find me in the dark || akaboji + gamer-reloaded
gamer-reloadedā:
Akabojiās voice was quiet and monotone now, fading behind the pounding in his eardrums. He couldnāt understand her, not with how loud it was! Was that his heart, still beating regardless?
Tomohiroās vision had become too blurred, his thoughts to muddled to make out anything cohrent. His mind flashed between memories with his now-dead friends, to talking with Kishinuma, to that time his mom walked around school with him all day, to finding Akaboji, to screaming at Kizamiā¦. Did any of it even matter? His heart was beating regardless. Despite his woundā¦ if his heart is beating, then it canāt be over!
Upon this realization, he suddenly felt his body jerk back and forth with such force he swore he could momentarily see clearly again! At first, as his mind was attempting to switch off, he fell under his warped vision yet again. On the second or third (Fourth? Fifth?) shake though, as his child-like instincts of pouting when he didnāt get his way kicked in, and he certainly couldnāt throw a fit if he were dead.
ā Stop itā¦ ā Tomohiro rasped, not fully remembering the situation at hand.
Something snapped him back into reality. He could barely recognize his voice, which was usually soft and kind, when what he heard was choked and tight. Still, it was the sound of his own gravely voice and the sudden shaking that forced his consciousness back.
He gasped loudly, suddenly full aware of the low amount of air he was inhaling. The uncomfortable sensation his earlier shallow breathing had caused was quickly being replaced with a sharp pain. A growing pain. Right, becauseā¦ because Yuuya stabbed him! Not only his vision but his memory was clearer nowā¦ And the girl he had met for only a moment was able to get away! She was here; right here! He told her he would help her save her friend, so why was he giving up?!
Finally, his head raised, covering his mouth as he coughed hard. Yes, his wound hurt a lot and yes, each cough was like little spikes through his stomach, and yes, he was very lightheaded, but thanks to his minor blackout the feeling hadnāt fully kicked in again yet. Not to mention that Akabojiās cloth and continued pressure might have stopped the bleeding, if only temporarily. By looking up, he could see her dark hair and terrified face. Had heā¦ scared her?
The last thing he wanted to do is to inflict the pain of helplessly sitting beside someone you desperately want to save on herā¦ She said had already seen a friend covered in blood. She doesnāt ā Nobody deserves to have to go through thatā¦
The injured brunet started to stir more, noticing the odd, light mist that was hanging in there air. That canāt be healthy to breath, what the hell is that?! And thinking on it, how could she alone be shaking him so hard?Coughing and hacking, he said,
ā Okayā¦! Iām ā awake! ā A cough. ā Akaā¦ bojiā¦!! ā
āāāā-
Like a gift to her directly from God above, Ohkawa began to cough loudly as he desperately fought to stay conscious. As his speech became clearer, the dark mist surrounding Kokuhaku seemed to recede into her body, vanishing almost as quickly as it appeared. In the heat of the moment, she herself hadnāt even noticed it - though, it was probably a good thing she hadnāt, as it would have only added more stress to the situation.
āOhkawa-!ā She choked on her own words as her throat tightened, the adrenaline of the situation finally catching up to her. As she worked on regulating her breathing, her mind raced as it tried to come up with a way to relieve his pain. Ohkawaās determination had bought her more time, and she quickly scanned her surroundings for anything that might help. Her resources were limited, and even in the dim lighting, it was obvious the only things in this particular classroom were desks and chairs. Nothing that would help her in a scenario like this.
Nothing in this particular classroomā¦but that didnāt mean there wasnāt anything in any classroom.
She thought back to all of the rooms sheād seen so far, locked or otherwise. Most of them had been barren, dilapidated classrooms just like this one, but there were a few that stood out to her. The science classroom, though it was locked, could possibly have first aid supplies insideā¦but it wasnāt like she had a way of getting in. The bathrooms might be good to help clean up, but in his current state, there was no way Ohkawa was climbing multiple flights of stairs to get there. Something elseā¦she strained her mind as she tried to recall any other rooms sheād seen.
An infirmaryā¦? There had to be an infirmary somewhereā¦she swore sheād seen the sign for it on the second floor. She could definitely try and treat his injuries thereā¦but how would she get him there? She considered her options for a moment.
āOhkawa-kunā¦ā she started, fighting to keep her voice steady.Ā āI have an idea, but I need you to tell me what your thoughts are before I make any decisions. I believe there is an infirmary in the school. Howeverā¦Iām almost certain itāsĀ on the second floor.Ā Would you prefer if I went there alone and retrieved supplies, or would you want to come with me so you can rest there?ā She secretly hoped he would choose the second option, but knew it would be incredibly selfish of her to ask that directly. Heād just risked his life to save her - she couldnāt force him to go with her if he wasnāt capable of it.
A moment after sheād asked, it suddenly occurred to her that it was probably difficult for him to talk right now with the pain. Thinking quickly, she slipped her hand into his.
āSqueeze my hand once for the first option, or twice for the second one.ā
His heartbeat in his ears was, as usual, doing him no favors, but Tomohiro was able to understand fragments of Akaboji's words. His conscious state was similarly in fragments, kept awake only by the throbbing of his wound, and Akaboji's mostly steady voice.
An infirmary, stay here or go along...
A lump rose in his throat (or perhaps it was a clot of blood, who's to say, really?) but he gulped to swallow it back. Stay here, alone...? While moments prior he was content to fade away slowly before Kizami found him yet again, now that Akaboji was here, now that she was going to save him -- which... she could, right? Everything will be okay...! Despite the doubts lingering about in the forefront of his mind he just had to hope that meeting Akaboji was a blessing, even if he did get stabbed.
His eyes fluttered open again, her warm hand (pretending it wasn't warm from his blood on the other side of that cloth) pressed into his palm breaking him from his inner contemplation.
One squeeze for staying, twice for accompanying.
Ah...! Right, to stay or to go, she was asking him. Tomohiro was finding it incredibly hard to keep focus. On one hand, staying here meant less pain and, still a crybaby by nature, he felt a longing to choose to stay. But by staying, that meant he would be alone and helpless, and what if Akaboji got attacked and never came back, and they both withered away unknowing of the others' fate? On the other hand, going with her meant they would at least have each other, but what if they ran into Kizami again and he slowed her down, resulting in them both being killed? ....Or what if they make it and he dies anyway, causing her all that trouble for nothing?
But she wants to save him, and he wants to be saved. He didn't want to die at all, quite the opposite in fact! And if he stayed here, that would mean more trouble for her having to brave the hallways alone each time she left him. No, it would be better if he would just man up and take one for the team and walk! His legs... they felt kind of numb, to be honest, and what he could feel of them was rattled fear, but if he used her shoulder, he could at least shuffle along.
Yes...! And if Kizami or another threat showed... he could push her away so she could run away. There wasn't any sense in them both dying after all and he didn't want to be the reason she was slowed down.
These thoughts took him a minute to produce through the screams of pain throughout his mind, but he finally reached a decision, and weakly squeezed her hand twice as he slowly attempted to raise his head and look at her determinedly.
" I'll... try...! "
