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Bryan is gone.
He helped Yuta to the doctor in the back and was quickly whisked away upon arrival. Bryan kissed the top of his head with the promise that he would be back shortly.
That was almost an hour ago now.
And Yuta knows for a fact that nearly everyone has cleared out of the building by now.
Yuta hops off the trainers table and nearly doubles over in pain. The doctor had taped his midsection tightly and it was nearly impossible to breathe.
He was just so angry.
Yuta wanted Claudio to hurt the same way that he was hurting- to hurt the same way that he hurt Bryan.
But Pac grabbed that hammer and brought it into the ring.
Yuta grabbed it as soon as he noticed, not really thinking. He wouldn’t use it.
But he wouldn’t allow Pac and Claudio to use it either.
Tears start to gather in Yuta’s eyes as memories of the match start to plague him. He rubs at his face angrily with his hoodie sleeve, not willing to risk anybody seeing him cry.
He’d been on his own for a good portion of the match. They, to no one’s surprise, had attacked Bryan’s neck almost immediately.
Bryan’s adrenaline kicked in somewhere towards the end of it all and he swooped in for the pin after Yuta had done a decent majority of the work.
Then Mox stormed the ring and the fighting between the duo spilled into the back.
And Yuta would have been fine in a normal outnumbered situation.
But this was far from normal.
He was outnumbered. Outnumbered against family and former allies.
What happened next only comes in flashes as Yuta stumbles across the street to the hotel, gear bag in hand.
Marina putting him in a chokehold.
Pac and Marina restraining him.
The sharp pain as Claudio hits him with the hammer.
Over.
And over.
And over again.
He was let go quite suddenly, limply dropping to the mat.
Then Bryan was there.
He chased the others off, Yuta knows that much.
Yuta remembers reaching out for him, one arm outstretched and one arm curled against his ribs.
But Bryan never turned around.
He was too busy celebrating.
Celebrating what? Yuta doesn’t know.
But he does know that Bryan didn’t turn around until he finally managed to grab the heel of the other man’s boot.
Yuta enters his and Bryan’s hotel room quietly, setting his gear bag in the chair by the door. After a quick glance over the room, he sees that Bryan isn’t here.
He climbs into bed, drawing the blanket up to his chin.
Bryan had been so important to him- to his career.
But was he ever important to Bryan?
Back when the man had his sights set on Daniel Garcia, Yuta had been immediately pushed to the back burner. He only saw him once or twice a day if he was lucky.
And things have been reverting back into that.
Bryan wasn’t there at ringside for his matches when he was finally cleared to travel after Mox attacked him. He wasn’t there even though he knew that Yuta could potentially be a target.
Yuta blinks and a tear slips over the bridge of his nose.
Memories of recent events play out like they’re on a movie screen. Yuta training Bryan to help with Swerve. Yuta stepping up to Swerve to defend Bryan’s honor.
Yuta severing his ties with his family after they betrayed him.
The door clicks open and Yuta freezes, eyes snapping shut. He forces his body to relax and slows his breathing.
“Yuta… you awake?” Bryan whispers, waiting a bit before he speaks again. “Yoots?”
Yuta doesn’t move.
The memories don’t stop.
Yuta was always there for Bryan… but when he really needed him most- he wasn’t there.
Bryan slips into bed, the dipping of the mattress confirming the action. An arm wraps itself around Yuta’s midsection and it takes everything in him not to hiss in pain.
Yuta doesn’t know what to do now.
Mox and Claudio had changed, sure. But they never waivered with their love for him. They were there for his matches. They attempted to check up on him through unanswered texts and phone calls.
They did things that Bryan never thought to do.
God, what has he done?