It had been two years since her father’s death, yet the Aesculapium, the hospital of the Village hidden in the Clouds was still a familiar place. A second home. There had been many nights she had practically lived here while her father remained in the emergency care of the physicians. He hadn’t been a shinobi, and hadn’t been from the blood of the Shinrya Clan, and so the care hadn’t always been to the same standards as to that which was provided to shinobi. The hospital’s sterile atmosphere did well to hide the truth of its own history, but it still had the layout of an asylum, only the barred doors had been replaced and were no longer locked. In here time here though, Riko had become friends with some of the doctors and had been invited to the Hospital Cafeteria for a quick lunch break. Only, they never came. She understood how it went when one was on call.
Shinrya Riko stood just two inches shy of six feet, whether that made her tall for a woman or not she hadn’t ever bothered to learn. It had always just been the right height for her. Despite her years out of the academy, she had still developed strong muscle and tone from the constant need to perform transfers from beds to wheelchairs and wheelchairs to beds. It was often the case that the nurses didn’t have the physical strength needed to do so as cleanly as Riko had been able to. Despite her boyish haircut and height, there wasn’t any denying that she was a woman. She may not have been voluptuous in figure, but she still had a figure. It was one that she had built and was proud of, and that showed in how she stood.
’I can’t help but feel just a little disappointed though.’ She thought to herself. She struggled with the knot of feelings at having been invited out only to have been cancelled on. ’Should I just go? No, there wouldn’t be enough time and I’d have to go report for my duties by the time I went anywhere else.’ As the minutes ticked by her thoughts became more resolved. She approached the deli line at the hospital and proceeded through and paid for a sandwich and a bottle of water. The stress had made her feel like smoking. She moved to sit down, and without even thinking she had pulled a cigarette and stuck it in her mouth.
Shinrya Riko stood just two inches shy of six feet, whether that made her tall for a woman or not she hadn’t ever bothered to learn. It had always just been the right height for her. Despite her years out of the academy, she had still developed strong muscle and tone from the constant need to perform transfers from beds to wheelchairs and wheelchairs to beds. It was often the case that the nurses didn’t have the physical strength needed to do so as cleanly as Riko had been able to. Despite her boyish haircut and height, there wasn’t any denying that she was a woman. She may not have been voluptuous in figure, but she still had a figure. It was one that she had built and was proud of, and that showed in how she stood.
’I can’t help but feel just a little disappointed though.’ She thought to herself. She struggled with the knot of feelings at having been invited out only to have been cancelled on. ’Should I just go? No, there wouldn’t be enough time and I’d have to go report for my duties by the time I went anywhere else.’ As the minutes ticked by her thoughts became more resolved. She approached the deli line at the hospital and proceeded through and paid for a sandwich and a bottle of water. The stress had made her feel like smoking. She moved to sit down, and without even thinking she had pulled a cigarette and stuck it in her mouth.