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“The target has lost all vital signs!”
Reno stares at the unmoving carcass of the giant kaiju with disbelief, rifle still cradled in his shaking hands. He knows he’s at his limit; even though his mind is fuzzy, he’s fully aware of the dull pain of his torn muscles, the burning ache in his lungs whenever he takes a breath, or the faint prickling in his numb, frostbitten fingers.
Before he’s able to process the implication of those words, he hears Ogata’s voice.
“You pass, Ichikawa.”
He slides down to the ground, the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders.
“Thank you… Captain.”
It’s done.
He did it.
They did it.
Someone keeps talking to him through the comms but it’s all white noise to him at this point. The only thing he hears, besides the unmistakable thrum of blood flowing in his veins and the steadfast beating of his heart, is the ice cold hum of the suit, and then–
He sees the sky. He wanted to just sit down for a moment but his body must have finally given up, now that it stopped pumping adrenaline into his bloodstream. He lies there, limbs too heavy to move, mind already too far away to care.
The sun is shining above him. He thinks he can hear Iharu’s voice in the distance.
It’s nice, he thinks and closes his eyes.
He dreams of warmth. It starts as a small, feeble spark nestled between his frozen fingers, only to grow, inch after inch - until it encompasses his whole body, basking him in the glow of something akin to his own, personal sun.
Reno reaches out and gladly lets himself burn.
(“Reno.” A voice, barely a whisper, relentless in calling his name; accompanied by a warm hand desperately clutching his. “Reno. I’m here. I’ve got you.”)
He recovers slowly, drifts in and out of consciousness for a long time. At some point he finally comes to enough to be aware of other people’s presence around him; he can hear their words but their meaning eludes his still sluggish mind.
Until a familiar voice breaks through the haze.
“–y fault, Captain. I should have acted faster. Please, don’t take back your approval because of my mistakes.”
Reno forces his eyes open. He squints, blinks a few times, his vision slowly coming back to normal.
He’s in the infirmary, back to the same bed he used last time, after the fiasco of the initial compatibility test. The curtains around his bed are closed this time, only letting through some faint rays of the setting sun and dark silhouettes of the two people on the other side.
Iharu , he tries to say, but Ogata beats him to it.
“Get up, Furuhashi, no need for dramatics.” He sighs heavily before pausing again; there’s a moment of shuffling, then a sound of a bottle being opened. A gulp later, he continues, as if to himself: “They honestly don’t pay me enough to take care of you kids.”
“Captain Ogata–”
“You killed the honju,” Ogata cuts him off matter-of-factly. “Ichikawa’s stable, alive, and honestly, in a much better state than I thought he would be in, given… Well, everything.”
“It shouldn’t have happened, though,” Iharu says quietly. “As his support, I should have acted faster–”
“For fuck’s sake, Furuhashi. Do you have a humiliation kink or something? Why do you want me to yell at you or blame you?” Surprisingly, it’s the first time Ogata sounds somewhat upset. “Were it not for you, we’d have pulled Ichikawa out, for good. He was spiralling out of control and believe me when I say that your stupid insecure ass saved him.”
Reno listens in to the conversation, hands gripping the blanket tightly. He knew he barely passed the test and fucked up - him ending up in the infirmary was an indication enough - but it’s another thing whatsoever to hear it from someone else just how close to failure he was.
And for once he and Ogata seem to agree about something , because none of this was Iharu’s fault.
“You can do it! Right, Reno?”
I did it , he thinks, feeling the same old ache in his chest, only because you were there.
“I said he passed and I won’t change my mind,” Ogata continues. “But I don’t know if you know that with that little stunt of yours, Furuhashi, you signed up to take care of Ichikawa.”
“Wha–” Iharu almost chokes on his own spit. “What do you mean, sir?”
“You ground him, help him focus.” Captain’s voice turns wistful, as if he’s not only talking about Reno but something more personal. “He’ll need it; he’ll need you.”
The silence afterwards feels deafening. Reno holds his breath, too afraid to make any sound, as if the soft hum of his breathing would stop Iharu from answering.
“I… appreciate the sentiment, sir,” Iharu finally replies, in a tone so different from his usual, cocky self that Reno really just wants to hug him. “But I don’t see how my 24% of released force can help someone like Reno.”
I’m not good enough , is what he doesn’t say.
You’re wrong , is what Reno wishes to scream out loud.
Ogata lets out another heavy sigh. “First of all, it’s 42% now and how we’re gonna deal with it is a topic for another day. Second of all… it’s not like you have to believe me. But I’m pretty sure he will tell you more or less the same.” There’s some shuffling on the other side of the curtain, then: “Right, Ichikawa?”
Before he’s able to react in any way - close his eyes, pretend he’s still asleep, anything - the curtain is drawn and he’s faced with a very startled Iharu. Ogata stands next to him, curtain in his hands.
“R-Reno? You’re awake?” Iharu looks like he can’t decide whether he’s mortified that he’s probably heard a good chunk of their conversation or happy to see him conscious. In the end he settles for the latter as he approaches the bed. “Why didn’t you say anything earlier? How do you feel? Do you need water? Painkillers? Are your hands alright? Is your fever down?”
The redhead rambles away nervously, his calloused hands checking Reno’s forehead, then grasping his hands. Reno is–overwhelmed, really, but he cannot find it in himself to mind Iharu’s sudden protectiveness.
Not when it brings him the same familiar warmth as before.
“I…” he croaks out, throat still sore from disuse. “I’m fine, Iharu-kun. I feel better.”
The door in the back of the room closes with a soft click. When they both look in that direction, Ogata is long gone.
They’re alone.
That finally seems to calm the other boy down, but he still doesn’t let go of Reno’s hand as he says, eyes focused on the floor: “You… really scared us all shitless, you know.”
He remembers when it was the other way round, when they were fighting against No. 9 and Iharu protected him from the sudden attack. He can still see Iharu’s blood on his hands, can remember so clearly the tangy scent of iron in the air, the slow steps of kaiju approaching them, and the subsequent feeling of dread creeping slowly into his heart.
He gives Iharu’s hand a squeeze; he hopes it feels as reassuring to the redhead as it feels to him. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not like you did it on purpose,” Iharu mutters and shakes his head. “Just… try not to get yourself killed with this thing, okay? And stop running off to do shit on your own. There’s other people in the squad to help you, you know.”
Reno can’t help himself. “Like you, right?”
Iharu finally looks up and gives him a questioning look. “Huh?
“We’re a team.” Iharu’s previous words still echo in Reno’s mind and he feels like he has to make a point. “You and I.”
“For now, yeah? I guess now that you’ve got No. 6 they’ll probably give you a better suppo–”
“Iharu-kun.” Reno wanted to be more delicate but he’s not the most subtle person in the world - and if Iharu says one more thinly veiled depreciating word about himself, he’s either going to punch him or kiss him. He’s still not sure which. “Shut up.”
“What?”
“Shut up. He was right, you know. Captain Ogata.”
The reaction is instant; Iharu’s face turns red and he looks away again. “So you were awake for that part, too.”
“I was. And I agree with everything he said.”
“And I’d say you’re probably concussed as fuck and you should think it through.”
“Hey.” He grabs Iharu’s face and forces him to look him in the eye, despite the redhead’s vehement refusal to do so. He gets it, he really does, because if not for the fact that he must make Iharu understand, he’d freak out as well. “The only reason why I passed this test is because you were there. Do I have to spell it out for you?”
He sees the moment it really dawns on Iharu that he means it. He takes in the way his eyes widen with genuine surprise, how he takes a shaky breath and then bites his lip, unsure what to do or what to say.
And Reno can’t help but think of Kafka now, of his goal to fight together with Captain Ashiro. It suddenly makes so much more sense; it never was about power or strength or weapons, but the mere fact of fighting together with someone you care about. Someone who’s amazing in their own way.
(Someone you might–)
He leaves this thought for another day. For now, he holds Iharu, who’s filled with so much warmth that it burns him; his fire licks Reno’s fingers, then spreads under his skin and into his bloodstream, until the frozen lump buried deep in his chest thaws.
Inhale. Exhale.
For the first time since he got the weapon, the icy aura of No. 6 is gone.
“I don’t want a better team or whatever. I want to fight next to you, Iharu-kun.”