Yuta slowly regained consciousness, his mind foggy and his body heavy. Darkness engulfed him, a suffocating place with no hint of light was all he could see. His breaths came in shallow gasps, each one a struggle as the air felt thick, dusty, and lacking oxygen. He tried to move, but his body refused to cooperate. Weakness coursed through him, though this was not unusual as he felt like this when he ran out of Hero Time.
He forced his hand to move, trembling as he lifted it to his chest. That's when he felt it. Wet, hot, and sticky. His fingers trembled as they brushed against the source—a gash, wide and deep, still bleeding. His heart sank as realization struck. He was covered in his own blood.
His chest felt like it was on fire, each shallow breath accompanied by a sharp, stabbing pain. Despite the overwhelming agony, Yuta forced himself to probe the wound further. The cut was brutal, jagged, and deep. The world-cutting slash.
"It's surprising that I'm not in pieces already. At least in this case, I have it better than Gojo… haha..." Yuta laughed, but then the pain stopped him from moving.
'Ah, stings like hell... whatever, have to figure out where I am. What's going on and more than anything how come I am even alive…' Yuta pondered to himself.
'My best guess is that Sukuna was weakened by that one punch I threw at him with my full power of ROFA.
That must have weakened his attack, and then maybe Rika's scarf acted in. Possible though can't say for sure….
Sighing, he tried to move, however the moment he tried to get up, the pain rang through his entire body. Gritting his teeth, he pushed through, however his head hit something and he fell back.
'The hell…' Yuta muttered to himself with tiredness. He slowly roamed his hand around, only to notice that he was completely surrounded by something. It was an energy field or something, can't say for sure.
The cold grew more intense, wrapping around him like a merciless embrace. He felt his head spinning, his body threatening to give in. Yet, he clung to a thin thread of determination. "Don't die yet, I need that damn kiss from Toru," he whispered to himself, his voice hoarse and barely audible.
Just then Yuta heard this…
"Yuta…"
It was Rika. Relief washed over him at the sound of her voice. At least the doubt about him secretly dead but not accepting the fact was gone… Or maybe not…
She too is a spirit, right…
Shaking his head, he concentrated…
He couldn't see her, but she was there—her presence unmistakable, even in this pitch-black place.
"Rika?" Yuta whispered, his voice hoarse and weak. "What… what happened?"
'Damn, even talking is a chore right now…'
For a moment, there was silence. Then, to his surprise, he heard her sobbing. The sound was raw and heartbreaking, and very small…
'Am I really dead…?'
"I thought… I thought you were gone, Yuta!" Rika's voice cracked, trembling as she spoke. "You weren't moving, you weren't waking up…"
"Sigh… please say that quickly… or I might really have a heart attack…" He muttered to himself and sighed.
"Rika," Yuta said softly, struggling to lift his hand as if to comfort her. "I'm here… I'm alive. It's okay now."
It took him a while, but he managed to console her. Slowly, her sobs quieted, though the pain in her voice lingered.
"You've been completely unconscious after you hit the building…," Rika explained, her tone still shaky and too low... "Sukuna… he attacked you out of nowhere. His slash—it was so fast, I barely managed to stop it. But… it still cut your chest open."
Yuta winced, his hand brushing against his wound again. 'Knew it, that complete cheater, pulling a sneak attack like that.' Yuta complained, though he's not gonna accept that he did the same to Sukuna just before he attacked him.
"I wasn't able to stop that attack completely, it sent you flying and even hurt you. You crashed into a building. Yuta, that building… it was already falling apart because of the fight between Sukuna and Gojo."
Yuta blinked and then the situation started to come to him.
'Fuck… so that's what's around me and that's why breathing is so hard right now. I'm running out of oxygen.'
Yuta sighed, and with difficulty opened his system storage. Didn't need HT to do that. Taking out a torch from it, he switched it on, only to find himself surrounded by building debris.
But unlike what he anticipated, it wasn't his luck that he just happened to fall in a spot where something shielded him from all the falling building parts.
Rather, it was an energy shield that was blocking the entire building from falling on top of him.
His eyes shrank and something clicked inside his head. He quickly looked around to find where Rika was. And what he saw almost gave him a heart attack.
He saw the girl sitting only a little away from him, blood dripping from her nose, her entire mouth was bloodied and eyes were red.
Her completely white dress was blood-stained.
In fact, she had almost the same amount of blood on her as he had on him. His eyes shrank, for the first few seconds he couldn't even register what he was seeing but then it exploded inside him.
He looked back at the ceiling and his surroundings. He was right, this wasn't his luck that he was alive.
"Rika, stop….!" Yuta said, struggling. He tried to move towards her but moving even slightly was right now a Herculean task for him.
"Rika…" Yuta gritted his teeth. He was already too low in oxygen, and shouting wasn't possible for him.
"Stop using your quirk, stop it…" He pushed all his power and tried to drag his body near the girl. But unfortunately for him, he found his lower body was unresponsive. He could feel his legs, they were there but moving them, he didn't have much energy for that.
Cough cough
Rika coughed blood, and seeing this, Yuta's own heart was bleeding.
"Rika, listen, I am fine okay. You can let go of the barrier. Believe me, that stupid broken building's got nothing on me. I can blow it away. Just let gooo…" Yuta tried to reach out to her, knowing that the girl was holding on because of him.
"I… I love you…" she slowly said. Only now did he realize why her voice was so soft earlier.
Yuta was about to say something but this shut him up.
"Let go of the barrier…" Yuta repeated. Seeing the pale face of the girl, his voice hitched.
Yuta remembered he used to be a crybaby when those bastard bullies used to bully him when he was younger.
Even after having the brain of a teenager back then, he couldn't stop from tearing up when three kids, almost twice his size, ganged up on him.
One alone quirkless kid, burning him, cutting him, beating him. Humiliating him. That helplessness made him cry back then.
But he cried nonetheless, only once, and promised that would be his last. Even after falling from that two-story building, he didn't cry. The last time he cried was when his grandma left him.
That was the last.
So why…
Why after so long, after facing so many difficulties, after facing so many dangerous villains. When he didn't cry…
Why now did those tears return…
"Ri-ka… stop… I promise I am fine. Look at me. I am fine…" his voice hitched. He said again but the pale girl only softly smiled at him while blood kept trailing down her nose.
Was it because for the first time he found someone who loved him unconditionally besides his grandma?
Was it because for the first time someone was ready to save him instead…?
Was it because it pained him, a pain which did not originate from himself but because someone close to him was in pain?
Right now, he felt like he was back to that quirkless, helpless, weak boy who couldn't do anything.
"RIKA…" Yuta shouted. But the girl didn't listen. She just kept smiling and held up the barrier, carrying the weight of the entire fallen building even after she bled, her entire body trembling.
[Hero Time: 1 Second…]
Damn it…
How long will it take for it to reset…
[21 minutes remaining before Hero Time Reset…]
FUCKK…
Helpless… completely helpless…
"Yu..ta…"
"I am here, I am listening…"
"I love… you…"
Tears appeared in his eyes finally. "Damn it let go, why are you so stubborn."
"Be…cause… Rika is hero… Yuta said…"
"Yes, you are a Hero. My hero… and that's why let go okay. I promise I will be fine."
"Be…cause I love you…"
Tears poured down his face, 'This damn body, failing me right now…'
"I… Sifff… I love you too…"
"…"
"Ri..Rika…"
"RIKAAA….
---
xxx
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