[ Perseus's flinch passes through her as if it'd been her own and Scuti grits her teeth in turn, her hands twisting on the handle of the shield so tight her skin tingles. It's wide and heavy enough that her movements should be sluggish, but when the kaiju begin their attack, Scuti wields it with a confidence that makes it seem half as heavy – less than, even.
She swings the shield around just in time to catch the full brunt of the javelins' impact. Her arms buckle briefly under the force and she has to lock her legs into place to keep from staggering back. But with a huge cry of exertion, she manages to follow through with the swing, sending the piercing rock sailing back through the air and towards their attackers. ]
[The returned fire takes two small fry out in an instant, crushing them with their own stone. It knocks another out of orbit, sending it spiraling crazily down on the single rotor-like wing still functioning. That leaves two small monsters unharmed and a heckton of rock shrapnel volleying down from the collision.
Eyes still closed, Perseus cuts one of his arms sharply through the air. A shockwave of wind intercepts the shrapnel and then explodes, still high above the street. What's left of the fragmented javelins after Scuti's rebuff breaks down further into gravel and dust. Pulverized. Perseus's invisible air mines also catch the edge of one of the remaining whirring rock things and it plummets, at least temporarily disabled. That leaves one little floater and the big guy, which bellows and lowers its big, goat-like head towards the Sentinels, scraping at the ground with its hooves.
Down, down, beneath the streets, where the kaiju's lower half disappears from view, groundwater slowly trickles upward, pulling against gravity. It draws from the river and water mains alike to finish composing the brand new, still-forming kaiju Capricorn.
And Perseus still can't place what he's hearing--the faint, liquid echoes coming from somewhere. Before he can, the one remaining minion tilts forward and divebombs them, flinging its entire stone body at them with force.]
[ Even through the noise and the chaos, Scuti doesn't really feel fear anymore – fights like this have gotten almost routine now and for all that she's groused about Perseus tagging along, he's a capable ally. If she truly has to have one.
She peeks out from behind her sheild, eyes narrowed and gives a small tch when she realizes there's still small fry to deal with. Every moment they're forced to play around with the smaller kaiju is another second the city and the people in it are in danger. It's times like this she almost resents her shield – she's certain she could do more if she had a more direct method of attack.
Not that it stops her from following along with Perseus' warning and swinging it up to catch the attack before it can hit either of the Sentinels. The noise of stone scraping against her shield makes Scuti grit her teeth, but if it's just one minion, she's sure she can manage it. ]
[Perseus's eyes fly open. He drops his arms, lowers his center of gravity, and then dashes around Scuti and her shield like an eddying wind through canyon walls, like nothing stands in his way. Air rushes beneath him, becoming a cushion beneath his feet, and he leaps.
Up, up, high above the tableau of Sentinel, shield, and stone monster, Perseus reaches the peak of his jump and hangs suspended for a moment, silhouetted against the sinking sun. Then, as momentum swings the other way, he grins, turns headfirst into his plummeting descent, and enacts his own version of Yuki-chan's--Sentinel Pegasus's--signature move.
He flips and brings his heel down in a devastating axe kick, driving a diagonal spike of air pressure into the remaining minion, knocking it away and down and into crushed-rock oblivion.]
All right!
[It wasn't as powerful as Pegasus's leg spike would have been, but Perseus's versatility knows almost no bounds. Air catches him up like a beloved child and he touches down lightly, in front of and to one side of Scuti.]
[ It happens almost too fast for Scuti to follow – one moment, Perseus is behind her shield and the next he's a blur in the sky, already spiking down even in the moment that she registers that he's in the air. In the moments it takes him to come back down, Scuti thrusts up her shield as hard as she can and sends the minion spinning back into Perseus's attack.
She doesn't even wait for it to be dashed against the ground before she heaves her shield up, readying herself to swing it around and take any surprise blows that might come their way. ]
Yes, yes, I saw. [ She sounds a little harried, but it doesn't seem like she's being purposely dismissive for once. ] ... I'm impressed you could pull that off as well as you did.
[Delight suffuses, charges every fiber of him. It’s so bright and fills him so completely, he doesn’t even have space to feel afraid as sound shifts—as the ground shifts—as the battle’s second act rises under Sentinel Scuti’s feet.]
Scuti, watch out!
[Without a thought, he sends the wind that caught him so lovingly all to Scuti’s defense, wrapping her in a sphere of whirling air that deflects the massive jet of water that punches through the earth beneath her, air that cradles her even as the force of the eruption sends her—and chunks of street and stone—flying. She escapes it all unscathed.
Perseus isn’t so lucky. The blast catches him, unarmed and functionally naked, and throws him into the side of a construction vehicle.]
Ugh…!
[His body drops into a rising stream of water, which then continues to rise, shifting and forming a thick coil of tail. The goat half of the main kaiju raises itself on its two legs and bleats; the pillar of water that makes up its back half solidifies into a finned, serpentine tail twisted around Sentinel Perseus’s dangling form, like a baby with a rattle.]
[ It feels like it happens in the space between one blink and another. One moment, Perseus is in front of her, beaming with delight so bright she almost wants to shield her eyes against it. The next, she's cushioned by warm air that smells like evening sunshine. Chaos erupts around her and passes her by, untouched and unharmed.
The same can't be said for Perseus. She loses sight of him for a heart-stopping moment and then when she can pick out his prone form again, it's too late. She has a vivid image of bait, suddenly, dangled from a hook and though she knows it's wisest not to bite–
How could she do anything but? ]
Perseus–
[ Her mind reels. What can she do? All she has is her shield and though she's fought kaiju like this by herself before, it's never been with someone already in its clutches. She needs to hang back and make a plan, assess the risks and take a carefully planned course of action.
So of course, she does none of that. Scuti snatches up her shield and charges forward, not considering the risks, not considering the damages and not even sure why her heart is in her throat. All she knows is that she needs to do something to save Perseus. ]
[Predictably, kaiju Capricorn bares its flat goat teeth at Scuti and bleats its defiance towards her. Now fully formed, it beats its two hooves on the ground and starts to push itself--
Backwards. Away from Scuti. Towards the river, where it can swim. Its tail lashes with the effort, urging it on.
Perseus hangs in the thrashing loop of the kaiju's tail, stunned. Stars bloom and throb in ugly colors across his vision. It's hard to breathe. Still, he can hear Scuti call out after him.
That's what makes him kick weakly at it, what makes him lift his head despite a wave of sickness and try to answer her.]
Se...npai...
[He's alive. If he survives this, he'll probably be all right. But if he's dragged into the water in this condition, even Sentinel Perseus, blessed as he is by air, will drown.
Flailing, a hoof strikes a glancing blow against an abandoned crane, causing the heavy load it still holds suspended above to sway slightly, perilously. The kaiju has managed to turn itself around and over so it faces the river. The crane's load hangs right over its head--like a guillotine.]
[ As a Sentinel, Scuti isn't really made for speed – she's supposed to be steadfast and strong but now, she's tearing after the kaiju as fast as she's ever moved, feet pounding against the ground with each step so hard the impact rings through her with an ache. Even then, she knows she won't make it in time. A horrible cold dread fills her stomach, overflows until she's brimming with it from head to toe. She can't just do nothing, but– but what can she do?
Her eyes flit around frantically and it's only when the equally frantic motion of the kaiju's kicking hooves upsets it that she notices the crane. She watches it sway precariously and in the few seconds it takes to start swinging back towards the kaiju it all the time she needs to decide what to do.
She skids to a halt and steadies herself as best she can even with her whole body still burning with nerves. She doesn't trust herself to get this right if she gives herself time to overthink it and so she winds back and with all the strength she has left in her arms, sends her shield cutting through the air towards the crane.
It cuts through the bindings holding the load aloft and then collides with the crane itself, shattering away into fine dust that fades into nothing. That's all it needs to do – the momentum of the throw and the force of the strike sends the crane's load soaring down onto the kaiju's head. ]
The kaiju's cry of surprise and pain comes to an abrupt, crunch-squelching stop as the load crashes down on its skull. In an instant, the monster breaks apart, front half crumbling into earth and tail splashing open like a water balloon, spraying everywhere. Perseus lands with a splat and is Shu Amiguchi once more, muddied, drenched, and coughing weakly.
The glamorous life of a mahou. He's beauty, he's grace, but he's alive, there on the bank of the river as Sumire Bridge arcs high above.]
[ She only waits for the half a second it takes to confirm for sure that the kaiju's dead before she goes pelting after Perseus – Amiguchi – again. She doesn't bother taking the long way down to the river bank, instead just dropping herself right off the side of the bridge and landing in cold, wet mud. She slips and staggers all the way up the bank, looking like she might topple over any minute and then when she reaches his side, Scuti goes down onto her knees in the sodden earth anyway. Her dusk colours end up dull and dirty with mud but for now, her attention is all on him. ]
Amiguchi! [ For once, there's no irritation or admonishment to her tone. Just raw panic and sincere concern. ] Are you– you're not–?!
[ She's almost afraid to say it, as if voicing all the ways he could be hurt might suddenly make them real. ]
[His name pierces right through his pain and the roaring, pounding pulse in his ears. His name, shouted like that, in Scuti’s voice—no matter what, Shu would hear it. Even if he were deaf. Even if he were dead, probably. As she scrambles towards him, he stirs in her direction, drawing up one leg and biting back a groan. His skull throbs, throwing red and black across the inside of his eyelids. Shu carefully covers the place where his head cracked against something, keeps his other arm wrapped around his ribs, and wheezes out:]
I’m—I’m okay…
[The mud sticks gritty and clammy against his cheek. It still hurts to breathe. Hurt to move, too, so Shu stays where he is, opening only one eye to confirm Scuti’s presence at his side. Thank goodness. From what he can make out, she seems all right.]
[ It only takes him a moment to respond but even that beat of silence makes cold panic root itself inside her and her mind goes reeling with helplessness all over again. She wouldn't be able to do much of anything to heal him if he's truly hurt, she's never been any good at that.
Once he cracks his eye open and looks at her, Scuti feels her whole body just sag. She's not even sure if she can call it relief yet, not when he's clearly so hurt but... he's alive. That's a good start. ]
It's dead. [ said with a little savage satisfaction. ] I killed it, but... you still ended up like this...
[Hey now, that's no good. Despite his ouches and booboos, Shu forces both eyes open and a grin onto his face.]
Whoa there, S--Senpai. [If he doesn't breathe too deeply, it doesn't hurt as much, but it breaks his speech patterns into choppy half-phrases. Nevertheless, Shu cheerfully perseveres.] When you say it--like that, it sounds. Sounds like I didn't make it.
[He brings his hand away from pounding skull, then proudly shows Scuti his palm. Look, Ma, no blood.]
I'll have a bump and--some bruised ribs. Had worse--fighting Wajima in middle school.
[ A tight knot of something hot and bitter tangles itself into being in her throat. She doesn't even know what sort of feeling to call it – it's part worry, part frustration and all adrenaline still buzzing through her with nowhere to go. And it means that her voice is sharper, more pointed than she means it to be when her words come bursting out of her. ]
Will you stop treating this like a joke?! What part of this is funny to you?! Just because you're pretending you're not hurt doesn't mean it didn't happen–
[ She drags her hands up her face, scraping her sodden bangs back from her eyes. Like that, her expression is frighteningly easy to read. ]
– And what would I have done if it was worse?! What if I hadn't been able to save you?!
[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.
[ Her instinct is (or rather, would be, if she had the energy to do it) to reel away without letting him touch her. She's skittish at the best of times and now she's so full of frustration with nowhere for it to go that letting it burst out at Amiguchi seems like the only viable outlet for it.
But the soft, pained tone of his voice and the carefulness of his touch – as if she's the one who needs to be treated like a fragile, wounded thing and not him – makes all of it go cold and dead in her throat.
This isn't Amiguchi's fault. This isn't something she should be blaming on him, but her skin is still prickling with alarm and it's luck, pure luck that this didn't end in disaster.
This close, it's impossible to miss that Scuti is shaking too. ]
Don't do that again. Don't– don't make me think it's going to be the end of you again.
[ She can't ask him to promise that, of course not, but she can't stop herself asking. For all that she complains and makes a show of her disdain – where would she be without Shu Amiguchi? What would she do if something happened? Go back to hunting kaiju by herself again?
[Not one note of doubt sounds in his voice. It's not bravado, but conviction. Shu Amiguchi can do anything a girl in trouble asks of him, and Sentinel Scuti, their unshakable shield, is trembling against his arm like crystal after a quake. If immortality's what it'll take to set her at ease again, then he'll just have to become invincible. Simple.
There's a reason he becomes Sentinel Perseus--the Hero. He fills his lungs with as much of the air that loves him as his bruised (he hopes they're just bruised) ribs can take.]
It's okay. [It bears repeating when Scuti's this distraught.] I'm not going anywhere.
[...And then he can't hide the wince anymore.]
Except... maybe to the infirmary...?
[Ms. Morimura's going to be Disappointed in him. :( ]
[ It takes Scuti a moment longer than she'd like to compose herself. Even with his reassurance, she can't quite shake loose the conviction that if she relaxes for even a second then it'll be the end of both of them. But the night air is quiet and the rushing of the river remains undisturbed and when she focuses on that and the warm weight of Amiguchi propping her up, she can start to believe they might be alright.
Eventually she sits back from him and rubs her face, trying to encourage her usually tightly controlled calm back into place. She doesn't quite manage it, but she looks less frantic than before, less panicked. ]
Can you stand on your own? I can help if you can't manage it.
[ Ryoko Shinonome would probably buckle under the weight, but while she's Sentinel Scuti, this sort of thing should be easy. ]
[It takes some trial and error to find a comfortable way to his feet, but he manages to stagger upright without assistance. It's only once he's up that he wobbles, holding his head as though it'll fall off if he doesn't. It's a familiar tableau between the two of them, isn't it? But, oh, how the turn tables.]
Ugh... I must've had a harder head in middle school. I don't know how Ogata and Yuki-chan can keep it up.
[His skull and ribcage hurt like crazy and he feels almost structurally unsound--like a late-game Jenga tower two bricks short of toppling. It's embarrassing how weak that makes Shu feel, in front of Scuti.]
[ Scuti slowly rises to her feet as well, half expecting to have to reach out and catch him at any moment. If the breeze that loves him so much comes rushing by just a bit too hard she's fairly sure it'll take him clean off his feet. It's... a little bizarre to feel like the steadier of the two for once. ]
I don't think you're fit to make it back up to the bridge let alone all the way back to school.
[ She shifts her weight from one foot to the other, already regretting the offer she's about to make, but... there's really no other way to get him to Morimura. ]
[It'll still take forever for them to limp back with her supporting him. If he's being honest with himself, though, she's right. He's not gonna make it twenty feet from here. Damn, maybe he ought to just send her on ahead and call himself an ambulance. Not like his dad will notice he's not home either way.]
[ The realization of what she's going to have to say lands a few moments before she actually opens her mouth to say it. She lets herself frantically try and come up with any other option, even as she resigns herself to the embarassment that's about to follow, but... they really don't have any other choice if it's a matter of getting him seen to in a timely fashion.
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no subject
She swings the shield around just in time to catch the full brunt of the javelins' impact. Her arms buckle briefly under the force and she has to lock her legs into place to keep from staggering back. But with a huge cry of exertion, she manages to follow through with the swing, sending the piercing rock sailing back through the air and towards their attackers. ]
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[The returned fire takes two small fry out in an instant, crushing them with their own stone. It knocks another out of orbit, sending it spiraling crazily down on the single rotor-like wing still functioning. That leaves two small monsters unharmed and a heckton of rock shrapnel volleying down from the collision.
Eyes still closed, Perseus cuts one of his arms sharply through the air. A shockwave of wind intercepts the shrapnel and then explodes, still high above the street. What's left of the fragmented javelins after Scuti's rebuff breaks down further into gravel and dust. Pulverized. Perseus's invisible air mines also catch the edge of one of the remaining whirring rock things and it plummets, at least temporarily disabled. That leaves one little floater and the big guy, which bellows and lowers its big, goat-like head towards the Sentinels, scraping at the ground with its hooves.
Down, down, beneath the streets, where the kaiju's lower half disappears from view, groundwater slowly trickles upward, pulling against gravity. It draws from the river and water mains alike to finish composing the brand new, still-forming kaiju Capricorn.
And Perseus still can't place what he's hearing--the faint, liquid echoes coming from somewhere. Before he can, the one remaining minion tilts forward and divebombs them, flinging its entire stone body at them with force.]
Above!
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She peeks out from behind her sheild, eyes narrowed and gives a small tch when she realizes there's still small fry to deal with. Every moment they're forced to play around with the smaller kaiju is another second the city and the people in it are in danger. It's times like this she almost resents her shield – she's certain she could do more if she had a more direct method of attack.
Not that it stops her from following along with Perseus' warning and swinging it up to catch the attack before it can hit either of the Sentinels. The noise of stone scraping against her shield makes Scuti grit her teeth, but if it's just one minion, she's sure she can manage it. ]
Destroy it, then we can focus on the leader!
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[Perseus's eyes fly open. He drops his arms, lowers his center of gravity, and then dashes around Scuti and her shield like an eddying wind through canyon walls, like nothing stands in his way. Air rushes beneath him, becoming a cushion beneath his feet, and he leaps.
Up, up, high above the tableau of Sentinel, shield, and stone monster, Perseus reaches the peak of his jump and hangs suspended for a moment, silhouetted against the sinking sun. Then, as momentum swings the other way, he grins, turns headfirst into his plummeting descent, and enacts his own version of Yuki-chan's--Sentinel Pegasus's--signature move.
He flips and brings his heel down in a devastating axe kick, driving a diagonal spike of air pressure into the remaining minion, knocking it away and down and into crushed-rock oblivion.]
All right!
[It wasn't as powerful as Pegasus's leg spike would have been, but Perseus's versatility knows almost no bounds. Air catches him up like a beloved child and he touches down lightly, in front of and to one side of Scuti.]
Did you see that? How cool was that?
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She doesn't even wait for it to be dashed against the ground before she heaves her shield up, readying herself to swing it around and take any surprise blows that might come their way. ]
Yes, yes, I saw. [ She sounds a little harried, but it doesn't seem like she's being purposely dismissive for once. ] ... I'm impressed you could pull that off as well as you did.
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Scuti, watch out!
[Without a thought, he sends the wind that caught him so lovingly all to Scuti’s defense, wrapping her in a sphere of whirling air that deflects the massive jet of water that punches through the earth beneath her, air that cradles her even as the force of the eruption sends her—and chunks of street and stone—flying. She escapes it all unscathed.
Perseus isn’t so lucky. The blast catches him, unarmed and functionally naked, and throws him into the side of a construction vehicle.]
Ugh…!
[His body drops into a rising stream of water, which then continues to rise, shifting and forming a thick coil of tail. The goat half of the main kaiju raises itself on its two legs and bleats; the pillar of water that makes up its back half solidifies into a finned, serpentine tail twisted around Sentinel Perseus’s dangling form, like a baby with a rattle.]
no subject
The same can't be said for Perseus. She loses sight of him for a heart-stopping moment and then when she can pick out his prone form again, it's too late. She has a vivid image of bait, suddenly, dangled from a hook and though she knows it's wisest not to bite–
How could she do anything but? ]
Perseus–
[ Her mind reels. What can she do? All she has is her shield and though she's fought kaiju like this by herself before, it's never been with someone already in its clutches. She needs to hang back and make a plan, assess the risks and take a carefully planned course of action.
So of course, she does none of that. Scuti snatches up her shield and charges forward, not considering the risks, not considering the damages and not even sure why her heart is in her throat. All she knows is that she needs to do something to save Perseus. ]
Let him go!
no subject
Backwards. Away from Scuti. Towards the river, where it can swim. Its tail lashes with the effort, urging it on.
Perseus hangs in the thrashing loop of the kaiju's tail, stunned. Stars bloom and throb in ugly colors across his vision. It's hard to breathe. Still, he can hear Scuti call out after him.
That's what makes him kick weakly at it, what makes him lift his head despite a wave of sickness and try to answer her.]
Se...npai...
[He's alive. If he survives this, he'll probably be all right. But if he's dragged into the water in this condition, even Sentinel Perseus, blessed as he is by air, will drown.
Flailing, a hoof strikes a glancing blow against an abandoned crane, causing the heavy load it still holds suspended above to sway slightly, perilously. The kaiju has managed to turn itself around and over so it faces the river. The crane's load hangs right over its head--like a guillotine.]
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Her eyes flit around frantically and it's only when the equally frantic motion of the kaiju's kicking hooves upsets it that she notices the crane. She watches it sway precariously and in the few seconds it takes to start swinging back towards the kaiju it all the time she needs to decide what to do.
She skids to a halt and steadies herself as best she can even with her whole body still burning with nerves. She doesn't trust herself to get this right if she gives herself time to overthink it and so she winds back and with all the strength she has left in her arms, sends her shield cutting through the air towards the crane.
It cuts through the bindings holding the load aloft and then collides with the crane itself, shattering away into fine dust that fades into nothing. That's all it needs to do – the momentum of the throw and the force of the strike sends the crane's load soaring down onto the kaiju's head. ]
no subject
The kaiju's cry of surprise and pain comes to an abrupt, crunch-squelching stop as the load crashes down on its skull. In an instant, the monster breaks apart, front half crumbling into earth and tail splashing open like a water balloon, spraying everywhere. Perseus lands with a splat and is Shu Amiguchi once more, muddied, drenched, and coughing weakly.
The glamorous life of a mahou. He's beauty, he's grace, but he's alive, there on the bank of the river as Sumire Bridge arcs high above.]
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Amiguchi! [ For once, there's no irritation or admonishment to her tone. Just raw panic and sincere concern. ] Are you– you're not–?!
[ She's almost afraid to say it, as if voicing all the ways he could be hurt might suddenly make them real. ]
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I’m—I’m okay…
[The mud sticks gritty and clammy against his cheek. It still hurts to breathe. Hurt to move, too, so Shu stays where he is, opening only one eye to confirm Scuti’s presence at his side. Thank goodness. From what he can make out, she seems all right.]
A…and you? Did you get it?
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Once he cracks his eye open and looks at her, Scuti feels her whole body just sag. She's not even sure if she can call it relief yet, not when he's clearly so hurt but... he's alive. That's a good start. ]
It's dead. [ said with a little savage satisfaction. ] I killed it, but... you still ended up like this...
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Whoa there, S--Senpai. [If he doesn't breathe too deeply, it doesn't hurt as much, but it breaks his speech patterns into choppy half-phrases. Nevertheless, Shu cheerfully perseveres.] When you say it--like that, it sounds. Sounds like I didn't make it.
[He brings his hand away from pounding skull, then proudly shows Scuti his palm. Look, Ma, no blood.]
I'll have a bump and--some bruised ribs. Had worse--fighting Wajima in middle school.
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Will you stop treating this like a joke?! What part of this is funny to you?! Just because you're pretending you're not hurt doesn't mean it didn't happen–
[ She drags her hands up her face, scraping her sodden bangs back from her eyes. Like that, her expression is frighteningly easy to read. ]
– And what would I have done if it was worse?! What if I hadn't been able to save you?!
no subject
...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.
no subject
But the soft, pained tone of his voice and the carefulness of his touch – as if she's the one who needs to be treated like a fragile, wounded thing and not him – makes all of it go cold and dead in her throat.
This isn't Amiguchi's fault. This isn't something she should be blaming on him, but her skin is still prickling with alarm and it's luck, pure luck that this didn't end in disaster.
This close, it's impossible to miss that Scuti is shaking too. ]
Don't do that again. Don't– don't make me think it's going to be the end of you again.
[ She can't ask him to promise that, of course not, but she can't stop herself asking. For all that she complains and makes a show of her disdain – where would she be without Shu Amiguchi? What would she do if something happened? Go back to hunting kaiju by herself again?
Could she even do that anymore? ]
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I won't. I promise.
[Not one note of doubt sounds in his voice. It's not bravado, but conviction. Shu Amiguchi can do anything a girl in trouble asks of him, and Sentinel Scuti, their unshakable shield, is trembling against his arm like crystal after a quake. If immortality's what it'll take to set her at ease again, then he'll just have to become invincible. Simple.
There's a reason he becomes Sentinel Perseus--the Hero. He fills his lungs with as much of the air that loves him as his bruised (he hopes they're just bruised) ribs can take.]
It's okay. [It bears repeating when Scuti's this distraught.] I'm not going anywhere.
[...And then he can't hide the wince anymore.]
Except... maybe to the infirmary...?
[Ms. Morimura's going to be Disappointed in him. :( ]
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Eventually she sits back from him and rubs her face, trying to encourage her usually tightly controlled calm back into place. She doesn't quite manage it, but she looks less frantic than before, less panicked. ]
Can you stand on your own? I can help if you can't manage it.
[ Ryoko Shinonome would probably buckle under the weight, but while she's Sentinel Scuti, this sort of thing should be easy. ]
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Uh, yeah. One sec.
[It takes some trial and error to find a comfortable way to his feet, but he manages to stagger upright without assistance. It's only once he's up that he wobbles, holding his head as though it'll fall off if he doesn't. It's a familiar tableau between the two of them, isn't it? But, oh, how the turn tables.]
Ugh... I must've had a harder head in middle school. I don't know how Ogata and Yuki-chan can keep it up.
[His skull and ribcage hurt like crazy and he feels almost structurally unsound--like a late-game Jenga tower two bricks short of toppling. It's embarrassing how weak that makes Shu feel, in front of Scuti.]
Damn. Gonna be a long walk back to school...
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I don't think you're fit to make it back up to the bridge let alone all the way back to school.
[ She shifts her weight from one foot to the other, already regretting the offer she's about to make, but... there's really no other way to get him to Morimura. ]
Do you need me to help?
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What, like... Are you offering me your shoulder?
[It'll still take forever for them to limp back with her supporting him. If he's being honest with himself, though, she's right. He's not gonna make it twenty feet from here. Damn, maybe he ought to just send her on ahead and call himself an ambulance. Not like his dad will notice he's not home either way.]
I dunno...
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Scuti sighs. ]
... I'll carry you.
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