Non-emergency Hospital Visit (Open)

[Santaru Kaede]

Danii sat on a bench outside of the Aesculapium. She had planned on returning the book she ‘borrowed’ from Maikeru and to ask a few anatomy questions that had come up during her private studies. What she hadn't planned was for Maikeru to be away from the hospital for the day on some mission or errand or whatever. So, instead she took the opportunity to enjoy both the break from her studies and from the terrible weather that seemed to always plague Kumo. So, she sat outside of the hospital to eat her lunch while flipping through the book to casually look over various diagrams of the different systems of the body.

She seemed to be dressed for the nice weather. She wore a thin red hoodie unzipped over a black shirt and white shorts over black tights. She swung her boots as they hung just slightly above the ground. She took a bite of her sandwich and looked up from the book that had preoccupied almost all of her attention up to this moment. Whatever she seemed to be thinking about must be important, as she was definitely lost in her thoughts.

“Maybe that could work. But I'll have to ask Rei if she thinks the material will hold up…”

She stares off into the sky completely oblivious to the people walking down the street and in and out of the hospital.

 

[Kiri]

Kiri ticked off the list as he made his way out of the clinic. The neighbourhood physician saw him out and even gave a gratitude gift in the form of a bento. He'd known Fuji-sensei since his younger years - from the stern mentor to the hearty conversationist. As usual, he had dropped by for the monthly visit which was a blessing according to the man. Ever since he started at the medical branch, he had always volunteered for the field work, going to clinics as far as the outskirts at Port Cirrus to check for medical records, assist in medical missions, or take notes for supply requests so that the Aesculapium could process them in haste. Wouldn't want to have an outbreak due to oversight.

Thus, with the day's field work done, Kiri so happily threaded back to the hospital where he would finish the report. With the bentou in hand, he walked as casually as ever. He pretty much seemed odinary, melding so efficiently into the crowd in his youthful appearance. Though they have somehow remedied his current plight, it was still unfortunate that he would not be able to return to actual adult self so easily. But being a teenager seemed fun for the most part. He could finally reel in the emotions and control outbursts that his child version would not have been able to. His only worry was if his rebellious phase would also make a return show at this rate. He hoped not. There wasn't time for such things.

As he neared the entrance of the hospital, he caught sight of someone seated outside. She seemed to be waiting for someone and yet, she also didn't seem to be in a hurry. He was about to just let it be - butting into other's business wasn't good - when suddenly, something was falling off from the sky.

"Look out!" He shouted at the girl as he ran towards where she sat, for out of nowhere, there was a can flying and seemingly about to fall at her head.

[Topic entered]

 

[Santaru Kaede]

Danii gathered her attention and returned it to her lunch. She had been craving this sandwich ever since she made it and packed it this morning. Between her morning training and studying, missing Maikeru at the hospital had finally given her the perfect time to take a break and enjoy the delicious sandwich. The first bite had been great. The second bite was amazing. This third bite would be heavenly. Time seemed to slow as she raised the sandwich to her mouth. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

Just as it reached her mouth, she heard a commotion and turned to see a stranger running directly towards her. The yell of the returning med-nin put Danii on alert and she immediately looked around for the threat. Unfortunately, she was given no hint at what to look out for so her first instinct was behind her, then in front of her, and towards the other side of her. Finally, seeing no inherent threats, she finally looked up and noticed the can flying wildly from above on a collision course with where she sat. Panicking, she leaned to the side and lost her balance. Arms and legs flailing, she went sliding off the bench and landed on the ground next to it with an umph. Her sandwich slipped from her hand and the can landed on the other side of the bench. It didn't take her long to spot where it landed and realize two things. First, the can probably would have hurt less than the bruise she could already feel forming on her bum from the fall. And second, the can would have missed her and landed a couple feet over anyways.

“Ouch. I thought I had outgrew falls like that…”

Her sentence cut off as her eyes gazed down on the dirt covered sandwich still more than half uneaten. She lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Well, this day just took a turn for the worse.”

[WC: 324]

[MFT]

 

[Kiri]

It was a disaster. He had only intended to alert the girl before it was too late. And yet, there may have been no reason to even be worried after all. Kiri looked with a guilty expression as came to kneel next to the girl, almost in tears. "Oh no. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. There was a can that was flying and..."

He then turned to the side to find a group of kids running down the road. One of them quickly grabbed the can. Instantly, Kiri turned his head and snapped at them, acting rather strangely older than his appearance. "Didn't I tell you kids to play at the park? What if someone got hit?"

The kids quickly apologized and started running away, shouting something along the words of "Kiri is a meanie old man!" And it didn't help him when Kiri got onto his feet and chased them a few steps before giving up as he remembered about the girl.

Quickly, he went up to her once more and helped her up, noticing that she was saddened by the situation and perhaps the loss of her meal. He would probably have flipped if it happened to him and his special bentous.

"That's really regrettable. I'm so sorry. Oh would you like to come in? If you'd like, I have some spare bentou you can have. I wouldn't want you to go hungry because of this," said Kiri as he would offer a hand of invitation to her while nodding towards the side of the hospital. " There's a garden courtyard here. A nice place to relax and to revitalize some of the patients. If it's not too much of a hassle, please join me. Besides, you might be looking for someone? I can help you as well. I know this hospital like the back of my head."

 

[Santaru Kaede]

Danii looked up as a stranger kneeled over her. She looked up to see a boy who appeared roughly her age. So someone had apparently seen her fall. How embarrassing? The tears swelling in his eyes and his apologies confused her a little bit. There was no way he could have thrown the can at her since he came from a different direction than the can. And she was the one sitting here with a bruised butt, not him.

“It's fine. Besides, you weren't the one who threw the can, were you?”

Her question was answered rather quickly as a group of kids came running by while laughing. She smiled as they apologized and ran off. She even chuckled as they called Kiri names while running away with him chasing. She tried her best to hide it as he walked back over and helped her up.

“It's fine. They're just being kids. No one was seriously hurt. Maybe a bruise from my fall, but I've had worse. Besides, I can't really blame them because I'm a bit clumsy.”

Rising to her feet, she dusted herself off and made sure the straps holding her sword down on her back were still tight. As she brushed the dust off her shorts, she did wince a little bit. There would definitely be a nice sized bruise on her butt.

“Are you sure? It wasn't your fault. I would hate to inconvenience you. But, if you're for real, I do have to figure something else out for lunch now anyways.”

She quickly gathered up her stuff and took him up on his invitation. A curious look crossed her face and then laughed a bit as Kiri boasted about how well he knew this place.

“I think you mean the back of your hand. Or do people often stare at the back of their head here? But I'm good. I already know the person I was looking for isn't here today. I'll just return this book to him some other time.”

Danii holds up the anatomy book and then tucks it back under her arm.

 

[Kiri]

Kiri watched as the amused girl thought of the kids from earlier were simply being kids. He wanted to retort that if kids were left alone too much that they wouldn’t grow in the end, but he didn’t. He had to remember that he was somehow in a strange predicament concerning he was also in a child’s body for now. Would be far too hypocritical of him. In any case, the girl would seem to be ready to join him for lunch, and to his surprise, she was carrying an anatomy book. “Interesting,” he said as he leaned closer to inspect the book, “This one is of an uncommon rarity… the book edition, that is. Whoever lent you that book may have seriously meant for you to learn medicine. It’s not your walk-in-the-park-waste-time-reading book, you see. It almost brings back memories of when I had to spend days without sleep to cram it all up into my head before Osu-senpai brought me to the field.”

They would talk as they moved, Kiri leading the way from the entrance of the hospital. He would glance at passing nurses, returning their waves or nodding when a notepad was raised. The latter only meant that he should be expecting some reports to come by to when he gets into the office later. He had taken up the offer to help the new trainees in the wards and part of it was double-checking if their notes were correct. Wouldn’t want to have any misdiagnosis, even if it weren’t in the special wards.

A walk across the front of the building, then a turn around the corner before coming through the open fence (it closes at nine in the evening), and then they were there. A small garden like courtyard, big enough for visitors and patients to come have a relaxing time with nature, though small enough to be contained within the perimeter of the hospital. He picked out a spot past a few of the nurses who were seated on top of a picnic mat, and then found a good place near one of the big trusty trees. It wasn’t flower-viewing season yet so it was a shame not to see the place in bright pink petals, but it would do.

Kiri would sit on the grassy patch first before he placed down the bentou box that was wrapped by a cloth. Laying flat the cloth, it served as a makeshift picnic mat, even if it was small. He then offered it to Danii. For himself, he placed another bentou and did the same thing. Lo and behold, once opened, the boxes revealed to be identical. Kiri giggled, “That sly doctor must have known I’d be eating with someone today to give me this.” He then went to pick on the fox’s nose made from a bean. “Hope you don’t mind a childish meal. He must have thought I was really a child. So, tell me about this friend of yours. I might know him.”

Spoiler

 

[Santaru Kaede]

Danii looks down at the book. There had been a lot that she didn't understand in it, but what she found most useful were the maps of the veins and arteries, nervous system, and muscular system. Lucky for her, she didn't need to really learn the names of the various organs or how to reconnect them. She just needed to know where they were at and how to sever them.

“Well, it was actually the opposite. I was given it to help with my combat skills. It may have been a bit of overkill, but the diagrams really helped me learn where to place my attacks to be most efficient. I read up on some of it, but I didn't focus as much on the technical names of all the organs and such, just the major ones. I think anything beyond battlefield first aid is beyond my abilities.”

As they walked through the hospital, Danii noticed that Kiri seemed to know quite a few of them. She also noticed that, just like last time, the standard uniform for the nurses was… interesting. She was really surprised that she didn't see Maru here asking to be treated for a minor wound, probably either imaginary or self-inflicted. Danii was surprised by the garden positioned off to the side of the hospital. Despite her frequent visits here to see Maikeru, she hadn't really done much exploring. She followed Kiri to a nice, empty spot and took a seat near him. At least the weather was nicer than normal, she could actually enjoy the impromptu picnic. Danii unclipped the sheath on her back and laid it on the ground next to her so she could sit comfortably. She turned to Kiri and noticed him setting up two boxes.

“It seems you expected someone to join you. Do you often invite strangers to lunch? Not that I'm complaining, but I probably should know who is treating me to lunch.”