The Days That Must Happen

ARC IV - ACT XVI

"do something! do something!"

inosuke jumped from one leg to another, not that he recognized it, but at that moment anxiety ran through his bones. in broad daylight, tucked away at the opening of a bay, three unconscious bodies lay on the sand.

rengoku and uzui cursed their fates, trying tirelessly to pump some air into the lungs of their two comrades. every other pump, uzui would turn to your body, desperately trying to get sanemi back to them so that he could switch to focusing on you.

"quick!" inosuke cried, knowing time was valuable in a situation like this.

snapping to him, uzui groaned. "go and get help!"

causing a bolt of electricity to run through the young males body at the raised voice, inosuke nodded. "okay!" he turned and ran off towards the small shops he had seen before.

"goddamnit." rengoku shook his head. "come on shinobu." he continued pumping her chest, being sure to apply just the right amount of pressure.

it had been close to a minute, sanemi was the first to cough up a gurgle of water.

"there he is!" uzui laughed triumphantly, quickly bringing the male into a sitting position to help with the cough up of water - patting his back. "let it all out man, come on."

once assuring sanemi could sit up on his own, uzui quickly moved towards you. "come on gotouge." he rubbed his hands together before beginning the process all over again.

over with rengoku, another pained cry escaped his lips. the girl in his care was showing no signs of life, body growing colder and paler by the second.

running loudly, inosuke eagerly called out his return with the newly found assistance. "i found help!"

rengoku sighed, shaking his head. eyes casted down as he focused on the girl. "i cant get her back! i- i don't know what to-"

"here." a calm voice soothed.

softly pushed aside, the soft hands of a woman took over rengoku's job, pressing down softly on the chest and abdomen. "if you do it in just the right spot..." she shifted her hands, balling them into fists. "although a little dangerous.." with one swift inhale, scaring rengoku half to death, she pressed down with her weight. "-it should! work."

shinobu's body jolted, water spilling out of her mouth as rengoku sat her up quickly, patting her back and rubbing her shoulders in an attempt to soothe the burning of the girls throat.

you lay motionless with the exception of each jolt from the force of the attempt at saving your life. you lay staring at the sky with half lidded eyes and a partly open mouth.

your brother lay beside you, his body shivering in the night breeze. he turns and gives your grieving profile a sympathetic frown, and he slowly reaches for your hand.

inosuke grips your cold hand in his, bringing it up to smack the top of his head with as the emotions he was feeling became too much. "wake up! wake up!" his head was soaking wet, salt making it sticky as it dried in the sun - despite this, it made your chest warm.

your chest... warm?

"WAKE UP!" tengen exclaimed, frustrated as he pumped your chest once more. in a sickening jump start, you coughed up death's tea, the swallowed water rushing out in a disgusting mix of muck and old food.

inosuke and tengen gasped, the older man not wasting a second to flip you over and let you cough up what was left of your near death.

shinobu let's out a loud sob that rips everyone from the task at hand, those who could muster up the energy to turn could only gasp.

"s-" she gasped a sob, hands barely holding her body weight up as she stared up at the woman who had returned to her the gift of living. "SISTER!"

the water stirred.

mitsuri sits beside you in silence, another day having risen and fallen with yet another hell to have faced. she had been giving enough to sit and watch the sunset with you - you who had been zoned out close to, if not, the whole time. she said nothing, having brought you a fluffy blanket she had found in one of the included beds in the house.

she itches to talk, questions tickling her lips, but she does her best to bite them and swallow them down, opting to be the supportive shoulder that everyone in the house seemed to have forgotten you also need.

you blink, staring at just one of the many stars that now brightened the sky. "you can ask." you say simply, almost convinced that the words had never even came out from just how long you had sat in this comfortable but deafening silence.

she turns to look at you, not at all surprised that you could read her silence so clearly - was she not your book after all? if this horrible fate was true, not only was she a book you knew word for word, but actually built up.

"what do you know."

the question is loaded, it's asking for more than just the situation you guys were currently in. you know this.

a moment of silence follows and she allows for it to catch up, having chosen long ago that she would be the peaceful confrontation you so desperately wanted to hate.

"i know that shinobu and kanae deserved better." you reply.

she doesn't reply to that. having not been the answer she was after, she let you figure out the proper answer on your own.

"i know that on the day you guys appeared and infiltrated my apartment, i wrote some alternative, happier timelines on those pages sanemi rejected." you continued, never once ripping your gaze away from the stars. despite this, your eyes watered. "i know that on one of those pages is shinobu with her sister at the beach."

at this, mitsuri turns back towards you, her eyes wide in wonder.

you continue, voice shaking. "kanae was never supposed to come back but i did it with pointless hopes that if shinobu could return, her life would not be tainted by the fate my hands decided to give her. i felt like the devil."

"and now she's here..." mitsuri sighed. "so the fates you wrote for us are now coming to reality here?"

nothing came in response to her question, as there was really no solid answer to what was unknown to even the author.

she turns to you again, eyes softer this time around. "what did you write for me?"

your eyes finally snap away from the stars and turn to her and for a second goosebumps tickle her back.

"i wrote you a partner that would stop at nothing to give you the happiest, most comfortable life. away from judgement and rules, somewhere you're able to grow into who you've always truly wanted to be."

she stares back, eyes racing with indescribable emotions.