Chapter Text
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Check his pulse!
Sakura shook herself and hurried closer to Mondo. He hadn’t moved at all. She couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. She stepped around the blood and squatted down next to him. Carefully, she moved his hair out of the way and placed two of her fingers on his neck. Not only did she struggle to find a pulse but his skin felt extremely warm and clammy.
“I need help in here!” she yelled towards the door, “I found Mondo!”
The others came running inside the room and screeched to a halt when they saw what was inside.
“Is he dead?” Ibuki asked.
”I don’t think so, but he’s dying. He’s still warm but I can’t find a pulse.”
”Turn him over,” Peko instructed as she kneeled down to help.
Sakura had no issues doing that but something felt…wrong as she turned the biker over. Yes, he was covered in blood. Yes, he was unconscious and probably not breathing. There was something else, though. She pushed the thought aside.
Peko felt for a pulse. “Does anyone have a mirror?”
”No, but there’s this,” Nekomaru said as he grabbed a spoon and brought it over to her.
She placed the spoon up close to Mondo’s mouth and waited. “…There’s no fog. He isn’t breathing. Someone run and get Mikan. I’ll start CPR.”
Nekomaru immediately ran out of the room.
Peko got into position and placed her hands at the center of his chest…then froze.
”What is it?” Sakura asked.
The swordswoman felt across Mondo’s chest, her expression growing more and more grim. “Give me a knife.”
”A what?!” Ibuki yelled.
“To cut his shirt. I need to see his chest.”
Nagito grabbed a knife off of the counter and handed it to her. “What’s wrong with his chest?”
Without answering, she lifted the front of Mondo’s tank top away from him and cut it down the middle. There was a mix of dry and wet blood on his torso, but there were no visible injuries. Despite the blood, she pressed in on the middle of his chest. His whole sernum seemed to sink in a little.
“You’re pushing too hard!” Sakura warned.
”I’m barely pushing. Try for yourself.”
Hesitantly, Sakura placed her hand where Peko’s had been and gently pushed. Almost immediately, she felt bone shift unnaturally. She pulled her hand back. “What-“
“I’m here!” Mikan yelled as she ran in with a bag of medical supplies. Sakura and Peko moved back as she began to check over Mondo. They told her what they discovered. She felt his chest herself, then checked his wrist, arms, neck, everywhere. Her face was pale by the end of it.
”What happened to him?” Nekomaru asked.
“I…I-I don’t know. With the others, I could guess, but… There’s dislocated bones everywhere, so that would suggest he was beaten or…pulled apart, bu-bu-but there would be indications of that on his skin. He’s still bleeding from the mouth and nose, so there’s internal bleeding and his pulse is incredibly weak-“
”How can we help him?” Sakura pressed.
”…I-I-I…I don’t think we can.”
”What?!”
”I-I-I know that’s my job! I’m s-s-suppose to know. I’m sorry!”
”This isn’t your fault,” Peko said, “There isn’t anything any of us can do.”
”So he just…dies?!” Nekomaru asked.
Mikan was covering her face with her fists and crying. “I-I don’t have the tools to keep him alive and CPR might outright kill him. I would need an x-ray to know for sure. I’m s-s-sorry…”
The room went quiet aside from Mikan’s sobs.
“We make him comfortable,” Gundham finally said, “Until he passes into the next place.”
”His classmates should have the right to say their goodbyes,” Peko said.
Mikan shook her head. “I don’t know if we can move him! That might also kill him.”
”Bringing the injured here would be a greater risk. Maizono might be able to walk here, but the other three that are awake can’t.”
After some debating, it was decided that Mondo would be brought into the downstairs area of the hotel but not up the stairs. A long, flat wooden board was found and Mondo was carefully lifted onto it by Nekomaru and Sakura. As careful as they were, they could still feel his bones shift out of place in their grasp.
”You should be taking it easy, Sayaka,” Mahuri warned, “You don’t want to open your stitches.”
”I know, sorry. I just hate sitting around while everyone else is helping.”
”You are one of the injured. You aren’t supposed to be helping.”
”You could always help me in the kitchen,” Teruteru called.
Mahiru shot a glare at him.
”I’m being serious! I’m short and can’t reach the higher cabinets!”
”I’ll get it,” the Imposter said as he went into the kitchen.
Mahiru turned back to Sayaka. “Have you taken any pain killers recently?”
The singer nodded. “Mikan had the four of us take some before she left with Nidai…Um, he said they found Mondo, right? Shouldn’t they be back already?”
”Well, that depends,” Hifumi spoke up, “They might be in the process of fighting for his life as we speak. Such perilous endeavors can’t be rushed.”
Taka, who was sitting in the bed next to him, somehow went paler.
”I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Sayaka quickly said, “Mondo has been in plenty of fights, right? He knows how to protect himself. I’m sure he’ll walk up those stairs telling the others that he’s fine.”
”You’re probably right,” Taka said, “I shouldn’t doubt our peers and I would never doubt Mondo’s fighting spirit! It’s just…”
”You’re worried. That’s okay. This is a scary situation.”
”They’re back!” Hiyoko called from downstairs.
Taka tried to stand up but couldn’t get his balance.
Mahiru grabbed him and set him back down. “Don’t do that! Just wait, they’ll either bring him up here or he’ll come up himself.“
There was some talking downstairs before Sakura walked up the stairs. Her expression was icy, but she kept her gaze to the floor. “You should all come downstairs.”
”But aren’t the injured supposed to stay up here?” Mahiru asked.
“Normally, but this is an important matter.” She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. “You should say your goodbyes.”
“…To who?” Taka asked.
Sakura remained silent.
”To who?! Is it Mondo?!”
”We should go downstairs,” Mahiru said as she started helping Taka stand up. The moral compass tried to hurry, but she forced him to go slower so he didn’t hurt himself.
Ultimately, Taka and Chihiro had to be carried down the stairs while Sayaka walked by herself. Hifumi remained at the top of the stairs since he felt uncomfortable with the situation.
Mondo had been moved from the board onto a mattress. They tried to lay him comfortably, but it was difficult to tell if he was in pain. He hadn’t moved since they found him.
As soon as he could, Taka sat next to the bed. He remained quiet but his eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were quivering.
”We…can’t save him?” Chihiro asked.
Mikan shook her head. “I don’t know what to do.”
”What happened to him?” the Imposter asked.
“We don’t know that either. We found him in that abandoned building next door.”
The Imposter covered his mouth. “We should’ve checked there sooner.”
”…No…” Taka started quietly, “No, no, he’s not dying! I won’t let him!”
”Taka-“
”I’m not giving up on him!!”
”He isn’t breathing,” Peko said, “He is already in the process of dying. There is nothing any of us can-“
”NO!”
”Taka,” Sakura said firmly, “Honor him. That is what you can do for him now.”
He looked like he wanted to argue more, but he couldn’t figure out what to say. Tears streamed down his face and he gripped his hair where the bandage wasn’t pressing it down.
Chihiro leaned over and gave him a hug.
Everyone remained quiet, either out of grief or respect. Mikan would occasionally check Mondo’s pulse to see if he had passed. Each time, she still felt a heartbeat. Faint, but there. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes.
”Are you sure you’re doing that right? Ibuki thought people couldn’t last this long without breathing.”
”You can’t,” Mikan said, “I…I don’t understand.”
Peko reached over and checked his pulse. Sure enough, she found it as well. “Perhaps he is breathing.”
“Then there’s a chance?” Taka asked desperately.
“Not likely. His body may still be alive but I don’t know if he is.”
”That doesn’t make any sense,” Teruteru mumbled.
Hiyoko sighed deeply. “She’s saying he’s brain dead, moron!”
Unable to hold himself together anymore, Taka started screaming and crying. Everyone else glared daggers at the dancer until she hid behind Mahiru.
After another thirty minutes, it was decided that the search parties needed to keep going while it was still daytime. The others tried to convince Sakura to stay in case Mondo did pass while they were gone, but her mind would not be changed. She said her goodbyes, just in case.
Taka refused to leave Mondo’s side. After crying for so long, he went silent aside from the occasional shaky breath. He kept still and watched over Mondo as though that would keep him alive. Eventually, he leaned forward and laid his head on the mattress.
“Taka,” Chihiro said softly, “You should go lay down upstairs.”
He shook his head.
“You don’t want to make your condition worse. Mondo wouldn’t want that for you, would he?”
No response.
“…At least he’s laying down,” Teruteru mumbled.
Mikan placed her fingers on Mondo’s neck again for what felt like the hundredth time. “Still alive. I haven’t-“ She let out a long yawn. “…seen or felt his chest move. I wish I had a stethoscope to listen for his lungs. I feel so u-u-useless!”
”Hey, you’ve been doing your best,” Ryota said, “You’ve saved so many people already with little rest.”
”He’s right,” Sayaka said, “Thank you, Mikan.”
The nurse blushed but still looked saddened by the situation.
“Ibuki still feels weird about leaving,” the musician said as the search party crossed the bridge to the second island. Everyone had been silent up to this point, aside from agreeing to stick together as one group for the day.
“There wasn’t anything else for us to do,” Nagito said, “We didn’t find him fast enough. We don’t want to make the same mistake again.”
“What are you implying?” Peko asked, “That it is our fault that he’s dying?”
”Not that part, no. But we never checked that building until today. He was probably in there that whole time.”
”But what was the point of putting him in there? So far, everyone else has been relatively easy to find. He was the only one sealed away.”
Nagito shrugged. “I’m not sure. Hopefully our kidnappers can explain themselves soon.”
As the others continued to talk, Sakura remained quiet.
Very few noticed how tightly her fists were clenched.
isimp4mondo (Guest) on Chapter 7 Tue 01 Oct 2024 09:39AM UTC
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Enomas_Thron on Chapter 7 Wed 09 Oct 2024 04:55AM UTC
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