"Seeing Clear" [Kakami & Rin]
set back when Kakami and Rin were in their late teens. We finished this long 11 months ago and forgot we'd done it!
Spring was one of Rin's most favourite times to be outside, but all morning and well into the afternoon his thoughts hadn't been on the tranquil surroundings around his isolated home, or even on the beautiful weather the day had brought. He was sitting outside, running his fingers worriedly back through his brown hair, and trying to keep his imagination under control.
Though at the same time he was trying to keep himself from believing this was all just in his imagination, so that wasn't really working out for him. He could hear the birds in the trees singing, and the gentle rustle of the leaves in the spring zephyrs, and he could feel the cool sunshine and the grass under his bare feet.
The trouble was... it was getting harder and harder to see it.
He'd begun to notice it on that extended mission to Kusagakure a few months ago... times when he'd look at something and have to take a moment to see it. There wasn't any combat involved in the mission, it had all been undercover and essentially a goodwill expedition, so Rin hadn't let himself worry about it. It didn't matter - and honestly, he'd had a thousand other things to think about.
Stress, he'd figured. It was just stress. He was just tired, and his eyes were suffering because of it. Some rest, some quiet, no reading... he'd feel better.
The headache he'd been cultivating for nearly a week and a half now said different. What had been a slow and almost unnoticeable decline in his refined vision had snowballed in the past two weeks he'd been on light-duty. Things were not getting better.
Rin was worried, and trying hard not to let it show even though there was nobody around to see it.
"I'm home."
It was a low call, more to see if Rin would answer back (and therefore prove to be home) than anything else. Kakami started moving towards her room, pulling off her gloves and unzipping her vest. She was tired, but it was only the weary-ness from a long day as opposed to the extreme exhaustion she'd gotten so often in the past.
"Rin?" she tried again, pausing mid-step. Huh. Maybe he really wasn't home. Oh well, although she kinda had sorta been looking forward to one of his meals. That and they had been getting along really well lately and it was....nice.
In the back garden, Rin quickly snatched his hand away from his temple and turned around to look for Kakami. He hadn't been sure it was her voice the first time, but when she called his name he knew she was home. Pushing the book he'd been trying (and failing) to read off his knee in what was probably frustration (not that he'd admit it), he turned to look over his shoulder, or at least to try to. Headache or not... worried about his sight or not... it'd been a week since they saw each other and he wasn't just going to leave her to think he wasn't home.
He didn't want to be alone now, anyway.
"Kakami, I'm outside," he called back.
She appeared in a few moments, hand brushing her unruly spikes of hair. "Hey. Got back a little earlier than planned."
Kakami walked over and sat next to him, before grabbing the book off the ground and handing it towards him. "Yours?" She raised an eyebrow. Wasn't like Rin to just drop things - especially books. "Didn't think I startled you."
"Just... head in the clouds," Rin answered with a weak sort of smile as she handed the discarded book back to him. He sighed internally and resisted the urge to try and spell out the cover. Fact was, he wanted to look at Kakami more than the book anyway.
And there was a point. Rin hadn't even realized... Kakami was sitting right next to him but she seemed blurred. He could see her forehead protector but not really her eye... and her hair was just a sort of misted shape to him. Rin squeezed his eyes shut briefly and willed himself to be able to see her. Oh this was not fair. This was just not fair...
"It's good to see you," he said, and then could've kicked himself for it.
Kakami murmured something along the lines of 'Good to see you too' before she glanced at him. He was squinting, just the smallest bit, as if trying to focus but she was sitting right here. Not exactly right next to him but it wasn't like she was on the other side of the yard or something.
The girl frowned and looked at him sharply, noting the disfocus of his eyes - they'd always been easy to see, easy to read.
"...What happened?" she asked in a low, matter-of-fact tone.
The sense of unease and worry that had been building up in Rin for a while seemed to curl up into a tight little ball at her tone. He couldn't see the look she was giving him, but Rin knew what it would be. Nine years they'd known each other, and no matter how hard they fought these days (or how tentatively they tried to make it up to each other) Rin would always have to respect that she knew him best. Most often it seemed, she knew when something was wrong with him.
"Nothing happened," he said, unable to keep himself from reaching round to rub the back of his neck. The tight knot there only served to let him know how tense he was. He blinked his eyes and looked away, towards the trees he could make out more clearly than he could make out her face. "I just... my eyes are a little... anyway, are you hungry? You've been gone for days, I can make you something." Distract them both, that would work. Rin knew he wasn't being very mature about this, but he wasn't sure what to do. Not at all.
Kakami stood, a scowl twisting her mouth under the mask. Something was wrong and he wasn't saying what. She couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at that, but it was so very much like him. To downplay things so that she or others wouldn't worry, especially if he hadn't figured out a way to fix it yet.
"Not hungry." she said, just a tad shortly even though it was a lie. "Come on, I want to take a walk."
And then she started for the door, taking for granted that he'd follow her.
"Wh-- okay," Rin said, blinking. Damn, she knew something was wrong but if she wasn't going to call him out on it Rin would take what time he could get to work out some kind of plan.
And her asking him to go walking with her wasn't something that happened often at all... whether he could see anything or not Rin wanted to go. Things had changed a lot with them both in the last year, in a lot of ways, and he wasn't about to lose the chance to spend time with her and keep in pace with that change. So he got up to his feet, followed her with careful but supposedly confident steps, and made it all the way into the kitchen with her before he misjudged a distance he'd walked thousands of times and slammed his head right into the corner of a cupboard unit near the living room entrance.
"Oh fuck!" he cried, clutching his hand to his head as he got knocked squarely down. Not being one to swear often - if at all, and especially not off a battlefield - Rin's striped cheeks coloured at his language but gods, he meant it! Ow! Ow!
Kakami whirled around as soon as she heard the sound of a skull meeting wood. She stood there for a minute, watching Rin clutch his head and grimace. A part of her wanted to roll her eyes, sigh in despair. The other part of her was securely squashed down and ignored. Kakami wasn't going to go soft on him for that no matter how much it had hurt. He should have known better.
What she did do was give him a moment, before walking over and quickly, but carefully getting him back on his feet. Then she stared some more, her mouth twisting in displeasure again. It bothered her that someone as careful as Rin was about other people, couldn't manage to take the same care with himself. She conviently ignored the similarities between them; it was unnecessary to really dwell on those at the moment
"We're going to the hospital." Her tone was slightly clipped, brooking no arguement.
He couldn't see. She felt annoyance again and tried to squash it down because she was supposed to be keeping a promise and that meant taking care of him. "Hold my hand. So you don't trip or run into anything."
Rin got to his feet with her help, still wincing through the pain that was trekking through his head, radiating out from his aching forehead. Rin's fingers wove into his hair and tugged on the longer brown strands as he pushed the heel of his hand against the ache. It wasn't made much better by the fact she was mad at him, and he could tell even if he couldn't see her too clearly.
"I don't want to go to the hospital," Rin answered back, his own voice even as he could make it but still strained at the edges. His brown eyes were frayed as he tried to find her hand anyway, trying twice before finding her cool and slender fingers. And squeezing tighter than he meant.
"I didn't ask if you wanted to." Kakami stated a little roughly. She felt his tight grip and frowned to herself, letting a sigh escape this time. "Come on."
She walked them out of the house, pausing to make sure the door was closed and locked before they started off towards the center of the village where the hospital was. She knew she was being cranky towards him, but couldn't seem to care. What had he been thinking? What if something was really wrong? How was she going to deal with take care of that?
"I don't know what you were thinking." she said, just a tad angrily. "If you can't see, you don't just wait around the house."
She might as well have called him an idiot, judging from her tone of voice.
Once she had his hand, Rin couldn't let go. So he followed her, or let her lead, or whatever was going on, and soon they were outside and he was trying not to stumble as he learned to trust her with each step on their way. Didn't stop him answering back though. "Oh that's rich coming from you," he said, finally dragging his hand down from his head and letting it swing at his side. "And I wasn't... I can sort of see, it's just... they said this might happen."
Kakami hadn't been around when he'd had the first episode with his eyes four years ago. She'd been out of the village doing her duty, and he'd wound up with detached retinas after taking a blow to the back of his head during a battle in the field. It had been terrifying, and Rin was not keen to repeat it... but maybe it had been inevitable. His voice was quiet, he didn't want to talk about it any more than he wanted to go to the hospital. "Remember I had eye surgery? You were away but... anyway, sometimes it doesn't take."
"You're a medic. You should still know better." Kakami stubbornly insisted. She probably shouldn't have; just should have let it slide because she really didn't want another fight and they'd been getting along so well that it was beginning to feel comfortable and pleasent and like a home at last....but the other part, the louder part was annoyed and bothered and upset that he was hurt and he hadn't gone to see someone.
Especially since he was a medic. It was one thing for someone without that kind of training to try and ignore something wrong but...just...
It made her angry. And she didn't know why she was so angry, which made her more upset.
Rin was silent, not listening to anything but her footsteps so he could make his match. Looking around at the strange lack of focus everything seemed to have, and just gave it up and closed his eyes. If she was mad enough to shove him under the wheels of a cart then he wouldn't complain. The truth was he should have known better, and he did know better... and he'd just been hoping it would settle down. That it just would be stress. He had a lot of that.
"Sorry," he murmurred, apologetically squeezing her hand just a little and opening his eyes. Better pretend to be alright, at least. "I didn't mean to make you worried. It'll be okay."
And just like that, she went from being mad at his "carelessness" and went straight to being guilty over nearly starting another fight. Why did she do that? Couldn't she just be "grown-up" and let things pass once in a while? She wasn't supposed to act like this.
"...Yeah. It'd better." Her voice, despite her words, was quiet and almost a little tired.
It was as close to an apology she could get to right now. And she might have just squeezed his hand back - just a tiny bit.
He felt her squeeze his hand, and knew what she meant, even if it was just a tiny bit. The sounds and smells of the village were getting closer now, and the paths were changing under his feet. The blurry shapes were all turning into familiar landmarks too.
"...I might have to get surgery," he said, just so she knew. He gave her a slight smile to try and reassure her. "Maybe even glasses," he added, like that would be the worse fate.
"Okay." Kakami said, her tone just a bit easier. "We can live on Shibuki-san's take out for a little while. And I'm home for at least a week so if it comes to surgery I can handle the house for a little while."
She shouldn't have brought it up; the gnawing in her stomach increased at the thought of sushi and Kakami mentally scowled at it as if it were misbehaving. That and she really hated the cafeteria food but she'd manage if it took a long time.
Maybe it would just be glasses. That wouldn't be so bad.
Glasses, in Rin's opinion, would be way more trouble in the long run than surgery. Not that he was keen to repeat the experience of having his eyeball cut open while he was awake and having to watch (it wasn't like you could look away, was it?) but if he needed glasses that sort of meant... he was always going to need glasses.
That would be weird. He'd lose the damn things, he knew it!
"Okay, Kakami," he said. There wasn't too much to handle in the house, Rin tried to keep what little there was in the place tidied away since neither of them was there all the time. But her being home for a week... that would be good. It'd been too long since there was time for them to just be around each other.
Speaking of, Rin suddenly realized he had no idea where they were. He squinted his eyes and craned his neck a little, looking around and over Kakami's head, his fingers twinging where they were laced through hers before he could help it.
"Whoa, uhm... where are we?"
"We're almost to the hospital; just a couple of blocks." Kakami looked at him and felt the inklings of fear. She quickly squashed it down and tugged his arm just a little impatiently. "Come on, Rin. I don't want you to wait anymore to get looked at."
For the first time, she wondered just what she would do without him being him. She wasn't sure she could handle him being sightless - it would be too difficult to look at him. More difficult than it was now. Face set, she kept gently tugging him down the street.
Hearing Kakami's worry in her voice, Rin nodded and followed her insistant tugging as they headed down the street; her guiding him left and right through the growing crowds as they neared the busy hospital. He wasn't paying that much attention to their surroundings anymore, it cut out the stress if he just followed Kakami's lead.
Funny, that. But he didn't have the energy to think about it like that now. He was tired, stressed out, and on his way to the hospital to get his eyes examined by his peers. If there wasn't anything they could do he'd be going defunct as a ninja and a doctor, and then blind in that order.... and that was maybe the real reason why he'd been putting off going as long as he could. He didn't want to be at home waiting to tell Kakami that; or maybe it was just a lot simpler. Maybe after how scared he'd been last time he just didn't want to go alone. He didn't have anybody else, and he'd just found out he'd take her being mad at him if it came with her holding his hand.
Maybe that was it. But he didn't have time to dwell on it for very much longer, as she pulled him in through the familiar doors of the hospital and in a sort of whirl of papers and voices and questions he wound up being taken to the opthamology department before he had a chance to even sit. He realized Kakami still hadn't let his hand go, and his absently bit the inside of his cheek and uncertainly asked a favour.
"Can you come in with me?" he asked, looking at her face but unable to really meet her eye.
Surprisingly, it didn't annoy or bother her that he asked. Also, it was surprising that she was still holding his hand, that she was nodding and saying, "Sure."
She didn't like hospitals, but even more she hated being alone in them. Rin had never left her alone if he could help it, so she wouldn't leave him alone either. So she went in with him and sat with him until the doctor came in. And she held his hand as long as she was allowed too.
...It was odd. How much it didn't bother her.
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Rin was taken in for surgery that afternoon. The operation was straightforward - painful, but simple and quick because now they'd developed medical ninjutsu to do work that had needed scalpels the first time around.
Four days later though, they were giving him glasses. Medical science and ninjutsu could apparently only go so far, and anyway, as the optomotrist who fitted him with them declared chipperly - Rin was practically born to need specs anyway.
Blinking at himself through the glass and dark frames, Rin couldn't help wondering slightly at how he looked. He was painfully ordinary in appearance; always had been (save for his stripes) and even if there was only one reason he'd once-upon-a-time regretted it (as if somebody as beautiful as his teammate would look twice at him) he had to shake his head slightly at his own reflection. Which he could now see. Perfectly clearly. Brown eyes, brown hair - sticking out everywhichway and needing cut. Rin blinked again, in quiet surprise. With all the details in focus it was so strange... he looked so much like his father. His nose, his chin, his ears, all the little angles of his face... it gave him pause. He just stared at himself for a moment. How hadn't he noticed before? It was so clear and obvious, must have been for months, what else had he been missing?
Rin wasn't supposed to move quickly anywhere for a few more weeks, until things settled, but there was no denying the little burst of speed as he made his way the shortish distance from the optometrist to his quiet home in its quiet woods. Kakami had - true to her word - been looking after him, the house, and everything while he was laid up, and she was there when he pushed open the door and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose (for the first time) and looked at her. Clearly. Simply.
A grin burst over his face, slightly guilty but he couldn't help it. "Hey. Good to see you."
Spring was one of Rin's most favourite times to be outside, but all morning and well into the afternoon his thoughts hadn't been on the tranquil surroundings around his isolated home, or even on the beautiful weather the day had brought. He was sitting outside, running his fingers worriedly back through his brown hair, and trying to keep his imagination under control.
Though at the same time he was trying to keep himself from believing this was all just in his imagination, so that wasn't really working out for him. He could hear the birds in the trees singing, and the gentle rustle of the leaves in the spring zephyrs, and he could feel the cool sunshine and the grass under his bare feet.
The trouble was... it was getting harder and harder to see it.
He'd begun to notice it on that extended mission to Kusagakure a few months ago... times when he'd look at something and have to take a moment to see it. There wasn't any combat involved in the mission, it had all been undercover and essentially a goodwill expedition, so Rin hadn't let himself worry about it. It didn't matter - and honestly, he'd had a thousand other things to think about.
Stress, he'd figured. It was just stress. He was just tired, and his eyes were suffering because of it. Some rest, some quiet, no reading... he'd feel better.
The headache he'd been cultivating for nearly a week and a half now said different. What had been a slow and almost unnoticeable decline in his refined vision had snowballed in the past two weeks he'd been on light-duty. Things were not getting better.
Rin was worried, and trying hard not to let it show even though there was nobody around to see it.
"I'm home."
It was a low call, more to see if Rin would answer back (and therefore prove to be home) than anything else. Kakami started moving towards her room, pulling off her gloves and unzipping her vest. She was tired, but it was only the weary-ness from a long day as opposed to the extreme exhaustion she'd gotten so often in the past.
"Rin?" she tried again, pausing mid-step. Huh. Maybe he really wasn't home. Oh well, although she kinda had sorta been looking forward to one of his meals. That and they had been getting along really well lately and it was....nice.
In the back garden, Rin quickly snatched his hand away from his temple and turned around to look for Kakami. He hadn't been sure it was her voice the first time, but when she called his name he knew she was home. Pushing the book he'd been trying (and failing) to read off his knee in what was probably frustration (not that he'd admit it), he turned to look over his shoulder, or at least to try to. Headache or not... worried about his sight or not... it'd been a week since they saw each other and he wasn't just going to leave her to think he wasn't home.
He didn't want to be alone now, anyway.
"Kakami, I'm outside," he called back.
She appeared in a few moments, hand brushing her unruly spikes of hair. "Hey. Got back a little earlier than planned."
Kakami walked over and sat next to him, before grabbing the book off the ground and handing it towards him. "Yours?" She raised an eyebrow. Wasn't like Rin to just drop things - especially books. "Didn't think I startled you."
"Just... head in the clouds," Rin answered with a weak sort of smile as she handed the discarded book back to him. He sighed internally and resisted the urge to try and spell out the cover. Fact was, he wanted to look at Kakami more than the book anyway.
And there was a point. Rin hadn't even realized... Kakami was sitting right next to him but she seemed blurred. He could see her forehead protector but not really her eye... and her hair was just a sort of misted shape to him. Rin squeezed his eyes shut briefly and willed himself to be able to see her. Oh this was not fair. This was just not fair...
"It's good to see you," he said, and then could've kicked himself for it.
Kakami murmured something along the lines of 'Good to see you too' before she glanced at him. He was squinting, just the smallest bit, as if trying to focus but she was sitting right here. Not exactly right next to him but it wasn't like she was on the other side of the yard or something.
The girl frowned and looked at him sharply, noting the disfocus of his eyes - they'd always been easy to see, easy to read.
"...What happened?" she asked in a low, matter-of-fact tone.
The sense of unease and worry that had been building up in Rin for a while seemed to curl up into a tight little ball at her tone. He couldn't see the look she was giving him, but Rin knew what it would be. Nine years they'd known each other, and no matter how hard they fought these days (or how tentatively they tried to make it up to each other) Rin would always have to respect that she knew him best. Most often it seemed, she knew when something was wrong with him.
"Nothing happened," he said, unable to keep himself from reaching round to rub the back of his neck. The tight knot there only served to let him know how tense he was. He blinked his eyes and looked away, towards the trees he could make out more clearly than he could make out her face. "I just... my eyes are a little... anyway, are you hungry? You've been gone for days, I can make you something." Distract them both, that would work. Rin knew he wasn't being very mature about this, but he wasn't sure what to do. Not at all.
Kakami stood, a scowl twisting her mouth under the mask. Something was wrong and he wasn't saying what. She couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at that, but it was so very much like him. To downplay things so that she or others wouldn't worry, especially if he hadn't figured out a way to fix it yet.
"Not hungry." she said, just a tad shortly even though it was a lie. "Come on, I want to take a walk."
And then she started for the door, taking for granted that he'd follow her.
"Wh-- okay," Rin said, blinking. Damn, she knew something was wrong but if she wasn't going to call him out on it Rin would take what time he could get to work out some kind of plan.
And her asking him to go walking with her wasn't something that happened often at all... whether he could see anything or not Rin wanted to go. Things had changed a lot with them both in the last year, in a lot of ways, and he wasn't about to lose the chance to spend time with her and keep in pace with that change. So he got up to his feet, followed her with careful but supposedly confident steps, and made it all the way into the kitchen with her before he misjudged a distance he'd walked thousands of times and slammed his head right into the corner of a cupboard unit near the living room entrance.
"Oh fuck!" he cried, clutching his hand to his head as he got knocked squarely down. Not being one to swear often - if at all, and especially not off a battlefield - Rin's striped cheeks coloured at his language but gods, he meant it! Ow! Ow!
Kakami whirled around as soon as she heard the sound of a skull meeting wood. She stood there for a minute, watching Rin clutch his head and grimace. A part of her wanted to roll her eyes, sigh in despair. The other part of her was securely squashed down and ignored. Kakami wasn't going to go soft on him for that no matter how much it had hurt. He should have known better.
What she did do was give him a moment, before walking over and quickly, but carefully getting him back on his feet. Then she stared some more, her mouth twisting in displeasure again. It bothered her that someone as careful as Rin was about other people, couldn't manage to take the same care with himself. She conviently ignored the similarities between them; it was unnecessary to really dwell on those at the moment
"We're going to the hospital." Her tone was slightly clipped, brooking no arguement.
He couldn't see. She felt annoyance again and tried to squash it down because she was supposed to be keeping a promise and that meant taking care of him. "Hold my hand. So you don't trip or run into anything."
Rin got to his feet with her help, still wincing through the pain that was trekking through his head, radiating out from his aching forehead. Rin's fingers wove into his hair and tugged on the longer brown strands as he pushed the heel of his hand against the ache. It wasn't made much better by the fact she was mad at him, and he could tell even if he couldn't see her too clearly.
"I don't want to go to the hospital," Rin answered back, his own voice even as he could make it but still strained at the edges. His brown eyes were frayed as he tried to find her hand anyway, trying twice before finding her cool and slender fingers. And squeezing tighter than he meant.
"I didn't ask if you wanted to." Kakami stated a little roughly. She felt his tight grip and frowned to herself, letting a sigh escape this time. "Come on."
She walked them out of the house, pausing to make sure the door was closed and locked before they started off towards the center of the village where the hospital was. She knew she was being cranky towards him, but couldn't seem to care. What had he been thinking? What if something was really wrong? How was she going to deal with take care of that?
"I don't know what you were thinking." she said, just a tad angrily. "If you can't see, you don't just wait around the house."
She might as well have called him an idiot, judging from her tone of voice.
Once she had his hand, Rin couldn't let go. So he followed her, or let her lead, or whatever was going on, and soon they were outside and he was trying not to stumble as he learned to trust her with each step on their way. Didn't stop him answering back though. "Oh that's rich coming from you," he said, finally dragging his hand down from his head and letting it swing at his side. "And I wasn't... I can sort of see, it's just... they said this might happen."
Kakami hadn't been around when he'd had the first episode with his eyes four years ago. She'd been out of the village doing her duty, and he'd wound up with detached retinas after taking a blow to the back of his head during a battle in the field. It had been terrifying, and Rin was not keen to repeat it... but maybe it had been inevitable. His voice was quiet, he didn't want to talk about it any more than he wanted to go to the hospital. "Remember I had eye surgery? You were away but... anyway, sometimes it doesn't take."
"You're a medic. You should still know better." Kakami stubbornly insisted. She probably shouldn't have; just should have let it slide because she really didn't want another fight and they'd been getting along so well that it was beginning to feel comfortable and pleasent and like a home at last....but the other part, the louder part was annoyed and bothered and upset that he was hurt and he hadn't gone to see someone.
Especially since he was a medic. It was one thing for someone without that kind of training to try and ignore something wrong but...just...
It made her angry. And she didn't know why she was so angry, which made her more upset.
Rin was silent, not listening to anything but her footsteps so he could make his match. Looking around at the strange lack of focus everything seemed to have, and just gave it up and closed his eyes. If she was mad enough to shove him under the wheels of a cart then he wouldn't complain. The truth was he should have known better, and he did know better... and he'd just been hoping it would settle down. That it just would be stress. He had a lot of that.
"Sorry," he murmurred, apologetically squeezing her hand just a little and opening his eyes. Better pretend to be alright, at least. "I didn't mean to make you worried. It'll be okay."
And just like that, she went from being mad at his "carelessness" and went straight to being guilty over nearly starting another fight. Why did she do that? Couldn't she just be "grown-up" and let things pass once in a while? She wasn't supposed to act like this.
"...Yeah. It'd better." Her voice, despite her words, was quiet and almost a little tired.
It was as close to an apology she could get to right now. And she might have just squeezed his hand back - just a tiny bit.
He felt her squeeze his hand, and knew what she meant, even if it was just a tiny bit. The sounds and smells of the village were getting closer now, and the paths were changing under his feet. The blurry shapes were all turning into familiar landmarks too.
"...I might have to get surgery," he said, just so she knew. He gave her a slight smile to try and reassure her. "Maybe even glasses," he added, like that would be the worse fate.
"Okay." Kakami said, her tone just a bit easier. "We can live on Shibuki-san's take out for a little while. And I'm home for at least a week so if it comes to surgery I can handle the house for a little while."
She shouldn't have brought it up; the gnawing in her stomach increased at the thought of sushi and Kakami mentally scowled at it as if it were misbehaving. That and she really hated the cafeteria food but she'd manage if it took a long time.
Maybe it would just be glasses. That wouldn't be so bad.
Glasses, in Rin's opinion, would be way more trouble in the long run than surgery. Not that he was keen to repeat the experience of having his eyeball cut open while he was awake and having to watch (it wasn't like you could look away, was it?) but if he needed glasses that sort of meant... he was always going to need glasses.
That would be weird. He'd lose the damn things, he knew it!
"Okay, Kakami," he said. There wasn't too much to handle in the house, Rin tried to keep what little there was in the place tidied away since neither of them was there all the time. But her being home for a week... that would be good. It'd been too long since there was time for them to just be around each other.
Speaking of, Rin suddenly realized he had no idea where they were. He squinted his eyes and craned his neck a little, looking around and over Kakami's head, his fingers twinging where they were laced through hers before he could help it.
"Whoa, uhm... where are we?"
"We're almost to the hospital; just a couple of blocks." Kakami looked at him and felt the inklings of fear. She quickly squashed it down and tugged his arm just a little impatiently. "Come on, Rin. I don't want you to wait anymore to get looked at."
For the first time, she wondered just what she would do without him being him. She wasn't sure she could handle him being sightless - it would be too difficult to look at him. More difficult than it was now. Face set, she kept gently tugging him down the street.
Hearing Kakami's worry in her voice, Rin nodded and followed her insistant tugging as they headed down the street; her guiding him left and right through the growing crowds as they neared the busy hospital. He wasn't paying that much attention to their surroundings anymore, it cut out the stress if he just followed Kakami's lead.
Funny, that. But he didn't have the energy to think about it like that now. He was tired, stressed out, and on his way to the hospital to get his eyes examined by his peers. If there wasn't anything they could do he'd be going defunct as a ninja and a doctor, and then blind in that order.... and that was maybe the real reason why he'd been putting off going as long as he could. He didn't want to be at home waiting to tell Kakami that; or maybe it was just a lot simpler. Maybe after how scared he'd been last time he just didn't want to go alone. He didn't have anybody else, and he'd just found out he'd take her being mad at him if it came with her holding his hand.
Maybe that was it. But he didn't have time to dwell on it for very much longer, as she pulled him in through the familiar doors of the hospital and in a sort of whirl of papers and voices and questions he wound up being taken to the opthamology department before he had a chance to even sit. He realized Kakami still hadn't let his hand go, and his absently bit the inside of his cheek and uncertainly asked a favour.
"Can you come in with me?" he asked, looking at her face but unable to really meet her eye.
Surprisingly, it didn't annoy or bother her that he asked. Also, it was surprising that she was still holding his hand, that she was nodding and saying, "Sure."
She didn't like hospitals, but even more she hated being alone in them. Rin had never left her alone if he could help it, so she wouldn't leave him alone either. So she went in with him and sat with him until the doctor came in. And she held his hand as long as she was allowed too.
...It was odd. How much it didn't bother her.
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Rin was taken in for surgery that afternoon. The operation was straightforward - painful, but simple and quick because now they'd developed medical ninjutsu to do work that had needed scalpels the first time around.
Four days later though, they were giving him glasses. Medical science and ninjutsu could apparently only go so far, and anyway, as the optomotrist who fitted him with them declared chipperly - Rin was practically born to need specs anyway.
Blinking at himself through the glass and dark frames, Rin couldn't help wondering slightly at how he looked. He was painfully ordinary in appearance; always had been (save for his stripes) and even if there was only one reason he'd once-upon-a-time regretted it (as if somebody as beautiful as his teammate would look twice at him) he had to shake his head slightly at his own reflection. Which he could now see. Perfectly clearly. Brown eyes, brown hair - sticking out everywhichway and needing cut. Rin blinked again, in quiet surprise. With all the details in focus it was so strange... he looked so much like his father. His nose, his chin, his ears, all the little angles of his face... it gave him pause. He just stared at himself for a moment. How hadn't he noticed before? It was so clear and obvious, must have been for months, what else had he been missing?
Rin wasn't supposed to move quickly anywhere for a few more weeks, until things settled, but there was no denying the little burst of speed as he made his way the shortish distance from the optometrist to his quiet home in its quiet woods. Kakami had - true to her word - been looking after him, the house, and everything while he was laid up, and she was there when he pushed open the door and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose (for the first time) and looked at her. Clearly. Simply.
A grin burst over his face, slightly guilty but he couldn't help it. "Hey. Good to see you."