okey folks i was gonna make u guys wait but then i got excited so here, another update :p enjoy~
* * *
"Hiroto?"
Midorikawa couldn't breathe. The floor was cold against his back, but the arms wrapped around him were protective and warm.
"Hiroto?"
Red hair tickled the side of his face as he tried to move. Looking up, he could see the ongoing fight between the four other men, but it felt as if they were a million miles away. Everything was quiet, too quiet... was it them, or was it him?
"Hiroto?"
Ah... was that his voice? He couldn't tell. Somehow he got free, but his eyes could see nothing but red. It was everywhere: on his hands, on his shirt, on Hiroto's hair...
Hiroto!
Everything came crashing back at once, and immediately Midorikawa felt sick. What had this idiot done? He immediately sat up beside Hiroto's limp body and removed his suit jacket, but there was so much blood he couldn't see anything. Did the bullet even go through? He tried turning Hiroto's body over, but still couldn't get a good view. Noticing the knife nearby, the doctor hurriedly grabbed it and sliced the redhead's blood-soaked shirt open, fearing the worst.
"Owww..." A low groan startled Midorikawa so bad, he almost dropped the knife. Hiroto's mass of red hair shifted before he lifted his head from the floor, using his elbows as support. Pulling the remnants of his shirt off of himself, the redhead turned to a wide-eyed Midorikawa, showing him his still-intact bulletproof vest:
"Don't worry, I'm okay."
WHAT! NO! His conscience screamed as it thrashed around in the greenette's brain, trying to chase down the inner doctor, THIS IS NOT COOL! NOT COOL! DON'T YOU DARE THINK IT'S OKAY, DON'T YOU FREAKING DARE—
The voices in his head vanished as Midorikawa lunged forward and threw his arms around the redhead, burying his face in Hiroto's shoulder. All the anger, confusion and worry from before was gone, replaced by the overwhelming feeling of relief as his brain registered that yes, Hiroto was okay. He could faintly feel the redhead stiffen up; but very soon he relaxed into the embrace, putting a reassuring arm around the doctor's body. Midorikawa held his breath and listened: there was his heartbeat, loud and clear; his breath, steady; and the rumble of his chest as he whispered over and over again that the bullet did not go in, that he was alright. Thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness.
"Uh, are the lovebirds finished?" Nagumo's slightly crossed voice snapped him back to reality, and instantly Midorikawa reddened and let go. He looked over to the fight, only to discover that it had ended, and that the two attackers were nowhere to be seen. Nagumo was still frowning:
"Shadow and... that other guy got away. They just bolted. Probably received orders or something; they looked like they really wanted you dead, Gran. But you don't really care, right, 'cos wow it must feel so good to finally get out of the single zone—"
Suzuno smacked him loudly on the shoulder. As Nagumo scowled and turned away, the grayhead asked Hiroto:
"Should we go after them?"
"No, it's okay." With some difficulty, the red-haired man reached for his discarded suit jacket. He pulled out his phone and tossed it to Suzuno, who caught it effortlessly. "I put a tracker onto Shadow when he was busy being a sadist. He'll probably notice sooner than later, but we're good for now."
The grayhead glanced at the phone before passing it to Nagumo, who was still grumbling about something. Then, adjusting his clothes and collecting his weapons, he raised an eyebrow at Hiroto's shoulder:
"Think you're gonna be in shape for the meeting?"
"Oh, I'm swell." Hiroto smiled and picked himself up from the floor with a grimace. "I'm sure he'll be able to handle a little blood."
* * *
The four men made their way down from Midorikawa's now-bashed-up apartment, and towards a shiny black car parked on the side of the road. Since Suzuno was driving and Nagumo (of course) called shotgun, Hiroto and Midorikawa were pushed to the back. Noticing the redhead's slight wobble as he got into the car, the doctor asked:
"How are you feeling?"
"Are you asking as a normal person, or as a doctor?" Hiroto managed a weak smile. "If you wanna patch me up, there is a pretty good first aid kit somewhere in here."
"Why would I ask as a normal person if I can ask as a doctor?" Midorikawa shot him a soft glare. Grinning, Hiroto sighed before leaning his head back, shutting his teal green eyes:
"I'm feeling really light-headed, and I'm pretty sure my vision went black for an unhealthy amount of seconds just now. Plus my shoulder feels like someone'd just stuck a red-hot iron stick in there and stirred it around. It sucks. But, y'know, I'll live."
"Hmph, you'd better." Midorikawa wasn't sure why he felt the need to mumble that last part, but he did. Reaching up, Hiroto pressed a button on the ceiling, and instantly a black curtain began to rise from the car floor. The idea of being alone with the redhead again caused a funny feeling to arise inside the doctor's stomach, but he firmly decided that he would complete his doctor duties before addressing that weird sensation. "Where's that first aid kit?"
"Somewhere in the back. You can probably reach it if you stand up and lean over a little... yeah, that's it." Hiroto nodded at the white box Midorikawa'd just pulled from the back of the car, before removing his suit jacket and bulletproof vest. "How does it look?"
Like some serious eye-cand— Midorikawa cut his inner doctor off before it could finish. Yeah, sure, he has a nice body... so what? It's not like I want it anyway. Or anything like that. Not at all. Confirming that with himself, the doctor turned on the car lights and began to inspect the stab wound.
"I wish he hadn't twisted that damn knife..." The wound seemed to be a little too complicated for a first aid kit to safely and completely fix. At least it wasn't bleeding too much anymore. Midorikawa leant back and concluded, "you might need to go to the hospital to get this checked out. I can clean it up and bandage it though. Is that okay?"
"Do you ask your patients beforehand if it's okay to save them?" Hiroto replied with a smirk, causing the greenette to roll his eyes. "Go ahead, I don't mind."
Still, when Midorikawa poured disinfectant onto a towelette and held it against the wound, the redhead's face still paled. Lifting the cloth up and folding it once before beginning to wipe away the dried blood, the greenette mumbled:
"It'll hurt, but it's better than an infection."
"Hmm, yeah, I trust you. Totally didn't do that to get revenge or anything, did you?" Midorikawa glared at him for real. "Just kidding, just kidding! But hey, if that was your intention... I want to let you know that you are totally justified."
The doctor looked up in surprise. Staring back at him now were the bright green eyes of the redhead; and as they passed underneath a street light, Midorikawa could see that his expression was completely solemn:
"What I did was stupid. I shouldn't have done it. I... well, I won't say I didn't know what I was doing, because I did. It was just that... I was being a dumbass and whatever anger or hatred you have directed at me now is valid, and I'll accept it."
"What the heck are you on about?" The greenette said slowly. "I mean, yeah that was dumb and you could've just pushed me out of the way, but jeez, thank you for freaking taking a shot for me!"
"... What?"
He meant the kiss, stupid. His out-of-breath conscience flopped down to the ground and gave Midorikawa a look of utter disappointment.
"Oh, god! No! That's not...! I... agh, I was just..." The funny feeling in his stomach returned, this time coupled with a hot flush on his face. Faced with the doctor's embarrassment, Hiroto just chuckled brightly. "Don't laugh at me like that! Or... or I won't forgive you!"
"Okay, sorry, sorry!" The redhead laughed out loud, before suddenly stopping and wrinkling his nose. "Ow, my shoulder still hurts. Guess I'd better be good to you until you finish dressing it, hmm?"
"Ah, yeah." Realizing he'd been distracted, the greenette quickly returned to the task at hand. He took out a fresh gauze and pressed it against the wound; then, after confirming that it wouldn't be bled through, he secured it in place by wrapping a roll of bandage around Hiroto's shoulder and chest. The redhead was completely silent throughout the procedure, only leaning forward and back as instructed, and occasionally looking up to Midorikawa's face from his hands. The silence seemed uncomfortable, but it provided the doctor with a quiet and focused working space; plus, he thought the redhead seemed more tired than usual.
"Thanks." Hiroto spoke when Midorikawa tied off the bandage and sat back to look at his handiwork. "I suppose a nap right about now would feel great, but I think I owe you an explanation."
"What?" It was true that the greenette was in desperate need of one, and it was the first time Hiroto'd acknowledged that even with the brains of a doctor, he could not comprehend everything that had been going on. But in this kind of condition... "You do, but let's save it for later—"
"No." Hiroto's fingers were cold as he grabbed onto the doctor's raised hand, stopping him mid-track. Even in the semi-darkness of the car, the green in his eyes was burning. "You need... you deserve to know the truth, Midorikawa. The truth about who I am."
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damn, somehow i feel like Hiroto's gonna say he's secretly a vampire or something xP somebody needs to help me with endings T-T
buuuuuut i hope you guys enjoyed that! i thought this chapter was gonna be a little more exciting, with ~the reveal~ and new characters and stuff, but i guess we'll have to wait until next chapter :'(( yikes now this just feels like a filler aahhh ;;;;;;
BUT! that means next chapter will be (hopefully) really good!! so pls look forward to it owo
see ya next time!! ♡♡