It's Cold
[Hiroki's POV]
I and Nowaki were strolling down the road, with our hands locked together, I told him to stop but he's way to persistent, it was our day off, and we had decided to go out for a while, we then come across a shop that had TV displays, that is currently switching from every channel to another, then come to a halt on one channel,
|"Breaking News! Another off-season snowstorm has come!"| the reporter said, this gathered people's attention, we stop in front of it, the screen showed different places that is filled with thick snows, some were even passing by, strong winds gushing through could be clearly seen, whenever an off-season snowstorm comes there is no telling when it'll stop, |"It had started from the Western part of Japan, Osaka had been forcedly covered, everyone is advised to stay indoors as soon as possible an—"| with that the screen went dead, with the usual signal,
|"Please Standby…"|
People then started whispering about, I then took out my phone, no signal…
*Rumble*
Then everyone stared at the source, thick grey patch of clouds could be seen, I and Nowaki were about to head back to our new apartment when,
"Oi! Don't go there—"
"That's dangerous!"
"Kid, go home!" I then stared at the commotion my eyes widened to see Takahashi ran about towards the storm,
"OI! TAKAHASHI!—" I called but it seemed that he blocked it all out, Nowaki stared, I somehow had a bad feeling about this, and the need to call Akihiko if it were not for the storm to actually block off the network's signals,
"Hiro-san, who was that?" Nowaki asked, concern in his voice,
"My student…" I answered absent-mindedly, I somehow wanted to chase after him but I stopped myself, despite the fact that the bad feeling lingered,
===A little bit Earlier===
[Third Person's POV]
After Misaki had left rushing out of Usagi's condo, Akihiko clenched his fists, gripping Misaki's scarf in his right hand, gritting his teeth he then knocked down the vase closest to him,
*Crash*
Then he knocked down a lamp,
*Thud* *Clank* *Crash* *Thud* *Thump* *Crash*
Akihiko panted he had crashed about the place, destroying all of Misaki's cleaning, feeling anger rise up to him, he gripped his right hand and was about to throw what he had been holding, but stopped when he realized what it was, he lowered his hand,
"Misaki…I—" he muttered shadowing his eyes, a glistening tear then trickled down his cheek, "I love you…" he whispered, before he slumped on the floor, his hand slumping to his side, accidentally brushing the remote control that switched on his TV,
|"Breaking News! Another off-season snowstorm has come!"| His head shot up when he heard it, |"It had started from the Western part of Japan, Osaka had been forcedly covered, everyone is advised to stay indoors as soon as possible an—"| his eyes widened,
'Everyone…' a thought struck him, "Misaki…" he muttered, he then hurriedly pulled out his phone, he grunted before throwing it aide,
*Clank* *Thud*
"Useless!" there was no signal, he then hurriedly grab his jacket and scarf and wore it, he then gripped Miski's scarf tighter, before rushing out of his condo with one motivation,
'Finding Misaki…'
===Present===
[Hiroki's POV]
I and Nowaki were heading towards our apartment as I focused on my phone trying to contact Akihiko as I have seen Takahashi earlier, and before I knew it, my vision blacked out for a while before returning making me realized that I had just bumped into someone, good thing Nowaki was here, as he caught me right in his arms, but that didn't changed the fact that the perp. gave me a headache,
"Oi, watch where you're going!" I yelled before looking at the person who landed on the ground, I thought it was some guy who was hurrying to get home, but then I realized who it was, "Er—Akihiko?" was all I could utter, I blinked, he looked in a hurry, he held one scarf in one hand, which I found odd, 'He's already wearing one…', then a thought struck me, as he looked at me, "What are you doing here? You should be at home! Go back it's dangerous!" I yelled at him, temporarily forgetting the fact that my phone fell on the ground,
"Misaki…" he muttered, I raised a brow confused at the sudden uttering,
"Huh?" was the only thing I could muster,
"Misaki, where's Misaki, have you seen him?!" he asked grabbing my coat's collar, making me jolt at the sudden action, Nowaki was about to shove him off, if not for the fact I signaled him with my hand, which was unnoticed by Akihiko,
"Misaki? Who?" I asked confused,
"He's your student, Kamijou!" he yelled gripping my coat tighter, my eyes widened, I have never seen this side of Akihiko, sure I've seen desperate sometimes, but not like this, not searching for a person,
"Takahashi?" I asked, he nodded, then a memory hit me, making me remember the fact why I had been so fucking focused on the phone, I shove his hand away, which he let go as regain my composure, "I saw him running towards that dire—" I said pointing the path straight down the road, but before I could finish he immediately dashed towards it, after mumbling something under his breath, "Oi! Did something happened?!" I yelled, now facing the direction, but he ignored and kept on running, entering the small mist that formed, I muttered a curse, if he goes deeper in there, the temperature, weather, and condition wouldn't be that good, I faced Nowaki, who stared at the fog concerned etched on his face, "Nowaki…" I called getting his attention, "I'm sorry, but can we wait a little while longer on getting home?" I asked, I am now worried for my friend, and my student, something happened and I know it, Nowaki's eyes flashed in jealousy, but it went away replaced by determination and motivation, which hid his concern perfectly,
"Yes…it's okay…let's help him look?" he said as if reading my thoughts, I smiled and nodded,
"I'll make it up you…" I said he nodded, "I promise…" I muttered, before grabbing my phone and running towards the same direction, when we entered the fog, I immediately took note of the softly falling white substance, my eyes widened, the temperature was worse than I had thought, I then looked straight, I could still see Akihiko's figure, "AKIHIKO!" I yelled but he just went forward, faster even, Fuck, why does everyone around me have to have those fast long legs? Even Nowaki can run faster than that, but he kept his pace with me, he smiled at me reassuringly, I nodded smiling back, "AKIHIKO!" I called again, soon his figure slowly disappeared in the fog, "Shit…" I muttered trying to run faster as the temperature dropped, I also looked around knowing who Akihiko was searching for, while running deeper I could hear Akihiko's voice calling 'Misaki, Misaki…' over and over, whilst I called him, but he made no answer to me, and focused on his own search, "Tsk…why does he have to be so stubborn?! Takahashi could've gone to his family!" I muttered, not noticing the fact that my hands had gone numb, I only took note when Nowaki grabbed it in his giving it an assuring squeeze, I looked at him,
"You're cold, Hiro-san…" he said, he was also worried, I made him worried, I looked down,
"I'm sorry…" I muttered, we were probably very deep in the fog now, it was colder, the fog was thicker, I looked at the snow tainted ground, feeling guilt,
"It's okay…" he said reassuringly, "Hiro-san wants to help Usami-sensei…if Hiro-san wants that, then I would want to see Hiro-san happy, I know I already have your heart Hiro-san…I trust you…" he said making a light blush tint my cheeks, he then landed a chaste kiss on my lips, "Come on, we still have to look for the person he's looking for…" he said smiling, I nodded, before looking for Takahashi, the man Akihiko is looking for, and yelling his name in attempt to get his attention, but all of it went on deaf ears, I was running out of breath because of the thick fog, it had become harder to breathe, I could feel my legs giving up sometime soon, which they actually did,
"HIRO-SAN!" Nowaki called kneeling next to me, I coughed,
"Don't…" I said before coughing again, "Worry…I'm fine…" I continued, I tried to stand up, but my legs felt like it was glued to the ground, I didn't know that I was that cold, until Nowaki actually hugged me,
"Hiro-san, we're almost there, please hold on…" he whispered near my ear, it was soothing, yet at the same time filled with concern, his breath on my ear was warm, I wanted this to last longer,
"Nowaki…" I whispered, he kissed my numb ear,
"Yes, Hiro-san?" he replied,
"I—" I was about to say what I always say, but I remembered Akihiko, "I-I-I gotta help Akihiko look for Takahashi…" I said, I looked at him, worried of his response, I expected him to be jealous, and angry, but now he smiled warmly, he nodded,
"Un…" came his response, I chuckled, as tears found its way on the rims of my eyes,
"Thank you…" I said, he nodded, before helping me stand up, holding my hand, he gave it a squeeze, I nodded before we run down the path, loking around for the silverette, he really is a troublemaker, he haven't changed at all, a thought crossed me, it was somehow nostalgic, when we find Takahashi, I have to thank him for bringing the light of the world to Akihiko, we ran deeper, somehow we couldn't hear any yelling anymore, it didn't feel good, it was only for a while when I and Nowaki stopped, it was colder, and we were running as far as my legs limits' could reach, but then we didn't see nor hear a sign of anyone else, if Akihiko had head back we could've come across him, if he turned to another direction would be a different story, we stopped, we were sure we should've caught up to him, both of us were out of breaths, we could hear the wind's whistling, I looked down at the ground, before taking note, 'Footprints…' my eyes widened in realization, if there was a wall next to me I could've slammed my head on it, for not thinking of it earlier, 'Fuck! Why didn't I thought of that?! Obviously I could follow him!' I mentally yelled at myself, now following the footprints, Nowaki following my lead, we were silent for a while, Akihiko sure runs fast, faster than usual,
"Hiro-san…" Nowaki suddenly called breaking the silence, I didn't look at him though,
"Hm?"
"That student of yours…that's the person Usami-sensei is looking for isn't it?" he asked, I nodded figuring that he is actually looking at me, as I focused on the footprints,
"Yeah, why?" I replied,
"Um…there's only one set of footprints…" Nowaki said, I then looked at the footprints, my eyes widened, as if reading my thoughts he said, "I don't think that and I'm not saying that Takahashi-san have ran off someplace else, either Usami-sensei had covered his footprints, or the snow had covered it, but still even though it has covered his footprints, then some trails should be left, seeing none, then Usami-sensei is heading the right direction…" I blinked, Nowaki can be very carrying when needed, and now he is very soothing, I could only nod as we followed the path, the wind whistling about, the way the temperature was dropping was definitely not a good sign, never once had been, while our eyes were fixed on the ground, our ears were straining to hear some noises, even the faintest ones, with our hands entwined together, even I don't want to admit it, I'm actually glad that Nowaki is here with me, because in this state, if you looked for someone alone, then you'll end up getting lost, especially in this mist, I could even see my own breaths, the footprints were getting fainter on every step we take, as the snow was now rapidly gathering up, heaving a sigh, I shot my head up getting Nowaki's attention,
"Oi! Akihiko!" I yelled,
"Usami-san!" Nowaki then followed my lead, I looked around desperate for any figures, silhouettes, or any sign of someone there, or even a yell, or a scream as a response, a wailing, begging, a cry for help, okay, now that seemed out of it, no matter what, Akihiko would never do such—
"PLEASE LIVE!" my eyes widened, it was faint, and far, but I could tell that it was clearly Akihiko, a lump immediately formed on my throat, my eyes widened, I swallowed, I glanced at Nowaki who stared back at me, we nodded at each other, before running towards to where we think the source of Akihiko's voice is at, he was quite far, "MISAKI!" his voice was a bit louder, which meant we were near, but then his voice sounded like he had been sobbing, and his voice was cracking,
'He's…crying?'
I shook my head shoving the thought on the back of my mind, I and Nowaki fastened our pace, ignoring how the temperature was worse out here, then on the corner of my eyes, I saw two figures in an alley way, which I and Nowaki just passed, I halted, making a screech of the heel of my shoes, Nowaki immediately took note, then assisted me as I almost slipped, regaining my composure, we ran towards the alley, when I got there, my eyes widened, there Akihiko hugged the upper-half of Takahashi, as if it was the end of the world, his face buried on the brunette's shoulder, the way he rocked both of them back and forth was a sign, I then observed Takahashi, then froze, I felt my blood cold, Takahashi was white as snow, a blue-ish tint could be seen under his eyes and on his lower lip, no fog was coming out of him, my eyes widened further when I took in his clothing, it was just a sweat shirt, khaki pants, and his shoes, no coats nor scarf or anything to keep him warm, or at least less colder, then Akihiko started swaying,
"This is not good…" I heard Nowaki mutter, the snow that had piled up reached to our ankles, which it was harder to walk towards them,
"Akihiko!" I called, but he seemed to be in his own little, "Dammit…" I cursed, Nowaki had told me before about frostbite, and judging from Akihiko's reactions, he wasn't only suffering from frostbite, furthermore, the coldness can make your ears ring, and hear nothing, but the deafening sound, it can make your vision blur to nothingness despite your eyes are still open, and worse, it gets harder to breathe, "Akihiko! Get away from there!" I yelled again, I could hear him mutter something, no repeating the same words over and over, yes, that's what he is doing, and he's not muttering it, his whispering it to Takahashi, I then pried my ears to hear what he was saying,
"…ove…ou…" I raised a brow, taking another hard step on the ground earning the crunching of the snow, "I love you…" he said, my eyes widened,
"Nowaki! Get them out of there! Take Takahashi to the hospital!" I barked, Nowaki had stood frozen, but soon regained his composure when I made the command and nodded,
"Hai…" came his answer, before he strode his way over,
"Akihiko! Get out of there! We'll get him to the hos—" my eyes widened, Akihiko had been here for a while, and judging the way he grips Takahashi, the way he swayed, the way he almost fell over, then that means the frost is also getting to him! I muttered a curse under my breath, taking another hard step, it was getting harder the nearer I got to them, "Dammit…AKIHIKO!" with that last call, he dropped to the side with an 'oof!' the snow crunched at their weight, his eyes were now dull, and lifeless, tears visibly in sight, I never seen him cry, then slowly he closed his eyes, "Shit…" I then walked faster, Nowaki then went pass me,
"Hiro-san, please carry Takahashi-kun, I'll take care of Usami-sensei! Let's get them to the hospital!" Nowaki said as he reached them, taking Akihiko off of Takahashi, I nodded, I was about to take Takahaqshi, when I noticed a scarf tightly clutched in Akihiko's hand, then it hit me, it was Takahashi's scarf, shoving the another thought on the back of my mind, I then carried Takahashi on my back, grunting in the process, as Nowaki too carried Akihiko on his back, we glanced at each other before nodding, and started running out of the alley way, panting,
"Shit, Nowaki which way?!" I cursed looking around the mist,
"Hiro-san don't panic or we'll really get lost, stay focus!" Nowaki said also looking around, then he closed his eyes as if picturing the streets unfazed, he opened them, "This way!" he said leading the way, I nodded and followed him, he also made sure to not to run too fast or I might strode away, and Takahashi was also in the worse situation, so he needed treatment more than Akihiko needed it, "This way!" Nowaki yelled again, I followed as he took the lead, soon after all the screaming, and keeping up to each other, we finally saw the hospital in sight, I could relief, but then not so soon, there's no telling if, no, he'll go through it, when we got inside, we immediately got the attention of the nurses and doctors, seeing the two people on our backs, the doctors immediately barked orders around, as the nurses rushed to do it, in no time, Takahashi and Akihiko were taken to the operating room, while I and Nowaki were offered refreshments, and blankets, Nowkai tried ot offer help to the doctors as he was also one of them, but they refused saying he needed to rest a bit before helping them, which I told him to do so, I sighed as I seated outside the operating room, the hospital was packed with people who got frostbite and whatnot, but now all I care about is Akihiko and my student, I don't know why, but I know that Takahashi is such a special and important person to Akihiko to actually make Akihiko like that, never once in my life, I had seen Akihiko so messed up, even when he saw Takahashi with his senpai, and that senpai, Sumi would ruffle Takahashi's hair or something, Akihiko would immediately get jealous, scowling, groaning, venting his anger out on poor non-living objects, then a nurse went out of the operating room, carrying a clip board,
"Family of Usami-sama? Is someone here for Usa—" she called, I stood up,
"Ah, his family isn't here, only us…" I said gesturing to both me and Nowaki, she nodded, knowing the fact that the networks are out in the storm, "How's Akihiko?" I asked, she blinked at my familiarization with the author but shook it off,
"Well, Usami-sama is fine, he was just on the beginning of the frostbite stage, so he should be fine, once his all warmed up, and once he gets his rest," she answered smiling, I nodded, I was about to ask about Takahashi but Nowaki got ahead of me,
"What about Takahashi-kun?" the nurse smile immediately dropped replaced by one of worry and concern,
"Well, Misa-er Takahashi-sama's condition is still unstable…" she said, by the way she said it, it seemed that she knows Takahashi well enough to be on first name terms on him, and which is proven by the worry etched on her face, but what got me worried was his condition, I was worried of his condition, knowing it would make a dead pang effect on Akihiko, "He had suffered the further stages of frostbite, even the doctors are doing their very best to get him back, his heartbeat already had died out four times already," she said, her voice was cracking, but the news shocked me further, "An-d the more his heart dies out, the harder he is to be brought back…I-" she then covered her mouth and nose, silently sobbing, Nowaki took note,
"You've said enough…tell me if they need anything I'll what I can to help," she raised her head at that, and he smiled, she nodded,
"I'll keep a keen eye, Kusama-sensei…" she answered before bowing and leaving the two of us, I and Nowaki then took our seats, I gripped the mug, which I had been drinking my hot chocolate from, tighter, Nowaki took note before putting his hand on my back, I nodded, before leaning on his shoulder, I closed my eyes, slowly drifting off, despite the smell of sanitizers and anti-biotic,
(A/N: Uwah…okay…to tell you frankly I never expected this ending, but don't worry, this isn't the last of it, anyway, thank you for those who supported me!QwQ You really made me tempted enough to want to quickly update this! Despite this has already clenched my heart many times already! Don't blame me! I really cried writing this! Anyway, I know that Hiroki's part, or this chapter isn't that all emotional like the first and second chapters, I'm sorry if you were expecting more of it, but really, we need to get out of that tension even for a bit, no? Hahahah…I don't even know what the hell I'm saying, curse me if you must, just don't kill me…XD…Also sorry if I couldn't have updated any faster! I'm a bad author! I was tempted to write a smut for Takano's birthday! Which I actually ended up doing! Also I didn't expect this to be longer…so sorry…T-T…Also I'm really sorry on those who I disappointed on this chappie…if I had made any mistakes, grammar or spelling errors please point it out! It'll help me a lot, or even if it's an information I accidentally left out, also I have no idea what happens to someone when they get a frostbite, nor its symptoms, it doesn't snow here in Philippines you see…so, I'm sorry if my information's all messed up, anyway how's this one? This is DarkAlchemistAssassin, at your service. Also, Merry Christmas everyone! Oh, hell, it's already one in the morning XD.
CHAO~!)