Kazuya watched as four police cruisers pulled up along the nearest road and as officers crossed the grassy field between them. He glanced down at Sawamura, who, for the most part, had not moved since Kazuya had forced his arms through the sleeves of the borrowed coat. It was a thick, padded jacket that had brushed the woman's knees, and if Sawamura were to stand, it would probably reach mid-thigh on him. The one Kazuya wore was a tan trench coat that was just long enough to cover his modesty. Both garments were from rather expensive brands, from what Kazuya could tell. As he shifted his gaze down to the fabric draped across his chest, speckled and smeared with blood, he couldn't find it within himself to feel remorse that the stains would never wash out.
As the first cop drew near, the heavy lead of anxiety settled on Kazuya's chest. He felt as if he had just committed a crime and had been caught red-handed. Kazuya had to quickly reassure himself that he had nothing to feel guilty about and that he was the victim in this scenario. Confused, he evaluated the emotion and realized he had never been on this end of police interaction, or any for that matter. Kazuya couldn't recall a time where he had ever spoken with a cop that was on duty.
Once the cop stepped foot on the trail, the couple immediately bombarded the man with stuttered bits of information they had. And it was then when Kazuya finally noticed how distraught they appeared. The woman, for one, had tear tracks down her cheeks and eyes watery and bloodshot. The boyfriend or husband was wide-eyed and constantly glanced their way, only to grimace before his eyes darted away as if their appearance alone pained him. The officer seemed bewildered at first as the couple spoke over each other in their distressed haste. The cop was quick to rein in control of the situation by instructing them to take a few deep breaths before they try again.
While the first officer took note of what the couple had to say, another had reached the scene behind him. The new cop was a female with a bun pulled tight at the top of her head. Her eyes scanned the area, and when they landed on Kazuya, she barely managed to contain a wince before her gaze slid down to Sawamura and made a beeline towards him.
The woman crouched down in front of Sawamura with a faint smile on her lips, "You doing alright?" She inquired with a tone as if she was asking about the weather. The question was rather dumb and rhetorical, but Kazuya could see it for what it was; an opener to get Sawamura engaged. However, the only response she got was a slow blink. "Stay awake now," she said as Sawamura's eyelids drooped, threatening to close with his exhaustion. His blackeye had already swollen significantly, nearly forcing that eye to remain closed, regardless.
When Sawamura's eyes failed to reopen, the officer reached her hand out as if she was going to shake him awake. But, before her fingers even made contact, she froze. She turned her head to regard Kazuya, or more specifically, his hand. "Drop the pipe," a deep voice quietly spoke from somewhere next to him. The tone used was more an encouraging suggestion than a demand, though it was still enough to startle him, for, at some point, he had blocked out his surroundings, and the newcomer's approach went unnoticed.
Kazuya could only stare at the new cop, perturbed that he missed the man's approach. It disturbed him more to see that the fourth and last cop had made an appearance, unbeknownst to him, standing further off in the grass and occasionally speaking into his radio. Ever since they ran into the couple, Kazuya had made sure he kept constant vigilance of their surroundings, to glance into the darkening forest at their backs periodically without raising suspicion from the couple with his paranoia. Especially after he already told them that no one followed him and Sawamura.
But now that he became aware again, the most unsettling part was all sets of eyes currently fixed on Kazuya. All except for Sawamura's.
However, Kazuya didn't have a chance to ponder why, when; the distinct sound of movement resonated from behind, with the rustle of foliage and the crunch of dead leaves. Every muscle and fiber in his body tensed, more so than they already were, as he whipped his head around to squint into the forest, to will his eyes to pick out any odd, human-like shapes hidden amongst the trees. His gaze darted around, scanning high and low the best his vision would allow, but he couldn't find anything amiss, nothing that could have made that noise.
"There's nothing there," the same cop reasoned, sounding as if he were trying to talk down a cornered animal. Voice calm, yet tinged with a layer of caution.
The thought made him pause. Slowly, Kazuya turned back to regard the group again, the way they all held themselves tense and still like they were expecting that they would need to jump into action at any moment. His eyes panned over to the first cop, standing next to the couple, hand hovering mere inches away from the taser at his hip. Instantly, Kazuya's gaze tunnel-visioned on the taser and visibly flinched as his mind took him back to when he was bound to a chair, with wave after wave of electricity coursing through his body.
It took considerable effort for Kazuya to tear his gaze away, almost as if some invisible force tethered his eyes onto the yellow handle. When he finally managed to break his eyes away, he nearly lost his balance and stumbled backward a step with the force. It was by chance that Kazuya's vision fell upon the cop closest to him, who held his hands up in a placating manner.
And then it hit him-
While Kazuya had been keeping an eye out for any possible threats, the way everyone was staring and acting around him, to them, Kazuya appeared to be the threat. The revelation was like being doused by cold water. One muscle at a time, Kazuya eased the tension out of his limbs and released a shaky exhale past his lips in a visible puff of air. The last thing he realized was how tight of a grip he had on the pipe, that when he managed to relax the stiffness out of his hand, his knuckles began to ache from their previous strain. When he took in the sight of his hand, it was only starting to regain color from the white-knuckled grip he had, as well as a small trail of fresh blood that crawled along the pipe to drip into the grass. At some point, he must have ripped open the wound across his palm. Probably from when he forced the pipeline to break, and during the chaos, he hadn't noticed the burning pain until now.
Vaguely, Kazuya recalled the cop asking him to drop the pipe, and he was beginning to understand why as the pieces fell together. With how utterly on edge he has been, the sight of someone approaching Sawamura, Kazuya's metaphorical hackles raised. He remembers a fleeting thought to defend when the voice of the cop brought him back to reality, thankfully, before Kazuya could do something deplorable.
God, he probably looked like a lunatic.
He was beginning to feel like one.
One by one, Kazuya pried his fingers off the pipe, feeling rust and blood stick to his palm as it fell from his grip to land with a muffled thud onto the grass by his feet. Without making eye contact with any of the cops, Kazuya stepped closer to Sawamura and raised his opposite hand to rest it on top of his head, "Eijun," he called out. Kazuya tipped Sawamura's head backward from where it had slumped forward against his chest, "Wake up."
"Nooo..." Sawamura whined as he cracked open his good eye to peer up at Kazuya in irritation, "Fuck off, Miyuki," he ground out, "...'m tired..." There was a slight slur to his words that exhibited his exhaustion. His eye slowly began to close again.
Someone gasped, though Kazuya didn't know who or bother to check, choosing to focus on Sawamura. "That's too bad," Kazuya drawled, flicking Sawamura on the forehead to get his attention back. Sawamura winced briefly before turning a glare up at Kazuya. "If you're having trouble staying awake down there, you can stand," he quickly added before Sawamura could protest. Kazuya's words only made Sawamura glare harder until the muscles pulled too much at the many injuries decorated across Sawamura's face, who swiftly aborted the need to showcase his displeasure with a sharp hiss of pain.
Sawamura turned his heated gaze to the ground in front of him, "Alright, I'm awake," he grumbled, followed by a few choice words under his breath.
"Good," Kazuya replied as a smirk ghosted over the corner of his mouth.
"Miyuki Kazuya and Sawamura Eijun?" The officer that managed to sneak up on Kazuya asked with a slight inflection of surprise. At the sound of their names, they both craned their heads to regard the man, who took their questioning looks as an answer, "We've been looking for you," He continued, sounding almost breathless. Suddenly, the demeanor of the rest of the cops shifted at once from overly cautious to stunned. The one that hung back quickly turned away to speak into his radio in hushed tones.
Kazuya barely contained a scoff; however, "Not very well," slipped out from under his breath, but loud enough in the astonished silence for everyone to hear. Sawamura choked on an abrupt laugh; though, he played it off as a cough once he noticed everyone turned to look at him.
Suddenly, Kazuya's mind drifted to the others that were with them. It had been a while at this point since he had last seen Kuramochi, Furuya, and Kominato. He could only hope that, wherever they were, they were still alive. "There were three more with us," Kazuya began hastily, and while he had no idea where they could be, there was a chance they weren't far from the bunker.
"They're safe," The officer quickly interrupted before Kazuya could ramble on, "They escaped nearly a month ago and have been at the local hospital since."
Kazuya let out a gusty sigh of relief and heard Sawamura mirror it with one of his own. They were alive.
In the distance, the sound of more sirens rang off in the air, which Kazuya could only assume were ambulances.
"Who were you expecting to see in the forest?" The cop abruptly inquired; in a way that suggested he already had an idea. Kazuya's breath hitched at the reminder of the psycho and couldn't resist the need to glance behind him once more. As if mentioning the man would somehow summon him. The whole, speak of the devil, and he shall appear. "Was it the one who did this to you?" He asked, voice taking on a darker edge of constrained anger.
Kazuya flinched minutely, but before he could will his mouth to reply, Sawamura beat him to it, "Here," he said, thrusting the camera out towards the cop but made no move to get up from where he sat, "Evidence," Sawamura bit out.
