[Mushverse: For Yuuki, possibly Gentarou and other KRC members]

[jinglebellheadpain]

I hadn't seen the attack coming. My mistake. I should have been keeping a better eye out, but I was late for school, and my headache was already at a dull roar. I could barely focus to keep my steps even and measured, I wasn't exactly keeping an eye out for Sakuta-s.... Aries.

He could have killed me if he'd wanted, so I guess it's some small comfort that I'm still alive, despite my slowly blackening eye, possibly broken arm, and the blood flowing pretty freely from what feels like a very nasty gash on the back of my head. Scattered other smaller injuries too, minor scrapes and bruises.

My vision is too blurry to focus, and I think if I try and stand I may be sick. Clutching my injured arm to my chest, I reach carefully for Nuggegyroika with my free hand, opening the box, the Tsunuggets hop out, hovering for a moment.

"Find Yuuki. Or Kisaragi. Please."

They float off, and I exhale shakily. I know I should try and stay alert and focused, because I probably have a concussion, by my eyes feel so heavy...

Comments

[spacenerd]

One of the Tsunuggets flies up into my hair just as I'm taking a drink of water. I splutter, then grab it cheerfully, asking what's the -

Kengo-kun?

I start running.

Kengo-kun's hurt.

[jinglebellheadpain]

I manage to roll onto my back, my throbbing arm still clutched closely against my chest. I can feel a sticky slick forming beneath my head, the gash must still be bleeding.

I feel so dizzy.

I'm not sure where I am anymore, still somewhere outside the school, but there are leaves all around me.

Am I in the woods?

No, that's stupid.

Aries must have tossed me into the bushes.

I blink.

Slowly.

Again.

Even more slowly.

I can't fall asleep.

That would.

Be.

Bad...

[spacenerd]

I can't see him. Where is he?

Where IS he?!

"Kengo-kun!" I call desperately. It's after school hours. There aren't many people around here at all, I can't ask for help! But surely someone else will turn up sometime soon-

That's his foot.

I run over, faster than I've run before, and skid to my knees next to him. He's unconscious, arm at a terrible angle, and his head's bleeding. I stuff a fist into my mouth for a moment, not wanting to scream. I have to help him. Not fall apart.

I tap his cheek lightly. "Kengo-kun. Kengo-kun! Can you hear me?"

[jinglebellheadpain]

A voice pulls me out of my almost-sleep, as well as a pesterful touch to my cheek.

I know that voice.

My eyes struggle their way open, and it takes them far longer than it should to focus.

It's Yuuki above me, and I smile weakly, reaching with my uninjured arm to catch her hand in mine.

"Yuuki..."

[spacenerd]

I grab his hand with both of mine, but manage to force my hands to be gentle, when all I want to do is to haul him into my lap and take care of him forever.

I tell the Tsunugget to go find Gen-chan, to bring the Medical Switch with him, then I look back at Kengo-kun. He's wobbling because my eyes are full of tears, but I'm not about to reach up to wipe them. Not about to lose contact with him.

"Kengo-kun, help's on the way," I tell him, gulping, trying to smile. "What happened?"

[jinglebellheadpain]

"Aries." I manage, everything in me feeling heavy and sluggish.

I try to swallow, to see if that will help, and it takes great effort just to do that. "It was Aries. I don't... don't know what he wanted, he just... jumped me."

I give her hand a small squeeze, the strongest I can manage. "He could have killed me. I'm glad he didn't."

[spacenerd]

"Aries?" I gasp. "Ryuusei-kun? No. No, no, no, Kengo-kun..."

He squeezes my hand, just a tiny, tiny squeeze, and the effort it costs him and the words he says make the first tear fall. I reach up hastily, now, to wipe my silly eyes on my sleeve. "I'm glad, too," I tell him seriously. "Very glad, Kengo-kun. That's -- that's awful."

Gen-chan sprints up, and gasps in horror as he sees Kengo-kun. I tell him, "Aries," as he settles down next to Kengo-kun and sets up the Medical Switch.

His eyes snap to Kengo-kun's face.

[jinglebellheadpain]

She's crying, and all I want to do it reach up and brush her tears away. But I can't bring myself to let go of her hand, and my other arm hurts too much to even think about moving it.

"Don't... don't cry..."

Kisaragi joins us, and I can't even be annoyed by his presence, as I often am. He and the Medical Switch are a welcome sight, and I'm grateful he got here so quickly.

Anymore bleeding would possibly be seriously detrimental to my health.

"K-Kisaragi..."

[uchuukitaa]

Yuuki's crying.

Kengo's hurt.

Either one would be enough to piss me off.

I pull Kengo gently into my lap and activate the damn Switch, being as careful as I can of his arm, his head, his... everything. "Tell me what happened," I growl at both of them.

I'll find whoever did this.

[jinglebellheadpain]

Kisaragi pulls me into his lap, and my grip on Yuuki's hand wavers at the movement. But I don't fully let go, and once he has me settled, I grip at her hand again.

Maybe the Medical Switch's powers will also feed into her through my hand, make her stop crying. She shouldn't be crying.

I can feel it when the healing starts, the energy from the switch making my body feel pleasantly warm. It's slow going, but my pain begins to lessen. Slowly.

"Aries." I turn my head slightly, looking up at Kisaragi. "Jumped me."

[uchuukitaa]

He's holding Yuuki's hand, good. I grunt as the Switch draws power, but it's not too bad.

Though he looks terrible. Absolutely terrible.

"Aries. Jumped me."

I growl. "Kengo. He's forgotten about friendship, well, I'll show him. He's not allowed to hurt you!"

[jinglebellheadpain]

I give Yuuki's hand a weak squeeze, just because it feel like the correct thing to do right now.

"He didn't seem to want anything from me," I lick my lips; they feel so dry. "He seemed confused. I..."

I shake my head, dizziness taking me as I feel the Medical Switch's energy start to work its way into my skull, to the gash at the back of my head.

Kisaragi shouldn't give up on him. I don't know why I feel that way. I never have before, about the other Horoscopes. But this time...

I must be more wounded than I thought.

[spacenerd]

I can feel a slight tingling in him. It feels good... hopeful.

He still looks so hurt, but Gen-chan's helping him with the Medical Switch. It will all be all right. He'll go and fix Ryuusei-san and I'll look after Kengo-kun and everything will be better.

I swallow, then manage a smile at Kengo-kun. It will all be better. It will.

"I'll talk to him," Gen-chan says briskly. The glow fades, and he's breathing a little harder, but not too much. "I think this is all I can do for now, Kengo."

"We'll be all right, Gen-chan," I say quickly, easing Kengo-kun's weight onto me instead.

Gen-chan touches Kengo-kun's shoulder, then mine, then gets up and runs.

[jinglebellheadpain]

She smiles at me, and even though she still looks so very sad, her smile makes me feel almost as better as the Medical Switch is.

I'm still sore, still wounded, when Kisaragi stops using the switch. But I don't think my head is bleeding anymore, and my arm doesn't feel quite so broken.

They move me from his lap to Yuuki's, and then Kisaragi leaves in search of Aries. I honestly... don't know if he can handle him. Not without help.

"You should go with him. He might need support."

I don't want her to go, but...

[spacenerd]

The lines around his mouth and eyes have eased a little bit. Maybe I can get him up and to the Rabbit Hatch.

I'm carding my fingers through his hair.

"I'll ask the others," I tell Kengo-kun. My voice is wobbly but I'm not crying. Not much, anyway. I motion at a Tsunugget nearby, and ask it in a soft, earnest little voice to go find Miu-sempai or Tomoko-chan. It whizzes off. "I'm worried about Gen-chan, too, Kengo-kun. But I'm worried about you, too."

...he feels cold. I put my arm around his shoulders and try to haul him closer to me, very gently. "I should get you up to the Rabbit Hatch. Do you think you can walk, if I help you?"

[jinglebellheadpain]

I consider for a moment. My legs weren't badly injured, and I don't feel quite so dizzy anymore.

"I could probably manage." I nod, and reluctantly pull away from her a bit so I can maybe help myself to my own feet.

In the end I do need her help to stand, and I hate it, but I lean on her as we walk. I don't hate the closeness,;having my arm arms her shoulders is not at all an unpleasant feeling. I just hate that she has to support me like this.

I should be stronger.

[spacenerd]

I help him stand, then duck under his arm so that I can help him walk.

I hate that he's hurt, but walking with him, feeling part of him like this, is lovely. I like feeling close to him. I like the way he smells, the way he feels so solid. I wonder if there might be a way that we could do this more often. Without him being hurt, of course!

He's hardly leaning on me at all, but the whiteness in his face tells me he's still in pain. I smile up at him. "It's not your fault, Kengo-kun," I say softly as we reach the entrance. "You're not stupid or weak for getting hurt."

[jinglebellheadpain]

I shrug slightly at her words, not wanting to address them directly. The truth is I will always be weak, always too weak to fend off the enemies we face by myself.

My damn weakness. It kept me from becoming Fourze.

Not a good train of thought. Best to focus on something else.

"It's okay. I'll be okay." We make it through the path to Rabbit Hutch, and I sigh with relief when we make it into the base. It's not entirely safe anymore, since Ryuusei has been here, and knows our secrets, but it still feels safe.

It's practically my home now.

"Thank you."

Thank you for finding me. For getting to me so quickly. Thank you for always being there for me, for always having a smile for me, even when there's pain.

Thank you for everything you do, Yuuki.

You make my life brighter.

[spacenerd]

He doesn't want to answer that, but he's too polite to really tell me to stop talking. Too polite, and too sweet.

I don't like that he thinks it's his fault, but I can't fix that right now.

"Of course, Kengo-kun," I say weakly when he thanks me so openly, so genuinely. "You always help me. Of course I'll help you, we're family!"

I ease him down to a seat. "Now, you stay right there, okay? I'll look after you."

I start doing small orbits of the Rabbit Hutch, picking up pillows, water, some food, some things to read, more pillows...

[jinglebellheadpain]

She helps me sit, and then sets herself fluttering about Rabbit Hutch, gathering things.

I can't really focus enough to follow her movements, so I settle into my seat and tip my head back, trying to keep the dizziness of blood loss from taking me again.

With my luck, a headache will take me shortly, and then I'll really be a mess.

[spacenerd]

He's so pale.

I deposit everything on the table, and kneel down next to him, a hand on his shoulder. "I'll soon have you feeling a little better," I assure him anxiously. "Do you want to lie down? Or I can prop you up with pillows here." Then I'll sit with him, stay with him until he's not looking so awful any more. I don't care how long it takes.

[jinglebellheadpain]

"I'm not sure if I should lie down." I draw in a slow breath, trying to keep myself grounded, keep the room from spinning. "I might still have a concussion."

I look at her, trying to focus on something. Sometime that will actually hold my focus.

Gradually my vision begins to clear a bit, at least for her. She doesn't look so hazy now. And I think I might be smiling? Maybe just in my eyes?

[spacenerd]

...he's actually smiling at me.

Just a little, his mouth's barely moved, but I can tell because I know him.

My smile widens in response. "Kengo-kun," I say softly, happily, lowering myself into the seat next to him. "Then I'll sit with you until you feel better. Have some water?"

I open a bottle and slide it over to him anxiously. He looks a little wobbly, so I also slide myself over the few inches to him, until I'm gently pressed against him at hip and thigh. Easier to catch him if he starts falling over.

[jinglebellheadpain]

I try not to think too much about how close she is to me now. She's just worried about me, she's trying to support me and help me feel better.

She's being the good friend she always is.

I reach for the water, but I do so with my injured arm, and it twinges painfully just as I wrap my hand around the bottle.

I wince, and sigh, and reach for it again with my other hand.

[spacenerd]

My heart breaks into a thousand tiny pieces as he makes that pained sound under his breath. He reaches with the other hand, instead.

"That's it, Kengo-kun," I say supportively. I put my arm very lightly around his lower back, and rest my head on his shoulder, again, very lightly. I just want to touch him, want him to not feel alone. I don't want him to take any of my weight. "You can do it."

[jinglebellheadpain]

She's being so gentle with me, and it's nice. Really it is, it's just... it hits all the sensitive parts of my pride. Even when I haven't had the shit beat out of me, I'm the weak one. The one that's always in pain, always suffering from my ailment.

Even JK is stronger than me. I couldn't even pretend to put up a fight against Aries.

I sip at the water, feeling wounded and grumpy. But Yuuki's hair is soft against my cheek, and she smells really nice. Not like the cloyingly strong perfumes Miu wears, or the vague scent of incense and earth that always seems to follow Tomoko around.

Yuuki just smells pleasant. And pretty. Maybe a little bit like vanilla? Something gentle like that.

And I wish I wasn't injured, I wish she was leaning on me like this for other reasons beyond concern for my well-being.

My hand has started to squeeze at the bottle of water, coming very close to spilling its contents.

[spacenerd]

He's so tense against me. I snuggle into him a little, trying to comfort, but it doesn't really help. He's about to spill the water everywhere, but maybe I won't say anything about it just yet.

I sit up straight and touch his cheek lightly. "Kengo-kun. I'm really sorry this happened to you. But it'll get better, okay?" I give him a big, supportive, worried smile. I just want him to be all right, but he's sitting here feeling, feeling stupid, I think. As if he's no use.

Nothing could be more wrong than that!

[jinglebellheadpain]

I realize what I'm doing, and slowly release my death grip on the water bottle. I take one more sip before setting the bottle back down on the table, where I hopefully won't spill it everywhere.

She touches my cheek and I find myself leaning into that touch. I can't stop myself. The motion comes as naturally to me as breathing.

"I know I'll heal." A purposeful word choice, in contrast to the ones she used. Maybe she won't notice. I can't see myself getting better than I am, but my wounds will heal, in time, and maybe with one more jolt from the Medical Switch once Kisaragi can handle another.

[spacenerd]

He leans into me, and I gaze at him for a moment, wondering, because there's a feeling inside me of-

He speaks, and I lose the thread. Doesn't matter, I'll get it back later. I nod encouragingly. "Yes, you'll heal. Everything will get better."

Except he didn't say that.

...oh. Oh. Oh, I see, now. Kengo-kun is feeling useless, and stupid, and as if nothing he does is any good and he just gets beaten up while Gen-chan does all the fighting.

"Kengo-kun," I scold, teasingly, affectionately. It's about five percent scolding to ninety-five percent affection and teasing. "We can't just sit here doing nothing. I have some readings I need your help with!"

It's quite true. I really do need his opinion on this. There's an increase in certain types of radiation, and my research is turning up no clues whatsoever as to why.

I spring to my feet, then give him a brief, gentle hug from behind, resting my cheek on top of his head.

I dart into the little alcove and get the tablet I need him to look at.

[jinglebellheadpain]

I can't just sit here, even though I know I should. So when she darts off to find some small task for me to do that will, in her mind, boost my ego, I stand and follow her.

Or I attempt to.

I should be able to.

But I stagger as soon as I'm on my feet, and reach to steady myself, but I use my still tender arm, and wince so hard a small pained sound actually escapes my lips.

Useless.

[spacenerd]

I squeak when I hear him make that noise, and leave the tablet where it is.

My arm's around him. I don't actually remember passing through the space between the alcove and his side, but I think I need to be here for a while. With him. That's fine! I don't mind being with him at all. I like it!

I don't like the sounds he's making, though. The pain in his breathing. "Kengo-kun," I say softly. "Be careful, please. You're only human."

[jinglebellheadpain]

"Less than." I say quietly, bitterly. And then quickly shake my head, and try to brush on past those words.

Never meant to say them allow, didn't even think on them before I said them. Losing my edge, losing my ability to think before I speak. Or think rather than speak.

"I'll be fine." I will, after more healing. I'll be back to normal in no time. Back to my version of normal.

I need to stop thinking like this. Need to stop feeling sorry for myself. It's stupid, irrational, and not at all productive.

[spacenerd]

...that's it.

I ease him down to a more comfortable position again, and then I stand in front of him, my hands on my hips.

"Utahoshi Kengo-kun," I say sharply. "You're not less than human. You're wonderful. And if you think that being beaten up by someone with superpowers makes you pathetic and hopeless, then that's very, very silly and I won't have it!"

[jinglebellheadpain]

She sits me down, she puts her hands on her hips, and she tells me off sharply for feeling down about my shortcomings.

I'm not the wonderful one. She is.

I listen to her, try to take in her words. I'm sure if I were in a more rational state, I'd absorb her words and take them to heart, but I'm finding it more difficult to that than normal right now.

Still, I nod, and then bow my head slightly. "I'm sorry."

[spacenerd]

He's trying. I'll give him that, at least. He doesn't believe me, but he's trying, and he's... he's so gentle.

I wipe the heels of my hands across my eyes.

"Don't be sorry," I say, less sharply. "Meteor would've beaten up any of us except Gen-chan. It's just not your fault. That's all there is to it."

[jinglebellheadpain]

"He's not Meteor anymore." I state plainly, then frown. "He's Aries."

The weight of that sinks in. Finally. I wouldn't say I was close to Sakuta-san, but we did work together. He was smart, almost as smart as me, and - I thought - rational.

He was smart enough to give the Meteor driver to Nozama-san before he got in too deep. Because he knew. He knew what would most likely happen to him.

I look down at my hands, thoughts of myself and my own self pity gone, now that I've latched on to something more pressing. "This is bad."

He knows about us, know almost all our secrets. He knows about our base, and how to get to it, and he knows... he probably knows all our weak points to.

Like how the best way to get to me is to jump me when I'm alone. And to do it fast, so I don't have time to call the others. It wasn't just that I'm weak, it's that he knows things about us.

We let him in, we trusted him. And now...

I can't tell if Yuuki can read my thoughts on my face, sometimes she surprises me with how she can know just what I'm thinking.

"This is really bad."

[spacenerd]

Well, I suppose THIS is as good as any other distraction. But this is terrible, though. It's not good! It's not good at all!

"I know," I say softly. I manage a pained smile at him, and I find myself tucking a strand of hair back behind his ear just because it looks out of place. "It's awful. But whatever has caused this, Gen-chan will get onto it, and the rest of us will help, too. Ryuusei-kun will get better. And he'll apologise to you!"

[jinglebellheadpain]

I find myself leaning slightly toward her hand when she tucks a bit of my hair behind my ear. She's so kind, so good to me. I really don't deserve her as a friend most of the time.

"I don't need an apology." I sigh, close my eyes for a moment, bow my head. The worry feels like a heavy, physical thing.

"I need to make sure you're... e-everyone is safe."