Scars That Mend - Kiribaku Emergency Services AU

Benched

I woke to the sun peeking through my curtains, rolling over in bed to stop it from shining directly in my eyes. It was comfortably warm in my bedroom, and my bed felt deliciously soft as I snuggled into the covers. As I began to drift back to sleep, I awoke with a start.

Shit. I have work.

I threw myself to the other side of the bed, grasping for my phone on the coffee table. it was six-fifteen. I had to be at work at six-thirty. I hadn't set my alarm before bed.

Shit shit shit shit-

I flung myself out of bed and quickly scrambled to put clothes on, grabbing my car keys and endeavouring to find food at work. I was in such a rush that I barely managed to remember to wear shoes.

As I screamed through the streets, I attempted to button my shirt with one hand, narrowly avoiding a pedestrian who'd stumbled into the road. I waved a quick 'sorry' and continued, pulling into the parking lot near the station with a few minutes to spare. I sprinted all the way to the break room, throwing my denim summer jacket onto the coat rail and throwing my phone into my locker. I made it down to the rig just as Chief Aizawa was beginning the shift briefing.

"Kirishima. Almost late." He grunted, looking down at the clipboard in his arms.

"Sorry, sir!" I panted, doubling over to catch my breath. "Missed my alarm."

"Let's get on with it." He sighed, and started going through the morning briefing. As the Chief mumbled his way through assignments and notes from the previous night, I quickly looked around at the people on shift with me; Mirio stood by the edge of the huddle, Hanta was leaning against the front of the rig, and Rikido Sato stood beside the Chief, rifling in a bag of candy. 

At six-AM? I thought. I remembered that I still hadn't eaten, and decided I would grab something from the vending machines when I got a moment. 

We went on to do our usual set up, I eventually found something to eat, and before I knew it, we got our first call-out of the day. I received another warning from Aizawa about being hands-off, and we headed out.

Luckily, it was a pretty simple job - a small, semi-contained fire in a communal garden. The reason we'd been called was because it posed a risk of getting out of hand if left alone. We quickly dealt with it, then headed back to the station.

No paramedics, I thought as we left. No Katsuki.

We had a couple more call-outs, but nothing major, until the very end of the shift. Aizawa seemed skittish as he shouted orders over our radios, and called me to the rear of the garage once he'd finished communicating with the others. I watched anxiously as Mirio, Hanta and Rikido barrelled away towards the job, leaving me alone in the empty garage. 

I trotted towards the Chief, feeling anxiety rise in my chest. He was fully kitted out, pulling on the rest of his gear as he approached. I noticed Hitoshi appear beside him, struggling to pull on his own kit.

"Why are you just standing there?" He barked. "Get ready to roll."

I flinched, then realised what he was saying; the incident the others were heading to was bad enough that we needed both engines, and to call in another member of staff. 

I scrambled to kit myself up, making sure to remember every piece of gear - I didn't want to give the Chief the impression that I was slacking on safety. We climbed into the cab of the second engine and headed out, leaving Emi to handle incoming calls.

As Aizawa drove us towards the location, I glanced back at Hitoshi. He had larger dark circles than usual beneath his eyes, and he was gritting his teeth at every bump of the road. I leant back through the seats.