Explosive Love. [Kokorou]

Battling the Shoguns Army

                                                   •Gorou's POV•

"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" I shouted to my troops, attempting to encourage them. How long have we been fighting? A few hours at least, but we couldn't give up now. The shogun army launched a surprise attack this morning, and we've been battling it out ever since. I sent a messenger to her Excellency, but he hasn't returned. I don't even know if he made it. A storm had started up not that long ago, and I knew it would delay his travels.

"General! 6 o'clock!" I spin around, sending an arrow straight through the shoulder of an enemy. I was getting tired, and it showed. That arrow was meant for the neck, and I rarely miss. I didn't dare take a break. I've been at the front lines this whole time, and how would my comrades react if I just left? I could never. It didn't matter that my body was covered with cuts and bruises. As the general of the Watatsumi Island's military, it was my duty to stay and fight. And that's what I did. At least, until I was stabbed in the shoulder.

I didn't even see it coming, someone must've thrown it from afar. It took me a minute to process what happened, but the searing pain came immediately. A sharp cry of pain escaped before I could stop myself, and I collapsed. One of my soldiers managed to drag me behind cover. He pulled out the spear as carefully as he could, but I still had to bite my tongue to stop myself from screaming. When he finally got it out,his eyes were wide and full of worry.

"G-genral! That wound looks really bad!" I wasn't really listening, but I knew he was right. I didn't need to see it, the pain sent my head spinning, and the downpour of rain didn't help in the slightest. "We need to get you medical attention! I'll tell the rest the troops to retreat and-" I quickly grabbed his arm, stopping him from continuing. We couldn't retreat, not now. We've been fighting for so long! I tried to tell him, but all that came out was coughs and Shakey breathes. He seemed to understand however. "Ok... We won't retreat, but you have got to go now!" I shook my head, much to his disapproval.

"Bow.." I managed to say, my voice raspy. He looked around confused. I guess I must've dropped my weapon when I got hit, because he didn't have it. So I pointed to the one on his back. "YOUR bow.." He seemed hesitant to give it to me, but slowly took it off and placed it in my hand. I wasn't too worried about taking his weapon, since he usually fought with a sword anyways. "I can still shoot," I stated, slowly rising to my feet, using a large boulder as support, "so we'll still fight!" 

He didn't agree with me one bit, but he nodded anyways, helping me find a stable place to stand. I pulled back my bow and aimed at the nearest enemy that I could see... but I couldn't shoot. My hands were shaking like crazy, and having my arm in such a position made my shoulder scream. "Damn it.." I slumped against the rock, my ears and tail hanged low in defeat. I was about to give the order to retreat when I noticed the rain has slowly stopped. Instead of big heavy raindrops gentle bubbles descended from the sky... I knew exactly what it meant!

"Her Excellency!" I cried as I spun around, and sure enough there she was. Although she was far away, I could still see her gentle smile and caring eyes. I tried to make my way to her, but as soon as my hands lost their support I collapsed once again. This time however, someone caught me.

"Careful old friend. Don't worry, she's not going anywhere."

"Kazuha!?" I asked, shocked. He simply smiled at me, giving my head a reassuring pat.

"We've brought reinforcement, you can rest. You've done a great job." I let out a shakey laugh at his words, relief flooding me. My body slumped in his arms, but he didn't seem to mind. I was so tired, and now I was confident that we would win. My eyes seemed to shut automatically. Now that I wasn't in the heat of battle, my adrenaline had worn off. Pain and exhaustion took over, and the only thing I could think about was taking a nice long rest... Maybe if I'm lucky I could also take a bath-

"INCOMING!!!"

That woke me up. My eyes flew open as I turned my head to the battlefield. Some sort of barrel had been launched into the air, and as soon as it landed it exploded into a cloud of purple gas. I watched as soldiers dropped as soon as they breathed it in, both allies and enemies. 

"What is that?" I heard Kazuha say breathlessly, but I didn't respond. I couldn't answer him anyways, I didn't know what the strange gas was either. I took in a deep breath, hoping I could pick up the smell and figure out what it is. The only problem was it didn't seem to have a scent at all. Most toxins has a specific smell, but this strangely didn't.

"Something isn't right... we need to evacuate everyone. NOW." The other boy nodded, but didn't seem to be focusing on me. I didn't realize what was wrong until another explosion sounded in the distance, and we both watched as another cloud of gas began to disperse. 

It wasn't adding up. Why would they continue to launch these explosives if it affected their own men? Lucky the gas didn't take long to fade away, and both sides sent medics out to figure out if their comrades were alive. Everyone seemed to understand that a temporary truce was in place, caring for the mass amount of soldiers affected was the first priority.

"General Gorou." Kujou Sara said from my right. I'd been so focused on what was happening around me I didn't even hear her coming. Kazuha immediately pulled out his sword, and I aimed my bow despite how much it hurt. She immediately put her hands up, an annoyed look on her face. "Calm down, I'm not here to attack you. I've come to call for a truce. These barrels were given to us by a supposed allie, but it's backfired... In case it wasn't obvious.

"What does the gas do?" Kazuha asked, his voice full of suspicion.

"I don't know! It was just supposed to be regular explosives, but they promised us it wouldn't affect our troops. It was too good to be true, I don't know why I even accepted their stupid-" Another explosion sounded, and all three of us turned out heads to see where it landed.

My heart dropped as I saw. Unconscious in the middle of the gas was no one other than Her Excellency. The barrel had landed right next to her. She was the only thing I could focus on. Kazuha and Saras voices became muffled and distant, while my heartbeat seemed to become louder every second. I couldn't think properly, which is probably why I made the stupid decisions to run straight to her.

"Gorou!" I heard Kazuha yell, his footsteps following close behind. I couldn't stop, not right now. I was about to reach her when his arms wrapped around my torso, stopping me from running head first into the gas. "Don't be dumb! If you go into gas you'll end up just like her!" 

"B-but-" My ears flattened themselves against my head, my breath shallow from all the running. Seeing her unconscious left me devastated. She's never been defeated in battle! Kazuha slowly loosened his grip, putting on a comforting but firm hold on my shoulder instead. 

"I understand you're worried, but we need to move away before we get affected as well."

"Yes, I know.." We both turned to walk away, but something stopped me. Nothing in the air smelled odd. "Do you smell that?" I asked the samurai, but he just looked confused. I don't know what I was expecting. My canine senses allowed me to pick up on things others couldn't. I sniffed the air again, the smell growing stronger. I didn't understand what it was until it was too late. 

"The gas!-" I managed to say with a gasp. My head suddenly started to spin, and I feel back into Kazuhas arms. 

"Gorou!? What's the matter?" Keeping me eyes open suddenly seemed like an impossible task, and my entire body felt like Jell-O. I guess having heightened senses also had it's downsides. I opened my mouth to tell him to move, to get away before it affected him too, but instead of saying words I let out a bunch of mumbled nonsense. I finally gave up, letting my eyes close as I fell unconscious.

🥀 AHHH IM SORRY IF THIS WAS BAD AND RUSHED IM NOT VERY GOOD AT WRITING FIGHTING SCENES. Anywho, I love this ship but not a lot of people write about it, so here I am! I hope you enjoyed, I guess- 🥀