Replay

4-8 Junction (Pt 2)

A/N: A year-long break since the last chapter's cliffhanger was pretty cruel of me, I'll admit. I apologize for the delay and thank you all for coming back.

I graduated and moved to the east coast to start working. I started writing this fanfic in my final year of high school and always found it ironic that I later ended up transferring to a university in LA. Fingers crossed I don't get isekai'd like Blake lol.

I'll chip away at this story over the weekend, but I still can't predict how busy I'll be, so I'll give myself a generous deadline of New Year's Eve.

Chifuyu had dismissed Takemichi's baseless claims that Kisaki could kill Baji last night as paranoia. That four-eyed coward who couldn't bench half his weight wasn't capable of even laying a finger on Baji. To Chifuyu, Baji was invincible. Even against the toughest of opponents—like Taiju—he'd always jump back up with that shit-eating grin and throw another punch, or if hours had passed since the fight, hunt his opponent down to demand a rematch. In that sense, Chifuyu had never seen Baji fall.

But this time, Baji might never get up again. Chifuyu shouldn't have underestimated Kisaki—both his capabilities and his cruelty.

Chifuyu's knees struck the ground as he grabbed an unlit section of the beam and struggled to shove it off his Captain. It was impossibly heavy. His eyes and fingers felt as if they were melting at the intensity of the flames, but it must've been far worse for Baji, who'd passed out face down, by small mercies. He was still breathing, although shallow and quick. His trapped sleeve under the burning wood shackled his hand only millimeters away from the flames. Luckily the fire hadn't spread to the rest of his uniform, but the cloth could become hot enough to scorch—or even worse, melt.

A chemical stench filled his nose. Chifuyu held his breath and bent forward to throw his weight into his pushes with increased urgency. His body ached all over from fighting Taiju, but he gritted his teeth and ignored the pain. Baji had it far worse.

Someone wrenched him back by his collar, cutting off his air. "Chifuyu, stop that!" Kazutora dragged him off the burning plank. Chifuyu flailed in the air and elbowed his captor in the chest. "You're—ow—only hurting yourself! Your hands are raw! Just get his top off!"

He coughed and rubbed his throat. "There's no time for that!" he croaked back. The fire in the rafters above them kept burning, and every wasted second was another second until the roof collapsed on them.

Hurried footsteps alerted him of Mitsuya's approach. "Stop arguing!" he barked. They quieted under his unusual intensity, and Chifuyu twisted himself out of Kazutora's grip. "Take his jacket off, it'll be even worse if his sleeve sticks to the burn." Without waiting for their response, he dropped down and began undoing the long sash tied across Baji's back.

Chifuyu clicked his tongue but kneeled beside Mitsuya and slipped his arm under Baji's chest to feel for his buttons. Baji's skin was clammy with sweat and possibly blood. He kept his hand as flat as possible for the least disturbance and watched the others once he undid the last button.

Kazutora had taken off his own jacket to beat away the spreading flames on the thick plank trapping Baji, while Mitsuya was still removing Baji's sash, his sweaty fingers slipping on the knot.

"Use this." Hakkai's sister offered Mitsuya a small pocketknife, and he wasted no time slicing through the sash and pulling it out of the straps on the uniform. Chifuyu then tugged Baji's uninjured arm out of the jacket, and Mitsuya carefully guided his other arm out from the sleeve. Chifuyu winced upon seeing the burn fully.

His jacket had hidden the swollen, dark red splotch extending from his wrist down to his elbow, marred with blisters and pockmarks. Despite the heat having burnt away patches of skin to reveal white tissue underneath, there was almost no blood for one of the most gruesome injuries Chifuyu had ever seen.