Caring Potential(Private)

[Toraono Suzuhime]

http://www.ninpocho.com/viewtopic.php?f=595&t=26273


It had been a couple days since Shujinko had been inducted into the hospital. Her wounds had been treated, but they simply could never restore her left eye. There was no saving what wasn't there anymore. All they could have done for that wound was clean it and keep it dry so as to avoid bacteria making it's home there. More often than not, it would begin bleeding whenever Shujinko's nurse was tasked with fishing around in the cavern of the young girl's eye with a swab. While the patient in question always seemed to have a far off look on her face. After her medical treatment, Shujinko was scheduled to be given therapy in order to help her with the severe mental trauma she suffered from her ordeal. Her parents had just recently left the room on request of the nurse much to their chagrin. While Hadamashi had put on a brave face, she lamented on how she couldn't protect her baby. Dwelling on it reduced her to tears, for any to see who might have been going towards Shujinko's room. It was a rare thing for Shujinko's mother to cry.

She could always tell that the nurse seemed unnerved around her. She always seemed uncomfortable when she was with her. The thought made Shujinko a bit sad. Exhaling a deep breath from her leaned back perch. While she was here at the hospital, the nurse had been so kind as style Shujinko's hair a bit, in order to keep the growing lengths from getting out of hand.

Today's session was over for today. The nurse re-wrapping the dressings around Shujinko's eye as to hide the hold in her face and keep foreign objects out. Shujinko's expression remained blank, watching the nurse leave, she began to stare up into the ceiling. Tears idly dripped out of her remaining eye. What was going on...? What was going to happen next? Questions she couldn't find the answer too. They even separated her from the only thing that kept her calm. The Muchimonji, her ancestral blade. She could only feel an empty void now. And the last couple nights left Shujinko plagued with nightmares, all of them ending up with Shujinko waking up in a cold sweat and shaking. She could barely remember what happened after she walked into that room... perhaps her mind wanted her too?​

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[Kimi]

Kimi was just wandering through the academy when she heard the news. Something had happened, and one of the students were hospitalized. A little more digging, and she learned the full story. Shujinko, the sword-wielder that Kimi had gotten to know a little, was in the hospital. Exactly why, nobody seemed to be able to tell her. Ultimately, it was probably for the best that not everyone knew. Shujinko surely wouldn't want a ton of people metaphorically attacking her with questions. Even so, the girl was Kimi's friend. Even without questioning, she wanted to be sure the other student was doing okay. So, having nothing else pressing to do that day, she made her way through the streets of Iwa, arriving at the location she learned was where Shujinko was staying.

The entire building smelled of bleach and sick people. The sounds enough to keep everything clear for her without worry, left Kimi with a strange feeling. She wasn't used to that sort of thing. People rushed around every which way, presumably to stop something or another from beeping. Hospitals were creepy places. Definately not a good place for a child to be. It was the crying that first let Kimi know she was heading in the proper direction. Surely, before too long, the form of Shujinko's mother made itself known - the source of the crying. Kimi had met Shuji's mother briefly at the tournament party, and as such, gave a respectful nod. "Hello.....is it.....can I go in and hear Shujinko?" she inquired with a quirked brow, her concern plain on her face. The mother's reaction brought the severity of the situation to Kimi's attention. Things must not be very good if Shuji's mother was reacting in that way. "I heard she was here...and wanted...to hear for myself how she's doing..." she said in her quirky sort of way, her speech having since adjusted as well to accommodate for her blindness. Where one might say "see", she often found herself simply replacing the word with "hear", making some sentences make even less sense than others.

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

Kyo rushed through the hallways of the hospital, ignoring the warnings and shouting from the people he had to push and shove to get past. He had just gotten the news of what had happened to Shujinko and immediately bolted to the hospital, fighting against the burning of his lungs so he could get there as quickly as possible. He would slide to a stop right in front of her room, panting hard as he looked at the scene before him. Shujinko's mother, the toughest woman he knew, reduced to tears about what happened to her daughter. Kimi, a fellow student, visiting Shujinko to see how she was doing according to the few snippets of dialogue he managed to walk in on. And Shujinko herself laying in bed, feeling his heart dropping to his stomach as he looked at her. "Sh-Shujinko!" He would gasp as he moved to her side, looking down at the closest friend he ever had, a hand moving to rest on hers. "I came as fast as I could...Shuji.." he would whisper to her, trying to hold back the tears that sprung to his eyes.

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

While Hadamashi would try to speak, it seemed Kyo could be enough to guide the girl to Shujinko's room. So they simply left, leaving Shujinko alone with her friends. First Kyo, whom seemed rather exhausted when he arrived into her room. Already ran to her side, causing her to flinch a bit when he arrived. He seemed quite worried. The distant Shujinko wondered why. Her hand wincing slightly when Kyo's made skin contact. She would shiver until her let go. Using that same hand to rub at her eyebrows. Making the faintest of sounds when her skin skimmed her bandages. Her voice was low and devoid of feeling.

"Hey Kyo."

Her mind still somewhat on lock down. As if it still tried to process what happened. She sounded quite despondent. She next noticed Kimi, the girl she met at the party she threw for the tournament. The girls had since made friends with each other, occasionally spending time together. However, Shujinko had not been in contact since the last few days when she accepted her mission. And yet was now in this state.

"Hey Kimi."

She spoke in the same mirrored mono-tone. Too see Shujinko, once an overly energetic girl be this emotionless and maybe bored could certainly be seen as unnerving.​

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[Kimi]

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Sure, Kimi and Shujinko hadn't been the closest of friends ever, but they knew each other enough for Kimi to recognize that something just wasn't right. She acknowledged Kyo with a small nod before following him into the room, standing a short ways behind him as she took in her surroundings. Shujinko was in bad shape, her eye completely bandaged over. She must have taken some serious damage to it. Probably the most alarming, however, was her voice. While she was once an outgoing, energetic girl, she now sounded...well...lifeless. Even on the worst days, Kimi had never heard anyone sound quite so void of emotion, certainly not Shujinko. This was the last person she'd expect this sort of thing from, and as a result, was incredibly worried. "It's good to hear you..." she muttered, still trying to take in everything. She was never really good at the whole hospital thing. But this was her friend. She had to do something to help in whatever way she could. The girl was obviously sick, mentally if not physically so. Kimi had no real way of telling the extent of Shuji's eye trauma, but she could tell something wasn't right. They wouldn't completely bandage up one's eye if it was just a little scratch, after all. "How're you feeling?" she asked hesitantly, not wanting to upset the girl in any way.

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

Kyo breathed a sigh of relief as Shujinko responded to him and Kimi, showing that she at least seemed to be aware of her surroundings. The tone of her voice was very disconcerting though, lifeless and without feeling, the exact opposite of how she normally sounded. The trauma she experienced must have been too much for her to handle, the boy kneeling down next to her side as he held her hand, worry on his face. "I'm here for you, Shuji..." He would whisper as Kimi voiced her concern, asking how the girl felt. He could only imagine the pain that she was going through, how no matter how much training they had at the Academy is could never truly ready them for the experiences they would have to go through in actual combat. He would stay silent as he let Shujinko respond to Kimi's question if she could, a hand moving to gently run through the girls hair reassuringly.

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

"Feel?"

She seemed to ponder the question for a moment.

"Well. It feels...

She wasn't sure how to describe it. Strange was to vague.

"Bad. Terrible. Whichever you wanna use."

She decided to say. The left side of her face always burned and stung, but there was nothing she could do about it. She still had multiple bandages around her body, covering slash wounds from that night. And her depth perception had been thrown out of whack. The only time she was allowed to get up was to use the toilet. But other than that, she was confined to her bed with the looming possibility that her wounds re-open. On top of that, her muscles were sore.

"They won't let me have Muchimonji either..."

Muchimonji was Shujinko's prized ancestral katana. It was her medium between herself and her ancestors. They kept her calm, guided her hand. But for the first time in a long time, she felt lost. And the spirits weren't there anymore. She could barely notice Kyo's reassuring presence next to her.

"I got stabbed by a wicked knife, and it took out my eye, and left a huge wound in the socket. Whatever they didn't have to take out they just stitched up. It's basically a cave."

Still talking plainly. While Kyo's hand skimmed along her hair, he would also feel a bandage or two that wrapped around her eye.

"Maybe I never listened in school. But nothing could have prepared me for what I witnessed..."

Shujinko seemed to establish her spot in the academy as a powerful taijutsu specialist, but this wasn't what she had in mind. When she had to kill a carnasaur, she didn't think twice about it. But to see people like that. It scared her. She couldn't save the victim. Her life snuffed out before Shujinko's eyes. Standing there like a deer in headlights until the group was upon her. She went berserk, blacking out while she administered death in a fit of flight or fight response. There was no running from that, but she wanted nothing more to get away.

Her gaze drifted into Kyo's pearly eyes. How exotic they seemed to be... and then over to Kimi's... who wouldn't even notice she was looking her way.

"Terrible..."​

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[Kimi]

Kimi took a step closer, resting her hand on the sword-wielder's shoulder. She couldn't begin to imagine what the female must be going through. It was always a fortunate part of her accident, the fact the loss of vision was painless for Kimi. Going through something like that...something that was quite obviously a painful experience both mentally and physically, was hard to comprehend. Kimi stood in silence for a few moments, unsure of exactly what to say. There were many ways she could go with the conversation...a few ways she could try to comfort the sad, hurting Shujinko, but she really couldn't figure out the best way. Kimi more than anyone knew what it was like to suddenly lose use of ones eye, but to have it forcibly removed like that..it was a completely different story. What was she able to do to comfort her friend? She tried to think of some way to make light of the situation, but none could come to mind. She ran her other hand through her hair, absentmindedly wondering what it would be like to be in Shuji's position. It was truly terrible, as the girl had said. So, Kimi said the only thing that came to mind..."I'm...glad you...are still around..." she awkwardly stated her relief that her friend hadn't met a more...permanent end. Shujinko was alive...that was the important part. Anything beyond that could be mended, fixed, repaired, or worked around. Death...well, Kimi hadn't figured out how to reverse that one...yet.

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

Kyo would listen grimly as Shujinko related the story of what happened to her eye, how it was stabbed out by a knife, the girl unnecessarily going into detail about how her eye socket was like afterwards. She had been incredibly traumatized by the experience, and it was completely true that nothing in school could have prepared them for something like this to happen. They spent a lot of time going over how to survive, how to kill, but never how to deal with the trauma that a shinobi would face during their line of work. Kimi offered her own words about how she was glad that Shujinko was still around, the way she said them awkward yet he couldn't blame her. This was a lot to take in, and he himself did not know what to say at first. "I'm just happy that you're still with us, Shujinko. I don't know what I'd do without you." He would say honestly as he leaned towards her, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead, gently squeezing her hand reassuringly. "Did they say how much longer you're going to be in the hospital?"

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

In all honesty, what Shujinko hated most. Was how humiliated she felt. The ordeal reduced her to a blithering mess of berzerking. All finesse and grace of her fighting style had vanished. Unfortunately, this shame would stick around with her. And she didn't even have her ancestors to talk to. But... she... she still had those that cared for her. Kimi and Kyo both decided to show up as if to reassure their fears that Shujinko was fine. The least she could do was at least try and feel better. With much strain on her muscles, she put a very unconvincing smile on her face. And her tone of voice sounded happier... yet faked.

"They haven't given me a date. My wound needs to stabilize first."

She informed. Trying to muster up courage, her heart beating faster as indicated by the monitor to her left. Lately the touch of others left her uncomfortable. But, Shujinko liked being aware of other people's feelings. At least, she thought that way. She rubbed her forehead a little shyly when Kyo placed his lips upon it. Blushing slightly from the act, as well as his words. Trying to change the subject.

"I'm glad i'm still around too. I don't how long everything will take to heal.."

She wasn't entirely sure how to finish that sentence. She used her remaining hand to grasp at Kimi's hand. Her voice no longer trying to feign emotion.

"I should be okay soon... I was never one to stay bummed out for too long. Sorry about the pity party."​

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[Kimi]

Kimi tilted her head as Shujinko's heart monitor sped up. She didn't have to be a mednin to know what the machine was displaying. "Don't be sorry." Kimi smiled, trying to comfort the girl. "I mean, I'm sure I'd be the same way if it were me..." Wow, she was really bad at this whole comforting thing. She brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, rubbing her eye before dropping her hand back to her side. Hospitals were some of the most awkward places for conversation. Kimi could never quite figure out if she was supposed to avoid talking about the reason the person was there, or if she should give them the opportunity to talk about it, or what. She sighed, grateful that Kyo was there. She really didn't know what she would have done if she were there all alone with Shujinko. The conversation would have felt much more awkward, that much was certain. Even so, awkward pauses and stumbled words filled the conversation, at least on Kimi's part.

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

"Hey, I think you're allowed to have some pity after what happened to you." Kyo would say with a smile as he tried to lighten the mood, catching sight of her cheeks blushing after his kiss. "Once you're nice and healed up I'm going to take you out wherever you want, my treat! Just...uh...nowhere too expensive..." He would say with a grin, moving to stand up once more. "Do you need me to get you anything? Uh, either of you?" He would ask both girls, looking up to Kimi, a smile playing on his lips. He had to stay positive, keep the air in the room from turning too grim, because if it did then he's probably be the one to start crying, and that wouldn't help at all.

 

[Toraono Suzuhime]

Shujinko looked over at Kimi, audibly chuckling to assure the blind girl. Just a small gesture of contentment for Kimi to run with. Now that she felt a little better, Kyo in particular seemed to have that effect on her. She still didn't want to stay in here for a few more days without Muchimonji.

"Hey Kyo... if you check the storage room at the end of the hall. You might be able to go and grab before anyone notices... it would mean the world to me if you could bring me my sword."

Shujinko seemed pleadingly. Muchimonji was what helped her keep calm in moments of stress. Granted the people she loved worked just as well, they couldn't stand next to her forever.

"And Kyo, I hope you know i'm going to hold you to that right?"

She giggled. Turning to Kimi.

"So... um. Sorry that you had to come here Kimi. But thank you. I really appreciate it."

She didn't really know what else to say with Kimi. The two were kind of at different ends in most respects. Which left them quite different from one another.​

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[Kimi]

Kimi could understand the need to have something beside you at all times. The rare occasion she was without her violin caused her to feel naked and vulnerable in a strange way she still couldn't quite understand. So she understood what it was like. Don't be sorry. You're a friend. Friends do this sort of thing for each other." she half-mumbled, giving her a small smile. It was kind of awkward, in a sense, but that was something she'd simply get used to. It was a fairly recent development for Kimi to have such friends, after all. She stood there in relative silence after that, her foot consistently tapping on the ground. She paused, trying to figure out the best way to go about what she wanted to say. She really didn't want to make Shuji feel worse, or draw extra attention to her injuries. But at the same time, she felt like she had to offer her help. "Y'know..." she began, fidgeting awkwardly with Shujinko's bedsheet. "Once you get out of this place....I can...I mean...You don't really..." she mumbled until she figured out a way to say it. "I can help you adjust to living, and fighting, with...." she vaguely gestured to the patch covering a no longer existent eye. "...if you want..." she trailed off awkwardly. Wow, she was really bad at this whole conversation thing.

 

[Kiriyama Sadako]

Kyo would frown at Shujinko's request for her sword, not sure if that was an entirely good idea. He could only imagine how annoyed the nurses would get...but then again why would he care? If it would make her feel better, bring that smile back to her face, then it was something he had to do. "Alright, I will. I'll be right back..." He would say with a smile, nodding towards Kimi before slipping out of the room. With his back to the door he would activate his Byakugan, not only giving him a 360 degree radius of view but also allowed him to look through otherwise solid objects. The people before and around him turned into walking human shaped chakra systems, and without moving his head he could look into all the rooms that comprised the hall. His head tilted as he then noticed the object he was looking for, the sword that sat in the storage room down the hall. He would begin to move towards it, keeping his doujutsu on in case any of the nurses came by, stopping at the door. He tested the doorknob and thankfully found it unlocked, now assuming that this wasn't a general weapon closet but just a place to store belongings...which he still thought should have been locked at least. He took a moment and waited to see if anyone would come around the corner before opening up the door and moving quickly, snatching the sword up and making his way back to Shujinko's room.

As he neared the door he saw that a nurse was coming into the hall, the boy quickly slipping in before he could be noticed with the weapon. Turning off his doujutsu he would breathe a sigh of relief, closing his eyes for a moment to give them a rest before moving towards Shujinko. "Here you go, Shuji." He would say with a smile as he approached her side and handed her the weapon, a hand moving to pat her head. "If anyone asks you didn't get it from me, alright? The last thing I need is to be banned from the hospital!" He would say with a grin.

 

[Kimi]

[topic left due to inactivity. Sorry Shuji]