The black sedan roared down the highway like a bullet, the engine groaning as the wheels ate up the distance.
A little Pikachu doll dangled from the dashboard, swaying wildly with every bump, its small smile jarringly out of place in the chaos inside.
Arvia sat in the back seat, bent over, both hands pressed hard against Satteus's back. Her palms were soaked, sticky, trembling.
Blood had soaked through his shirt—dark, heavy patches that only seemed to grow by the second. The car seat beneath them was warm and wet, squelching faintly every time she shifted.
" hic... sob.... S-Stop bleeding... please... just stop..."
Her voice cracked again.
Her fingers tried to plug the wounds—like trying to catch water from a broken pipe—but the blood kept coming. Hot. Thick. Unforgiving.
"N-no.... You're bleeding... Satteus, you're bleeding so much!" she wailed, her voice high, shaking, as her chest rose and fell in small gasps.
"Dad! Drive fast! DAD, PLEASE!"
The wind outside screamed past, trees and traffic blurring like ghosts.
From the front, her father didn't say a word—jaw locked, both hands gripping the steering wheel tight.
His eyes flicked between the rearview mirror and the road. Focused. But inside, he was also panicked.
Arvia didn't see him. She couldn't.
She could only see Satteus—his face tilted toward her slightly, pale and drenched with sweat, yet still...
Still calm.
"I-It's fine," he said softly, his voice rough and slow, as if it took too much effort just to speak. "You're okay... that's... that's what matters..."
"No! You're not fine!" she shouted, her fingers curling into fists, hitting his chest lightly, hands trembling as if she were electrocuted and was personally feeling his pain to her core. "You're not! Don't say that—look at you!"
Tears streamed from her eyes again. Her breathing was ragged, her whole body shaking like a leaf in a storm.
She leaned forward, her forehead pressing to his shoulder, her cheek resting beside his ear.
From that close, his eyes caught the teardrops which were even reflecting his face, observing her pink eyes which had now become more reflective. He saw his own reflection within them, making him for a moment avert his gaze as he felt that indeed, those eyes should just hold his reflection, no one else's.
"Satteus..." she whispered, as if saying his name would keep him here. "You idiot... you stupid, stupid... idiot..."
Her lips trembled, her eyes teary, and she bit her own lip while looking toward the blood drenching his shirt. Her mind replayed the moment where she fell from the stairs.
"Haah.... Haah...." Indeed she was having a hard time breathing. Her allergy had resurfaced. She couldn't breathe oxygen as much as needed. Yet she was keeping herself together on sheer will knowing that he was in more pain than her.
It was hard for her to breathe, even though the windows of the car were closed, and she could not tell her dad about her allergy knowing that the priority would be to save Satteus. She held herself together.
It wasn't evident due to her tears, but her breathing was broken. Her chest was heaving too loudly, taking lungfuls of air only for her own ribs to hurt.
Yet she held, looking at his wounds.
"I was just dizzy... I could've handled it... but you... you threw yourself—"
Her throat closed up. Arvia gasped, her deep breathing causing her mind to slowly protect itself by processing things slower due to the lack of oxygen reaching her brain.
"Heuk.... N-no.." Again she told herself to not fall right now, not lose consciousness just yet. Even though she was fighting her own pain, this wasn't the time she could just sleep, leaving him to suffer alone.
And.... wake up, not finding him near her ever.
She couldn't finish her thoughts of losing him.
Not because there was love.
But simply because they were childhood friends.
She lifted her head again, looking at the blood soaked into her jeans, her shirt, her hands. The sticky warmth was everywhere. Her breath caught.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
He was supposed to tease her. Make fun of her when she got dramatic. Pack her bag like always. Hear her say something stupid in the morning every day and act unbothered and uncaring like he always did.
He wasn't supposed to lay here. Silent. Bleeding. Weak.
"Satteus... stay with me, okay?"
She shook him gently.
"Don't close your eyes. Please. Just keep talking. Talk to me."
"Mmhm..." he breathed, a small smile tugging at the edge of his lips. "You... you're loud, Arvia... always... so loud..."
"Y-you punk—" Her stammering voice, accompanied by a sudden chuckle due to him, wasn't able to fully bloom before she was cut off mid-sentence.
And just like that, something went wrong.
There wasn't a warning. No time to prepare. Just a high-pitched sound—metal screeching, ugly and sharp, tearing through the inside of the car.
SKREEEEE—
Everything shook. The car jumped. Her body swung sideways, her hands still pressed against Satteus's back like instinct, blood slipping through her fingers, but her mind was no longer on that—just the sudden, horrible shift in the world around her.
"W-what was that!? What's happening!?" she said, the words falling out in a gasp.
And then her father's voice—tight, loud, trying to stay calm but clearly not—"The brakes! The brakes aren't working!"
She didn't understand at first. Her heart just dropped. She couldn't breathe.
Then she saw it.
The truck.
Big. Fast. Right in front of them.
Too close.
Her dad twisted the steering wheel—way too fast—and the tires screamed.
THUMP—BANG!
They slammed into the divider. The car bounced and—
Lifted.
The car literally went airborne.
Everything stopped making sense.
Her chest floated up. Her hands slipped. Her legs kicked forward uselessly. She wasn't in her seat anymore—she was weightless. Falling upward. Her hair floated over her face, and the whole world outside the window spun like a nightmare.
Glass twisted. Light flashed.
In the half-broken mirror to the side, she caught a glimpse of her face. Her pink eyes—round, wide, terrified—stared back at her like she was a stranger. Her mouth was half-open, breath caught, but no scream came out.
She was still frozen when her head slammed up toward the ceiling. Her hand flew up just in time, her wrist smashing into the roof with a painful crack that shot through her whole arm.
And then—
THWUMP!
The airbags in front exploded open.
Her dad slammed back in his seat.
The car kept turning.
She was mid-air.
Thrown.
The front seat rushed toward her, and she opened her mouth to scream—"Dad!"—but she didn't reach him. She wasn't going to. She was going to crash into the back of his seat, her face, her body—
But she never hit.
"ARVIA!!"
It happened so fast, she barely processed it.
Satteus moved.
Somehow.
Even with his wounds, even half-conscious, he moved. Grabbed her. Pulled her back. Slammed into her, wrapping his arms around her like a wall between her and everything else.
She felt his chest against her side, his breath on her cheek, shaky and weak and real. His voice cracked as he yelled her name like it was the last word in his throat.
Even now.
He was still trying to protect her.
Even falling.
Even dying.
Her head turned slightly, eyes glassy and shaking, and through the cracked glass beside her she saw his face. Bloody. Pale. Determined. Still him.
He looked at her like he was sorry.
Like he had no choice.
And then—
His body shifted again.
He grabbed the handle behind her.
And with one last push—
he threw her.
Literally shoved her out of the open door, as though it was the only move left.
She didn't want to go. She hadn't even realized what he was doing until her shoulder hit cold air. Then everything spun again. Her legs caught the edge of the door, her arm hit metal, and suddenly she wasn't in the car anymore.
She was out.
Flying.
Falling.
THUD!!—SKRRRRHH—
She hit the ground hard. Her back cracked against the road. Her head snapped to the side. Her leg twisted weirdly. Her hands scraped open as she rolled once, twice, then finally stopped, the world spinning around her.
Her cheek pressed to the pavement. Her breath came in gasps.
Everything stung. Her arms. Her side. Her head.
Was she bleeding? She couldn't even tell.
Her vision blurred.
The sky looked too bright.
The air smelled like hot rubber and blood.
She blinked slowly, trying to lift her head just enough.
And there it was.
The car. Wrecked. Smoke rising. One door still open. Flames flickering underneath.
One of the wheels spun slowly, like the world didn't care.
Her throat made a sound—just air.
"...N...no..."
Her voice cracked. She reached out, hand trembling, her mouth trying to form something—
"...Da—"
BOOOOOOM!!
The car exploded in front of her.
The blast lit up the whole sky. The heat smacked her in the face like a wave. Fire climbed up into the air, orange and violent. Pieces of metal shot out, some landing near her feet.
The light reflected in her eyes which soon lost consciousness and shut the outside world into darkness.