Inferno; Chapter Two- Safe
Title: Inferno; Chapter Two- Safe
Genre: Action, Angst, Romance, AU
Main Pairing: Ruki x ??
Rating: PG-13
Warning: None
Disclaimer: Truth be told, I own them now. I adopted them against their will and they are now my older-than-me sons.
Summary: Stuck in a burning building, Takanori relies on his ladder to save him as he has them and many others before. However, the longer he is in that building the small the chances of him getting out. As his ladder, friends that became family, fight the fire and to rescue him, will it be on time?
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01.Inferno | 02.Safe | 03. Escape
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Takanori grunted in pain as he continued to slowly drag himself backwards, away from where the stairwell was, and where the ceiling caved in. Every slight touch to his broken leg sent shots of agony running through his body. His eyes burned from the intense heat around him, only producing more tears to smear the dirt on his tear- and dirt-stained cheeks. He hated crying, he hated it as much as he hated this damn fire that brought him into this situation. It made him feel small, useless, and so venerable, which in he is at the moment. Anything could happen and Takanori would have no way to save himself, and he hated that this lingered in his head. He was stuck in a maze with no end.
Takanori knew it would be nearly impossible to find him; it had almost been an hour since he last spoke to his Chief or heard anything from anyone. It had been almost an hour and every place he was able to get to ended up on fire or the structure was unsafe and he could tell just by looking at it. And it had been almost an hour of such unbearable pain that he stopped saying he was in pain, because he wasn’t in pain, he was in pure agony. He felt like he was being tortured for no real reason.
It’s because I’m the little guy, isn’t it? Because I’m the short little midget who can’t see over a fucking six-foot fence or barely hold up someone basically half my fucking height, isn’t it? Takanori hissed deep in his mind, cussing out whatever Deity he could think of at the time. So this is what I get for saving lives?
The small man came to a dead stop when something under him groaned loudly, and he knew it wasn’t from anyone. Fire shot out from his left causing him to squeal and unintentionally roll over on all fours causing him to scream and hang his head waiting for the sting to pass. More fire began to eat at the broken wooden beams around him, engulfing them to the ceiling, and that’s when his panic set in.
Amazed at how he even did it considering the amount of pain it was to drag is leg, Takanori was standing on his right leg and started running, or limping, with his left leg being dragged, away from the smoldering wood. He felt inhuman, whatever was there of his leg, he could no longer feel. Adrenaline pumped through his blood, the only thought in his mind was survival at any cost, even if he would lose his leg later in time.
As quickly as he ran into the nearest room, those wooden beams crashed down where he was once lying. The firefighter clung to a wall, as if his only hope and chance of survival, as he started to cry at how close he was to dying… again. Slowly, he started to slide down the wall, ungloved and bloodied hands clenched into fists by his trembling lips, eyes screwed shut as he buried his fists into his face. “I’m never going to get out…”
It felt like heaven on Earth, no sooner had he graduated from the firefighter’s academy, not to mention the youngest they have ever had, he was enlisted in a department already. He opened the letter yesterday, and a few hours later received a call from the Chief at Ladder 39 telling him what time to be there the next day and what to bring. Takanori was so overwhelmed with joy he couldn’t sleep all night, thus making his lengthy walk towards the station seem longer as he passed up the opportunity for coffee several times and almost walking out in front of moving traffic.
By the time he got to the large redbrick building, he was sure he was going to start sleep walking. Maybe he should have taken those sleeping pills, but it was too late for him to dread on not doing such. The blonde paused, mouth open and eyes large in amazement as he gawked at the inside of the garage whose large green doors had been pulled up. His feet felt like mush and at the same time, the heaviest thing on the world. He couldn’t move; his legs were stuck to the ground as nerves took over his small frame. What if this was a big joke? What if he was just being picked on again. What if-
“Matsumoto?” A voice inquired causing the young blonde to almost jump out of his skin before nodding excessively.
“Y- Yes! Takanori Matsumoto, present!” He quickly rushed while bowing deeply to whomever just snuck up beside him.
“Calm down Matsumoto, no need to bow anymore. As of now, you are family. Welcome to Ladder 39.” The small man slowly raised his eyes to meet a male dressed in black with a grin on his face. The black haired male’s face showed he was young, but older than Takanori. Long black strands of hair rebelliously refused to stay behind the male’s ear with the rest of his hair in a small ponytail. “The name is Shiroyama Yuu, call me Aoi. Got it Ruki?”
“R- Ruki…?” Dumbstruck, Takanori stood fully upright and adjusted the backpack on his shoulder.
“Yeah, Ruki, Rookie… Same thing. Word play, got it?”
Slowly, Takanori nodded look at Yuu like he was insane. “Work with me Ruki; we got to be on the same page from now on.”
“I- I understand Yuu-san,” Takanori stated slowly diverting his gaze from the intense brown orbs of Yuu staring at him.
With a loud sigh and a mutter under his breath, Yuu dramatically slapped his forehead. “A-O-I. No ‘san’, no ‘kun’, and if you add a ‘chan’ you sure as hell are asking for trouble. Aoi, okay? I don’t want to be an asshole to you on your first day, Ruki, but you gotta work with me. Real names, they aren’t my thing.”
“S-sorry… I understand.”
“Good, now let’s go in. It’s fucking cold out here…”
The short blonde stared dumbly after the taller elder as he walked into the firehouse. “But… it’s only eighty degrees…” he muttered under his breath before fixing his backpack once more and followed Yuu inside.
“Alright, Chief doesn’t show up until around noon on Sundays ‘cause he’s got Church and what not, so you won’t be seeing him for a few hours,” Yuu explained while waiting for the blonde to catch up. “This, obviously, is the garage where our trucks stay, and like now, are sometimes outside on the driveway. The poles are in the south-back corner and there are three of them,” Yuu pointed towards a wall in the back, the only wall in the room untouched by anything else.
Takanori slowly nodded, gray eyes glancing around to look at each pile of what-not and the walls covered in spare parts for the trucks and tool boxes for repairs. His eyes then went towards where Yuu was leading him, a large green wooden stair case. “Up here is where we ‘live’, so to say. We have a kitchen, bathrooms, locker room, showers, the Chief’s office, and the second floor, not counting the garage, is Chief’s house. We don’t go up there until he’s home, or for parties.” The young male nodded again, mentally taking notes as he followed Yuu up the squeaky wooden stairs.
Takanori quickly rubbed tears away from his eyes and breathed heavy, sniffing up any clues that he was just crying as static came through the talkie again. “Takanori…? Takanori…? Are you there?”
The small male sniffed again before reaching for the small black electronic on his shoulder. “Yeah Chief, I’m here…”
“Thank God. More of the floor above you fell and blocked the rescue team from your last location, where are you now Takanori?”
The male bit his lip and looked around. All he saw was deep and thick smoke and small flames burning themselves out on piles of rubble. When he started to run from the falling beams, he didn’t pay attention to anything but getting safe, much to his misfortune now. “Chief… I don’t know. I don’t fucking know…” he croaked out, voice evident with tears and soreness from the smoke, and his lips started to tremble again as he released the button to listen for a reply.
“Takanori, calm down. I need you to be calm. Okay? Understand me?”
“Yeah Chief. I got ‘ya. Tell me what to do,” reluctant to ask, knowing more moving would be necessary, Takanori asked anyway holding back more tears that threatened to fall.
“Find a map on the wall… A sign, room number, stair way, window, anything to help us know where you are. Got it? Can you do that?”
No. “Yeah, I can… But I sure as hell want my fucking lollipop when I get down there,” A smile came to his lips as he listened to his Chief laugh.
“Alright Takanori, be safe. Let me know right away if anything happens, got it? We’re doing our best here.”
“Yes, got it. Over and out.”
He paused, taking a few deep and encouraging breaths before pushing up and off of the wall. Right before almost falling face first on the ground, Takanori caught his balance leaning on the wall again. “Shit. Fuck. God damn it!” he cursed, volume increasing with every word until he screamed it. “What the fuck is wrong with me?” he hissed before punching the wall to push off of it now, only adding more blood to his already bloodied knuckles.
It stung at first, dragging his leg behind him while hopping forward with the other, but he managed fairly well and stopped to sit on a tossed over file cabinet. He now understood why this room was so hazy, everything was charcoal black, burnt, and pure ash. The fire had already been put out in this room, much to his disappointment. What if the others moved to another side of the building now, or were putting out a fire a few floors down? They would never see him. With shaking hands, he reached for the walkie-talkie again. “Chief. Got news. I don’t know if it’s good or bad…” he paused between every sentence, taking a breath and a sigh.
"What’s the news?”
“Fire’s been put out where I am now.”
“That’s good, we have only gotten the east side out so far.”
“Bad news,” the younger paused and unhooked his walkie-talkie from his shoulder to hold it in both hands between his knees.
“Go on…”
“I can’t see shit. My air tank is… Well I don’t know where the fuck it is. I have no gloves, my mask is cracked, and there is smoke everywhere.”
“And you have no water bottle on your belt?”
“Burst when I was trapped.”
“I understand. Do whatever you can to keep your throat and mouth moist, and to keep the smoke out.”
“I’ll try…” Sadly, he hung his head, and his fingers loosened on the small object in his hands. His time was running out and he knew it. It was a miracle that he hadn’t gone into shock from his leg and how much he had put it through to get where he is now. A goddamn miracle. The sound of static hummed throughout the room, blocking out everything else. The soft crackling of flames and moans of the building wanting to fall in on its self seemed to only be background noise as the young man slid forward off of the filing cabinet and rested his back on it. His own racing heartbeat started to mix with the static, lulling him into a light exhausted slumber. He was so tired, so worn out. This side… has already been put out… I should be safe… his eyes flickered shut as his cheek fell to rest on his shoulder. Safe…
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01.Inferno | 02.Safe | 03. Escape
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A/N: Chapter Two!!! Thinking about maybe posting every Tuesday and Friday? That okay with you guys? Gives me enough time to write the chapters inbetween, and if I get stuck I'll warn you ahead of time if it may be longer, okay?? Hope you enjoyed it!
As always...
.alexaTaylor.