A/N: I'm sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth for a while. But slowly writing this alongside starting a job is one of the reasons why. It's not my usual sort of thing but I hope you'll enjoy it ^_^

Shit always happens on Guren's day off. It's an unwritten rule that whenever Guren decides to scrap his schedule and take a holiday, something happens to drag him back to work. Sometimes it's a last minute meeting. Sometimes it's Shigure catching him sneaking out. Sometimes, it's being accosted by Yu and the squad of misfits he's been placed with.

The latter is what happened this morning. On his way back to his room for a well deserved nap, he intercepted a drop kick on the stairs and from there somehow let himself be goaded into a full on sparring match – which obviously turned into him training the misfits because frankly, Yu sucks ass and Kimizuki isn't much better.

Still, Guren lets himself think as he knocks Kimizuki on his ass and sidesteps Yu, who careers into the fallen Kimizuki. This isn't so bad. It's been a while since the last time he had time to give Yu a proper sparring match, and though he made sure to protest loudly that he had a thousand and one better things to be doing (most of them involve sleeping), it's always quite... refreshing to spend time with the misfits.

And it's pretty damn amusing to watch Yu and Kimizuki arguing over which of them is getting in the other's way.

As Guren watches, Mitsuba gets involved and makes a point that prompts Yu to pout. It brings back memories of letting a sniffling twelve year old aim a wooden sword at his shin. Guren shakes his head and sighs, pushing that thought aside. As Yu launches a fist at Kimizuki, it becomes apparent that not much has really changed.

Guren is about to bash their heads together and explain that they're both shitty little brats when it happens. It begins with a low hiss. Guren stops mid step. Yu and Kimizuki fall silent. Then the sky erupts into a noise that makes Yoichi jump and Mitsuba yelp in alarm.

An explosion. Fucking fantastic.

Guren and Shinoa exchange a look. In that moment, the emergency sirens begin to blare.

Yoichi is first to speak. 'What's happening?'

'Looks like you get to put into practice what you've just learned,' Guren says, scooping up his sword from the ground. 'We'll approach and investigate. Follow me – and stay in the formation your squad leader has decided. Shinoa.'

The girl speaks, gives some kind of order. Yu mutters something under his breath, grips the hilt of his blade tightly. Guren doesn't really hear them. A plume of smoke fills the sky in front of them and occupies his thoughts. Theories bounce around in his head – a vampire escape? A failed contract? Some stupid kid sneaking into the forbidden area and getting himself possessed? Or worse but least likely, are they under attack?

He settles on none of them. He knows better than most that situations change in an instant and there is little point in guesswork. They can only take it as it comes.

He moves in the direction of the threat with the calm readiness that comes from years of surprises. Losing your head in a crisis means death. The other five follow his example. All have materialised their weapons, but nobody speaks and nobody breaks formation until they reach it.

It's the school. Of course it is. It's always the fucking school. A line of soldiers have already cordoned off the entrance. Two by the doors are waving flags, urgently shouting. Smoke pours from the roof.

'Status report!' Guren demands as they reach the soldiers.

They're all Kureto's men. He knows none of their names. But the Hiragi bastard himself doesn't seem to be around, making Guren the highest ranking officer in the vicinity – and making this mess his to deal with.

'Lieutenant Colonel!' As expected, the man closest salutes. Guren catches the motion from in the corner of his eye. His gaze is fixed elsewhere – the doorway, from which a group of 15 or more students is escaping. 'There's been an explosion inside the building – cause unknown. The top of the east wing has already started to collapse.'

'Who is leading the evacuation?' Guren asks as one of the soldiers abandons his post to accompany the group of students to the supposed safety behind the military line.

'We're evacuating as many as we can but we're under orders not to enter, Sir. It's structurally unsafe – it's coming down.'

The man shifts from foot to foot as though aware that he hasn't properly answered the question.

Guren turns back to the soldier, fixes him with a no-nonsense stare. 'How many students are still inside?'

The man looks away. 'We-we don't know, sir.'

Another private of Kureto's main force approaches and salutes them both. 'Sir, floors one and two have been successfully evacuated.'

Yu, who Guren had almost forgotten about, shoves past Guren's arm. 'What about floor three and the basement levels?' the kid demands.

Behind him, the pink haired idiot looks unimpressed but moves closer in a show of solidarity. Yoichi comes to stand at Yu's side. Shinoa peels away from them and takes her place on Guren's right as though their ranks are comparable. With that pocket watch in her jacket, they probably are.

The soldier looks sufficiently shocked by their impudence, but one look at Guren's face prompts him to answer anyway. Yu fidgets behind Guren. Guren's eyes do not leave the reporting soldier.

'We kept a tally of where students were coming from but we've seen no students or staff from those floors yet. We know the east stairwell is blocked. It might be that the west stairwell is also impassable. We simply don't have time to send anyone in until the building has-'

A sharp cry from Shinoa interrupts him. 'Hey! Where are you going?'

Guren turns his head just in time to see Yu barrel through the line of soldiers keeping the evacuated students away from the building.

'That damned brat!'

His body moves before his mind comprehends what he's doing. When it does, he keeps running, only pausing to yell at the rest of Shinoa's squad, who are trying to follow, to stay put. The soldiers part before him like the sea.

'STUPID YU GET BACK HERE!'

The moment he crosses the threshold into the school, the air changes. Heavy with dust, it peppers each breath with the dry taste of disaster. Yu stands at the intersection of the hallway, disorientated as he looks between two routes.

'Which way was blocked?' he yells over his shoulder. When their eyes meet, Guren can see the relief in Yu's eyes.

'East,' he answers without thinking, reaching the boy and grabbing him by the arm. 'But you get your ass back there with the others.'

Yu looks at him like he's been punched. 'Don't you care? There are people still trapped here! Miss Sayuri could be trapped here!'

Guren's blood runs cold. And then he thinks, makes himself consider it logically. 'No, Sayuri is out on a mission with Mito. She shouldn't be here to-'

'So it's okay as long as none of your friends are in danger?' Yu yanks at his arm furiously.

Guren doesn't release him. Above their heads, he hears the telltale sounds of supports giving way. The guys outside weren't lying. There isn't time for a rescue party.

'Fuck! Yu, you need to go!' Guren's voice is getting louder. The dust is getting thicker. The walls rumble. Something above has fallen. There is no time. Guren pulls Yu's arm in the direction the exit. They have to get out now.

But Yu resists. 'No, not without – I'm not letting people die again, Guren. I'm not letting anyone else lose their family.'

With a sudden, violent tug, Yu twists his arm free of Guren's grip, makes a break for the West Stairwell. Guren curses, follows, captures his wrist before he can take to the stairs.

'I'm not fucking around Yu!' he yells over the increasing sound of rubble falling. 'I won't lose any more family either and that's why you have to go. Your friends are waiting for you, Snotnose.'

Yu shakes his head, pulls away again. A deafening creak sounds above them and then the siren starts to blare a constant scream. Guren knows what that means – it's coming down. Yu doesn't. He has one foot on the stairwell that Guren sees is blocked at the intersection of the floor above.

'Yu we need to go - now!'

There is no time. Guren's eyes search desperately for an exit. The window is jammed with fallen steel supports. They won't make it to the doors. The roar of falling stones is deafening.

Yu turns to look at him with a fear in his eyes that no longer belongs there. The ceiling crumbles so slowly that it feels like Guren has all the time in the world to reach him. But he doesn't. His body won't move. Without thinking, he dives forwards as if to shield Yu with his body.

He doesn't make it. His fingertips connect with Yu's back. It's all he can do to push him towards the corner – it's meant to be the most stable part of a building; Guren recalls it in a rush.

And then the beam strikes him in the shoulder and he is pinned, can't get himself clear, can only bring one hand up to shield his head. The time for clarity is over. He hears himself call out for Yu to get down, cover his head.

It seems like an eternity of pain and noise and nothing but dust where Yu's green eyes had been before it is over. And even then, all Guren can see is grey. All he can taste is dust and blood. And all he can feel is fire and pressure and fear because-

'Yu! Oi, answer me – stupid Yu, Snotnose – are you alright?'

Silence. Only silence.

'Yuichiro!'

'Y-yeah.' It was faint, but it was there.

Guren lets out a breath he did not know his crushed lungs could hold. The urge to laugh bubbles up in his throat. When it escapes, it is blood.

'Are you hurt?' he wheezes when it passes.

'No. Y-yeah I... I don't know.' The boy's voice is small, weak, afraid. Like the past four years haven't happened and he is still the twelve year old who wakes in his bed to find his family dead and no comfort in sight but the stranger who saved him.

Guren tries to lift his head. An explosion of sparks knocks him back down. For a moment, he can do nothing but bite his lip through the pain. Fuck, something is wrong. Something is very wrong but there are more important things right now.

'Yu,' he says, his voice strained with the effort of sounding in control because fuck there is no air and it hurts like the world is ending all over again but it damn well better not be because he has to make sure the kid is alright if he does nothing else. 'I can't see you and I can't move. You need to tell me what hurts, what's trapped, where you are – are you bleeding out anywhere?'

'I-I... No. I don't know. I don't think... I'm bleeding anywhere but I... I can't see. There's crap on my legs and I can't move and... I think I see a hand.'

'That's probably me,' Guren tries to interject because let the boy not believe he is trapped with an unknown corpse.

But Yu continues as though he hasn't heard. 'G-Guren are we gonna die? We can't die. We didn't save anyone and I promised Mika and-'

He breaks off into wheezing, wet coughs.

And with those words, Guren's mind feels strangely clear. Like this is an ordinary mission. Like he's just calming a jittery new recruit. Like they aren't at the mercy of rescuers who may not come. 'Yu, listen to me. Focus on my voice. We are not going to die. We are members of the Moon Demon Company – we do not die this easily. All we can do is try to stay calm and wait for the rescue team to find us. Okay?'

Nothing but rattling breaths. Shit.

'You hear me?'

'Y-yeah.'

The boy's voice is faint, too faint. Guren makes another attempt to twist his head and locate Yu. Pain surges down his neck. His breath catches in his throat. A cough tears its way out of his body, sending spasms through his compressed chest. Blood sprays from his lips, dribbles down his chin.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

'G-Guren?' Yu sounds lost.

Guren takes a gulp of dusty air. 'Yeah?'

'Are you – are you okay?'

He takes stock. Broken ribs. He doesn't know how many, but it's more than one. His arm is turned up at a strange angle. He cannot feel his hand but his shoulder throbs hard enough to make up for it, pinned to the ground by what Guren assumes is the beam that struck him earlier. The status of his legs is unknown. The pain through his chest, back and hip eclipses all else.

'Fine. Little bit cramped in here – dusty as all hell, but I've been worse places.' He sounds breathless, hates it.

'Like?' Yu prompts

Guren is glad for it. The more they keep talking, the better their chances of rescue.

'Anywhere within ten feet of Kureto,' he answers.

Yu releases a strained laugh he obviously doesn't mean. It sounds fearful. Something inside Guren's chest squeezes and it's all he fucking needs with a damned building on top of him too. He keeps speaking, continues to distract them both.

'The kitchen when Shinya's cooking. Or Goshi. One of them's obsessed with jam while the other one somehow makes everything taste like feet.'

'How would you know?' Yu asks, slurring words together. 'Have you – have you licked a foot?'

Guren snorts. It sends his chest into spasm. For a moment, he does nothing but catch his breath. The moment he can, he opens his mouth to reply. The beam above him creaks violently. Dust tumbles down into his face. He coughs again, tasting metal. He barely has time to register Yu calling his name before the beam shatters

There isn't time to brace.

Fuck.

Air is forced from his lungs as the debris falls around him. Shards of metal pierce his lower back. As his already limited vision is obscured by dust, he tries to hold his breath. He fails.

The building takes so long to stabilise that it feels like a lifetime is passing, like this would be the moment for his life to flash before his eyes in anticipation of death. He waits for something big to fall, waits for his skull to be crushed and it all to be over.

It never comes.

He wants to call out to Yu over the sound of the building settling (or falling further – the darker part of his mind imagines). But he can't. There is nothing but creaking, rumbling, shattering. Guren's ears ring over the top of the noise. It sounds like in the distance, the people they failed to save are screaming.

Guren tries to ignore it. He has only one other life to save at this moment.

'Yu!' he shouts as loudly as he can, and wheezes because the dust hasn't settled, because it feels like he is choking, because if it gets any thicker then he will suffocate.

You could always borrow my power, says the nightmare inside his head.

No, not here. Not now.

Fuck off, he tells it.

Oh~? It says. I see how it is. Or how you think it is. This child is more important to you than I am? Don't be ridiculous. ... Still, if it's important to Guren, I'll let you borrow my power for a short while~

Fuck off, he repeats.

To Mahiru, the Mahiru of his memories, he says something different. He speaks tenderly, with the voice his 16 year old self would have used for her had the cursed gear never touched them. He promises her. He hadn't saved her; he hadn't been strong enough; he'd failed her and he will bear the weight of her lost future, his lost sun, on his shoulders for as long as he draws breath. But he will not carry another.

He will not let his subordinate die. He will not lose another member of his family.

'Yu!' he tries again. 'Answer me!'

He hears it. Faint like a whisper beneath the blaring of sirens in his ears. His name, spoken by Yu. His name.

'I'm here,' he calls back. He doesn't know why. It isn't professional. What he really needs to say, what he really needs to know is, 'Are you hurt? Did anything big fall on you?'

'N-no, nothing big,' he hears and it's clearer now.

He's been struck on the head, he thinks. Must have been because everything is suddenly so fuzzy and Yu's voice is only now getting stronger, seeming further away than it is.

Yu is still speaking. 'I was calling your name... and you didn't reply. I thought-'

'Think less of that,' Guren cuts him off. He knows where that thought is going. And he isn't going there, he promises. Neither of them is going to die here.

But everything is numb now. He's tired, so tired. His vision swims. He's losing blood, he thinks. Must be bleeding – probably his back though he thinks the shards embedded there should have stopped blood escaping too quickly. Possibly internal bleeding. His chest. He wonders why the demon doesn't stop it already. He wonders if it's going to push him to edge this time, drag him over it before it will help him.

It isn't normally this petty.

'H-hey,' Yu says and breaks Guren's train of thought. It's for the better; his eyelids are heavy; his eyes want to roll into the back of his head. He will not give in. 'Will you tell me a story? You know, like those times when I was a kid and you'd sit in my room and...'

'You want a story?' Guren questions.

'Yeah,' Yu replies sheepishly and it sounds almost normal, like they're in the barracks and this artificial twilight caused by their entrapment is a true evening under the stars by the window. 'I just want to hear your voice so I know you're still there... Stupid isn't it?'

Guren almost shrugs, remembers his arms are trapped, admits: 'Not really. But if I'm the one telling a story, there's nothing telling me you're still awake.'

Yu is silent for a while. The unsettling shifting of the building, the fading ring in his ears and his own laboured breaths are all Guren can hear. He is about to yell, Oi Snotnose, you fall asleep already?

But Yu speaks. 'Th-then I'll contribute to the story you tell.' After a pause, he adds, 'please?' and Guren hears his voice tremble.

He can't say no. 'Alright. I'm a pretty shit storyteller but let's see... Once... upon a time, there was a... princess or something?'

'Can it be a prince?' Yu interjects with a kind of desperation to his tone that makes Guren uneasy.

'Yeah, sure,' he agrees. 'So there's a prince...'

Guren continues to tell the story, led by suggestions from Yu. The ringing in his ears fades to white noise and with it comes a heightened awareness of every beat of his heart, every spasm of his chest. The rubble by his chin is sticky. He knows without seeing that it's blood. Still, he does not stop telling the story.

He forgets where it's going. He introduces new characters – bad guys, vampires – and forgets which of them is dead and which is alive. But he and Yu are alive. And Yu's voice keeps coming with suggestions of what should happen next. And Guren keeps repeating them to add them to the narrative. Every time the building shifts, Guren speaks a little louder, as though he can drown it out, as though he can make it so that for Yu, the story is real and this disaster is fake.

There is no sign of any rescuers. Guren wonders what the fuck is taking them so long.

'Hey... Guren?' Yu interrupts a sentence Guren can't remember the start of anymore.

'Yeah?' Guren answers, focuses on Yu's voice to keep his mind sharp and hopes it's just his ears and that Yu's words aren't slurring, that's he's not losing consciousness.

'Does it have a happy ending?' Yu asks and they definitely are slurring and Guren curses under his breath, hopes Yu doesn't hear.

'Do you want it to?' he says out loud.

Yu is silent while he considers. The building trembles around them. Guren holds his breath.

'Yeah,' Yu says quickly. 'Yeah, I want it all to end happily – I want... I want the prince to be reunited with his family so he... so he won't be alone in the end.'

Guren doesn't like that tone. He doesn't like that topic. Yu isn't supposed to sound defeated. Yu is supposed to speak of defeat with a pout on his face as Guren holds up the leg he tried to kick him with and makes him hop like a loser.

'What about the princess?' Guren asks instead.

Yu makes a noise Guren wishes he'd never heard. A kind of hopeless whimpering laugh that he abandons after the second syllable, that hurts them both, and hurts Guren more than any part of this building ever could. It is like he's being crushed all over again, all at once in a rush.

'I don't think I'll make it to the princess.'

'Don't be stupid, Yu!' Guren says quickly, too quickly. If he could reach, he would have punched him, needs to knock some sense into him because that's how their relationship works. There is none of this touchy feely talky stuff – that's Shinya's domain. Between Guren and Yu there is only training, promises of strength, of the future.

Future.

A parent should never outlive their children, his mother's voice sounds loud in his ears. It's the worst kind of tragedy. If you outlive your child then you've failed to protect them – failed at the most important duty a parent has.

He doesn't know why he recalls her now, doesn't know why he suddenly feels like her words make more sense to him than they ever should. But it is unimportant. What is important is Yu.

'This isn't some bedtime story. You're not a kid anymore. You can't take a nap in the middle of the day – if we want to get out of here, we have to stay awake, got it?'

The absence of Yu's voice is louder than the settling of rubble around them, louder than the intermittent blaring of the sirens, louder than Guren's heart racing.

Guren keeps talking to fill it, speaks fast. His urgency leaks through into his tone. 'Anyway, it's your turn to tell the story now. I'll give you suggestions, yeah?'

'Hey, Guren?' Yu says and the voice he says it with is not the voice of a soldier. It is not the voice of the 16 year old recruit who gave Guren so much trouble. It is not even the voice of a teenager. It is the voice of child waking to a nightmare in the night.

'Yeah?' Guren says and cold dread sends a jolt down his spine.

Another pause. Above them something creaks, something shatters. Oh, no, please, please no, Guren thinks.

Nothing falls but dust.

He hears a wet cough from Yu and his heart squeezes painfully.

'Will you... stay with me?' Yu asks in a soft voice that can barely be heard above the falling of small fragments of debris.

Guren doesn't know why but it's suddenly so difficult to breathe.

'Of course... you idiot... we're stuck here – I'm not going anywhere until you are.' He tries to make his voice reassuring. He tries but...

'Like you used to,' Yu's voice comes again, muffled, quiet, strangled. It's almost like he's crying. But Guren remembers that, remembers how Yu used to sound when he cried for the family and the future he had lost. It didn't sound like this. 'You – Y'know? Will you stay... until I fall asleep?'

'I've told you. No fucking sleeping okay? You can sleep all you like when we get out of here and you get seen to. Maybe your little friends will hold your hands.' Guren doesn't even know what he's saying. He starts out angry but desperation takes away his usual tone and in the end he'll say anything, do anything to keep Yu awake.

'You're a shitty lieutenant colonel,' Yu says. And Guren feels something thick in the back of his throat that isn't blood. His eyes sting. Because this is Yu's voice, the voice he is used to. This is normality. And it feels, just for a moment, like he's managed to get through to him, like they're going to be alright.

Then Yu continues, 'But you're still... my family... yeah... and I – I love you.'

Guren's blood turns to ice. He opens his mouth, takes a panicked breath, and starts to cough before he can say anything.

Yu keeps talking, his voice growing fainter, his pauses more frequent. 'I – I never said it – when the others... when Mika... Akane and – I never said it... don't know if they know – so – so I had to tell you... before I-'

Guren hears his breathing – fast, erratic. He is crying. He is crying and Guren does not know how to calm him, does not know how to make this right, not this time.

He interrupts Yu anyway, can't let him finish his sentence because he knows what is coming, what Yu is going to say, and not on his watch – no way. Not this time. 'Don't you fucking dare Yuichiro, don't you fucking dare - you'll be grounded, you hear me? You fucking stay awake – that is an order!'

He doesn't know what he expects but he doesn't expect Yu to laugh through his tears. Guren tries to lift his head again, tries to manoeuvre himself to see the boy he promised he would protect. He can't. He's trapped. Sharp pain surges down his spine. He almost misses the pained moan Yu makes as laughter forces his body to move further than his injuries allow.

Almost but not quite.

'Yeah,' Yu says breathlessly. 'Guren's just like a dad... even – even if he is a shitty one. If I had to... pick one... it'd be – you'd be the best one... I could pick.'

Guren is frozen, Yu's name still on his lips. Yu's words echo in his head. He does not get time to process them. He does not get time to reply. A deafening rumble sounds from above them. Yu calls Guren's name. Before Guren can answer, the sky falls.

Guren does not know how long it takes for the world to close around them. All he knows is pain and dust and darkness. By the time all is still again, he is so disorientated that the crushing weight of the school on top of him sometimes feels like he is weightless. It takes him a while to remember where he is.

He remembers with a lurch that feels like falling.

'Oi!' His voice is hoarse, weak. It's not enough. He tries again, tries harder. 'Yu! Are you alright? Yu! Answer me!'

He breaks off, coughs blood into the dust, hears nothing but that splattering. There is no answer from Yu. He tries again, keeps trying. His heart beats too fast. He can't breathe. His nose is full of the scent of metal and destruction. His mouth is full of grit and blood.

He can't think. His thoughts fragment coil in circles in his head. He keeps attempting to call the boy's name. He gets no response. Dimly, he registers the shifting of rubble above him. It is unimportant. All that matters is finding Yu. All that matters is keeping him safe.

Stay with me... Yu's voice echoes in his head, until I fall asleep.

Yu doesn't answer. Yu must have fallen asleep already. Guren doesn't know why but his chest tightens further. Staying isn't enough, something tells him. He needs to do more.

Will you tell me a story?

He remembers. He remembers a story with a prince and a princess. He starts to tell it, doesn't remember exactly how it goes, makes something up and restarts it. He tells stories without princes or princesses. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that he keeps talking to Yu, keeps letting him know that he's there, that he stayed, that they will be alright.

He doesn't know how many stories he's told, doesn't know if he is only repeating himself but just when he begins to feel that he has no more stories to tell, he hears it.

The rubble above him shifting and tumbling. He tries to speak louder, drown out the sound of impending pain so that Yu won't have to hear it, but his tongue is thick and he is so tired. He repeats the same sentence over and over, trying to recall the way it's supposed to end.

'And they all lived... And they all lived...'

And then he sees sunlight.

'Hello? Can you hear me?'

'And they all...' His own voice breaks off and he realises.

Nothing is falling; it is lifting. The thumping and rumbling above him is footsteps. There are no sirens, only voices.

The ending of the story comes to him like the sunlight shining through the dust. 'And they all... lived happily ever after.'

'Hello?'

It occurs to him that he must answer. Yu is sleeping. If the noise persists, it will wake him. No, no. That isn't it.

'Is anybody-'

The rubble shifts, applies more pressure to his shoulder. The sudden shock of pain makes him hiss, opens his eyes, and it comes to him. They need to get out.

'Here,' he calls as loudly as he can. He can't take a deep breath, tries harder. 'We're here!'

He hears voices calling, multiple voices through the rubble alerting each other. It takes some time for the rescue operation to get underway. Guren does not tell anymore stories. He isn't able to. The rescuers keep talking to him, keep asking him questions so he loses his place. He drifts in and out of reason as the world grows brighter around them.

It isn't until the lift him with a sudden jerk that a jolt of pain brings him back to reality. All violent cough makes him gag as the air is forced from his lungs. The sudden awareness of what is happening is worse than the pain. He is leaving without Yu. He is leaving Yu behind.

Guren tries to move an arm to push his rescuers away. He can't. He hears their shocked voices, their attempts to hush him. He won't have any of it. He talks over them. 'S-stop – you can't take me. I won't let you take me until he's safe. There's a boy over there. He was – he was right next me and I-'

They aren't stopping. They aren't putting him down. He moves through a blur of blacks and browns and reds. His eyes hurt. It's hard to keep them open, hard to keep his mouth moving, but he to make them understand.

He keeps talking, desperately, taking fast, shallow breaths. It is all he can manage. It isn't enough. 'I promised... I would - I'd stay with him... until he fell asleep. So I ... have to stay here... until you – until you get him out.'

He can't breathe. His chest heaves but nothing happens. His mouth is dry like burning iron. He can't see where he is going.

Finally the world stops moving.

Someone touches his face. He doesn't know who it is. But he hears their reply and their soft words bring him relief like none he has ever experienced. 'You stayed with him – he – he was already asleep by the time we reached you. Now you just try to stay calm while we get you out, alright?'

They're still talking but Guren can hardly hear them, can hardly feel them, doesn't care though because he did it; he stayed. His last thought is that this means Yu must be safe.

And then he falls asleep.

A/N: Thanks for reading! As always, any comments are greatly appreciated ^_^ Especially since I don't think I brought my A game to this one.

I do have notes for the aftermath of this and might consider adding them to it if there's enough interest or the mood strikes me.