#bravesnipe

Then what happened to Taiga, because of him. It added to the growing pile of things left unsaid between them. Things with Saki, with the Unit, with each other, the emotions. He didn't want to think about that.

It was a lot.

Too much, Hiiro might have thought. But he was distracted by something else, something more important.

He tugged on the door, trying to pull it open. But it didn't budge. Brave placed one foot on the frame beside the door and yanked with all his might. But even with his suit on, the door refused to budge.

He kicked the doorframe.

"That won't help." Snipe commented from nearby, arms crossed over his chest. Being consumed by a Bugster was certainly a new angle, it was almost interesting, if only because it was new. He brought his hand to his belt, triggering his detransformation.

Taiga wanted to see what would happen.

Brave turned towards him quickly, about the chastise him for removing his one layer of protection against the bugster. But he was swiftly silenced by nothing happening to the unlicensed doctor.

Taiga flipped his gashat in his hand before pocketing it. "We probably have to wait for the intern to defeat it from the outside." Taiga reasoned, looking around the room they were trapped in.

It was a large room, a manor's library it looked like. Brave brought his hand to his driver, also detransforming. Hiiro shuddered, it was cold in the room. "There's a fireplace over there." Taiga pointed behind him.

"When did you get so reasonable sounding?"

The older man chuckled, bringing his hand up to run through his hair. "I'm feeling agreeable today." He explained, "almost dying does that to you." He shrugged, hand dropping to his side. Hiiro looked away from him, his words stung more than he wanted to let him know.

Hiiro went to the fireplace, bending down to examine it. There were logs, matches nearby. He could light it, but he wasn't sure. "Is there air coming in under the door?"

"You really think this place obeys the laws of reality?"

The surgeon paused. Then he reached for the matches, striking one. He carefully placed it against the white birch logs. It lit almost immediately, less like real life, more like a game. Hiiro stood up, setting the matches down.

"Likely not, no." He commented, turning to watch Taiga as he browsed some of the books. But when the unlicensed doctor reached to pull one out, his eyebrows furrowed instead. "What is it? Fake books?"

"Fake books," he confirmed. "Bullshit."

Hiiro examined the room, hand sliding up the railing as he went up the stairs that led to more bookshelves. He stopped at the window, arms crossed behind his back. But there was nothing beyond the window, just darkness. Pitch black.

He turned back towards the books. "If this is a game," the surgeon ran his fingers along the spines of some of the worn books, "do you think one of these might open a door?" Video games weren't really his thing, all things considered. But he was aware of some of the basic tropes, if only from listening to the intern shout about them.

Taiga considered the prospect, eyeing the shelves in front of him. "Possible." He contributed. Hiiro rolled his eyes from the floor above him. Very helpful. He started to press against all the books he touched, trying to test his theory.

"Doesn't hurt to try."

Taiga looked up to watch the surgeon press on all the books, he looked focused as he did so. It was almost… Hiiro huffed as he jumped up, not quite tall enough to reach them. "Need help?" Taiga teased from below, earning a glare from the younger doctor.

"I'm fine."

"Uhuh?"

Hiiro huffed, leaning against the railing to look down at him. "Are you going to help?" He questioned, annoyed by the man's inaction. Taiga hummed, then shrugged.

"You have it handled."

Maybe he took back all his earlier thoughts, maybe he did still hate the man, found his very presence an annoyance that needed to be exterminated. Hiiro gritted his teeth, he wanted to do things to that man's stupid smug expression.

There was a crack beneath him but the surgeon didn't have the time to react as the railing he was leaning against splintered and bent beneath his weight. Hiiro yelped as he fell from the second floor of the game library, plunging to the floorboards beneath.

Instinctively he squeezed his eyes shut, not even thinking to try and transform. This would be a stupid way to get injured or worse; die. Especially in front of Taiga. Hiiro could count a billion other ways he would have preferred to go out.

But the collision with the hard floor never came.

Hiiro opened his eyes after a moment, relaxing his tensed body. "You need to be more careful." Taiga was looking down at him, eyebrows furrowed.

Oh.

The surgeon swallowed thickly, his heart raced in his ears as he realised that Taiga had managed to catch him. Strong arms kept him close to the older man's chest, and Hiiro struggled as his mind went blank. He suddenly felt very warm, the chill from earlier completely gone.

He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"You didn't hurt your neck, did you?" Taiga questioned, concerned that he hadn't stopped all of the damage after all. But Hiiro slowly shook his head, cheeks suddenly very red. The unlicensed doctor didn't miss that, how could he? a smirk breaking out on his face.

"You're predictable, little prince."

"Don't call me that."

Taiga pretended to drop him and the surgeon clung to his shirt, eyes widening. The man snorted, giving him a bit of a squeeze. "Don't worry, I'll always catch you when you're about to go off the deep end." There it was again, Hiiro's heart loudly beating in his ears.

The truth was becoming harder to deny, harder to escape and bury. He held feelings for his older former colleague. Feelings that couldn't even begin to compare to the ones he thought he held for Saki. It was becoming undeniable.

A painful realization. She really did deserve so much more than him.

Taiga set him down on shaky legs, but kept his arm around his waist to keep him steady. "You really suck at hiding what's going through your head." He commented simply, and Hiiro pushed him off, holding himself up with flushed cheeks.

"Shut up."

"You can't keep lying to yourself."

"I said shut up."

Taiga scoffed, then he grabbed the man's tie, wrapping it around his fist. He dragged Hiiro up to him, eyes narrowed at him. "The sooner you get over yourself the better you'll feel." Taiga meant it, his words came off as sincere despite their rough edge.

Hiiro looked away from him.

"She would have wanted you to be happy."

He licked his lips. "I know that." He spat, but his words didn't have their usual venom.

Taiga let him go.

"Stop punishing yourself all the time."

"Rich coming from you."

The older man rolled his eyes, "how do you think I know?"

That was fair.

"I'll think about it."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, princeling."

Hiiro grew quiet, contemplative. There was no hiding those things left unsaid, there was no burying his emotions or using Saki as a shield anymore. There was only raw emotions, exposed nerves. There was no ignoring it or not thinking about it.