He runs.
Feet fleet fast over pavement. The steady rhythm of left and right. The jarring impact of heel against concrete. The bend and press of his knees, the push of his muscles driving his body ever forward. His breath rips madly through his lungs, powering endlessly his drive, his momentum.
Beyond the pain, there's a lightness. A power to just run forever, without stopping, without slowing down.
He rounds the corner, leaning into the turn, arms balancing him. The fence is eight feet. Metal bars an inch and a half in width. A slight incline to the fence and then a drop on the other side of an additional three feet.
His stride increases in length as he approaches. He stretches his arms, relaxes his grip and leaps.
His hands strike the bars with a tremendous wrench as he grips and throws his legs over his head, powers all of his effort into his arms, pushing himself up, a still moment, a rush of air past his body. His toes clear the top of the fence and he lets go.
His feet strike the ground unevenly and the force drops him backwards. He tucks his head to his chest and rolls back onto his feet. With only a missed beat, he's back into rhythm. Feet striking a staccato beat against the earth.
His pulse thumps loudly in his head, keeping his feet in time with his heart, his head, his breath. He takes the ramp without faltering at the increase of incline, he cuts the corners by leaping over the rails on his way up. There's a crowd gathering at the bottom of the ramp, his grip falters as he catches a glimpse of Yuushi, but he can't think of that.
Left foot skitters as it strikes the gravel rooftop of building A. Two stories high, the gap between building A and building C is less than eight meters. He doesn't slow down, slowing down would be a mistake. He's always jumped farther than eight meters, his personal best of 8.70, plenty of clearance. The drop from the roof of Building A to the roof of building C is less than ten meters.
He always said he was going to do it.
Swallowing the slightly sick feeling rising in his throat, he drives his legs to run faster, to push harder, to ignore every sense in his body that tells him to stop. He can't see the roof of building C, until just before he hits the ledge of building A.
With a grunt and a gasp of air, his left foot strikes the ledge and launches him over the edge with a tremendous yell.
Gakuto throws his body towards the opposite ledge, he's sailing through the air, gravity driving him down ever faster. He's not afraid anymore. He would fly forever if he only could.
Letting his feet sail over his head and righting himself for landing, his feet clear the edge of building C by a half meter.
His body impacts with the roof harder than he expected. His arms flail momentarily and he lands painfully on his right arm, before tucking it inclose to his body. He tumbles out of control, rolling towards the metal exhaust vent, when he collides with another body, the air from their lungs expelled on connection.
He can't catch his breath and his vision is blacking out at the edges, it feels great. He forces some air into his lungs and struggles to sit up a little. Yuushi is laid out beside him, gripping his stomach, he smiles ruefully.
'Why'd you do it, Yuushi?' he says between gasps.
Yuushi shakes his head and wraps an arm around his shoulders. He can feel the rapid beat of his partner heart against him. 'Scared I wouldn't make it?' he asks.
'Of course not,' he lies. 'Scared you might fly away…' Yuushi straightens his glasses, which have been thrown askew.
Gakuto shakes his head and inspects the damage. One look at his left arm makes his stomach clench. He hates blood. 'Ow,' he whimpers poking at the scraped arm.
Yuushi takes his arm and inspects it, nodding absently to himself. 'Are you done jumping buildings?'
He nods.
'I'll clean it for you,' he says offering a hand to stand.
He leaves the rooftop, exhilarated and sad at the same time. There was someone waiting for him on the other side. Hadn't seen that coming. The closest he would ever be to flying… well, it felt a lot like falling.