Day 57: Waiting Room / Lobby 2

[gald_digger]

Anise wasn't sure what to think when she was escorted to the waiting room. It was disturbing enough that Landel mixed up her family - and Ion! - in his stupid schemes, but the military was going to do it too? While it looked like they were pretending to follow the Head Doctor's schedule, she still felt uneasy, like they might do something

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[damned_visitors]

Kevin may have made Hiro wait a bit longer than the other patients in the room, but he had doubt that his biggest fan would mind a small wait. After all, any wait was worth it when the great Kevin Miles, also known as Takamura in the ring, deigned to allow anyone to bask in his presence. Seriously, the kid was lucky he was getting a visitor period. Hiro had lost a lot of his rapport back at the gym. He may have been a decent enough Featherweight fighter, but his obsessive behavior had worn on several of his friendships. But really, Hiro didn't have any reason to care about those dipshits. He had Kevin in his corner, and that's all that mattered. Though even he thought Hiro was a few colors short of a flaming rainbow.

Kevin made his appearance known by whistling rather wolfishly as one of the particularly curvy nurses passed him by. The woman gave him a stern glare but continued on her way. Oh yeah, she was definitely into him. Just couldn't let herself swoon in front of the loons here. He would need to drop her his phone number later. But for now, had to deal with his nutcase of a kouhai.

"Yo! What's up, Hiro?" Kevin didn't care if his loudness disturbed any of the other patients in the room or their visitors. It looked like someone was getting pretty lucky today. Hot damn, some of the female patients were pretty smokin' too, despite the lame smiley face garb. Hiro's elephant dong must have been pretty happy since coming here... well, assuming even the male staff and patients were just as good-looking. Sometimes it was difficult to remember he had to think gay if he wanted to empathize with the kid. Thank god it wasn't that often that he tried.

He grinned widely, giving Hiro a manly pat on the shoulder. "Man, where do I sign up for this place? There is fine ass everywhere!" This was definitely the best way to start a conversation with his crazy, homo friend. Definitely.

[rolling_go]

His pity party of one was cut mercifully short with that whistle. Recognition drained the color from his cheeks momentarily as Ippo looked up in awe of his friend swaggering through the small room like there was a party in progress and it couldn't start without the man himself.

"Ta-Takamura-san!" Ippo jumped to his feet, but that was as far as his brain would function willingly. It was all so overwhelming he hadn't heard any of his greeting over the roar of joy in his mind. Despite his obscene behavior, the middleweight champion always knew how to inspire him. Yes, there was no way this visit could go wrong! Ippo just couldn't understand why Claude had seemed so reticent this morning. Friends and family came here because they loved the patient and wanted them to get better!

He appreciated the hard pat and returned it with a gleaming smile. Of course it didn't last long; his smile twisted at the edges after hearing Takamura's remark. If only you knew, Ippo thought. Those "fine ass" women could probably take Takamura down to the floor if so needed. Knowing what he did, the featherweight kept it in the realm of definite possibility.

"I-I'm not sure," he began, completely missing the humor as he earnestly considered the older man's question. The boxer supposed that would be the head doctor's choice, but that wasn't very likely at this moment in time. "It's kind of been crazy around here the last few days..." What with the military mutiny and all.

"B-But I'm so glad to see you! How is everyone? Have you talked to my mom? Is she okay? Did she have to close shop without me?" It was Ippo's biggest fear right now. Without his prize money coming in, his mom would have to work extra hard to pull in clientele, and if that was the case, the overwork could send her back to the hospital again! Of all the times to jump in front of a bus and get sent to a mental institute!

[damned_visitors]

Takamura-san. Oh, it was great to hear that again, spoken with such awe. It had been a while since he'd been in the ring last, but it was hard finding contenders willing to go against him that he hadn't already shamed and were begging for a rematch. He didn't understand what inspired those losers to keep dogging him when it was obvious he was just going to have them down for the count within a minute. Coach was being lazy about setting up new opponents for him, too, which was bullshit. But maybe he would start getting more matches now that Coach's favorite was in the nuthouse. Not that he thought it was good that Hiro had lost it, but Kevin firmly believed in looking for the silver lining that came with every downcast situation. Yeah, he was just amazing like that.

Of course, trust Hiro to act all nervous when Kevin was only telling it like it was. He brushed a hand through his mighty pompadour and laughed. "Well, of course it's been crazy around here! This place is jammed full of crazies. What would you expect, you damn crazyass!" Trust Hiro to lead him right into that one.

Then the kid had to start bombarding him with frantic questions like a hyped-up monkey. What kind of anti-psychotics did they have him on, anyway? Sugar pills? Kevin shrugged, waving a hand lazily to stop the on-coming barrage. "Alright, alright, calm the hell down. Everyone's the same as ever, and I saw your mom just a few days ago. She was perfectly fine!" A little sad that her darling son was locked up in an institute, but even she agreed it was the safest place for him now.

He couldn't help rolling his eyes a bit at the 'closing up shop' bit, though. A little over dramatic, but Hiro was prone to sensationalizing. Not that Kevin had much room to talk there, either. "I doubt she'll be retiring that boat anytime soon. Have some faith in your old lady, Hiro. She won't be hanging up her hat just because her son's a total loon."

[rolling_go]

Oh jeez, Ippo walked right into that one! The last thing he wanted was to give his friend punny fuel. It just wouldn't end well for anyone in the room. The nurses would probably ask him to leave after they had heard one too many. Thankfully it could go no further and Takamura moved on to more important things.

He was glad to hear his mom was doing just fine without him, but something was still bothering him. Something his friend had said more than once, now that he considered it.

"Takamura-san... Why did you call me Hiro?" Ippo asked, genuinely confused and, quite frankly, surprised that his friend would make the same mistake as the nurses on his first day in the hospital. "Ah--!" But no, that was not the most important thing right now! This visit was just that: A visit. He needed to pump Takamura for all answers before he was made to leave.

"W-What about my belt? Am I still featherweight champion? Did they take it back?! It's only been a few days... They shouldn't relinquish it that quickly... ... Is... Is the Coach mad with me?" He knew the answer, but Ippo hoped his sad face would work as a sugar coating, just this once!

[damned_visitors]

Another fine lady passed by with all the right curves in all the right places, drawing Kevin's attention away from his batty kouhai for a few minutes. He almost ignored his friend's question, then the sheer idiocy that reached his ears had his jaw dropping. For a moment, all he could do was stare... then the middleweight leaned back and let out a bellowing laugh that vibrated off the walls. "Damn, Hiro! You're really in deep if you can't even remember your own name!"

It struck Kevin that he probably shouldn't be laughing at his friend's expense, but he knew Hiro was used to this kind of treatment. Though, technically, it had been his own brand of tough love that had pushed Hiro to the limits in the first place, but Kevin had never been much for learning from past mistakes. He didn't many, so why worry about the small stuff? Who cared if a little teasing had gone too far just the one time? No one else had tried to jump in front of a bus yet. No need to change his style just from one, tiny incident.

The next question assault left Kevin sighing. The kid was messed up, but it wasn't like he was on hard drugs or taking steroids or anything that would have officials recalling his prize belt. He was getting ahead of himself. "S'not like you're in here for good, ain't it? There's plenty of time to get back into the ring and defend your title when you've stopped being a crazy. And no, Coach isn't mad. Not too much more anyway." Yeah, the old man had been in a bit of a rage right after the suicide attempt, but his worry had come through in the end. It was his insistence that brought Kevin here in the first place. He was supposed to 'apologize' but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

All of a sudden, Kevin crossed his arms, his expression becoming grave. "All that is fine, yes, but Hiro... I have some bad news. It's about your beloved."

lol perfect icon for this

[rolling_go]

Ippo really couldn't tell if Takamura was just pulling his leg or being genuinely misinformed. He understood that the middle-weight champion was a big deal and he occasionally forgot people's names if they weren't important enough to be remembered (He was pretty sure poor Aoki got that a lot), but after three years, and as featherweight champion of Japan, this shouldn't have been an issue.

Well, it was moot in any regard now that his senior had brought the subject around to something a bit more important than himself. Ippo's heart began to pound against his chest at the thought of Kumi being in serious danger. He wondered if she had been laid off or if--What if her brother, the junior lightweight champion, had been injured? Well... maybe that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world--No, no! He didn't meant that. It truly a terrible thing to think at a time like this!

And then it hit him. "Ah--You mean--?" Takamura wasn't talking about Kumi. The young man's face showed his annoyance for the pet name Takamura had branded onto Miyata. His promise with Miyata was very important to him; Ippo wished his gymmates would understand that and stop making fun of it.

"W-What's wrong with Miyata? Was he injured?" The outboxer was on the fast track to taking the OPBF champion belt. Once he had his belt, their unspoken agreement would become tangible. Would it have to be put on hold because Miyata had lost a fight? Ippo was pretty sure the man didn't have one lined up any time soon, and he should know! He was the ultimate fanboy. He kept a close watch on Miyata's boxing record for a reason.

Oh Ippo and his puppy face... |D

[damned_visitors]

Kevin watched the whole gamut of emotions cross over Hiro's face and felt his amusement growing. Ah-ah-ah! But he couldn't let that show just yet. He had to keep up the serious face, hold it in...

Miyata? Well, even if it was the wrong name, Hiro seemed to get the idea. Frown still in place, Kevin reached over and put both hands on Hiro's shoulders. God, this was hysterical. Just one little mention of Kentarou got Hiro hyped up. The middle-weight hoped he would have the strength to keep it up.

"The things is... about Ochiai, he says that... that..." And he couldn't keep it going any longer. A huge, shit-eating grin crossed his face and the air ran out of him, buzzing his lips in a pffft. "He says that you're slime and he wishes that bus had offed you when it had the chance! BWA HA HA HA!"

Seriously, a little more teasing didn't hurt anyone, right.