Re: I'll be back with the yellow gold before the morning lig
[I return!]
Quickly into the threshold Kitsune stepped, as if she were just popping in to say hello to her student after a long journey. To say that the hug startled Kahako would have been a bit of an overstatement, but she was still surprised. It solidified Kitsune’s existence, completely removing any doubt in Kahako’s mind. ”Gomen-ne Kahako-chan… I never meant to be gone for so long… I just needed a change of pace after what I went through. Getting stabbed in the throat, giving up my life force to save Masao and the others. Then waking up in the complete blackness of a coffin, damn near having a panic attack, only reflexively warping out of it to see Masao’s grave next to my own…”
Kahako listened to Kitsune’s apology, and some parts of her had already accepted it, allowing her teacher to stroke her back in a calming, motherly manner. How odd that it was working so well; even more so by the fact that the younger woman thought she was already pretty calm. ”I went home, left the journal in the closet of the guest room, and the empty vial along with the rose on your pillow, then left the city without being seen. I spent the past two years in my family’s province, researching a lot of things. The formula you’re trying to create right now isn’t perfected. It’s not even finished. However…”
The mednin stepped away from her teacher as Kitsune pulled a vial with golden liquid from one of her many pockets. ”My gift to you, Kahako-chan. It’s my research journal on chemistry from my time away. You might find it interesting to read my notes.” Kahako smiled a little. She knew she was struggling with her health, but Kitsune was the very first to ask about the changes to Kahako’s physique. “Ah, and here I thought I hid it well.” Kahako said before Kitsune continued.
”As for the blood pills… That one formula is in my head. I’ll gladly teach you if you want it; but I would like to know the reason for all the scars. And you’ve lost weight, I see.””You look like you could use this, Kahako-chan.” she said and held the vial up for Kahako to see. ”It’s a heavily diluted version of a drug I made. Specifically… The one that made my body what it is now. I managed to re-create it. The formula and the research for it is only in my head. This diluted drug however, will restore a body to its natural state, and then enhance it to its maximum potential without altering dietary requirements or anything else. It won’t make your body un-aging, but it’ll heal all wounds, scars, deficiencies, and ailments.”
“You sound like I’m an emancipated corpse, sensei,” Kahako said with a slight pout. “After everything that has happened, I do think I did well to keep my health up.” Kahako sighed again, looking at the vial more closely now that she held it in her hands. The liquid was smooth inside, looking almost like golden honey in texture. “I certainly hope it isn’t difficult to make,” Kahako said looking back to her teacher. “I feel that it might go to waste on me. At this rate, I might be back to this state again within five years…”
At this, Kahako trailed off in her train of thought. Sometimes she forgot how abnormal her current situation was, seeing as how she chose to carry this burden from practically the moment she decided to become a shinobi. “Sorry, sensei, I guess I’m not really helping calm your worries with my nonsense.” she said, offering a wayward smile. “I would greatly appreciate the lesson, but the story behind my scars is… complicated, and directly linked to my health,” she pocketed the vial for later use, knowing all too well to give her teacher a couple minutes before downing any questionable liquid. “Maybe we should sit down for lunch? Though, you might not be hungry after what I tell you.”
With that, Kahako would turn off her burner and retreat to the kitchen. Knowing that her teacher could be a heavy eater, Kahako merely pulled out all of her sandwich meats, condiments, and cheeses along with a full loaf of bread. Setting all of it, with two plates on the table behind her, Kahako motioned to Kitsune to make herself comfortable, ignoring the irony that this was still a part of Kitsune’s home.
Once they were both situated, Kahako tried to begin. “I don’t… really know how to explain this. I’ve mulled it over in my head for years on just how to go about it… but I guess I could start by saying that… I have a… contract of sorts… with a demon." Kahako cut a few slices of bread, all the while avoiding Kitsune’s eye contact. “A jinchuuriki actually. I have been... connected to him for years if that is what you want to call it. Even before I became a genin, but the price of our connection did not come to fruition until shortly after… well your disappearance.” Kahako handed over some meat as she herself began to pile on a few slices of cheese. “Eleven years ago, I found him in an alley in the village, he had been stabbed and left for dead. Even before that, it appeared he was starving. I didn’t know at the time what he was, but… I remembered fearing him even in his weak state. As I had just entered the academy, I did not have any control of my chakra, so helping him while he was dying was not really an option.”
Kahako felt goosebumps rush over her arms, remembering the night as if it were just yesterday. Now that she had started her story, it was hard for her to hold back, and even harder for her to make sense. “There was a man I had been running from before, I was a little girl on the outskirts of Cronopolis and very obviously lost. To this day I do not know what his intentions were towards me, but when he did catch up, he had pulled a knife on both of us. So--scared for the man’s life and my own--I made a deal. ‘Save my life, and I’ll save yours.’”
Here, Kahako paused, flipping over her wrist and pointing out two scars that were old and faded. They were sharp pinpricks now, years of growing morphing them from their original size. “In exchange for my blood, he is bound to protect and serve me until I am no longer in need of him. That is the contract that binds us and, as a result, I suffer from a bit of anemia.”
By now, Kahako herself wasn’t very hungry, but she knew she needed to eat to keep her sugar levels stable. “It’s a lot to take in, I know, but this has been a part of my life for some time now.” Finally, she looked at her teacher, giving a moment for the woman to mull over the situation. “and I’m pretty sure you have questions…” It was surprisingly easy to tell her teacher. Why then did her heart fill with dread then when she thought about admitting it to Ayumu?
The moment the door in the receiving room clicked open, Sei’s face held a reserved, yet kind looking smile. The gentleness of it twinkled in her eye, as if she were welcoming a long time friend. So well placed, so seemingly natural, that Kitsune would not be able to find the malicious intent behind it. At least, if it wasn’t for the fact that Kitsune knew that face anywhere. Whenever Kahako was upset, or particularly angry at someone, that smile beamed brighter than any smile in the room. And quite often, a biting, backhanded comment came with it.