The Wounded

29

"He's crashing! We're losing him. Nurse!"

A nurse handed the leading physician a syringe filled with luminescent blue liquid and injected it straight into the pale thigh. The room went still, waiting to see a reaction from the laying body. The medical staff glanced at the heart monitor nervously, which went from minute spaced out beats -- to a regular beat. After a few steady beats from the monitor, the rhythm became erratic. 

"He's tachycardic! Nurse hand me the-"

The doctor went silent as the heart monitor paused in its erratic sounding. The monitor hummed out a steady pulse and the doctor grit his teeth. He shook his head, he will be more damned than he already was if he let this man die. The man jumped into action and took the offered paddles of the defibrillator from the adjacent nurse. He took a shallow breath before bearing his weight onto the paddles and nodded at the nurses. 

"CLEAR!"

__________________________________________

Masamune opened his eyes, and again he was in a different setting. He glanced around the room, he immediately recognized it as his old room. What was he doing here? He looked around the room and looked at the details that were so familiar to him. The books that were haphazardly stacked on the shelf, the blankets that were barely made, and the unique smell of comfort. 

Suddenly the door opened and in came his younger human self pulling a flushed Oda behind him. After a few seconds of the blushing Oda looking back and forth between his senpai and the bookshelf, human Masamune took action.  His past self pushed Oda to rest on the floor against the bed frame and sat next to him. "Tsk. Idiot." Masamune grunted before leaning in and kissing the flustered teen. 

 Masamune could only stare at his human self, comforting warmth spreading throughout his chest, painful ringing in his skull, and tingling in his lips. Why couldn't he remember this? Why did this seem so foreign, yet so familiar? All of these sudden questions overwhelmed him and his skull felt heavy from pressure. 

"S-Sempai." Oda whimpered, catching both Masamune's attention. "I-I love you." 

His past self let out a nervous chuckle.

 Current Masamune felt the air leave his lungs. His brain felt aflame. He didn't register Oda running out the door in tears or his confused human self. He didn't register anything, just pain. 

And then everything went blank.

 No pain. 

No thoughts.

 Nothing.

_________________________________________

An watched as Masamune fell unconscious into the chamber. The iridescent gel-like substance swallowing him alongside Onodera. She could see the chamber begin to glow, signaling its circulation of grace. Masamune didn't know it, but he had begun converting before the witch meddled inside his head. 

Meaning he had minute amounts of grace circulating throughout his body.

 She let out a sigh, resigning the flow of her grace to the orb. She had been giving the healing chamber grace to maintain Onodera's current physical and spiritual strength. However, she could not spare enough grace to heal him.

'This should have never happened. He should be awake, and with Masamune. Not like this, never like this.'  She would have to deal with the witch after she regained her strength. Not even her holy home could ignore the direct transgression against one of their brother in arms. 

"Remember, Masamune. The heavens have spoken and you both are required to live." 

An closed her eyes. 

She left the chamber where it stood, and returned herself among the heavens. 

________________________________________

Masamune's eyes fluttered open to see a sky of white. White feathers were falling from the sky and caressing his face, similar to a lover's kiss. A feather fell onto his fringe and he smiled as the feather released soft bursts of warmth onto his forehead. He went to pick it up, his long arm lifting above their resting place beside him upward towards the feather. It blew with the wind before he could grasp it. A flash of red caught his attention. In his peripheral, he saw a bruised and bandage wrapped figure standing not far from where he lay.

"Excuse me-" 

His voice was cut off as the figure stiffened and turned towards him. It was Oda. Suddenly the scene from before in his old bedroom replayed in his head. A sharp pain pierced his chest, and he could see blood seeping through Oda's bandages from where he sat. He closed his eyes as uncomfortable heat developed in his extremities. 

"Shh." 

The whisper of comfort sent a wave of coolness throughout his body. He opened his eyes and was faced with a close-up view of his companion. Oda had dark bags under his eye, his wrist appearing fragile, and he feared it would fracture from breathing onto it. Oda smiled down at him, his lips chapped and teeth bloodied. 

"I don't understand," he stated as loud as he could over the ringing in his ears. Oda smiled and Masamune would claim that he had never felt so soothed in his entire life. 

"I can explain later. For now, just feel." Oda sat beside him and lifted his fingers to drop onto Masamune's cheek. Immediate relief from discomfort prompted Masamune to close his eyes and lean into the touch. He felt centered around this person whom he had just met days before. 

A wave of wrong crashed through him, causing him to flinch away from the touch, only to return to his previous position by the onset of heat crawling up his lower extremity. What had caused that? 

It hadn't truly been days since their first encounter. He had seen Oda in that ?memory? from his human years. Why doesn't he remember? Why can't he remember?

The sense of familiarity was too strong for him to ignore. He knew this person. He knew this person? His brain knew everything about this person, he just could not access it.  He opened his eyes to look at the closed lids of his companion. It was almost like. . .

it 

was

his 

person?

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Hello, my lovelies!

I apologize for the long wait. I have prolonged this process to keep myself from hurting with where I planned to take my plot. Hopefully, I am able to write more for you all. I am humbled and thankful for your support. 

Please let me know what you think! 

Sincerely,

FBoS