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Entry tags:
OPEN
Characters: Open
Location: Death City, Clinic
Rating: PG
Time: Jan 17 onward
Description: Missions 151 and 152, crossposted to LJ
The clinic is a buzz of activity from beginning to end, with the doctors and their staff preparing everything that could be needed by their agents in Europe, and clearing away the unnecessaries. Food is cooked large-scale because no one will have time to do it later, and hospital supplies are moved around to make more space for beds.
Shibusen's scouts and supportive agents are in charge of dragging the wounded back to Death City, and they come and go for random errands. The atmosphere is understandably tense, and things don't get better when the first of the injured are brought in.
[ ooc: Just pop up with your thread(s) in the post. Please follow this format in the subject header: [Characters][Date and Time][OPEN/CLOSE] ]
Location: Death City, Clinic
Rating: PG
Time: Jan 17 onward
Description: Missions 151 and 152, crossposted to LJ
The clinic is a buzz of activity from beginning to end, with the doctors and their staff preparing everything that could be needed by their agents in Europe, and clearing away the unnecessaries. Food is cooked large-scale because no one will have time to do it later, and hospital supplies are moved around to make more space for beds.
Shibusen's scouts and supportive agents are in charge of dragging the wounded back to Death City, and they come and go for random errands. The atmosphere is understandably tense, and things don't get better when the first of the injured are brought in.
[ ooc: Just pop up with your thread(s) in the post. Please follow this format in the subject header: [Characters][Date and Time][OPEN/CLOSE] ]
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He didn't speak. But he was there.
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She jolted a little eyes widening. Kenshin was here. Of course he was here--but how long had he been there? Was it noticable--she didn't want to worry him--
--Kaoru smiled.
It wasn't the biggest smile since her lip was split but it was as light as she could make it, smiling down at him.
"I was about to go looking for you! It's really crowded in here, huh." She was still sitting on her hands.
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He let his hand slip from her temple and cup her cheek, more tender than he would usually dare to be around others; because right now Kaoru needed him, and Kenshin needed Kaoru. But that was only for an instant before he let his hand drop, rocked back on the balls of his feet, and crossed his arms over his knees.
It was all too easy to smile in return.
"It was a bit of trouble finding you, indeed it was—I nearly felt like I was going to be trampled..."
He'd also had to make a quick escape from a nurse who demanded to give him a going-over to check for injury; she was probably still searching for him somewhere.......... He checked over his shoulder.
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But then he went to cup her face, and her eyes lifted, her hand slowly sneaking from under her to come out, trembling as it started to rise from her hip, only to feel him let go, once more going back to her side, fingers shaking slightly as glanced down at him.
"G..Gomen.. I guess my face frightened her so bad she dragged me straight off--haha.." She trailed off her laugh a bit weak--before she noticed him check over his shoulder.
"..If you're hurt somewhere--you should let them treat you, Kenshin." She added quietly, concern in her blue eyes.
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She was starting to stammer, her laugh was forced, and he could tell she was holding back trembling; Kaoru looked as though she was about to go into shock. Slowly, gently, he drew out the hand she had clenched back at her side and uncurled her fingers, holding it in both of his.
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Plop.
"I --I should probably..." She tried to speak but the words felt stuck in her throat.
Plop.
"A-and I --" Suddenly she couldn't see anything- as she realized that tears were spilling from her eyes as she talked, her other hand shakingly going to the side of her bruised face.
Plop. Plop.
"Huh? Oh.." She laughed a little as she realized, trying to laugh it off as she stared at his hands--his kind hands--always there to support her.
For a minute she stared dumbfoundedly, her eyes wide as a few more tears rolled down her cheeks.
Her other hand went to grip the side of his left hand, to stop the shaking--
"I..--" She broke off, before she lowered her forehead onto the tops of his hands, her shoulders trembling. She clung tightly to those hands. They were all that mattered in the world. Those hands and that person.
They were all she needed--they were all that could comfort her.
"--I'm sorry."
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It would be so easy to make things worse for how she felt: mentioning lives she saved might make her think of lives she couldn't save, but she also had to focus on that rather than the images she had to be seeing just then. She had wielded her sword to protect the people of Vienna, not wielded it in the night as an assassin.
And yet with the shock she had to be feeling, there was likely nothing he could say at all that would soothe her, and all she needed was for someone to hold her, someone to be with her.
He clenched his jaw. Flashbacks of his own were difficult to hold off in situations like this; all the single battles he'd had to do had been nothing like the melee battles of the Bakumatsu in which he'd participated. He'd been able to feel his past rising, even the Battousai niggling on the back of his mind—not helped in any way by the madness wavelength he could feel in the air, in the panicked crowds—but he'd been able to crush all of that down in the constant reminder of his answer: protect those before you with all your heart.
There was still a part of him that threatened to return his memories to the battlefield; but a bigger part of him Kaoru needed. And so Kenshin remained calm, held her tightly and closely and wouldn't let go.
"Kaoru, there are people who would not be alive today were it not for you. Your father... would be very proud."
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As he moved to sit beside her, her mind sharply protested. Kenshin --he knew war better than anyone. He had been the Hitokiri Battousai after all--she should be the upright one--she should be asking him if he's alright--she should be wordlessly slipping her hand into hers, wrapping her arms around him--
But instead she was wordlessly staring up at him with tears blinding her vision as he uttered that simple sentence.
Your father would be very proud..
A strangled sound escaped her throat, as her hands fell from her face, slack at her sides as she stared blankly ahead, tears rolling down her face.
"...--F..Father..--Father.." The words were choked as Kaoru finally let go, and her injured head sagged against his shoulder, the tears rolling down her cheeks as she sobbed. It was as much a griefstricken sob as it was a overwhelming sense of relief and horror mixed together.
Horror at what she had seen--horror at herself for being reduced to this mess while the man who had seen more war than a lifetime should ever see was holding her instead.
Relief--that she had done honor to her Father's memory--all of it pressed down hard on her lungs so much that she found it hard to breathe, as she buried her face into the side of his gi.
"..Idiot---Kenshin--I should be the one...h-here for you right now--so why are you letting me get your gi all wet---you're such an..i-idiot.." She laughed shakily, the tears silently rolling down her face.
After a few minutes of choked crying, Kaoru's voice came from his shoulder:
"Father is...is gone. He's been gone..for so long. And a lot of people--are also gone today. But Kenshin--you aren't. You're here--so I--I've got to pull myself together." She pulled back, her cheeks flushed, eyes brimming with tears.
"..Because--it's a lot harder for you than it is for me, isn't it? " She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, as she managed a bruised smile.
"..I want... to be strong so you can use my shoulder from now on--.." A sniff escaped her as she hid her face in her sleeve, wiping her eyes again.
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"No," he said quietly, "it is enough for this one to let you cry. Kaoru doesn't have to be anything more than she already is."
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Her quiet sobs continued; muffled as they were.
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"There you are."
"Oro?!?" He turned (still keeping a good grasp on Kaoru) and came face to face with the nurse who had been attempting to check him over for injury.
"I'm not about to let you risk an infection—what are you doing?!"
He didn't respond; his eyes grew instead. "Ororororo........"
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Kaoru offered a placating smile to the nurse, as best as she could with a wet and very battered face. "Sorry about that--he gets lost real easily. I'm sure he didn't mean to wander off, right Kenshin?" Her hand slid behind his back to give a threatening tug to his ponytail.
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"No, no—oro. This one is not injured, indeed I am not, there are others much worse off—"
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"My goodness--what did you do to yourself? Best to hide yourself for a few days with this mess." Kaoru's hand dropped from Kenshin's ponytail and you could almost hear the creaking of her teeth grinding together as her smile turned feral.
"Excuse me? " The growl that came from Kaoru's mouth was impressive as her right eye began to twitch. "I think maybe you should give yourself a check up ma'am, all those circles under your eyes! Are you taking care of yourself?"
The nurse suddenly loomed over Kaoru, whose poor face was twisted in a smile more like a fearsome grimace.
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"She's fought very hard, that she has. I think it would be better if we got some fresh air now. Pardon us...."
And he had pulled Kaoru to her feet and was steering her rather forcefully away. Better to leave before something exploded.
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But alas, his grip was on her ponytail and that was Kaoru's Achille's heel. So Kaoru could only growl curses at the woman as she struggled.
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And so he continued towing her towards the door, ignoring all the heads turning in their direction.
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"What are you looking at? " She huffed; protesting just as much. "My face is perfectly fine! You try getting hit by a monster five times your size! See how you like it! " More curses, more growls but it was fruitless, considering that she was still being towed by the rurouni.
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But it was only a moment, and he turned back to Kaoru with the same silly smile on his face as before.
"I think it's better out here, don't you?
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The fact he wouldn't face her for that instant?
That was a slip. Her eyes narrowed, innocent as they were they had a level of shrewdness that somehow came naturally when it came to the man she had opened her home to.
..Something's wrong. Is it about today? Or is it something else..--I've got to act together or I won't find out.
Was all she thought, as Kaoru turned and glanced up at the cold wintery sky, and she found the lump in her throat returning. This wouldn't do--she was thinking of the day again and being in the city didn't really help.
She'd go home with Rangiku and she'd drag her off to do something ridiculous and she'd feel better. (Right?)
Kaoru wasn't sure it really was better. Frankly it was uncomfortable being in the city.
"..Away from that nurse? You bet. It's her lucky day, that's for sure." She retorted, but her smile was lighter than the forced one from minutes before.
"You'd think she'd seen a split lip before--honestly!" She continued, crossing her arms. Inwardly she was waiting for another slip. So she could be sure.