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Summer was in full swing, and that meant the garden was booming. Umemiya felt the heat beating down on his back as he picked the vibrant red tomatoes from their stems. This batch would be especially good. The result of hard work and gentle nurturing.
Sugishita had just left for afternoon patrol with class 1-1. He puts on a begrudging act, but seems to be making friends with his peers. The boy has a good heart even if he has a hard time expressing himself.
Thoughts up in the clouds, he almost doesn't hear his phone ringing on the table a few feet away. Pulling off a glove with his teeth, he walks over to answer it.
Surprisingly, he sees Sakura’s name. His little brother has never called him before, almost always texting instead. From what he’s gathered the boy has basically no prior experience with phones. It's actually quite adorable how he struggles with them, blowing up when his classmates text to fast for him to keep up.
“Haruka! What's up?”
Silence answers him for a moment until he hears a faint, “Ume?”
He frowns, “Haruka? Can you hear me bud?”
“Ume, I-I need some help.” It's quite like the boy is talking from a distance away, and immediately all levity is replaced with concern.
His tone becomes serious, “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“Someone got me. I’m in a w-warehouse at the docks.” A deep stuttering breath, “I can't get down. It's gonna collapse.”
Umemiya is already running towards the door, grabbing his signature Bofurin jacket on the way. He pulls up his text thread with Hiragi to alert him to contact the class 1-1 vice captains.
“Haruka, stay with me bud. Can you tell me what you're seeing?”
Rasping breaths sound on the other line, "There's so much blood. I-I can't see past the metal bars.”
Umemyia’s heart stutters.
Blood. There's so much blood.
“Haruka, I need you to stay awake okay? Keep talking to me.” He tries to keep the panic he’s feeling out of his voice. He doesn't want to scare the boy anymore then he already is.
He starts rapid fire texting with Hiragi, asking if the class 1-1 captains have his location. Letting him know to head towards the docks immediately.
“Ume, I don't think I'm gonna make it out of this one.” He’s sounding fainter now, and that only increases Umemiya’s speed, now full on sprinting.
“No, you're gonna be just fine. I’m almost there, you’ve just gotta stay with me.”
From his right Umemiya sees the silhouette of Hiragi approaching rapidly and he falls into line with him.
“Ume, what's going on?” He sounds just as panicked as Umemiya feels. They are already getting close to the docks. “His vice captains said they only lost sight of him for 20 minutes. He was helping a kid get home.”
He can't bring himself to answer when he hears, “Ume, I-I can't keep my eyes open.” The boy breaks off with gut wrenching coughs.
“No, you have too. Can you see anything around you? Try to find a symbol.”
The docks come into view just as Haruka replies. “Keel” another cough, “We fought h-here.”
He turns to Hiragi, “Do you know what warehouse they fought Keel in?”
“Yes! This way.” He veers off to the right, Umemiya following close behind.
Over the phone he hears an ominous creaking sound, like metal falling into itself. “Haruka, we’re close bud. Just stick with us.”
They get to the right warehouse and slowly open the door. If something is collapsing they need to be careful not to make it worse.
Finally they get it open, and his heart stops at what he sees. Haruka is hanging upside down in a pile of metal rods from the collapsed railing. One sticks out from his thigh. Another through his chest.
He quickly runs up to grab Haruka’s hand. He can already hear Hiragi calling for an ambulance.
His little brother is cold to the touch, and Umemiya’s heart stutters seeing the wounds up close. It’s bad, very bad. His eyes are barely open and his chest rattles with every breath. Blood is dripping from his mouth, and to his rage, there are strangulation marks around his neck.
“Bud, I'm here. Can you look at me?” Umemiya asks gently, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.
“Ume. Y-you’re here.” Haruka’s mouth tips up in a barely there smile. “K-knew you would come.”
Tears start falling down Umemiya’s cheeks, his heart breaks. “Yeah bud, I’ll always come. You’ve gotta stick with me okay?”
“Heh.” A small huff of laughter, and the smile grows a bit. “Alw-ways the o-optimist.”
That startles a watery laugh out of him. “Yeah, but this time it's not that. I know you're gonna make it out of this. You’re the strongest, right?”
“Ha, you're right. I’ll d-do my bes-t.” His voice is barely a whisper now, and Umemiya can see his eyes slowly closing. He hears the EMTs behind them, but he can't make himself move. Not yet. He doesn't want to let go.
“I'm proud of you, okay? You're my little brother and I love you so much.” Umemiya squeezes his hand. Haruka gives a barely there twitch. “You’ve gotta stay strong and come back to us. We’ll be here waiting for you.”
He gets one final look at the boy’s face before someone pulls him away from behind. He almost fights back until he registers Hiragi’s voice by his ear.
“We’ve gotta give them room. They had to call in fire rescue to get him out.” His arm is still around Umemiya’s shoulder, and he pulls him further into his warmth. “Maybe we should leave. You don’t want to see this. “
“No.” Cold and final. He will be with him until he can't anymore. Haruka hates hospitals. Umemiya doesn't want to leave him alone with medical staff if he can help it.
Sakura had confided in him his disturbing past with medical professionals. Shady doctors that treated him like an animal to experiment on. Hours of missing time after being drugged for no reason.
Umemiya swore that day that he would do his damndest to keep him safe from medical professionals.
When they had gone the emergency room after the window incident, Haruka had tensed every time a doctor entered the room. Umemiya and Suo stayed with him until he got discharged.
Dread fills his chest at the thought of telling his brothers boyfriend what happened. “Hiragi, what do the first years know?”
Hiragi’s pinched expression becomes even more pronounced as he looks down at his phone. “They know he was missing by the docks and started a search party. I just let them know we found him.” He looks up to where EMTs are trying to extract Haruka. “I’m gonna tell them to meet us at the hospital when we find out where they’ll take him.’
Umemiya can't bring himself to look away from his little brother, but still nods. The only reaction he can give at the moment.
Haruka lets out a scream when the saw starts, sparks of heat spitting out as the bars are sheared through.
Finally, they get them all cut and the EMT’s immediately surround him, frantically working to get him stable to move.
“V-fib!" one of the medics yells, and Umemiya stops breathing. The seconds feel like hours as they shock him once, twice, before Haruka takes a gasping breath. Umemiya takes one with him, tears now falling heavily down his face.
They get him on the stretcher, calling out instructions as they go. He starts walking next to them “Can I come with? I’m his brother.”
The medic gives him a look, “If you stay out of the way you can come. He’s in a very delicate state right now.”
He lets out a breath of relief and nods, “I’ll stay clear.”
–
When they arrive at the hospital Haruka is immediately taken to an operating room, and Umemiya is met with the faces of class 1-1 asking too many questions for him to answer. Hiragi, seeming to realize that he couldn't respond right now, pushes him towards one of the chairs by the wall and does his best to explain the situation.
He tries to pay attention, but can't hear past the ringing in his ears. Haruka’s blood still coats his fingers, some of it on his pant leg and the long ends of his jacket.
He had just seen him this morning. They met up at Pothos for breakfast. Kotoha and Umemiya had teamed up to tease him about Suo. The boy had been red as a tomato, sputtering up a storm.
But once they calmed down, the three of them chatted peacefully, talking about their plans for the day. Umemiya remembers him saying he was excited for patrol. He had to give tupperware back to the granny on 6th street, and Umemiya knows she always lets him play with her cats.
He feels a presence sitting down to the right, and looks up to see Suo next to him. Umemiya isn't shocked to see the boy looking grim, his mouth turned to a straight line.
“How bad is it?” He says it like he already knows and is just waiting for the confirmation.
He lifts his head to look at the ceiling, not wanting to see the boy's expression when he says, “Bad. Really bad.”
Another tear falls down his cheek. It feels like a damning truth.
“But he’s gonna be okay. Haruka promised he would come back.” He says with conviction. He’s gonna put his faith in his little brother.
Suo doesn't seem like he has the same conviction when he finally looks down at the boy's face. A single tear had fallen from his eye, but otherwise his face stayed the same.
“I hope you're right.” Is said with finality.
—
The second Hayato got the call from Hiragi, he knew something was wrong. He had never heard the man so panicked. Dread filled him when the upperclassman said Haruka was missing.
He had just seen him. He was escorting a boy home, having been lost in the shopping district. His captain had even smiled at him before they left with a I’ll be right back.
How had he gotten himself into trouble in the twenty minutes Hayato took his eye off him?
After hearing that he was lost somewhere near the warehouses by the dock, Hayato had immediately split up his patrol group to cover more ground. They were half an hour into the search when Hiragi called to tell them they found him. His grim tone painted a dire picture.
He told them to meet up at the hospital. It would take them at least thirty minutes to get there on foot. Hayato takes off at a run while sending a text to Neire and his patrol group where to meet. They might beat them to the hospital if they run fast enough.
–
They do get to the emergency room first, and are directed to a waiting room. It's not long after that Hiragi and an almost catatonic Umemiya arrive.
He immediately asks, “What happened?”
Hiragi grimaces and takes four pills. “We found him at the warehouse you guys fought Keel in. A railing had fallen on top of him. He was still talking when we got there, but he was in pretty bad shape.” A sigh, “all we can do now is wait.”
Hayato’s heart turns to ice. He looks over at Umemiya, the man staring down at his bloody hands. That's Haruka’s blood.
He takes a deep breath before walking to sit down beside him.
“How bad is it?” He already knows the answer, but needs to hear it.
Umemiya looks up before responding. “Bad. Very bad.”
He closes his eye and feels a single tear fall. He hasn't cried in years. Umemiya says something else, but he barely registers it.
Haruka promised to come back. He says it with so much conviction. Hayato’s chest fills with sorrow.
“I hope you're right.” Is all he can manage.
—
Kotoha arrived half an hour after them. She scanned the room looking for one person in particular.
Neire and Kiryuu were leaning against each other on a loveseat, talking quietly with Tsugueru on the floor. Suo sat right next to Umemiya, straight backed with a grim expression, staring at the operating room light.
Hiragi came up to her before she could go to Umemiya’s still form.
“Hey, I’m glad you're here.” He gives her a hug, she holds on tight for a moment before pulling back.
“How is he?” She asks, trying to hide the hope in her voice.
“We don't know yet. There still hasn't been any news from the doctors.” Hiragi rubs the back of his neck looking over at Umemiya with concern. “Ume’s not doing well. When we found him, Sakura was in pretty bad shape. I think he might have gone into shock once we got here.”
She takes that in for a moment. It must have been very bad if Ume was in this kind of shape. His eyes seem distant and he hasn't even noticed she entered the room yet.
Kotoha can relate, her heart had stopped when she got the call from Hiragi that Sakura had been injured and was on the way to the hospital. She had been filled with a dreaded uncertainty on the way here. She can't even imagine how hard it must have been to be there when it happened.
She takes a deep breath and looks up to Hiragi, squeezing his arm before saying, “I’ll take care of him.”
He gives her a grateful nod. “Good, I still have people to call. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“Thank you Hiragi.” She smiles slightly before moving towards Umemiya.
Kotoha looks him over again. He has dried tear tracks on his face and looks like he hasn't slept in a week. As she gets closer, the blood on his hands and pants becomes clear.
Slowly, she kneels down in front of him and grabs his hand, squeezing softly.
“Ume, can you hear me?” Her voice is quiet, trying not to startle him out of whatever headspace he's trapped in.
Slowly his eyes come into focus, narrowing down at her.
“Kotoha.” He tries to smile, but it looks more like a grimace. “Did you just get here?”
“Yeah, Hiragi told me what happened.” She squeezes his hand again. “Do you want to come to the bathroom with me to wash your hands?”
He looks to the light indicating the operating room is being used.
“It’s going to be a while before any news comes, we should take care of this quickly to avoid missing it later.” She reassures him.
Ume meets her eyes again and rises to his feet with a reluctant nod. Still holding his hand she guides them to the closest bathroom.
She is already halfway done with his hands before quietly whispering, “Ume, can you tell me where your heads at? I've never seen you so out of sorts.”
He doesn't respond at first. He hasn't taken his eyes off his hands the entire time they’d been in the restroom.
“He was hanging off a pile of metal rods. Two of them impaled him.” His voice cracks. “I couldn't do anything but hold his hand.”
He meets her gaze, “He promised he’d come back. I want to trust him, but it was so bad. His heart stopped.” A tear falls down his cheek. “Our little brother is strong, the strongest person I know.”
Kotoha’s eyes burn.
“I don't know if he can make it through this one.” He ends on a sob, and falls forward to lean his head against her chest. All she can do is hold him close and she joins him in his tears.
They had only known the boy for less than a year, but he had wormed his way into their hearts. Haruka was so easy to love.
From the first day they met she knew he was different. A kind hearted boy with a chip on his shoulder, a goal to be the strongest.
She had seen him grow so much, maybe not in years but in life. As he discovered what companionship could be without violence. Like a stray cat looking for a place to belong.
“He’ll make it through,” She tries to sound more sure than she is, but Ume said he promised to come back. She’s going to trust her little brother.
He nods, squeezing her tight.
“Yeah.” He answers in a whisper, and they don't talk for the rest of the time it takes her to clean their little brother's blood from his hands.
—
It takes five hours before the doctor comes out with an update.
“Family of Sakura Haruka.”
Everyone in the room stands. Umemiya at the front of the crowd.
“I’m his brother.” He says with confidence.
The doctor looks over the rest of the room and nods. “He’s currently stable.” The entire room seems to sag in relief.
“The rods in his chest and leg had done significant damage, but luckily nothing hit the spine. He lost part of his lung, and his leg is fractured. It will be a long recovery, but if he can make it through the next 48 hours I’m confident he’ll be okay.”
He gazes across the room. The number of people waiting had grown over the last few hours. Almost the entirety of class 1-1 and the four kings.
“We had to put him in a medically induced coma to let his body rest from the extreme trauma. Sakura will be placed in the ICU for the time being. One of you can visit him in the next hour, but I suggest the rest go home to get some rest. It’s just a waiting game at this point. We will let you know when he can accept visitors.”
With that he exits, and Umemiya is left with a group of expectant faces.
“If you guys don't mind I am going to go see him.” He announces.
Most of the people occupying the room nod and start to gather their things. Hiragi squeezes his shoulder before he leaves with the rest of the kings.
Tsubiki gives him a hug and whispers in his ear. “Tell Sakura we love him.”
He nods and hugs them back tightly.
From the corner of his eye he sees Suo sitting in the same chair he’s been in since they arrived, looking down at his hands.
Umemiya walks over, lowering himself to sit in the chair next to him. “Hey.” He looks down. “I’m sorry you won't be able to see him right away. I know you guys just started dating a couple days ago.”
“Don’t. Don't apologize.” The younger boy takes a deep breath and meets his gaze and says in a whisper. “Tell him I’ll be waiting.”
With that he nods and rises from his seat, walking through the door, likely to go home.
Umemiya looks down and takes a heaving breath. Kotoha joins him at his side to take his hand while they wait.
He doesn't bother asking her to go home. She is just as stubborn as him when it comes to her family. She will wait until she’s forced to leave even if she can't see Hakura.
Not long after a nurse comes to bring him back to the ICU.
His breath catches when he lays eyes on his little brother. He’s covered in bandages and a tube runs down his throat, likely the only thing keeping him breathing at the moment.
He sits down in the chair by the bed and grabs Haruka’s hand. Umemiya can't help the tears that fall from his eyes.
“Hey little brother.” His voice cracks. “I knew you could do it. Just stick with us okay? Everyone is waiting for you.”
—
Over the next few weeks Hakura has a constant stream of visitors. Once word had spread over town, gifts started to fill the room. Get well cards, his favorite snacks, and flowers now cover every available surface.
Umemiya had asked his classmates to take most of the non-perishable items to his apartment, but the rest he left here. It will be good for Haruka to wake up to see the proof of how many people love him.
Umemiya, Kotoha and Suo had become a constant in the hospital room, taking shifts to make sure the boy was never alone.
The doctors had stopped administering the drugs used to keep Haruka in a coma two days ago and he still hasn't woken up. The doctor said that’s to be expected, and he should wake up on his own when he’s ready.
Umemiya is in the room alone when he wakes, head resting beside the boy’s hip while he holds his hand.
It twitches in his grasp and he sits up immediately to see Haruka grogily open his eyes with a groan. The lights are already down low but he still squints against them.
His brother takes in the room slowly until his eyes land on Umemiya. A smile graces his lips, and he feels like he can breathe again for the first time in two weeks.
Haruka tries to speak but all that comes out is a croaking whisper. The older boy quickly grabs him water and lets him take a few sips out of the straw.
Once he’s done he tries to speak again, and a few words make it past his chapped lips.
“You're here.” There is a tiny smile on the boy's lips and Umemiya’s eyes burn while he gives a wet huff of laughter.
He beams at the boy before answering. “Always. That's what big brothers are for right?”