Chapter 11
Though she'd rather eat her own feet than admit it out loud, Makoto was so exhausted she could barely stand. The reprieve Ami's ice had wrought had been short lived. She and Touma had hustled to meet Ami and Ryo, and though she was relieved that they'd increased their numbers, she wanted to lie down. She wasn't sure how many more zaps she had in her, but she was sure that a nap might increase that number.
But she would never hold anyone back. She'd get along just fine. It wasn't the first time she'd been in a situation like this, and it wouldn't be the last. She'd been through worse. So she'd grin and bear it. But hiding the depth of her weakness from Touma or Ami might be difficult. She winced when Ami gave her the look.
"Makoto, you need to sit down, right now."
She winced again at the tone of Ami's voice. That was a very specific tone, that matched a very specific look, and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of either of them. It looked like she might be dealing with Dr. Mizuno. Which meant she probably looked as bad as she felt.
Makoto looked to Touma to see if she could coax he and Ryo into moving on instead. They wanted to find their buddies, right? They should really get moving before anything else snuck up on them, shouldn't they? They didn't have time to spare.
And she definitely didn't want to let Dr. Mizuno poke at her right now. There were several places on her person that did not want to be poked. Ami would find them. And poke them. It was going to suck.
The look Touma gave her suggested he was on Ami's side. He might even be more on Ami's side than Ami was. He'd been very…protective since the incident with the Spider Lady. Kept telling her to take time and rest. While she admitted the cocoon part had been…pretty awful honestly, it had only been for a few minutes. She was fine. Really.
She also had a suspicion that if she sat down and rested, she might not get up for a while.
She looked to Ryo, hoping he might be ready to get moving again, but he had his arms folded across his chest and was shaking his head. "I'd just do what she says man. It sounds like she means business," he said.
Outnumbered, she gingerly sank to her knees with a sigh, trying not groan when every bone in her body jolted at the smallest bit of impact. To hell with a nap. She needed a hot tub, stat. Some epsom salts wouldn't go amiss either. Maybe tea too.
Yeah…
Makoto was jolted back to reality with a tooth-jarring rattle as Ami shook her shoulder to get her attention. The woman had been gentle, but that didn't seem to make a difference to the rest of Makoto's body. Touma had dropped down on her other side, and he wrapped a supportive arm around her upper back as Ami stopped shaking her. Ryo was crouched between Touma and Ami at Makoto's feet, concern and sympathy furrowing his brow. She flushed with embarrassment.
"Uhh sorry. I kind of zoned out for a second. I was thinking about hot tubs." When they all gave her weird looks, she waved her hands in front of her defensively. "Hey hey! For soaking sore muscles. I was thinking about hot tubs and epsom salts and tea you weirdos! Keep it clean!" she barked, wondering if the universe would just zap her into a puddle already so she could sink into the cracks in the floor and escape the embarrassment. She risked a peek at Touma, hoping maybe he wasn't paying attention, only to find his focus fixed on her with intensity and no small amount of concern.
And now she was thinking about Touma and hot tubs together in a way that had nothing to do with tea or epsom salt.
Great.
She broke eye contact in the most awkward way possible, dismayed to feel her face heat. She tried to hide it in her hands, positive that she was probably tomato red by now, and hoped that Ami might find a way to knock her out for a bit until all this strangeness blew past.
Ami giggled instead, putting a hand to her mouth, drawing more attention to the awkwardness of the moment. Makoto peeked over at Ryo through her fingers, and realized she would have to be blind to miss the way his face softened as his gaze took in the Senshi of Mercury laughing.
Hmmm. Something there, she was pretty sure. At least he wasn't enjoying her embarrassment. Was this how Usagi and Minako felt all the time?
No. They were usually directly responsible for the terrible situations they ended up in, and pretty much never seemed to feel ashamed. What must that kind of oblivion be like?
"Let's get you seated a bit more comfortably so I can look you over." Ami's voice interrupted her thoughts, and Makoto pulled her face from her hands and tried hard not to groan. Maybe Ami would find a way to knock her out. It'd be the kind thing to do right now.
Makoto grumbled and gracelessly flopped onto her butt, stretching her legs out in front of her, clenching her teeth with every impact. Ami leaned in for the kill, and she endured every poke and prod with all the serenity she could dig up.
She was congratulating herself on doing a fantastic job keeping calm, when a light touch landed on her ribs. "How about here?" she heard as her vision went white and the rest of her senses took a quick vacation.
When they came back, everyone was yelling her name, so she figured she hadn't been out long. She was lying flat on her back, her head cushioned in Ami's lap. They were all looking at her with fear in their expressions, and Makoto felt a little guilty.
"Sorry," she muttered, putting a hand to her head and tangling her fingers in her bangs, "Guess I had an injury."
"Makoto." Ami put so much meaning in that one utterance of her name it was difficult for Makoto not to be impressed.
She stared at the ugly ceiling and blew the breath from her lungs slowly, only now aware that a portion of the pain she'd been feeling had been directly in her ribs. "Must have hit a wall or something. I got tossed around a bit before," she remarked, trying to recall if there was a specific moment of contact in her memory. Honestly though, the entire time she'd been trapped in the cocoon had pretty much been her getting thrown around.
Touma made a strangled sound beside her, but when she darted a look at him, his face may as well have been carved from stone. Ryo looked…disturbed…and Makoto wondered now what kind of boys these samurai were. Stuff like this happened in battle all the time, right?
Well…now that she thought about it…She supposed wearing armor might prevent broken bones a bit better, but honestly, dealing with this sort of thing was so routine for the Senshi now. She smiled as a memory came to her, unbidden.
"Ah, this is nothin'. Ami, remember that time Minako got her ankle crushed by that weird thing with the horns?" The Senshi of Mercury paused in the act of ripping up some rags she'd found who knew where and put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. Her face brightened.
"Oh yes! She tried to compete in the volleyball finals with crutches." Ami was shaking her head as she tore up more dusty linen. "Poor girl. Though I suppose not as bad as the time Rei fractured two ribs and one of her femurs and then had to do the three-day festival," she replied.
Makoto made a humming noise as she recalled the memory. "Yeah. Man, you'd never know watching her perform, but that's just because Rei can be a serious actress when she wants to and Minako is so talented with make-up it's scary. I mean Rei was grey and Minako had her looking totally normal." Ami bobbed her head in assent, sorting the strips she'd created.
"Rei certainly is nothing if not stubborn at times. With Gramps out of town, we knew she wasn't going to miss the festivities for anything."
Makoto snorted. "You should talk. How about that time you had to do an all-day exam for pre-med with a fractured arm and a bruised larynx?" she asked. One side of Ami's mouth curved up as she recalled the memory.
"Yes. It's a good thing I knew sign language. I thought I'd never pass that exam. I had panic attacks for weeks afterwards," Mercury replied. Ryo was staring at Ami as if he'd never seen her before. Makoto rolled her eyes.
"And you aced it anyways," she admonished. "You're the smartest person I know. I have no idea why you even worry about that kinda stuff."
Ami shrugged, still uncomfortable with compliments, even after all this time. They lapsed into silence – mostly as Makoto tried to breathe while Ami palpated her injuries and then applied the knotted linen in the correct configuration and tightness. She nearly blacked out again at a particular spot near her ribs, unable to help the small whimpering cry that left her lips, or keep her back from arching off the floor.
She felt large hands, gentle but calloused, clasp her own and rub comfortingly. She blinked upwards at Touma Hashiba, but couldn't figure out how to read the expression on his face. It still looked stoic, but his eyes burned with something deep and haunted before he cleared his throat and glanced away for a moment.
She wanted to reassure him, assert that she was fine, but it was all she could do not to scream, so she clamped her teeth over her lips and bit until she tasted blood to keep the sound muted. She reminded herself of all the other times they'd done this together. Being doctored by Ami on the battlefield was so familiar it was actually comforting.
They always figured things out. They always carried on. They never let pain or despair or anything else stop them. They weren't going to do that now. She could get through this. Usagi was counting on her. Usagi was counting on them all.
Makoto would never let her friends down.
Her thoughts took a dark turn as she recalled the times Usagi ended up on her own. Pushing herself to the limit. Scared, but courageous. Every time, Makoto vowed, would be the last. But it never was. There was always something. Someone. Worse than their worst nightmare. They'd made it through Chaos and Galaxia.
And now this.
She wasn't going to let Usagi end up alone. Not this time. No matter what it took or what that meant. And it didn't matter what the enemy had said. Makoto had a pretty solid hunch that the samurai might not be the actual targets.
Why throw them some place where they couldn't get at their powers in the first place? Makoto wasn't a genius, but nothing made sense. And she had a terrible feeling that Usagi was in danger.
"Hey Ami…" she choked out as the Senshi of Mercury jerked hard to tighten a bandage. Makoto was unable to stop the long groan that escaped her lips when her body twitched with the motion. Ami paused in the process, her face a bit red now, a bit sweaty. And full of guilt. Makoto tried to smile at her.
"No, not that, keep going," she rasped, managing to wave her free hand. She tried not to think too much about the fact that Touma hadn't released her other hand. If anything, he held her more securely, still rubbing a soothing caress against her knuckles.
"Y'think they're after Usagi?" she asked quietly as Ami resumed bandaging her. The blue haired girl was quiet for a moment. Ryo, Makoto noticed, had moved so he was right beside her, handing her strips of linen as she worked. His gaze never left Ami's shadowed face, concern in his eyes.
Ami nodded brusquely, applying and tightening another bandage with a bit more force. Makoto winced, and Touma gave her hand a squeeze. She gave him a weak smile and turned her attention back to her friend. "Yes. I think they are. I'm sure they're after the Silver Imperial Crystal. Everyone is always after The Silver Imperial Crystal."
The way Ami put emphasis on the crystal's full title made it apparent to Makoto that Ami probably meant to say that fucking crystal, but was too polite. She watched her friend work as she finished up for a moment, Ami's face hidden by her hair as she stooped.
"I'm not going to let them hurt Usagi again Ami. I promise," she whispered. Ami paused, then yanked on the final knot before cool, delicate hands grasped her free hand.
"Mako-chan," she whispered, voice so quiet Makoto could barely hear her, "You're always the first, aren't you? Always putting yourself between the rest of us and danger. Always so strong…and so stubborn."
Ami's grip on her hand firmed then, her lips pressing in a thin line. "Not this time. You're in no shape to do anything except rest." the blue-haired girl fixed her with a gaze that had a glassy quality to it, but a chin that stayed firm. "We're all the Princess' Guardians. And we're all going to get her out of here, or die trying. I will not tolerate any heroics from you," she added.
Makoto made a noise of protest. "Ami, I'm not going to just…stand by when something is going after Usagi. It's different here. Even from Galaxia. My powers…I can use them but…I'm so weak here. And…you can't leave Usagi alone. Someone's gotta stay with her." She tried to pull on Ami's hand for emphasis, but everything hurt, and she felt so tired. Ami opened her mouth but was cut off.
"Absolutely no one is dying." Ryo growled, startling the two Senshi into snapping their gazes to his face. They'd forgotten about their companions.
"He's right. No one, absolutely no one, is dying on the Troopers' watch." Touma's voice was quieter, but his tone was hard – determined. He gave her a long, dark look. "So forget about any heroics. Whatever that means," he added.
Makoto flushed with the realization that their intimate Senshi moment hadn't been all that private. She tried to work up an argument, but simply lacked the energy. She wanted to lie here on the floor for the next decade at least.
But if they were really going to save Usagi, she didn't have time to lay down anywhere. Makoto pulled her hands free and slapped them on the floor loudly, startling everyone. "Ok. Well, whatever is going down, if we're going to save Usagi, then we need to get rolling and find Usagi," she groused.
Mentally, she psyched herself up to move, trying to get ready for the wave of pain she knew was coming. Piece of cake, right? She'd done this hundreds of times. Makoto pressed her hands into the floor and tried to engage her core muscles to sit.
The instant she moved, sharp and terrible pain lit her up from the inside out, and she sucked air in through her teeth, holding herself there, a frozen statue, just wanting the pain to go away. How the hell had she walked with Touma all over like this?
"Oh, Mako-chan." Ami sounded so sad, Makoto thought. "Here. Let us help you. Hashiba, can you please grab – yes, right there, that's right."
The world went wonky for a minute, in and out of focus as she shifted her position and everything in her head seemed to be screaming all at once. She realized the screaming wasn't in her head when she came back to herself and took in the pale, alarmed faces of everyone around her.
"We should stay here. You shouldn't be moving." There was a tiny tremor under Ryo's no-nonsense tone and Makoto felt bad for rupturing everyone's ear drums. But she was sitting. She considered that a win.
"Sorry about that. I'm good now. The hard part is over." She rasped out weakly. She laughed and then regretted the vibration as everyone just stared at her. "Seriously. I'm good, I promise. Touma, give me a hand?"
The look he gave her indicated pretty clearly the only place he'd be giving her a hand to was an infirmary. Makoto rolled her eyes and turned to face Ami. The Senshi of Mercury was giving her a wary look, but she rose and held her hand out to Makoto all the same.
This time, Makoto was actually ready for it.
She was pretty sure it hurt far worse than just sitting up, but the only sound she made was the hissing of air through her teeth. And then she was standing, one arm wrapped around her ribs, the other still in Ami's grasp, feeling as clumsy and unstable as a baby deer. The Senshi of Mercury was giving her a doubtful look, but as far as Makoto was concerned, standing on her own two feet was a solid victory.
"Ok," she ventured. "Gimmie like…a couple minutes to just….settle, and we can go," she promised. Ryo sent her a look that suggested he thought she was crazy. He opened his mouth but was cut off by a different masculine voice that spoke from behind her.
"Are you trying to make things worse for yourself?!" For the first time since she'd woken up in this god forsaken place, Touma sounded angry. Angry at her. But despite the show of temper, the strong arm that wrapped securely around her waist was incredibly gentle. With the utmost care, a firm, masculine grip gently clasped her other hand and slowly, cautiously, pulled it around a pair of heavily muscled male shoulders.
He was muttering under his breath, but it was kinda cute to be honest. She patted his chest with her free hand. "I told you. I've definitely been through worse. Just had to get up and get going. And anyways, we all know by now that staying in one place is a bad idea."
She turned to look at Ryo, who was studying them both with a strange but doubtful expression on his face. "Touma says you guys can feel each other through your armor or something? Is anyone else close by?" Ryo blinked at her, but after a second, closed his eyes obligingly and furrowed his brow in concentration.
He had nothing on Touma, but he was still pretty cute, she supposed.
"Shuu's not far." Ryo said after a moment. Touma nodded beside her.
"Okay. I guess we're going to find Shuu then. I definitely wouldn't mind having someone as energetic and hard-headed as Shuu around," he chuckled. The vibration buzzed pleasantly against her through his side, filling her with warmth. She should probably be embarrassed to be sharing this much personal space with a total stranger, but Makoto was getting used to being tucked up against him. He felt warm. He felt safe.
He made her feel, for once, like maybe she wasn't the only one standing against the storms.
