[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.
[He's silent for a full twenty seconds as he cycles through half the gamut of teenage emotion, including at least three stages of grief. For all that, he still reaches the same inevitable conclusion.]
If it helps, I'm not any happier about this than you are.
[ She takes a step forward and sort of... awkwardly puts out her arms like she's trying to work out how she's going to lift him. His weight won't be any problem while she's transformed but that doesn't mean the height difference isn't going to make this awkward.
You know, on top of all the other ways in which this is going to be awkward.
Her arms drop back to her sides. ]
How exactly should we... do this? I don't want to risk dropping you if I don't have a proper hold.
[He’s turning red behind his hand. Yeah, it’s mortifying, but it’s also—
Well, part of him isn’t entirely unhappy, either. How could it be, when girls are always soft and smell nice, and it’s good just to be close to one, whatever the circumstance? No, focus. It’s Scuti, she’d rather be doing anything else.]
Uh, I don’t think my ribs can take an over-the-shoulder carry, so… [The suggestion feels ridiculous on his tongue, tripping out awkwardly.] …h—how about piggyback? Then I’m holding on, too.
[ Amiguchi's usually so unruffled that seeing him steadily grow redder, even if he's trying to hide it, makes it that bit harder for Scuti to keep an unaffected expression. She feels warmth blossom high in her cheeks and she knows the blush must be standing out starkly on her pale face, even in the evening gloom.
Eager to take the opportunity to hide her face as well, Scuti turns her back to him and leans over, thanking every God she can think to name that there's nobody else around to see this. ]
Th–then... let's just hurry up and get this over with.
[Anyone else, and Shu might not be so tentative. Even Fuyusaka-san and Kisaragi-san, who look like they just about share Shinonome-senpai's paper-fragile build, he's at least bantered with enough to laugh off the awkward. Sentinel Scuti's already gone off on him about taking this seriously.
The hand that touches her pale shoulder is careful, as if uncertain she won't collapse like a soap bubble, and then Shu clambers on with as little fuss and indignity as he can muster.]
Ow. Th-this okay?
[He makes sure not to squirm, keeps his weight from shifting to unbalance her.]
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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. ]
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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?!
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...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.
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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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Yeah, I... I guess so. S-sorry.
[RIP, Shu Amiguchi's cool. RIP in pieces.]
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[ She takes a step forward and sort of... awkwardly puts out her arms like she's trying to work out how she's going to lift him. His weight won't be any problem while she's transformed but that doesn't mean the height difference isn't going to make this awkward.
You know, on top of all the other ways in which this is going to be awkward.
Her arms drop back to her sides. ]
How exactly should we... do this? I don't want to risk dropping you if I don't have a proper hold.
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Well, part of him isn’t entirely unhappy, either. How could it be, when girls are always soft and smell nice, and it’s good just to be close to one, whatever the circumstance? No, focus. It’s Scuti, she’d rather be doing anything else.]
Uh, I don’t think my ribs can take an over-the-shoulder carry, so… [The suggestion feels ridiculous on his tongue, tripping out awkwardly.] …h—how about piggyback? Then I’m holding on, too.
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Eager to take the opportunity to hide her face as well, Scuti turns her back to him and leans over, thanking every God she can think to name that there's nobody else around to see this. ]
Th–then... let's just hurry up and get this over with.
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The hand that touches her pale shoulder is careful, as if uncertain she won't collapse like a soap bubble, and then Shu clambers on with as little fuss and indignity as he can muster.]
Ow. Th-this okay?
[He makes sure not to squirm, keeps his weight from shifting to unbalance her.]
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