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“Taiya,” Mira said, crouching down and placing a hand on one of Taiya’s shoulders, “we have to go.”
Taiya stayed where he was, hunched over Boondorio with tears, blood, dirt and rain streaking his face.
Jou also crouched down next to him and said, “Mr. Taiya, please. We can still mourn together in the-”
The rain nearly drowned out his voice, but they were still able to hear as a voice rung raw said "no" while his body slumped back into embracing Boondorio’s body.
“Then you're getting put in the back with him.” said Sakito, crossing his arms.
Taiya clung onto Boondorio with what looked like a strong enough grip to where moving him like this would only make already bad injuries worse.
The way this looked was beyond... well, he's seen stuff like this, unmoving bodies and people mourning, but he never knew them. Seeing people he actually got to know all looking haunted. Taiya looking so small from where he stood, which itself wasn't any farther than a bit to the left of Mira. Byoon D's best friend twisted up to the point where you'd have to be in denial to think-
Slam.
Genba stepped out from the driver’s side door of the truck he was able to procure on short notice. Ironically, dropping the human disguise but adding a scarf to cover most of his face and a baseball cap to cover his ears made for a good disguise in its own right.
“Okay,” Mira said as she shakily got back to her feet. “If we make sure everything’s secure, then you can stay in the truck bed with Boomer if you want.”
"Hold up, I wasn't even bein.."
Sakito trailed off as Taiya slowly rose up enough to nod.
Jou sucked in a breath. “That would be against multiple traffic laws…"
Mud splattered as Mira dug a foot into the dirt. “Then I’ll drive as carefully as I can!"
"But he's hurt! Putting him back there while we're driving isn't a good idea!"
"I know! What else can we do though?"
Sakito whistled. “Wow, Miss Pink. Didn't know you had the heart of a smooth criminal.”
Mira whipped around to face Sakito and said, "It's not a crime to make sure my friend doesn't get left behind!"
"I got that!"
"Anyway, I'm gonna see if Genba's got anything to make that truck bed a little less terrible..."
As Mira ran off to do just that, Sakito looked over at Byoon D, who up until now stood like a statue. Registering that it was about time to go seemed to shake him out of it long enough to say, “I’ll help” before dashing off all too quickly.
So, instead of standing here feeling useless, Sakito joined in on the heavy lifting.
-
Sakito glanced back at the covered up truck bed and Byoon D speeding behind. If it weren’t for that, he could have been fooled into thinking everything was frozen in time.
Mira’s hands gripping tightly to the wheel as part of her frowning face reflected in the mirror. The reflected part of Jou’s face was nearly the same, and he could imagine that he’d be clenching a fist just like- no, that guy betraying was a whole other can of worms, but he couldn’t unsee it anyway. Sakito only had to turn his head to get a full look at what expression Genba made, only to find that he was craning his neck to look behind at the truck bed.
“I still don’t get it,” said Sakito. “Why’d we let him stay in the back like that? He’s not a cor-”
Genba snapped his head to look at Sakito, pulled out a lollipop, unwrapped it, and tapped it against Sakito’s mouth.
Fully encircling his mouth around the near sickeningly sweet taste of artificial lemon got him to shut up. When he was a kid, he never been much of a fan of lemons. No matter how sweet it was he could never stop tasting the sour, almost bitter aftertaste. Still, that’s what made for real lemons, as artificial lemon flavours tended to just have a bit of tanginess. That should be better, but it felt off.
Sakito bit down on the lollipop, and though the crunch made noise in the silence surrounding him, it didn’t break off. He didn’t turn away from looking at the window as he muttered, “Coulda just told me to shut it, y’know.”
“It worked, did it not?” Genba asked.
Sakito turned his head to face him, biting down on the lollipop hard enough to reach the stick.
“Whatever, it’s not like I’m wrong. I could’ve just dragged him in here. Whether he likes it or not, he's not dead!"
“I don't like any of this either," said Jou, "but that was the only way we got Mr. Taiya to move at all."
Genba took in a deep breath as he unwrapped another lollipop and popped it into his mouth. Within a few seconds, the human disguise was back on, but his gaze remained fixed on the washed out view from the window.
Sakito had a lot to say, but he joined the silence as the overly sweet aftertaste stayed on his tongue.
-
The rain tapered off by the time they reached the middle-of-nowhere warehouse that was to be their new base. The clouds didn’t let up though, and with it being almost sunset too, there wasn’t much of , if any difference compared to if it was closer to the middle of the night save for splashes of light.
Everyone crowded around the covered truck bed.
The process of getting that off wasn’t long, even if the general air of restlessness hanging over everyone made it feel quite the opposite. Byoon D was barely keeping much of a lid on once the tarp was fully lifted to reveal what was underneath.
A miracle hadn't come over their way during the drive. Boondorio's body was still the same.
And Taiya... Taiya’s bruised face was pressed up against twisted steel. His hair covered his eyes. His lips were parted. When each of them tried calling him, he wouldn’t respond.
“N-no, he can’t be-” Mira whispered, moving quickly to check Taiya’s pulse. She then sighed. “He’s fine…”
With him being asleep, it would be much easier for Genba to peel Taiya off of Boondorio and into a position where he could carry him inside quickly. His hand was iced over with fresh cuts and dried blood. Yet his head was burning up at the touch, which meant he probably already had a fever. Taiya was alive but most definitely not in a condition to do anything. Though Genba knew that once he woke up, Taiya would be pushing himself forward to do what’s on his mind.
Genba reluctantly pushed that to the side to stay focused on the now.
In any other circumstance, one of them would be enough to carry a fallen teammate. However, everyone was worse for ware right now as their bodies screamed with every movement. So, there was a silent agreement as Sakito lifted Taiya’s legs and Genba did the same by gently encircling an arm from under Taiya's back. With a few more adjustments, Genba and Sakito, walking shoulder to shoulder, were able to carry Taiya securely.
Taiya mumbled a lot, and every word reverberated against Genba’s chest with how pressed up his face was to it.
Then, he heard something that was very much understandable. Something that got Genba to nearly fumble a footstep.
“...Chasshiro…”
For a moment, Genba and Sakito glanced at each other with a barely contained heated storm of mixed emotions. Scrunched up faces and somehow more tears laid bare.
The way Taiya said it wasn’t pained in the slightest. Sleep and soreness and it being muffled did little to obscure that. There was… longing. Chasshiro wasn’t here though, hadn’t been for a while, or to see how his words about being the enemies of the world would play out. Genba wanted to be mad. Not now though. Right now he needs to be here by Taiya’s side.
That’s one difference that separates this from being a horrific bout of deja vu. Not being alone. Taiya, Mira, Jou, Sakito, Byoon D, Miss Shirabe… they still had each other, and unless his wheel was fully torn from him, abandoning them all was never an option again.
When they got inside, Genba let Sakito carry Taiya fully as he rummaged through his bag for the first aid kits. This warehouse should have sleeping bags too, so he moved to try and find the container amid rows and rows of them that had it too.
He was okay.
Everyone will be okay.
"Oh, here it is," said Mira, motioning over to an open container.
He quickly pulled a sleeping bag out. "Thanks Mira."
Patching each other up went without much conversation, though Taiya still muttered bits and pieces of a dream.
-
Genba's body ached and fatigue clawed at him. Even if he needed and wanted it, he stayed awake.
Barring Sakito, who volunteered to stand guard, everyone else in their little circle of sleeping bags were fast asleep.
All Genba could hope was that when his body finally decided to let go and sleep, it would be a sliver of respite in a long road of sorrow.
He already felt a wave of homesickness that he hadn't let fully crash over him settle in.
So, quietly as he could, Genba got out of his sleeping bag and made his way outside. Fresh air and a glimpse of the stars that were slightly more visible out here might help quell the unease.