#anyway this fic is completely self-indulgent sorry for forcing it on the frontier-tag x3

[windfighter]

Breathe for me

Prompt: Painkillers

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Takuya looked into the fridge, held the phone between his shoulder and cheek as he looked around for something easy for Kouji to eat. He could hear Kouichi look for breakfast on the other side as well.

”Kouji’s having a bad week”, Takuya said.

He wasn’t sure how much Kouji wanted him to say, but he couldn’t tell the others they didn’t want to meet them. He needed to explain why they couldn't. Kouichi hmmed.

”How bad?” he asked.

Takuya was pretty sure Kouichi had never seen Kouji during a bad episode. When the pain got so bad he couldn’t get out of bed. When he needed the strong painkillers that made him so out of it he could barely remember his name. Takuya grabbed a can of miso-soup from the back of the fridge.

”He’s still asleep, if that tells you anything”, he said.

Kouichi pulled a sharp breath on the other side of the line. Takuya shared the sentiment.

”At nine?” Kouichi asked. ”Yikes, that’s bad.”

”Told you”, Takuya put the can on the counter and closed the fridge. ”Panther’s been sleeping on top of him the whole night.”

Panther mraowed in the bedroom. Takuya frowned. Panther never made a sound.

”So I guess we’re cancelling lunch today?” Kouichi asked.

”Yeah”, Takuya started walking towards the bedroom. ”Unless you wanna come over.”

”MRAOW!”

Panther’s voice cut through the whole house. Takuya walked faster.

”Was that Panther?” Kouichi asked. ”Cat’s got some lungs.”

”He usually doesn’t”, Takuya said.

He put a hand against the door, swung it open. Kouji was still in the bed, pale as death, and Panther was standing on his chest. Yellow eyes locked onto Takuya.

”Maybe he’s hungry”, Kouichi suggested.

Takuya swallowed. His heart skipped a beat as he walked up to the bed. He put a hand on Kouji’s shoulder, shook it.

”Kouji?”

Kouji didn’t move. His chest was still. Takuya’s hand trembled as he pressed his fingers against Kouji’s throat. He could feel a pulse. Weak, but there. He held his hand over Kouji’s mouth. Nothing. Takuya’s heart skipped another beat.

”Kouichi?” he asked.

His voice trembled. He removed the pillow from under Kouji’s head, put a hand under Kouji’s neck to open his airways. Kouji’s chest still wasn’t moving.

”I need you to call an ambulance. Kouji’s not breathing.”

Kouichi let out a string of cursewords. Takuya agreed.

”I’ll meet you at the hospital”, Kouichi said.

The phonecall ended. Takuya dropped the phone to the floor, tilted Kouji’s head further back. His lungs still didn’t pull air in. Takuya leaned down, pinched Kouji’s nose shut and breathed air into his mouth. Again. Again. Again. Panther’s yellow eyes were watching him, Panther walked back and forth on the bed. Takuya worked for a couple minutes to keep Kouji alive, keep him getting oxygen into his system. Then, a shaky breath. Kouji took a weak breath, released it just as quickly. He took another. Takuya let go, stood up again. Kouji’s eyes opened.

”Stay still”, Takuya said. ”Ambulance is on the way.”

Kouji didn’t protest, just closed his eyes again. Panther laid down next to him, purred loudly. Takuya stood next to the bed, watched them. Watched Kouji’s chest rising and falling in quick successions. Then it stopped again. Takuya’s shoulders fell. He swallowed, leaned down and restarted the process. His stomach ached. He knew they were living on borrowed time, that Kouji should have been dead several times over, but it couldn’t end like this. At home, with Takuya right next to him. When they were supposed to have a nice lunch together with Kouichi.

Tears gathered in Takuya’s eyes. Breathing got harder. He took a deep breath to calm down, couldn’t let Kouji down. He filled Kouji’s lungs again. Kouji had survived worse, he could survive whatever was going on.

Kouji took a weak breath on his own. Takuya’s body relaxed a bit. He pulled a hand across his eyes, dried them off.

”Please keep breathing”, he whispered.

Kouji took another weak breath. The doorbell rang. Takuya squeezed Kouji’s shoulder and left to open. The ambulance. Takuya let them in, led them to the bedroom. Kouji had stopped breathing again and Takuya hoped it wasn’t too late.

#windy writes #whumpril2023 #digimon frontier #future fic #takuya kanbara #kouji minamoto #not gonna lie it was more inspired by my cat lying in my arms than by the prompt #but the prompt helped even if I kinda lost it in the translation from my brain to the document #it's a very future fic #they're not young at all any longer #not old old but I dunno maybe in their 50s? #it's years after Kouji lost his leg at least x3 #Panther is a black cat Junpei gave Kouji :3 #the cat hates everyone else :3 #anyway this fic is completely self-indulgent sorry for forcing it on the frontier-tag x3 #although I think you've all gotten used to seeing my trash here by now #anyway Kouji's gonna be alright probably and I have no idea what's actually wrong his body just decided to give up on him #Takuya's not gonna let him out of Italy for at least a year after this #Kouji's gonna hate it because he still doesn't know italian