Chapter 68: Stale Victory

Turning on the spot Izaya jerked in his stance and his eyes widened- same went for Shizuo as he froze dead upon turning his gaze.

"Ah, shoot that was the wrong one. I was aiming for the busty lady," Shijima snorted as he shrugged with the gun still at hand and a hysteric scream filled the air.

"Karisawa-!"

Karisawa had moved in front of Namie. Shoved her aside. The bastard had been aiming at Namie's head, but due to her actions Namie had not been shot.

But Karisawa had.

Catching her mid fall the scream was the last that left Namie's lips as she held her body close.

Palm clutching her own neck Karisawa's expression churned into one of unimaginable pain as her head tilted back.

The bullet had hit her- where exactly Namie couldn't tell. There was so much blood, her shoulder? Neck? With dread Namie remembered the subclavian artery's presence somewhere exactly around his area.

But Karisawa wasn't dead. Not yet- She was shot dangerously close to her throat, heart and chest, but not dead-

Clinging onto consciousness for dear life Karisawa took a few deep stuttering breaths through grit teeth.

She had to help her- but how? Right now? How? The fungi were still there and the bastard-

And suddenly the gun clicked again and this time there was no obstacle that could possibly move into the bullet's way as Namie looked at the barrel.

Only vaguely she could make out movement from the side.

Izaya, Shizuo.

But they were too far away to help.

Namie knew and her hold on Karisawa tightened as Shijima grinned with a smile of horror. "You will make a nice flesh light later."

As gruesome as the words sounded Namie tried to ignore them as she closed her eyes. She didn't want to see him shoot her. She didn't want to see her own brains decorate the ground before her conscience vanished.

And so she sat and waited for the blow.

The pain.

The disappearance of her mind-

Instead she heard a scream. Loud and undoubtedly manly it soared through the air and her eyes snapped back open.

Long blonde hair and quick moves had made a piece of art of the bastard's wrist. Vorona. She was here.

Neither how nor why was anything Namie was able to follow, but suddenly Kadota entered her field of vision.

Having knocked the gun from the bastard's wrist it had clattered to the ground.

Picking up the device faster than she would have thought him able to, Kadota grasped the weapon and shot.

Another scream tore through the air as he had hit the bastard's leg with his shaking aim.

Groans were to be heard, albeit not stemming from Shijima as Namie's head turned. A fungus was right next to her- within seconds she found it shot dead in the head.

Namie's head turned and she faced the front.

Vorona was heaving, having abandoned the bastard and taken the gun from Kadota she had executed the perfect blow.

Once, twice, thrice- shooting as fast as she could with the god damned weapon Vorona made a quick job of the rest of the fungi.

Scrambling to his one working leg Shijima dashed to the side of the bridge-

"HEY!" Kadota screamed, and dashed right after- before the bastard jumped off the bridge.

A disbelieving gaze crossed Kadota's expression and he slowed down, before speeding his steps up once more. Chest meeting the railguard with force he looked for the corpse of the bastard.

But he was gone-

Where the hell-?

Izaya was heaving- everything had happened way too fast-

The bastard was gone, the fungi were now all dead- It was over, and yet-

"Karisawa, hey-!" Namie's call snapped them all out of their adrenaline filled daze as they regained their senses.

Vorona was quickest to react as she joined Namie's side.

"What happened?" she asked and it was as though as if Kadota had only seen his fellow comrade's body at that moment as his expression fell-

"Erika-" shock grazed his expression and Namie's showed an array of remorse, pain and tremor.

"They got her- he tried to kill me and she-" she stuttered frantically, showing much more care than Izaya thought she was capable of considering the way she had always treated her.

"I'm sorry, Namie-" And suddenly she spoke. Karisawa did. Softly, barely audible, but she did between harsh intakes of low breath.

"Shut up. Contain your energy," Namie scolded quickly, and her head turned, "Shinra-" she called, but then paused halfway as she realized there was no Shinra to rely upon.

Shinra was out of order. Not capable of treating anyone right now. There was no doctor present, no one with the medical knowledge they needed to assess this injury with-

Namie's body shook before she knew it and suddenly Izaya was on the ground next to her.

"At your side. What do you need?" His gaze was awfully controlled, his behavior so calm it somehow managed to get ahold of the reason left in Namie's brain.

Right.

She was the only one with knowledge. She was a scientist. If anyone knew what to do then it was her. And for a brief second all disdain held for Izaya was forgotten.

"In the back of the van, a blood transfusion, she is losing too much-" like a broken stream of water the words gushed from her shaking lips and Izaya spurred to his feet.

All medical supplies had been taken from the blood donation van, but that fact only accounted for medicine and other consumables. Wires, tubes, everything needed for blood donation had been left untouched and Izaya was back quicker than Shizuo was able to think.

"What will you do?" Izaya asked, already back by Namie's side as she laid Karisawa on the ground. Her shirt had lost her upper body and served as a makeshift blanket below the shoulder.

"End to side venous anastomosis," Namie uttered quickly, while sticking her hair beneath her bra's strap to move it out of the way. "I need the tubes, a blood transfusion, the needle and also thread-" Faster than a surgical assistant Izaya made sense of the broken commands as he prepared what he could with the knowledge he possessed. "At your side-"

Blood. She needed it. A needle, a tube, a donator-

A soft gasp left Kadota's lips and Kadota sunk to his knees as he watched the horror in front of him unfold.

Karisawa had passed out.

Words stumbling across Namie's lips, her eyes finally met Izaya's for a brief second. "Izaya, you have 0, right?"

And Izaya froze on the spot. Shizuo saw it, and realized the issue the second the question dropped. Blood type. Namie was talking about blood types.

Izaya injected himself with whatever he believed had been an antidote- If he used that for Karisawa, who knew what was going to happen to her.

With quick strides he was right there next to Izaya on the ground.

"Take mine I got 0 too."

Bewilderment grazed Namie's expression as she frowned, "Don't be ridiculous, you are injured, Izaya would be-"

But Shizuo barked quicker than she could complain, "Do it! There is no time to argue!"

Half a second passed, and Namie jerked at the unexpected burst, but understood his words as nothing but the truth.

If she hesitated now there would no longer be a reason to react.

And so in the middle of the heat Namie did as told. Quicker than Shizuo expected her to, he was hooked up to the tube.

Shizuo didn't even feel the needle when Izaya pushed it into his arm and with a quick knowing glance Izaya met his own.

This situation was a mess. Kadota was still turning his head, "Where is Shinra?" he asked frantically.

Of course, he had no idea what had happened while they were gone.

"Kadota-" Izaya scolded harshly and the guy swallowed his words.

He was a distraction. A distraction Namie didn't need right now.

Taking care of the blood transfusion Izaya couldn't do much more than to make sure it was running smoothly.

He had no idea what Namie was doing. The medicinical term she had spat earlier only left him to vaguely guess that she was trying to stop the blood flow.

But apart from that he lacked both theory and experience.

The only fact he knew as dark truth was that the sun at the horizon was still moving.

The fungi had screeched. Every flatworm in a range of one kilometer at worst had heard that.

By nightfall they had to be gone or else all of this would have been on vain-

It was a race against time and it was still running.

As for Shijima- feeling the familiar feeling of rage fill his veins, Izaya's eyes narrowed.

He would have loved to take care of him at least.

"It's getting dark," Vorona warned softly, having come to the same bitter realization Izaya had.

Blood sprinkled Namie's skin all the way up to her shoulders as she wiped at her forehead.

"This should do, for now-" she whispered quickly, just as aware of the time limit as Izaya was. Blood trickled from her shaking hand onto her chest.

"Namie-" Vorona called worried, but the woman was no fan of exaggerated care and quickly jumped to her feet.

"Help me carry her-" she uttered quickly, but failed to hide her emotions.

She was overwhelmed. All of them were. Even Izaya.

Jaw strained and expression sour, Shizuo was the first at his feet, careful to not tear the connection of their veins.

The door to the back of the blood donation van was opened and Shinra groaned.

"What happened…?" But no answer was given as they slipped inside.

"Sorry we need to move you-" Izaya informed curtly, having followed up.

Kadota was next and his face fell when he saw Shinra.

"Shinra-" moving the doctor, Shizuo's grip on him shifted slightly and Kadota quickly moved.

A few seconds were all it took as they moved Shinra into the fixed chair on the side.

Pain marked his expression and Izaya paused.

"You good?" he asked and Shinra quickly waved him off.

No more time was spared to inquire further and so they moved to the front of the van.

Karisawa was still unconscious and while trying to not injure her any further the group made an effort to keep her body even as they carried her to the back.

Having adjusted in his seat Shinra finally received the answer to his earlier question as his gaze fell onto the woman.

Face falling, shock, sadness and the stupid idea to treat her grazed his face. A shot of pain and a groan was all the doctor earned as he did as little as twitch.

"Don't move, idiot. Patching up two people in a day is enough of a medicinal crash course." Izaya scolded him quickly and Shizuo let himself sink to the ground of the van.

Head meeting the small barricade between the back and front of the van he sighed softly.

Within seconds Izaya met him at eye level.

"The same accounts to you," he whispered, "Are you dizzy? Nauseous?" he questioned, after all Shizuo had just donated an undefined amount of blood despite being injured himself.

A soft smile was expressed despite their bitter situation and Shizuo nodded.

"All good." And yet somehow Izaya was at a loss.

Glance turning he felt as though he was in the middle of a bad dream.

Shinra was down, Karisawa possibly injured so bad she wouldn't wake, Shizuo was suffering and Izaya-

Feeling the soft dread of panic tickle the back of his mind, Izaya grasped his own wrist.

This was not the time to freak out.

Glance cast ahead, Izaya spotted Namie as she slipped into the driver's seat. The action seemed smooth, as calculated as Izaya's behavior and yet it was obvious how shaken she was.

Her gaze, her attitude and the fact that she hadn't even realized she was still wearing nothing but a bra showed how out of it she really was.

And that's when Izaya realized that she hadn't been so mean to Karisawa because she hated her. But because she was weak.

Like her brother. Easily killed.

And now sacrificing herself for Namie-

"I will talk to her," Kadota announced quietly, having noticed the distraught in her eyes as well, but Vorona was quick to stop him.

"Don't." Quietly as a cat she slipped out of the van.

Gaze turning from left to right it took barely a few seconds until she was visible in the front.

The driver's door Namie had closed previously was opened once more.

Looking up, the scientist met Vorona's gaze.

She only shook her head, but it seemed enough for Namie to understand.

Vorona, Namie and Izaya were the only members left that had not sustained an injury. And from those three only one should not be given the driving position.

"I will drive," Vorona announced softly. Her tone was gentle, yet the demand left no room for discussion and Namie nodded.

Getting out of the car she stood still and Vorona pulled her vest from her body before gently dropping it around Namie's shoulders.

A soft, but bitter smile grazed Namie's lips for a second before the bitterness of the situation unfolded on her expression.

Head leaning forward just a bit her forehead met Vorona's shoulder and Vorona simply stood as she tugged Namie into a gentle hug.

Averting his gaze from the two of them Izaya looked at the mess in the back.

There it stood.

The apheresis machine.

There was barely any room for Kadota left thanks to it but Izaya understood his wish to stay at Karisawa's side as he slipped past the unfamiliar device.

This was a victory in terms of fulfilling their mission.

But it felt like a defeat.

The front doors closed in quick succession and Vorona took the driver's position as the engine roared.

They had to leave. There was a time limit to be met and so the van moved.

A quick stop and softly uttered curses followed a minute later as Vorona slipped out quickly to clear the sea of nails on the ground, but apart from that nothing happened.

The sun lowered quickly and night was just around the corner when they arrived at school.

There was no second wasted. No witty remarks left Namie's lips, no stupid questions were asked as they moved like a long trained organism.

The sole bed that had been standing inside the library was offered to Shinra the moment he was carried upstairs, but he quickly shook his head, declaring the ground as sufficient.

"Karisawa needs it more."

How true that was.

Night settled all too soon just as the awful silence oppressed the mood as they assembled inside their library.

The machine had been left downstairs for now as neither Shinra nor Namie were in any condition to conduct research at the moment.

"What now?" Kadota asked, and the question seemed hauntingly loud in the silent room.

"Now we wait for her to wake up." Izaya quickly answered and he was aware that was not what Kadota meant. But right now none of them were in their right minds to discuss a strategy or future actions.

Blood cleared off her body as well as possible Namie was sitting on a chair. The gun Vorona had claimed earlier was resting on the desk and Vorona stood by quietly as Karisawa's chest rose and fell.

Shizuo was sitting on the ground next to Shinra who was giving his best to stay awake, and Izaya-

Standing at the window he glanced down into the street.

It was dark.

Just as the dangerous silence that creeped its way into the room.

And suddenly Namie spoke the one question Izaya dreaded like no other.

"Izaya, why weren't we allowed to use your blood?"

to be continued~

C: Good question Namie, why? C: