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Rudo could only feel pain. His body ached, his lower half pressed down by something heavy. He struggled to breathe, the air’s toxic debris scratching his throat and his lungs. He tasted blood. He opened his eyes, and could barely see. That's right, the building collapsed. He thought, and grunted, trying to push himself out. No luck, his body was stuck, his legs not being able to move an inch without hurting
This is bad, I can't breathe. Rudo tried his best to hold his breath, but his lungs screamed for air, despite the air tearing up his lungs. Rudo’s arms gave out and his cheek hit the ground again, what was he going to do? Where was his team, were they okay?
At some point, Rudo had closed his eyes again, his shallow breathing turning into faint wheezes.
Then the pressure was gone, and he was lifted up. His eyes flickered open, to see a mask being shoved onto his face. The cleaned air did wonders, but breathing still hurt. The man who held him was a maskless Enjin. Rudo weakly grabbed at his own face, this wasn't his mask, it was smooth, like Enjin’s. The realization dawned on him.
“Enjin!" He coughed, blood lingered in his throat. "You can't, you need this, you need your mask.”
Enjin kept walking forward, only giving Rudo some glances. He was unusually silent, no teasing, no jokes. Not even an update about how the rest of the team was doing.
“Enjin!" Rudo called out again, but this time, a finger was placed where his mouth would've been. He was being shushed.
Rudo looked around, the Trash Beast made a mess of the place. This abandoned town had so much treasure within it, now stuck under concrete debris. He felt a pang of disappointment.
As Enjin walked, he noticed how every few steps, Enjin would almost stumble, as if his left leg struggled to hold weight. Every time pressure was put on it, Enjin’s jaw tightened. He was in pain, and yet he was moving fast to leave the polluted zone.
"Let me down, I can walk.” Rudo tugged at Enjin's arm, "You're hurt, I can tell!”
And yet, he was being ignored. What was wrong? Rudo couldn't figure it out. The safe zone was not too far ahead, it was within view and he could see the silhouette of the car and a few figures surrounding it. One looking suspiciously like Riyo. So they're safe, that's -
Enjin stopped and started tipping over, and they both fell. Rudo winced, and rolled to his side, holding his hip in pain. “Enjin, what-"
His friend lay crumpled beside him, coughing up blood like he was. Enjin was bracing the toxic air to carry Rudo out to safety. Enjin wasn't going to die was he? He was told this was the most common cause of death, so that meant any of the Cleaners could die from it too.
When Enjin coughed again, gasping for air, Rudo was snapped out of indecision and he put his hands under Enjin's arms, and started to drag him. His muscles screamed in agony, Enjin was heavy and he overused his Instrument, but it didn't matter. Enjin could die if he didn't go to a doctor. Rudo gritted his teeth and kept pulling, and pulling, until he heard voices approaching.
He turned around to see his friends running towards him. He made it, Enjin was safe, he hoped so at least.
Rudo fell onto his back beside Enjin and ripped off the mask, spitting out more blood. His awareness faded in and out afterwards, at some point, a blond man and a brown haired girl in white peered down at him, presumably Gris and Tomme. He rolled his head to the left to see Enjin lying beside him, unconscious.
Tears welled up, he vaguely thought that he didn't want to cry in front of his teammates, but he didn't have the energy to hide it.
A soothing voice said something to him, and he couldn't make it out.
Rudo stood at his home again, but this time Regto wasn't bleeding out. He greeted him with a smile like always. And like everyday, he went out to tinker and to say hi to Chiyo to Riyo, Zanka and Enjin. He invited them to check out his workshop, and to give them all the gifts he scavenged.
He beamed when Riyo gushed over the small trinkets he collected.
“These would make good hair accessories!" She remarked, holding up a set of small bells to her hair. “Imagine a hair tie with these on it!"
Meanwhile Zanka looked less impressed, but the fact he decided to visit despite his distaste for his hobby meant a lot. “I have to say it decorated your room nicely, maybe bring some of this stuff back to base."
Enjin in the meantime had vanished. Rudo had a sense where he went, even though he didn't know the exact answer. Enjin was sitting on the rooftop.
"Hey Enjin, come back in, I got something for you!”
The blond turned around, his eyebrows raised, intrigued. Rudo pulled out a white mask with black crosses for the eyes. He paused, why was he giving Enjin a mask? "Wait…I'm dreaming aren't I?”
Rudo glanced up at Enjin, but this time his friend stared at him with a glossed over eyes. Blood poured from his mouth as he doubled over, grasping his chest.
"Enjin, wait, no, this isn't -”
Rudo sat directly up, and immediately regretted it. was disoriented, and his heart was racing. It was a nightmare. He was in the med bay, and directly on the bed next to him was Enjin, who was sleeping soundly.
He breathed a sigh in relief. Rudo quietly got out of bed, throwing the blankets to the side.
“Stupid bastard." Rudo muttered, grabbing a stool and sitting beside Enjin's bed. “Sacrificed your mask for me and now you're sick."
Rudo paused, and then put his head down, covering it with arms on the foot of the bed.
"Please be okay.” He quietly whispered, rubbing his face into the blanket. "I can't lose again.”
---
Something was ruffling his hair, a warm touch. He had fallen asleep, his eyes were closed, but it was so comfortable he considered just going back to sleep. It was like Regto was comforting him, just like when he was a little kid. Wait, something was touching his hair. Rudo opened his eyes to see Enjin's tattooed hand slowly carding through his hair, and he was awake, staring at the ceiling.
“Enjin!" Rudo sat up instantly, and leaned over, “You're -You’re awake! Are you okay?" His face went a bit red, “How long were you awake?"
Enjin glanced at him, “For about an hour, I just didn't feel like going back to work."
“So you've been watching me sleep this entire time?"
“Yeah, got a problem with that?" He replied with a smile showing his teeth.
Rudo huffed and leaned away, now staring at the ground. For what could've been a near death situation, Enjin was too calm, like nothing had happened. Rudo didn't want to think about what would happen if anyone else he cared about died, especially if they died trying to save him.
“You scared me, y'know." Rudo admitted, "I thought for a second you were going to die, and I couldn't help you.”
Enjin was listening silently.
"I hate when you guys put yourselves in danger for me.” Rudo continued, "I don't know how…what I’d do if…one of you guys died."
After some silence, Enjin spoke, “I'm sorry." He said, his tone soft and quiet. “When I found you, you were breathing all funny, bleeding and crushed under the debris, I thought you'd be dead by the time we got back." He paused, "So I guess we're the same, huh?”
"... Yeah, I guess.”
Enjin reached out again, gesturing for Rudo to lean in again. So, he did, and relaxed as Enjin rubbed his head. It really did feel like Regto had come back to life, just to rub his head again.
When Riyo came around to check on them, she walked in to see Rudo asleep, with his head on the bed. Enjin was asleep too, his hand on Rudo's head. She suddenly wished she had a camera, a part of her wanted to show Rudo later to embarrass him, but the other felt warm watching them relax. She left the room, shutting off the light.