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“Just a moment, Leader,” Bruce whispered as he tried to pull out the last shards of glass lodged in his skin. Kudou mumbled something. With a towel clenched between his teeth, it was impossible to make him out. He sat upright, as if he weren’t in excruciating pain and his back weren’t covered in wounds and stained with red blood. All the pieces of glass ended up in the trash can, which Bruce immediately kicked aside, and when he was sure nothing was marring his beautiful skin anymore, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Done.”
Kudou opened his mouth, let the towel fall to the floor, and exhaled. “Finally.” He sounded exhausted.
“I’m sorry.”
Kudou turned his head back. “For what?”
“For not protecting you.”
Kudou sighed. “Stop it. It wasn’t your fault. No one could have expected them to be ready for us.” It meant only one thing—they had a mole among them. Someone trying to jeopardize their chances. Someone who was telling All For One what they were planning to do. He needed a new plan. It was the first time they’d faced such a terrible force, one that seemed to have been plucked from the very depths of hell.
“This is going to sting a little.” Bruce began carefully washing the leader’s back. Once it was clean, he applied a cooling ointment to the wounds. He covered the small scrapes with band-aids. He bandaged the larger wounds. In a moment, Kudou was sitting before him, wrapped in white bandages that would become a part of him for a few days. “Done,” he said contentedly as he tied the last end and secured the bandage. “You should rest.”
Kudou opened his mouth to protest—they still had so much they needed to get done. But when he tried to say something, he groaned. The pain in his back was unbearable. He had grown accustomed to being injured, bleeding daily, constantly finding himself in life-threatening situations. This time, however, the risk was greater than he had anticipated.
Bruce looked at him with concern. Kudo reached out his hand. He said nothing. He didn’t need to. His inscrutable face was an open book to Bruce. He smiled contentedly, took his hand, and helped him to his feet. He was shivering slightly. He’d lost a lot of blood. There was a shortage of blood, and like a true leader, Kudou didn’t want to use it for himself, but for his soldiers and their families, who had been injured during the attack just like him.
“Come on,” Bruce said, walking over to their sofa, which had also served as a bed for the two of them for the past two months. There were two pillows on it and a new blanket with a plush cover. “You’ll have to lie on your stomach,” he told him as he gently laid him face-down on the couch and sat down on the floor himself. Kudou frowned at him. “We won’t fit in there.”
“Try your best,” said Kudou, and Bruce laughed. He loved how stubborn he was. He rested his elbows on the seat and stared at his face. A month ago, two fresh, bloody wounds had been added to his beautiful skin, leaving deep scars. Once they healed, they would become scars that anyone would call unsightly, but Bruce felt they added to Kudou’s masculinity and made him more of the fighter he was through and through. He lightly touched the wound on his forehead and slowly slid his finger down to his nose and cheeks. Kudou hissed. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” said Kudou, propping his head up with one hand and reaching out to his partner with the other. He stroked his blue hair, which was still damp with sweat. He needed to take a shower. But he wanted to wait until his leader fell asleep. He didn’t want to leave him alone in pain. Even though Kudou would never admit it, he appreciated it. Just like everything Bruce did for him. Their bond had been unexpected. But today, he couldn’t imagine being without him.
He tugged on a few strands of his hair. Bruce smiled. He knew exactly what that meant. He leaned in toward his lips and kissed him. He tried to pull away, but Kudo wouldn’t let him. He wrapped his arm around Bruce’s shoulders and pulled him close until they were forced to pull apart to catch their breath.
Bruce was breathing heavily as he rested his forehead against Kudou’s, cooling himself with his sweat.
“Can you feel it?” Kudou asked.
Bruce opened his eyes slightly. He nodded. The scar on his face wasn’t from a fight. He’d gotten it from the One For All transfer. “That power is calling you back,” Bruce chuckled. It was intense. He felt as though every emotion, every part of his body, was more intense. He perceived more sounds, moved faster, had greater stamina, a higher pain threshold. That power terrified him. Only Kudou could calm him down when he took his hands and told him that he had chosen him to carry and protect that power. Yoichi would have wanted it that way, he told him when he didn’t feel worthy of such power. One day, he would give it back to Kudou. Just as it was always meant to be. But for now, he was protecting it for him. He was a chest for his treasure.
“Protect it for me,” Kudou asked him and kissed him. This time gently, just a fleeting touch.
“Anything for you, leader,” Bruce whispered and hugged him carefully.