If you have read "Can you find a way to Let me down slowly" this is similar in context but no death. Just hurt. So injuries are warned.

I do have the headcanon that Arata knows basic first aid + a little more.

Summary: Collapsed buildings and trapped, what will Kanoichi Satoru learn?

whump. More of Kanoichi taking note of Miyako's mannerisms. :)


He wakes up to a room as bleak as any chance of making friends with the redhead. Pain is the first thing that registers throughout his body. A bright light off to the side hurts his eyes. He has to look away to adjust to his surroundings. Looking around, he sees Akane off to his right, lying on her side, and unmoving. The source of the light is Miyako who is on his knees.

He stumbles to his feet when he sees them, pressing his arm to his side. "Kanoichi-san," he calls and, for a moment, he believes Miyako is calling Akane until he drops to his knees beside him. He looks him in the eyes before looking back towards to his leg where it laid at an unnatural angle. "Fuck," he breathes, tensing. "Kanoichi-san, are you okay?" That can't be right. His voice is too soft, too gentle and kind. A tone that has never been directed towards him, nor has he ever looked at him like that. Maybe it's the light and shadows making him look more concerned than he really is. Miyako does care about him and doesn't want him hurt but he doesn't think he deserves his concern. "Kan—?"

"I'm fine," he cuts through, not wanting to think of the gentleness. He's already in so much pain and adding Miyako's sudden change towards him will have him choke. "Please, check on Akane." He grimaces as he accidentally moves and jostles his injuries.

Satoru watches as Miyako doesn't hesitate to move over to his cousin, no backwards glance to him in worry. He moves past him easily with no trouble at all. Ignoring the unpleasant feeling in his chest (one that he learned to associate with the redhead), he watches the redhead shake Akane's shoulder. Receiving no response, he immediately checks on her pulse and breathing. Satoru feels his heart beat quickly as the breath catches in his throat.

He doesn't breathe until Miyako relaxes in relief, then he moves on to drag his hand down her back, checking for noticeable spinal injuries. "She's just unconscious. I can't tell the extent of her injuries, but I don't think she hurt her back." He is gentle in his movements, picking up his cousin and moving her closer. He places her on her side, shifting her to the recovery position.

Miyako limps over to his phone, bringing it over and sits it beside Satoru. In the light, he can see a bruise on Akane's temple and the way her finger is bent at an unnatural angle. Miyako's face is marred with scratches and a couple of bruises. The deeper scratch is from the Another they had fought earlier. He cradles his left arm, breathing shakily from pain. "How much battery does your phone have?"

"I don't know. It fell somewhere. What about Akane's?"

"It shattered. Take my phone and see if you can call emergency services." He turns to look at the his leg, blanching at the sight. For a moment, he hopes the other doesn't throw up. "I don't think I'll be able to set this without causing more damage. I can probably staunch the bleeding."

He glares as he fumbles to grasp Miyako's phone, listening to the other recite his password. Who has that long of a password? A crazy person apparently. He grimaces at the No Signal symbol at the corner of the screen. He shakes his head at the redhead who huffs and rubs the uninjured side of his face, not looking all too panicked if Satoru hadn't notice the small twitches of the redhead's eyebrows or the fact that the corners of his lips are pulled down just a tad bit.

Miyako's gaze flits between him and the broken leg, turning green at seeing the bone sticking out. He moves to inspect it. No other words pass between them as the redhead finds something to help him splint the areas above and below. He takes off his jacket and under shirt, using it as a way to stop the bleeding.

It hurt! Fuck, did it hurt!

He bites down on his arm to keep from screaming in an attempt to muffle the sound with the cloth, although it makes it sound strangled. His vision darkens for a moment and he meets Miyako's gaze. Even through the tears, he can see the worry deepen on his pale face and a strange pull tugs at his heart. "Sorry," he whispers. "I'm sorry." He shouldn't be. He's helping him.

Once the pain fades, the light seems to worsen his perception. There are a couple of bloody gashes on Miyako's side, mottled bruises all over his torso, and his arm is terrible, swelling and bruising even more. "Miyako," he calls, eyes wide as he reaches out.

He looks down at himself, grimacing and pulling on his jacket to cover himself. "I'm fine."

"You're—? No. Miyako, what the hell? You call that fine? Come here."

"Let me take care of Akane-san first, Kanoichi-san."

For once he doesn't try to argue with him despite every fiber in his being screams to force him to sit down. They are stuck there until someone comes along and rescues them. He sits against the wall with his broken leg, a pounding headache, and he thinks one of his ribs is broken. Akane regains conscious for a few minutes. She's able to answer some of Miyako's whispered questions. Between the two of them, they keep her awake. They don't want her to sleep, especially having a head injury. Soon enough, Akane ends up sitting beside him, head on his shoulder as Miyako checks over her again once she fell unconscious. While he does that, Satoru thinks back to how they got in this mess.

Really, they should have had more backup just in case. The Another had been disrupting a construction site. He was assigned this mission with Akane who had Miyako tag along for whatever reason, who agreed whatever other reason.

It had been a burdungin. It didn't give them any trouble either, it padded around and talked to itself. Whatever Miyako said to it, had it standing down and staring at them in confusion. As they spoke, he taken the opportunity to attack it from the behind. The only thing he had been able to do was anger the Another. In turn, the angered Another attacked Miyako who tried to calm it down. That didn't seem to work as the hyena landed a couple of scratches, lunging on top of the redhead who kicked it off himself.

Akane, who was closer, rushed forward and was able to get a barrier up in front of Miyako. "Miyako-san, you okay?"

"Ha, yeah, I'm okay, no thanks to Kanoichi-san."

Something in his chest squeezed and he didn't pay much attention to it as his attention was solely on the blood running down Miyako's pale cheek. His right eye was closed from the cut above it, profusely bleeding. He hoped that it wouldn't scar.

"Miyako-san."

"Sorry," he whispered, shifting like a child scolded. His eyes hadn't left the burdungin, which was growling at them. "I—no, that was not—no! I—what?"

"What did it say?" As soon as he said that, Satoru heard creaking of metal and the Another was gone after he looked back.

"We need to get out, the place is going to—"

Miyako never finished the sentence as their world went dark.

"Kanoichi-san?"

Drawing back to reality, he meets concern-filled red eyes. He's too close but Satoru doesn't draw back. Instead he looks away, sniffing as if he caught whiff of something rancid. "I'm fine. Let me take a look at you. You were attacked by the Another before the fall." He looks beside him, seeing the glazed expression in Akane's eyes. She seems to be responsive, but just really confused.

"Yeah, wonder whose fault that was," he mutters under his breath.

He glowers at him. "You don't think I don't know that?"

"Wasn't sure. Thought you'd blame it on me for being useless."

"If you weren't here—"

"If you weren't—" he cuts himself off, taking a deep breath that resembled more of a huff to keep back an eye-roll. "I'm not going to argue with you, Kanoichi-san." His voice sounds so defeated and sad, almost as if he's completely tired of fighting with him, that he has no energy left to argue with him. "I'm so tired of constantly arguing with you. Let's just worry about getting out of here." He closes his eyes and takes another breath, shaky and a bit wheezy.

"Come here. I still need to help you." He moves carefully, not wanting to jostle his injuries or his cousin. Between his own left arm and his Miyako's right arm, they make it work. He's able to staunch the bleeding with Miyako's jacket. He had to be careful with Miyako's broken ribs and he's sure that the younger male has a dislocated shoulder from the way it looks odd. "Sit beside me, so I can help you put pressure."

Miyako does as told without a fight, sitting beside him but not leaning against him. Satoru wraps an arm around the male and pulls him into his side, forcing him to lay his head on his shoulder. He has to ignore the rising beat of his heart, wanting to burst as he feels the other's shaky, warm breath on his neck. Glancing down at Miyako, he realizes how close their faces are and turns away from those wide, shocked eyes. "Kanoichi-san?"

"Shush."

"No," he states. "Kanoichi-san, please, listen."

"Miyako-san, I do not want to argue right—"

"It's about our arguments."

Satoru tenses, clenching his teeth not liking being cut off. "What about them?"

He lets out a defeated sigh, shifting his head to look away from him. "I'm tired," he whispers. "I'm so sick of arguing with you, Kanoichi-san. Everyone else is too. They've been forcing us to be on missions together to work out our differences, to no avail. If you don't want to see me again, we have to work together. Or at least pretend to. What we worked out, it isn't working and you know it." He doesn't move, no matter how much he wants to judging by the twitch his shoulders and small movement he made with his torso. And the thing is, Satoru is tired of their fights too, but he doesn't want Miyako to leave his life. He doesn't want him to leave him alone. The thought of Miyako leaving him presses down on his chest, knocking the breath out of him. "It's too much of a reward to separate us. So, let's compromise once more. Kanoichi-san," this time he does move, pulling away and holding the jacket with his own arm, allowing Satoru's to fall limp between them, "the least I have asked and am still asking, is for you not to kill Anothers."

He opens his mouth to speak, but it's covered by the younger man's left hand. Immediately, he pulls it off and situates Miyako back against him about to scold him for being stupid and trying to use his hurt hand when he's cut off once again.

"No," he says firmly, this time reaching up with his right one. "Don't speak. Let me say what I want to say then you can argue all you want." He breathes in and holds it for a few seconds. "I understand you have some kind of trauma regarding Anothers. I get it, but that does not mean you can run around and kill them all. You'll anger something far more powerful than you can take on. Kanoichi-san, please, you cannot hear them. You cannot understand what they're saying, but I can and it hurts so much to hear them scream and cry. I hate it so much. I hate hearing them die. I don't care if you want to kill them, but don't do it around me. That's all I asked. I thought it wouldn't be too hard of a request."

He still doesn't move his hand. The air around them is thick with tension. Don't kill Anothers. It's supposed to be an easy thing, but if I kill them all, they won't cause any more people to go mad. I don't value Miyako more than my goal.

"If Akane reports that we're getting along and stopped arguing, then we don't have to see each other ever again and you can go and spit on my name." Right? "I don't care but, for this mission and maybe the next, let's just work with this comprise."

When Miyako does move his hand, he doesn't speak for a long time, opting to be quiet as his inner thoughts conflict with one another. Does he want Miyako to leave him? No. Does he value Miyako over his goal? He isn't sure. He thinks not. If it means lessening the time they spend together, then he'll do whatever it takes to rid the world of Anothers.

"Fine," he agrees. "I won't kill anymore Anothers if you're in the vicinity. Unless it is absolutely necessary and you cannot negotiate with them no matter what. Do not put their needs over our needs."

He reaches up to pick at his bottom lip, his nose twitching as he contemplates it. Leaving the redhead to his thoughts, Satoru looks towards Akane whose head rest on his shoulder. She appears to be peaceful and if it wasn't for the bruise on her face and the broken fingers, her eyes glancing between one thing or another, he would have believed her to be asleep. "Okay. I won't put their needs above others."

"Good."


As the time passes, the two talk about small things slowly getting to know each other better as Miyako's phone light burns bright. Half an hour blurs into an hour, they also do their best to keep Akane awake. Miyako shivers and he pulls him closer, hoping to warm him up a little more. His breathing had grown shakier as time bled and it's starting to worry him.

Akane, to his right, is finally stirring and doesn't look as confused. She squints at the bright light, her uninjured hand coming up to cradle her head. "Sato—?" she slurs, looking confused.

"I'm here, Akane," he says, his voice as gentle as he can make it. "Do you remember what happened?"

She goes quiet for a second before nodding slowly. "We fell? The floor collapsed. No one come?"

"Not yet. I'm sure they'll come." He's starting to worry about Miyako who's looking paler, his lips tinged blue. "Miyako?"

"I'm fine."

"Don't lie."

Akane looks up at the redhead, looking more alert. "Miyako-san? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he whispers. "I'll be fine." He looks up at the ceiling, his eyebrows drawn together as the corners of his eyes pinch together. He reaches up to smoothen them with his thumb, drawing a surprised flinch from the younger man. "It's cold," he admits.

Satoru curses himself for not having thought of giving him his jacket earlier. Miyako had used his shirt for his leg and the jacket is being used as a compress. Shedding off his jacket, he draws it over Miyako's body with an apology.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asks with an amused smile.

"I should have given it to you earlier." He looks up at the ceiling. "I'm also sorry for this. If I hadn't attacked the burdungin, it would have told us earlier about the structure. This is all my fault."

"Kanoichi-san, it's okay." His eyelids seem to threaten to close and fear grasps his heart. "Just don't do it again."

"Miyako-san?" Akane's voice shakes as she reaches out. "Hey, Miyako-san, don't sleep."

"Miyako-san, don't close your eyes." His ears pick something up on the outside. In panic, he presses down on Miyako-san ribs, which the pain seems to jolt him even if for a little bit. "Miyako-san, don't sleep! They're here Miyako-san, come on, don't sleep. They're here."

Time slowed down, from getting rescued to getting to the hospital. It all seem to take years. He was put under and when he comes to, he has cast around his leg and bandages wrapped around his torso. The nurse that had been in the room explains to him all that happened. It seemed to take too long to explain it all. Even longer to get cleared to visit someone.

Once given the clear, he goes to visit his cousin who is already up and going with a cast and brace over her hand. She smiles at the sight of him as uses the crutches to hobble over. "Want to visit Miyako-san with me?"

At the reminder, nausea rolls in his stomach as he looks at the floor. "How is he? The nurse didn't answer my questions."

"He's fine. He lost a lot of blood and had broken some ribs along with a dislocated shoulder. Other than that, he should be faring well now." A stretch of silence blankets around them as she has him sit. "You care about him."

"What?" That's an insane comment. Of course, he cares about Miyako. He almost died because of him.

"I mean, you seem to care a lot more than you think." She seems to know something that he doesn't and something about her tone suggests something he doesn't like nor want to explore. "Satoru, if you care about someone, you can't be fighting with them all the time."

"If he doesn't do stupid shit, then there won't be any reason for me to argue with him!"

"Satoru." Disappointed. He's disappointed Akane, now he feels like scum. "Be mindful of others. Your beliefs will always vary others, do remember that, okay? You might not understand your feelings now, but you will one day."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Yet that knowing, soft smile on her face suggests otherwise. Impossible. He can't feel something for Miyako. The other irritates the hell out of him, but more-so when he's not paying attention to him or when he doesn't speak to him the same way he does everyone else. He's treated differently, always seen with scorn but really, he's to blame for that.

"Come. Let's go visit him. He should be awake by now if what the doctor said is right."

He stands. And once again, his thoughts are in turmoil about the redhead who ends up haunting his dreams at night, pressed against his side and smiling. His dreams tend to vary between happy and loving ones with sensual ones to even nightmares.

He prefers the nightmares to the other two. Those two leave him with more questions and emotions than he needs to think about.


Kanoichi is still confused on what Miyako means to him but he doesn't want the other to leave him. And ooh, Akane now knows and hopes to get him to realize.

They're fine with a little of trauma. Kanoichi might or might not have a limp now. :)

this turned out a lot longer than I meant for it to. Wow, 3,000+ words was not what I thought would come out.