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Shin’s leg screamed in pain and the was buried deep as it slashed at him. A dozen people’s minds screamed as bullets flew and knives clattered and Shin suddenly couldn’t stand.
He shot the man who he’d missed, lying limp on the floor who and been pretending to be unconscious. In all the noise Shin had been unable to place the mind until it was too late.
Come on. Get up Shin, stand up, come on. They need back up, Sakamoto needs your back up, just stand. He begged himself. And somehow, his body listened as he rewrote his own mind to stand.
He made it just in time to shoot a grenade off course, sending it crashing through a window rather than at Lu’s feet. She shot him a grin before cartwheeling at an enemy. He didn’t have a chance to give a weak smile back, to focused on protecting himself. He felt his head pounding now.
Shin, where’s Heisuke?
“Almost set up, Sakamoto!” He called over the fighting. “Reinforcements kept him busy!”
Shin feels himself stagger a little, struggling to keep his balance as he threw a punch into a man’s abdomen. The man dropped, going fetal.
“Lu, duck!”
“Woah!” He heard the girl shout somewhere to his left. Shin regained his balance, blinking spots from his eyes.
Are you alright?
Sakamoto was closer now, and Shin felt the man’s eyes. He just gave a nod in response. A knife whistled past his head and Shin watched as it went hurdling toward Lu. He saw snap shots of his friend, ducking an incoming strike, right into the knife path.
“DOWN” Shin commanded, screaming in his own mind. He must have said it outloud as instantly Lu dropped to the ground, sweeping the legs of her opponent.
Shin’s legs suddenly collapsed, the world going all wobbly, and Sakamoto was there, pulling him behind cover.
Shin, I’m in place!
Don’t sneeze don’t sneeze don’t sneeze..
“Lu, cover us!”
How are they so strong?
Mr. Sakamoto’s got it under control!
Where the hell are the rest of them?
The words where all jumbled together, and Shin felt his ears ring and head pound. He groaned.
Shin, focus on me.
He blinked slowly, trying to force himself to focus up at Sakamoto.
“Heisuke’s in place,” he found himself mumbling. Sakamoto inexplicably frowned down at Shin. There was bang and the whistle of a bullet and the sound of someone dropping to the floor. “Oh,” was all Shin could say.
Your leg- Sakamoto started. Shin didn’t focus on the rest, instead pulling his gun to shoot the knife from a man’s hand. Without looking Sakamoto flicked a pen at the man, knocking him out.
“It’s bad I know. We can deal with it later-“ there was abrupt image of Sakamoto slamming the young man’s head into the desk they now had partial shelter behind and Shin winced, his headache growing.
“Okay, fine.”
You’re bleeding out. I’ll pack in for now and we can get you patched up better later.
“I’ll cover-” Shin started to say, his words slurring. Suddenly there were five echoes of Sakamoto filling his vision. Shin blinked very slowly, very carefully, as if they would go away on their own.
Something warm trickled down his nose and the world was static and the Sakamotos were looking at him expectantly. His vision blurred and fuzzed and Shin was pretty sure something hurt, or maybe everything hurt?
Lu appeared in his vision, a dozen copies of her as she moved, protecting a trail of transparent versions in front of her. She wasn’t the only one. In his warping, fuzzy vision, behind Sakamoto’s broad shoulders and Lu’s worried gaze, was his father. Not Asakura, not the man whose name Shin now carried, his real father.
“You’re dead,” Shin whispered, voice cracking like it had all those years ago when he’d gone searching for someone to replace the hole Sakamoto had left in his life.
“Shin? Who are you talking to?” Lu’s words cut through the haze. Shin couldn’t take his eyes off the man.
“He’s over using his powers,” Sakamoto said evenly. Shin’s father was saying something, he strained to hear it.
“He’s been reading everyone’s find, and I think he saw the future?”
“Everyone’s f’ture,” he mumbled sending an irritated look at Lu. Suddenly his father was standing behind the girl.
“Are you the reason I ducked even though I was about to dodge that punch?” The question felt distant, and would take far too much effort to answer.
“He was making himself walk, with this wound your body should function. Something’s wrong with his powers now. Or blood loss is getting to him.”
“He’s seeing something.”
“I know. It’s okay. Get Heisuke to come inside, and cover Shin and I. I’ve got him.” Shin’s vision blurs pink and the girl’s gone, but his father remains.
“Don’t just stand there, you bastard.”
“Shin, I need you to look at me,” Sakamoto ordered, aloud. Years spent fighting by the man’s side made Shin’s gaze drift down to Sakamoto at his side. The man sat perfectly still, staring down and Shin.
“He’s not there. You need to stop using your powers, they’re killing you.”
“I know, but I don’t want dad to go,” Shin said, squeezing his eyes shut, and tasting metallic blood on his tongue.
“I know,” Sakamoto soothed, and for the first time he registered the large hand holding his. “But your future sight isn’t doing you any favors.”
“It hurts,” Shin admitted, shrinking in on himself as pain tore through him, body and soul, even as he forced his powers off.
“It’s going to be okay kid,” Sakamoto murmured. Shin believed him, just like he always had, and let himself slip away.