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Battles, as usual, have a nasty habit of happening unexpectedly.
Chihiro has a certain attraction to those. Not because he throws himself into every battle (though Hakuri is not sure), it's just that he constantly finds himself in the place where trouble starts. But the auction is a huge problem in itself, so it's no surprise that a fight catches them on their way to such an interesting goal. Oh, if it were a regular massacre, Hakuri would be calm. He knows that Chihiro is capable of anything and that he's strong. The problem is...
The problem is that things are going badly, to say the least.
Hakuri likes Chihiro because he's strong, smart, and confident. Even in front of him, Hakuri doesn't feel ashamed of himself, because why would he feel bad about his weakness when there are people like Chihiro? You can't surpass them anyway. So that's why Hakuri is calm. But Chihiro is still an ordinary person, so he makes mistakes... Sometimes he tries to handle himself too much, and if at first Hakuri doesn't notice it (he thinks Chihiro never gets tired), eventually, he starts to see his little weaknesses, like a tremor in his hand, an unhealthy paleness, or small habits like the way he flinches when he hears loud noises. All of this makes his image more human, but it also shows how distant Chihiro is from Hakuri, deliberately keeping himself isolated. He's afraid to make new connections and keeps his distance from everyone but Char.
Being human is a good thing. In his family, Hakuri doesn't notice it. Chihiro, on the other hand, is still human underneath his mask of an indifferent killer.
But humanity makes you weaker.
So that's how Chihiro loses the fight that starts... Hakuri watches it from a distance, he's not a fighter after all, but when he notices it, he rushes straight there, forgetting everything in the world. He pops right up to the fateful fight site: it looks like a high ground, and Chihiro falls on its edge on his back. His head hangs down, blood running, and Hakuri feels his heart skip a beat. If he were stronger, he'd do something!... The problem is, that Hakuri is a weakling.
Chihiro, as if he senses him nearby, barely opens his eyes and looks at him with a hazy gaze, causing Hakuri to start trembling even more. This isn't right. It shouldn't be like this. It's wrong...
"Run away... Save... the sword..."
That's where Chihiro is out of words, and only blood pours out of his mouth next.
Hakuri feels his heart pounding crazy. He looks at Chihiro lying right in front of him, then stares ahead, at the man who is hurting him... His legs twitching in fear, his sense of reason screaming at him to run as far away as his legs will allow, but instead Hakuri suddenly makes the stupidest decision his mind can make. Indeed, it's pure suicide. Probably beats even his attempt to get into the first fight between Chihiro and Hiyuki when he voluntarily gets under her attack.
Hakuri yelps... He rushes first to the blade, grabbing it and then clutching it in his teeth, before dashing over to Chihiro and picking him up in his arms like a prince rescuing a princess, except, of course, it was usually the other way around in their tandem, but... Chihiro weighs much lighter than he looks. That cloak does make him look a lot more menacing than he really is! That's funny! Hakuri doesn't know what makes him shake, whether it's from a pretty good joke or utter horror.
Chihiro stares at him with a look like he's watching a person committing suicide with his last strength. It's a very impressive gaze. This time he's shocked for real!
"What are you... Doing..."
I have no idea, Hakuri wants to shout, but he only clenches the blade harder in his teeth. No idea at all!
He doesn't look back and runs away as fast as he can. The enemy seems to follow, but something distracts him, and Hakuri thanks all the gods in the world for letting him get as far away as possible.
But there's a sacred meaning to it. Chihiro says the most logical thing, and Hakuri understands why: his father's legacy is so valuable to him that he's willing to bet his life to save it. And if Chihiro dies, someone will have to carry on his revenge, only no longer to avenge Rokuhira Kunishige, but Chihiro himself. Unfortunately, only two people fit all the parameters: him and Char, and... Hakuri won't let Char do it! But he doesn't want Chihiro to die either, because revenge is stupid, it would kill him! He says it a hundred times, but Chihiro won't listen, he's a stubborn fool! A moron! Hakuri can't believe he's saying it, but he is!
He jumps over the steps and nearly rolls down the stairs, trying to keep Chihiro as steady as possible. His jaw starts to hurt from how hard he's grasping the hilt with his teeth, and swords aren't made for this, so he soon has to stop to hang the katana on his belt. And then to continue running again. Fortunately, it's so chaotic around that no one seems to think of Hakuri, and he runs extremely fast as far as possible.
He doesn't know when he starts to run out of breath. After a while, his breathing comes out with a hiss, and his legs start to ache, but Hakuri can't afford to stop, because this time he's paying his debt (again, but), he's saving Chihiro because he's helped him so many times! Who cares if he's tired? He would run around the equator several times to repay him and help him! Hakuri looks at Chihiro in his arms with horror, thinking to ask him if he should run slower to avoid the shakes, but Chihiro's head is tilted back and Hakuri feels something wet and sticky on the palm of his hand, which he uses to support his back. Involuntarily, his legs begin to slow down as Hakuri looks up into Chihiro's face, and each step feels like it takes forever.
Step. He leans forward.
Step. He sees a drop of blood rolling down Chihiro's face.
Step. One eye is open, unable to see, and the other is not visible because of the blood.
Step. He's unconscious. Hey, Chihiro. Can you hear me? Answer me, answer me, come on!
As if getting a kick from life itself, Hakuri starts to run even faster, ignoring the pain in his legs and arms, everything. Someone tries to hit him, but he dodges and keeps running and running until black spots start dancing in his eyes. In his head he mixes all the prayers he knows into a single mess, he remembers all the gods that are responsible for happiness, for safety, for... For... For anything! Please don't let Chihiro die. It can't be like this. Chihiro is helping him so much, he can't be allowed to get hurt. But he's already losing consciousness, this is the first time he's in such a bad condition in front of Hakuri, the first time...
Live. Come on, samurai! You must live!
Open your eyes!
Hakuri is thinking so hard that he doesn't realize he's trapped in a corner. There's only a window in front of him, but from behind he can hear someone rushing after them. Hakuri is too aware of the hints from fate, so he doesn't even slow down. When he gets to the window, he turns on his heel and crashes into it with his back, shattering it. If his memory serves him right, it shouldn't be too high, just the second floor. That's no problem for Hakuri. He would break every bone in his body just to get Chihiro out! He doesn't care about himself, he's not the one with such a huge and dangerous goal ahead of him...!
A second of flying surrounded by glass feels like an eternity. Hakuri sees the shards hovering around, and the sunset light reflects in them, multicolored... It's beautiful. Hakuri pulls Chihiro tighter to him, covering the back of his head with the palm of his hand, and huddles with him before the impact with the ground knocks all the air out of him. Luckily, he seems to fall on something (garbage?), and rolls off of it for a couple of meters before crashing into a wall.
To say that everything hurts is an understatement. But Hakuri has no time to cry. He clenches his teeth tighter as he feels the pain in his leg as he tries to stand up, tries... but his strength fails him, and he nearly unclenches his arms. Such an accident scares him even more, and Hakuri falls to his knees, staring at Chihiro in horror.
It's the first time he's seen him so pale, dead calm. With bright blood on his face, the sight is frightening. Hakuri grabs his face and tries to feel for a pulse on his neck, but he has no idea how to do it because even his own neck still doesn't answer as to where exactly something should be pulsing. So the best he can do is try to bring Chihiro back to consciousness. He sits on top of him and tries to shake him, slaps his face a little, and does everything (that he learns from the movies) — but without success. Chihiro doesn't respond at all and continues to lie there with his eyes tightly closed, with this frightening dead seriousness on his face.
Oh, come on. He can't just die. He can't! His vision gets blurry, but Hakuri doesn't stop, he keeps shaking Chihiro until there's no strength left at all, and he just doesn't rest his face against his chest, sobbing. This can't be happening! They do so much together, and escape from so much danger! Chihiro does so many things! He can't die in this filthy place! He shouldn't die at all, no way! Char will be upset! And Hakuri... But Hakuri is getting used to his life being full of disappointments, but not at such a cost!
"Chihiro..."
He smells of blood and sweat. Iron. Those are the smells of death.
"Chihiro, don't die, please..."
Hakuri feels a faint heartbeat under his clothes. A beat, another one. He thinks it's getting quieter.
"Who will return all the swords...?"
Don't just keep living for revenge
"Char will be upset! And Shiba-san! And me! Even the witch from Kamunabi! You owe her a fight!"
Just then, Hakuri hears a husky sigh above his head.
It's unlikely, of course, that the words about Hiyuki have that effect on him... But Hakuri is still glad when he sees Chihiro's eyes widen as he stares at the gray sky for a few seconds, as if not realizing what's going on, before lowering his gaze to Hakuri. Then he coughs up blood, and all the frightening majestic image of a samurai fallen in battle is gone, leaving room only for the realization that Chihiro is, in fact, just a boy the same age as Hakuri, who is now in a lot of pain.
"... heavy."
"Ah! Sorry!"
Hakuri jumps to his feet, yelps as his knee aches, and looks around. He's in a panic. Never before has he felt such fear before. This is something completely new!
They can't hesitate! If they keep sticking around in the middle of a place like this, they'll be found! Hakuri lowers his eyes down to where Chihiro is trying to get up, but he doesn't have the strength even for that. Yeah, that's what Shiba-san was talking about, that self-destructive tendencies thing. Hakuri decides to overcome his aching knee and picks Chihiro up in his arms again, making him visibly embarrassed, even though he still can't think straight. Hakuri's legs buckle under the burden. Oh, his knee is going to hurt later.
"Don't strain yourself! The back of your head is hurt! You're all broken... But don't worry, I'll quickly hide somewhere and ask Shiba-san to help us! He can teleport three people at once, right? Well, if anything, I'll wait..."
"Why... didn't you leave?"
Chihiro looks him straight in the eye. A question like that makes Hakuri feel shocked.
"What do you mean? Do you think I'm just going to leave you like that...?"
Just thinking about it makes him wince. Chihiro nods silently. Even such a simple movement is difficult for him.
"But how could I?" Hakuri blinks in confusion.
"You'd save... yourself. And the sword... It's risky..."
Suddenly, Hakuri realizes that he's starting to get angry. Not playful annoyance, but a specific kind of anger. He looks at Chihiro, all beaten up, he remembers the image of the samurai who saved him, and the fact that, along with all his good traits, Chihiro is still doing something suicidally stupid, suddenly makes him so mad that he can't hold back and yells:
"Screw you, stupid! How can I just leave you alone?! You're gonna get killed! You saved my ass twice! Two times! And you'll save more! Who'd ever think I could just leave you there?! Who would do that? If I had come back without you, Shiba-san would have killed me and it would be deservedly! You idiot!"
Apparently, this isn't the kind of response Chihiro expects, staring back at Hakuri in shock, and this time his shock is distinguishable, not like the first day they met. He remains silent and Hakuri is suddenly glad. He'd better keep quiet! What the hell is he thinking?! Gee, how often does Shiba-san think like that...?
He holds Chihiro close and feels his fingers cling to his arm, and then Chihiro rests his head on Hakuri's shoulder, making his clothes instantly soaked with blood.
"Don't pass out!"
"... just go already."
Well, that's much better!