Gachiakuta Whump Week is a 7-day whump prompt week where participants can write fantiction or create fanart based on each day's prompts, with optional settings for inspiration. (Creations are encouraged to be made ahead of time, but if you want a challenge, feel free to create each work the day of!)
On this post, you will find written versions of the above graphic for accessibility, explanations of each prompt with ideas for what you can do, and an FAQ (frequently asked questions) to clear up any confusion and make rules.
From July 12th-18th are the prompts (First page/graphic)
Sunday, July 12th: Overheating/Freezing
Monday, July 13th: Illness
Tuesday, July 14th: Kidnapping
Wednesday, July 15th: Collapse
Thursday, July 16th: Hidden Condition
Friday, July 17th: Pollution
Saturday, July 18th: Major Injury
And our setting ideas (Second page/graphic)
Cleaner Headquarters
Old factory
Suspicious town
Trafficker hideout
Raider Base
Abandoned cabin
Alice's clinic
Cleaner HQ infirmary
The Jeep
Unfamiliar hospital
Tamsy's cellar
Stranger's home
Isolated cave
Cargo train
Below are explanations of each prompts, with ideas for where to take it.
Sunday, Juy 12th: Overheating/Freezing
Focus on a character who, as a result of the environment, is suffering from the effects of overheating or freezing. The character could be wearing one too many layers in hot weather while fighting, they could fall into cold water with no means of warming up, they could be stuck in a hot room with no way out.
Monday 13th: Illness
Focus on an illness a character is suffering from. The character could be sick with the flu, the character could be suffering from a Ground-created illness. Is there medicine available? Are they somewhere where their symptoms can be easily treated?
Tuesday 14th: Kidnapping
Focus on a character who has been kidnapped. Is the character still stuck with their captor, or are they back home, suffering from the effects of their ordeal? Did their kidnapper injure them, or hurt them mentally?
Wednesday 15th: Collapse
Focus on a character who collapses or faints. How long are they unconscious for - just a few seconds, or days? Has it happened before? This could be a result of a hiding injury, a high fever, exhaustion from long work days, or maybe a condition the character has, whether their friends/teammates know about it or not.
Thursday 16th: Hidden Condition
Focus on a character who is suffering as a result of a hidden condition. This could be something as simple as an hiding an injury like a broken bone, or illness like a fever. The character could also have something like a food allergy or seizure disorder, that the rest of the team doesn't know about until it's a serious problem.
Friday 17th: Pollution
Focus on a character who is suffering from the effects of their polluted environment. This could be the classic option of the poisonous air of a No Man's Land, but could branch out to drinking polluted water, or a certain character's use of the Ground's pollutants as poisons. Can your character be easily treated, or are they stuck waiting for help as they suffer?
Saturday 18th: Major injury
Focus on a character who suffers a major, possibly life threatening injury. This could be a serious head injury that is almost completely impeding on their ability to fight, a gaping wound that won't stop bleeding, or possibly even a severed limb. Will your character get help before it's too late?
FAQ / Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What kind of content is allowed?
A: This is a fanfiction and fanart based event. There are no content restrictions, as long as your works are appropriately tagged.
Q: Do I have to tag my content?
A: Yes. Major topics and possible trigger warnings must be appropriately tagged at the very least. Make sure you tag your posts with #GACHIWHUMPWEEK2026 on Tumblr, and add fanfictions to the collection on ao3 (Gachiakuta Whump Week 2026).
Q: Do I need to participate in all 7 prompts?
A: No! You can participate in as many as you like, even if it's just one.
Q: Do I need to use the setting prompts?
A: No! The setting prompts exist for inspiration. You can use multiple in the same work, you can use the same one for each work, or you can use none of them. Itās up to you!
Q: Does it have to be Gachiakuta?
A: This is a Gachiakuta event, so only Gachiakuta related creations will be shared onto the page and allowed into the collection, but you are more than welcome to use these prompts for inspiration for other fandoms.
PS. Since this is a Gachiakuta focused event, we ask that your creations focus on canon characters, and not original characters or Y/N. Original characters are allowed to be included if they are not the focus of the work.
If you have any additional questions, please send us an ask! This event is run by @sickficideas.
janka oneshot for day 3: kidnapping for @gachiwhumpweek !!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
summary!
āMan, what a mess ya got into, huh?ā Jabber said, smiling down at Zanka. It was like he was enjoying his misery. Misery wasnāt quite the right term, it was more so unfortunate circumstance. He happened to be snatched up by a band of idiots.
Zanka was unphased, he looked up at Jabber with a deadpanned look, āWhaddāya want.ā
or Zanka getting kidnapped by a group of strangers, which unexpectedly turns into Jabber wiggling his way into his heart
ao3! 6.1k - written for @gachiwhumpweek day 7: major injury! Please refer to the tags in the ao3 link for any warnings!
Riyo needs to tell him.
Sheās sitting on the cold infirmary floor, back against the wall and knees pulled to her chest, her finger hovering over the button on her choker. Sheās been in this internal argument for hours on when would be a good time to call and tell him, but she needs to do it before he gets back. She thinks it would be worse if he just happened to find out.
She clicks her choker, and waits for a response. It rings only once.
āRiyo? What's wrong?ā
Riyoās holding her hand at her mouth, biting at her nails before she catches herself. Zanka always gets onto her about doing that. She moves one hand down, and nervously fiddles with the loose strings of her shorts, but she pulls it back up to wrap her arms around her knees.
āDoes something have to be wrong for me to call you?ā Riyo says with a nervous laugh, leaning her head against her knees. She's trying to keep her voice down, but she doesn't know why. It's not like anything sheās doing is going to wake Enjin. Theyāve been trying for hours.
āYeah. You never call me,ā Zanka says. He doesn't sound overly concerned, but definitely suspicious. Riyo wants to keep it like that. She wishes more than anything that it was just something to be suspicious about.
āYou don't like being called,ā she reminds him quietly. He always keeps conversations short when theyāre talking over Chokers. Heās always expressed a weird feeling that he thinks theyāre being listened to.
āAnd you respect that, so, you only call me when somethin's wrong.ā
She doesn't even know how to say it. Should she explain what happened first? She doesn't even know if Zanka knew she was on a job with him. Or if anyone else has already told him, but surely he would've mentioned that already, if he knew. She should have thought this through before she just up and called him.
āRiyo? Are you okay?ā he asks. He sounds concerned now. Riyo doesnāt know how long she was silent for.
āZanka,ā she starts, āEnjin got hurt really bad.ā
There's silence.
Zanka knows that she wouldn't call him over something minor, that she wouldn't bother scaring him over something that she knew had an easy solution. She's avoided joking around and playing pranks on him in the past because she doesn't think his anxiety could handle it most of the time, so she knows he wouldn't even consider that she might be messing with him.
Riyo wishes she never called him in the first place. She doesnāt want to have this conversation. She doesnāt know what to do.
āHow bad?ā he asks.
āUmā¦ā she murmurs. This isn't like her at all. She always knows what to say, but her voice shakes even at the idea of saying this out loud. She tries to straighten out her thoughts a little bit, but the images of his injures, the blood, and her obscured view of Enjinās unconscious body on the infirmary cot occupy all of that space. āThey can'tā¦we can't get him to wake up.ā
Zanka doesn't say anything. Riyo doesn't know what else to tell him. He has so many injuries that she couldn't possibly list all of them.
āWhen will you be back, Zanka?ā she asks him.
āAn hour,ā he says quietly.
āOkay. I'll be here with him, in the infirmary,ā she tells him.
āI'll come there as soon as we get in.ā
The conversation ends there, and Riyo holds herself a little closer.
ā¦
āSorry I got here so late.ā
Zanka's voice. She could hardly hear him past the creaking of the old infirmary door. He's careful as he closes it behind him.
Riyoās been sitting on the chair for just a few minutes. The floor was uncomfortable, but it limited her sight of Enjin enough that it didnāt feel as real. Sheās been staring at him for the past several minutes, but her eyes wonāt focus. She hates that. Itās like her brain wants to protect her from what sheās looking at. She doesnāt want to believe that heās basically in a coma.
Zanka hands are shaking as he approaches the cot. She's seen that before. Zanka thinks he's good enough at hiding those feelings, but his body betrays him more often than not. There's an empty chair on the other side for him, but he doesn't take it right away. He stands next to Riyo, staring down at Enjin's form.
āYou're okay?ā he asks her, his eyes darting over to hers.
āI'm fine,ā she says. Honestly, she's in more pain than she wants to admit, but she doesn't need him worrying about her too right now. She doesn't think he's going to handle this well.
He sits across from Riyo on the chair that she left there for him. She's surprised he changed out of his uniform, but sheās wondering if he was looking for ways to avoid this too, for the same reasons she was. They donāt want to face this for what it really is.
Zanka doesn't say anything. He just stares at the unconscious form in front of him.
He's hurt really bad.
The head injury is what's scaring her the most. Eishia could barely get it out when she was examining him. Itās why he hasnāt regained consciousness, and itās bad enough that theyāre all concerned about his memory, even if he does wake up.
Thereās injuries to his spine, too. They canāt tell exactly where, but it was obvious enough to Gris when they tried to lift Enjin onto the stretcher. Gris suspected his neck. They donāt have any capability for radiographs at the infirmary headquarters, itās always something that theyāve had to call Alice in for with her portable unit.
Spinal injuries mean possible paralysis. So in the event that his head injury isnāt anything more than a concussion, he might not be able to move again.
Eishia is completely beside herself. She tried for hours to heal him, to wake him, but she couldnāt do it.
Riyo had to step away. She tried to comfort her, but at some point, she felt resentment building in her chest, and even though her mind knew it wasnāt fair to Eishia, her heart wouldnāt take it.
Sheād healed people before, so why couldnāt she heal Enjin?
The resentment was turning into anger. Riyo had to work really hard to push it down.
Tomme took her out of the infirmary hall, and said the two of them would go get Alice. Riyo has no idea how long that will be, but sheās not getting her hopes up. Alice is hard to get ahold of, and sheās a doctor, not a miracle worker like Eishia. All she would be able to do would be diagnose the problem. Confirm if Enjin is paralyzed, if he wonāt remember them, if heās ever going to wake up.
Stop.
āWhen'sā¦Eishia getting back?ā he mumbles.
āIt's a day drive from where Alice is,ā Riyo answers quietly, overcome with a sense of dread at that reminder. Zanka already knows that Alice isn't in town, either, but she wouldn't be able to do much for him anyway.
āEishia couldnātā¦ā
āNo,ā Riyo mumbles.
Zankaās eyes scrunch up. Why?
She wonders if he feels that same anger. Or if itās just her.
āI thinkā¦too personal, maybe,ā Riyo mumbles. Thatās the only explanation she has. Eishia has been able to heal major injuries before, even when itās taken her a few days, but with Enjin she made almost no headway. Her anxiety got in her way. Enjin is her team leader too, but sheās known Enjin way longer than the rest of them. Heās more family to her than anyone else on the team.
She doesnāt know if Zanka knows any of that, though.
Riyo needs to take that into consideration, too. Itās not fair to blame her, but her chest still feels tight, thinking about it.
She watches his grip tighten so much around his staff, laying in his lap, that his knuckles turn white.
āYou said he wonāt wake up?ā he asks. His voice is unsteady. Heās obviously trying really hard to keep it together.
āYeah,ā she nods. She doesnāt have anything left in her to comfort him. Theyāre both in the same boat. The least she can do is spare him the rest of the details, but this is bad enough. Seeing him like this is bad enough, even without that.
Zanka stands up from the chair.
āI'llā¦be right back.ā
He rushes past her, and she doesnāt say anything, doesnāt turn her head. She's sure he's left to throw up. Something like this would absolutely send his anxiety through the roof. He's never done well with stuff like this.
Enjinās just one of those people. Everyone has a reason to care about him. To lose their minds if something awful happened to him.
She watches his face scrunch up and twitch, the hands at his sides twitching for just a few seconds again. This has happened a few times, and each time, it leaves Riyo with her breath caught in her throat, hoping heāll finally wake up this time, but he doesnāt. Tomme saw it too. She said that based on what she knows, it could be completely involuntary on his part, or that his brain is starting to send signals again, and a sign heās waking up.
Itās interesting that this happened right as Zanka left, but she thinks itās just a coincidence.
āWake up if you want him to come back,ā she mumbles hopelessly.
Riyo didn't even see it happen. She never has to look back and make sure Enjin is okay, because he's always okay. She doesn't think she's ever seen him with anything more than cuts and bruises, even. She doesnāt have any idea where he got that huge scar on his head, and heās a pro at dodging questions about it.
She heard him get thrown, and he was unconscious when she found him, bleeding profusely from the back of his head. It was bleeding around him so much that Riyo had already assumed he was dead, but he was breathing, wheezing. He wasnāt conscious by that point anymore.
Zanka wasn't there. He was on a different job with Team Child, and Gris told Riyo from the beginning that she shouldnāt call Zanka to tell him until they had a better idea of what was going on with him, until they could get him back to headquarters and have Eishia look at him.
Gris seemed so calm, so level headed about the whole thing, but he cried the whole time. The tears didnāt stop. His face was stained with Enjinās blood between holding pressure against that awful gash on the back of his head and wiping the tears off of his face. His gloves were so soaked with blood that he threw them off and abandoned them on the field, even though theyāre not supposed to do that.
That honestly scared Riyo the most.
Semiu, too. She was practically shouting at them over the Chokers for more information on Enjinās condition, and her usually calm and collected voice was shaking with fear. Even to the point that she was choking up. She was there the whole time that Eishia was trying to heal Enjin.
Semiu said sheād try to get in contact with anyone else who could come take a look at Enjin. Tomme and Eishia were on the way to get Alice. A few other Supporters, including Follo, did everything they could to urge Gris to rest, because his eyes were bloodshot from the whole situation.
Riyo said she would stay. She can never sleep anyway.
Zanka comes back. Sheās relieved to hear the door open, and she only knows itās him because of the way his staff hits the floor after his footsteps.
Heās slower, this time, and doesnāt say anything to Riyo, probably hoping that sheāll ignore his brief disappearance. She was honestly almost wondering if he could even come back, or leave her here alone like everything else has.
She bites her lip. No. Stop thinking like that. Everyone had a perfectly good reason to leave.
Sheās the one sitting here, completely helpless. Useless. Angry, for no reason.
āYou okay?ā she asks Zanka after a few minutes. Heās been sitting in the chair, completely silent, staring at Enjinās face.
Zanka looks back at her like he's been caught, his eyes wide. He lowers his gaze back to the caught.
āIā¦yeah,ā he mumbles, āsorry.ā
āDon't apologize,ā she tells him.
āYour clothes are covered in blood,ā Zanka mumbles, his eyes scanning over her uniform. Her jacket was tossed out in the field. She tried to take it back, but Gris didnāt let her. He was using it to hold pressure against Enjinās wound.
āNot mine,ā she says.
She watches his shoulders sink.
āOh.ā
Thereās a brief silence again, where Zanka doesnāt look at Enjin.
āYou should change, Riyo,ā he says.
āCanāt leave,ā she tells him, pulling her legs up onto the chair, her heels on the lip of the seat.
āām here.ā
āNot leaving you by yourself either.ā
Zanka doesnāt argue with that, because he seems to know that he wouldnāt be able to handle being alone here. She wouldnāt do that to him.
Besides, she doesnāt care about the blood. Itās the easiest part about this whole situation, but she couldnāt ever explain that to Zanka.
ā¦
Riyo wakes up, and there's light filtering in through the windows.
She doesnāt remember falling asleep. The last conversation she had with Zanka was about changing her clothes, but she doesnāt know if it really was the last and she doesnāt remember, or if she fell asleep shortly after that. She blinks several times, rubs at her eyes, panic seeping into her chest because Enjin is still on the cot, heās still unconscious.
But at least Zanka is here.
āI didn't mean to fall asleep,ā she mumbles, rubbing at her eyes. Her shoulders are already sore from how she must have been positioned. Did she fall asleep with her arms around her knees? Sheās done that before. Holding herself. Zankaās made comments about that before, that itās some self-comforting thing. She said thatās not why she does it, but he said itās subconscious.
āI'm glad you did. Yaā never do,ā he says back quietly.
She huffs a laugh through her nose. True enough.
Heās still sitting in the same spot, but he looks totally exhausted. Riyo doesnāt remember at all what time Zanka came back to headquarters at last night, but the clock is reading nine thirty right now.
Enjin looks the same. Thereās a cooling patch on his forehead now. Riyo didnāt think he had a fever last she checked, but maybe itās some sort of last ditch effort on Zankaās part to wake him.
āBrought you a change of clothes,ā Zanka says, nodding his head in the direction in a stack of neatly folded clothes on the opposite cot.
Is it weird that she doesnāt want to take these off?
āAnythingā¦ā she starts, her eyes drifting back to Enjin. Surely, if he had shown any signs of waking up, Zanka would have led with that.
āNo. Nothinā,ā Zanka murmurs. āNo one can get ahold of Alice. Semiu canāt find anyone whoād come out here ān look at him either. And we canātā¦move him.ā
Riyo hates the feeling in her chest.
Enjin won't die from this, but right now, the uncertainty is killing her.
This has been an issue in the past. Either something Eishia wasnāt able to fix, or she wasnāt around, and Alice couldnāt be contacted, either. There are very few people that they can allow inside of headquarters because of security, meaning they couldnāt let almost anyone else inside, and doctors and healers from other branches are hard to get ahold of. Theyāre usually at least a half day drive away, anyway.
This situation is especially bad because they canāt move him. The risk of worsening his spinal injury is way too high.
āFeels like thereās nothing we can do,ā he mumbles.
Every time his eyes shift over to Enjin, he looks back at Riyo, or something else in the room. He canāt look at him for more than a few seconds. Riyo wonders what he was doing the whole time she was asleep, then, but itās a question quickly answered when she notices his eyes are red.
āMaybe we should justā¦take āim somewhere,ā Zanka says quietly, āmight be okay if weāre careful.ā
Riyo doesn't know what the right move is.
Zanka manages to convince Riyo that if itās their only option, itās better than waiting hopelessly on an answer from Alice or Eishia. The only problem is, neither of them are any good at driving safely. Enjin isnāt exactly the best teacher for that sort of thing. His method would have a healthy spine broken in the right circumstance. So theyāll have to ask someone else.
Tomme comes around about an hour later, and Zanka stands, and presents his plan to her. Take Enjin to the West Branch hospital, which is about ten hours away from headquarters by car. Itās safe for Givers and Cleaners. They need a driver, which would be Tomme, or Gris.
Tomme doesnāt seem to agree that this is something they should do.
āIt's not a good idea,ā Tomme says. āI donāt think itās worth risking making his injury worse, Zanka. Even if we drive as safe as humanly possible, thereās too many variables that could change things. Trash beasts, trash stormsā¦ā
Zankaās eyes dart down to the floor. He knew that answer already, she can see that in the look on his face.
ā¦
Gris appears. He has food for both of them, but no good news. He hasnāt heard anything new about the search for Alice.
Neither of them touch the food, or even look at it. They canāt. Honestly, Zanka looks terrible, and she wonders if he thinks the same thing about her.
Riyo knows itās day time. Itās light out, but she doesnāt care to look back at the clock. It doesnāt matter what time it is.
āBoth of you need to go rest,ā Gris says after a minute or so of staring at Enjin. Riyo pays close attention to his eyes for any sign that someone might think Enjin wonāt wake up, that he wonāt be okay. Sheās always concerned about adults keeping information from them. Itās what they do.
She canāt tell with Gris, though. She thinks heās just deeply concerned about someone he loves.
āIām fine.ā
āWeāre fine.ā
They both speak at the same time. Gris is surprised to hear their synchrony, brows raised.
āI guess I canāt expect the most stubborn man I know to raise a reasonable team,ā Gris teases.
Riyo tells Gris about what sheās noticed. His hands twitching. Noises he makes that might be pain, might be reactions to things around him, but she canāt tell. She knows it could mean improvement for him, but so far, heās pretty much doing the exact same as when they first brought him here.
āSemiu is trying to get in contact with the boss,ā Gris says. āIf he knows a way to help.ā
Zanka perks up a little bit at that, but to Riyo, itās all the same. What would Corvus do differently? Heās not a healer. Heās not a doctor. Would he know anyone better than Eishia or Alice, anyway?
It feels like everyone just wants to feel like theyāre doing something to help, instead of making a difference for Enjin.
Riyo bites the inside of her lip. She has to stop thinking like that.
ā¦
āRiyo?ā Zanka mumbles a few hours later.
He doesnāt look good. Riyo was thinking the same last night after he got sick, but she just chalked it up to it being a result of that, and maybe heād feel better with some time. It never really went away, though.
āMhm?ā she says.
āC'n you tell me if I've got a fever?ā he asks, the back of his own hand against his forehead, apparently not getting a good enough reading. He sounds exhausted. Riyo doesnāt think heās slept at all since he got here, which means he hasnāt slept since before his job yesterday. A fever sounds perfectly reasonable after all of that, considering itās him.
āI can tell you that from here,ā she says with a sigh. His skin has definitely paled since yesterday, but she stands and lays her palm against his forehead anyway, and his cheek, for good measure. āFeels like a fever to me.ā
Zanka groans.
āThis always happens when you're stressed,ā Riyo reminds him, patting his head even as he tried to pull away.
āNo iādoesn't,ā he mumbles. Heās trying to ignore her, what sheās said. He was probably hoping she would say no, and that he could chalk up how heās feeling to this whole situation with Enjin.
āMhm, okay.ā
She has to stop herself, bite her lip again. Enjin always gets onto him about this, and she almost caught herself saying something heād say. Maybe itād only make him angry, but she knows heās only going to feel worse if he keeps this up, so sheāll see what she can do to convince him.
āYou should go rest,ā she tells him as she sits back down in her chair.
Zankaās eyes soften, drifting down to Enjin again.
Youāre just gonna leave too. Everyone does.
āYouād listen if Enjin told you,ā she says.
Sheās not sure where this feeling in her chest is coming from. She doesnāt know why sheās thinking any of this. Part of her wants him to leave, not even just because he isnāt feeling well, and she has no idea why that even is. The other part of her wants him to stay, even though she knows how selfish it is, but she has no idea which part of her is genuine. What she really feels. What her own true thoughts are.
Zankaās the one whoās stayed the whole time. Heās one of the only people she feels like she can really trust.
āCold,ā Zanka mumbles to himself.
She doesn't want him to leave. She doesn't know why she's making him go, and why it stings when he does.
And why she's angry when she hears the door close.
ā¦
Twenty-four hours, since they got back with Enjin. Thatās what Gris said.
Riyo hasnāt moved. Her arms are crossed over her knees. Her whole body is sore. Her injuries sting every time she moves. She should clean them, but she canāt bring herself to do it. Her stomach hurts, she knows she's hungry and she knows she'll feel better if she eats, but she canāt bring herself to eat. Same with water.
She wishes Zanka would come back. He didnāt say much when he was here, but it was good to have him there, at least. His presence somehow made her comfortable enough to fall asleep.
Gris wonāt let him come back, though. He thinks itās bad enough that heās gotten sick because of how stressed he is, and sitting with Enjin and worrying about him for hours on end will only make him feel worse. Riyo doesn't think it's going to be any different for him being out of the room, though. He's always been that way.
Riyo shouldnāt have told him to go. She selfishly wants him back. Sheās thought about leaving to go to him, but she canāt leave Enjin.
Even though that seems to be Grisās plan.
āPlease donāt make me leave,ā Riyo mumbles. She doesnāt turn around when she hears Gris walk back inside, because she knows thatās his plan. She canāt do it. She wonāt leave. Everyone else is leaving. No one will stay with him. She knows they can't all be here with him, she knows they still have to function like normal, work, sleep, eat - but she won't do it.
āI wouldnāt do that to you,ā Gris says, ābut I need you to think about your own well-being, too.ā
Riyo takes in a shaky breath. She wonāt talk back to him. Enjin wouldnāt want that, and she knows that he can hear her.
āRiyo,ā Gris says gently, walking behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder. It has the same warmth that Enjinās does. It keeps it there for a few seconds, but he changes his mind, and crouches down beside the chair, looking up at her instead. āWill you eat something, at least?ā
Riyo wonāt take her eyes away from Enjin.
āPlease look at me,ā Gris tells her, not losing that gentleness in his voice. Riyo doesnāt want to. Her eyes are burning and she doesnāt want to cry. She knows she will if she looks at him. Sheās just going to see Enjinās blood staining his face, even if itās not there anymore.
She turns her head, her eyes meeting his for just a few seconds before she screws them shut. She sees his expression for long enough to see the unbearable pain in his eyes, and she feels that too, even if she wonāt quite let herself. She hates this feeling more than anything. She wonāt cry.
Gris stands, then, wrapping his arms around her and even though she knows sheās putting herself at risk for opening those floodgates, she hugs him too. She decides that maybe he needs it more than she does.
āHeāll be okay,ā Gris says quietly, āyou know him.ā
Riyoās holding her breath.
āHe wouldnāt ever leave you behind.ā
ā¦
Riyo realizes she fell asleep again. She doesnāt know what time it is. Sheās sitting on the floor, her arms folded over Enjinās cot. Sheās surprised this has happened more than once, sheās not usually the kind of person to let sleep take over her like this. She has better self discipline than that.
Her hands feel warm, though. One is tucked under her other arm, but the other has a hand laying over it.
Enjinās.
She stares back at him, wide eyed, like she's caught in a pair of oncoming headlights - but it's just his warm eyes. She wonders for a second if sheās just lost her mind, but several blinks make her realize this is really happening. Enjinās awake, looking at her. Heās smiling, too.
She can tell he can't do much else. If he had the energy to speak, he surely would have by now, but this was all he could do to tell her that he's awake. And she had to be sleeping.
āTook you long enough,ā she jokes, but her voice cracks half-way through, completely betraying her attempt to play it cool like she always does. He almost tries to turn his head to get a better look at her, but he winces from the pain that causes. āCareful, donāt - you hurt your spine.ā
It takes him a few seconds to recover from that, before his eyes relax enough to look back at her again.
Sheās trying to think about what she should do first - if she should go find Gris, or Zanka, call someone on her Choker - who should she even get first? Whatās the most important order of business? She clicks on her Choker to call Gris, but something catches her attention before she speaks to him.
She feels Enjinās hand brush against her arm again. He has almost no energy for it, Riyo can tell, but his hand lands against an injury she has from that fight, one that she didnāt bother getting looked at. She was so covered in his blood that she didnāt even notice until she washed her hands, and enough of it came off to reveal that cut.
She realizes Enjin thinks itās something else, though, and her heart feels heavy.
āItās just from the fight,ā she says quietly, āpromise.ā
It looks like he feels better, hearing that, but Riyoās chest feels tight all of a sudden, remembering times that heās caught her tearing into her own skin. Itās been a long time. It hasnāt crossed her mind in a while, and she hadn't even realized it until now. Enjin must not remember most of that fight before he was injured.
His face wonāt ever leave her mind, though, the last time he caught her. Like he thought it was somehow his own fault, or thought there was some way that he could have prevented it, even when it had nothing to do with him.
Those complicated feelings. Itās all she knows, and she hates more than anything to pass them onto other people.
āPromise I didnāt even think about it,ā Riyo tells him, but she realizes sheās mumbling, and he might not even be able to hear her. Heās such an idiot, worrying about her when heās the one who almost lost his life - heās the one whoās has people literally worried sick about him, crying over him and wondering if heāll ever wake up.
He lays his hand over hers. He seems to try to make some attempt to hold her hand, squeeze it, but heās not quite there yet. Heās still prioritizing comforting her, even though he can barely move.
For some reason, thatās what does it. She doesnāt have any say in her own emotions before she feels her eyes burn, and tears trail down her cheeks.
āDonāt do that to me,ā she mumbles as she starts to sob, shoving her face into the cot mattress and refusing any more eye contact with him. āYou canāt justā¦canāt just take me here, and then leave.ā
She never thought she would care this much about a person again, and she's so angry with herself for it.
ā¦
Gris appears only moments later. Riyo tries with everything she can to hide her face, to make sure he doesnāt know that sheās crying, but heās not as gullible as Zanka is. He knows, but he doesnāt bring attention to it. He just rubs her shoulder, comforting and caring like he always is.
Semiu and Gris both work together to examine Enjin as best as they can, between checking his vitals and his pupillary response. It doesnāt seem like anything bad, as far as they say out loud, anyway. Enjin absolutely canāt move his neck, and it seems like any back movement below his neck causes a huge amount of pain, too. She watches the color drain from his face every time he tries, his breath hitching, biting his lip so hard sheās sure heās tasting blood.
āI canāt get a look at your head injury, then,ā Semiu says. āWeāll see what Eishia and Alice can do once they get here. Should be just a few hours.ā
āHoping Eishia will be able to heal you now that you're awake,ā Gris says.
Riyo is wondering the same thing. Maybe knowing he's okay, awake and not in any danger of never waking up again, knowing she can't hurt him any further will make it easier for her to use her power.
Enjin obviously hates this more than anything. Staying still is absolutely not a specialty of his, but she canāt imagine how it feels to not be able to move, or at least, not without intense pain to go with it.
āDo we have a neck brace somewhere? To at least make sure it doesnāt get any worse?ā Gris asks, his eyes trailing around the infirmary room. None of them are super familiar with what they have. The supply closet is kind of a hodge podge of things that theyāve been able to find over the years, and most of them are scared to go in there.
āIāll go take a lookā¦ā Semiu says with a small groan. Sheāll be lucky if she gets out of there without getting crushed.
Riyoās eyes move back over to Enjin, who is watching Semiu leave. His eyes dart between Gris and Riyo once or twice before they scan the room, like heās looking for something. Riyo tilts her head, wondering what that could be. Maybe Umbreaker? It was leaning against the wall last she checked, but Enjin obviously canāt move enough to look.
āAre you-ā
āWhās Zānka?ā he somehow manages to say. Itās so slurred together, but she recognizes it right away.
Of course. Duh.
āHeās been asleep for the pastā¦twelve hours, probably,ā Gris tells him. Thatās news to Riyo. It doesnāt totally surprise her, though. He can sleep forever, any place, any time, but he hates when people let him. That explains why he hasnāt come by, then.
āYou scared him so bad that you made him sick,ā Riyo teases, āso donāt do it again.ā
āDonāt stress him out, he just woke up,ā Gris scolds.
āHe stressed us out for twenty four hours,ā Riyo reminds him. Enjin looks horrified to hear all of this. He hates making people worry, but especially Zanka, who seems to be extra sensitive over stuff like this, especially involving Enjin. And then, Enjinās the type to sleep all night and wake up thinking it was just an hour, so being in a near coma was probably a surreal experience for him.
"It's been...more like thirty, honestly."
ā¦
Itās not very long until Riyo hears the infirmary door open again. Gris said heās not letting anyone else in, so Riyo had assumed Semiu found a neck brace, but Riyo can already tell who it is by the cadence of his footsteps, before she hears the staff against the floor. It seems like Enjin can tell too, because heās smiling, his eyes following his figure until heās right by the cot.
Zankaās eyes trail over to Riyo first. Heās holding something for her, looks like a fruit of some kind, but his eyes dart over to Enjin as soon as he notices that his eyes are open.
āYābroken?ā he croaks, half-chuckling at himself. Zanka is certainly frozen in place, mouth half-open. It definitely seems like no one had told him that Enjinās awake yet. Riyo was just thinking he looked like he felt better, but all of the color is gone from his face for a few seconds before he manages to say something.
āYouā¦no, I just, you -ā Zanka mumbles, his eyes already flooded full of tears that he furiously wipes away with his sleeve. He lost that fight a lot quicker than she did. āSince whenā¦ā
āGris said you were sleeping,
āWhy would you guys evenā¦let me sleep for that long,ā Zanka mumbles under his breath, scanning over Enjin. āAre youā¦youāreā¦ā
Since Zanka canāt seem to get the words out to ask any solid questions, Riyo explains what they know. Enjinās pupillary response seems normal, aside from the fact that it seems painful, which Semiu thinks is probably more due to his head injury reacting to light than any neurological problems. He hasnāt lost feeling anywhere, he just canāt really move his neck, back, or anything involving his spine because of the pain. Gris added something to his IV about twenty minutes ago that should be working soon, and will probably make Enjin super tired.
And it does. He falls asleep not long after Zanka gets there, almost like he was holding out for him to show up, and now that he knows heās here, he can submit to sleep, in a less scary way. Zanka still looks like heās going to pass out, watching Enjin fall asleep again, but Riyo tries to assure him itās nothing to worry about anymore.
Heās okay. Heāll be fine.
āSorry I left you, Riyo,ā Zanka says after a while. Heās sitting on the chair, a little closer to Enjin, this time. He handed Riyo two apples. He knows that she likes those. Theyāre stupid hard to find, and expensive, too. She wonders if this is supposed to be an apology gift of some kind. There he goes, feeling guilty about things that arenāt his fault.
āI'm the one who told you to leave,ā Riyo says after taking a bite from one. The first thing sheās eaten since she got back. She feels like she finally can.
Zanka sighs. āYaā didn't mean it, though.ā
āDid too. You're sick,ā Riyo reminds him.
She really did want him to rest. She doesnāt know why she was feeling that selfish pull to want him to stay, and she hates that he even managed to pick up on that. Embarrassing thoughts she doesnāt want to think about. Creating tension where it shouldnāt exist.
Zanka seems to decide it's not worth the argument, because Riyo isn't up for discussing feelings like that. It makes her chest hurt just thinking about it, and she'd never let Zanka know that.
āYou handled it way better than I did,ā Zanka sighs.
i wrote a fic day 6: pollution for @gachiwhumpweek !!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
the summary ^^
He slid the mask on his face, it was almost a perfect fit, how convenient. It was loose in some areas, but itāll work, a mask is a mask. He won't complain about that especially if luck is on his side.
He stares down at the cleaner with his stolen newfound mask, he was breathing. He could hear how the cleanerās lungs were struggling with every breath. If he continued like this, he would no doubt die. Or he would die from bleeding out, flip a coin.
Looking around, it didnāt seem like there were any cleaners in sight either. He looked back down at the cleaner, what was he doing out here like this anyway? It makes zero sense. Usually they come in three or more, and they would never leave their own behind.
What an odd situation.
or raider zanka saving cleaner jabber but also hurting him at the same time
the dread on my tongue, the blood in my lungs, ch 1/2 - zanka sickfic/whump
ao3! 4.2k - written for @gachiwhumpweek day 6: pollution! Please refer to the tags in the ao3 link for any warnings!
āGood work. We're lucky we finished that up before it started getting dark,ā Enjin says, pulling off his mask with a sigh of relief.
As they enter the parking garage at the very edge of the No Man's Land, the rest of the team follows suit.
Rudo is exhausted. That was at least a full hour of fighting Trash Beasts, and with such a large group of Givers to go against them, it was an exceptionally long time. They were large, lizard-like creatures in a No Man's Land that most of them were unfamiliar with, since it's usually out of their jurisdiction.
The air was awfully potent, thick and humid. Delmon made sure that everyone double-checked their equipment and oxygen supply. Follo and Riyo both realized their tanks were only at half capacity before they went out onto the field, so Enjin came up with a plan, and sent them off the field about halfway through to make sure no one depleted their oxygen supply. They both greet the rest of the team as they approach their company vehicles.
āYou got all of them?ā Follo asks, impressed, based on his expression.
āDuh,ā Enjin says.
āIt was at least fifty six,ā Tomme reports, still with her notebook open.
āFifty six?! Youāre kidding!ā Enjin says, genuinely sounding surprised. Rudo realized that it was a large hoard of them, ones that were pretty difficult to take out because of their size and slippery movements, but fifty six is a lot. āGreat work, team. I think an hourās great time.ā
āJealous I didnāt get the full action,ā Riyo says, giving Enjin a high-five.
āAn hour, already? We have the potential to get work done much faster than that,ā Tamsy says with a pout.
āAnd Zanka! Damn, you took out damn near half of them!ā Enjin says, apparently not having heard what Tamsy said.
Rudo's eyes follow Enjin's gaze to land on Zanka, who is walking toward the first car, the one that they came in. His full-face mask and oxygen attachment is still on. Weird, because they're safe in here, and none of them like having those on for longer than necessary. Rudo knows he definitely doesnāt, even though it looks kinda cool.
The weirdest part is that Zanka doesn't react at all to what Enjin says. Zanka would never ignore Enjin on purpose for any reason.
āWhy's your mask still on, Zanka?ā Enjin says with a half-way laugh, but Zanka doesn't reply.
He's standing against the car now, leaning against it with one hand keeping him steady, the same hand that's holding his staff, like heās off balance and didnāt expect to need extra support. It starts to slip from his grip, and it clatters onto the floor beside him. It gets a few eyes on him, but with nearly fifteen of them in the garage between Givers and Supporters, most of them are focused on removing and packing up their gear before heading back on the road. Itās a two hour drive back.
āZanka?ā Enjin starts. He walks a little closer, and Rudo joins in. His eyes scan Zanka for any injuries, but he doesnāt see anything. And he was with him most of the time, he would have seen if he was injured.
Rudo watches Enjin lay a hand on Zanka's shoulder. He says something to him as Zankaās hands move to remove his full face, but Rudo doesnāt hear it. Enjin holds the mask for him. He hears Zanka start to cough, holding a shaking hand to his mouth. Itās not all that bad, at first, but Zanka sounds like he's almost choking when he takes the oxygen mask off, and Enjin's posture totally changes suddenly at the sight of something in his hand that Rudo canāt see.
Zanka's knees collapse underneath him, hard, and he falls forward into Enjinās arms, both his mask and the oxygen line falling to the floor with him.
Rudo's blood runs cold. Obviously, something is very wrong Zanka, but he's even more concerned about the fact that everyone is reacting the same way, when just seconds ago, everyone was minding their own business. Itās urgency. Practice. Gris and Tomme are both there within seconds as Enjin lays Zanka down on his back beside the vehicle. Follo takes Zankaās mask and oxygen line off of the floor, and Tomme disconnects the rest of the equipment from his bag to hand to Follo.
Zanka isnāt coughing anymore, but it doesnāt sound like heās breathing the way that heās supposed to.
āC'mon, Zanka. Breathe,ā Enjin mumbles urgently. āYou hearinā me?ā
Zanka is taking shallow, shuddering breaths, like it hurts to get any more than that in his lungs. His eyes aren't focusing. He's not fully conscious, he realizes, and he sees the change happen right in front of him, because his eyes were wide open just seconds before. Rudo wants to help, he wants to do something, but he doesn't know what's happening to him and he doesn't want to get in anybody's way. He grits his teeth.
āHe's breathing. It's shallow,ā Gris says. Tamsy and Delmon have wandered a little closer, but far enough to not get in anyoneās way. Riyo is standing behind Enjin, a hand on his shoulder, watching Zanka carefully and holding his staff for him.
āNo passing out, Zanka,ā Tomme tells him, flashing a pen light in his eyes. Sheās sitting at his head.
āZanka, squeeze my hand if you can hear me,ā Enjin tells him, taking his hand and waiting for a response. It takes several seconds, but Zanka's hand makes an effort to squeeze. It's weak, very weak, but the intent is there. Rudo is shocked, honestly. He doesnāt seem conscious at all. āGood. That's good, Zanka, now we need you to take some good breaths.ā
Enjin takes the lead for him, taking in some deep breaths, but Zanka can't follow. Every earnest attempt he makes at a breath ends in him nearly choking from the coughs it causes.
āI know it hurts, I'm sorry,ā Enjin says. His voice sounds confident, but it wavers.
āEnjin, should I call Alice? Eishia?ā Riyo says quietly beside him. Rudo doesnāt hear what Enjin says back, but his attention doesnāt leave Zankaās face for a second.
Rudo is really trying not to panic.
āWhatās - whatās going on?ā he mumbles. His hands are shaking. This doesnāt make any sense. Zanka was just fighting out there with them, walking back with them. Rudo didnāt have the slightest clue that something was wrong with him. Was he just not paying enough attention?
āIs his equipment broken?ā Tamsy asks with a hum. āThat air was extremely toxic. He'll need immediate medical attention.ā
āHe checked it before we went out!ā Delmon confirms. Rudo remembers that. Zanka said he checked his.
āThe tank is completely empty,ā Follo says, just a few feet away, on his knees and inspecting all of Zankaās oxygen equipment. Enjinās eyes dart over, looking confused and a little freaked out to be hearing that. āI'll leak test it.ā
Rudo watches him do it. Close off the valve and flush the line, bring up the pressure, and apparently, it doesnāt hold. Follo does it again and watches the line in front of him, and sure enough, he finds the issue.
āThere's a tear in the tube,ā Follo tells them, āthe whole line is contaminated.ā
He's already working on replacing Zanka's oxygen supply with his own, disconnecting his bag and mask and handing it to Gris, who starts working on situating it over Zankaās face. He groans quietly, very clearly not understanding his situation. He sounds like heās in pain, and he can imagine he is.
āWe're close to Alice's clinic. About an hour and a half. We'll head straight there, the rest of you go back to headquarters,ā Enjin says urgently. Tomme sounds doubtful about doing a drive that long, but Enjin tells her Alice is the only one that can treat this properly. So he knows whatās going on.
āI'm coming with you,ā Riyo insists, still behind him.
Rudo wants to go with him, but he knows he would just be in the way. He doesnāt have any idea what he would have done in his situation if it were just him and Zanka. Heās only assuming this is related to the toxic air of the No Manās Land. Everyone else here seems to have dealt with this in one way or another before.
Rudo watches Zankaās head lull to the side, his eyes closing and everything else go limp, including the already loose grip he had on Enjinās hand. He waits a second, expecting Zanka to correct that and wake back up, but he doesnāt.
āHold on,ā Enjin says and Gris completely stops in his tracks, preparing to move Zanka into the back of the vehicle. Two other Supports have already laid the back seats down and gotten the stretcher out to lay Zanka on and transport him into the vehicle.. āHe passed out. Is he still breathing?ā
Enjinās voice makes it sound almost like he's panicking, which Rudo didn't know was even possible for him.
āZanka, come back. Hey,ā Enjin stammers, his hand on his face, trying to wake him - but it doesnāt work. Zankaās eyes stay closed. He doesnāt make any sounds at all. He isnāt breathing. Thereās a wheeze, but thatās it. Rudo doesnāt think it sounds like heās getting any air.
He isnāt breathing.
āDo we have equipment to intubate?ā Gris asks urgently. āWe shouldn't waste any time.ā
āDammitā¦dammit, you're right,ā Enjin mumbles. Clearly, Zanka's condition is not good enough for him to not worry. āI'll do it.ā
Rudo isn't really familiar with what theyāre talking about. The Supporters that brought out the stretcher now have a box with supplies heās never seen before. He has no clue what they're doing, or what theyāre getting ready to do. Itās terrifying. Unfamiliar equipment, words and things Rudo knows nothing about, and something he doesnāt have any gauge on the seriousness of. He just knows not breathing isnāt good. And thatās terrifying.
Rudo shivers at the sudden touch of a hand on his shoulder. He didn't mean to react like that. He didn't have any idea Tamsy was behind him.
āItās pollution sickness. Huge cause of death here on the Groundā¦ā
Rudo knows Tamsy doesnāt mean to sound so scary, but it sends a shiver up his spine in an already scary and unfamiliar situation. He remembers hearing Enjin talk about that, hearing about Aliceās experiences, and of course, Gobās body. Enjin knelt down next to his cot.
But Zanka canāt justā¦
āIt's scary, isn't it? To watch someone nearly die.ā
Rudo feels like he can't breathe. All he can see is Regto's blood soaked clothes, and when he looks down at his gloves to pull himself out of it, they're stained that same ugly red. He was already nearly back into these memories without realizing it, but Tamsy's words completely sent him back to that place.
He couldn't have known.
Tamsy's hand rubs his shoulder, and Rudo feels like he can take a breath. He has to snap out of it. Thereās no way any of them would let Zanka die. No way.
āDon't be afraid, Rudo. There's excellent doctors here on the Ground. Your friend will be just fine,ā Tamsy says. Rudo can hear the smile just in his voice, without needing to look at him.
He's right. Tamsy always knows what to say.
Rudo is pulled away from the scene. Tamsy and Delmon usher him away, with Follo and a few other Supporters. Rudo wants to stay, he wants to say something to them, but he canāt bring himself to. He knows theyāll take care of Zanka. He knows heāll be okay. Enjin wouldnāt let anything bad happen to him.
āWe canāt be in the way. And itās not good for so many Givers to be in one place, anyhow,ā Tamsy says as he sees his eyes unable to leave even the direction of the scene, hidden behind the cars. Rudo understands what he means. They canāt be in the way, sure, but even if they stood back, watched and waited, it would mean a longer time for Headquarters to have less Givers. It makes sense, he thinks.
Follo climbs in the back seat with Rudo. Rudo doesn't say anything, he doesn't know what he would even say, but apparently that's written all over his face. His fists are balled in his lap, and he tries to avoid looking out of his window as Delmon leads the car out of the garage, another vehicle following closely behind them. Donāt think about it. Itās fine. Itāll be fine.
Zanka had a tear in his oxygen equipment. The air out there was really, really toxic. None of them have any idea how long the tear was there for.
He wishes he could have done something.
āTamsy,ā Rudo starts. His voice is so shaky. He tries to steady it.
Tamsy turns his head curiously. His eyes stare straight into Rudo.
āIsā¦is that really enough to kill a person? One time?ā he asks.
āWho said it was going to kill him?ā Follo asks nervously. Delmon opens his mouth to interject, but Tamsy stops him, a finger in his face.
Tamsy sighs. āWellā¦perhaps, prolonged exposure in such an area could cause sudden death, especially in any person with compromised lungs. Common down here, as you can imagine. The air in that district wasn't just toxic, it was humid. Potent. The irritants could close an airway. There could be a fluid buildup in his lungs.. Could be dangerous for anyone, and Zanka is youngā¦ā
āDon't talk like that, Tamsy. Zanka isn't going to die,ā Follo says sternly, but his voice shakes.
āWhat? I'm answering Rudo's question,ā Tamsy says innocently. āZanka's exposure wasn't enough to kill him. He was still breathing in his oxygen supply. It was justā¦tainted, because of the damage to his line. And slow, steady exposure is certainly enough to put a person in such a condition. The adrenaline from the fight was probably keeping him upright long enough for no one else to notice.ā
Itās a little reassuring. Itās not the same situation as Gob, it sounds like. That was built up over time.
āBut he has a bad habit of ignoring pain, too,ā Follo points out. āWe donāt know how long his equipment was damaged for.ā
Rudo has definitely noticed that about him, and it makes the reassurance disappear.
āEnjin has it handled!ā Delmon insists before Tamsy can shut him up again. āI know he does!ā
Rudo bites his lip so hard that it almost bleeds.
ā¦
āDon't second guess yourself,ā Gris tells him sternly, but the concern in his tone is clear as day. Heās scared too.
Enjin's hands are shaking so much that he doesn't know if he can even hold anything still enough for something like this. He's watched Alice do this a few times before, he's even helped her do it, but he's never actually done it without the help of an actual medical professional. Heās never done it by himself. And this is Zanka.
He knows the risks. Placing it in his esophagus by accident wouldn't kill him as long as Enjin noticed, it would just mean he wouldnāt actually be getting an airway secured.. He has to be careful not to cause any injuries to his teeth, vocal chords or anything else.. A lung collapse is possible, but at this point, it's not worse than the fact that he can't breathe on his own.
Stop wasting time and do the damn thing.
Zanka being unconscious like this will make this a little easier, at least.
After smacking it against his palm to make sure the light stays on, Enjin positions the laryngoscope that Gris has handed to him into Zankaās mouth. The light makes a big difference, and makes him a little less nervous about doing this, but itās still terrifying.
He sees the vocal chords. Thatās his landmark, essentially. Tomme hands him the endotracheal tube, and he doesnāt have a lot of time for deliberation, he just has to do it. Zanka gags, but it so weak that it doesnāt move anything out of place.
He lines up the tube with the laryngoscope, and inserts it into his trachea before shoving the rest in. It's rough, but necessary. It didnāt go in as easy as it should have, which probably means that his airway was compromised just like he had suspected, and doing this was in fact the right call. Enjin probably hit his vocal chords in the process, but those can heal.
Gris already has him reconnected to his supply as soon as Enjin takes the laryngoscope out, the one that Follo had leant to them, and he's closing the valve and squeezing the bag to force oxygen back into his lungs as Enjin cuffs the tube to keep it in place. Enjin watches his chest rise and fall again after Gris releases the bag. He does it again, and Enjin puts his ear right up against Zanka's mouth to make sure he can't hear any leaks. He does it twice.
āIs he breathing on his own?ā Riyo asks. Her tone sounds uncertain, nervous. Completely out of the ordinary for her.
Gris and Enjin both wait a few seconds with Gris holding off on giving him manual breaths, and after a few agonizing seconds, they see Zankaās chest rise and fall on his own.
They donāt waste any time. Gris and Tomme both move Zanka onto the stretcher quickly, and Enjin joins them in moving him into the car, his legs shaking as he stands. They need to get him to Aliceās quickly. Enjin canāt see his lungs, and thatās the most concerning part.
āWhereās Rudo?ā Enjin asks out loud, scanning the area for him. The third and fourth cars are already packed with the rest of their Supporters, but Rudo isnāt anywhere to be found.
āWith Eager. And Follo,ā Tomme informs him. Enjin didnāt see Tamsy and Delmon take Rudo - he would have been fine with him joining them on the way to Alice, but maybe itās better he didnāt. He thinks it would be way too anxiety inducing for him, which must have been why Tamsy thought to take him away from the scene.
Thereās a pit in his stomach thatās getting a lot larger to ignore. His legs and hands are shaking despite and everything heās doing to keep that hidden, Gris sees it. He feels a hand on his shoulder before he climbs in the car, beside Zanka. Itās basically a command to take a deep breath.
āHe'll be fine. His exposure wasn't long,ā Gris assures him, even though they have no way to confirm that. āAlice will take care of him when we get there. Take a second.ā
Enjin tries to take a deep breath, but he canāt focus enough to do it properly. He doesnāt have any time to calm himself down.
āYou did good. Relax and focus on where we're taking him,ā Gris tells him.
āFreak out about it later,ā Enjin says in agreement. Gris gives him a look like heās trying to tell him thatās not what heās trying to say, but he doesnāt know any other way to do it.
Zanka looks awful. His skin is almost completely white. Heās breathing now, sure, but itās his lungs that are the real problem they need to worry about, and the intubation will only work for as long as his lungs are in good condition. Riyo is sitting with him, by his head, still giving him breaths of their oxygen supply just in case, it seems like.
Enjin remembers the blood that Zanka was coughing up right before he collapsed. He has to remember that theyāre not in the clear just because this happened to work.
āAre we keeping this on the whole time?ā Riyo asks. She disconnects and empties the reservoir bag while sheās talking before re-attaching it. Good idea, that way if thereās any of it left in his lungs, itās getting emptied completely. āFollo didnāt have a lot left in here. But I can attach mine when itās empty.ā
āWeāll keep him connected to his oxygen until we get back. That way he's getting pure air, hopefully help filter out any crap left in his lungsā¦ā Enjin says. āAnd Alice will take care of the rest.ā
Enjin climbs into the back with Riyo and Zanka, and Gris closes the door behind them, getting into the front seat with Tomme.
Enjin makes sure Zanka is breathing. He doesnāt take his eyes off of him, not even for a second. Once heās a little closer to him, he tries to shift Zanka so that heās sitting up against Enjinās leg, supporting his head with his hand. He remembers that itās not good for him to be lying flat with his lungs in the condition that theyāre in.
āThank fuck youāre okay,ā he whispers. Heās okay for now. āYou scared the shit outta me, Zanka.ā
āThat was impressive,ā Tomme tells him. Turning her body from where she is in the passenger seat. āI didnāt know you knew how to do that.ā
Enjin breathes a sigh of relief. āAlice has taught me a thing or two.ā
Honestly, though, he feels like he's going to throw up. He never wants to do that again. He technically doesnāt know how to do it, heās never been formally taught how to, but heās just seen it enough times to pick it up, just for an emergency situation like this.
āHeās still really pale,ā Enjin mumbles as he watches Riyo push Zanka's hair out of his face.
āItās better than before,ā Riyo assures him, but Enjin doesnāt look so sure. āIt is, really.ā
āIāll take care of this, Riyo. Sit down, youāre gonna hurt your back sitting like that,ā Enjin tells her.
āI will and you wonāt?ā Riyo asks, a brow raised in suspicion, but he waves her off.
ā¦
About a half hour passes before anything changes. Itās a mostly silent car ride. Gris apologizes for bumps along the way, heās driving way faster than he usually does, on Zankaās behalf. Enjinās half inclined to make a comment on how out of place that is for him, but he canāt take his thoughts away from Zanka for more than a few seconds.
He almost died. He seriously stopped breathing for a few seconds. Enjin feels sick thinking about it.
There's eye movement from Zanka. Enjin isn't sure that he's actually in the process of waking up, because he's opened his eyes a handful of times now before just passing out again. Itās scared the shit out of him every single time, but heās been able to breathe through it anyway, thanks to the tube.
This time, though, he's aware. His breaths start to pick up and Enjin realizes he's panicking. Itās completely possible Zanka doesnāt remember anything before he started coughing up blood, because he wasn't responsive when Enjin noticed something was wrong. He doesn't really have any idea at what point it started to be painful, or hard to breathe for him. He didn't show any signs. He was quiet, but heās never been talkative.
Enjin realizes this might be trouble when Zanka's hand reaches for the end of the tube.
āHold on, hey,ā Enjin tells him, taking both of his hands with a firm grip, but making sure he's gentle when he pulls them down. āGotta keep that in there. Breathe slow, okay?ā
āHe's awake?ā Riyo asks, turning back from the middle seat to look.
āYeah,ā Enjin answers quietly, keeping eye contact with Zanka. The panic starts to fade, and Enjin thinks he might pass out again, but he doesn't. At least not right away. āHad to tube yaā, sorry. You weren't breathing.ā
Zanka might not even comprehend what he's being told.
āWe're taking you to Alice, and you'll be good as new by tomorrow. Got it?ā Enjin tells him, squeezing his hand. Maybe heās making too many promises. āDonāt freak out on me.ā
āIs he okay, Enjin?ā Gris asks from the front.
āHeās fine. Just waking up,ā Enjin says. Heās still keeping a close eye on his respirations, the effort it takes to breathe, the oxygen supply. He switched it to Riyoās not long ago, and the meter isnāt empty yet.
āShould you call Alice?ā Riyo asks.
āGood idea,ā Enjin mumbles. He doesnāt know why he didnāt think to earlier.
He rings her, and she answers quickly. She always does when Enjinās the one calling.
He briefs her on the situation. The equipment damage, estimated time of exposure, the blood in his coughs, the way his airway was probably compromised and the intubation. He feels like heās not in his own body, explaining all of that to her. He feels like he watched it from somewhere else. Heās got an awful headache right now.
āHow far are yaā?ā Alice asks him after listening to his explanation.
āAn hour?ā Enjin says. He's not sure exactly, but Tomme confirms his guess with a nod.
āTake him to a hospital. Starheās probably the closest one to yaā. I'll meet yaā there.ā
Enjin pauses for a second. He feels like heart rate spike, for sure. āHospital-?ā
āIf yaā had to fuckinā tube him, he needs a hospital,ā she says. āYou said there was blood, didnāt yaā?!ā
Riyo is glaring holes into him, and he realizes he didnāt tell anyone about the blood when it first happened. He doesnāt know why. Maybe that made it way too scary.
āOkay - okay, weāll reroute. Iāll - weāll call you when we get there.ā
for @gachiwhumpweek day 7: Major injury! congratulations to the only whumpee enjoying this week dfldsahgg alt (old) ver form last last week and speedpaint under the cut
My submission for day 6 of @gachiwhumpweek : pollution!!! jabber is LOVING whumpweek i swear (SPEEDPAINT and all previous versions (made like, last week) BELOW)
the product of love we do not receive - hyo w/ sick zanka
ao3! 4.1k - written for @gachiwhumpweek day 5: hidden condition! Please refer to the tags in the ao3 link for any warnings!
Hyo supposes that maybe this is karma, for watching someone without their knowledge.
Now, sheās left with two choices.
Leave Zankaās unconscious body in the woods and hope someone else finds him, or take her somewhere herself.
She slowly makes her way down the tree, using branches as leverage to climb down the tree pretty much exactly the way she got up. The way she always goes up, always comes down. She spends more time here than she would like to admit. Trees are so rare on the Ground. Having full sized, healthy ones all over the place like this is something she never thought she would get to experience, and itās a good place to watch. Observe.
Usually, Zanka is the one she ends up watching.
She was up there when she first noticed Zanka enter the clearing below. Sheās seen him there before, but had noticed from the beginning that it must be somewhere he goes to a lot, because the grassy ground is worn down to dirt in the middle, in the shape of a circle, and almost, at certain points, worn further to the exact movements he makes as he practices his form, drills and whatever else is drilled into them by the Academy.
It doesnāt seem like the ideal way to improve a personās skills. Doing the same thing over, and over, and over. But maybe he has something figured out that she doesnāt. Itās why sheās been studying him.
She makes it down the ground as gracefully as she got up. Even if Zanka was conscious, he likely wouldnāt have heard her descend the tree.
Hyo was focused on Zankaās movements, and while a little slower than normal, there wasnāt anything out of the normal that would have led her to assume that he would, at any point, suddenly collapse into the dirt the way he did.
She starts to take a few cautious steps over, curiously circling him once to see if thereās anything in particular that would give her a hint as to what happened here. Itās fairly early in the morning. The air is still cool. If those things werenāt true, she would have just assumed that he tired himself out with training during class, but that canāt be the case here, unless heās been training all night. Not impossible. He seems to work himself incredibly hard.
She kneels down beside him, curiously tilting her head. Heās lying on his side. She touches his shoulder to see if sheāll get any response from him that way, but he doesnāt really budge at all.
Well, heās definitely breathing, so heās not dead. Thatās good. She didnāt want to leave any proof that she was near him if he was dead, but now she doesnāt have to worry about that.
Hyo places a hand on Zankaās face and turns it just enough so that she can see his expression, and he looks a lot worse than she realized he did from up high. His skin is warm. A little hot, even, like a fever. The furrowed brow, the bags under his eyes, it's showing lots of things very clearly. He's in pain. He's been struggling for longer than just since the start of the day. He probably hasn't slept.
The only problem is, she has no idea what to do with him now. There isn't anyone around, and she has a feeling their classmates wouldn't take any action if they found him like this. They're all followers. None of them have minds of their own. They donāt have an on-site infirmary or anything of the sort, which sheās always thought was strange, for a place like this.
Should she find out where he lives?
She stands, headed back toward the Academy yard. Itās early, too early for class, but sheās sure sheāll find someone training or hanging out who can tell her some information she needs, and sheās right on the money. Thereās three, a male and two female students, talking against the wall of the training yard. Theyāre really not far from where Zanka is at all.
āExcuse me,ā she says, approaching them without waiting.
The student sheās directly facing jumps. Sheās not sure why. Sheās staring back at her like sheās just seen a Trash Beast. Hyo turns around briefly, making sure there isnāt anything scary behind her.
āCan you tell me where Zanka Nijiku lives?ā she asks as she turns her head back. No time to waste, really. She isnāt exactly sure whatās wrong with Zanka, but she knows that he needs to see some sort of doctor, and that he shouldnāt be left in the dirt with a fever of any kind.
Her face pales, as if Hyo has just asked her to help hide a body. She really doesn't understand these people, and she desperately wishes that she could.
āTheā¦Nijikuā¦house?ā she answers timidly. Hyo thought at first that she was confirming, but that seems to be an answer. Strange.
āAnd where is that?ā she asks plainly.
āYou don't knowā¦?ā the student squeaks back. How is she supposed to know where the Nijiku House is? Obviously, she doesnāt, and thatās why sheās asking.
āRelax, Chiyo. She's not from here, remember?ā the male student behind her whispers. It sounds condescending, but Hyo is terrible at gauging emotions.
āRight, umā¦the Nijiku house is that huge complex in the center of Kamuatari. With the big stone staircaseā¦ā
Hyo visualizes what theyāre talking about. Right. She can see that place very well from the trees. That makes sense. She's gotten the impression that Zanka Nijiku is important somehow, but the reason, she couldn't quite pin down. He's an heir to this area's ruling family, she's gathered now, based on everything she knows combined with this conversation.
āThank you,ā she says, turning on her heel to walk the other direction. She hears them whisper and chatter behind her, but she doesnāt care to pay attention to anything they might be saying. They only exist as boring background noise, and they have combat skills and personalities to match. None of them are both studying even remotely.
Once she makes it back to the small forested clearing where Zanka is, she tries to decide the best way to carry him. Ideally, on her back would be the easiest, but with him seemingly completely unconscious, she decides to carry him in her arms.
She doesnāt expect him to be so light.
He groans when she lifts him, and she sees his face twist up in discomfort, but his eyes stay screwed shut.
Hyo didn't notice it before, but as sheās inspecting his face for any sign of consciousness with the little noise he made, she notices that the redness on his face seems to have pretty odd placement. It starts in the middle of his face and spreads outward over his cheeks, in the shape of a butterfly. Itās almost raised, too, not looking like the typical redness sheād see from a fever. How strange.
She starts her trek up to what is, apparently, Zanka Nijikuās house, and she ponders what it is that may have caused him to pass out.
Maybe heās just overworked himself. Itās the most logical explanation.
The other students seem to think that Zanka is born with this innate ability of perfect combat skills, but strangely enough, he lets them believe it. He never corrects them, even though heās the only one out of all of the students in their class that she ever sees training outside of their courses. Heās pretty much always here in the mornings, and Hyo has seen here most afternoons, too. If he isnāt here, heās studying in the library room. She had never considered that he lived anywhere, because he spends almost all of his time at the Academy building.
He doesnāt seem to have any friends, either. No one at the Academy talks to him casually, and sheās never seen him speak with any of them outside of conversations necessary for class or training during class.
Even so, something about that theory doesnāt feel quite right either. His skin felt a little warm when she touched his face earlier, and he even feels warm through his uniform, now that sheās carrying him. She suspected a fever, and this confirms it. Sheās noticing heās taking pretty shallow breaths, which must indicate itās painful to inhale completely right now. Heās stiff, even though heās unconscious. Itās like a subconscious effort to protect himself, like heās in pain.
He must be sick. He shouldnāt train at all if heās sick. She thought that was common sense.
The stone staircase is certainly long and treacherous, but she considers it good training too, to carry someone all the way up. She manages to do it without breaking much of a sweat either, but she had no doubts about being able to do it in the first place.
The house certainly is something. Really, itās like nothing else sheās seen before. Itās bigger than the Academy. She would almost call it a castle, even though it looks like none sheās ever seen or heard of. Thereās two floors, but the bottom floor itself could probably house ten families, if they really wanted to. Sheās not sure what any family would need so much space for. She wishes Zanka wasnāt so difficult to get a conversation out of when heās awake, otherwise, sheād make a mental note to ask him later.
She starts to try and find a way in. Luckily, there seems to be ways around the back and entryways on the side that wonāt make it a difficult task. Sheād like to bring him somewhere and remain undetected, entering and exiting. She doesnāt want to be questioned or attract any unnecessary attention. Itās the logical way to go about a situation like this. Even if sheās not able to give them a history on his situation. Theyāll be able to figure it out.
As she carefully wanders around the halls of the building, she realizes sheās probably going to have a hard time finding his bedroom. They donāt have bed frames or mattresses in this town, just fold-away futons that only stay out when theyāre being slept on, so she decides that whichever room she finds first with enough open space to house a bed, sheāll find a futon to lay him on, and sneak out. She realizes she also probably shouldnāt have her shoes on. They donāt like that here. She keeps forgetting.
Too late now.
Her eyes peer down to his face while sheās carefully wandering around the complex. His eyes are half-lidded now, but he isnāt exactly trying to wake up, and doesnāt seem to notice heās being carried, either. If nothing else, he just looks horribly exhausted, too out of it to make any movements or wake himself up.
She finds a room, after several minutes of tip-toeing around corners and peeking into entryways. And surprisingly, one with a futon still laid out, and the blanket lazily strewn across.
Interesting. It doesnāt match the look of this place at all. Itās like it doesnāt belong. If this is in fact, his room, he doesnāt strike her at all as this kind of person. If anything, it might be a testament to how heās feeling.
Or, maybe, something else.
She gently lowers him down to the futon, and she hears a little groan from him again. She really thinks that he might be in pain, but she canāt tell where. The uniforms pretty much cover everything, so even if he was injured, she wouldnāt be able to see it.
These futons arenāt uncomfortable. Theyāre much better than most everything she grew up with to sleep on, but if Zanka is really in pain, then he should sleep on something more comfortable than this. She hears a little noise from him again as she tests the depth of the futon with her index finger.
āNnā¦Hyoā¦?ā Zanka mumbles. He can hardly open his eyes in the first place, and keeping them open seems to be a completely separate issue. It makes no difference to her if she recognizes him or not, so she doesn't answer. She only stares down at him, secretly wondering what on earth is going on with him.
He loses all of the energy he had pretty quickly, and his eyes fall shut, his head rolling to the side with a pained sound.
She stands, carefully not to stir him, but thereās a new problem. Footsteps.
āWhere? This way?ā The voice asks. Deep. Female. Hyo needs to hide.
She pushes the wood framed paper door on the other side of the entryway out of the way, opposite from where she came, and moves against the wooden wall so that her silhouette canāt be seen from the other side. The footsteps seem to pass the room. Two sets. One returns, though, and Hyo is presuming that sheās been caught - but they must have seen Zanka.
āWhen did he come home?ā The voice says after a pause.
āI didn't see him enter, I'm sorry, ma'amā¦ā A squeaky voice says.
āThe instructor didn't tell me he was ill,ā the woman huffs in frustration after a few seconds.
āI donātā¦know that classes have even started yet, maāamā¦?ā
āThey havenāt. They start at seven,ā A different voice. She must have heard the footsteps incorrectly. This one is male. Deep as well.
āSo, did he ever leaveā¦?ā the squeaky voice says, but it trails off, and thereās a silence once again.
The wooden frame door opens beside her.
This woman is good. Hyo didnāt hear her footsteps after that point at all, and sheās fairly certain that she wasnāt close enough to open it without moving her feet. Sheās noticed Zanka has similar skills.
The woman approaches her, calmly, but with a stern rage in her eyes. Hyo isnāt afraid of her. She wonāt kill her, they donāt do that here. And if this gets her arrested for some reason, itāll be an interesting experience, at the very least. And sheāll just escape when sheās bored.
Not much different from what sheās doing here, really.
Sheād like to stay a while, though. Zanka is interesting.
āWhat are you doing on our property?ā The woman barks.
This woman. She's seen her before. Never inside of Kamuatari, but the slums, absolutely. Her striking red hair is a difficult thing to forget. She didnāt recognize her resemblance to Zanka before, but she isnāt wearing any makeup right now, and that could absolutely be why. They almost look like they could be twins.
Interesting. She didnāt know Zanka had any siblings.
āI got lost. My apologies,ā Hyo says plainly.
āLost?ā she scoffs. Sheās not buying it.
Hyo just stares back. Her stern expression doesnāt waver, not even for a second, but Hyo still isnāt afraid of her, and this woman seems to be counting on the fact that she can make it that way.
āYou brought him here,ā the woman says.
She waits for Hyo to answer, to admit it, but she doesnāt budge.
āYouāre in the Academy,ā the woman notices, her eyes peering down to her uniform. Hyo wonders if sheās going to threaten to have her removed. They certainly have that authority. It doesnāt matter to her, though, sheāll find work elsewhere.
Sheās not sure sheāll find someone as interesting as Zanka.
āDon't tell anyone about his condition. Act as if you never saw him,ā she tells her.
Hyo finds that strange. She seems to imply that this has happened before, but Hyo surely canāt pry on this, at least not now, not with this woman. Sheād prefer to keep a low profile if she can, and getting involved in this familyās drama, or any drama for that matter, is not something sheās interested in.
She canāt seem to take her mind off of Zanka, though.
ā¦
āGoka, I donāt need you here. Please go prepare for work.ā
She hears him hesitate before he agrees to leave, begrudgingly so. Kyouka doesnāt turn to look at him, but she hears his footsteps trail out, following behind the maid that she sent out earlier. Sheās busy checking Zankaās pupils, making sure he doesnāt have a head injury of some kind, because heās clearly out of it. It must be from a fever, though.
She doesnāt need anyone in the way here.
āWhat happened?ā Kyouka says. Sheās stern, but quiet. Itās obvious he isnāt well, and while she would like a full explanation for this, scaring him wonāt do him any good, either.
Zanka looks like he's afraid to answer. Heās lying against his futon, still in his uniform. One of the maids had mentioned that he hadnāt folded it back up before he left that morning, which was awfully unusual for him, but Kyouka instructed her to leave it. Sheād make sure he knew not to make a mistake like that again, and not to create extra work for their staff.
āThink I didn' getā¦enough sleep,ā he mumbles. He sounds breathless. She listened to him breathe for a few moments to make sure. Heās not in a good condition at all, but she wonāt call the doctor this time. She wonāt hear his diagnosis again. Her brother is not weak, not frail. He can't just be broken. Thereās a way to fix this. There has to be.
She rests a hand against his warm cheek, examining the redness on his face. She's seen this before. It hasn't gone away while he's been in here this morning. That odd shape, spreading over his face, the way it's raised, almost. She had hoped it was from over-exertion, and that it would fade now that heās lying down, but it doesnāt seem to be the case. His skin is still warm, too. This fever hasn't gone away.
He had a fever last night, too. She saw it when he was there for dinner. She didnāt say anything, and he didnāt say anything to her. She just knew.
A fever the night before, just like last time. She bites her lip.
āYou know better than that, Zanka,ā Kyouka says, ābalance your training and your sleep. This wonāt do you any good at all.ā
Thatās it. Thatās why heās unwell. He needs to be more diligent, thatās all
He nods carefully. It seems he wants to say something, but she won't have any more excuses, and he knows that.
āSit up,ā she tells him.
She watches him nearly whimper at the thought of doing that, but she can't let him fall to a weakness like this. He uses his elbows as leverage, and just as she suspected, thereās pain there, too. His joints. They said that was one of the biggest tells of the diagnosis, but she won't believe it. Heās too young to have issues like that. She knows he trains a lot more than his classmates do, but she never had issues like this, and neither did Goka. He just needs to work harder.
He manages to push himself up so that heās sitting, but thereās still more than enough proof something is wrong.
Even if this is some kind of illness, some sort of condition, she canāt have that. He has expectations he needs to fulfill. He can rest for now and build up his strength, but needs to train past this. It canāt happen again.
āYou need to have some water,ā she tells him. That is something he's always been terrible at, keeping himself hydrated, especially when he's been unwell.
Another shaky nod, but no words.
Recently, he's been much more hesitant about communicating with her. She doesn't like it. It makes her nervous that he's distancing himself from his family.
āLetās remove your uniform, at least.ā
ā¦
āThis looks like Lupus,ā Alice says, her face hanging over his.
Zanka blinks back at her. Heās lying on his back on one of the cots in her clinic, and heād like to sit up to hear her diagnosis, but he doesnāt have the energy. It hurts too much.
He's been feeling sick for about a week, now. Mind-melting fatigue. He couldn't stay awake for meetings or gather any energy to train, but even if he was awake enough to do that, everything just hurts. He tried to train, but itās even become a chore to put his uniform on. Then thereās this awful redness on his face that everyone keeps poking fun at him for, wondering how he got sunburnt when that isnāt the case at all. He thinks he has a fever too, which would explain some of these things.
He was doing pretty good at hiding it, at first. Heād go hide and rest in his room and everyone thought he was off at some secret training location, but on their last job, the pain heās in was obvious to Enjin. When he was struggling to open the car door, that set him off. He caught him with a fever by the end of it.
Enjin tried to make sure he was resting and taking medication the best he could in the days following. His pain seemed to be the most concerning part. He had medications he could try or tricks to help the pain, but Zanka knew none of them would work, because heās tried everything. He's dealt with this his whole life.
The moment Zanka mentioned his chest pain before he decided he was going to bed, he was being carted off to Alice.
This has happened before. It didnāt used to be as bad, either. When he still lived in Kamuatari, it happened every now and then, but not for several days at a time. He just chalked it up to the air quality for a while, since leaving that place, and assumed thatās why heād been feeling off, every now and then. Sick, in pain.
Alice has done all sorts of tests on him. Zanka feels awful. He wants more than anything to sleep peacefully, and he doesnāt often choose that over a training session in the middle of the day.
āLupus?ā Zanka repeats. Heās never heard that word before.
āAuto-immune disease! You've had this your whole life, I bet.ā
Zanka lowers his gaze. He just shrugs. He has no idea what any of that means, but it sounds like sheās implying that all of this really is connected, like heād thought. He decides that maybe heāll nod. He doesnāt know what else heād do.
His first inclination is to think she must have that wrong. Surely, if he had some sort of condition, the doctors in Kamuatari would have figured that out. Kyouka never let Zanka speak to any of the doctors, tell them directly what he was feeling, what was going on with him. She said all they told her was that he was frail. That he needed to build up his strength.
He starts to feel nauseous, thinking about the possibility that maybe she knew all along. And just wouldn't tell him.
Because that meant something was wrong with him. Something she couldn't train out of him.
āReally?ā Enjin says.
Zanka turns his head. Enjin is standing close by, his arms crossed over his chest, evidently worried. Zanka hates that. He feels like heās wasting his time.
Zanka feels his chest tighten.
Enjin must not believe him. Why would he?
āCan't imagine they let this fly in your house, huh?ā Enjin says with a sigh.
Zanka's eyes turn up to meet his. There's an unfamiliar look in his eyes. Sympathy or something similar, he isn't quite sure, but he doesn't look angry. Or disappointed. He was expecting some sort of sour look at the very least, but Enjin is treating this like a minor inconvenience.
āNotā¦really,ā Zanka murmurs. He's trying not to think about it too much. His eyes burn, wondering if Kyouka had really kept this from him. He doesn't want to believe that she would do something like that, but he knows that if it served her idealized view of him, that she would.
āWell, weāll figure something out,ā Enjin says. āI'm sure you've got some sort of plan for a treatment, Alice?ā
āAntimalarials are a hard find, but the best bet,ā she says, shuffling through a book on her over-crowded desk.
Itās so casual. Like it means nothing. He knows thatās not the case. Enjin very much does think it means something, otherwise he wouldnāt have driven him here a mere hour outside of midnight.
But the difference is, heās not treating this like a problem, or something to hide.
And just for a second, the words that his sister drilled into his skull start to fade into the background.
I choose to use She/Her bc she feel more confortable not to explain her conditions. But she feels She/They sometimes and struggle with gender dysphoria.
if you're in hell i'll go there too - rudo w/ riyo and zanka whump
ao3! 4.2k - written for @gachiwhumpweek day 4: collapse! Please refer to the tags in the ao3 link for any warnings!
Rudo feels like he still canāt breathe properly.
Take a few breaths in for a few seconds. Was it five? Ten? Zanka is the one who taught it to him how to do breathing exercises in the first place, but he canāt remember right now, and now is definitely not the time to ask. Everythingās totally scrambled. His vision is swimming, rocking back and forth. His adrenaline is completely through the roof. He decides heāll just breathe in for however many seconds he can, and decides itās a good distraction from the current situation as he trudges through the cave, Zanka following behind him.
āHereās fine,ā Zanka says from behind him, and Rudo stops walking. Turns around.
Itās awfully dark inside the cave, aside from a few glowing stones that Zanka once described as near-radioactive, but his frame, and Riyoās unconscious body in his arms, is still very clear to him. Rudo feels himself holding his breath again. Itās safe here inside the cave from the Trash Storm, but without any idea of how long theyāll be trapped here, heās honestly terrified. Riyo is badly injured. Their Chokers arenāt working. They have no idea where Enjin and the others are.
What are they going to do?
āYou got somethinā to make a fire?ā Zanka asks sternly. He takes Rudo out of his thoughts.
Rudo nods fervently. He has a little lighter that heās sure he can turn into somewhat of a fireplace with 3R. Using his Vital Instrument for non-combat related situations is something heās been working on with Zanka, actually. He can do something to help.
āāKay, thatāll be your job, then,ā he says.
Rudo watches Zanka carefully lay Riyo down, like sheās fragile, like sheāll break apart with the slightest misstep. Words heād never use to describe Riyo, but sheās totally unconscious and bleeding a lot. And Zanka hasnāt been able to get her to wake up.
He isnāt sure how it happened. The three of them were out in a valley in a near-No Manās Land with Enjin, Gris and other Supporters, and a Trash Storm seemed to start out of nowhere. Rudo had assumed that it was just a run-of-the-mill Sphere dropping their garbage situation, but the near sideways winds made it clear that this dangerous situation was already really bad to begin with. According to Gris over the Choker, before they lost their connection, this wasnāt in the forecast at all, or in the Sphereās usual trajectory. That sort of thing has been getting more unpredictable lately.
By the time Rudo managed to get to Zanka, Riyo was already in his arms, bleeding from her head, her chest, and Zanka was shouting at him, ushering him inside the cave, his own uniform soaked with her blood.
Rudo takes off his vest, and gestures to it as an offer to lay under her head. Zanka takes it from him and gently lifts Riyoās head to slide it underneath. He watches Zanka click the Choker on his wrist, and even Riyoās, and curse under his breath when there's nothing but static.
āGet to it,ā Zanka huffs, and Rudo realizes heās talking to him, āsheās gonna lose body heat fast with all this blood loss.ā
āRight - yeah,ā Rudo says back, shuffling around in his bag for the lighter he thought about earlier. Sometimes hard to find little things in there with the clunky gloves. He finds it.. He holds onto it for a few seconds, staring, wondering if maybe he can have some sort of input in what it ends up making in a situation like this. Something warm. Something that gives off light. And after a few seconds, the gloves do their thing.
It looks like camping gear, almost like something heās seen Gris pull out of one of the company vehicles before. Itās about the size of one of his gloves, and itās already warm as heās holding it. He places it down on the cave floor, his eyes trailing around over the ceilings now that he can see everything from the warm glow the flame is emitting. The glowing, radioactive stones have changed color to a blue, now that theyāve been exposed to light.
Zankaās opened his bag and emptied it beside him, facing the fire so that he can see everything. Thereās lots of first aid materials. Rudo knows all of them are required to carry that sort of thing, but Zanka seems to have a lot more than the rest of them. Heās not sure if he has an interest in that sort of thing, or itās just because heās a very well prepared person. He wanders a little closer, not to get in Zankaās way, but to see how bad Riyoās injuries are. She still hasnāt made any movements. Not even a twitch.
āShe hit her head really hard,ā Zanka murmurs, āand thereās a puncture hereā¦and here.ā
Rudo watches Zankaās hands trace along Riyoās chest and abdomen, two spots that are completely smothered with her own blood, so much so that he canāt completely pinpoint the exact injury. That at least, hopefully, means they arenāt terribly deep.
āIs she still bleeding?ā Rudo asks meekly. His eyes wander over to Riyoās unconscious face. Sheās taking in pained breaths through her mouth, and her skin has paled a lot from how it usually looks.
āNot sāmuch as before,ā Zanka tells him.
Zanka takes off the outer top part of his uniform too, and starts to tear off one of the sleeves. Rudo notices that itās pretty much soaked with blood, too, probably from carrying Riyo. Zanka presses the torn fabric against the seemingly larger wound on Riyoās abdomen, and still without any movement from her.
He doesnāt think heās ever seen Zanka like this. Heās usually really level headed, even in situations where one of them is injured, but he realizes, looking back, that he seems to rely on Riyoās positive attitude a lot, even if heās not doing that on purpose. Riyo always seems to be at his side when heās struggling, physically or mentally, and to have a pillar of support like that lying in front of you, covered in blood -
Rudo takes in a breath, and tries with everything he can to push the image of Regto out of his mind.
āRiyo,ā Zanka mumbles, āās not funny.ā
He knows she isnāt joking. Riyo is genuinely unconscious, but heās holding onto some impossible hope that she might be messing with them. Rudo is starting to wish the very same.
āCheck the entrance,ā Zanka tells Rudo without taking his eyes off of her, still holding pressure against her abdominal wound. āNātry your Choker.ā
Rudo nods, and stands. There was a lot of rubble piling up at the very front when they first got in here, and he imagines itās been at least half an hour now. He runs, over back the way that they came, using the radioactive stones to guide the way, leaving the fire with Riyo and Zanka.
Once Rudo gets close enough, he knows that right now, thereās no chance. Thereās still garbage and rubble flying in at high speeds at least twenty feet into the entrance of the cave, and he canāt get any closer without risking an injury. He tries his Choker without any success, and inches a little closer to try again, before nearly getting run over by an air conditioner, crashing into the cave wall and causing it to start to cave in on itself.
Thatās not good.
He runs back, trying to rationalize their next steps. Waiting isnāt an option.
āWe might lose the entrance,ā Rudo says, breathing heavy, standing a few feet behind Zanka. Zanka doesnāt turn around. Heās listening closely to Riyoās breathing.
āI think she punctured a lung,ā Zanka mumbles. He doesnāt acknowledge what Rudo has told him at all. āYou cān tell by how she's breathin'.ā
Rudo listens carefully, though, and he's hearing exactly what Zanka is talking about. It's a slight wheeze, every time her chest rises to take a breath. Rudo had picked up on it before, but he didn't understand the implications of it until now. Zanka's already situating her oxygen mask back over her face.
āI'll go out. And find someone,ā Rudo tells him. Everything he's seeing about Riyo's condition is telling him that they need to get help right away, and with the Chokers completely useless, the only way is to leave. Theyāre going to lose that entrance sooner or later, and from then, the only options would be to move the rubble or find another way out through the cave system.
Zanka finally turns his head, and stares at him for a few seconds.
āAnd die?ā he snaps.
Rudo shrinks back.
āThis ain't a normal storm,ā Zanka reminds him sternly, ās'not rain, or juās wind, somethinā you can push through. If you get crushed, you're dead. Somethinā as little as a shoe can kill yaā if it's goinā fast enough. But if you wanna go out and die trying anyway, n'leave her behind, be my guest.ā
Zankaās voice breaks at the very end of it, and Rudo sees his eyes shine with tears for a split second before he turns his head away, and his attention back to Riyo.
Rudo doesn't answer him. He doesn't think he should.
āSorry. āS justā¦ā he mumbles. Heās so quiet all of a sudden.
āI get it,ā Rudo answers back quietly. He sits down where heās standing. āYou're right. It's a stupid idea.ā
Zanka rubs at his eyes, and he doesnāt say anything else to Rudo.
He must feel responsible. Enjin is their team leader, sure, but Rudo has noticed on several occasions that Zanka seems to feel responsible for the safety and wellbeing of Rudo and Riyo when Enjin isnāt in their immediate vicinity. He doesnāt know if itās part of an obligation to Enjin as their team leader, if itās because Zanka is the oldest of the three, Rudoās teacher, or something else - but it weighs on him, and especially, right now.
But it shouldnāt have to be that way. Zanka is only a year older than Riyo, and only two from Rudo. They can help each other. There has to be something Rudo can do to help.
And this was a complete freak accident. He shouldnāt feel responsible for something that isnāt his fault.
Rudo doesnāt have any way to keep track of time. He doesnāt have any idea how much time passes while theyāre inside the cave, waiting out the storm, and thereās no natural light coming in to help him keep track of it, either. He sneaks over to the cave entrance once or twice, and itās covered with heavy piles of garbage and rubble, impossible to move by himself. Rudo looks around for something that he could use his gloves on to get them out of there - but thereās nothing that can be super useful, and he only has one use left for today. He has to use it wisely.
That, and, the storm hasnāt stopped. Even if he can clear the opening, theyāll be crushed to death outside.
Zanka seems to have been able to stop Riyoās bleeding for the most part, but sheās still unconscious, breathing and wheezing through the oxygen mask. Zanka sits beside her, on his knees with his hands folded in his lap, watching her the whole time and not really moving or speaking outside of that. He only moves to take Rudoās offer to drink some water, but only really takes a few sips. He doesnāt let Rudo see his face.
āI can switch with you,ā Rudo says quietly, but Zanka doesnāt turn his head, nod, agree - nothing. He just stares forward. Heās concerned about Zanka sitting there like that this whole time, and heās sure at the bare minimum, three hours have passed since theyāve gotten here.
āSomeone needs tāwatch the fire,ā he mumbles back.
āI can do two things at once, yāknow,ā Rudo reminds him. Heās not really sure why Zankaās acting like the fire needs to be watched - itās not being fueled by wood, itās gas, lighter fluid, or something else, but he thinks he just isnāt thinking that far ahead. All of his thoughts are on Riyo.
Zanka still doesnāt take Rudoās offer. He doesnāt move at all.
Maybe he needs to meet him where heās at, then. Zanka isnāt the type to accept help if he thinks it makes him look weak, if he thinks heās leaving something unfinished - especially, taking into consideration, Riyoās condition.
So, Rudo decides to change his approach, and he stands up, walks over so heās beside Riyo, and sits down across from Zanka.
He doesnāt react to that either. Heās just staring at her face, his eyes heavy with whatever heās feeling right now. Zanka is someone he looks to for help and advice, even if heās a dick about it sometimes. Right now, though, Rudoās painfully reminded that theyāre not all that far apart in age, that he has a lot of the same pains and feelings as Rudo does.
Rudoās eyes trail down from Zankaās face to Riyoās, but in the process of that, his eyes catch sight of the blood stain on the hem of Zankaās pants, and the nearly invisible stains on his black undershirt. Rudo remembers seeing Riyoās blood there earlier, but he didnāt think there was that much of it.
āāM scared she's gonna die, Rudo.ā
The vulnerability in Zankaās voice is painful. He doesnāt sound like himself at all. His expression doesnāt change a whole lot once he says that, but his brow furrows a little bit, and his face scrunches up just a little, like heās trying to hold back tears.
āWe're not gonna let that happen,ā Rudo tells him, āno way.ā
Zanka starts to stand. The first time heās really moved in hours. Rudo stays sitting, watching him take his staff and use her for leverage to stand up off of the cave floor, and he wonders what heās going to do.
āām gonna go out and look,ā Zanka says.
Rudo stares back at him.
āZanka?ā Rudo murmurs, deeply confused. Heās pretty sure heās been telling Zanka each time that it might not be possible for them to get out safely, and the last time, he told him heās pretty sure that theyāre closed in completely. Was he not listening? āWeāreā¦closed in. Remember?ā
āIāll move thāstuff,ā he mumble.
What on earth is he thinking? Sure, Lovely is a crazy versatile weapon and he definitely believes in Zankaās abilities, but he canāt possibly move all of that stuff, not without collapsing the cave system or hurting himself in the process. Itās not like him at all to be this irrational, especially after he got onto Rudo for the same thinking a few hours ago.
His concern for Zankaās sudden derailment is heightened by a lot when he notices that Zanka canāt really stand without the help of his staff. His legs are shaking, and his face completely gives away that heās in some kind of pain, but he doesnāt let any of that stop him, and he turns around.
And then, the stains that he thought were Riyoās blood follow his footsteps, and drip onto the floor.
āZanka?ā Rudo starts again, standing up to follow him. His chest feels tight again. āare you - is that blood?ā
He's been injured this whole time?
āāS fine.ā
It canāt be Riyoās blood. Itās been hours by now, it would have dried, because he hasnāt been holding her, and her bleeding has stopped. The most concerning part about that is not that Zankaās injured, but that heās still bleeding.
āWait, donāt you think-ā
Zanka takes one misstep where he nearly lands on his ankle instead of his heel, and thatās enough to completely throw off his balance, to send him collapsing down to the cave floor with his staff clattering alongside with him. There isnāt any urgency on his part to get up, or even to break his fall before he gets there. Rudo clambers over to his side right away. Maybe he just tripped. Heās okay. He has to be okay.
āZanka, wait, areā¦ā he starts, shaking his shoulder carefully, but he comes to the horrifying realization that Zankaās not conscious anymore. He passed out. Rudo doesnāt understand how he kept himself conscious this long if he was bleeding this entire time - while itās not totally pooling on the ground beside him, itās definitely already staining it with this blood.
Agonizing seconds pass without any response from Zanka at all. Rudo shakes his shoulder again, this time, without any regard for hurting him further.
āZankaā¦ā he mumbles.
Rudoās breaths start with a quicker pace. Heās trying not to breathe so fast, heās trying really hard to calm himself down, but he canāt do it. Zanka is the person he looked to, to get them out of this situation, and heās not just passed out, heās hurt. Itās bad enough that Riyo was badly hurt.
And all he can see is the blood pooling around Regtoās body.
Itās hard to breathe. The air feels thick. Rudoās eyes dart around and lock onto the tunnel leading to the cave entrance. He has to do something, and he canāt do it here. He has to make sure all of them get out of here alive. He has the ability to make it happen, and he doesnāt care if he gets hurt in the process.
Rudo stumbles to stand back up, and does everything he can to run quickly back to the caveās entrance.
Rudoās mind feels totally fuzzy and his eyes canāt catch up with what theyāre seeing, his vision spotty and swimming with every movement his eyes make, and as he looks back behind him, seeing the faint glow of the fire illuminating the other end of the tunnel, he realizes very quickly that theyāve made a huge mistake. Theyāve been breathing in fumes from the fire this whole time in a closed space, and it only hit Zanka faster because of the blood heās lost.
Thatās why heās been weird. Thatās why he wasnāt making any sense.
Heās sure those radioactive stones have something to do with it too. Theyāve changed color to a deep purple, even all the way over here.
He has to do something. That means he has even less time.
He stands at the cave entrance and shouts like a maniac, but every panicked breath he takes in makes it even more obvious what heās been dealing with this whole time. He grabs his mask, tries to situate it the best he can over his face, but the intermittent beeps tell him thereās not much left in the little tanks they can take with them, and heās already taken in a lot of those fumes.
What can he do? He digs through the garbage at the entrance, trying to think of anything he could use to move the stuff out of the entrance, and he sees a snow shovel.
Something he hasnāt seen on the Ground yet. He isnāt even completely sure that it snows down here, and if it does, itās probably poisonous or polluted like everything else, but this is definitely from the Sphere. Rudoās very familiar with snow. If he can make this into something big enough to push all of this out of the way, he could get them out.
Except, heās a fifteen year old kid. He doesnāt have the strength to move an air conditioner, let alone all of the rubble and garbage in front of him, especially on the verge of passing out with all of the crap heās been breathing in this whole time.
And then, just underneath it, he sees something much more useful.
An unopened firework packet.
Essentially, a bomb.
Rudo reaches out for it, his gloves ready to do their thing as soon as he lays his hands on it.
ā¦
āNot so loud. Heās still sleeping.ā
Enjinās voice.
Rudo groans, pulling whateverās laying on top of himself over his head. Itās too loud. Too bright, he can see it through his eyelids. He wants to go back to sleep.
āLemme talk to him.ā
āWhatād I just say? Heās still sleeping,ā Enjin whispers back at the other voice in a whisper-shout.
āNo he aināt. I could see his eyes.ā
Rudo is hoping that that voice isnāt Zanka like he thinks it is, that heās not about to get scolded for something he canāt bother to remember right now, but he feels someone lift the sheet away from his face, and he realizes thereās no hiding from whatever this might be. He groans again, his eyes blinking to adjust to the light, peering up at Zanka, who does not look happy at all to see him.
āThe hell were you thinking?ā
Zanka looks pissed.
Rudo is deeply confused. He tries to sit himself up, rub at his eyes. Zankaās not wearing his uniform, and Rudo realizes he isnāt either.
āHuh?ā
Except, itās all coming back to him. The look on Zankaās face has totally brought him back to it.
He used that firework as an explosion to collapse the cave entrance, and somehow, he managed to get lucky enough for there to be an opening, to get out, to get help. He doesnāt remember much after that, but he knows he did that, at the very least.
Something.
āYou couldāa died! Using a bomb in a cave? You couldāve gotten yourself killed, and Riyo wouldāve died too, yaā brat -ā
Rudoās face scrunches up with anger. He thinks Zanka is totally in the wrong lane here. āYou couldāve died! Youāre the one that was bleeding the whole time and didnāt tell me!ā
Zanka rolls his eyes at him. āUgh, it wasnāt even that bad!ā
Rudo can tell underneath his anger, thereās genuine concern. Rudo very much understands that he could have died, that he could have easily gotten all of them trapped forever, but it was his only option, and a risk he was willing to take if it meant saving someone. If he did nothing, they all would have died. Heās sure of that.
āI shouldnātāve used something with an actual flame,ā Rudo mumbles, his eyes shifting down to his gloves. He didnāt see anything wrong with it at all, even though, looking back it was a ridiculous idea. He doesnāt understand how he didn't catch it until he was a problem. āThink that was my first mistake.ā
āI didn't think about it either. Itās not your fault,ā Zanka says with a sigh. He crosses his arms over his chest.
āIf you guys are playing the blame game, technically, all of this is my fault as your team leader,ā Enjin chimes in. Heās standing at the foot of Rudoās bed.
Zanka looks like he wants to interject right away, assure that thereās nothing Enjin could have done to get them out of that situation safely, but he seems to know that already.
āListen. This kind of shit happens, alright? And thereās no point in trying to figure out whose fault it was, ācause itās never that easy,ā Enjin says, āIām just glad youāre all okay.ā
āMaybe I shouldāve worn a helmet.ā
Rudo didnāt realize that Riyo was in the bed next to him. She smiles over in his direction once he turns his head.
Her voice sounds awfully hoarse through her joke, and he realizes that her forehead is bandaged. Sheās wearing a hospital gown, unlike the two of them, and thereās a pole holding a fluid bag and a pump next to her bed. He canāt tell if sheās connected to it, but he follows the line down to her arm. He thinks that means Eishia hasnāt been here yet.
āRiyo, yānot supposed to talk,ā Zanka says, uncharacteristic concern flooding his voice, as he sits on the edge of the cot in front of her, inspecting her IV port. Rudo noticed a limp from him when he walked over. Riyo waves her free hand at him as a sort of, Iām fine, donāt nag me, but Zanka doesnāt seem to care at all.
āI donāt remember anything, but it sounds pretty badass,ā Riyo tells him, ignoring the way Zanka grabs her hand as a reminder to not speak. Rudo canāt really piece together why her voice sounds like that, but he realizes his throat sort of burns himself. Was it the fumes, smoke? He imagines for Riyo, maybe a combination of that, and her supposed punctured lung.
āNone of that was badass,ā Zanka groans, folding his head over the hand of Riyoās that heās still holding onto. Riyo pets his hair with the hand that still has the IV port in, not seeming to care much about keeping it too intact, but sheās careful anyway, āyou scared the shit out of me. Both of you. Jeez.ā
āWelcome to my life, by the way,ā Enjin says. āWay more fun when youāre conscious for all of it. Try it next time.ā
Zankaās head shoots back up to stare back at Enjin, looking offended and embarrassed at the same time. Riyo laughs, but as soon as they turn into coughs, Zankaās attention turns back to her.rubbing her shoulder and making sure sheās okay.
Rudo lays back down on the bed, stares at the ceiling for a few moments. Heās relieved that worked out in his favor. Heās glad everyoneās okay.
Now would be a good time to smile. Heāll figure it out for next time.
ao3! 5.8k - written for @gachiwhumpweek day 3: kidnapping! Please refer to the tags in the ao3 link for warnings!
It was the water. It has to be.
Zanka canāt see straight, leaning against a wall for support and gripping Lovely Assistaff tight enough to hurt, but he canāt feel his hands. Not good. He tries to run through all of the options in his head that could get him out of this situation, safely or not - making himself throw up would be the easiest, but heās losing consciousness quickly, and heās never been good at that anyway.
The Supporters he was with donāt know that heās here. They were busy helping civilians out at the impact zone where the Trash Beast he had just pulverized had nearly blow through the entire western sector of the town - but Zanka had managed to redirect it and take it down in the same swing. Heās a little impressed with himself, honestly, he didnāt think it would work - it was all his staff, really.
A grateful civilian had offered him water, and Zanka graciously accepted. He doesnāt keep water on him, unlike the Supporters, because itās an extra weight that he canāt usually account for when heās fighting - it throws off the littlest things, whether itās a full water bottle or empty. Zanka had told Gris and Follo, mainly, that he would head back to the town center where their client was while they handled the rest.
āDammitā¦ā he breathes out. How could he have been so careless? Itās been an awfully hot day, even out in the desert, but he knows not to take things from strangers.
Why did something have to happen the one time he made an exception?
Follo had offered to come with Zanka. He wishes he hadnāt rejected the idea, but he insisted that his help would be way more useful making sure civilians were okay than chapparoning Zanka. He really wishes he were here now.
āThere you are. Youāre hiding?ā
A chill runs up his spine, and at the very same moment, his body goes limp, sliding down the stone wall in the alley before he falls sideways, his hands lying over each other, his face in the dirt. He canāt see more than blotches of color, and all he can make out are boots in front of him, and orange and white stripes hanging down behind them. He canāt tell if itās one or two people, but the pattern is enough to tip him off.
Traffickers.
He has to think fast. He doesnāt know if heās going to pass out or not, but it feels like he doesnāt have a lot of time. They wonāt kill him, not right away, there wouldnāt have been any point in drugging him first and waiting to pounce on him while he was alone if that were the case. They want him for something.
The best course of action is to leave his Lovely Assistaff here, as much as it pains him to leave her in the dirt. It's the best shot he has at someone even finding out heās missing. There's pros to her just looking like an ordinary stick. Even though they know Zanka is a Giver, they're not inclined to suspect the stick he carries with him is anything more than a stick.
If Gris and Follo wonder whatās taking him so long, theyāll likely take this same route to go to the town center and find her here, but he doesnāt have any idea where they would go from there.
He feels his body shift, and suddenly heās lying against wood, and his body is covered with a sheet. He canāt even tell if he was lifted up by a person or dragged up here, because he canāt feel anything. He can twitch his fingers, move his hands a little, but he can only tell based on the way the fabric over him moved. He canāt feel it. He can hardly see it, but the more he tries to focus on them and what the extent of his situation is, he notices something.
They don't know about the Chokers. If they did, they would have removed his. Itās still on his wrist.
Riyo is around. She's in the area. She'll find him. Sheās the last person he called, and if he manages to click it again, itāll open the line to her. He wonāt be able to speak to her in this state, but sheās smart enough to catch on.
If he keeps the Choker line open, and Riyo hears what's going on, she'll be able to track him down easier. Sheāll come after him. He knows she will.
No one looked for him the three days he was in that well, but at the very least, he knows Riyo and Enjin wonāt leave him behind.
He hopes.
āYou're Nijiku, ain't ya'?ā
One of the figures speaks. Zanka realizes from the way heās being jostled around that theyāre in a wheeled wagon, something Traffickers are often known to use.
His head is swimming. He had a feeling this was intentional targeting. They were looking for him specifically, not just any victim - and this is exactly why he should have been more careful to begin with.
āYāain't g'na geānothinā fār me,ā Zanka mumbles. He can hardly get the words out. The numb feeling is starting to turn into pain, but heās starting to wonder if it was pain all along.
āOh, no. Bargaining chip's all I need yaā for.ā
Zanka recognizes this peron's accent. Theyāre from Kamuatari. Theyāre not speaking the language, but itās obvious enough that they donāt need to..
He can't hold his eyes open anymore. He feels horribly nauseous out of nowhere, and itās entirely possible thereās saliva dribbling out of his mouth, but he canāt feel it.. Whatever these people used is going to make him lose consciousness very soon. He needs to call Enjin. Riyo. Somebody.
All he manages is to click the choker before he passes out.
ā¦
When his eyes start to open again, heās on a mattress. He feels that underneath him. He canāt remember exactly what happened at first, but thereās a warm wave of pain that slowly takes over his body, reminding him of his situation.
He canāt move. His body wonāt cooperate, but something is keeping him in place, too. He tries to tug his arm away, but he canāt feel enough of any sensation to be able to tell exactly whatās holding him.
āStop struggling. You already bruised those little wrists of yours.ā
A foreboding, feminine voice. He feels like he recognizes this one from when they took him, but he canāt be sure, anymore.
That horrible, nauseous feeling from earlier hits him with full force, and he barely manages to turn his head to choke up bile onto the mattress. It burns so bad. His eyes are burning. They travel up to the Choker around his wrist - all he can make out is that striking red, and all he can do is hope and pray that he managed to click it when he meant to. He canāt now. His arms are tied down.
āYou really donāt like my drinkā¦,ā she complains. Zanka would do anything to kick this woman in the face, but he canāt tell where sheās coming from. His eyes can sort of make out a figure when he turns his head again. It seems like heās on a mattress on the floor, and that heās sitting on a chair, but the single light fixture is illuminating her from behind by chance, and every time Zanka tries to look, his eyes turn from that bright light.
Another person enters the room. Zanka hears the door creak open.
He groans involuntarily, but also to see if he has any ability to speak. Thereās no gag in his mouth at least, that would have made it really difficult to vomit, but he thinks whatever they used in that drink has temporarily destroyed his motor functions.
The voices above him chatter for a while, and two others enter the room - two of them have that pattern indicative of Traffickers, including the woman on the chair. She doesnāt move from there until sheās offered a hand, and Zanka is able to piece together that she canāt see very well. He tries to keep that in mind.
āThe uniform will sell for something,ā a deep male voice says. Zanka feels his body tense up. āHeās worthless otherwise.ā
āWorthless?ā The woman says.
āHeās a Nijiku,ā a male voice says. Itās the same one from earlier, from Kamuatari.
āHeās not with them anymore. He wouldnāt know nothinā, and they wouldnāt do a thing to save his hind, either,ā the deeper voice says. Zanka ears start ringing. He hears them mention something about the Cleaners, but everything else just sounds like mumbling in the next room over.
All of a sudden, he sees the woman right in front of his eyes, just inches from his face. He freezes completely, staring back at her, her face the clearest thing heās been able to make out ever since this happened.
āDonāt fight back,ā she says. Her hand moves to unzip his uniform from the top zipper at his neck.
Zanka uses the little energy that he has left to do just that. It sounds like all heās good for to them is the clothes off his back. They arenāt even made with anything special, and he doubts they would be worth enough to even be worth the trouble of kidnapping him.
Was it really any trouble, though?
Zanka still remembers drinking that water. It was so cold it burned. Sometimes drinking water in the desert feels that way.
The cold wall he fell against. The wooden floor of the wagon.
He didnāt put up a fight, and no one was there to give them a hard time, even remotely.
He somehow manages to get his leg up over his abdomen and kick the woman with near full-force away from him. There wasnāt nearly as much power behind it as there would have been in any other situation, and his aim wasn't great. She just falls against the man standing behind her. They didnāt tie his legs down, but he very quickly realizes that they donāt have to. The man only takes a few steps forward before, with every ounce of power in his body, he slams his boot straight down on Zankaās chest.
He canāt even tell if heās screaming, or if itās completely caught in his throat. Heās broken bones before, but during fights against Trash Beasts, where the adrenaline is working in his favor long enough for Eishia to heal him, or to, at the very least, treat a break for long enough before Eishia can get to him.
This is complete agony. Itās worse than anything heās felt in a long, long time. Heās certain several pieces of his ribcage have broken off, and it hurts so badly that he canāt tell if itās his right or left side, or both.
āYour sister took away the only thing that ever mattered to him, y'know,ā the womanās voice tells him, once again so close to his ear that itās almost as if sheās inside his brain, āleast you can do is give me this. Behave.ā
He hears her unzip the front of his uniform just before his vision fades out completely, and all he can hear is the casual chatter of the people above him while heās in a complete state of despair. He tries so hard to focus on his breathing, but all that comes out is wheeze. Wheeze. It burns.
āDo you really think he'll get you anything?ā the maleās voice says, stabbing through his subconscious, like itās telling him this is something he needs to hear.
āIāll get money out of him either way,ā the woman says.
When his eyes open again, heās immediately hit with sharp pain. Itās dark. Every vein feels as if lava has been poured into them and has been circulating through his nervous system for hours while heās been unconscious. He canāt help but cry out in pain, but it just echoes back at him, making his ears ring and making everything worse. He coughs involuntarily, painfully reminded of his shattered ribs. Excruciating. Itās cold, but the pain makes him feel so hot that he doesnāt notice it.
He doesnāt know if itās the same thing that they drugged him with the first time, just later effects, or if itās something new entirely. He remembers a tingling before, but now itās just straight up painful. It burns so badly it brings tears to his eyes, but he doesnāt let them fall. He doesnāt know if theyāre still around. Thereās a blindfold over his face now, something that wasnāt there before. He wonders why. Is it to hide their identities? He couldnāt really see them in the first place with how fuzzy everything was.
He tries to tug at his restraints, but itās useless. The pain heās in is sapping his energy and making it really difficult to make any confident movements. All he can do is confirm heās still restrained, and when he tries to move his legs, heās met with the same realization.
āRiyoā¦ā he manages to choke out, begging and pleading to whatever forces are out there, the very few that ever seem to work in his favor, that he clicked that Choker, that she can hear him, but thereās no response. Heās holding onto some hope that maybe she is there, sheās listening, she just knows not to speak because theyāll find out someone is coming to save him.
But heād do anything to hear her voice. To know someone is coming. Because it's entirely possible that he's been forgotten about.
Again.
His chopped up breathing starts to turn into sobs, and it hurts. It hurts so much.
āNo one is coming for you, sweetheart,ā the womanās voice says, honey sweet. āYou know how much of a risk you are. Itās safer for them to leave you in the dust.ā
Zanka can feel his head spinning.
He doesnāt know how much time passes before he feels almost completely numb again.
Whatās going on?
You need to know how to protect yourself.
He doesnāt know why heās hearing his sisterās voice right now. His memory plays tricks on him sometimes, making him think sheās there when she isnāt. Her voice is so clear that he really believes for a moment that sheās there.
Honestly, he isnāt sure if he would even want her to rescue him.
Would she, even?
She didnāt go looking for him when he was in the well. Three days, no one went looking for him.
Would anyone do that for him now?
In this line of work, itās your own responsibility to keep yourself safe. We are a unit, but in a landscape as dangerous as this one, itās every man for himself.
Heās already done a terrible job at that.
If youāre weak, youāll be left behind.
His face is pressed against the mattress. Someoneās hand is pressing hard against the back of his head, but Zanka doesnāt make any movements to try to understand why, or whatās happening past where he can see.
You canāt listen to crap like that. We donāt do that here.
Enjinās voice.
Zankaās eyes flood with tears.
Even if everyone else gave up, Iād still come after you.
Riyo. Riyo would.
ā¦
Zanka feels numb.
He's staring at the ceiling, unable to comprehend anything that's being said around him. His blindfold is gone, but his eyesight is so cloudy that he canāt see anyway. He doesnāt know if itās tears, because he canāt feel anything on his face. He can only tell that heās blinking because everything goes dark for a split second.
He's trying to recall the events of the past few hours, but he can't. It's like his mind won't allow for it. Either everything repeats at once, or his focus forcefully shifts to something else.
He thinks his mind is trying to reset multiple times. Every time he manages to close his eyes, his surroundings have changed just enough to make him recognize that heās not closing his eyes, heās passing out. He doesnāt know why. Is it the drugs? How long has it been since they took him here?
He groans, but when he does, the echo he hears tells him that there isnāt anyone else inside the room anymore.
Will Riyo hear him if he speaks.
āRiyoā¦ā he murmurs. His eyes close. He doesnāt have any way of knowing how long they close for, if heās losing consciousness for several minutes, hours, or just blinking.
āDonāt move, okay?ā
Riyoās voice.
Zanka stays where he is. He doesnāt know if itās real or not. Maybe itās coming from his choker. Maybe itās his mind being cruel to him, and feeding him old memories like before. He can hardly handle that. Heād rather smash his head to pieces than be fed false hope by his own brain right now, and he canāt even do that against his godforsaken mattress.
No, wait.
Red. He sees red. Right in front of him, right in front of his eyes.
Green eyes.
The tears that suddenly flood his eyes completely impair his vision.
āHey, Zanā¦ā she says gently, her expression warm and comforting, making him almost forget about his predicament. He canāt see her as well as he would like to, but her face is the clearest thing heās seen since this whole thing happened.
He hears the sound of her scissors snip each restraint.
One. Two.
Three, four.
But he canāt trust himself to move, even knowing sheās freed him. Thereās a complete disconnect from his mind and his body right now. All he can do his stare forward, lock his eyes onto Riyo, whoās staring down at him patting his hair back out of his face.
Ā She says something to him, but Zanka doesnāt hear her.
You found me.
You went looking for me.
You think Iām worth looking for.
She holds him really close. Zanka canāt tell if she sat him up, or if heās still lying down. He flinches at the touch, but he melts into it, because he wants more than anything to be in the company of someone who he knows is safe. Someone who values his life.
He had never been hugged by anyone before joining the Cleaners. At first, he hated it. He didn't like being touched at all. The first few hugs he got made him nauseous, and he didn't have any idea why. Was it a weird sense of obligation to have to return that comfort? Did he just not like being touched? He didnāt know, and still doesnāt know why. Even handshakes were a weird thing to get used to. But the more he felt the care, the genuine warmth from the arms of other people, the more he craved it.
Kyouka would think he's absolutely pathetic.
āI'm sorry it took me so long,ā she tells him, one arm around his head, holding him as close to her as she can. He realizes heās sitting up, because the pain is starting to seep back into his chest. āI'm sorry they hurt you, Zanka.ā
He tries to say something back, but all he can do is groan from the pain, a shaky hand hovering over the left side of his body. His ribs. Thatās what hurts the most right now.
āHere?ā she says, a gentle hand hovering over his own to make sure she understands where his pain is. Really, everything hurts, but this part is the worst. āYour ribs, huh?ā
āRiyo,ā Zanka murmurs. His brain is all of a sudden pushing images of his staff to the front of his brain. He left her in that alleyway. Heās praying someone found her. Heās praying it was Riyo, that it helped lead her to him. He doesnāt know what heād do if it was all for nothing. Lovely isnāt useless like he is.
āDon't talk. You should save your energy, ākay?ā she says, her voice only softening. His ears ring as if Riyo has suddenly blasted an airhorn right next to his ear, rather than speak softly to him.
āYāfoundā¦ā he manages between pained breaths. He needs to know.
āWe have her, donāt worry,ā Riyo assures him. āGris found her. You left her there on purpose so we would find you, yeah?ā
Zanka wants to nod, confirm that her existence is what saved his ass here, but the way the pain has crept up to his neck, his arms, his stomach, makes it awfully difficult.
āLetās get you out of here, okay?ā
He feels her shift to be beside him, take an arm over her shoulders with a hand on his waist to lift him, but itās the wrong side. The hand pressing against his waist when she tries to lift him is so close to his broken ribs that he Zanka cries out in pain, and gently lowers him back down those few inches.
It's a white hot burst of pain that comes out of nowhere and hits him like a truck. His whole abdomen feels hot, centered right at that spot.
āI'm sorry,ā Riyo tells him gently.
He doesn't even know what's causing the pain to be like that, but the more it spreads, the more it starts to center in the lower part of his stomach, he starts to connect the dots. Heās breathing heavy and he feels like he's about to throw up, and he's glad he manages to move out of the way fast enough to choke up whatever is in his stomach.
The memories flood back into his mind, and itās so intense that he canāt see for a moment. His body forces up more bile and stomach acid, coughing and nearly choking, as if itās trying to distract him. His eyes are burning hot with unwanted tears. He starts to curl up against her, eventually landing with his head against her thigh, and her hand on his head, patting him. She's talking to him, but he can't make out any words. It's reassuring, though. She's still there. She's really there.
He can't breathe properly, though. He's breathing fast, and he can't figure out how to slow down. It hurts so badly, the pain is bad enough to make him throw up on its own, but all he can do is retch between breaths. Is he hyperventilating? Is this really from his pain? Maybe it's just his anxiety. Nothing happened to him. He's fine. The broken ribs, sure, but he can't accept the rest of it.
Riyo is sitting in the hallway, examining the split ends on the end of her braid. It's time for a trim, but she's spent the last few hours pulling apart the split ends instead. One strand at a time. Something to do. Something else to think about.
She should have killed those people when she had the chance.
āYou're still out here?ā
Enjin always seems to appear when she's having thoughts like that. Like he knows.
Surely he would've made an exception though. If he knew what they did to Zanka.
Right?
If she had only gotten there sooner. Thenā¦
āRiyo,ā he says, and she realizes she's spacing out, she's gone on too long without giving him a verbal response. She let it slip.
āNothing better to do,ā she insists casually, focusing on the split ends of her hair. Her eyes trail down to the short, stranded pieces on the floor.
āWellā¦sleep, is something better to do,ā he says.
Of course, he's no better than she is. He leans against the wall and slides down to sit beside her. It's four in the morning, and he's been hanging around the infirmary ward the whole time, same as her. The smell of cigarettes clings to his clothes. He's gone in and out to visit Zanka, but he tries not to crowd him. It's a hard line to walk.
Riyo has stayed outside. She'd rather not walk the line at all, right now. She thinks that seeing her will just act as a reminder for him, and she won't go in unless he asks to see her.
āDid you talk to Gris?ā Riyo asks him.
āYeah. Wish I didn't,ā Enjin murmurs. She can imagine why. He already felt responsible for Zanka going missing, because he hadn't sent anyone with him. That was before they knew he was kidnapped. Injured.
Worse.
āThink I've gotta take him to Alice. Eishia can't get him to talk,ā Enjin says with a small, defeated sigh. He smells like fresh cigarette smoke. āShe's got his ribs in order, though.ā
āWords aren't her strong suit,ā Riyo says.
āYeah,ā he says.
Zanka's definitely not well, right now. He's always had problems with anxiety, ever since she first met him. It was way worse back then, but sometimes he slips back into it. And now would certainly be one of those times. He can't breathe right, can't keep down anything, not even medicine.
āRiyo,ā Enjin starts.
Riyo lowers her braid. She knows what he wants to ask her. What his original intention was.
āItās not my place to say, okay?ā she tells him. She can't even be stern with him. She understands why he wants to know, why it's important, but she can't betray Zanka's trust. She can't share that information without him knowing.
āI know,ā Enjin breathes out. āCould you, justā¦at least, tell me, if -ā
āEnjin,ā she says, interrupting his question, because he knows exactly.
Enjin leans his head against the wall. He can't get through her defense.
She thinks that even though she's refused to tell him, that he's understood exactly what she heard, because of her refusal to tell him.
āDammit,ā Enjin breathes. āFuck.ā
ā¦
Zanka has to ignore the way his shoulders flinch when Eishia opens the door. He has to stop being so damn jittery. It's not going to make this any easier.
She's carrying something - a tray with dinner, probably. He really wishes she hadnāt. He canāt eat anything right now and she knows that, but he understands why she wants to have it available for him. She leaves it on the side table as she walks in, but Zanka doesnāt pay attention to anything thatās on it. Heās not going to eat it anyway.
His eyes follow her instead.
āHas the medicine helped your headacheā¦?ā she asks meekly, standing beside the bed, her hands crossed in front of her. Zanka canāt bear to keep the eye contact with her, so he stares down at the sheets on his bed.
No. It hasnāt gone away since Riyo saved him. He doesnāt think itās ever going to. He nods, though.
āAre youā¦sureā¦?ā she asks, obviously not convinced. She had turned the lights off for him earlier to try and help, but the curtains still bring in a decent amount of light, even when closed.
For the third time today, he feels his eyes start burning, and tears that he couldnāt have possibly prepared for slip from his eyes and start to dot the sheets in front of him. It doesnāt make any sense. He isnāt thinking about it. Heās not remembering anything or wondering about it. This just happens out of nowhere, like his body is completely disconnected from his brain. Itās the first time itās happened in front of Eishia, and as much as he wants to rub his eyes and pretend nothing happened, she definitely saw it. And he knows he wonāt be able to make it go away.
āSorry. Itāsā¦Iām fine,ā he mumbles, rubbing at his eyes, but the tears donāt stop. He tries to take in a few breaths to regulate this anxiety a little bit, because that must be what it is, but it never works when he wants it to. His chest hurts so much. He hates crying. He hates it more than anything. āThis keeps happening ān I donā know why. āM not even thinkinā about anythingā¦ā
His breath hitches.
Itās embarrassing, at best, but at worst, he feels his sisterās glare against his neck. His face feels hot.
āItās okay,ā Eishia tells him gently, moving a little closer and sitting on the edge of the bed, something she very rarely does. Her eyes are focused on him, her gloved hand landing in front of is, as a show of comfort but not close enough to cross a boundary. āItās something that can happen, afterā¦traumaticā¦experiences.ā
He wishes she wouldnāt say that. He feels sick.
Heās fine. Breaking his ribs is not a traumatic experience.
Idiot.
All of the feelings swirling around in his head right now makes him think the only thing that will relieve the pressure is cracking his head open.
āI know youāre used to meditating, and, that can be useful, for things like this, butā¦itās hard to clear your mind from things like this so quickly,ā Eishia says. Sheās right, honestly. Heās tried it several times, any time heās been alone in the infirmary. He is usually really good at it. He prides himself in it. But thereās so much right now that he canāt get himself to do it. His focus always breaks. āI have something else, thoughā¦?ā
Zanka tries to take a solid breath and lift his head to see if he can get the tears to stop with determination, but it doesnāt work. They just fall right back. Heāll probably have to take Eishiaās advice.
āCan you nameā¦five things you can see?ā Eishia tells him.
Initially, heās insulted more than anything. He doesnāt think Eishia would ever try to do that on purpose, but heās not a little kid, and she doesnāt need to play a game with him to get him to stop crying, but he starts thinking about her question in earnest, even so.
Five things he can see. Well, Eishia, obviously. The infirmary beds.
Lovely Assistaff, of course. Sheās leaned against the foot of the bed. Zanka had asked Eishia if sheās put her there earlier, when he was half asleep. He just wanted to make sure that he could see her when he woke up, and not have to wonder where she is. Like before.
No, no. That has to be defeating the purpose of what Eishia is trying to help him do. His eyes dart up to the wall.
Thereās canvases on the wall in between each set of beds. Zanka thinks Gob painted them, but heās not really sure. He doesnāt know that the guy has ever used a proper canvas. Heās wondered if heās the one who did Enjinās tattoos, but heās never thought to ask.
The floor. Does that count?
āYouāre supposed to say them outloud, but - ā
Zanka feels his ears get hot. āOh, sorry, I-ā
āNo, itās - itās okay! I wanted to say, umā¦if it works better for you to just say it in your head, thatās okay too,ā she says with a little smile. She seems to be glad that she got him to do it at all. āThereās more steps, though, isā¦that okay?ā
It must be a counting down thing, with other senses. He feels like heās heard of this before. He nods.
Itās not the worst thing ever.
āFour things you can touchā¦?ā
ā¦
Zanka can smell the cigarette smoke before he sees Enjin. He feels like heās been smoking a lot more the past few days.
āReady?ā Enjin asks him. Heās standing outside his room as Zanka opens his dorm room door. He doesnāt close it behind him yet. Maybe itās good to have a foot in the door, literally, in case he wants to give up.
Zanka doesnāt want to go. He likes working. He really does. And he has nothing against working the week after hisā¦ordeal, but he doesnāt want to work with Enjin.
Zanka nods. Heās making sure his uniform is straightened out in the mirror. He doesnāt usually care about that, but heās trying really hard to avoid eye contact with Enjin.
āIs itā¦okay if I talk to you about something?ā Enjin asks him.
Zanka hates that question more than anything. His stomach hurts. He feels like heās going to throw up. He probably would have if he had eaten breakfast like he was supposed to. Zanka wishes more than anything that they would just let it go. Pretend it was nothing. He's fine with that.
āWe can report this to the Hell Guard,ā Enjin says. His voice is gentle, and heās sure Enjin has good intentions, but heās not even remotely ready for a conversation like this. Especially because heās fairly certain that Enjin doesnāt know.
Unless Riyo told him.
Zankaās stomach twists.
He shakes his head.
āZanka,ā Enjin starts. Thereās pain in his voice. If Zanka knew it would get him to leave, he would close the door in his face. He canāt do this right now.
āDid Riyo tell you?ā he asks, his voice shaking. Itās the only time he looks Enjin right in the eyes. Probably the only time he has all week. He canāt have Enjin know. Enjinās the first adult whoās ever respected him, taken him as he is. If he knew heād been -
Enjinās brow furrows. āNo. No, she didnāt tell me anything.ā
āNothing?ā Zanka almost snaps back. He doesnāt believe it.
āNothing,ā Enjin promises.
Thereās a pause between them that feels like it lasts forever. Zanka has to gather his thoughts.
āItās my choice,ā Zanka mumbles quietly, tucking his hands in his sleeves and pulling at the skin around his nails out of sight. Itās gotten so bad that his nail beds are bleeding. Heās tried to keep them covered with bandaids. āRight?ā
Enjin bites his lip. āRight, but-ā
āThen I donāt want to,ā Zanka says sternly.
Enjinās shoulders seem to deflate.
āZanka, I get where youāre coming from, but this isnāt-ā
āNothinā happened to me,ā Zanka mumbles, ābroke my ribs. Ain't even worth reporting.ā
He's firm on that, even though his voice breaks at the end of it like his own body is betraying him, even though he knows that Enjin can tell he isn't telling the whole story, but he has to stand his ground. He can't let the Hell Guard, and by inevitable extension, his family find out about this. They may not even believe him, and that would be worse than them just knowing the truth.
Zanka doesnāt even really remember what happened. And he doesnāt want to. Reporting this means he has to face it.
The look on Enjin's face isn't one he recognizes, and he doesn't know why. It's not quite pity, but something else.
Zanka stands, turns to leave, without another word between the two of them.
