[log, action thread] Dango doesn't heal the soul [Open]

[asuka_sensei]

It was evening, making the sky get almost gray. Aki stumbled a bit, blinking in a bleary fashion. It was hard to see...even to just move or think. He looked around. The guards at the gate had dug up a pair of old pants for him - which was more than he had had in months. He licked his lips, ignoring the traces of blood and dirt. How long had he been

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[dango_is_love]

"No..." Aki stated. "They...they don't let ya sleep. Unless they stick things into you." He'd had enough of that. He wanted his bed, he wanted to sleep and then he wanted a shower and then wanted to get drunk off his ass.

Maybe he wouldn't hear her in his head anymore then.

[medical_miracle]

The late shift at the hospital had ended a while ago, but Rin had wanted to personally check on Kureno and several of the other patients before he set off for home. It wasn't as if Kakami would lecture him on punctuality for being late back.

His satchel slung over his shoulder, he stepped out into the night, blinked in the darkness... and then blinked again.

"Asuka?" he called, recognizing her sillhouette in the odd pools of light cast by the hospital's floodlights. She was with someone, whose voice Rin instantly recognized.

"Aki?!" he raced over, his instinct for this sort of thing rising in his mind as he took in the other man's state of health. A hand went out to help steady him - and Rin instantly knew what he was looking at with regards to Aki's circumstances. "Aki, geez, you need to get some medical attention, okay?"

His eyes flitted up to Asuka's with an unsaid where did you find him?/this isn't good clear in them.

[dango_is_love]

"Oh fuck!" Aki exclaimed, stumbling away from Rin.

The hell? Rin was dead. Either he was hallucinating or...

"Fuck!" he exclaimed again, waving his arms to get away from the other two. Maybe it was genjutsu; it'd be like Her - to trap him in something realistic like this and then start screwing with his mind once he felt safe.

Aki glanced around, a tad wildly, trying to figure this out. Maybe there was a way to break it. A part of his mind felt beyond frustrated - he was exhausted and worn and he just wanted to bloody rest for a bit.

[asuka_sensei]

"Watch out for his wrist," she snapped, struggling to keep a hold on him as he tried to away. She'd seen how he'd accidently banged it on the counter, back in the bar, and yelped; she didn't know if it was broken or not, but care needed to be taken all the same.

Still, even as Aki flapped his arms like a demented bird in his efforts to get free, the jounin was glad she didn't have to take care of this by herself. Rin was, after all, the doctor she had never managed to be, and once they got Aki to the hospital (and possibly strapped down) she could wash her hands of this situation. Literally.

Something about that thought made her insides twist. Trying to escape responsibility yet again, Asuka?

Aki's struggles increased, and she dug in her heels to keep him from dragging her back a few steps. "Stop freaking out," she ordered. She sure didn't want to put him in a headlock, but if he kept this up she damn well would.

[asuka_sensei]

"Is it?" she asked, pushed the lighter back into her pocket. Maybe she was a masochist, but she hadn't ever been that concerned about the missions. Not all of them were strictly necessary, but they were important to the welfare of the village - and that was all that was important to her.

"I guess..." Asuka paused, then pushed through whatever was binding up her words and continued. "I guess it never mattered that much to me. Not that, I mean, not that some of the missions didn't suck or anything, it's just that there was always a purpose to it. If I never felt like there was a purpose, I guess it really would be a tough thought, to go back into ANBU again, but..."

She glanced back up to him and smiled, one side of her mouth kicking up higher than the other in a lopsided grin. "Konoha and the people that're in it are what's important, you know? The missions don't suck so bad when you think about it that way. Least ways they don't to me." She glanced away again. "I almost look forward to them."

[medical_miracle]

Rin managed a very small smile back, but it was honest. Asuka had her point, and it was a good one if only you could see things that way. So many couldn't. Rin knew, try as he did, that he had never managed anything but resignation to a mission like the ones ANBU opted for... at the very brightest. Not since Obiko died had he actively looked forward to any of them - it was just beyond him.

To look forward to it though, to be confident enough in the village and yourself to do that... Asuka had a gift for that.

"That'll be why nobody fights quite like you, Asuka," he said simply, smiling wryly.

[asuka_sensei]

"Heh." She ducked her head, maybe just a little, but disguised it (or tried to) as a gesture to pull the cigarette from her mouth. "Maybe. We all do what we do for a reason."

Even if we're not always completely sure what that reason is, she thought, but did not say aloud.

Asuka didn't say any more, and the silence seemed too perfect to break, so the rest of the trip to the Hokage's tower remained just that: silent. Her cigarette was gone by the time they mounted the steps (and she hadn't even smoked it quickly to avoid any snarking from Rin - but then, snarking on her bad habits was Kureno's job), but with a possible (hopeful) conversation with Tsurude-sama, she only wanted another one immediately.

It wasn't that bad - it wasn't, it needed to be done - but she just didn't look forward to the chaos this might cause. Rin had taken the news well, but anyone else was up in the air...

"Go first," she said, stopping at the entrance and hooked her thumbs in the beltloops of her jeans. "Aki's more important."

[medical_miracle]

Rin nodded, another thing Asuka always maintained was a squarely orientated sense of prioroities. Aki's return and condition needed to be reported immediately, particularly given that Rin could see Orochimayu's signature in the injuries on him. Callous, twisted coldness... as though Aki needed any more such brutality.

Rin wasn't looking forward to making this report.

But first, there was Asuka. He shifted his hand off his satchel and held it out to her with a respectful expression on his face.

"Good luck, Asuka," he said. "If you need me for anything, doesn't matter what, just come and get me. I mean it, 'kay?"