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Everything was so familiar. The storm, the danger, the way Kazuha’s heart tried to beat right out of his chest. He prided himself on his stoic demeanor. Calm, collected Kazuha, never shaken by even the most absurd occurrences.
But this… This was far too familiar. Kazuha couldn’t control the rampant emotions that threatened to rip his body apart as he frantically searched the ruins of the avalanche. Tendrils of wind tore through the air around his body, the ronin ignorant to the fact that he himself created them. His voice was hoarse from repeatedly screaming his friend’s name. His muscles screamed from the effort of lifting boulder after boulder. He should be here… That’s where the last flare came from. He should be here. Why isn’t he here?
Kazuha vaguely registered the presence of another. He was too busy digging until his fingers bled, desperation taking over every one of his senses. He could still feel Heizou’s elemental energy. As a fellow Anemo Allogene, they had that sort of resonance. He wasn’t dead. That was his only hope.
Finally, a sliver of burgundy hair revealed itself among the slew of brown and grey. Kazuha inhaled sharply and quickened his pace, spinning himself his own personal hurricane. Heizou’s body was cleared within seconds.
Kazuha slipped into what little first aid he knew. First things first, he assessed the scene. Thank the Archons it was safe. Then, his patient. Other than a thoroughly crushed ankle, there were no wounds that required immediate medical attention. With two fingers pressed into the underside of Heizou’s jaw, Kazuha set his line of sight to the dective’s chest and his ear above Heizou’s mouth and nose. He counted. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Heizou’s chest never rose. His pulse never pushed back against Kazuha’s clammy fingers. Fuck.
“He’s not breathing…” a voice said behind him. Kazuha was too distraught to care who it was. No pulse, no breathing, no idea how long he had been suffocating under layers of rocks and dirt. Kazuha launched himself into CPR anyway, adrenaline thrumming through his veins. There was still hope. Kazuha felt the faintest glimmer of Anemo push through his scattered senses. There was still hope.
For a while, the only thing Kazuha could hear was his own rhythmic counting. One hand interlaced with the other, he pressed into Heizou’s chest with force from his shoulders. So much force, in fact, that the first few compressions crunched as Heizou’s ribs snapped like twigs. Nausea rolled through the ronin with white hot revulsion, but he didn’t stop. After thirty compressions, Kazuha sat back on his heels and commanded the winds to fill his friend’s lungs, matching his own breathing to the rise and fall of Heizou’s chest. One. Two. Heizou didn’t start breathing on his own again. Kazuha went back to compressions.
He went for two more cycles of compressions and Anemo-assisted breaths before he started to lose hope. Heizou’s Vision was glowing dimmer and dimmer, his elemental presence fading faster and faster. It was futile. It was just like last time. It was just—
A slender hand placed itself on his shoulder. “I’ll take it from here,” a soothing, gentle voice said. Conveniently, Kazuha had just finished another round of thirty compressions, and began to call the winds again. He looked up.
What he did not expect, was the fox-like face of Guuji Yae Miko to be staring back at him.
“Guuji Yae…?” he asked breathlessly.
“In the flesh. Now, stand back while I work. This little one is going to need a shock to jumpstart his heart.”
Kazuha had heard of something like that. It was said that a surge of Electro power could restart a person’s heart after it had stopped. Doctors in Inazuma had been working tirelessly to create a device that could function like an Electro Vision and thus produce a similar shocking effect. Since Guuji Yae was indeed an Electro Allogene, she could technically…
He briskly skidded out of the way as the second gust of Anemo left Heizou’s lungs. Guuji Yae delicately knelt next to the detective’s unmoving body, her hands already sparking with the beginnings of Electro power. Then, in a single, brisk movement, she brought both of her hands down onto Heizou’s chest, transferring Electro energy from herself into the detective. Heizou’s body convulsed, back arching, then fell back to the ground, limp.
“Kazuha, dear, could you resume your compressions? I’ll need to prepare another shock,” Guuji Yae asked calmly.
He complied without protest. Was it normal for the first shock to fail? Was it safe to be touching a body that had just been infused with Electro? Kazuha pushed the questions out of his mind. He had to stick to what he knew.
After another round of compressions and breaths, Kazuha held up his hands to show that he was clear, Guuji Yae already in position to deliver the shock. Just as before, the air sizzled when Guuji Yae made contact, Heizou convulsed, then fell back. Kazuha went in for more compressions again, but the shrine maiden held up her hand.
Neither of them spoke, eyes staring at the detective. Had she given up? Was he beyond saving? Had all their efforts been for naught?
Then, somehow, Heizou’s chest shuddered violently as he took in a starved breath, his eyes snapping open. Kazuha leaned forward on his knees, hardly breathing himself. Heizou heaved and coughed as color seeped back into his face, his innate Anemo energy flowing through Kazuha’s senses once again.
Kazuha worryingly placed a hand on Heizou’s back, helping him remain upright enough to cough up whatever needed coughing up, but also laying down enough so as to not disturb his broken ribs. The detective shakily inhaled again, finally locking eyes with Kazuha.
“Kazuha?” he croaked, “You’re here. What happened?”
The ronin tried to speak but the words caught in his throat, and Archons, he broke. Hot tears of relief rolled down his cheeks in steady streams, sobs racking his shoulders and sending his breathing into absolute disarray. He was okay. He was alive. It wasn’t like last time. He was okay…
“My, that was quite the close call, Detective Shikanoin,” Guuji Yae purred from above them, “Always living on the wild side, I see.”
Heizou seemed to realize Yae’s presence only at the moment she spoke. “Close call…?” he muttered to himself. Kazuha watched as the figurative cogs turned in Heizou’s brain, tears slowly ebbing. The detective came to a conclusion rather quickly, which Kazuha decided to take as a very good sign.
“Ah, that explains the broken ribs then…” Heizou trailed off, a small smile gracing his features. He turned his head to speak to Yae more directly. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere any time soon.”
The shrine maiden chuckled. “I should hope so.”