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It was always quite an annoyance when one of the police decided to interfere in a fight with a Ganglar. Kairi had been fighting one alone, Umika and Tooma dealing with another threat elsewhere. And then to nobody's real surprise, Keiichiro showed up and joined the fight.
It was exhausting having to fight him and the Ganglar. Kairi really wished he would have been left alone. Would make most of this job so much easier than it was. But, why would he ever get his prayers answered like that? Nothing ever went his way.
"Watch out!"
Kairi was surprised to hear Keiichiro call out to him in alarm. Unfortunately, the call came just a bit too late and the next thing he knew, he was thrown backwards into a half-wall and collapsed to the ground. His transformation fell apart and the world was spinning.
Kairi tried to take in his situation, but was unable to deduce much in his current state. He felt like he was on the verge of passing out. Just how hard had he been hit...? Was he bleeding? He thought he felt blood but couldn't tell for certain.
"Phantom thief..." He heard Keiichiro speak, but couldn't tell where it was coming from. Kairi was just grateful he had been in his disguise when this fight started. This would've not been a good time for his identity to get revealed.
Kairi managed to lift his head and try to look at what was going on. He saw Keiichiro chasing the Ganglar off. Surprisingly, the Ganglar didn't put up much of a fight and fled the scene. Keiichiro turned his way now and started approaching, untransforming. Kairi didn't know what more was to come.
He couldn't keep his head up any longer and it fell back to the ground. His eyes fluttered shut as the pain in his body got worse. He heard Keiichiro's voice, but it was too hard to make out. Everything faded to black not long after.
Keiichiro stared at the phantom thief in front of him. He had a hand on his side, resting just above his handcuffs. He could take him in. Could reveal his identity to the world.
But...
Keiichiro's gaze traveled to the blood on the wall. He took in the thief's appearance. His head seemed to have bled. His right arm was torn up from the wall as well. He looked horrible. No wonder he passed out.
Keiichiro let out a sigh and his hand fell from the cuffs. "I can't... not like this..."
He knelt down and carefully lifted him up into a sitting position against the wall. What exactly did he do? Should he call an ambulance? Wouldn't that make him have to arrest the thief then?
Keiichiro ran a hand across the back of the thief's head, searching for the blood source. Thankfully, it seemed to be quite minor of a wound. He could probably do with just some bandages and rest. But, once again, how did he do that?
He couldn't exactly bring the thief to his apartment either. There wasn't much he could do. Keiichiro cursed. He needed to do something but every option did seem to include revealing the identity of the thief. And he couldn't just leave him here to go get some medical supplies. What was he meant to do?
It felt like cheating to use this opportunity to reveal the identity of one of the phantom thieves. He didn't earn it. And... he was afraid of how the treatment of the thief could be in this state. While the townsfolk liked the phantom thieves, the police force definitely would not be very kind to them.
Keiichiro grabbed the thief's arm and took a better look at the damage. His sleeve had been cut and was barely a sleeve at this point. The wall had really torn it up. He had scrapes all over his arm. Most were bleeding to a degree. Not a pretty sight to see.
"Keiichiro?"
He looked up. Noel stood nearby, staring between the two of them in confusion.
"Uh..." Keiichiro didn't know what to say. "He... got hit pretty bad by the Ganglar. I..."
Noel walked over and examined Kairi. "Nothing too major."
"Yeah, but I can't exactly treat his wounds."
"I'll handle that. You really aren't trying to figure out his identity though?" Noel looked at him curiously. "Isn't that the goal you have?"
Keiichiro couldn't meet his gaze. "It's not right to do it like this. I didn't do anything to get the right. Besides... he's hurt. He needs help, not getting arrested."
"Well, what a surprising change of heart from you." Noel teased. "May I take him then? I'll patch up his wounds."
"O-okay." Keiichiro nodded. "You better not be trying anything else."
"What else would I be doing?" Noel smiled innocently at him.
Noel carefully picked up Kairi. Keiichiro stood up. Noel went on his way. Keiichiro watched him walk away and then turned and left as well. He swore to not say a word of any of this to anyone right then and there.
If anyone asked, he had not run into the thief here. No one needed to know. And Noel better not blab to anyone else about this.
Noel brought Kairi back to his room and tended to his wounds. Umika and Tooma returned and he briefly went to explain the situation. Both were equally as confused by the outcome. Noel didn't have much of an explanation as to why this had happened. Would they ever understand it entirely?
After explaining what he could, Noel went back to Kairi and finished treating his wounds. His head was wrapped and so was his arm. Both should hopefully heal easily. He would just have to be careful the Keiichiro didn't see the wounds.
By the time he was done, Kairi had begun to stir. He blinked a few times at the harsh light and then sat up, wincing in pain.
"Feeling alright?" Noel asked.
"What... happened?" Kairi whispered.
"Keiichiro opted to not take you into custody due to your injuries. You're quite lucky." Noel explained.
"He... let me go?"
"Yeah. His morals got the best of him." Noel chuckled.
"Interesting..."