Page 59 of Mercy Written in Blood

"What happened?"

He could not answer.

"Haruki."

"I'm fine."

The lie came automatically. Reina made a broken sound between a laugh and a sob.

"You look terrible."

"I've looked worse."

"No, you haven't."

The paramedics lifted the trolley into the ambulance. Reina tried to follow. One blocked her.

"Family only."

"I am his family."

The man looked at Haruki. Haruki forced his eyes open.

"She comes."

Reina climbed inside. Ken stopped at the doors.

"I'll follow with the others."

Haruki nodded once. The movement made the world spin. The doors closed. The ambulance pulled away.

Reina took Haruki's hand. Her fingers were warm. His felt distant.

"Stay awake," she said.

"Everyone keeps saying that."

"Then listen."

"I usually do."

"No, you don't."

The siren began. Takamori passed beyond the windows in fractured flashes — streetlights, tower blocks, temple roofs, ordinary people turning to watch the ambulance race through the city. Haruki thought of the chamber burning beneath them. The journal. The names written inside it. Renji Takahara. He tried to hold onto the thought. It slipped away.

The paramedic called his blood pressure. Another cut through what remained of his shirt. Reina tightened her grip.

"Haruki."

He looked towards her. She was crying openly now. He wanted to tell her not to. He wanted to apologise. He wanted to say he had done what he was supposed to do. Instead, all he managed was:

"Jun?"

"Alive."

"Takeda?"

"Alive."