Chapter 23: No Time to Lose
Yusuke ran.
Keiko's body was barely more than dead weight in his arms, her warmth flickering like a candle about to go out. Every second counted. Every breath she took was shallower than the last.
And Yusuke was terrified.
His heart pounded, a sickening rhythm against his ribs. His legs burned from the sprint, but he didn't care. He couldn't care. Not when Keiko's life was slipping through his fingers.
Her blood stained his clothes, sticking to his skin, and the scent of it was sharp—too sharp. It made his stomach churn.
"You hang on," he muttered through gritted teeth. "You hear me, Keiko? You hang on."
No response.
"Damn it," he growled, pushing his legs harder, faster.
The world blurred past him—broken terrain, collapsed stone pillars, lingering traces of Mikuri's hellish domain—but none of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was her.
Then—
A weak sound.
A gasp.
"Yusuke…"
His heart seized.
"Keiko?!"
She was barely awake. Her eyes cracked open just slightly, and her lips trembled. Her breath hitched, catching in her throat like she was drowning.
Yusuke's grip tightened.
"Stay with me," he pleaded, voice raw.
Keiko sucked in another breath, but it was wrong. It rattled in her lungs, weak and uneven, like something inside her was breaking down.
Her fingers twitched against his chest.
"…hurts…"
Yusuke felt his gut twist.
"I know, I know," he whispered. "Just hold on. I'm getting you help."
But then—her body shook.
A violent tremor wracked through her, and her breathing turned erratic, each inhale sharp and desperate. Like she was fighting to keep her own lungs working.
"No—No, no, no," Yusuke panicked, his mind screaming at him to do something.
She was getting worse.
Her skin was too pale, her pulse too weak. The bruises covering her body were deepening into dark purples and sickly blues. Her wounds weren't clotting fast enough.
She was dying.
"DAMN IT, KEIKO, DON'T DO THIS!"
His voice cracked, raw and desperate. He shook her lightly, as if that would snap her out of it, as if that would stop her from slipping away.
Her eyelids fluttered.
Her lips parted.
And then—
Blood.
A wet cough, and a thin trickle of red slipped from the corner of her mouth.
Yusuke's entire soul shattered.
"No," he breathed, eyes going wide.
His pulse pounded in his ears, drowning out everything else. His grip tightened around her like he could physically hold her soul in place.
This wasn't happening.
Not to Keiko.
Not after everything they'd been through.
Not to her.
His feet barely touched the ground anymore as he tore across the battlefield, sprinting faster than he ever had in his life.
He wasn't losing her.
He wouldn't let that happen.
But Keiko's body was still trembling, her breath still slipping.
"yus..ke.." Yusuke barely heard her soft whisper, calling his name.
She was too weak, but she's still trying her best to call to him.
"I'm here, Keiko. Don't die on me, dammit!" Yusuke cried as he held her in his arms.
"...ba..b..by.." Keiko faintly stated.
And then—
She stopped.
Her chest barely moved.
Her fingers went slack.
Her head tilted against him, too still, too heavy.
Yusuke's breath caught. What was she trying to say?
"No. Keiko. KEIKO."
She didn't answer.
She wasn't—
NO.
A growl ripped from Yusuke's throat as his energy flared, wild and violent, surging like an explosion around him.
He wasn't letting her go.
Not now.
Not EVER.
Ahead, in the distance—Raizen's fortress.
Help.
Salvation.
Yusuke clenched his jaw, forcing everything he had into one last desperate sprint.
She wasn't dying.
He wouldn't let her.