With Mikage still on my back, I twisted around and leaned forward to shield her away from the wall.
I refused to let go of the backs of her knees.
Covering Mikage, I angled my right shoulder toward the collapsing ceiling.
The very next instant—
A brutal shock and searing heat tore straight through my right shoulder and into my upper arm.
"—Gh!"
My breath caught.
Even through my shirt, I could feel it. Heat like a burning slab of iron pressed into me, mercilessly scorching my skin.
The falling debris grazed my shoulder before smashing violently against the floor. It had only made contact for a fraction of a second, yet an agonizing ache lingered, as if liquid fire had been pumped deep into my right arm.
My vision blurred.
My knees threatened to buckle.
Even so, there was no way in hell I was dropping Mikage.
Gritting my teeth, I forced my left foot forward and barely kept myself upright.
From behind me came a soft gasp.
"Are you... hurt...?"
"It's nothing."
"But... something just hit—"
"—I'm fine."
My right shoulder burned.
The stench of singed fabric drifted up right beside me. I had neither the presence of mind nor the courage to check what had happened to my skin.
"Please... put me down... You're hurt... aren't you?"
"I'm not."
"You are... I can smell... something burning..."
"That's just the stuff on the floor."
"There's no way... that's it..."
Lacking the strength to finish her thought, Mikage's words dissolved into a cough.
She was crying, yet still frantically worrying about me.
"Just... let me go... Leave me... behind."
"No."
"At this rate... you're going to die too."
"I told you I'm not leaving you behind."
"But..."
Enduring the agony in my right shoulder, I slowly straightened up.
I couldn't put any real strength into the arm supporting Mikage's right leg. The burn seemed to reach past my shoulder down into my upper arm; every time I flexed a muscle, a sharp bolt of pain shot through it.
Even so, if I shifted my grip, she would slide off.
Keeping my right arm hooked behind her knee, I shifted her weight onto my left arm and stood upright.
"Don't worry."
I dragged a raspy voice from the back of my throat.
"It only hurts... a tiny bit. I'm not letting go, so don't worry."
Mikage didn't answer.
Instead, the arms wrapped around my shoulders tightened, hugging me closer. Her cheek, resting against my shirt, pressed firmly into the crook of my neck. Along with her trembling, hot tears soaked against my skin.
"...I'll believe you..."
Her voice was so faint I would have missed it had I not strained my ears.
"I'm scared, but... I'll believe in you..."
Those words breathed strength back into my legs just once more, right when the pain had begun to numb them.
Releasing a thin, ragged breath, I protected my burned right shoulder, focused what little strength I had left into my left side, and threw my weight against the fire door.
The heavy door groaned as it slowly swung open, and a wave of gray smoke billowed through the gap. Just as a coughing fit nearly seized me—
Mingled with the blaring alarms and the roar of the fire, I heard what sounded like voices in the distance.
Someone was shouting a name.
"Did you hear that?"
"...Yeah. A human... voice...?"
"Yeah. Might be the firefighters."
Beyond the door lay a short corridor leading to the stairwell. Though the smoke blocked the far end from view, a white light—distinct from the red emergency lamps—swayed in the distance.
A flashlight, or perhaps a lamp mounted on a firefighter's gear.
"Is someone there?!"
I tried to shout, but my throat was so raw the sound barely carried.
A cough wracked my chest, nearly doubling me over.
"Over... here..."
On my back, Mikage also squeezed out every bit of voice she had left.
"There are two... of us..."
Our cries were swallowed by the alarms and the thunderous din of the building.
Even so, the white light seemed to grow slightly brighter.
They were getting closer.
Holding onto that belief, I stepped forward.
The stabbing pain in my right shoulder had already moved past the sensation of mere heat. Every beat of my pulse sent a throb deep into the wound, draining the strength straight from my arm.
No matter how many breaths I took, the suffocating tightness in my chest wouldn't fade.
The floor felt miles away, and the corridor itself seemed to sway from side to side.
"...Hey."
Mikage called out right beside my ear.
"I hear you."
My voice was so hoarse it startled me.
"Don't... fall asleep..."
"I'm good. I'm still... fully conscious."
"But... your voice is weaker than before..."
"You sound half-asleep yourself. Just keep talking to me."
"...About... what...?"
"Anything."
After a short pause, I spoke.
"What's your favorite food?"
"At a time... like this...?"
"I want to know precisely because it's a time like this."
Mikage thought it over before answering in a faint, halting voice.
"Sweet things... I guess..."
"Like what?"
"Crepes, maybe..."
"I like those too."
"Near the station... a new place opened..."
"Didn't know that."
"If... we make it out... will you go with me...?"
Those words nearly made my feet stop.
A promise for after we got out.
Meeting again somewhere else, sharing a normal moment together free of fire and smoke.
Just picturing it made it feel as though a path stretched out through the darkness ahead.
"Let's go together."
Keeping my eyes forward, I pushed a trace of brightness into my voice so she could hear the smile in it.
"Once the two of us get out, absolutely."
"...That's a promise... okay...?"
"Yeah. I promise."
Mikage let out a soft breath, as if relieved.
Her breath brushing against the nape of my neck was weak, yet still warm.
A moment later, her raspy voice reached my ear again.
"Your name..."
"My name?"
"Tell me... what it is..."
I couldn't answer right away.
Through this smoke, Mikage could hardly see my face. My voice was already raw, sounding completely different from normal.
Even if I gave my name here, I didn't know if she would truly remember it.
More than that, telling her my name right here felt too much like a final goodbye.
"I'll tell you once we're outside."
"Why... can't you tell me now...?"
"If I introduce myself here, it'll feel like a farewell."
"That's not..."
"So ask me outside."
I knew it was a stubborn excuse.
Even so, right now, I didn't want Mikage contemplating the idea that this was the end.
She drew a small breath.
"I might... forget..."
"Forget what?"
"About... you..."
Her voice was so fragile it seemed on the verge of being swallowed by the roar of the fire.
"I can't see your face... and your voice... I can't really tell anymore..."
Her vision was likely clouded by smoke and tears, making it hard to even keep her eyes open.
I had only caught a proper look at her face back when I found her in the break room. Carrying her on my back now, I had no idea what expression she wore.
"It's fine if you forget."
"...No."
"Why?"
"Because... you came to save me."
"We're not saved yet."
"Even so..."
Her forehead pressed a little firmer against my shoulder.
"You made sure... I wasn't alone."
A sudden warmth welled up deep in my chest.
It was nothing like the heat of the fire.
It didn't hurt, and it brought no pain.
Yet right now, I didn't have the luxury to linger on it.
"Then just remember these words."
"Words...?"
"Don't worry."
She went quiet for a moment.
"You've been... saying that the whole time."
"Yeah."
"Over and over..."
"Because I don't know what else to say."
"...You're weird."
A faint chuckle brushed against my ear.
Whether it had been a real laugh, I couldn't tell.
"I'll tell you my name outside. When we go get those crepes."
"...Promise?"
"Yeah. Absolutely."
Mikage's fingers tightened slightly against my shirt.
"Then... don't forget."
"Forget what?"
"The promise..."
"I won't."
Looking straight ahead, I said it with absolute certainty.
"So for now, just focus on my voice."
"...Okay."
With that final reply, Mikage rested her head against my shoulder once more.
Before long, a chorus of voices drifted through the gloom ahead.
Calls for survivors, paired with the hurried rush of boots on concrete.
Mikage must have noticed as well; the arms around my shoulders gave a small tremble.
"...People?"
"Yeah."
I gave a curt nod.
"I hear them."
In that moment, the tension wound tightly in my chest loosened just a fraction.
It wasn't over yet.
But I wasn't alone anymore.
That certainty alone restored a flicker of strength to keep moving forward.
From beyond the white light, a voice boomed out.
"Fire department! Call out if you can hear us!"
This time, the words came through crystal clear.
"Over here—!"
Wringing out every last drop of strength, I shouted at the top of my lungs.
"There are two of us!"
As if catching my cry, the white beam swung violently in our direction.
"Voice confirmed! Stay where you are!"
Firefighters.
We had finally made it.
The cord of tension stretched taut in my chest snapped all at once.
"Did you hear that?"
"...Yeah."
"We're almost safe. You... did great..."
The moment the words left my mouth, the strength drained from my legs.
My balance gave way.
Just before my knees hit the floor, I forced one final surge of effort into both arms to keep from dropping her.
"...Wait. Don't... fall..."
Mikage's voice shook beside my ear.
"I haven't... fallen yet."
"You... promised..."
"I remember. The crepes, and everything after."
"We're going... together..."
"Yeah."
Mikage coughed weakly.
Heavy footsteps closed in, and a bright white beam cut through the smoke, washing over us.
Firefighters in full protective gear rushed forward.
"Two victims located! One conscious with an injury to the right leg. Possible burn on the other's right shoulder!"
Gloves reached out and supported Mikage from behind.
Her arms began to pull away from my shoulders.
"...Wait. This person... too..."
With what little strength she had left, Mikage gripped my shirt.
"It's all right. We're getting you both out," a firefighter said.
"Please... help him first..."
"Another team is right behind us to carry him. Let go and rest now."
"But... he isn't moving..."
"We'll get him out, I swear."
Hearing that, Mikage's fingers gradually slipped loose.
The warmth pulled away from my back.
The moment that weight vanished, my body felt weightless—and all at once, I lost every reason to stay on my feet.
"Don't... forget... the promise..."
Mikage's voice drifted further away.
I had to answer her.
Yet even as I moved my lips, no sound came out.
Through the haze of smoke, Mikage's figure swayed as a firefighter lifted her into his arms. I thought I could see her tear-stained eyes straining to look back at me.
Finally, the tension left my lips.
"I won't forget..."
I didn't know if the words reached her.
Clinging to the last threads of my fading consciousness, I moved my lips one last time.
"Mi... kage... don't... worry."
And with that, the world went black.
◇◇◇
"Don't worry."
That hoarse voice reached my ears in broken fragments.
Immediately after, the body that had carried me all this way went completely limp.
"...Wait..."
Cradled in the firefighter's arms, I reached out with everything I had.
I tried to grab onto the shirt I had been terrified of touching only moments ago. But my fingers caught empty air, and the space between him and me steadily widened.
"Help him... too..."
I thought I shouted, but the words barely registered in my own ears.
"It's all right. Another team is carrying him."
"It's not... all right...!"
My throat burned with fire, and the moment I tried to speak again, a violent cough wracked my body.
Even so, I forced my heavy eyelids open, desperate to keep him in sight.
Beyond the veil of white smoke, his back—frozen on his knees against the floor—swayed in my vision.
The right arm that had supported me the entire time.
From the right shoulder down the sleeve, his shirt was charred black.
He had been lying the whole time.
He hadn't been fine.
It hadn't been nothing.
There was no way he hadn't been terrified.
Yet every time fear overtook me, he said the exact same thing in that exact same voice.
—Don't worry.
The last time he spoke, I felt like there had been other words right before it.
Yet lost beneath the shrill alarms and the roar of the fire, I couldn't remember them now.
I still hadn't learned his name.
He had promised to tell me once we got outside.
He said we would go eat crepes together, and I could ask him then.
For that promise to mean anything, he had to make it out alive too.
"The promise..."
A raspy whisper slipped from my lips.
There was no answer.
Another firefighter knelt beside him, preparing to lift him onto a stretcher.
The moment I saw that, my frayed consciousness began to slip away.
I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer.
The strength drained from my body, and my head slumped against the firefighter holding me.
The last image burned into my narrowing vision was that blackened right shoulder.
The last sound echoing in my ears was the phrase he had repeated over and over.
I didn't know his name.
I didn't even know his face.
Even so, I knew I had to see him again.
I wanted to see him and learn his name, just like we promised.
While sharing crepes, I wanted to ask him one more time why he had saved me.
More than anything, this time I wanted to say it with my own voice.
Thank you.
As darkness closed in, I replayed that voice in my mind again and again.
—Don't worry.
The voice that had kept me from being alone in the most terrifying moment of my life.
Clinging to that voice, my consciousness quietly sank into the dark.