YEAR THREE.80 2/4 Salvation & Lagging Intuition
Always in a moment of extreme danger things can be done which had previously been thought impossible. ~Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
The roof tiles shatter and tumble across the cobblestones, the bricks from the wall cascading into jumbled piles. Kenma Kozume's breath catches, and when he stumbles with the next rolling jolt of the earth, he doesn't even bother trying to catch himself and drops to his knees.
Kuroo's in there. Kuroo was inside when it went down. Kuroo is in that building.
Kenma's mind plays on loop, barely noticing that Yamaguchi has gone quiet as well, or that the shaking dissipates unnervingly quick only a few moments later. When silence finally settles around them and the only thing still moving is the slow residual sway of the trees overhead, Kenma draws his first ragged breath.
Then he blinks as something occurs to him.
I'm alive.
The enormity of the thought hits him, and his heart vaults to a pace far too fast to be healthy after it was skipping beats only seconds before.
Yamaguchi stumbles by him, the others having released him with the main threat having past. The crow sways as he makes his way toward the destroyed building with shaking hands and Kenma slowly pushes to his feet. His mind is still reeling, he can tell, but his golden eyes automatically start surveying the half-destroyed building.
"Tsukki." Yamaguchi whispers in horror, his anguish distracting. And then the freckled crow sets on the collapsed wall with a frenzy, tossing pieces away and hauling on a splintered beam that doesn't budge. Kenma raises a hand toward him, but freezes as another brick flies by him.
"Tsukki!"
"He's alive, Yamaguchi." Shouyou says and the crow freezes.
"Of course, he is." He says as if the redhead's remark is the stupidest thing he's heard this year, but his voice shakes horribly.
"He is." Shouyou insists. "Right Kenma?"
The redhead turns to him and Kenma finds himself the focus of everyone, even the distressed freckled crow. He takes a deep breath, trying not to fret at the attention.
"Kuroo is still alive." He says, the words making his heart squeeze.
"You don't know that." Yamaguchi says with a choked sob, his face scrunching with a furious scowl.
"I do. And if Kuroo is alive, Tsukki will be, too. Kuroo will die ahead of all of us. And you will all know the moment he does. Start worrying when I keel over, not before." He says evenly. It's not a lie. Kenma is certain that if the larger cat had his way, no one would die without him going first.
"We should probably figure out how to get them out soon, though." Noya says, pointing to the thick curl of smoke that rises from the half-collapsed temple.
The candles, Kenma realizes and in an instant his anxiety ratchets back up.
If the collapse didn't kill Kuroo, fire very well could.
"The doors…" Yachi says shakily and they all turn to look at her. She flinches, her little hands fisting in front of her, but her lip firmis and face turns resolved.
"The shoji doors." She says again, a little more sure. Kageyama jerks.
"They were open. We can get in from around the back side and find them." He says.
Shouyou and Noya are already turning to find a way around the side of the half-collapsed structure before he's even finished speaking and everyone follows suit. A monk materializes and catches Kiyoko's arm, making her flinch violently.
"What are you guys doing? It's dangerous here." Kenma levels him with a solemn gaze.
"My leveler is still inside." He says flatly and the man blanches.
"Inside?" Kenma doesn't answer, already leaving him behind.
The building itself looks as if it's twisted, the walls all pulled out of alignment by the front side's drop. The shoji door is off its track, the frame broken and folded over itself, but they can squeeze inside without issue.
Kenma coughs almost immediately, the dust and smoke invading his lungs. He remembers the last point he saw them, nearly at the front of the building when Kuroo had shielded the blond avian before the building face had crumbled. He can barely recognize the room but he makes for that point based on his memory of what the open space looked like just before. Something snaps beneath his foot; he looks down to find a broken calligraphy brush.
Further.
The rafters and gusset joints have dropped low where the walls have buckled leading toward the front of the ruined temple, and he has to duck, but he keeps going, his eyes stinging from the smoke. He can barely make anything out through the dim haze, his visibility rapidly limited to a matter of a couple feet.
"Kuroo!" He croaks scratchily.
He hears a grunt and heads for it. Stumbles over something… and then more objects, and nearly cracks his head on a rafter. He almost runs into a fallen support post, spiral cracks and splinters threading through its large diameter where it has twisted and bent like a noodle beneath the strain of supporting the ceiling as it shifted. He's almost ready to leap the post when he calls out once more and there's an answering cough almost right beside him. He follows the splintered wood another three steps until his eyes make out a wash of light color through the hazy air.
Cream colored feathers. And then, among the pale wings… dust caked dark hair and a pair of ears. Kenma almost wants to weep. They are here, almost where he'd thought, and they are alive.
But in a moment, he sees the problem. They are pinned beneath the support beam.
There is less than a foot of leeway between the beam and the floor, and Kenma just thanks the sky that it had landed on something that didn't allow it to drop all the way. But that not-quite foot… isn't enough; the ibis and black cat can't move an inch.
"Kenma?" He hears Shouyou call somewhere behind him.
"I found them. They're trapped. We need to get the post off them." He says and catches movement from the cream wings. The redhead mumbles something and then Shouyou's right next to him, Kageyama just off his shoulder.
"Shit." The expletive escapes the avian heir.
"Not a strong enough sentiment, Kageyama." Noya says darkly from his other side.
"Can we move it?" Kenma shouldn't be surprised that Yamaguchi is standing nervously right behind them, because he was the one attempting to burrow in through the destroyed front—but he was literally paralyzed with terror minutes ago.
"I fucking hope so." Kuroo growls, "It's legit un-fucking-comfortable."
Kenma's chest catches with something akin to uneasy joy just hearing the black cat's voice. Kenma can imagine Kuroo's remark is true; his leveler's arm is still cast across the ibis' wings and back, the beam firmly keeping it there across their shoulders. The blond releases a heavy cough and a groan, but Kenma can tell that he's avoiding movement— especially the one wing caught awkwardly under Kuroo's wrist.
Kei's ensuing wheeze reminds Kenma of his own burning lungs and worsening scratchy impulse to cough in response as well. The smoke is getting thicker and he's sure the building will probably be going up in flames shortly.
"Come on." He murmurs and they line up along the support, but the golden cat isn't sure if they'll be able to move it.
The pillar is round with no convenient grasping point, and its solid wood so it is heavy. The golden cat knows he isn't very strong and Shouyou might be wicked quick, but he isn't much for brute power, either. Noya's isn't a whole lot stronger than the redhead and Yamaguchi and Kageyama are their greatest available contributors. Kenma can't help but mentally grouse that the strongest individual here just happens to be under the post.
His fears are confirmed a moment later when the beam doesn't budge and his gut twists. They don't have time to figure out some clever system to raise it; the building is on fire. They try again… and fail again.
Kenma can hear Yamaguchi starting to panic, can feel his own heart starting to tick an unsteady rhythm. Kuroo didn't survive the earthquake and temple collapse just to burn to death.
He didn't. Kenma won't believe that.
He and Kuroo are finally levelers. The glowing thread that stretches between them in the smoke and dust is proof of that. After everything they've been through, they've only been a level pair for little more than a year. Everything is going perfect—even putting up with the stupid fox hadn't been that bad, because Kuroo had made sure to get his apology across multiple times over, both that night and since. He finally never doubts that the black cat is his… and he's not ready to give that up.
They try again, but it's no use. The beam doesn't even jar. He casts about nearly blind, his vision obstructed by the dim hazy air that burns his eyes.
There must be something they can do, something they haven't tried. They could really use Tsukishima's quick comprehension at the moment, but he's as equally in this bind as Kuroo.
What do they do? Kenma has no idea and he can't see anything that would help them.
He turns back to the support, his mind feeling like it's underwater as he finds Kuroo beneath it, struggling to breath under the pinning upright.
He doesn't know what to do. He has no idea where to start. And no matter how unprepared for death he is, no matter how he will adamantly stay here and fight for his and Kuroo's future… he has a little of the black cat in himself as well. He can't see a way out of this where they all survive. The longer the others stayed, the less likely they were to make it out.
They should leave, he thinks, knowing they would never listen to a demand like that. Chances look slimmer by the moment, but Noya and the younger level pair can still survive.
Movement draws his gaze and he turns to see another set of hands lining up beside him. And then more of them. He catches a flash of temple priest garb before he hears the quiet order.
"Ready, go!"
He barely has a chance to throw his own efforts behind it as the words reach his ears. The addition of four more hands— or is it five? — jars the pillar and there is a hiss from Tsukishima. The golden cat's heart is skipping beats again as they momentarily relax beside him, because even if it wasn't much, the post moved.
"Again!"
Kenma's back and shoulders strain under the command, his thoughts blanking with the singular goal of moving the awkward and heavy beam. He throws his shoulder into it, because here—here is a chance for that future he'd been starting to think he'd be forgoing.
And then he catches the best sound he thinks he's ever heard. Kuroo groans and there's a scrabbling shift against the floorboards.
Without thinking, he abandons his place at the post and his hands instantly tangle in the black cat's shirt. With a heave, he hauls his leveler backward, losing his feet in the process and Kuroo grunts heavily in pain at the motion. He doesn't let go of that handful of fabric until he's positive the black cat is free of the post's danger.
He can barely hear anything above the racing pulse in his ears, but he catches the fierce swear from Tsukishima followed quickly by one as equally colorful and filled with alarm from Noya; Kenma knows they've lost the hold and the beam has dropped back into place. He has a moment to regret his impulsive grab at Kuroo, but then—
"They're out, let's go!"
Kenma squints in surprise at Kageyama's words only to see Shouyou pulling on the blond beside him. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who'd ditched the support for the chance to extract their comrades.
A monk reaches under Kuroo's arm and hauls him up, ignoring his sharp hiss of pain, and then they are quickly picking their way back out of the destroyed structure.
He can hear the crackle of fire, the creak of wood, Tsukishima's brilliant curse, Yamaguchi's anxious hovering, Noya's rough smoky cough, Feathers' trip and Shouyou's ensuing encouragement, the heavy breathing of the monks around them, Kuroo's labored intake that betrays his acute discomfort beside him, but more than anything, he can hear his heart thundering in his head under the tumultuous hope in his chest. He collars the emotion, focusing only on moving forward and keeping pace with the monk who tugs Kuroo along at a clip. The smoke gets thicker, the air hot and his eyes sting and lungs burn with every breath, but he follows the patch of gold robe leading them around a pile of crumbled bricks.
And then they are outside, the sunlight a blinding relief, the soft spring breeze a cooling caress against his sweating soot covered skin. They don't stop until they are several meters away from the burning half-collapsed building, but Kenma can't help shaking his head violently in an attempt to relieve the itch from the dust that has invaded his ears.
When he finally straightens, a hand on Kuroo's shirt to reassure himself that the black cat really did make it out with them, he turns to find the others just behind them.
All of them. They are surrounded by the monks who helped them and people he doesn't know, but he sees everyone.
Noya is bent over in a coughing fit, Shouyou is losing his mind over a cut on Kageyama's leg that he must have gotten stumbling through the temple ruin, Yamaguchi kneels beside Tsukishima who holds his ribs with a pale faced frown, blood still running from a cut on the back of his head and his one wing listless behind him, and Kiyoko is beside them with a wide anxious gaze. He blinks as Yachi materializes in front of him with teary eyes.
"Are you alright?" She asks quickly and Kenma nods and finally looks toward his leveler as she moves on to him.
He breathes roughly, his face twisted in pain, and blood runs down over one ear from his hair and there are several scrapes and cuts along the arm that hangs limply at his side. And as Kenma looks closer, he sees the abnormality in cat's physique. That arm, the one hanging loose, drops a couple inches lower than the other, his shoulder sloping off at a steeper angle than Kuroo's normal slouch, and his back and spine round more on that side compared to the other. Yachi's zeroed in on it as well, and her fingers ghost over an out of place protrusion near his throat.
"Your collarbone is broken." She whispers.
"Don't think that's all." He mutters with a grimace. "The post hit me from behind."
Yachi's eyes widen and she quickly bounces around him. She frowns and Kenma helps her carefully pull Kuroo's shirt off so she can see the muscles better, and the golden cat can't stand how there's been hardly any movement from that limp arm. When the bunting pulls in a breath, he's quickly following her gaze.
"You're right." She says and points to Kuroo's rounded shoulder with a trembling lip.
This is the arm he'd thrown over Tsukishima as the front had collapsed, he remembers, and the support hit him from behind. His shoulder blade is broken… probably in several places, but he likely spared the ibis a direct blow to the head.
"You," Tsukishima grits out with a pained breath, "How, did you know? You can't even see properly. How did you know we weren't going to make that?" He asks and Kuroo fixes him with an annoyed frown. He gingerly raises the hand on his not broken side and points to his ears.
"I heard the bricks falling." He grumbles with a wince. A monk steps over, eager to help and Noya glances at the golden clad guys around them between coughs.
"How—" he huffs, "did you guys do that? You basically— lifted the roof with it."
Kenma frowns, because he'd never even considered that. The support had kept the roof up; just because it had collapsed didn't mean it didn't still have all that weight on top of it. They'd have never had a chance without the monks.
"They're Ussuri." Kuroo murmurs and Kiyoko looks at him with surprise.
"Bears." She says with awe and a monk smiles quietly at them, his long canines peeking out in the process.
"Wow, really? No wonder they were so strong. You guys are awesome!" Shouyou says with a grin, earning a chuckle from the one tending to the cut on his leveler's calf.
"Thank you for coming to get us…" Yamaguchi says with a deep bow, "we have no way to really thank you." The monk that carefully maneuvers Tsukishima's wing, the ibis biting back a curse, glances up.
"We apologize that we had to. We didn't think anyone was still inside." He murmurs.
"Well, there wasn't until this idiot decided to lose his mind." Kuroo weakly grouses with a wince as another monk inspects his injuries.
"Shut up, you lousy cat. I thought you were all still there."
"And I'm now useless and you've got broken ribs for your inobservance." Kuro grumbles.
"Probably a cracked wing, too. We can brace it to ensure that it heals correctly." One of the bears says to the ibis.
"You hear that, oh fearless leader? I'm relegated to the shrimp's level of mobility and it hurts to breathe, you miserable mangy furball. You aren't allowed to make travel plans anymore." Tsukishima growls. Kuroo rolls his eyes.
"Wouldn't have mattered if we were here or home. That was no small tremor; we'd have felt it in either place."
And there's a few drawn-out seconds where everyone processes the enormity of that statement. The realization dawns and everyone's faces crease with worry and shock.
"Asahi!" Noya yelps, his wings already lifting him into the air, the small crow still coughing intermittently from the smoke.
"Noya!" Shouyou yells after him, but the crow doesn't even glance back at him. The redhead looks at Feathers with panic and then at Kuroo.
"Send Kageyama back, too." He says with a determined set to his jaw.
"Hinata—"
"Go, Kageyama! What if they need help? We will be fine. We'll be there tomorrow." Shouyou cuts his leveler off.
"Maybe you will, Shrimp." Tsukishima mutters and the redhead shoots a flat look at him.
"Your wing and ribs don't affect your legs, moron." He says before looking back at Kageyama beseechingly.
"I can't, but you can. Please go." A murderous scowl creases Feathers' face, but he takes a deep breath and nods once despite his glare.
"Hitoka?" Kiyoko asks and the bunting nods with a firm frown.
"I'll go, too." She says, quickly getting to her feet.
No one asks Yamaguchi and the crow doesn't speak as the other two leap into the sky, buzzing after the already diminishing shape of Noya.
"You guys have relatives the next town over?" The monk working on Kuroo asks quietly. Kenma looks at him, his misgiving deepening.
This earthquake… there hasn't been one this powerful in centuries and they will have felt it, too.
They are a solid day's walk inland from Sheru Bay, over ten leagues out. It's a distance that the avians might cover in an hour if they have a tailwind and they are really pushing their wings. It will leave them exhausted by the time they get there, but Kenma doubts they will do anything less. They won't know if everyone escaped the earthquake until they return, have no way of knowing if someone didn't make it out of a building in time or if someone sustained injury.
He's grateful that the bears and Kiyoko are here so they can trust Kuroo and Tsukishima to their care. This way, Yachi can fly for the others in case her skills are needed.
But the danger for them isn't like the danger for this small village. Kenma's thoughts drift in particular to Suga who only recently stopped glowing after the mess at the snake nest, Natsu who is grounded, and the cats who have no wings to directly remove them from harm's way like the avians.
He hopes everyone is okay, because the earthquake isn't the only threat.
"On the coast." He clarifies softly and the bear's brown eyes crease with horror and understanding.
Even people who've never lived along the sandy shore know what often follows an earthquake.
A/N: So... here's another first for me. Just like I'd never attempted a full combat scene, I've never tackled a natural disaster before either XD Also one of the few chaps with the POV being the same as the last. And be excited! Everyone is still alive at the moment! And Bears! And Kageyama can't catch a break. He's the one that can't stand being separated from his leveler probably the most and he keeps ending up the one that is.
Ahaha... so next chap isn't completely finished yet? I am really trying to power through it, and am still intending to post tomorrow, but I apologize if I don't make it. I will also be traveling on friday and saturday (1/27-28) and will have limited connection to the rest of the world; I will try to post at least one of those days if not both, but just a heads up. Nyx WILL have that chapter ready by tomorrow... probably. Have an extraordinary evening guys!