[ Otonashi pulls back suddenly, cursing himself and tipping Akashi's head back to swipe his thumb in the other boy's mouth to clear any obstructions. This work is sloppy, too driven by emotional proximity to everyone involved, and distancing himself isn't an option he can give even a passing thought. The pressure holds a suffocating grip on him.
He breathes again into Akashi, alternating between this and chest compressions that only grow in strength and desperation. The whimpers, once only softly vocalized breaths, finally surpass the sound of his hopeless endeavor.
Struck by a sick sense of deja vu, he's stunned long enough to feel the sudden movement beneath him, stronger than he imagines it ought to be. He cries out something unintelligible, feels for a pulse, for life, only to find the same empty cold. ]
That can't— What the hell is this? [ The flowers tearing out of Akashi's skin continue to blossom, the petals outstretching, the vines snapping and twisting around their prisoner. ] Tetsuya, you— you need to let go of his hand. Please.
[ He's reluctant to let go at first, because letting go felt like giving up to him and Kuroko wanted to do anything but give up. He wants to protest, but the vines crawl closer and nearly bind him to Akashi, curling around their arms. Kuroko yelps, forcefully pulling away and ripping himself from the vines, stumbling back in fright. The sickly sweet smell of the flowers grows stronger, overwhelming their senses. ]
W-What's happening? Are they still feeding on him? Is he still- alive—?
[ He wishes he could reach the answer. If he hears Kuroko's yelp above his own choked, labored breaths, he doesn't show it. Even as he commands the other boy to get back, Otonashi himself stays exactly as he is, compressing Akashi's chest despite the vines threatening to imprison him with their victim. It's only when they ensnare one of his arms that he recoils, pulling against the plant matter until he snaps his arm free.
As he backs away from the stirring, possessed remains of Akashi, Otonashi slips out of his jacket, handing it off to Kuroko and turning to face him directly for the first time. The dark, tired circles under his eyes look like firm, concrete lines, stark against the glistening in his eyes. ]
... I'd like you to take this and go. It- it has a container of water, spare bandages, and another weapon in it. Please use them. Find the others if you can. You need to be with them.
[ His words come with eerie, forced calm, directly contradicting the wavering and whimpering he'd succumbed to just moments before. ]
I promised you I would do my best, so I need to stay here. With him.
[ Kuroko stares blankly up at Otonashi, clutching onto the jacket, and finally notices how tired he is. He feels a pang of guilt— should he have called him when he looks this exhausted? ]
Yuzuru-san, you can't stay here— not if the flowers are still—
[ He glances at Akashi, the way his movements are unnatural and maybe, it's too late, it's too late, it's too late whispers in his head and he hates that's the logical conclusion, refuses to accept it. Kuroko reaches up, pulling at Otonashi's sleeve, giving him a pleading look, despite his glassy eyes. He doesn't want to lose someone else. ]
[ The pleading stare Kuroko gives him forces him to close his eyes, granting both him a moment of delusion and an escape for tears in his eyes. He steps forward and weakly embraces Kuroko, shaking his head in place of asking, begging for the other boy not to fight him on this.
It's all he can do to keep back how deep the cuts of his own failure and helplessness hurt. ]
I'm going to... [ The words follow a labored, rasped swallow, and end on him stepping back, flashing a silver gun he so rarely uses, willing it to explain for him when words are lost to him, taken by the fog in his head. He tightens his grip on it, wordlessly asking it for the strength he struggles to find alone, but Otonashi quickly finds Hinata's old weapon to be a poor replacement for the bright personality that offered him friendship when he had nothing. Or is this Yuri's? Is it her unorthodox strength that he's trying to reclaim?
No matter the memory he wants to invoke, Otonashi feels his stomach twist, sick on the familiar taste of his own bitter, tired defeat. His best wasn't enough.
It rarely seems to be. ]
Hah... There really is no god, Buddha, or angels...
I'm... I'll take care of Akashi from here. Please take any - any supplies you need with you.
[ When Otonashi pulls away and he spots the gun, the tears Kuroko's been trying so hard to hold back spill freely and there's no more mistaking what Otonashi intends to do. His entire body goes cold and he tries to stand up, but his knees are so shaky and weak, they can barely support him. ]
Isn't there any other way?
[ He knows he's entrusted this to Otonashi, but there must be something else-- anything else. Of all people, Akashi can't die. It never registers as something that can happen. Akashi Seijuurou is simply on another level on existence, untouched by simple mortals things like dying. ]
[ He would prefer a knife to the heart over the miserable, sickly look Kuroko's giving him. The pain of the former would pass more swiftly. ]
I know I'm - I'm asking a lot right now. Even if I revive him, he wouldn't— [ And all at once, he finds that he just can't deliver that news. He wants to be honest, but the possibility of a braindead Akashi is something he can't put into words. ]
Shit, shit, I don't know... If I can cut out all the root systems and every flower, maybe I can get through to him... But he'll bleed out if I—
[ His thoughts are moving too quickly, half-voiced and half locked in his head as he tries to find another way. He had been so sure there couldn't possibly be, that the lack of pulse and breath meant he had been too late.
Daring to hope for Kuroko's sake is a dangerous thing.
When drops the gun in favor of cutting part of his shirt loose and trying to tie it around his own arm, it's clear that he's grabbing at straws. It's completely unorthodox. ]
Tetsuya. I need your help. Focus on me, okay? Don't look at anything else right now, just me. I need you to try to make tape and a hollow needle. I'll explain in a minute, I need to start working right away.
[ Kuroko takes a deep breath, tries not to stutter as he gasps in that air because Otonashi still wants to try and that's all he can ask for. That's all he wants.
He wipes away the tears with the back of his arm, clears his vision so he can look at Otonashi. Look only at him, he says, so Kuroko listens and doesn't allow his gaze to stray to Akashi. He closes his eyes briefly so he can concentrate and create the items being requested. It takes him a few moments, too distraught over all the thoughts running through his head even if he's too overwhelmed to listen, too tired to care-- then a roll of medical tape and needle drop in front of him.
Kuroko quickly takes the items and presses them into Otonashi's hands, trying his best not to shake. He needs to stay strong to help. ]
Flowers and roots are too risky to let someone else handle. I can't give you an anatomy and physiology run-down with the time we've got, but— well, you were in sports. I'll do it.
[ It isn't the whole truth, but it functions as a reason and contributes to his motives. When dealing in lives, he can be a successful liar - at least when it comes to omission.
He nods quickly, mouthing his words of thanks without voicing them and immediately setting to work in prepping Akashi, pocketing his newly created supplies to slash away the vines curled around the other redhead's arm. The roots beneath are grotesquely dark, thick, alive enough to bring him pause.
His promise to Kuroko is enough to push him towards making the first cut around a root, slicing through layers of skin to expose pieces of the twisted, dark plant matter. The resistance he faces when he tries shimmying the knife between root and muscle makes his stomach turn. This isn't anywhere close to safe, sterile, optimal.
It's just all he has. ]
I need you to clear some space. Collect your things and burn any traces of flowers, seeds, vines - anything you see. And... talk to him. Don't look yet, just talk. It might keep him still, it's - it's worth a try.
[ It's hard for him to swallow down the knowledge that his last order was given more for Kuroko's sake rather than Akashi's. ]
[ Kuroko immediately sets upon the tasks given to him, unable to stomach watching Otonashi slice into Akashi. He gathers up the stray sheets and searches through their small bundle of clothing for anything the plants have touched, shaking the remnants out. Anything he finds he tosses into their hearth, burning to a crisp and Kuroko has no remorse watching them shrivel up and turn to ash.
Once he's completes the task, he returns to Otonashi's side and sits next to him, back turned to Akashi. Talk, he suggests, but what exactly was he supposed to say? ]
Akashi-kun... [ He swallows, trying to find the words. ] Yuzuru-san is working really hard, so please hold on.
This seems really surreal, you know... the idea of you dy— [ Kuroko chokes on the word, can't even bring himself to say it, as if saying it will make it possible, real. ] I just never considered it. So, don't. You'll shatter the illusion for me.
AHH "you were in sports so you get how stuff's connected" is what I meant I'M SORRY
—Losing. To plants. It seems really surreal that he would lose to plants.
[ The interjection - ultimately nothing but a small change in semantics - comes instantly. As he cuts root systems free, he drops them to the floor, trusting Kuroko to dispose of them or leaving them for himself later. He concentrates through the tension, locked in silence as he makes new cuts while trying not to consider just how slowly Akashi is bleeding despite it.
Not that he can bring attention to it. Despite Kuroko's presence, he cannot help but to feel alone. ]
Hey. I'm going to need one more needle and sutures. They're made of sterile polyester if you can manage it, but if you can't then silk thread will do. Then if you could just hold the arm I just worked on steady, I'm going to start an IV.
[ It feels like ages until he can finish extracting roots and stitching up even one arm. Securing the quick IV is comparatively easy with the scavenged pieces to throw together an adapter. He has enough vials. Before he gets started on Akashi's chest and body — the really delicate parts of the process — he pushes one of his needles into his arm, wincing softly as he draws a vial of his own blood. It isn't an ideal transfusion method, but Akashi's bleeding slowly enough that it might function.
Maybe, just maybe, he can cleanse Akashi's infected blood and replace it with his own. He can heal faster. His body can fix itself before he'd be in any danger doing this. Right? ]
[ Kuroko wastes no time in spinning together the thread and needle for Otonashi and placing them close-by as he watches him pierce himself with one of the needles, almost wincing at the sight of the blood. He does his best not to look directly at Akashi, at the mess they've made trying, but he can't help it when he moves closer to assist, steadying the arm for Otonashi. His skin is so cold to the touch that it frightens him-- it might be too late, that Akashi might not last long enough for any of this to help--
No. Kuroko bites back his tears and grips harder on the arm, feeling like he's trying to steady himself more than anything else. He takes a deep breath, thinks of more to say to ground him in this moment. ]
You can't die before I've learned about the ways you've changed, you know— I kept thinking I wanted to reconnect with you and the others after the Winter Cup, but before I knew it, you changed again.
Not... not in a bad way. [ He lets out a small and quiet laugh. ] It was just- surprising. You've gained important people and had lots of new experiences. I have to catch up.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
trainwrecking) wrote2015-06-07 09:36 pm
no subject
He breathes again into Akashi, alternating between this and chest compressions that only grow in strength and desperation. The whimpers, once only softly vocalized breaths, finally surpass the sound of his hopeless endeavor.
Struck by a sick sense of deja vu, he's stunned long enough to feel the sudden movement beneath him, stronger than he imagines it ought to be. He cries out something unintelligible, feels for a pulse, for life, only to find the same empty cold. ]
That can't— What the hell is this? [ The flowers tearing out of Akashi's skin continue to blossom, the petals outstretching, the vines snapping and twisting around their prisoner. ] Tetsuya, you— you need to let go of his hand. Please.
no subject
W-What's happening? Are they still feeding on him? Is he still- alive—?
no subject
[ He wishes he could reach the answer. If he hears Kuroko's yelp above his own choked, labored breaths, he doesn't show it. Even as he commands the other boy to get back, Otonashi himself stays exactly as he is, compressing Akashi's chest despite the vines threatening to imprison him with their victim. It's only when they ensnare one of his arms that he recoils, pulling against the plant matter until he snaps his arm free.
As he backs away from the stirring, possessed remains of Akashi, Otonashi slips out of his jacket, handing it off to Kuroko and turning to face him directly for the first time. The dark, tired circles under his eyes look like firm, concrete lines, stark against the glistening in his eyes. ]
... I'd like you to take this and go. It- it has a container of water, spare bandages, and another weapon in it. Please use them. Find the others if you can. You need to be with them.
[ His words come with eerie, forced calm, directly contradicting the wavering and whimpering he'd succumbed to just moments before. ]
I promised you I would do my best, so I need to stay here. With him.
no subject
Yuzuru-san, you can't stay here— not if the flowers are still—
[ He glances at Akashi, the way his movements are unnatural and maybe, it's too late, it's too late, it's too late whispers in his head and he hates that's the logical conclusion, refuses to accept it. Kuroko reaches up, pulling at Otonashi's sleeve, giving him a pleading look, despite his glassy eyes. He doesn't want to lose someone else. ]
no subject
It's all he can do to keep back how deep the cuts of his own failure and helplessness hurt. ]
I'm going to... [ The words follow a labored, rasped swallow, and end on him stepping back, flashing a silver gun he so rarely uses, willing it to explain for him when words are lost to him, taken by the fog in his head. He tightens his grip on it, wordlessly asking it for the strength he struggles to find alone, but Otonashi quickly finds Hinata's old weapon to be a poor replacement for the bright personality that offered him friendship when he had nothing. Or is this Yuri's? Is it her unorthodox strength that he's trying to reclaim?
No matter the memory he wants to invoke, Otonashi feels his stomach twist, sick on the familiar taste of his own bitter, tired defeat. His best wasn't enough.
It rarely seems to be. ]
Hah... There really is no god, Buddha, or angels...
I'm... I'll take care of Akashi from here. Please take any - any supplies you need with you.
no subject
Isn't there any other way?
[ He knows he's entrusted this to Otonashi, but there must be something else-- anything else. Of all people, Akashi can't die. It never registers as something that can happen. Akashi Seijuurou is simply on another level on existence, untouched by simple mortals things like dying. ]
no subject
I know I'm - I'm asking a lot right now. Even if I revive him, he wouldn't— [ And all at once, he finds that he just can't deliver that news. He wants to be honest, but the possibility of a braindead Akashi is something he can't put into words. ]
Shit, shit, I don't know... If I can cut out all the root systems and every flower, maybe I can get through to him... But he'll bleed out if I—
[ His thoughts are moving too quickly, half-voiced and half locked in his head as he tries to find another way. He had been so sure there couldn't possibly be, that the lack of pulse and breath meant he had been too late.
Daring to hope for Kuroko's sake is a dangerous thing.
When drops the gun in favor of cutting part of his shirt loose and trying to tie it around his own arm, it's clear that he's grabbing at straws. It's completely unorthodox. ]
Tetsuya. I need your help. Focus on me, okay? Don't look at anything else right now, just me. I need you to try to make tape and a hollow needle. I'll explain in a minute, I need to start working right away.
no subject
[ Kuroko takes a deep breath, tries not to stutter as he gasps in that air because Otonashi still wants to try and that's all he can ask for. That's all he wants.
He wipes away the tears with the back of his arm, clears his vision so he can look at Otonashi. Look only at him, he says, so Kuroko listens and doesn't allow his gaze to stray to Akashi. He closes his eyes briefly so he can concentrate and create the items being requested. It takes him a few moments, too distraught over all the thoughts running through his head even if he's too overwhelmed to listen, too tired to care-- then a roll of medical tape and needle drop in front of him.
Kuroko quickly takes the items and presses them into Otonashi's hands, trying his best not to shake. He needs to stay strong to help. ]
no subject
[ It isn't the whole truth, but it functions as a reason and contributes to his motives. When dealing in lives, he can be a successful liar - at least when it comes to omission.
He nods quickly, mouthing his words of thanks without voicing them and immediately setting to work in prepping Akashi, pocketing his newly created supplies to slash away the vines curled around the other redhead's arm. The roots beneath are grotesquely dark, thick, alive enough to bring him pause.
His promise to Kuroko is enough to push him towards making the first cut around a root, slicing through layers of skin to expose pieces of the twisted, dark plant matter. The resistance he faces when he tries shimmying the knife between root and muscle makes his stomach turn. This isn't anywhere close to safe, sterile, optimal.
It's just all he has. ]
I need you to clear some space. Collect your things and burn any traces of flowers, seeds, vines - anything you see. And... talk to him. Don't look yet, just talk. It might keep him still, it's - it's worth a try.
[ It's hard for him to swallow down the knowledge that his last order was given more for Kuroko's sake rather than Akashi's. ]
no subject
Once he's completes the task, he returns to Otonashi's side and sits next to him, back turned to Akashi. Talk, he suggests, but what exactly was he supposed to say? ]
Akashi-kun... [ He swallows, trying to find the words. ] Yuzuru-san is working really hard, so please hold on.
This seems really surreal, you know... the idea of you dy— [ Kuroko chokes on the word, can't even bring himself to say it, as if saying it will make it possible, real. ] I just never considered it. So, don't. You'll shatter the illusion for me.
AHH "you were in sports so you get how stuff's connected" is what I meant I'M SORRY
[ The interjection - ultimately nothing but a small change in semantics - comes instantly. As he cuts root systems free, he drops them to the floor, trusting Kuroko to dispose of them or leaving them for himself later. He concentrates through the tension, locked in silence as he makes new cuts while trying not to consider just how slowly Akashi is bleeding despite it.
Not that he can bring attention to it. Despite Kuroko's presence, he cannot help but to feel alone. ]
Hey. I'm going to need one more needle and sutures. They're made of sterile polyester if you can manage it, but if you can't then silk thread will do. Then if you could just hold the arm I just worked on steady, I'm going to start an IV.
[ It feels like ages until he can finish extracting roots and stitching up even one arm. Securing the quick IV is comparatively easy with the scavenged pieces to throw together an adapter. He has enough vials. Before he gets started on Akashi's chest and body — the really delicate parts of the process — he pushes one of his needles into his arm, wincing softly as he draws a vial of his own blood. It isn't an ideal transfusion method, but Akashi's bleeding slowly enough that it might function.
Maybe, just maybe, he can cleanse Akashi's infected blood and replace it with his own. He can heal faster. His body can fix itself before he'd be in any danger doing this. Right? ]
no subject
No. Kuroko bites back his tears and grips harder on the arm, feeling like he's trying to steady himself more than anything else. He takes a deep breath, thinks of more to say to ground him in this moment. ]
You can't die before I've learned about the ways you've changed, you know— I kept thinking I wanted to reconnect with you and the others after the Winter Cup, but before I knew it, you changed again.
Not... not in a bad way. [ He lets out a small and quiet laugh. ] It was just- surprising. You've gained important people and had lots of new experiences. I have to catch up.
So, don't die before I can do that.