…The entirety of the restaurant burst out in flames. The force of the flames knocked Caleb onto his back. Milliseconds after he landed, a heavy mass flew out of the restaurant and landed on him, pinning him to the ground. He flailed, momentarily panicked by his inability to get up, before pushing it off. As the adrenaline slowly began to ebb out of his veins, he looked to his side, straight into the burned, bruised face of Adam. In shock, Caleb drew back. As he continued to look upon the charred body, his heart stilled, then fell, torn. He cradled Adam’s head in his lap, shaking so slightly one would barely be able to see it. He should have known not to form connections with one of the hired investigators. Too many had died at this point, all taken in one hideous death after the other, from being crushed, eaten, loss of blood, and so much more. Today he had lost someone to fire. This was not the first time. He steeled himself against his emotions, and reached over to his phone to call someone.
“Caleb! You timeless bastard, how’ve you been? I heard you met up with the new guy we sent recently. Is he driving you insane as I thought he would?”
Caleb almost smiled, reveling in the comfort of the voice of someone he had known for a long time. Despite the familiar comfort though, his sorrow quickly crushed any elation he felt, as the body next to him was a stark reminder of what he had lost. As he opened his mouth to answer the person on the phone, he heard a soft noise on his lap. Looking down, he realized tears were dripping off his chin, landing both on his lap and on the burnt skin of Adam’s face. He realized he was still trembling, the tears still steadily pouring out of his eyes. As he came to the realization, the emotions he had attempted to suppress came back in full force, hammering him with intense guilt, anger, and most of all, anguish. Adam had managed to make a connection to him, despite his best efforts to stay cold with him, and had even comforted him. He had seen too many die, and it wouldn’t end. He had tried to keep the investigators away from him, in order to keep it from hurting, and for the last several he had been successful. So now, when he had finally made a connection, it hurt like it was the first time he had lost someone.
The voice on the phone spoke up, less light and more serious than before.
“Caleb?”
As he opened his mouth to reply, he couldn’t talk. Like all the emotions he was suddenly feeling were bursting out of him. When he finally made a sound, it was an indescribable sound. Purely made up of emotion, after he released it he began to sob, to scream, and to curse the world. The person on the other side was talking to him, but none of it was getting through. Caleb was gone, lost to the emotions that engulfed him, letting them pour out of him in a vicious rush of sound, until something touched his hand. Looking to his hand, he saw it was engulfed in another’s.
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A scratchy, pained voice spluttered.
“Would you mind? I’m sort of drowning here.”
Caleb looked down to see Adam’s eyes open, a reassuring, slightly pained grin on his face. Caleb let out a sob, before dropping his phone and embracing him.
…
Ten minutes ago, Adam watched the jug of water begin to tumble down toward the vat of boiling oil, and as it did, time began to slow, and Adam felt himself lifting away from his body.
“So is this what it means to have your life flash before your eyes?” Adam thought to himself, “because I really don’t see anything other than my own imminent demise. I was sure my life was slightly more entertaining than this.”
Around him time slowly came to a standstill, as the jug, along with every noise and movement came to a sudden halt. Adam, confused, viewed the scene of his incoming death with annoyance. There were so many tables he could have used to keep the worst off of him, even the counter where the cashiers would have stood was better than being out in the open as he was. He cursed his shortsighted-ness.
“Schist! If only I had moved behind that counter I would have been fine! …Well hindsight’s 20/20 I…”
Something caught Adam’s eye. He shifted his head, looking left and right. He had sworn he had seen movement just a moment before. Then suddenly, another movement caught his eye. He had caught it this time! A slight shift in the muscles of his legs.
Feeling suddenly hopeful, he yelled out.
“Go go! Get out of the fire! Go!”
The silence that followed was suddenly incredibly awkward, and he buried his head in his hands in embarrassment.
“Oh geez, thank schist no one was around to see that.”
Suddenly, he looked up to see his body also covering its face in its hands. Blushing as severely as he was. So why had it moved? What made it similar to the incident before? As he pondered this, suddenly, something was different. The utter silence encompassing him was broken. As he looked up, he suddenly panicked. The jug was still slowly falling, but he had no control over his body yet!
In his panic, as if talking to someone else, he screamed.
“Get out of the way you idiot!”
His body dove forward, as he blacked out.
…
Adam was hugged by the sobbing Caleb, tears soaking the remains of his shirt, and his arms pinned to his side. Which meant Adam was helpless to the phone falling toward his face, landing with more weight than he thought possible. Still, he was glad to be alive, despite the immense pain he was feeling. Hugged by the small person, he slowly faded into unconsciousness, in immense pain, but alive, despite the attempt by the isekai initiative.