safeword

seven

Everything hurts. He can't even catch his breath.

He doesn't even remember how he got here - staring up at the cloudless night sky with clouded eyes. His head was buzzing and nothing felt real. Maybe he was dying. Hopefully. 

"Hawks!" 

He can hear his name faintly - can also hear footsteps that sound like they're a million miles away, then they're right in front of him. 

"Shit, man, are you okay? You fucking fell out of the sky!" Kirishima doesn't touch him though his hands start to reach out. A fall from that height could easily render his partner paralyzed, if not dead. Luckily, from this angle, he can hear labored breaths. 

"...let... him... e-escape,"

"What?!" 

"Don't... let... him... escape." Keigo finally flits his eyes to look into Kirishima's. A weak sign of life. 

"Forget that, the police have him detained." Kirishima checks for obvious injuries - there's no blood, the one good sign in all of this. He couldn't move Keigo from where he was, so he played a waiting game. Behind him, emergency services were in pursuit, but the scene was, unfortunately, a mess.  "Shoto got 'em when I saw you fall. Thanks for holding off so long, man. You really saved us." 

It makes Keigo smile enough for now as he slips his eyes shut again. This post-fight bliss was peaceful, almost too peaceful. There were no thoughts in mind to make him crazy. 

"Keep your eyes open, listen to my vo-

He can hear Kirishima's voice right until it blurs and he's in a dream again.

"Fuck." Kiri whispers, more to himself than to Keigo. He was stuck here. There was rubble everywhere - he really took his toll on the city. 

"Is everything okay down there?!" Shoto is exhausted, but he still scaled piles of rubble to return to his comrades. He had lost control of the situation, he wasn't supposed to let the villain from his grasp, but he fumbled. Keigo was on the ground because he failed. 

"He's out cold!" 

Internally, he curses - but silently, he slides back down towards Kiri and Keigo. "Is he dead?" Is all he manages as he falls to his knees next to the blonde. From here he can see just how much damage the pair took in his wake and it crushes him, but all he does is swallow around nothing. 

"Not yet." 

Together, Kirishima and Shoto gather the rest of their strength to help move Keigo to a vantage in which he could be helped. They ran the risk of paralyzing him, but his life was much more important than that right now. He just needed to be out of there. 

As they draw closer to the street, they can hear the hype of onlookers and sirens as far as they can hear. It's shrill and distracting, but the pro-heroes keep their wits as they manage Keigo onto a stretcher laid out and waiting for him. There were cameras - typical. Everyone must have seen the fall. 

He hopes the news hasn't spread across the ocean yet, and he didn't know where his phone was, but he knew if it did and he had it, Touya would humble him deeply. He needed to be humbled. He missed his brother. 

The rest of the night was a blur, Shoto could only let himself remember right up until Keigo was being lifted to the Hospital where he couldn't follow. It's the next morning when he finally lets himself turn on his phone. He's at the Hospital, stiff with bandages around his chest and back. Keigo's room is grand like he knew it would be - stark white and clean. It brought him peace of mind.