[The grin drops from his face as if Scuti punched it off him, leaving him looking up at her wide-eyed and undefended, almost stricken.]

...Senpai...

[The word leaves his mouth like a breath--or a prayer. Something hushed, unsure; something he didn't mean to voice, but it got out there anyway, raw to the elements. His throat's gone completely dry. Shu stares at her, this anguished, kneeling figure beside him, the one stable thing not spinning through his pounding head.

Then, with a bitten-off grunt, he pushes himself up one elbow, curls his other arm around her, and brings her head down to his collarbone. There, she can feel him breathe, can feel the warmth of him through his wet uniform shirt. There, maybe, she can hear his still-careening heartbeat.]

You did. You saved me, Scuti.

[There, she might notice the way he's trembling, but he's here. He's alive.]

It--does hurt. [He admits it with half--no, maybe an eighth of a laugh, a hitch of breath across her hair. ] But it's okay. I'll be okay. I would've--'ve been a goner without you, so don't look at me like that, okay?

[He swallows, his supporting arm shaking, but he doesn't want to let go.]

You saved me. [He says it again, trying to make it sink in.] Thank you.