"Did his files say anything about a weakened immune system?"

"Nope, but he did get pneumonia when he wound up in the ocean apparently and you know as well as I do that once you get pneumonia once it's much easier to get it again especially under the conditions we're dealing with right now"

"You have a point in that regards, okay just making sure that he's relatively healthy then"

Several days later he was off the ventilator and awake during the day, still on medication for pneumonia but he was getting better and the doctors were even considering releasing him soon

"So have you made any decisions now that you remember everything?"

"Yes, there are still several I have to make including where I ultimately want to work but other decisions have been made. I want to keep in contact with everyone, properly this time Ishiguro no sneaking into the base I promise. I also want to keep working where I was at before all of this happened as Akeshi to limit confusion at the station and I think being who I was after the accident will help me in regards to figuring out who I am now"

"We can accept that, and who knows maybe by the time you make a decision things will have changed at Rescue Force"

"What do you mean Nancy?"

"Sorry can't talk about it right now just know that we're all glad you're alive and hope you keep your promise of staying in proper contact with us"

Obuchi then returns to the firefighter station he worked at on restricted duty until his pneumonia completely cleared up plus his ribs still had some healing to do as well but eventually he was back to full duty

"Akeshi, eye doctor called saying they want to try something which will take you off duty for two days"

"Is it related to light sensitivity?"

"Actually no, they said something about chemical blurriness"

"Oh I know what they're talking about, okay when do they want to see me?"

"Earliest office hours possible tomorrow, seeing as how they always know your schedule"

"Right, understood"

Three days later Obuchi was back on duty and things were relatively normal when suddenly they were called to a chemical fire and all of them went with the routine of the captain giving Obuchi his sunglasses as always but when they arrived that's when things changed. The eye doctors had told Obuchi way back in the beginning when he first had amnesia and didn't know who he was that even if there were medical advancements what had been done to his eyes could never be fully cured, only helped through surgery and even then because surgery itself could cause scarring they had to be careful how much they did at any one time and then wait for the results of healing before deciding if they should continue or not, eventually getting to the point where he could function with prescription sunglasses that were between medium prescription and the strongest available but when he first had problems with chemical fires everyone was stumped until recently and the doctors had an experimental procedure to try and they wanted as always to have two days of healing to his eyes before he did anything like fight fires again, regular every day activity was fine after a day but his job was a no go. When they realized it was a chemical fire the entire team was concerned at first but their teammate quickly helped them with that concern

"The procedure seems to be working guys, I can see like normal with the sunglasses, let's get to work"

"Right"

Things were going well when suddenly they discovered that there were still people trapped so they immediately split up and Obuchi went into rescue mode and got evacuations underway and actually did pretty well until he had to lead people to the roof and realized the only way out was down...without rope or gear

"This probably wasn't one of my better ideas now that I think about it"

"Oh really Akeshi you think?"

"Yeah, should have thought of another route instead of just up"

"Now what?"

"That's a good question, we're too high up for the ladder and the smoke is too thick for a helicopter"

"Again, now what?"

"Let me think a moment"

Obuchi looks at the situation the way he was taught to for Rescue Force and then comes up with a solution that he knew people weren't going to like all that much

"Okay I have a plan, but you're not going to like it all that much"

"What's the plan then?"

"First we need to go back the way we came two floors down, once there I'll explain further"

"Fine, don't like it by the way"

"Like I said you wouldn't but it's our only chance"

They get back down two floors and then the two people with Obuchi waited for the next part of the plan

"Okay, now I want you two to go down that stairway to the left, the door is cool enough and use the stairs there to escape the building, once there meet up with the captain and let him know all victims rescued Koreth"

"What about you Akeshi?"

"I won't be joining you guys, I have another route I need to take, tell the captain I'm fine and will meet up with him back at the station and don't believe my death even if there's an explosion until he has proof"

"Akeshi!..."

Obuchi ran the opposite direction while the other two followed his escape plan, and there had indeed been an explosion like he had predicted to his fellow firefighter

"Akeshi is...dead"

"No, he said not to declare him dead without proof so we won't declare him dead without proof, for now we head back to the station and hope Akeshi meets up with us there in a little bit like he planned"

"But Captain..."

"He's alive until further notice is that understood?"

"Yes sir"

Three hours later most of the station had given up hope that Obuchi was alive when suddenly they heard a door open and they saw their missing member enter looking worse for wear but alive

"Akeshi, you're okay"

"I'm fine guys, dirty, tired and in definite need of some food but I'm fine"

When they went to slap him on the back though the Captain noticed the wince of pain and called him on it immediately

"Akeshi, medical, now"

"Captain..."

"Akeshi, do we need to have a talk again?"

"No, I'll report to medical"

Akeshi practically ran to the small medical office while the others gave the Captain a weird look having only joined the station a year earlier and as such weren't part of the station when he first joined three years earlier and Akeshi had been lectured by the Captain in regards to injuries before. He saw the looks he was being given and simply shrugged

"It's complicated, and not something to be explained without him, and it actually goes in hand with why he gives me his sunglasses at the start of every shift during the day"

"But you guys said..."

"Yeah, we only told you guys half the story"

Five minutes later Akeshi came out without any obvious bandages except one where he had a cut on his face

"Okay what's the damage?"

"Strained muscles and a burn I wasn't aware of"

"Where's the burn?"

"On my back, it's a mild burn though so it will heal without intervention"

"Good, now then they're asking about the lecture story and since it's tied in with the story we already told them in regards to your sunglasses I felt I shouldn't tell it without you here"

"Okay guess we really don't have much choice in the matter do we?"

"Not much, unless you want them constantly asking us questions like when they first joined"

(Sighs) "I remember alright, but guys, after our shift is done okay? I don't want any interruptions in regards to the story"

"We can live with that"

Eventually their shift ended and they all actually went to the Captain's house for the story