Twisted Fate | Akutagawa Ryūnosuke ✓

21 | Bullet to the Heart

it's past midnight so i apologise if
things don't quite make sense ;-;

~

You woke up feeling incomplete.

Fragile. Broken. As if you'd been smashed to pieces and glued back together again with things in the wrong places.

"How the fuck am I still alive?" You muttered with a groan, turning your head to find Chuuya blinking at you with a drowsy smile. His eyes were still hazy, as if he'd just woken up.

"You tell me," he responded, shaking his orange-brown bangs over his eyes. "I thought you'd died during the night."

"Yet you still stayed," you pointed out, lifting your lips into a feeble smirk-turned-grimace. "Ugh, shit." You doubled over with a sudden shock of pain that erupted everywhere at once.

"Hey - don't strain yourself too much," Chuuya warned you offhandedly, flicking a speck of dust from the collar of his coat. He glanced up as you groaned again; every movement threw you thrashing under a new wave of pain. "Uhm, you doing okay over there?"

"Fucking brilliant," you forced through gritted teeth, easing yourself back against the headrest with laboured breaths. Chuuya stayed quiet for a long moment, taking his chin between his hands with a contemplative frown. Once the pain in your chest had abated to a more bearable ache, you lifted your eyes to meet the executive's, speaking in a hushed voice. "Where's Akutagawa?"

Chuuya gave a snort, pressing his hands against his kneecaps and leaning forward in his seat. "After all that's happened you're still asking after that angst brat?"

You dropped your gaze, toying absentmindedly with the hem of your shirt. The bandage around your chest was tight, restricting your lung capacity and it making it difficult to suck in enough air. Though you ought to be thankful you were still able to breath at all. Whoever had fixed you up had done a damn good job at keeping you alive.

"He's not here," Chuuya replied after a long moment, shrugging loosely. "I don't know where he went, but he left yesterday. You'd have to look for him yourself."

You groaned under your breath, pushing the covers off your body and manoeuvring yourself over the edge of the bed. "I suppose I will then."

Chuuya rocketed out of his chair in a blur, pinning his arms either side of you to trap you against the bed. "Woah, I was only joking. You're not well enough to get up yet."

You planted your hands firmly on his chest and pushed him away with a dark scowl. "I'm fine, so get off me, Chuuya."

"You can't go out like this," he insisted, blocking your arm again.

"Since when did you care?"

Chuuya's face darkened, shadows prowling along his cheeks. Sharp canines were exposed as he bared his teeth. "Since Akutagawa asked the ADA to help save you."

Your breath fell short of your lips as you struggled to comprehend his words. "What? He... what?"

Chuuya's nose twitched as he set his jaw forward, seemingly reluctant to explain. "The agency has an ability user who's able to heal fatal wounds. It was obvious you were going to die, so Akutagawa went to the President for permission. I don't know what he said, but he somehow agreed." He shook his head and cursed loudly under his breath. "Liasing with the fucking enemy; what the hell was he thinking?"

He went all that way to save me?

The red-head moved away from you, straightening out his jacket. "Damn right he did," he replied, taking you by surprise. Had you said that aloud? "So you can't say you don't mean anything to him anymore. It's more than he would've done for any of us."