To Fight Fire

VIII

[One]

Touya wakes up, face down on the floor, coughing out smoke. He gasps for fresh air.  

Heat.  Everything was heat.  He hears fire roaring.  Flames climb the walls.  Small sections of the ceiling fall in around him.  There's a crushing pressure on his leg, pinning it to the floor. Lifting himself onto his elbows, he pulls himself forward.  The bone in his leg shifts.  Touya cries out in pain, gritting his teeth.  

The smoke envelops him.  It presses in against his skin, against his thoughts. He covers his mouth with his shirt, trying to filter out the smoke.  He can't seem to get a breath.  His vision begins to go in and out, the gravity of unconsciousness dragging him ever closer.

"Hey!" a voice rings through the space. "Hey! Is someone in here? I heard you! Where are you?"

Footsteps get ever closer.  Touya tries to yell but can only manage to cough, grasping at ragged breaths.  

"Hang on, I've got you!" 

Touya glances upward, seeing the outline of a person.  They go behind him and push a cross beam off of his leg.  They pull him up, putting his arm over their shoulder. 

"Stay with me. I need you to stay conscious." It's a woman's voice. A strong arm hooks around his waist, holding him up, keeping his weight off his leg as much as possible. "Stay with me."

The woman moves as quickly as possible, Dabi stumbling along side her. The ceiling continues to fall in behind them.  

"Y/N GET OUT OF THERE!" A voice shouts through a small radio on her shoulder.

"I've got someone." She says back through the radio.  As they get closer to the exit, Touya sees emergency vehicle lights and hears sirens.  

"GO! THE WHOLE THING'S ABOUT TO COME DOWN!" The radio shouts back.

Within seconds, the ceiling comes crashing down.  Y/n shoves through the exit, Touya in her arms.  She doesn't stop once clear of the building.  Glass rains down on them as debris is blown out of the building.  Y/n rushes Touya across the street to an ambulance.

"Broken leg.  Barely conscious.  Multiple burns." She tells two paramedics that help her get him onto a stretcher.  A paramedic cuts off Dabi's pant leg and starts tending to the wound as the other starts him on oxygen.

"Hey." The woman that pulled him from the building is at his side, "Hey. Stay with me. Deep breaths.  What's your name?"

He coughs violently for a moment.

"Deep breaths.  You're on oxygen.  Take a deep breath." Dabi seems to finally be able to catch his breath after a moment.  "Can you hear me?" Y/n keeps eye contact with the man.

"Yeah." His voice is dry and raspy.

She smiles, relieved. One of the paramedics preps Dabi's arm for an IV and Y/n keeps his attention on her, doing her best to keep him conscious. "Good.  What's your name?"

". . . Touya." 

"You have a last name, Touya?"

"You got a first one?" He flinches as the paramedic sticks him with the IV.

He manages to get a slight smirk from her. "Y/n." 

Another ambulance starts away from the scene, sirens blaring as it speeds away from the city block.  Firemen are putting out the last of the flames and police keep passersby away from the scene. Touya glances back at the building.  The pile of rubble looks as if it used to be an old hotel.  The entire city block seems to be in an uproar.  

"Touya," the woman calls his attention back to her, "Do you know where you are?"