After the Dance [Req. Medic] [medical thread]

[Suzuki Setsu]

Tama sat in the waiting room at the Aesculapium, thankfully the staff had given her some spare clothing to replace the overly fluffy, frilly mess that she had arrived in. The desk staff had informed her to simply wait, and when a med-nin was available they would come get her. So she sat and waited, the waiting gave her some time to think, how would she repair the Shiri-tan's gift, how would she explain the severely damaged kimono, how was she going to handle the Shogun's sudden betrothal to Queen Nekomimi? These were the questions that ran through her mind as she sat and waited for her turn to get inspected by a certified Med-nin. It had been midday when she arrived, just how long were they gong to make her wait? Usually, Tama would have been up in arms about 'not treating the star performer of the Mochizuki Troupe with the respect she deserved' but at this juncture in time she was too wrapped up in her thoughts to feel impatient.

[Topic Entered - Medical Checkup from Dance on the Iron Throne]
MFT
WC: 177

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Out of nowhere Kitsune appeared right behind Tama, and tapped her on the shoulder. ”Mochizuki-san? Follow me if you please~” she said in a chipper voice, being in a good mood due to having just eaten lunch. She led Tama to one of the check-up rooms not too far from the waiting area, and sat down in the chair opposite the bed and swiftly flipped through Tama’s medical journal. ”I suppose it’s my turn to help you out, Mochizuki-san~” Kitsune said and smiled ”Remember? You were the one that greeted me at the gate where I didn’t have any papers.”

She gestured for Tama to sit down on the bed so she could give the younger kunoichi a check-up. ”So tell me, any discomforts? Pains? Issues maybe? Anything you’d like me to take a closer look at?” Kitsune asked and rolled her chair closer to the bed, so she could begin the examination of Tama’s body, checking for broken bones, bruises, and other minor issues there could be.

[OOC: Sorry for not seeing this earlier Tama-chan.]

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

"Ah, Kicchan," Tama responded, completely unaware that her nickname sounded uncannily like that of a room many women were asked in varying degrees of politeness to remain in. "Er, sorry about that." Tama made a slightly embarrassed bow as the med-nin led her into one of the check-up rooms. "About not knowing who you were and all, I didn't know you were important or famous and stuff like that."

When they entered the check-up room Kitsune inquired as to her bodily health. Tama thought for a bit and said, "Well it hurts to move. Since I got back from Shiri-tan's bir--, ahem, my last mission, I've been favoring my right leg. It was a pain getting to the hospital, since I had to walk." She proffered her right foot for inspection. Kitsune would see that it had swollen considerably compared to her left, and that the only thing that had prevented it from swelling further was that Tama had not removed her shoes since returning to the village. She really didn't have a chance to as she had headed directly to the hospital after her return, but that may have worked in her favor this time.

"I can put weight on it, but it hurts quite a bit," Tama continued, "It feels like every muscle in my body is on fire too, though that's probably because I might have, just maybe, slightly overdid it last night." When the inevitable question came Tama responded, "I used some fighting techiniques differently than intended. They were designed for one on one combat, but I modified them to hit five people at the same time. it was kind an improv performance though, so I didn't really have time to make sure I could do it safely." Not to mention, I kinda lost control in my defense of Shiri-tan, but there's no need to mention that. "One of them landed a sweep kick on me mid-attack, so it wasn't a flawless performance. But all the cuts healed up already! So it's not all bad." It was true, the minor lacerations would be barely visible to Kitsune's trained eyes, but anyone not medical trained wouldn't believe that only mere hours ago the main branch chuunin had been covered in cuts and bruises from her earlier battle. But Tama had always recovered from injuries quicker than others, including her near-fatal chest injury when she was shot by the missing-nin Hayata Makoro.

As Kitsune went about her work, Tama fidgeted nervously for awhile before asking, "Hey Kicchan, do you also do life counseling? It's not important if you don't, it's nothing too pressing."

[OOC: Don't worry about it, Tama might be impatient, but I can wait a long while for stuff.]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

”Oh don’t worry about that” Kitsune said with a smile ”It all got sorted out in the end, so it’s all good. I was the one without papers after all.” As Tama described the pain she was experiencing, it sounded to Kitsune that she might have twisted her ankle, sprained it, or worse, broken it. ”Hmm. This looks rather swollen, but let’s give it a look, shall we?” Kitsune said as she removed Tama’s right shoe so the ankle and foot could be allowed to swell up. ”Now this might hurt a little, but bear with it, I need to examine your foot and ankle closer to find out if it’s just twisted, sprained, or if it’s actually a fracture.”

Kitsune let her hands do the dirty work, and prodded and touched Tama’s foot, to try and discover if there was actually any clear signs of a fracture. Because if it was just a twisted, or sprained ankle all it needed was an ice pack to make the swelling go down, and a healing hand. ”On fire, huh? Sounds like you’ve overexerted yourself in a grand fashion. How’d you do it?” Kitsune inquired her patient as she put an icepack onto Tama’s foot and ankle.

As Tama told her story, Kitsune listened and as Tama mentioned cuts, Kitsune decided to take a closer look. ”I’ll have a closer look at the cuts, just to be on the safe side.” she explained and removed her contact lenses, revealing her Sharingan eyes that soon would change into the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, increasing Kitsune’s visual accuracy by widths and lengths, allowing her to see even the most minute of details. ”Okay then. Time for a closer look.” she said before looking close at Tama’s skin and discovering that the cuts were indeed almost completely vanished from sight. ”A fast healer, eh? Not entire unfamiliar to me, I do that myself.” Kitsune said with a giggle and let her eyes go back to their default Sharingan state and reinserted her lenses.

”Life counseling? I’m not specialized in psychology and such, but I do have my fair share of experience in the field. Anything you need to get off your chest Mochizuki-chan?” Kitsune asked her patient, having ditched the more formal san, for the more informal chan, due to Tama’s little nickname for Kitsune.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Tama winced slightly as the shoe was pulled off with minor difficulty. Kitsune's investigation would reveal the cause of Tama's main concern to be a moderately severe sprain. Tama was lucky, if her ankle had been broken, the journey back to kumogakure would have been not only more painful, but also might have caused further complications with healing.

As far as the life counseling went, Tama fidgeting some more before speaking. "So someone I know told someone they like and respect very, very much how she felt. And to her surprise, that person felt the same way. But since this person that I know is a shinobi, and the person she likes is the Sho--, um nobility, things got a little complicated. It turns out that the person she likes, had a marriage plan arranged for him, so he had a fiancee. And then all of a sudden the Que--, ahem, some foreign noble, proposed marriage to him in order to form an alliance between their two coun--, um families. And to make matters more complicated, the guy is being really indecisive," at this point Tama voice started to quake and rise in volume, "and he said that he kind of feels bad for Kurumi, because she was 'promised' to marry him, and then he was making googly-eyes at Queen Nekomimi, all when he said that he liked me. Shiri-tan said he liked me, so why doesn't he look only at me? He even kissed me, so why does he still look at the other girls? Why? What do they have that I don't? Why are they better than me?" Tama stared at Kitsune, eyes beginning to well with tears, completely forgetting that she was trying to hide anything (albiet she wasn't really doing a good job of it in the first place). "And I never got to give him his birthday present, what if he hates me now because I forgot to give it to him?" at this point she started crying profusely.

That was the real thought that had been bugging her, it was stupid, she knew that. Shiranai, the Shogun, was not so petty a man that he would instantly disown someone over a forgotten birthday present. But being in the presence of not one but two rivals who not only had the pretty bishoujo looks, but both had the grace, power, and wealth that came with being nobility. Something that Tama would never have, being born and raised in the performance troupe. And it bothered her, the only thing she had on them was that she was the only one that Shiranai had confessed feelings to, but what if he changed his mind, her position by Shiranai was not secure, and with Chancellor Ami pulling the strings behind the throne, it looked like it would stay that way, for now.

How would Kitsune handle the crying hysterics of a love-struck teenage girl, who still had a very child-like mentality and temperment? This emotional damage was probably more serious than any physical trauma Tama had sustained.

[MFT]

WC: 524

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune listened closely to what Tama was telling. It was quite obvious from the get go, that Tama was in fact talking about herself, because her story started with “Someone I know…” and she kept correcting herself and stopping herself in the middle of a word. ‘Sho’ would’ve been Shogun as she corrected it to nobility. ‘Que’ would’ve been queen, again due to nobility, this time only foreign, which was underlined even more when Tama corrected ‘coun’ to families. Finally, when Tama broke down, Kitsune was proven right, and it was indeed about her, and apparently the Shogun, the Queen of a foreign country, and a another noble as well. All in all, a huge clusterfudge of feelings and politics.

”Even if you didn’t get to give him his birthday present, I highly doubt that he’d hate you for it Tama-chan.” Kitsune said and hugged the younger kunoichi tightly. ”You have to remember, while you might not be nobility like the other two, you’re a kunoichi. And. Our dear Shogun used to work here in this very hospital, as a med-nin. He knows what it’s like. And I’m sure he appreciates all the hard work you do for him, as well as the country itself. Other than that, remember, he’s our country’s leader; that means he’s likely under more pressure than any of us.”

She placed a hand on Tama’s head and then continued ”The next chance you get, give him the present. Tell him how you feel. And more importantly, don’t give him a reason to think you’re a clingy yandere. That’ll only end up horrible for everyone involved. You said that he had told you that he liked you, I’m sure he’ll stand by those words. Being the Shogun, I’m sure that he’s being manipulated from behind the scenes, as that’s how politics usually tend to work.” Kitsune said and sighed before shaking her head. ”I should know. I have to deal with it. Being a Baroness, and all.” she added and removed her hand from Tama’s head.

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Tama stared at her foot as she reflected on what Kitusne said, “Is it bad that I want him all to myself? I get this upset when I think of him with those other girls, am I being selfish? I don’t want to share him.” Tama seemed to be on the verge of crying again when she realized what Kitsune had said, and the shock of it caused her stifled sobbing to cease.

“Kicchan is a baronness?” Tama wondered out loud. “How do they let you be both nobility and shinobi? They made Shiri-tan stop being a shinobi.” Tama sniffled and looked around for a tissue or something to blow her nose on before continuing, “Since you’re nobility, maybe you can tell me. What exactly is a concubine, Kicchan? Is it normal for nobility to have them? Will Shiri-tan have them? Amicchi said something about becoming a concubine, but Barfight-sennin said to never agree to that. But he never told me what it was. Amicchi said it was almost like being married to Shiri-tan, but I don’t think I could settle for ‘almost.’” While Tama was not completely lacking in common sense, she was ignorant about a few of the practices of the nobility. In her family, she had been taught that a married couple was together for life, and that you could only ever marry one person. Tama had simply assumed that the entire world worked like that. And so she hadn’t really thought about what Chancellor Ami had tried to make her become, because it confused her. Kitsune was a noble though, so she might be able to tell her.

Tama stared at Kicchan intently to hear her response.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

As Tama reflected upon the words said, Kitsune gave her another tight hug, trying to help the younger woman make sense of it all, and hopefully help her process it. ”It’s normal to want the person your heart yearns for all to yourself. And there’s nothing selfish about it at all.” she said and caressed Tama’s back. When Tama realized that she had just been told that her doctor was actually a noble herself, she had to ask, and Kitsune’s reply came swiftly. ”Indeed I am.” she said and then went on to answer Tama’s other question.

”Well, his case is different. He’s the leader of our entire country. I’m ‘just’ a Baroness, owner of a small province. And, I’ve got my family to take care of things out there, while I handle the shinobi related matters here in Kumo.” Kitsune said and handed Tama a tissue so she could blow her nose. Then, Kitsune got bombarded with questions, and she decided to answer them one at a time. ”Well… A concubine is… Someone in a relationship – that’s usually matrimonially and sexually oriented – With someone else that can’t marry them. Whether it’s because of social status or already having a wife is kinda irrelevant. Some nobles have them, others don’t. I for one don’t condone the practice, but that might be because I don’t see a point in it.”

Kitsune took a short breath before continuing: ”I don’t know if he’ll have them, but it’s likely if Ami-san is pulling his strings from the shadows. And I can see why Takaki-san said not to agree to it. Now that you know what it is, I hope you understand as well.”

[MFT; WC: 280]

 

[Suzuki Setsu]

Kitsune’s hug reminded Tama of her mother. She would do stuff like this to calm her down when she threw tantrums or cried when she was younger. It was a nostalgic feeling, and Tama greatly appreciated the gesture. She was just happy that no one else saw her getting mothered.

Upon finally being told what exactly a concubine was, Tama’s face turned bright red. “Ami-san w-wanted me t-to d-do that! It’s t-too soon for stuff like that. That’s only f-for people w-who l-love each other! H-having m-multiple wives is like breaking the rules!” What really confused Tama was that deep down, a part of her was okay with that kind of situation. If it meant I could be with Shiri-tan, went that part of her heart.

“N-no way, I don’t want that, not at all. I want to be his only wife, or not at all. I don’t want to share him!” Kitsune said it was okay, that it was normal to want to be the only person in his life. She blew her nose, loudly. And then reached for another tissue. She seemed to have calmed down a bit. “Then is it alright if I ask him to make a decision? I feel that Ami-san is purposely keeping us girls around Shiri-tan to make him indecisive, and more willing to ask for her advice on the subject. I want to always be around Shiri-tan, and I think the others do too, but I think that seeing us hurt each other trying to win his affection isn’t what he wants either. Or should I wait for him to decide on his own?” Tama would prefer the direct approach, but she didn't want to force Shiri-tan to make a difficult decision either.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune let go of Tama when it seemed that she had calmed down a bit. ”As I said, that’s perfectly normal. I wouldn’t want to share either. What’s mine is mine, and no one elses.” Kitsune said and looked Tama directly in the eyes as Tama asked her next question. ”It won’t hurt your chances if you tell him. Usually boys are entirely clueless when we women drop hints for them left and right.” she said and ran a hand through Tama’s hair.

”I say go for it, and if you’re lucky, you just might get a fullblown confession back.” Kitsune finalized before suddenly grabbing a little communications device in her right pocket. ”I’m sorry Tama-chan. I’ve been called to the operating theatre. Apparently it’s an emergency and they need the best surgeons they can get. So I have to run.” she said and took a short breath before continuing If you need more advice, or just feel like talking, tell the receptionist or my assistant Hanako to page me, and I’ll be there as soon as possible.

[TL, it was fun :3]