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You had done it, you finally defeated your enemy. However, the battle wasn't over. There were more enemies. You thought of your friends. Yuuji. Megumi. Nobara. Panda. Maki. Hell, even Gojo.
And then...You thought about Inumaki. His kindness, how much he tried to help, and how intently he listened to you and what you had to say.
You wanted to see them all again.
You urge yourself forward, and with each step, spikes of pain travel through your body. Your lungs scream at you with every breath you take. You have to keep going regardless.
Did anyone even know where you were? You don't know how far you ran into the forest when fighting your foe. You were focused on surviving their blows, and look at where that lead you, potentially miles away from anyone who could help you. You knew you couldn't keep going for long. What if you couldn't see them all again? If you never got to hear their laughter or see their smiles? What if you couldn't tell Inumaki how you felt? You shake your head, you shouldn't be thinking about that right now. You'll make it back. You have to. You just have to focus on getting out of here for now.
The adrenaline was starting to fade, and you were growing tired. One of your legs collapses under you. You hiss in pain as you hit the floor, branches snapping underneath you and rocks jutting into your sides. It's only now that you realize how much blood is on you. The arms in front of you are covered in injuries, and it's much worse than you thought it was. You observe the rest of your body, noting one especially bad wound on your side. Your shakily grab your knife and cut off some cloth to wrap around it. Your vision blurs, making you fumble in the process. You finally got the cloth wrapped around the wound, but now everything felt like it was... spinning. You lost too much blood.
The ringing in your ears, which was distant just a few moments ago, now overtake your thoughts, and everything is cold, so cold. You lay on the floor, resisting the urge to close your eyes, desperately trying to stay conscious. Part of you wants to keep going, even if it meant you had to crawl your way forward, and the other part screams for rest, but if you rested now, you didn't know if you would ever wake up.
Then you see something through your blurred vision, a figure, moving towards you. A flash of blue and white. It looked like the school uniform, but you couldn't be sure. It gets closer.... And the figure looks awfully familiar. Your suspicions were confirmed when Inumaki looked down at you. With only a glance, he knew you weren't okay. He looked worried and frantic. You had never seen him like that before, he was always calm and determined. You smiled weakly, glad to see him again.
You manage to force yourself to speak, your voice hoarse and shaking "Hi.... Inumaki... I'm glad to.. see you"
He put a finger to his lips, trying to tell you to save your energy. He picked you up in his arms, despite he himself being injured. He held your head to his chest and ran faster than you had ever seen him run before.
You look at him, and between coughs, you manage to say it. You manage to tell him you love him. It was weak, but you knew he heard it when he looked down at you with wide eyes. He seemed to run even faster, which you didn't know was even possible. Your eyelids feel heavy, and they start to close.
"Don't die"
The words came out both as a command, and a plead. Your eyes flew open at his hoarse voice. He shouldn't be hurting himself for your sake. Tears started to collect in the corner of your eyes. You both knew his Cursed Speech couldn't create miracles. He held onto you tighter and stifled a few coughs.
Seconds feel like minutes, and minutes begin to feel like hours. You're managing to stay conscious, but everything feels like a blur. You're hazily looking up at Inumaki with unfocused vision. You don't have the energy to think about anything anymore, but his presence keeps you here. His warmth is comforting, and a reminder that you aren't alone.
Although you don't realize it, you got close to where everyone else is. Inumaki managed to run to help. He looks down at you, panting, and he pleads again. "Stay with me" The words echo out, and your eyes gain clarity, before immediately unfocusing again. In that split moment, you realize you're out of the forest.
He calls out to the others with an urgent "Tuna tuna!" to get their attention. You can see him turn back to you, tears forming in his eyes as well.
"Live"
He loses his balance and falls down to his knees, but keeps a firm hold on you. He looks like he wants to say more, but all he can do is cough, and blood trickles down from his mouth. He settles for mouthing the words to you.
' I love you, too '
And as help arrives, your eyes can't stay open any longer, and you drift into unconsciousness.