichi), some – their love life or lack of such (Hidan), and some were just generally apathetic (Shikaku).
"My stomach feels weird", Iruka complained, stroking his abs.
"Maybe you've eaten something spoiled", I suggested.
"Naah. It's the weather", Reiji declared, limping theatrically. We all knew the story of the leg that he'd broken as a boy and that hurt every time it rained. And sure enough…"My leg's killing me. It's going to rain."
"That's bullshit!", Hidan yelled. We all turned to look at him and saw he was actually shouting on his cell. "What! I'm not mocking you, just… This is stupid, Sui, and I ain't… Fine! I'll just fuck someone else!", Hidan threw the mobile on his desk. "Omens…", he muttered under his nose.
What, he too…?!
"Hey, Hidan, what…?", I started.
"What, what! Bitches' shit!", he yelled, jumping up and kicking his chair in frustration.
And that's when it happened.
The captain burst into the room and shouted, "Everyone, gather up! There's been an explosion downtown; gunshots are reported from the mall, some say even grenade launchers…"
Most of us didn't even hear him out till the end.
We were on our way.
I can't really recall everything from that day. I remember certain parts though. The most important ones… the critical ones…
It was a small chaos when we arrived. There was a crater in the middle of the street, rubble and pieces of pavement scattered everywhere… people, laying on the street… wounded… or dead… Women screaming and children crying in between the sound of gunshots and the rain of bullets…
"Get down, Kamizuki! Behind the car, behind the car!", the captain yelled somewhere near me. I bent down a bit and turned around. Namiashi Raidou's wide eyes scanned the scene, seemingly inspecting if all his men were present and not wounded. But if anyone was to look closely… his eyes searched for the masked covered ones of those who fought to kill, Konoha's best weapon.
ANBU.
There were seven masked people fighting along with us. Not six; seven. Genma had put on the mask again, holiday or not.
Next to the captain, Iruka's wild eyes looked between the white masks, worry and a small inner hysteria painted on his face.
I knew exactly how they felt. Somewhere there, besides Genma and Kakashi… Kotetsu was under those same bullets, a target for grenades and riffles. Even the intimate partner of an ANBU didn't know what mask their loved one hid behind. Not even the wives and husbands of the black ops knew.
Yes, I knew exactly what Iruka and the captain thought.
Was Genma the one behind the lion mask?
Was Kakashi the one behind the wild cat mask?
Was Kotetsu behind the dog mask?
Another explosion wrecked the square. Another grenade.
In the middle of the chaos of ricocheting gravel a small blond baby girl was crying, gripping a teddy bear.
"Mommyyy!"
An ANBU standing nearby turned around. Under the hood of the ANBU gear a few strands of wild black hair swung forward.
No. No, wait, Inuzuka Tsume has dark hair too…
But that was a man's body.
He turned and ran towards the child. And I knew those hands, swishing back and forth as he ran. I knew those strong legs.
"Kotetsu…"
A faceless man, an enemy, jumped up from behind his cover, his hands gripping a machine gun… wondering, aiming between the child and the ANBU.
"KOTETSU!"
The ANBU froze, turning around to look at me.
"No, no, lie down, lie dooooown!", I screamed, running towards him, waving my arms like a madman.
The ANBU cocked his head.
I jumped.
In some stories it is described how everything turns black or there is some general pain.
I felt every single bullet piercing my flesh.
"…!"
Once… twice… thrice… Four, five...
Now, the other things… those were a blur.
Like the sounds. Everything went mute for some time. I could see more bits of gravel flying around us, but heard no sound of more explosions. Someone grabbed the blond kid – she was crying, but again, there was no sound. She was whole and wasn't bleeding. Ah… okay. Good.
From then on it was all like an old, damaged movie – the sound turned on, high and making me flinch, then faded… I saw certain scenes with no connection between them…
…A shoe flying above me…
…A boy with white hair and purple eyes, gone wild with worry, screaming Hidan's name… Hidan… turning around, with a face so serious… woah… I didn't know he knew how to be serious… he was… handsome like that… He saw the boy, his eyes widened. "Stay back, Suigetsu! Find a cover for now and… and then go home!", "But Hi-…!", "Stay back!... Stay alive. I'll see you at home, baby, just go home!"
The scene faded…
…Iruka, running, with a small boy in his arms, pressed to his chest…
…Reiji and Inoichi, pressed back to back, shooting with both hands like in those really corny western movies…
…a mother, crying and hugging the blond baby girl…
A mask… bloodied and tossed on the ground with the rain (…rain?) pouring down on it.
"IZUMOO!.!.!"
I tried to focus my gaze. Above me the sky was torn by a lightning. A face, maskless and scrunched with pain, was bent, right above my face.
"K..tsu…"
I coughed. I coughed out blood.
"Sssh, don't, just don't… oh Kami sama!"
He was freaked out.
Oh.
It was… that bad, huh?
The battle around us had quieted down. Huh… when had it all ended? The cops were gathering the civilians, ushering the survivors towards the safer zones, helping the wounded… trying to bring order into the chaos…
My vision was blurry - Kotetsu's pained face swam in and out. Damn… I wanted to remember his face clearly. I wanted to tell him not to cry; I didn't deserve his tears… Instead, I smiled bloodily and groaned "Hey, I th-think I… see the b-bird…"
He frowned, through his tears, as if asking "What?" Of course he didn't get it – we'd had this talk so long ago.
"My tattoo… the bird… sh-shinigami…", I groaned.
"NO!", he screamed insanely, his eyes suddenly wide with realization. "I won't let you! I won't let him have you! I'll make a deal! I'll… give him something else…!"
I knew he wasn't thinking straight, but hurried to interrupt him before he could say "someone else".
"Baka… You can't fool a shi-shini…gami. You can't… fool death…."
He was shaking badly now, his face showing the level of insanity he had reached. "Ok, just… I know you can, Zumo… Ok? Just… don't die. Ok? We… we're doing just fine now, right? Please, baby… we fought so hard, we managed to get here, to make it work… Just… please don't die… I know you can, Zu… just hold on, ok? Just a lil bit more… The medics are coming… Izumo, if you stay with me… Oh, Kami…", he began sobbing in earnest. "…anything. I'll give you anything … you want… just… please…. I can't… I can't…"
I swallowed hard and tasted my own blood. I frowned in pain.
"Te…tsu…", I tried.
"I know you can, baby… I know …", he was whispering in my ear now. I doubt anyone was listening before, but now they couldn't hear a thing even if they wanted to. "I know you can. Please… for me..."
"Tetsu…"
"Yes...", he brushed off his tears and tried to smile. It looked painful.
"Okay…"
"Huh?"
"For you… I'll stay…f-for … you."
He smiled a bit more naturally now. Still strained, still worried outta his mind… but more like himself.
"Yeah?", he asked.
"Yeah…", I groaned weakly, coughing some more blood. Kami sama it hurt!
"Tetsu…"
"Yeah?"
"Give me… your hand…", I groaned. He did and I grabbed on it, as if to remain alive; by the way that he frowned slightly I could tell my grip wasn't really all that hard right now. "Need to… hold onto s-something… cuz it… f-fucking hurts!"
He bent down lower again and whispered "Don't talk… Just think about my hands, babe… embracing you, loving you…forever. Just stay alive, Zu. Stay with me…"
I'll claim later that those tears that filled my eyes then were from pain only. I wasn't gonna lie… Much.
He tried to smile encouragingly – still too nervously, but it was better than his breakdown. I heard the sirens then and a moment later I lost him of my sight as they were getting me into the ambulance. As soon as I was inside however, he jumped in too and grabbed my hand, gripping hard. I saw the look he shot at the medic then – full of hope, begging… The guy shrugged a little. "We'll do whatever we can, but it's in Kami's hands now", the gesture said. Kotetsu clenched his jaw.
My eyes closed…
When I opened them later the first thing I saw was him of course. He was asleep, sitting on the chair next to my bed, head and arms on the bed itself, his hand gripping mine. He looked exhausted…
"You scared the shit outta him", someone said. I turned around and frowned a bit. I wasn't expecting… him…
As if he had read my thoughts, Kakashi said, like he was apologizing, "Iruka went for some coffee."
My eyes turned back on Kotetsu. "Wh…", I cleared my dry throat. "Why did I scare him?"
"When they brought you here, for a moment or two… there was a flat line. Kotetsu lost it. It took five guys to hold him, me and Asuma included. Genma still has a bruise under his left eye."
My eyes began itching. I lifted up a shaky hand and threaded it in his wild hair. He immediately stirred, he looked up… his eyes widened… and watered.
I vaguely heard Kakashi leaving the room, before Kotetsu grabbed my hand and started kissing it, small and quick kisses, as if he couldn't believe… His own hands were shaking badly – those strong hands, the hands of an ANBU. He suddenly grabbed me and squeezed tightly.
"Izumo…!", he whispered shakily.
"Heeeyy… it's ok now. I'm here… I'm here…"
He said nothing, just tightened his embrace. I didn't tell him I was still in pain – I just tried to hold him as tight as I could in return.
We didn't need words.