A/N: I got sick at the end of last week, so naturally I worked on this a bit then, and now I've actually gotten around to finishing it. Turned out better than I though it would, actually.
You have been warned.
Waking up with his face ground into the pavement isn't a feeling that Sawatari Shingo is familiar with. Then again, why should he be familiar with it? His family is rich, he's never had to worry much about getting what he wanted since he just had to ask his father and he'd have it.
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…Ughh… Papa's gonna make whoever hurt me pay dearly…
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And boy, is the blue-grey-eyed teen in pain. He can barely twitch his fingers or his toes without his entire torso feeling like it's on fire and he can't do anything but grit and bear it since he doesn't know where he is. All he can see is his own hair covering his eyes. And red. There's a lot of red in his vision and he doesn't like it.
Sawatari groans while he manages to pull himself to a sort of kneeling position. His head is pounding and he feels like he's going to be be sick and he really can't breathe, but he finally gets a grip of what's going on and that really makes him feel sick.
He'd lost to Zarc… he'd tried so hard and just couldn't reach Yuya.
The thought makes Sawatari reach for the Pendulum for comfort, and finds it isn't around his neck.
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…I can't have lost it!…
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He finds it a moment later, several feet away from him, lying right next to Crow. And the orange-haired young man isn't moving. "Crow!" Sawatari shouts, alarmed, and then crawls over there. Standing, much less walking, is too much of an effort. His stomach in particular hurts so much and he's not sure why. "Crow, are you—oh God."
He says nothing else because his question is answered the moment he realizes that Crow's neck is twisted far too much. He sits there and stares. Doubles over, but doesn't throw up. He musters up enough courage to close Crow's eyes in respect, grabs the Pendulum, and inches away into a wall.
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…Oh God… everything's all wrong…
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Sawatari coughs, and finds blood on his hand when he draws it back. Staring further down at himself, he's surprised he's been moving around all this time. A piece of metal is sticking out of his gut; something from that fall. He stares at it. Just stares. He knows there's no way he can get to a hospital in time to deal with something like this.
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…I'm gonna die just like the others…
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He holds the Pendulum to his chest, and that's when the tears start falling. Sora, Shun, and Gongenzaka—along with Edo, Kaito, and Jack—all poured their feelings into this. Sawatari and Crow had too, but they've failed and Yuya is still just as lost inside of Zarc as he was before.
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…I'm sorry, Gongenzaka… I said I would definitely save Yuya, but I… I just…
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His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of an explosion, followed by the ground shaking beneath him. Someone in the distance screams for their father. Sawatari's eyes snap open and he sees that a different section of Academia has collided with the hunk of floating land that Sawatari fell onto. He doesn't know why, but what he does know is that Akaba Reiji is on the other floating island and… he's not doing anything. Just, staring, into the abyss, in shock. It's so unlike Reiji that Sawatari is honestly surprised.
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…That scream I heard… it was…?
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That's no good. Reiji has already joined the Duel, if he doesn't make a move it's an automatic forfeit, and that would make all their efforts to free Yuya be for nothing. Sawatari drags in as much of a breath as he can, and shouts. "Oi! Akaba Reiji!"
The leader of the Lancers doesn't look up, and Sawatari curses under his breath, one hand going to the metal in his stomach. He has to move to get Reiji's attention, and moving means pain, well, more pain than just sitting here.
He lets out a breath, grits his teeth, and struggles to his feet, using the wall as leverage until he can't anymore. His steps are slow and pained, but he takes them anyways, crossing to the edge of the island he's on before he collapses again. That's as far as he needed to go, so he stays down, but looks up. "Oi! Reiji! You can't just sit there feeling sorry for yourself!"
That gets the young man's attention. He sees Sawatari sprawled out on the ground, slowly bleeding out, and jumps down from the edge of the castle walls, using the Action Field's platforms as steps. "Sawatari…" Reiji shakes his head, pushing his glasses up with one hand. He doesn't say anything else.
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…I guess he wasn't prepared for everything…
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Sawatari grabs one of Reiji's hands and makes him take Yuya's Pendulum, just like Gongenzaka had passed it to him. "Look, you can't—you can't blame yourself for all of this happening. It's not your fault. We—we all chose this ourselves."
Reiji looks away, but he doesn't let go of the Pendulum. Sawatari doesn't need to force it to stay in his hands.
"Reiji, it's up to you now. Yuya is absolutely inside Zarc, you better pull him out of that monster," Sawatari says. His own voice sounds distant. It's weird, and he definitely doesn't like it. "Reiji…?"
"I understand, Sawatari. You can… rest. I'll definitely save Yuya."
"You better…" Sawatari smiles and rests his head back. He doesn't remember rolling onto his back, but that's the position he's in now. He can trust Reiji to do it even though they've all failed until now.
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…Huh… I feel… funny…
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He doesn't hurt anymore. He actually shivers. Cold. It's cold. When did it get cold?
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…Papa… Papa, where…
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…where…
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A/N: Hnnnnnnngh but this means Reiji's chapter is next. Can, can I just skip his and go to the bonus chapter? Please…?
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Ughhhh, fine… Reiji's is next… although there is going to be a chapter after his. Possibly two. Depends on how my muses are feeling.
(I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V. I would've made Sawatari slightly less annoying if I did.)