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Fukuchi was defeated, everyone was safe. Except there were so many people dead, or injured permanently. One of the people permanently injured was Jouno Saigiku.
Tecchou had been glad that it was all finally over, until he saw his partner. Bloodied, and barely breathing, needing to be rushed to the nearest hospital. He almost died, but death might have been a mercy on him, as deep wounds marked up his chest and back. Some even cut through his spine, severing nerves, and making him lose feeling from a bit above the waist, down.
The Hunting Dogs were no longer trusted by the government, and the procedures to give them their inhuman strength were undone. Which only made Jouno weaker, leaving him fragile in a way he’d never been before. Tecchou had taken him in, while looking for a new job. They ended up living in a small two-bedroom apartment.
He’d thought Jouno wouldn’t want to share a room, until he realized that the white haired man needed help with most tasks. Being in separate rooms would just make it harder to care for him. Sure, Jouno could use his ability to get out of bed, and around the apartment. However, there were some times that he didn’t realize his legs weren’t mist too.
Which was only realized after he reached down to adjust them, and found them missing. Then he had to get carried back to them, to reattach his legs to his body. It was a bit startling the first few times it happened, and it didn’t take long for Jouno to give up on using his ability unless he needed the bathroom, or to get from sitting in the wheelchair he had, to some other surface.
The first few weeks after everything was the worst for the former Hunting Dog. He didn’t want to be babied, and wanted to do everything himself. But Jouno learned quickly that he couldn’t take care of himself, and had to give into Tecchou’s care.
When he needed to be bathed, Tecchou would carry him to the bathroom and clean him. If he was hungry, Tecchou would make him food, thirsty, he’d get him water or another requested drink. Jouno was quick to get frustrated, and found himself crying for the first time in years.
He only allowed himself to when he knew Tecchou had gone out for groceries, after taking care of everything Jouno would need while he was out. Sitting in a bed, with no feeling in his legs, even though he knew his hands were brushing over them, was what finally led him to tears.
Jouno missing being able to do things for himself, and he knew mourning the loss of usage to a limb, or limbs, was normal. Yet it made him feel weak, in a way he had never felt before. Once the tears started, he couldn’t get them to stop.
He clutched his arms, as if hugging himself, as sobs tore out of him. After a while, he just wanted his body to stop crying, to avoid the embarrassment of Tecchou getting home to Jouno sobbing. However, he wasn’t able to stop, and eventually the sound of the front door opening could be heard.
In the distance, he heard the bags of groceries being put down, and the door being closed. Then, Tecchou was rushing to the bedroom. Entering with concern written into every part of him, and he dashed towards him, quickly checking for injury.
“Jouno, what’s wrong?” Tecchou’s voice just hurt him more, such strong worry coming from a single sentence.
“Everything! I can’t even fucking walk anymore,” he sobbed out, his whole body shaking.
Warm arms wrapped him in a hug, as Tecchou tried to figure out how to comfort him, “That must be really hard… but you need to remember, that even though you can’t walk, you can still do some many things. Heh, you still know when I’m about to put foods together that you think don’t belong together, and can hear my heartbeat from across the apartment. If you had to, you could use your ability to do anything you wanted.”
The attempt at comforting him just made Jouno cry more, “But I’m weak, and I can’t even do the most basic of things. Fuck, I even lost my legs when trying to use my ability to get around!”
“You’re not weak, you just are struggling with something out of your control. Plus, we both got a pretty good laugh out of losing track of your legs when you decided to use your ability to get around,” he tried to joke, hoping the comment about Jouno’s legs didn’t make it worse.
“I guess,” he weakly laughed, “it was kind of funny hearing you running around looking for them, and then the sound of you tripping over them.”
Smiling at him, Tecchou pulled away from the hug, glad that Jouno was doing a bit better. “I’ve got to go put away the groceries, but I’ll be right back.”
Nodding, Jouno then raised his hands to wipe away his tears. Even though he couldn’t do as much as he used to be able to, Tecchou didn’t care. He still cared about him, and wanted to stay by his side. It brought a small smile to Jouno’s face, as he heard the shuffling about in the kitchen.
Maybe he could grow used to the lack of feeling, and use of his legs.