Michi
Kaito
The hospital was blinding white and carried with it the stench of alcohol and bleach. The seemingly sterile setting was offset by the patients housed, many simply people with no place to go as their homes had been demolished when the ceiling collapsed. Many of the garments worn by the patients were their only, many stiff with grime a stark contrast to the candy-colored scrubs worn by the medical staff or the bleached white coats and dresses worn by the traditionalists. The hospital was overcrowded as gurneys lined either side of the hall leaving only a narrow passageway down the center. Families were asked to avoid visiting, there were rumors of a virus or a plague that might spread but it did not deter the Oracle as she walked into one of the staff breakrooms as if she belonged and took a white coat. Of a medium build, the coat would prove a bit long but overall right enough that she would be able to amble these grief-stricken halls unnoticed. She fought to subdue the chill about her and to hold her shadows near.
She was looking for someone in particular. A long-term resident. The former Cabalist was badly beaten by Avaron according to the reports she spied. He was somewhere on the third floor. He was unguarded, allegedly pardoned for his crimes due to his compliance. Something she knew all too well that they were more than willing to take away at the slightest offense. She would stop at the threshold to his room, he had a private one which was a rarity considering the stretched resources of the city. "Salutations Kaito-san," she announced as she took a seat on the corner of his bed. He did not look like he was that bad off but he grimaced as she took her seat. She lifted the covers of his bed and then she saw it. His wounds had become infected and from the smell of it they were gangrenous.
"You're not my doctor," Kaito announced.
"Indeed, I am actually competent," she replied as she pulled a small blade from her pocket.
"Have ya come to kill me?"
"No, I am about to save your life." She notified him as if she was announcing the fact that she was going to meet him for lunch. "Trust me when I tell you that you will not feel a thing." She ran her bade down his dressing, cutting away the gauze. It was then that she recovered a jar from her pocket. The contents were these small flesh-colored worm-like insects. "Shinobis might be able to seal your open flesh but there is nothing they can do to revascularize your limb but you can make collateral circulation once the dead tissue is gone. I am sure that you have been fed enough antibiotics to kill every disease with a known cure." Her statement was rather matter of fact as she twisted the jar open and emptied the contents of the jar into his open wound. Wordlessly she would rewrap his wound with the sleeve of her white coat. She did not need it any longer. "They will eat away at your decay. Even an MiT should be able to recover your leg after that, It should only take a few days. When your leg is intact, I have a proposition for you." She did not give him a chance to ask any questions as she tucked the edge of the dressing and ensured it remained secure. "Do not touch for three days. Then let the maggots fall out. If there is a willing MiT, accept the healing otherwise I will take care of that also. Regardless, meet me at The Red Scorpion in three days at noon."
That's--" Kaito started to protest when he cut himself short. There was something familiar about her. Perhaps it was her clinical tone. Perhaps it was her interest in his health despite the archaic treatment.
"I will see you in three days time," she announced. Rest well Captain," she backed away but as she did he grabbed hold of her arm. His fingers were cold but they felt warm in comparison to her icy flesh.
"Wait..." He whispered, "Who. Are. You?"
"Michi now, although much as changed I am still the same," she confided with a strange choice of words.
His grip tightened. "I'm not some dotter'n old man," Katio insisted with some increased vigor in his voice.
"We were friends once. It seems that my presence has been the source of much of your misfortune but despite this fact I come to you again and I know that you will answer my call because I pay better than most."
"Who?" His voice had a hint of irritation.
"You are safer here than with me. You are not a decided criminal but I am sure that one of these turncoat shinobi will decide that vengeance is necessary at some point. The blood of their distant acquaintances, friends and family is on your hands and as much as you scrub-scrub-scrub and even if you make yourself into their lapdog your hands will never be clean," Michi explained.
"Consider'n the fact that you're the first visitor I have received I'm not surprised," he admitted. "I don't know what you are look'n for doll-face but I have no want to cause any trouble. I'm spent and if ya knew me you'd know that."
"I always considered you a grizzled veteran. You lost your family to the storm while depending the rural town you settled in. You spent most of your youth occupied as military-like occupations and you demonstrated bravery and valor in battle. You retired young to have a family, having as you put it done your time. You drove the livestock to the caves and tried to save the grain, assuming that once Sunagakure got word of the encroaching storm that they would send someone to hold the winds at bay. But nobody came. Not then. Not ever. Not until you told them of your efforts. Of your failed but true attempts to find the eye of the storm. They stopped the maelstrom easily, they were only gone for a matter of days and only took a team of four, two of which being hired mercenaries. You... we were valued so little by them that they never tried. Protected and indifferent by the hole they dug for themselves you opened their eyes to their foolish isolationism enough for them to pursue an end to the storm because it was in their best interest. YOU are not in their best interest. You still have value... value in seeing you suffer. Value in beating you down as a 'consequence' for acting out against your betters. For acting out against the people charged with your protection. Their acts criminal and you know it. You know it because you have said all of these things to me and more." She repeated several things he had said to her in confidence years ago verbatim.
"Fuu?"
"She died. I have shared enough. Three days Kaito."</B><i></i>
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<B>30 Minutes
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<B>30 Minutes