"I think I've run my limits on stupid," Ryouma admitted. He tried not to relax, but it was murderously hard when his shaking muscles took the extra support as a sign that they should attempt to give way completely. He dragged up more chakra he couldn't spare, and had to curl his arm around Kakashi's neck when his other knee wobbled.

"I need caffeine," he decided, and reached for the door to the stairwell. "And no, you didn't kick me that hard. Just taking the free shot I offered you earlier, I guess. I just--that knee's bad, sometimes. Broke it when I was a kid, and it's stiff in the mornings after a bad mission, sometimes." He'd fought hard enough and run far enough to stiffen up sixty old wounds, and collapsing into a coma immediately afterward probably hadn't helped.

They hobbled two steps into the dark stairwell, and Ryouma's outflung hand found the light switch neither of them had bothered to hit on the way up. He looked down at the forbidding flight of stairs, and swallowed another swear word. "If there's a hell, I hope that old bastard's roasting in it. Not you," he added hastily. "That bit wasn't the lie." He took a tentative hop toward the first stair. "I could slide down on my butt?"

And end up with a broken tailbone, like as not. This day just kept getting better. Ryouma sighed, and tipped his head briefly against Kakashi's. "Maybe we should try your option, after all."