It took a while until the police showed up, followed quickly after by the paramedics. The cops had persistently attempted to get information out of him, but Youichi didn't want to talk to them about what happened. He just wanted to show them where the others were still being held, but they were insisting he be taken to the nearest hospital. Youichi adamantly refused any form of treatment, wouldn't even let the medics look over his wounds. He'll continue to fight them until the others are rescued. It seemed incredibly wrong for him to receive aid while the others were still being tortured. So far he has yet to get violent with them, which he was glad because he was also afraid the cops would restrain him if he got physical. However, if they tried to force treatment onto him, then he'll risk it, and hope his status as a traumatized victim would alleviate the need for handcuffs.
Thankfully, they appeared to have stopped, for now.
Youichi was sitting on the ledge of the back of the open ambulance. He had his head down, hands placed on the back of his neck with his elbows resting on his knees. The position pulled at the makeshift stitching that Kominato had shakingly done, and he could feel a warm trickle of fresh blood drip down his stomach. Even then, he still refused treatment. The only thing Youichi had - begrudgingly - accepted was an emergency blanket that was draped loosely around his shoulders. One of the cops tried to lighten the mood by offering him a teddy bear. In any other situation, Youichi would have found it amusing, but as it was him in this position, he didn't care for it. They had eventually left him relatively alone while they radioed back to the station. His seniors had been questioned one by one but were allowed to see him again. Youichi was grateful for their presence, it brought him a small amount of comfort to see familiar faces amongst all the cops and paramedics.
"You should accept the treatment," Yuuki broke the extended silence. Ever since they were left alone, no one had uttered a word, they simply listened to the distant voices of the police and the quiet, static replies from their radios. Youichi sighed in frustration, only giving a slight shake of his head in response. So this was their plan. They were hoping his friends would be able to convince him. That made more sense as to why even the two paramedics walked away. He lifted his gaze slightly, just enough to spy the medics standing next to one of the three cop cars; they were frequently glancing in his direction before turning back to each other to talk quietly. Youichi wasn't going to give in to them either. His mind was fully made up, and at this point, there was nothing anyone could say to him that would make him change that. The only way would be if they knocked him out, but even then, he was going to put up a fight.
"Kuramochi, you're bleeding. Can you at least let them take a look at that?" Chris tried. Youichi shook his head again. He knew the wound required more than just "taking a look" to help it. For one; they would need to pull out the thread that was struggling to hold his skin together. Thread didn't even compare to proper sutures, it did the trick temporarily, but it was never going to be a strong hold. They wouldn't have all the necessary equipment in the ambulance to fully deal with it other than bandage it. And two; if he let them do that, he's almost certain they would take advantage and inject him with something to make him sleep so they could haul him to the nearest hospital.
He needed to watch the others be rescued with his own eyes before he could let that happen.
"Quit being stubborn!" Isashiki exclaimed in his own frustration. Youichi closed his eyes and grit his teeth. He was quickly beginning to feel his own ire boil over with everyone's persistence. He had to keep reminding himself that they didn't understand. That they weren't there to see the condition of Sawamura or even Miyuki. And Youichi didn't even want to know what had happened to them since they were relocated. All he knew was that it wasn't going to be good, and that was only if they were still alive.
"I know you're worried-" Chris attempted to soothe, but Youichi had had enough.
"You don't know!" He snapped "None of you know! This-" Youichi gestured to the dripping wound, blanket sliding off his shoulders to pool around his hips. "is minor compared to Sawamura's! There is a very real chance he's dead by now!" He spat the word out to the other's utterly shocked faces. Whether they were stunned by his reaction, or what he said, he wasn't sure. That was the first time he had vocally announced that one of his teammates could be dead. Not even with Kominato and Furuya, they simply never discussed it, though they all thought it. It felt more real to say it out loud, and it instantly caused his chest to ache and his eyes to sting as if he had confirmed what he was afraid of.
Suddenly, Youichi became aware of the suspended silence following his outburst. And sure enough, all the officers and paramedics were watching him. He took a slow, deep breath in, holding it for several seconds in an attempt to calm himself, and as he released it, with grit teeth he continued, "So until you rescue them, I will not let anyone touch me." He made sure to project his voice enough that everyone in the vicinity would hear him loud and clear. That it wasn't up for debate.
No one tried to convince him after that.
They waited around as another cop car pulled up. Large white letters across the side clarified it to be a K-9 unit. Youichi watched as the new officer circled the car to open the side door, letting a German Shepard in a vest out. He continued to stare as the handler appeared to run the dog through simple commands, possibly as some sort of warm-up. It still served as a form of distraction as he mindlessly observed.
That was, until, a bright flash nearly blinded him. Youichi quickly glanced around for the source and found that another car had driven up behind the K-9. It was nondescript, did that mean they weren't associated with the police? He didn't know. Several feet away, stood a man with a police vest on; however, the clothing he wore underneath appeared to be normal civilian clothes. The man lowered a camera after taking a second snapshot, causing Youichi to blink the stars out of his eyes at the direct light. His view of the man was suddenly blocked as his seniors moved to shield him from any further pictures. And Youichi could have cried from that simple act alone.
"Asshole," Isashiki mumbled under his breath. Youichi had to fight back a smile, he hadn't realized how much he missed Isashiki's presence until this moment. The brief feeling of elatedness was short-lived, however, as it was soon replaced by guilt at how he snapped at them earlier. He knows it wasn't their fault, they were trying to help him, as they were doing now. He knows he should apologize to them, they deserved that at least. Youichi was about to just that when an officer approached.
"Hello, Kuramochi." The officer greeted, tone light. He was an older man with salt and pepper hair and faint wrinkle lines on his forehead and around his mouth. Even through his uniform, he could tell the man was fit. "My name is Sherrif Eguchi Sho, and I'll be taking charge of this case." He held out his hand to shake with a gentle smile. Regardless, Youichi eyed his hand warily, unsure what Sherrif Eguchi's true intentions were. He raised a suspicious glare up to his face. Without missing a beat, Sherrif Eguchi lowered his hand down and continued as if he hadn't just been snubbed. "Would you care to explain to me where it was you were being held?" Youichi's breath caught in his throat; were they planning to go without him?
"I'll show you." Youichi immediately blurted, because no way in hell was he going to be left behind. Besides, he can only vaguely recall the path he took, his mind was in too much of a haze to process anything in his escape. He's positive, however, that he'll remember the route as he sees it. Sherrif Eguchi stared at him, face blank and not giving anything away as to what he was thinking. He stared for so long, in fact, that Youichi began to fidget under his gaze as he began to feel like a child that was waiting to be scolded.
"Alright." He eventually said. Youichi was about to defend himself before he processed what he just heard. Was that it? Was it really that easy? "However, will you let someone bandage that first?" Sherrif Eguchi asked, nodding his head towards the wound. Ah, so that's how it's going to be. Youichi scowled, narrowing his eyes and baring his teeth at the mere suggestion. He wasn't going back on his word now, dammit. "I figured as much. Thought I would ask, at least." He chuckled lightly. Sherrif Eguchi reached around his waist, and Youichi instantly began to assume that he was about to be restrained, or even more extreme, threatened to comply at gunpoint. Instead, he pulled out a heavy-duty flashlight and held the handle out for Youichi to grasp. Youichi eyed it like he did the hand; suspicious. Was this a trick? He returned his gaze to Sherrif Eguchi, where they made immediate eye contact. Slowly, Youichi reached his hand out until his fingers wrapped around the flashlight, never once breaking their staring contest. However, he didn't attempt to pull it towards himself, simply holding it while he waited for the ball to drop. When it became clear Sherrif Eguchi wasn't going to yank it away, Youichi allowed himself to tug slightly, expecting resistance, however, Sherrif Eguchi easily relinquished his hold.
"We'll follow."
"If he's going, then so are we," Kominato announced, leaving no room for argument. Sherrif Eguchi turned his stare onto Kominato and the others, who all looked about ready to assert the statement. The staredown they received wasn't nearly as long as the one Youichi earned.
"Of course." He replied with a laugh, "We're leaving now." And with that, Youichi hopped off the ambulance and ignored the chill of the cement road on the bottom of his feet. He didn't wait for any further go-aheads, and stalked around the cop cars. He wasn't going to linger any longer than he already had. Youichi didn't need to turn to know that he had a group of police following him as he clicked the flashlight on. The farther he got from the lights emitting from the patrol cars, the more he realized how pitch black it was. Honestly, he nearly faltered at that revelation. He quickly began to fret that he wouldn't be able to recognize his path in the darkness. However, almost as if his mind was read, other flashlights were switched on to help illuminate the road and tree line.
He led the group silently down the road, his own flashlight scanning the forest for something he can recall passing. He couldn't remember how far up the road he had trekked and was just beginning to think he may have passed it when his light traveled over a large tree branch with dozens of smaller twigs protruding off of it. Youichi jogged the rest of the way to his landmark, he very clearly remembers clambering his way over it, snapping multiple of the flimsier branches off in the process. As he climbed back over it, he swiftly began to recollect the pieces of the path he took.
Abruptly, Youichi felt dread settle in his gut at the thought of returning to that hell hole, but as he listened to several of the officer's radios back to the station and the multiple feet trampling noisily through the undergrowth, reminded him that he wasn't alone. That he was bringing help. And that was enough for him to pick up his pace. He just hoped, with all his heart, that it wasn't too late.
