The lost continent

Chapter 6

Bakugou’s hand is pressing over his lower stomach, and his face is shocked, eyes wide and blinking fast, his brows unfurrowed and his lips apart.

He locks eyes with Kirishima, and for the first time since he's known him, Kirishima sees pain. He sees fear. He sees disbelief on the face of the man he only knew as steadfast and, if Kirishima was being honest with himself, the man he half believed to be invincible.

Bakugou takes a step and the look on his face flashes into pain. He grits his teeth and throws his back against the ship’s side and slides down with a harsh grunt.

The crew looks on, frozen, until they break at once and step towards him fast.

Kirishima gets to him first, though, leaning down and tearing away Bakugou’s red-stained hands.

“A shot.”

A shot.

The captain’s been shot!

Through the stomach, my god, he's -

Get him some rum!

Kirishima looks from the wound up to Bakugou’s white face- his tan turned ashen. Bakugou stares back, still blinking fast, his pupils pinpoints against desperate orange. He head sways unsteadily as he tries to keep his vision steady.

“Stay- stay awake!” Kirishima yells. “Do we have a medical kit?”

“Do we?” Someone asks behind him.

“Get Mina- someone else take the wheel. Grab me the kit if you have it. Get me a knife and some rum.” Kirishima says.

No one moves.

“Do...do what he says. Ojirou or Monoma… on the wheel for now.” Bakugou breathes out, raspy and pained. The crew pauses still, but moves when Bakugou shifts with groan.

Kirishima focuses on pulling away Bakugou’s shirt and coat. He swallows at deep red spilling over his skin, sticky and pulsing over his right side, spreading everywhere.

Bakugou’s hands go to press it again but Kirishima pushes them away.

“I have to get it out.” He says.

“He needs to be amputated.” a crew member says. “It's a shot-”

“Amputate what?” Kirishima says, on edge. Where was the kit? The rum?

“Carve it out!”

Kirishima stares at the crew around him, realizing that they had probably less than the very basic understanding of medicine and anatomy.

“Here's what we have!” Mina says, dropping down next to Kirishima, showing him the open chest. There are scissors and needles, a pair of tweezers and fishing twine- no herbs, but Kirishima doesn't think those work so well anyways.

“Where's the rum?” Kirishima asks. He pulls the bandana off of his head.

“If he drinks it his heart will be weak, we can't operate then.” Sero says, crouching on the other side of Bakugou.

Kirishima wants to scream, but he takes a deep breath and pulls off his shirt. He starts ripping it into long strips as he talks. “Alcohol will sterilize it. Usually procedures only sterilize the wound after, but we’ve been in so much soot it might be better to do it before hand as well.”

“Sterilize?” Mina asks.

“To clean it!” Kirishima says. “To pour over the wound!”

“But the rum-” someone says.

Bakugou frowns deep, scowling from pain as he struggles to speak. “Get him… the godforsaken fucking rum.”

Mina runs off then, quick. The crew still stands around Bakugou but Kirishima keeps pushing them back so Bakugou can have room to breathe. He's sweating now, beads rolling down his forehead, dripping down the point of his straight nose.