TRIGGER: CH 4

 Chapter 4

He woke up feeling sluggish but comfortable. The white of the ceiling, soft beeping, and the faint smell of disinfectant is enough to tell him of his current whereabouts.

Slowly, as he tries to break out of his state of drowsiness, he looks at his surrounding. The plain white ceiling and the soft blue of the walls, sunlight streaming in from the window on his left illuminating the room in warm light. The beeping of the cardiac monitor beside his bed showing his vital signs and the IV stand next to it, holding a bag of fluid connected to his left forearm. Experimentally, he tried moving his hand. It's weak, but he still can move it. A rustling from the other side of his bed pulls his attention away.

 

"You're up, Dougai."

"..Akizuki? What are you doing here?" That's..odd, seeing him of all people in this kind of time. The other is sitting in a chair on the right side of his bed, perusing through a bundle of papers, likely mission reports. He replied without glancing up from his documents.

"Rian told me to keep an eye over you, just in case. Something came up and she'll be back later. As for me, I just happens to be nearby, that's all."

Uptight as ever. They're most definitely friends, although Akizuki himself wouldn't admit it. A stern man, with a fairly large build, as tough and as unmovable as a stone wall. But is also trustworthy and dependable. However, expressing emotions is certainly not his forte.

"How long was I out?"

"Around 3 days. We found you some distance away from the operation site, injured and unconscious."

"I see..-"'..it's been 3 days since then.'   "-..what about the operation?"

"They did manage to capture the culprit and the operation was considered successful."

The conversation falls, leaving a comfortable silence in between the two of them. Feeling a bit stronger, Ryuga tried to shift into a sitting position, only to be stopped by Akizuki who was alarmed by his soft grunts. Akizuki's hand on his chest gently urges him to lie back down. "Don't push yourself, you're not yet healed."

Sensing Ryuga's distress, he opted to raising the top half of the bed instead. He returned to his previous position restoring the quietness.

 

 

 

 

 

"RYUGA! I HEARD YOU GOT - AUGH!?!"

"Be quiet! This is the hospital."

The silence is unceremoniously broken by Takeru's loud voice, earning him a kick to the butt from Rian.

 

"How're you feeling?"

"..Okay, I guess. Still a bit sluggish though." Tentatively, he peeks downward. "Takeru?"

"*groans*"

"Seems fine." The groaning continues as Akizuki peels him from the floor.

"Ryuga-,"

"Yea?"

"-I'm glad you're fine. I came back as fast as I can once I heard that you went missing. The higher ups are being really secretive about that too. It's until Daigo decided to move that they finally loosen up and we managed to get you back."

"Akizuki did?" Surprised, he turned towards the other, seeing Akizuki leveling a reprimanding look at Takeru.

"Looks like he formed quite a soft spot for you."

"No way." The thought rather tickled him. 'He's not at all as hard as he seems.'

The smile on her face falters a bit. "He went out and looked for you, of his own accord. The higher ups initially told us to wait until the investigations are done, but it was taking too long. Daigo decided to go against them and mobilized his unit for search and rescue."

"..Won't that jeopardizes his position?"

"Well, they can try for sure. Not that the ones before them haven't."

His unit. He knows them, having been stationed there for a short time before. They were his students in the academy, and they later joined his unit. They are all good people, and they greatly admired him as a teacher, and as a leader. Ryuga couldn't be more grateful to have him as a friend.

His eyes caught Takeru's wandering gaze, who's trying to escape his current predicament. His face broke into a grin as he swiftly went up to his feet, making his way to the bed. Ryuga slowly raises his right hand as a greeting. "..Hey-"

 

 

"RYUGA, YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

 

..Only to be smothered into the other's chest.

"WE WERE WORRIED, YOU IDIOT! We left you alone for a SHORT PERIOD and look what happened. Be thankful you survived or else I would've dragged you outta your grave and make you regret it." He's now stuck in a rough headlock from the other.

"T-Takeru.., can't breathe-" He normally don't have much problem going against Takeru, but in his current condition..even a soft tap could send him sprawling on the floor. Gradually, the hold on him loosen and he looks upward, seeing the other's expression softening.

"You'd better not make it a habit, got that?"

"..Yeah, got that."

Takeru released his hold on Ryuga, opting to ruffling his hair instead. "Good boy."

Takeru's love is rough, but honest. Like the person himself. He feels more like a delinquent rather than a cop, but he's good at what he does. He used to have a notorious reputation of having bad behavioral conduct. Well, he still does now, to a lesser degree. But a certain meeting had changed him. He proved to be a quite dependable person time and time again.

"By the way, Aguri sent his regards. Also, he told me to 'reprimand' you for your 'thoughtless actions'."

Wincing inwardly, Ryuga can almost see Aguri's expression in his mind; the sharp look in his eyes, the eerie glint of his glasses, "What did I say about thinking before you act?"

He really needs to apologize to Aguri when he's back.

 

Unknowingly, they had spent almost the entire day together just talking about random stuffs. Hell, even Akizuki somehow ended up staying that long, silently listening to their banters and occasionally joining in. As time passes, he slowly grows tired, breaking into a yawn. Nevertheless, spending time with them made him feels infinitely better. Sensing his exhaustion, they slowly made their leave to allow him to rest. Akizuki sent a quiet look and a nod before he left. Takeru made his way shortly after, gently ruffling his hair again prior to leaving. Rian is the last one to go, making sure he had went to sleep first beforehand.