Chapter Text
He doesn’t know how long it’s been since the debris blown by the blizzard separated him from his friends. No matter how loudly he screams for them they don’t answer. He can only hope that they’re better off than he is right now. Mitsuhiko hasn’t been able to stop shaking for a while now; his fingers numb underneath his gloves as he digs out someplace to shelter from the driving winds. Surely…surely Conan would find him and the others. He has to stay put.
Mitsuhiko dug until his hands stopped responding to his brain's commands. He stared at his poultry shelter, barely big enough for him to squeeze into. It would have to do. He pushed his back against the far wall of the dugout and wrapped his arms around his legs, trying to conserve as much heat as he could. He squeezed onto what was left of his part of the rope. The rope that was supposed to keep them together.
“Everyone…” he murmured through chattering teeth
As the blizzard worsened, tucking his face against knees didn’t do much to stop the bitter winter winds from tearing at his skin. Mitsuhiko doesn’t know how long he fought to stay awake as he listened for any sign of his friends but eventually his consciousness began to waver. In between his bouts of consciousness he noticed dimly his shivering lessening. ‘Not good…’ he thought, remembering when they had been trapped in a freezer truck. ‘Although….this-this is entirely worse.’
Mitsuhiko blearily opened his eyes and to his shock, three familiar shapes seemed to phase into existence not far from him. His heart lurched with hope. Sure enough Conan, Ayumi and Genta came into view; marching through the knee deep snow. All three grinning at him as they met his eyes. Mitsuhiko grinned back, swallowing his tears.
Conan held out a hand to him,
“Good job hanging in there.”
There was a slight warble to his friend’s voice. Mitsuhiko didn’t blame him. He was pretty shook up too. He staggered as he accepted Conan’s hand to pull him up. Genta reached down and placed an arm around his back, steadying him.
“T-This is nothing.” he stuttered, teeth still chattering from the cold.
Conan rolled his eyes slightly. Ah, there was more of their fearless leader. Mitsuhiko couldn’t help but let his grin grow a bit bigger. Out of all of them it seemed like he and Conan got the worst of the exposure; although they would all need to go to the hospital once they got to safety. Mitsuhiko’s legs were barely functioning as is, so Genta had to help him as they walked. Sometimes half carrying the lankier boy. Although it was hard to tell in knee high snow Mitsuhiko caught Conan wincing as he moved his right leg on more than one occasion. And his hands hadn’t stopped trembling since he found them.
All four kids sighed a breath of relief as they got out of the deep snow and onto the roadway. Mitsuhiko was trembling again but that was good, right? He saw Conan wince as he put his full weight onto his right leg then shifted so most of his weight was on his left. Without the high snow, Genta was left supporting most of Mitsuhiko when the group moved. Conan let out a breath,
“Let’s get inside and find the heat and phone.”
‘Yes, please.’ Mitsuhiko thought.
Conan got to the steps of the cabin before them. Mitsuhiko doesn’t know why he didn’t think anything else could go wrong today. They were only a few paces behind him when snow from the roof of the cabin dislodged and tumbled down towards Conan. It was like it happened in slow motion. Conan’s head turned upward, a small gasp leaving him as he instinctively took a step back. Next to him Genta sharply inhaled; as if he was about to scream. Ayumi ran forward, her arm outstretched as she called for their friend.
“Watch out!” Mitsuhiko cried, lunging toward Conan.
Their eyes met briefly; Conan’s filled with horror and sorrow before the snow swallowed him. Mitsuhiko fell to his knees; Ayumi and Genta just behind him.
“Conan-kun!”
“Oi, Conan!”
Mitsuhiko dug his hands into the snow in front of him,
“Say something!” he cried.
No answer. Stomach plummeting in fear Mitsuhiko began to dig, arms trembling with effort as he called for Conan over and over again. His other friends knelt next to him and began doing the same. As each call went unanswered and there was increasingly no sign of their friend their hysteria grew. They were so close to safety! To rescue! Mitsuhiko let out a choked sob; his body giving way and collapsing onto the snow they dug out.
“Mitsuhiko-kun!” Ayumi gasped.
She rushed to his side; hovering and unsure what to do. He heard Genta sniffle once then, “I see him!”
“What!” Mitsuhiko and Ayumi yelped.
When they looked over to him Genta was on his hands and knees staring intently at the space they had been digging in. He pointed a finger,
“There’s something blue in the white!”
Mitsuhiko got down on his level and gasped. Genta was right. He doesn’t know what part of Conan’s jacket it is but it was his. He turned to his friends with urgency,
“Do you guys still have part of that rope we used before?”
They exchanged glances and nodded, holding out their pieces of rope. Mitsuhiko exhaled a sigh of relief. He held out his own piece and explained his plan,
“We need to tie these together again and then I’m going to use it to get to Conan-kun.” he looked between the two of them, “When I tug you pull us out.”
Genta swallowed but nodded, his eyes shining with determination. Ayumi frowned,
“But…Mitsuhiko-kun, your wounds-“
“Won’t be anything if we lose him.” Mitsuhiko interrupted.
Ayumi quieted at that. Biting her lip, she nodded at him. It didn’t take them long to get the rope tied back together. Mitsuhiko tied one end to his belt loop and, with a nod to his friends, began to crawl through the opening they made in the snow. He kept calling for Conan as he crawled but still got no response. He could see the jacket better now. It was definitely a sleeve. As he moved closer he shifted the snow as much as he dared. Not wanting their escape tunnel to collapse.
“C-Conan-kun.” he shuddered, finally able to grasp the sleeve of his jacket. He shook it, “Conan-kun!”
And still no response. Tears built up in the corners of his eyes. He could barely see Conan’s head past his chest with all this snow. Was he even alive? His heart heaved at the thought. Swallowing his grief, he began to shift the snow so they could pull Conan out. One eye on his work; the other on his friend. There! A faint rise of his chest! He was breathing! Mitsuhiko could have fainted from relief right there but Conan needed him right now. He gently maneuvered him the best he could so his neck wouldn’t get bent at an awkward angle. One arm braced around Conan’s upper body; Mitsuhiko gave the line a tug.
The speed and strength at which his friends pulled them out surprised him. He held Conan close as they swiftly extracted him. It wasn’t until he was out that he understood why. Rescuers had come while he had gone to get Conan. Agasa-hakase must’ve understood Conan’s frantic call earlier. He sighed in relief and collapsed backwards. His friends' distraught cries falling on deaf ears, he was already unconscious.