[Log] The Storm
Characters: Momoshiro Takeshi, Kaidoh Kaoru, Echizen Ryoma & Kaidoh Hazue
Location: Kaidoh's hut, Momo's shack, the beach and the jungle.
Time: September 5
Rating: PG-13 for blood
Summary: The storm makes everyone grow wary, and Momo goes to find Ryoma while Kaidoh goes to find Hazue, to make sure they're safe. Not everyone is.
Wind howls through the cracks of the wood and straw of Kaidoh’s hut, it’s making everything feel so ominous and kind of cold too. It’s raining pretty hard outside at the moment. It had been since last night (thankfully Momoshiro managed to get Kaidoh inside by then), and it simply started to get worst the next day. Momoshiro did some of his daily tasks, but soon gave up after the weather got worse. He’s managed to convince Kaidoh to stay inside, and not go running out into the rain like an idiot. So Kaidoh stays an idiot on the inside, lifting his stupid dumbnuts instead. Momoshiro’s been counting how many times he’s lifted them, in a loud and obnoxious voice, but soon gave up after he hit forty, and Kaidoh was giving him death glares.
“Don’t you think it’s getting worse?” Momoshiro asks. He’s hugging his knees to his chest and leaning against his side of the wall. The rain outside just sounds more like golf balls raining down on them. At least Kaidoh built the hut to be pretty sturdy (and he also secretly helped on it!), so it wasn’t going to come down, and surprisingly there were no leaks in them.
Kaidoh stops what he's doing to listen to the steady downpour outside. "Doesn't sound like it's letting up anyway," he says flatly. It's an understatement; the weather sounds completely miserable. It has Kaidoh a bit on edge. Maybe because he didn't get in his usual run this morning, or the night before. He'd complained a bit yesterday about how he would have been fine still running-it was just a little bit of rain after all and Kaidoh isn't the sort to get easily deterred, but that little bit of rain grew heavier and heavier and within an hour had turned pretty disgusting. And today's even worse. So Kaidoh's stuck inside with Momoshiro, who's already managed to get under his skin and annoy him, but it could be worse.
“Do you hear thunder? I think I hear thunder. Maybe I hear thunder. I don’t know, it’s kind of loud outside. Do you think we’ll be fine in here? What if a lightning bolt shots right through your stupid roof and burns the entire hut down to the ground? What if the wind gets too strong and blows the hut away? Like that wolf from that stupid red riding hood fairytale? I don’t want a wolf to come over and eat me. It’ll be your fault, since you didn’t build a strong enough hut. What if we get washed away if a big tidal wave comes by? We’d be screwed! Or a tornado! Or, or-”
"None of that stuff's going to happen, moron," Kaidoh interjects sharply, cutting Momoshiro off mid-ramble. He gives Momoshiro a pointed look like he thinks he's being paranoid, but Momoshiro's train of thought is always unpredictable like that. Maybe the storm's making him kind of stir crazy too.
Kaidoh hisses. "And what the hell, nothing's going to come and eat you. Stop saying stupid things and find something to keep yourself busy."
Momoshiro crosses his arms, then looks away from Kaidoh. “Well, I know something that we can do that’ll keep us busy.” His cheeks are pink just from the suggestion, but at least Kaidoh can’t see.
Kaidoh blushes too. "Dumbass," he says with a huff and flings his towel across the room at Momoshiro's head.
Right as the towel hits Momoshiro’s head and covers his vision, there’s bright flash, and a loud boom right above them, it crackles and sizzles and echoes into the distance.
“Whoa-that was right above our heads!” Momoshiro says, a bit freaked out. He wonders if they’ll really be save in here. He yanks the towel off from his head and looks at Kaidoh.
… But he’s not where he was standing before. “Kaidoh?” Momoshiro calls for him, whipping his head around to see where he went off to.
Kaidoh is crouched on the ground next to his bed, both hands covering his head like he's practicing for an earthquake drill. He's gone all tense and frozen, a prickle of goosebumps raised down the back of his neck. His shoulders shake a little and then stop and he glances over at Momoshiro and gives him an annoyed scowl. As though it's somehow his fault.
"I was just ..." he starts to say, pulling out of the position and standing up, when another massive boom of thunder ripples through the air outside and Kaidoh drops and pulls himself into a ball on the floor again. "Fuck," he curses. "That's really loud."
It’s almost pathetic the way Kaidoh can be so scared of everything, but right now, Momoshiro doesn’t really feel the need to poke fun at it. The thunder is dangerous, and it’s right above them-it could seriously make an impact and connect with the hut, and then they’d be fried noodles.
“Yeah, it is,” Momoshiro agrees. He looks through the cracks of the entrance, seeing the rain dance around wildly and without direction. He rolls his head back over at Kaidoh, who is making himself as tiny as possible on his bed. Momoshiro almost wants to crawl over and poke him.
“... You okay?” Momoshiro asks instead. He runs his fingers through his short hair and wonders how to comfort someone who’s scared of thunder. Especially someone who’s scared of even his own shadow. Which is kind of funny.
Kaidoh lifts his head and glares at Momoshiro, though not super successfully since it's hard to look angry when his eyes just look like frightened little pin-points. "I'm fine," he protests. He just doesn't like thunder. Thunder is stupid.
“Sure you are … but what about-” Momoshiro swallows his words. “Hey, hey, Hazue-he’s sleeping out there in a hammock, isn’t he?”
Kaidoh sits bolt upright at that and his eyes go wide. Oh. Oh shit.
"He ..." Kaidoh trails off and listens to the rain pound angrily against the roof and blow against the walls of the hut. Hazue doesn't have walls ... Is his roof sturdy enough to withstand this? Is he even under the roof now? Why hadn't Kaidoh gone to check on him? Suddenly Kaidoh's skin feels clammy with worry. He looks toward the entrance of the hut.
"I should ..." he says, his voice sounding very uncertain, "... make sure he's okay." As if to add to Kaidoh's sudden worries, the thunder lets out another cacophonous clap, and Kaidoh's hands instinctively shoot to cover his head and ears once more.
It’s Momoshiro who stands up, and takes out his cellphone from his pants. He quickly punches in Hazue’s number-which the younger boy had given to him a week ago in case anything happened-and puts it against his ear. He’d be lucky getting any sort of signal out in this storm at all, but Momoshiro wants to try out calling first before they’d run out into the storm like headless chickens. He doesn’t even noticed he’s climbed over to Kaidoh’s side of the hut, and he’s sitting down next to him, shoulders pressed up against each other.
The phone doesn’t ring.
“I’m not getting a signal,” says Momoshiro. Now he is starting to worry as well; Hazue can’t just be left alone out there. He stands up after nudging Kaidoh’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go look for him.”
"Yeah," Kaidoh agrees. He gathers himself to his feet and tries to make himself stop shivering. It's just thunder. It's just a bad storm. Much as Kaidoh would be more comfortable staying put in the safety of the hut, he feels his insides tug with responsibility. He has to make sure his brother is all right, stupid fear be damned. Hazue's shelter isn't that far. And he's probably fine. It's probably fine.
Another bright flash blinds them both, followed by a bellowing thunder echoing into the distance-it made the entire hut shake upon impact. Momoshiro clutches the wall, and his eyes turn wide.
“Kaidoh …” he starts slowly. “I didn’t build mine as sturdy as yours.” He looks back at Kaidoh, who looks frightened, and suddenly he feels frightened too. His shack, the one Echizen is supposed to be staying in, what if something happened to him right now? But Hazue is in danger too …
“I need to go check on that brat-I didn’t expect a storm would take over this island, much less that we’d be staying on here for months.” Momoshiro turns to Kaidoh and puts his hands on top of his shoulders. “Look, you’ll be fine. Look for Hazue, he shouldn’t be too far off. Don’t get scared, call me if anything goes wrong-but I gotta get to Echizen. That shack is dangerous to stay in. I’ll bring him back here, okay?”
Kaidoh nods. "I won't get scared," he grumbles, facial expression betraying his words. He's actually terrified of the prospect of going out into the storm, but he's also determined, and with Kaidoh, determination always wins out in the end. And for some reason Momoshiro's encouragement is making him feel a little less worried, like he trusts that he's telling the truth when he says it'll be fine. He looks like he believes it, at least. So Kaidoh wants to believe it too.
"Guess we'll meet back here, then," he says, trying to sound more confident. Whatever. It's just another challenge. It's something he has to do. He can do it. He really hopes Hazue is okay.
“Yeah.” Momoshiro slightly squeezes Kaidoh’s shoulders before he slips them off, and hangs his hands by his side. He turns towards the entrance.
No big deal. Just go out into the storm and thunder and get fried like a fish.
“Just … don’t be stupid,” he warns Kaidoh. “Make yourself small, and run like hell.” He throws his head back at Kaidoh and grins at him. “Aren’t you good at that anyway?”
"Idiot," Kaidoh replies gruffly, which is his way of saying, Yeah, you be careful, too.
Momoshiro dashes out of the entrance, and into the sea of rain. It’s going to be a long run towards his old shack. He hopes Kaidoh will make it through alive. He better be alright, it’d be stupid to get hurt in this storm, especially for Kaidoh.
Momoshiro seems to disappear into the storm within seconds. It's really hard to see much of anything in that rain. But Kaidoh knows the beach well by now, he could probably run its length with his eyes closed. He can certainly find his way to Hazue's shelter. He just hopes he can make it there and back before there's another explosion of thunder and lightning. He can't really control his body's reaction to it, the immediate instinct to freeze and duck for cover wherever possible.
Now is not the time for that. He waits a few moments, trying to steel together all his courage, before taking in a deep breath and running off into the rain. It drenches him immediately, like he's running through a never-ending waterfall. He's endured freezing winter weather and sudden summer showers but he's never tried running through something as extreme as this, and it doesn't help that the sand has turned to mud. But there's nothing to do but keep going. He avoids the shoreline-the waves are angry white-caps-and runs closer to the jungle instead, a different route from the usual, and less direct, but Kaidoh doesn't want to end up in the ocean in the middle of a storm.
It still doesn't take long to reach the place where Hazue had built his hammock-it really isn't far-but Kaidoh still feels drained when he reaches it and takes shelter under the roof. It's still not that dry underneath it. The wind is so strong that it seems to be blowing rain against him from all directions.
Hazue isn't there.
Kaidoh should be relieved; maybe he took shelter elsewhere, like the caves. But Hazue's ankle is still sprained. Could he really get that far? What if he tried and … Kaidoh swallows hard. Don't think things like that. He's probably … Kaidoh tries to fill in the blank with something that will ease his mind, but all he keeps coming back to is the terrifying thought that his brother is stuck out in the storm somewhere, soaked through from wind and rain and unable to find shelter.
Kaidoh's starting to panic a little, but he tries to focus. He knows the beach as well as anyone, better than anyone. He knows where the trees are thickest, knows how long it would take to cover the whole beach on foot. He'll just keep running until he finds his brother. He couldn't have gone far with his ankle in the state it is. Kaidoh doesn't know if he should find that comforting or not. He starts running off into the storm again, his eyes steely with determination and fists swinging at his sides.
Meanwhile, Hazue quickly runs inside of Kaidoh’s hut, dry and fine, and no sprained ankle whatsoever. He’s been holding a piece of plywood above his head to keep himself dry. Once it started getting really bad, he already started making his way over to Kaidoh’s hut to seek shelter.
“Kaoru-nii-chan I-oh, that’s no one here.” Hazue looks around for a bit; it seems Kaidoh and Momoshiro were out for the moment. He wonders if they are okay. But they were adults, and his brother is a very capable guy, of course they’d be fine. Hazue sits on Kaidoh’s bed and throws a blanket over him, waiting patiently for their return.
A bit further on the beach, is a very drenched and very grumpy Momoshiro. He’s been running his way back to his old shack, and he’s already slipped once on the damn muddy beach and fallen face-first into it-so now he looks like a very nice swamp monster. At least Kaidoh can’t see him, he’d probably be scared out of his mind if he comes across Momoshiro likes this. But this is no time to be thinking about funny thing; Echizen could be in danger. And that’s the last thing Momoshiro wants right now.
Thunder is still roaring above him, sounding dangerously close, but this doesn’t deter Momoshiro. He’s focused, albeit dirty from his previous fall, and his vision is clouded by the thick dense rain around him. Will Echizen be okay? He never intended the shack he built to stay upright for a long time. He didn’t think they’d be there for so long, nor did he think a storm would pass by.
How long has he been running? Is he close? Is he half-way there? Is he even going the right way? Momoshiro doesn’t recognize his surroundings anymore; it’s all blocked by the rain and the wind, and all the random dirt and twigs flying in the wind, hitting him with a loud twap against his face. Damnit. Echizen better be alright.
He isn't. Not quite.
As the storm hit, what had annoyed Ryoma the most had been the fact that the storm disturbed his naptimes. Soon enough the roof had started to leak. And gusts of wind had hit the suddenly fragile seeming shack relentlessly, coupled with the thunders that rolled across the skies, like Fujin and Raijin themselves were having one hell of a party. Ryoma hadn't liked the idea of their party, hadn't had any desire to be invited.
And he most definitely didn't like it when that loud lightning and far too soon following thunderclap made the shack shake so much that it actually started to fall apart. "What," he had whined then. "No, no, come on...!" He had been forced to his feet then, trying his best to keep the rickety planks in place, but the storm gods were merciless.
And finally, the inevitable had happened. Blinded by the rain and long, wet hair that had slapped him in the face, Ryoma hadn't been able to see even half a meter in front of him. The ground had been slippery and heavy-wet, wet sand-and then another thunderclap that made him jump... And a strong wind, strong enough to topple him over. And he had fallen to the ground in a rather awkward position, and debris from the ruined shack followed suit, most of it landing on his left ankle.
If you were to ask him later about it, he'd say that he lost consciousness for a moment, given how much water had gathered around his head when he woke up.
No matter, probably, because it doesn't change the fact that he's here right now, locked down by the debris and heavy rain beating down on him. His ankle hurts but it isn't the biggest of his worries. He's very, very wet, water everywhere... And the lightning is frightenly close. Should it hit...
Momoshiro is going as fast as he can, slipping once more and fallen down to his knees, but he quickly picks himself up and runs straight ahead. It’s all he can do, he’s just so worried something has happened, and he’s also worried about Kaidoh and Hazue-what if something happens to them too? He knows he told Kaidoh to call him if something went wrong … but it’s not likely they’ll get a signal in this storm. It’s a stupid thing to say, and Momoshiro feels stupid too.
He’s getting closer to the shack, Momoshiro recognizes a few of the palm tree formations. It’s been a while since he’s been there; he’d been so deadset on avoiding Echizen, he hadn’t seen him in over a month. Talking was also out of the question. It just makes Momoshiro feel more guilty right now, like he has to go see him now, in case something happens … and he could never say sorry.
Which is a frightening thought, but he can’t help but have this anxious feeling tug at the back of his mind. What if …
Momoshiro doesn’t need to think about what ifs, since it’s right in front of him. What used to be his shack, is now a place of nothing but ruins, debris; it’s all in shambles. Momoshiro feels his heart stop beating and his eyes widen in shock.
“E-” he starts, but his voice feels like it’s stuck in his throat. This can’t be true, right? His shack can’t literally have fallen apart … “Echizen!” Momoshiro yells. He starts to run towards the fallen bamboo plates, hastily climbing over some debris and looking all over the place for Echizen.
The wind swallows up most of Momoshiro's voice, but Ryoma in general has good hearing. Good hearing, good eyes... His senses are sharp, and they hone themselves even more during critical moments, and what is this, if not critical? He easily hears him, and opens his mouth to reply... Only to stop himself. He hasn't spoken to Momoshiro for over a month. Why does it have to take something like this for the other man to come see him? Maybe he should simply ignore him. Any stubborn pride is however wiped clean away as another lightning lights up the sky, and Ryoma is certain it probably hit somewhere in the jungle, if the deafening thunder boom that follows immediately after is any indicator. Nearly panicking, Ryoma gasps-and inhales a good deal of water, so he's coughing and spluttering as he tries to form Momoshiro's name. It sounds more like a pathetic squeak than anything.
“Echizen!” Momoshiro rushes over to the coughing man piled underneath some of the fallen walls; he’s been caught in between them, unable to get free. Panic settles inside of Momoshiro’s stomach, and he quickly-frantically really-starts to lift up the rubble and free Echizen from its hold.
“You okay!?” he asks in a loud voice, bending down to Echizen’s body and grabbed his arms so he can half pull him out, and half pull him up.
"Yeah, just we-" He catches himself as pain shoots through his leg and it gives out underneath him so he falls onto Momoshiro with all his weight, face ashen.
Momoshiro wobbles back onto his own feet, catching Echizen against him and keeping him steady. “What’s wrong? Where did you get hurt?” he asks in a worried voice. He’s starting to feel like Oishi again, but what can he do? He already feels bad enough for being so childishly stubborn that he ignored his best friend for over a month, and now his shack had to go and collapse right on top of him. As if some of those thunder gods up there hated him. He scans Echizen’s drenched and dirty body, looking for anything that’s bleeding, or has wood sticking out of it, or something at least.
"I..." Well, most of his body hurts, uncomfortable position and all, but the sharp pain that causes black dots to dance in front of his eyes again, is very easily located. But his mouth dry, he can't really speak. Only makes a small, vague nod downwards.
Momoshiro follows Echizen’s gaze, then he sees it; a thick stream of blood pouring out of Echizen’s ankle, mixing in with the rain water below his feet. Momoshiro’s face pales, he’s immediately reminded of the time on the ship, when the blood pooled underneath Echizen’s head.
Not again. Not again.
“Shit,” Momoshiro curses. He lets go of Echizen’s body to take off his own soaked and dirty t-shirt. He bends down to Echizen’s ankle and quickly starts to wrap the shirt around it to stop the bleeding at least. It looks ghastly, it looks really bad; Momoshiro isn’t a doctor, what should he do? What should he do? Can anyone besides Kaidoh’s hut even be reached in this weather? He feels his fingers shake as he ties a sloppy knot around Echizen’s ankle, he hopes it’ll hold. The rain is crashing down on his back and it’s making him feel numb, seeing all that blood again makes him feel numb. It’s all his fault again.
"Cursing isn't going to help," Ryoma croaks; it's difficult to use his voice, difficult to speak. "Le-let's just get out of here, okay? Where's Hazue? And... Well, you know." Being so close to Momoshiro, no matter the injury, makes it far too difficult for him to take Kaidoh's name into his mouth. Stupid heart, it should have healed already. Stupid, stupid heart. This isn't even the time and place for that. "Uh. … Nice first-aid. Thanks."
“Whatever, let’s get out of this mess. Back to Kaidoh, his hut is alright.” Momoshiro stays crouched down, but turns around so that Echizen can climb on his back. “Come on, get on so we can get the hell out of here.”
Ryoma isn't sure how he manages to climb onto that bony back, and later he'll chalk it up to pure survival instincts, but somehow he makes it and he drapes his arms over Momoshiro's shoulders and locks them with his hands resting somewhere across Momoshiro's heart. His face rests against Momoshiro's neck, and he idly registers that there really isn't much hair in the way. "Hey, you... Look good." Which is a completely mundane thing to say, given the circumstances.
Momoshiro stands upright, arms hooked under Echizen’s legs. He’s a bit confused at what Echizen is saying. Is he really alright …? Or is he trying to make light of the situation. He can never tell what he’s thinking.
“And you look like something caved in on you,” says Momoshiro in a deadpan voice. He starts to walk away from the debris, leaving it behind. He’s not running, but he is walking in a very steady pace, hoping he won’t slip up again what with Echizen on his back. He’s so worried something will happen again, or Echizen’s ankle won’t be able to get cleaned up enough, or maybe it’s already too late and the damage has already been done. The thought is frightening to him.
“Kaidoh’s looking for Hazue right now,” explains Momoshiro. Talking about something else will take his mind off of it. “They should both be there when we return … hopefully. Fucking weather.” He takes one giant step over a slight puddle of rainwater pooled into the sand. He keeps his head down, so he can see where he’s walking, and to keep the rain out of his eyes. Another flash of lightning spirals down out of the sky above them, flickering over the ocean like blood veins.
“Did you get hurt anywhere else?” Momoshiro asks. Like maybe his ribs again …
"Uh-uh. Well..." Ryoma gives a half-hearted shrug. "Just scrapes and bumps. Don't think it's serious, it's just that everything hurts like a fucking bitch. It'll pass."
Momoshiro stays quiet for the longest time, doing nothing but focusing his attention to where he’s putting his feet, and keeping his balance in check, and making sure he’s got a good grip on Echizen so he won’t suddenly fall off. The storm is getting worse, the wind is heavy, the rain is thick and cold and hurts his eyes, but he’s sure Echizen is hurting more. Lots more. He feels pretty much helpless.
They almost slip up when Momoshiro’s foot gets stuck behind a branch lying down on the sand, but luckily he catches himself in time and he keeps marching forwards.
Then, in a small voice, that Momoshiro’s probably been keeping inside of him for months, he says, “Sorry.” The rain swallows up his voice.
At the almost slip-up, of course Ryoma's injured ankle bumps against Momoshiro's body. Of course it hurts so much he's afraid he'll drop his grip and simply fall off the other's back... But stubbornness prevails and Ryoma remains where he is, not a sound escaping him.
And then he thinks he might have fainted again anyway. But you're not supposed to dream when you're unconscious, right? Because he can't have heard that. That has to be a dream. Because what else can it be? The rolling thunder echoes in his ears and maybe it isn't a dream anyway. He doesn't know what to say. He really doesn't know what to say. But his hands tighten around Momo's chest, pressing closer to it. (He's awfully dirty, almost like the Swampthing. It's some sort of comic book monster, Ryoma thinks. Something Nanjiroh used to read to him when he was little, and then he'd never sleep that night. No matter.) "... Mm." Because he has to say something.
After that, nothing else is said between them anymore. Momoshiro is focused on bringing Echizen to safety, it’s the least he can do for acting like such an asshole, and for building such an unsafe shack, and being an asshole enough to let Echizen live in it alone. So he just keeps his head low, Echizen on his back, and trenches through the muddy beach sand.
It’s about ten minutes later of wading through the thick rain and the bellowing thunder in the background, when Momoshiro spots Kaidoh’s hut on the horizon. He speeds up, happy to have found shelter, and happy that the thing is still standing up. He hopes Kaidoh’s found Hazue as well. He runs up the steps from the hut and barges inside.
“Momo-nii-chan!” Hazue squeaks out, startled out of his mind. He scrambles up to come and greet the man, when he notices something else. “Echizen-san?”
Momoshiro blinks for a second, before he rushes to his own bed and bends down through his knees.
“Hazue, give me some dry towels and a bottle of water in that corner over there,” says Momoshiro. He unhooks his arms around Echizen, and slips the man off of his back, so that he’s on the fluffy pile of blankets.
“W-what happened?” Hazue asks as he comes and brings Momoshiro the towels and water he requested.
“Where’s Kaidoh?” Momoshiro asks, ignoring his question. He props up Echizen’s leg and starts to untie the shirt tied around his ankle.
“I … I thought he was with you,” replies Hazue. “Are you okay, Echizen-san?”
"... As you can see." Ryoma doesn't have the energy to say much more; he feels completely drained, and yes, faint because of the pain, so he rests heavily against the pile of blankets. "... Your brother isn't here?" That isn't good. That isn't good at all. "Momo, go find him. Hazue can look after me. It's okay with you, right?" He turns to the younger Kaidoh; it's still easier to talk to him than with Momoshiro.
“What-no, I can’t just leave you here right now.” But Momoshiro is worried where the hell Kaidoh is. He’s supposed to be finding Hazue, but Hazue is already here.
“You sure you didn’t see him pass you by or something?” asks Momoshiro.
“N-no, I came here about half an hour ago, it was empty,” says Hazue. “Momo-nii-chan … did Kaoru-nii-chan go look for me?”
“Yeah … he still thinks you have a sprained ankle.” The mention of the word ankle makes Momoshiro focus his attention back on Echizen. “Sorry, we don’t really have any meds over here … in fact, they were in our shack, probably buried by now. Shit. I can only clean it and wrap it up.”
Hazue sits down next to Echizen to look over the ankle; it looks really banged up, and it’s bleeding. “I can take care of this. W-why don’t you go look for my brother, please? He’s looking for me … thinking I’m out there with a bad ankle, but it’s Echizen-san who has a bad ankle …”
Momoshiro takes the water bottle and unscrews the cap. He looks with wide eyes at the dirt wound; is that even going to clean off? “But …” But Kaidoh is still out there too. He looks up at Echizen, as if he’s searching for some answers.
Ryoma wants to ask what Momoshiro wants him to say? Why would he prioritize him now, when he's been occupied with Kaidoh for over a month, when he hasn't spoken to Ryoma himself during that extended period of time? Irrationally, he feels almost angry for a moment, but even anger drains away energy he isn't entirely certain he has. His reply becomes the contrary to his initial thoughts for some reason... He smiles. "Go. Or don't you trust Hazue? Trust me, the kid adores me. He'll take good care of me." A beat. "You will, won't you?"
Hazue’s face flashes red. “O-of course I will!”
Momoshiro sighs. “Fine. Hazue, there’s some bandages around here … somewhere … look inside of our backpacks, maybe it’s in there. Clean the wound thoroughly, okay? And don’t come outside, and please don’t …” Let anything else happen to Echizen, but Momoshiro swallows his words. He gives one hard look at Echizen, who is clearly still in pain, and probably on the brink of fainting, before he turns around and runs out of the hut again, a towel slung over his body since he doesn’t have a shirt.
Hazue watches Momoshiro run out, before he takes the bottle of water and looks sympathetically at Echizen. “Uhm, this is going to hurt.” He tips the bottle over and water flushes out, onto the wound.
"It's fine," Ryoma barely has time to croak out, before the water pours into his wounds. Yes, it hurts, all right. He distantly hears a scream, raw and ugly, and he almost absentmindedly have time to register that it comes from himself, before the red and black dots cover just about everything. A quick, uncomfortable wave of nausea and vertigo... And then there's nothing else. His body relaxes as he sinks back against the blankets, momentarily dead to the world.
Hazue throws a little freak-out fit.
Meanwhile, Momoshiro is out in the open weather again, the towel he brought with him instantly soaked in water. His back hurts from being rained upon for so long, and he can feel his heart thump painfully in his chest. He hopes Echizen will be alright, maybe he shouldn’t have left him, maybe he should have sent Hazue to go look for Kaidoh. But Hazue isn’t exactly world’s greatest hero, and he’d probably need saving himself if he went after Kaidoh alone. Is Kaidoh alright? He must have seen that Hazue wasn’t at his place, and went to go look for him further.
So where does Momoshiro start?
Uhh. Uhh.
He running around aimlessly towards Hazue’s hut, hoping an idea will pop in later. A flying twig hits him on his back and Momoshiro hisses in annoyance. Fucking storm. Then another thunderbolt comes crashing down, illuminating the surrounding for a split second. Momoshiro stops running, panting hard to slow his heart down. Come on, think Momoshiro-where would Kaidoh look for Hazue? Where would Hazue go? Obviously he went back to the hut, but if he couldn’t, what would he do?
Seek shelter.
Right. Shelter. Shelter from the rain and thunder underneath the densely popular trees of the jungle.
Momoshiro turns on his heel in the slippery mud, then dashes towards the treeline. He has to find Kaidoh, that stupid idiot will be looking for Hazue until he’s found him. Not to mention the thunder scares the crap out of him.
“Kaidoh!” Momoshiro hollers out, but the rain is so dense, and the thunder is so loud, it simply get drowned out.
Kaidoh had intended to run along the beach looking for his brother, and he'd done a pretty good job of managing to do just that. For about ten minutes. Then a loud and frighteningly close boom of thunder shook him to the core and he froze in his tracks as lightning crackled across the sky. He heard a voice-his own-let out a strangled shriek, which would probably have embarrassed him if he weren't so busy being terrified. He stood there for a moment and then the thunder crashed against his eardrums again. It shouldn't be possible but it sounded like it was getting louder.
It made a switch flip inside of Kaidoh. His self-preservation instinct kicked in and the whole idea of running was immediately scrapped and Kaidoh dashed into the thick jungle forest and ducked under the nearest cover he could find, which happened to be a large, hollowed-out tree trunk right at the edge of the beach. It wasn't big enough to keep him dry, but at least he wasn't out in the open getting the worst of the rain.
So here he is, trapped by fear and hiding out in a tree. Shivering. He's shivering all over actually, but not from the cold-although with the wind, the rain does feel quite chilly. He crouches low, knees hugged to his chest and arms up, trying to block out the sound. But it's just not helping. It's too damn loud.
Momoshiro isn’t really fazed by the loud threatening thunderbolts roaring from above. As long as they don’t get too close, he should be fine. Besides, lightning searching for tall metal thingies, he’s not tall and he’s not made out of metal. That logic was good enough for him, good enough to keep him going without much fear. The only kind of fear he was having right now, was the fear of losing two people he actually cared a lot about. One had a busted ankle, and the other one was god knows where.
He really needed to find Kaidoh.
But the rain is dense, and the storm is loud-even if he calls for Kaidoh’s name, no one would really hear it unless Kaidoh happened to be standing right next to him. And he’s not. Where the hell is Kaidoh? Momoshiro zigs and zags through the trees, feeling slightly less bombarded by rain what with the trees catching most of it. It’s still muddy though, and his shoes are slippery and dirty, and somehow the one lone towel he was carrying had gotten stuck on a low hanging branch and slipped right off his back. Momoshiro will be lucky if he doesn’t catch something from running around topless in a storm.
But it that means he can find Kaidoh, then he’ll take all the fevers in the world.
And Echizen needed to be okay as well.
Fuck. This really sucks.
“Kaidoh!!” Momoshiro calls out again. He stops to rest at a nice large tree to catch his breath, his hand digging into the bark of the trunk. The rain is still going, the thunder is still … well, thundering, and the wind is just being a bitch right now. “Where the hell are you!?”
Kaidoh suddenly hears a new sound rising above the deafening loudness of the storm. It kind of sounds like a voice, but the wind is distorting and swallowing half the words. Kaidoh can only hear his name and then 'hell', and well, that's all he needs to hear to convince him not to say anything back. Because it can't be his brother-he's far too polite for that-and Momoshiro should be back at the hut by now with Echizen. And no one else would be this far down the beach in the middle of the storm. Right?
Maybe Kaidoh is simply hearing things. Maybe he's been out so long the storm is playing tricks on him and has taken on a weird life of its own. And now it's yelling angrily at him from somewhere nearby; the voice sounded close.
Kaidoh doesn't budge from his spot, but his fingers ball into fists against the side of his face, like he's ready to defend himself in case the storm spirit decides to come take a swing at him. Although if it really were a storm spirit, it would probably be able to attack him with lightning or something, and punches aren't really going to be much good then. Kaidoh punches himself in the thigh instead. He's being stupid. It probably isn't anything. Kaidoh must be imagining it.
Momoshiro is unaware of Kaidoh’s inner paranoia, and thinks that he’s still looking for his lost younger brother, like a good older brother should do. So he’s sure he’s still running out there, being brave enough to fight his fear for the sound of thunder, and hopelessly chasing after someone who is already safe and sound back at his hut.
“Kaidoh! Damnit!” Momoshiro passes through a bunch of trees again but stops. He looks up at the tree foliage, the dim sky that was supposed to be sunny, but is covered in ominous clouds. There’s no trace of civilization, much less a trace of an idiot like Kaidoh. Fuck. Momoshiro balls his hand into a fist and punches the tree next to him.
Only it isn't a tree. Sure, Kaidoh may be wet and muddy and crouched in a the dark shadow of a tree trunk, but he isn't a fucking tree.
He doesn't even register a fist is flying towards him until it connects with his shoulder. At least it wasn't right in his face. Suddenly his fear is replaced with annoyance. What the hell, why was someone punching him?
"What the hell?!" Kaidoh growls at the fist, his voice seeming to roar along with the pounding rain. He grabs onto it to shove it away from him and glares out of the tree's hollow and sees a very wet and shirtless figure standing in front of him. Even though he's being drenched in sheets of rain, Kaidoh's able to recognize him. Oh. Wait. What the hell? Why is Momoshiro punching him?
"Asshole!" Kaidoh huffs. And what happened to his shirt?
Momoshiro stumbles backwards a few paces, letting out a squeak from his throat. “K-Kaidoh?” he asks to confirm. He was sure that was a tree, but trees don’t really try to hit him back. So he takes the same steps again, closer to the trunk, and it’s hollowed out-something which he didn’t notice when he was looking up at the sky-and inside is a muddy grumpy monster.
“Kaidoh!” Momoshiro hands shoot out to grab him by the shoulders and yank him out of his hiding place. “Hazue is already back at the hut-apparently he got there right before we left … can’t believe you missed him-and then I went to go find Echizen, but ugh, it was terrible. The shack is … in ruins, it caved in on him, it busted his ankle and he was bleeding all over the place, so I took my shirt off and tied it around his ankle to stop the bleeding, then yanked him up on my back and took him to your hut, where Hazue was waiting for me, and he said he didn’t see you at all, and I was like-how could that be when you were supposed to be finding out where he was and take him back so he’d be safe and dry, but instead-”
Momoshiro pauses.
“Were you hiding?”
Kaidoh shrugs Momoshiro's hands off of him and crosses his arms over his chest, looking back at him grouchily. "No," he lies. "Obviously not. That would be stupid."
“You were.” Deadpan.
"Shut up."
“Fucking idiot.”
Kaidoh glares at him and hisses.
Momoshiro rolls his eyes at him; he can’t believe he was worried over this scaredy cat, who would rather run with his tails between his legs and find the scariest tree in the surroundings to hide in, than to find his brother who might have actually needed his help. Right. He is a fucking idiot. He sighs, a relieved kind of sigh, then flicks his finger against Kaidoh’s forehead.
“Come on, let’s go home.”
Location: Kaidoh's hut, Momo's shack, the beach and the jungle.
Time: September 5
Rating: PG-13 for blood
Summary: The storm makes everyone grow wary, and Momo goes to find Ryoma while Kaidoh goes to find Hazue, to make sure they're safe. Not everyone is.
Wind howls through the cracks of the wood and straw of Kaidoh’s hut, it’s making everything feel so ominous and kind of cold too. It’s raining pretty hard outside at the moment. It had been since last night (thankfully Momoshiro managed to get Kaidoh inside by then), and it simply started to get worst the next day. Momoshiro did some of his daily tasks, but soon gave up after the weather got worse. He’s managed to convince Kaidoh to stay inside, and not go running out into the rain like an idiot. So Kaidoh stays an idiot on the inside, lifting his stupid dumbnuts instead. Momoshiro’s been counting how many times he’s lifted them, in a loud and obnoxious voice, but soon gave up after he hit forty, and Kaidoh was giving him death glares.
“Don’t you think it’s getting worse?” Momoshiro asks. He’s hugging his knees to his chest and leaning against his side of the wall. The rain outside just sounds more like golf balls raining down on them. At least Kaidoh built the hut to be pretty sturdy (and he also secretly helped on it!), so it wasn’t going to come down, and surprisingly there were no leaks in them.
Kaidoh stops what he's doing to listen to the steady downpour outside. "Doesn't sound like it's letting up anyway," he says flatly. It's an understatement; the weather sounds completely miserable. It has Kaidoh a bit on edge. Maybe because he didn't get in his usual run this morning, or the night before. He'd complained a bit yesterday about how he would have been fine still running-it was just a little bit of rain after all and Kaidoh isn't the sort to get easily deterred, but that little bit of rain grew heavier and heavier and within an hour had turned pretty disgusting. And today's even worse. So Kaidoh's stuck inside with Momoshiro, who's already managed to get under his skin and annoy him, but it could be worse.
“Do you hear thunder? I think I hear thunder. Maybe I hear thunder. I don’t know, it’s kind of loud outside. Do you think we’ll be fine in here? What if a lightning bolt shots right through your stupid roof and burns the entire hut down to the ground? What if the wind gets too strong and blows the hut away? Like that wolf from that stupid red riding hood fairytale? I don’t want a wolf to come over and eat me. It’ll be your fault, since you didn’t build a strong enough hut. What if we get washed away if a big tidal wave comes by? We’d be screwed! Or a tornado! Or, or-”
"None of that stuff's going to happen, moron," Kaidoh interjects sharply, cutting Momoshiro off mid-ramble. He gives Momoshiro a pointed look like he thinks he's being paranoid, but Momoshiro's train of thought is always unpredictable like that. Maybe the storm's making him kind of stir crazy too.
Kaidoh hisses. "And what the hell, nothing's going to come and eat you. Stop saying stupid things and find something to keep yourself busy."
Momoshiro crosses his arms, then looks away from Kaidoh. “Well, I know something that we can do that’ll keep us busy.” His cheeks are pink just from the suggestion, but at least Kaidoh can’t see.
Kaidoh blushes too. "Dumbass," he says with a huff and flings his towel across the room at Momoshiro's head.
Right as the towel hits Momoshiro’s head and covers his vision, there’s bright flash, and a loud boom right above them, it crackles and sizzles and echoes into the distance.
“Whoa-that was right above our heads!” Momoshiro says, a bit freaked out. He wonders if they’ll really be save in here. He yanks the towel off from his head and looks at Kaidoh.
… But he’s not where he was standing before. “Kaidoh?” Momoshiro calls for him, whipping his head around to see where he went off to.
Kaidoh is crouched on the ground next to his bed, both hands covering his head like he's practicing for an earthquake drill. He's gone all tense and frozen, a prickle of goosebumps raised down the back of his neck. His shoulders shake a little and then stop and he glances over at Momoshiro and gives him an annoyed scowl. As though it's somehow his fault.
"I was just ..." he starts to say, pulling out of the position and standing up, when another massive boom of thunder ripples through the air outside and Kaidoh drops and pulls himself into a ball on the floor again. "Fuck," he curses. "That's really loud."
It’s almost pathetic the way Kaidoh can be so scared of everything, but right now, Momoshiro doesn’t really feel the need to poke fun at it. The thunder is dangerous, and it’s right above them-it could seriously make an impact and connect with the hut, and then they’d be fried noodles.
“Yeah, it is,” Momoshiro agrees. He looks through the cracks of the entrance, seeing the rain dance around wildly and without direction. He rolls his head back over at Kaidoh, who is making himself as tiny as possible on his bed. Momoshiro almost wants to crawl over and poke him.
“... You okay?” Momoshiro asks instead. He runs his fingers through his short hair and wonders how to comfort someone who’s scared of thunder. Especially someone who’s scared of even his own shadow. Which is kind of funny.
Kaidoh lifts his head and glares at Momoshiro, though not super successfully since it's hard to look angry when his eyes just look like frightened little pin-points. "I'm fine," he protests. He just doesn't like thunder. Thunder is stupid.
“Sure you are … but what about-” Momoshiro swallows his words. “Hey, hey, Hazue-he’s sleeping out there in a hammock, isn’t he?”
Kaidoh sits bolt upright at that and his eyes go wide. Oh. Oh shit.
"He ..." Kaidoh trails off and listens to the rain pound angrily against the roof and blow against the walls of the hut. Hazue doesn't have walls ... Is his roof sturdy enough to withstand this? Is he even under the roof now? Why hadn't Kaidoh gone to check on him? Suddenly Kaidoh's skin feels clammy with worry. He looks toward the entrance of the hut.
"I should ..." he says, his voice sounding very uncertain, "... make sure he's okay." As if to add to Kaidoh's sudden worries, the thunder lets out another cacophonous clap, and Kaidoh's hands instinctively shoot to cover his head and ears once more.
It’s Momoshiro who stands up, and takes out his cellphone from his pants. He quickly punches in Hazue’s number-which the younger boy had given to him a week ago in case anything happened-and puts it against his ear. He’d be lucky getting any sort of signal out in this storm at all, but Momoshiro wants to try out calling first before they’d run out into the storm like headless chickens. He doesn’t even noticed he’s climbed over to Kaidoh’s side of the hut, and he’s sitting down next to him, shoulders pressed up against each other.
The phone doesn’t ring.
“I’m not getting a signal,” says Momoshiro. Now he is starting to worry as well; Hazue can’t just be left alone out there. He stands up after nudging Kaidoh’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go look for him.”
"Yeah," Kaidoh agrees. He gathers himself to his feet and tries to make himself stop shivering. It's just thunder. It's just a bad storm. Much as Kaidoh would be more comfortable staying put in the safety of the hut, he feels his insides tug with responsibility. He has to make sure his brother is all right, stupid fear be damned. Hazue's shelter isn't that far. And he's probably fine. It's probably fine.
Another bright flash blinds them both, followed by a bellowing thunder echoing into the distance-it made the entire hut shake upon impact. Momoshiro clutches the wall, and his eyes turn wide.
“Kaidoh …” he starts slowly. “I didn’t build mine as sturdy as yours.” He looks back at Kaidoh, who looks frightened, and suddenly he feels frightened too. His shack, the one Echizen is supposed to be staying in, what if something happened to him right now? But Hazue is in danger too …
“I need to go check on that brat-I didn’t expect a storm would take over this island, much less that we’d be staying on here for months.” Momoshiro turns to Kaidoh and puts his hands on top of his shoulders. “Look, you’ll be fine. Look for Hazue, he shouldn’t be too far off. Don’t get scared, call me if anything goes wrong-but I gotta get to Echizen. That shack is dangerous to stay in. I’ll bring him back here, okay?”
Kaidoh nods. "I won't get scared," he grumbles, facial expression betraying his words. He's actually terrified of the prospect of going out into the storm, but he's also determined, and with Kaidoh, determination always wins out in the end. And for some reason Momoshiro's encouragement is making him feel a little less worried, like he trusts that he's telling the truth when he says it'll be fine. He looks like he believes it, at least. So Kaidoh wants to believe it too.
"Guess we'll meet back here, then," he says, trying to sound more confident. Whatever. It's just another challenge. It's something he has to do. He can do it. He really hopes Hazue is okay.
“Yeah.” Momoshiro slightly squeezes Kaidoh’s shoulders before he slips them off, and hangs his hands by his side. He turns towards the entrance.
No big deal. Just go out into the storm and thunder and get fried like a fish.
“Just … don’t be stupid,” he warns Kaidoh. “Make yourself small, and run like hell.” He throws his head back at Kaidoh and grins at him. “Aren’t you good at that anyway?”
"Idiot," Kaidoh replies gruffly, which is his way of saying, Yeah, you be careful, too.
Momoshiro dashes out of the entrance, and into the sea of rain. It’s going to be a long run towards his old shack. He hopes Kaidoh will make it through alive. He better be alright, it’d be stupid to get hurt in this storm, especially for Kaidoh.
Momoshiro seems to disappear into the storm within seconds. It's really hard to see much of anything in that rain. But Kaidoh knows the beach well by now, he could probably run its length with his eyes closed. He can certainly find his way to Hazue's shelter. He just hopes he can make it there and back before there's another explosion of thunder and lightning. He can't really control his body's reaction to it, the immediate instinct to freeze and duck for cover wherever possible.
Now is not the time for that. He waits a few moments, trying to steel together all his courage, before taking in a deep breath and running off into the rain. It drenches him immediately, like he's running through a never-ending waterfall. He's endured freezing winter weather and sudden summer showers but he's never tried running through something as extreme as this, and it doesn't help that the sand has turned to mud. But there's nothing to do but keep going. He avoids the shoreline-the waves are angry white-caps-and runs closer to the jungle instead, a different route from the usual, and less direct, but Kaidoh doesn't want to end up in the ocean in the middle of a storm.
It still doesn't take long to reach the place where Hazue had built his hammock-it really isn't far-but Kaidoh still feels drained when he reaches it and takes shelter under the roof. It's still not that dry underneath it. The wind is so strong that it seems to be blowing rain against him from all directions.
Hazue isn't there.
Kaidoh should be relieved; maybe he took shelter elsewhere, like the caves. But Hazue's ankle is still sprained. Could he really get that far? What if he tried and … Kaidoh swallows hard. Don't think things like that. He's probably … Kaidoh tries to fill in the blank with something that will ease his mind, but all he keeps coming back to is the terrifying thought that his brother is stuck out in the storm somewhere, soaked through from wind and rain and unable to find shelter.
Kaidoh's starting to panic a little, but he tries to focus. He knows the beach as well as anyone, better than anyone. He knows where the trees are thickest, knows how long it would take to cover the whole beach on foot. He'll just keep running until he finds his brother. He couldn't have gone far with his ankle in the state it is. Kaidoh doesn't know if he should find that comforting or not. He starts running off into the storm again, his eyes steely with determination and fists swinging at his sides.
Meanwhile, Hazue quickly runs inside of Kaidoh’s hut, dry and fine, and no sprained ankle whatsoever. He’s been holding a piece of plywood above his head to keep himself dry. Once it started getting really bad, he already started making his way over to Kaidoh’s hut to seek shelter.
“Kaoru-nii-chan I-oh, that’s no one here.” Hazue looks around for a bit; it seems Kaidoh and Momoshiro were out for the moment. He wonders if they are okay. But they were adults, and his brother is a very capable guy, of course they’d be fine. Hazue sits on Kaidoh’s bed and throws a blanket over him, waiting patiently for their return.
A bit further on the beach, is a very drenched and very grumpy Momoshiro. He’s been running his way back to his old shack, and he’s already slipped once on the damn muddy beach and fallen face-first into it-so now he looks like a very nice swamp monster. At least Kaidoh can’t see him, he’d probably be scared out of his mind if he comes across Momoshiro likes this. But this is no time to be thinking about funny thing; Echizen could be in danger. And that’s the last thing Momoshiro wants right now.
Thunder is still roaring above him, sounding dangerously close, but this doesn’t deter Momoshiro. He’s focused, albeit dirty from his previous fall, and his vision is clouded by the thick dense rain around him. Will Echizen be okay? He never intended the shack he built to stay upright for a long time. He didn’t think they’d be there for so long, nor did he think a storm would pass by.
How long has he been running? Is he close? Is he half-way there? Is he even going the right way? Momoshiro doesn’t recognize his surroundings anymore; it’s all blocked by the rain and the wind, and all the random dirt and twigs flying in the wind, hitting him with a loud twap against his face. Damnit. Echizen better be alright.
He isn't. Not quite.
As the storm hit, what had annoyed Ryoma the most had been the fact that the storm disturbed his naptimes. Soon enough the roof had started to leak. And gusts of wind had hit the suddenly fragile seeming shack relentlessly, coupled with the thunders that rolled across the skies, like Fujin and Raijin themselves were having one hell of a party. Ryoma hadn't liked the idea of their party, hadn't had any desire to be invited.
And he most definitely didn't like it when that loud lightning and far too soon following thunderclap made the shack shake so much that it actually started to fall apart. "What," he had whined then. "No, no, come on...!" He had been forced to his feet then, trying his best to keep the rickety planks in place, but the storm gods were merciless.
And finally, the inevitable had happened. Blinded by the rain and long, wet hair that had slapped him in the face, Ryoma hadn't been able to see even half a meter in front of him. The ground had been slippery and heavy-wet, wet sand-and then another thunderclap that made him jump... And a strong wind, strong enough to topple him over. And he had fallen to the ground in a rather awkward position, and debris from the ruined shack followed suit, most of it landing on his left ankle.
If you were to ask him later about it, he'd say that he lost consciousness for a moment, given how much water had gathered around his head when he woke up.
No matter, probably, because it doesn't change the fact that he's here right now, locked down by the debris and heavy rain beating down on him. His ankle hurts but it isn't the biggest of his worries. He's very, very wet, water everywhere... And the lightning is frightenly close. Should it hit...
Momoshiro is going as fast as he can, slipping once more and fallen down to his knees, but he quickly picks himself up and runs straight ahead. It’s all he can do, he’s just so worried something has happened, and he’s also worried about Kaidoh and Hazue-what if something happens to them too? He knows he told Kaidoh to call him if something went wrong … but it’s not likely they’ll get a signal in this storm. It’s a stupid thing to say, and Momoshiro feels stupid too.
He’s getting closer to the shack, Momoshiro recognizes a few of the palm tree formations. It’s been a while since he’s been there; he’d been so deadset on avoiding Echizen, he hadn’t seen him in over a month. Talking was also out of the question. It just makes Momoshiro feel more guilty right now, like he has to go see him now, in case something happens … and he could never say sorry.
Which is a frightening thought, but he can’t help but have this anxious feeling tug at the back of his mind. What if …
Momoshiro doesn’t need to think about what ifs, since it’s right in front of him. What used to be his shack, is now a place of nothing but ruins, debris; it’s all in shambles. Momoshiro feels his heart stop beating and his eyes widen in shock.
“E-” he starts, but his voice feels like it’s stuck in his throat. This can’t be true, right? His shack can’t literally have fallen apart … “Echizen!” Momoshiro yells. He starts to run towards the fallen bamboo plates, hastily climbing over some debris and looking all over the place for Echizen.
The wind swallows up most of Momoshiro's voice, but Ryoma in general has good hearing. Good hearing, good eyes... His senses are sharp, and they hone themselves even more during critical moments, and what is this, if not critical? He easily hears him, and opens his mouth to reply... Only to stop himself. He hasn't spoken to Momoshiro for over a month. Why does it have to take something like this for the other man to come see him? Maybe he should simply ignore him. Any stubborn pride is however wiped clean away as another lightning lights up the sky, and Ryoma is certain it probably hit somewhere in the jungle, if the deafening thunder boom that follows immediately after is any indicator. Nearly panicking, Ryoma gasps-and inhales a good deal of water, so he's coughing and spluttering as he tries to form Momoshiro's name. It sounds more like a pathetic squeak than anything.
“Echizen!” Momoshiro rushes over to the coughing man piled underneath some of the fallen walls; he’s been caught in between them, unable to get free. Panic settles inside of Momoshiro’s stomach, and he quickly-frantically really-starts to lift up the rubble and free Echizen from its hold.
“You okay!?” he asks in a loud voice, bending down to Echizen’s body and grabbed his arms so he can half pull him out, and half pull him up.
"Yeah, just we-" He catches himself as pain shoots through his leg and it gives out underneath him so he falls onto Momoshiro with all his weight, face ashen.
Momoshiro wobbles back onto his own feet, catching Echizen against him and keeping him steady. “What’s wrong? Where did you get hurt?” he asks in a worried voice. He’s starting to feel like Oishi again, but what can he do? He already feels bad enough for being so childishly stubborn that he ignored his best friend for over a month, and now his shack had to go and collapse right on top of him. As if some of those thunder gods up there hated him. He scans Echizen’s drenched and dirty body, looking for anything that’s bleeding, or has wood sticking out of it, or something at least.
"I..." Well, most of his body hurts, uncomfortable position and all, but the sharp pain that causes black dots to dance in front of his eyes again, is very easily located. But his mouth dry, he can't really speak. Only makes a small, vague nod downwards.
Momoshiro follows Echizen’s gaze, then he sees it; a thick stream of blood pouring out of Echizen’s ankle, mixing in with the rain water below his feet. Momoshiro’s face pales, he’s immediately reminded of the time on the ship, when the blood pooled underneath Echizen’s head.
Not again. Not again.
“Shit,” Momoshiro curses. He lets go of Echizen’s body to take off his own soaked and dirty t-shirt. He bends down to Echizen’s ankle and quickly starts to wrap the shirt around it to stop the bleeding at least. It looks ghastly, it looks really bad; Momoshiro isn’t a doctor, what should he do? What should he do? Can anyone besides Kaidoh’s hut even be reached in this weather? He feels his fingers shake as he ties a sloppy knot around Echizen’s ankle, he hopes it’ll hold. The rain is crashing down on his back and it’s making him feel numb, seeing all that blood again makes him feel numb. It’s all his fault again.
"Cursing isn't going to help," Ryoma croaks; it's difficult to use his voice, difficult to speak. "Le-let's just get out of here, okay? Where's Hazue? And... Well, you know." Being so close to Momoshiro, no matter the injury, makes it far too difficult for him to take Kaidoh's name into his mouth. Stupid heart, it should have healed already. Stupid, stupid heart. This isn't even the time and place for that. "Uh. … Nice first-aid. Thanks."
“Whatever, let’s get out of this mess. Back to Kaidoh, his hut is alright.” Momoshiro stays crouched down, but turns around so that Echizen can climb on his back. “Come on, get on so we can get the hell out of here.”
Ryoma isn't sure how he manages to climb onto that bony back, and later he'll chalk it up to pure survival instincts, but somehow he makes it and he drapes his arms over Momoshiro's shoulders and locks them with his hands resting somewhere across Momoshiro's heart. His face rests against Momoshiro's neck, and he idly registers that there really isn't much hair in the way. "Hey, you... Look good." Which is a completely mundane thing to say, given the circumstances.
Momoshiro stands upright, arms hooked under Echizen’s legs. He’s a bit confused at what Echizen is saying. Is he really alright …? Or is he trying to make light of the situation. He can never tell what he’s thinking.
“And you look like something caved in on you,” says Momoshiro in a deadpan voice. He starts to walk away from the debris, leaving it behind. He’s not running, but he is walking in a very steady pace, hoping he won’t slip up again what with Echizen on his back. He’s so worried something will happen again, or Echizen’s ankle won’t be able to get cleaned up enough, or maybe it’s already too late and the damage has already been done. The thought is frightening to him.
“Kaidoh’s looking for Hazue right now,” explains Momoshiro. Talking about something else will take his mind off of it. “They should both be there when we return … hopefully. Fucking weather.” He takes one giant step over a slight puddle of rainwater pooled into the sand. He keeps his head down, so he can see where he’s walking, and to keep the rain out of his eyes. Another flash of lightning spirals down out of the sky above them, flickering over the ocean like blood veins.
“Did you get hurt anywhere else?” Momoshiro asks. Like maybe his ribs again …
"Uh-uh. Well..." Ryoma gives a half-hearted shrug. "Just scrapes and bumps. Don't think it's serious, it's just that everything hurts like a fucking bitch. It'll pass."
Momoshiro stays quiet for the longest time, doing nothing but focusing his attention to where he’s putting his feet, and keeping his balance in check, and making sure he’s got a good grip on Echizen so he won’t suddenly fall off. The storm is getting worse, the wind is heavy, the rain is thick and cold and hurts his eyes, but he’s sure Echizen is hurting more. Lots more. He feels pretty much helpless.
They almost slip up when Momoshiro’s foot gets stuck behind a branch lying down on the sand, but luckily he catches himself in time and he keeps marching forwards.
Then, in a small voice, that Momoshiro’s probably been keeping inside of him for months, he says, “Sorry.” The rain swallows up his voice.
At the almost slip-up, of course Ryoma's injured ankle bumps against Momoshiro's body. Of course it hurts so much he's afraid he'll drop his grip and simply fall off the other's back... But stubbornness prevails and Ryoma remains where he is, not a sound escaping him.
And then he thinks he might have fainted again anyway. But you're not supposed to dream when you're unconscious, right? Because he can't have heard that. That has to be a dream. Because what else can it be? The rolling thunder echoes in his ears and maybe it isn't a dream anyway. He doesn't know what to say. He really doesn't know what to say. But his hands tighten around Momo's chest, pressing closer to it. (He's awfully dirty, almost like the Swampthing. It's some sort of comic book monster, Ryoma thinks. Something Nanjiroh used to read to him when he was little, and then he'd never sleep that night. No matter.) "... Mm." Because he has to say something.
After that, nothing else is said between them anymore. Momoshiro is focused on bringing Echizen to safety, it’s the least he can do for acting like such an asshole, and for building such an unsafe shack, and being an asshole enough to let Echizen live in it alone. So he just keeps his head low, Echizen on his back, and trenches through the muddy beach sand.
It’s about ten minutes later of wading through the thick rain and the bellowing thunder in the background, when Momoshiro spots Kaidoh’s hut on the horizon. He speeds up, happy to have found shelter, and happy that the thing is still standing up. He hopes Kaidoh’s found Hazue as well. He runs up the steps from the hut and barges inside.
“Momo-nii-chan!” Hazue squeaks out, startled out of his mind. He scrambles up to come and greet the man, when he notices something else. “Echizen-san?”
Momoshiro blinks for a second, before he rushes to his own bed and bends down through his knees.
“Hazue, give me some dry towels and a bottle of water in that corner over there,” says Momoshiro. He unhooks his arms around Echizen, and slips the man off of his back, so that he’s on the fluffy pile of blankets.
“W-what happened?” Hazue asks as he comes and brings Momoshiro the towels and water he requested.
“Where’s Kaidoh?” Momoshiro asks, ignoring his question. He props up Echizen’s leg and starts to untie the shirt tied around his ankle.
“I … I thought he was with you,” replies Hazue. “Are you okay, Echizen-san?”
"... As you can see." Ryoma doesn't have the energy to say much more; he feels completely drained, and yes, faint because of the pain, so he rests heavily against the pile of blankets. "... Your brother isn't here?" That isn't good. That isn't good at all. "Momo, go find him. Hazue can look after me. It's okay with you, right?" He turns to the younger Kaidoh; it's still easier to talk to him than with Momoshiro.
“What-no, I can’t just leave you here right now.” But Momoshiro is worried where the hell Kaidoh is. He’s supposed to be finding Hazue, but Hazue is already here.
“You sure you didn’t see him pass you by or something?” asks Momoshiro.
“N-no, I came here about half an hour ago, it was empty,” says Hazue. “Momo-nii-chan … did Kaoru-nii-chan go look for me?”
“Yeah … he still thinks you have a sprained ankle.” The mention of the word ankle makes Momoshiro focus his attention back on Echizen. “Sorry, we don’t really have any meds over here … in fact, they were in our shack, probably buried by now. Shit. I can only clean it and wrap it up.”
Hazue sits down next to Echizen to look over the ankle; it looks really banged up, and it’s bleeding. “I can take care of this. W-why don’t you go look for my brother, please? He’s looking for me … thinking I’m out there with a bad ankle, but it’s Echizen-san who has a bad ankle …”
Momoshiro takes the water bottle and unscrews the cap. He looks with wide eyes at the dirt wound; is that even going to clean off? “But …” But Kaidoh is still out there too. He looks up at Echizen, as if he’s searching for some answers.
Ryoma wants to ask what Momoshiro wants him to say? Why would he prioritize him now, when he's been occupied with Kaidoh for over a month, when he hasn't spoken to Ryoma himself during that extended period of time? Irrationally, he feels almost angry for a moment, but even anger drains away energy he isn't entirely certain he has. His reply becomes the contrary to his initial thoughts for some reason... He smiles. "Go. Or don't you trust Hazue? Trust me, the kid adores me. He'll take good care of me." A beat. "You will, won't you?"
Hazue’s face flashes red. “O-of course I will!”
Momoshiro sighs. “Fine. Hazue, there’s some bandages around here … somewhere … look inside of our backpacks, maybe it’s in there. Clean the wound thoroughly, okay? And don’t come outside, and please don’t …” Let anything else happen to Echizen, but Momoshiro swallows his words. He gives one hard look at Echizen, who is clearly still in pain, and probably on the brink of fainting, before he turns around and runs out of the hut again, a towel slung over his body since he doesn’t have a shirt.
Hazue watches Momoshiro run out, before he takes the bottle of water and looks sympathetically at Echizen. “Uhm, this is going to hurt.” He tips the bottle over and water flushes out, onto the wound.
"It's fine," Ryoma barely has time to croak out, before the water pours into his wounds. Yes, it hurts, all right. He distantly hears a scream, raw and ugly, and he almost absentmindedly have time to register that it comes from himself, before the red and black dots cover just about everything. A quick, uncomfortable wave of nausea and vertigo... And then there's nothing else. His body relaxes as he sinks back against the blankets, momentarily dead to the world.
Hazue throws a little freak-out fit.
Meanwhile, Momoshiro is out in the open weather again, the towel he brought with him instantly soaked in water. His back hurts from being rained upon for so long, and he can feel his heart thump painfully in his chest. He hopes Echizen will be alright, maybe he shouldn’t have left him, maybe he should have sent Hazue to go look for Kaidoh. But Hazue isn’t exactly world’s greatest hero, and he’d probably need saving himself if he went after Kaidoh alone. Is Kaidoh alright? He must have seen that Hazue wasn’t at his place, and went to go look for him further.
So where does Momoshiro start?
Uhh. Uhh.
He running around aimlessly towards Hazue’s hut, hoping an idea will pop in later. A flying twig hits him on his back and Momoshiro hisses in annoyance. Fucking storm. Then another thunderbolt comes crashing down, illuminating the surrounding for a split second. Momoshiro stops running, panting hard to slow his heart down. Come on, think Momoshiro-where would Kaidoh look for Hazue? Where would Hazue go? Obviously he went back to the hut, but if he couldn’t, what would he do?
Seek shelter.
Right. Shelter. Shelter from the rain and thunder underneath the densely popular trees of the jungle.
Momoshiro turns on his heel in the slippery mud, then dashes towards the treeline. He has to find Kaidoh, that stupid idiot will be looking for Hazue until he’s found him. Not to mention the thunder scares the crap out of him.
“Kaidoh!” Momoshiro hollers out, but the rain is so dense, and the thunder is so loud, it simply get drowned out.
Kaidoh had intended to run along the beach looking for his brother, and he'd done a pretty good job of managing to do just that. For about ten minutes. Then a loud and frighteningly close boom of thunder shook him to the core and he froze in his tracks as lightning crackled across the sky. He heard a voice-his own-let out a strangled shriek, which would probably have embarrassed him if he weren't so busy being terrified. He stood there for a moment and then the thunder crashed against his eardrums again. It shouldn't be possible but it sounded like it was getting louder.
It made a switch flip inside of Kaidoh. His self-preservation instinct kicked in and the whole idea of running was immediately scrapped and Kaidoh dashed into the thick jungle forest and ducked under the nearest cover he could find, which happened to be a large, hollowed-out tree trunk right at the edge of the beach. It wasn't big enough to keep him dry, but at least he wasn't out in the open getting the worst of the rain.
So here he is, trapped by fear and hiding out in a tree. Shivering. He's shivering all over actually, but not from the cold-although with the wind, the rain does feel quite chilly. He crouches low, knees hugged to his chest and arms up, trying to block out the sound. But it's just not helping. It's too damn loud.
Momoshiro isn’t really fazed by the loud threatening thunderbolts roaring from above. As long as they don’t get too close, he should be fine. Besides, lightning searching for tall metal thingies, he’s not tall and he’s not made out of metal. That logic was good enough for him, good enough to keep him going without much fear. The only kind of fear he was having right now, was the fear of losing two people he actually cared a lot about. One had a busted ankle, and the other one was god knows where.
He really needed to find Kaidoh.
But the rain is dense, and the storm is loud-even if he calls for Kaidoh’s name, no one would really hear it unless Kaidoh happened to be standing right next to him. And he’s not. Where the hell is Kaidoh? Momoshiro zigs and zags through the trees, feeling slightly less bombarded by rain what with the trees catching most of it. It’s still muddy though, and his shoes are slippery and dirty, and somehow the one lone towel he was carrying had gotten stuck on a low hanging branch and slipped right off his back. Momoshiro will be lucky if he doesn’t catch something from running around topless in a storm.
But it that means he can find Kaidoh, then he’ll take all the fevers in the world.
And Echizen needed to be okay as well.
Fuck. This really sucks.
“Kaidoh!!” Momoshiro calls out again. He stops to rest at a nice large tree to catch his breath, his hand digging into the bark of the trunk. The rain is still going, the thunder is still … well, thundering, and the wind is just being a bitch right now. “Where the hell are you!?”
Kaidoh suddenly hears a new sound rising above the deafening loudness of the storm. It kind of sounds like a voice, but the wind is distorting and swallowing half the words. Kaidoh can only hear his name and then 'hell', and well, that's all he needs to hear to convince him not to say anything back. Because it can't be his brother-he's far too polite for that-and Momoshiro should be back at the hut by now with Echizen. And no one else would be this far down the beach in the middle of the storm. Right?
Maybe Kaidoh is simply hearing things. Maybe he's been out so long the storm is playing tricks on him and has taken on a weird life of its own. And now it's yelling angrily at him from somewhere nearby; the voice sounded close.
Kaidoh doesn't budge from his spot, but his fingers ball into fists against the side of his face, like he's ready to defend himself in case the storm spirit decides to come take a swing at him. Although if it really were a storm spirit, it would probably be able to attack him with lightning or something, and punches aren't really going to be much good then. Kaidoh punches himself in the thigh instead. He's being stupid. It probably isn't anything. Kaidoh must be imagining it.
Momoshiro is unaware of Kaidoh’s inner paranoia, and thinks that he’s still looking for his lost younger brother, like a good older brother should do. So he’s sure he’s still running out there, being brave enough to fight his fear for the sound of thunder, and hopelessly chasing after someone who is already safe and sound back at his hut.
“Kaidoh! Damnit!” Momoshiro passes through a bunch of trees again but stops. He looks up at the tree foliage, the dim sky that was supposed to be sunny, but is covered in ominous clouds. There’s no trace of civilization, much less a trace of an idiot like Kaidoh. Fuck. Momoshiro balls his hand into a fist and punches the tree next to him.
Only it isn't a tree. Sure, Kaidoh may be wet and muddy and crouched in a the dark shadow of a tree trunk, but he isn't a fucking tree.
He doesn't even register a fist is flying towards him until it connects with his shoulder. At least it wasn't right in his face. Suddenly his fear is replaced with annoyance. What the hell, why was someone punching him?
"What the hell?!" Kaidoh growls at the fist, his voice seeming to roar along with the pounding rain. He grabs onto it to shove it away from him and glares out of the tree's hollow and sees a very wet and shirtless figure standing in front of him. Even though he's being drenched in sheets of rain, Kaidoh's able to recognize him. Oh. Wait. What the hell? Why is Momoshiro punching him?
"Asshole!" Kaidoh huffs. And what happened to his shirt?
Momoshiro stumbles backwards a few paces, letting out a squeak from his throat. “K-Kaidoh?” he asks to confirm. He was sure that was a tree, but trees don’t really try to hit him back. So he takes the same steps again, closer to the trunk, and it’s hollowed out-something which he didn’t notice when he was looking up at the sky-and inside is a muddy grumpy monster.
“Kaidoh!” Momoshiro hands shoot out to grab him by the shoulders and yank him out of his hiding place. “Hazue is already back at the hut-apparently he got there right before we left … can’t believe you missed him-and then I went to go find Echizen, but ugh, it was terrible. The shack is … in ruins, it caved in on him, it busted his ankle and he was bleeding all over the place, so I took my shirt off and tied it around his ankle to stop the bleeding, then yanked him up on my back and took him to your hut, where Hazue was waiting for me, and he said he didn’t see you at all, and I was like-how could that be when you were supposed to be finding out where he was and take him back so he’d be safe and dry, but instead-”
Momoshiro pauses.
“Were you hiding?”
Kaidoh shrugs Momoshiro's hands off of him and crosses his arms over his chest, looking back at him grouchily. "No," he lies. "Obviously not. That would be stupid."
“You were.” Deadpan.
"Shut up."
“Fucking idiot.”
Kaidoh glares at him and hisses.
Momoshiro rolls his eyes at him; he can’t believe he was worried over this scaredy cat, who would rather run with his tails between his legs and find the scariest tree in the surroundings to hide in, than to find his brother who might have actually needed his help. Right. He is a fucking idiot. He sighs, a relieved kind of sigh, then flicks his finger against Kaidoh’s forehead.
“Come on, let’s go home.”