Want some unknown talent with that brain damage? [Open]

[Samejima]

Having been coming to the hospital one day a week for a couple of weeks, Naoki herself was quite sure that there were no lasting effects from the one attack Magnetica hit her with, but there were some people who thought differently. She laid very still on the bed, trying to keep herself relatively unknown to her roommates. They were picked up shortly, and she was left alone in the room. They'd recently gotten over some broken bones, being longer-term patients than she, and were leaving to try and recondition themselves to the hard work of a shinobi.

The last two times she'd been there, she kept the belongings she brought with her to a minimum hoping it would get the checkups done faster, but today she'd given up and brought her entire bag of baubles to try and distract herself from the wait. There probably are a lot of people who want to get treatment... I should just lie around quietly while waiting, the med-nins have plenty of work to do...

Time passed, and it didn't seem like anyone was coming to look at her innards anytime soon. She exhausted all the funny-feeling things she picked up, and was left with the kokyuu she'd once resolved to learn about. Vaguely, she wondered if she ever picked up the knife it held. Naoki tried to test its sound, but found that she couldn't remember how the bow was held. All she remembered was that she played it, sometime that felt like a long time ago.

Uhh... I think that person held it like...

Trying to find the right grip, Naoki's fingers tightened around the part of the bow with the loose length of what felt like hair, and pulled it taut to see if she could just wing it like she did the first time. Okay, fingers here, bow... here? Aaaand...

She could not. Gwaaah, no! What was that?

The resultant noise was reminiscent of... well, a child's first time playing a bowed instrument. Ugh... I did it fine the last time...

Unwilling to give up on her confidence in her talents in the element of Sound, she kept at it, likely attracting the attention of any passerby who was interested in stopping that awful racket. Why can't I get it right...? She was surprisingly stubborn here. It's not likely that she'd stop before her ears started bleeding, or someone comes in to tell her she left the door open.

[MFT]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke carried his great-ward in his arms. "You were a brave boy Aki. Needles aren't nice, but they are sometimes necessary."<i></i> The toddler was rubbing the bandage that was covering his arm from where they drew his blood. Aki from time to time required checkups. He wasn't a healthy boy, but now he was getting there. His diet had changed so he could gain weight. He was tested constantly for allergies. While he never had these experience with Okibi, he was going to have them with Aki. The child indicated he didn't want to be carried any more and so he was put down. The Steward held his hand as they walked about.

What caught their attention was the sounds coming out of the room Naoki was in. She was playing her instrument. Not quite music, but it was going to get there. Maybe later today, but not at this moment. The Steward and his great-ward popped their heads into the room. The Steward raise an eyebrow. Ah. Naoki. She seemed to be in good health. Aki watched wide eyed as the little girl, to him, wrestled with the device. "Da. Styck?"<i></i> He inquired. The boy looked to him, and then to the child. He let go of his guardians hand and walked right up to Naoki. He then simply plopped down and watched her wrestle with the device. "Da. Styck? Whack?"<i></i> He inquired once again.

Sousuke scratched the back of his head. He laughed awkwardly. "Naoki of the House Samejima ... we meet once again, more importantly you've made the acquaintance of my ... "<i></i> He paused for a moment. How best to describe his child, to a child? "This is ... my son Aki."<i></i> The child smiled brightly at being introduced to the little girl. She was triple his age, but they were closer in age. Sousuke scratched his head once more. He wasn't sure how this was going to work out. Children were their own little people. They had spunky personalities. Some children were mean to each other.

 

[Samejima]

Naoki was concentrating on her newly frustrating instrument, and unknowingly curbing her ability to hear because the sound was so awful, so she didn't notice the little one and his guardian popping their heads in. When the boy got closer and his unmissable kid voice entered her realm of consciousness though, it was hard not to jerk her head up to look in that direction, despite not being able to see and knowing that it wouldn't make a difference which direction her face was in.

Oh, it's a little kid. What'd he say? Naoki scratched her head, trying to fish the voice's words out of the mess that was an attempt at recalling her abilities. "St-stick? Umm..." I've only seen one little kid before, and that was way back when! Ahh, what'd mom say about little kids... Was I supposed to give them what they want?

Her arm stretched out to try and give the obviously-dangerously-eye-pokingly-not-to-be-given-to-a-kid bow to the unidentified child, but she sensed another person by the doorway and froze. It wasn't until she heard his voice that she pulled her arm back and sat up straight. "Sousuke-sama? Hi!" Naoki's headband had been removed in preparation of the checkup, but she tied it over her eyes now since she was having company. "So you have a son? Haha, hi there Aki..." She put the kokyuu, with its bow, away and raised her hand a little to wave at him. "I'm Naoki... It's nwice to meetchu~" She used the kind of sing-song voice that she heard her mother use, a long time ago, when she was talking to the traveling merchants' baby.

As an afterthought, she noticed that the Steward was still at the doorway. "Ah, please come in! There's some water there, whoever they belonged to hasn't opened them," she gestured to one of the nightstands, with water in cups covered by a cookie on each. The cookies looked like coasters though, and might have had similar consistencies. "My roommates were just picked up so it should be okay to take them..."

 

[Sagasu Yume]

Tsukiko held her head in one hand as she shuffled her way down the hall. It had been a long day in her least favourite unit, caring for he natal patients. If it wasn't mothers yelling for pain killers, it was children crying for their mothers. At this point she felt that being hung over would be the lesser of two evils. What was it about disaster and springtime that made everyone screw? Tossing her head back as she swallows two ibuprofien dry and leans her forehead against the cool wall, giving her eyes a rest. The reprieve would be short lived as the sound someone strangling a cat travels down the corridor. With a sigh she grudgingly heads toward the cacophony to find a girl sitting in one of the beds with a familiar young boy beside her.

By the bejeweled eye of Barynx, what in the nine hells is going on here? Oh... Hello Takahashi-sama. I didn't see you there. Is this a friend of yours?

Her comments were mostly to be polite after her less than graceful entrance. Wordlessly, she picks up the chart at the foot of the bed and begins to gather the details that most doctors would talk to their patients to get. She had been told that most people were offput by her clinical attitude; even the strange Inuzuka had received better commentary for her bedside manner than Tsukiko. One line made the mednin pause and let out a sobering 'oh' that would have been only audible to the sound adept child.

Hashigaki. The sound bloodline.

Naoki, I'm Dr. Miago. You've been here before... Did the other mednin see to you today?

Her voice had become softer, not necessarily quieter, a she spoke to Naoki. She had been told that unlike most people, who used expression to discern meaning, the Hashigaki relied on tone and ambient noise to visualize. To satisfy her curiosity, she steps forward to the bedside and extends her hand to see how aware the girl was. From her cause of her injuries alone, this little one had gained the mednin's respect. Most who met with Magnetica had been adults and had received their share of scars. For a child to have survived, she must be either very smart or very lucky.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

To Sousuke's surprise Naoki handed Aki the bow. The child rose up and ran around in a circle with the bow. He waved it about and had the most gleeful expression on his face. He was very much enjoying his new toy. Well it wasn't really his. He understood that surprisingly. As the child seemed to put his entire being into the bow, Naoki spoke to Sousuke. "Yes... a bit of a surprise isn't it?"<i></i> He thought about trying to clarify the matter, but more or less his capacity was father for Aki. Yume on the other hand...? Surrogate mother? She helped him in raising the child. She had not qualms about it.

As Aki was being spoken too, the child turned his attention to her. By accident the bow left his hand and went flying... flying out of a window in fact. Sousuke was seen momentarily making a mad dive out the widow after the bow. He wasn't a musician, but he very much understood how important musical instruments were. It was a few stories drop. The sound of a thud did not follow, instead Sousuke's hand could be seen grabbing the ledge. He pulled himself back in the room, looking slightly worse for wear. His bandages were dirty now, but more importantly the bow was not damaged. He promptly handed the bow back to Naoki who put it away.

"Aki. No throwing the mine about. You may have broken Naoki's mine, and she would be very sad."<i></i> The word mine in this case meant the bow. At the gentle scolding the child pouted. Breaking 'mines' was not a good thing. He didn't like it when his 'mine' referring now to it as Sousuke was broken. Yume had to fix his 'mine', which she did which made him very happy. Sousuke had then realized that Tsukiko had joined them. As usual... her choice of words was not the greatest. "Well. I did just jump out of a window..."<i></i> He remarked about not being seen. He gestured now to Naoki. "Naoki ... was my very special little helper. She made certain that I didn't bleed out or suffer a cease function during the combative phase of the Cabal Endgame."<i></i> In truth Naoki had sort of ... give him the extra boost from the health pills which allowed him to endure more attacks, and ultimately strike down Kaito. "She's a very brave child, fighting off the nasty Cabal and fighting off that mean Magentica."<i></i>

Aki's spirit for a moment was down trodden, but it bounced right back. He clapped his hands as Naoki sang to him. Sort of. "Nooookie! Naaaaaooookkkeey!"<i></i> The child called out happily. "Aki sawwry. Aki not break mine. Aki happy Nookie's mine not broke."<i></i>

 

[Samejima]

Naoki heard footsteps, and the Steward seemed to have jumped out the window for some reason. Naoki's hand shot forward out of impulse, but she was too far away to even have touched his armor. "Wah! S-Sou...!" He pulled himself back in with relative ease, and handed the bow to its owner. "suke...sama?"

My bow? Was it near the window...? I thought I... She remembered she was about to hand the bow to three-year-old Aki, and he ran around quite happily with it. Oh! It was about to fall out? Did Aki drop it there... But she remembered that he ran around without stopping until the jump, that much was evident from the footsteps. He must've lost his grip on it... I should be careful about what I give to little kids, it might've bounced off a wall or something and hit someone... "Thank you sir! I'll be more careful..." Naoki put the bow away, carefully, and smiled at Aki to try and cheer him up after he received his father's words. She also vaguely wondered what a 'mine' was, being unaware of military equipment and not knowing what a 'mine' could mean.

Whenever it gets quiet, Naoki uses heartbeats to monitor the number of people in the room. It was harder to identify the Steward's location, as the armor slightly obscures the sound, but everyone else's locations were crystal clear, including the one who'd just walked in. Oh, someone came in... Mednin? She then heard words of praise, from the Steward himself no less, and went straight into modest mode. "Ah, n-no, I was just lucky to have gotten out of there at all, with all the thunder and fast people and swords, even with Sousuke-sama carrying me! A-and any attacks I even got in were probably just because Magnetica wasn't paying attention to me, and here I am for a third week getting a checkup because I got hit with one attack..."

Naoki was spiritedly defending her unimportance in the beginning, waving her hands about in grand gestures and occasionally scratching her head in embarrassment. She trailed off at the end, looking quite pensive and less than willing to recall those minutes of battle, contemplating her mortality and how easily she could've been killed. There were others there who wouldn't let a child die, she knew... but she didn't want to put those people through any sort of worry. She should've run out there, first chance she got. But she didn't want to run. But then she did want to run. Encountering a contradiction, she wondered: am I having a mid-life crisis? She didn't know what it was, but she heard it was when people were struggling to figure out what they wanted to do.

The mednin then introduced herself and asked her if another one's been to see to her yet, and she shook her head in the negative. She could tell by the heartbeat that Dr. Miago was reaching her hand out, but she was a little puzzled as to why, tilting her head a little to the left. A realisation struck, as she remembered that she had just introduced herself. Naoki shook Dr. Miago's hand, saying "I'm Samejima Naoki, nice to meet you Dr. Miago!" She let go, then gave the doctor a bow too, as was the customary introduction her mother taught her.

A bit of silence fell, and Aki called out to Naoki. I still don't know what a mine is... But it probably means something that's mine? Ahhh what is this feeling in my face, it's making me happy. Naoki's face melted into a sort of blissfully stupid grin hearing the young boy say things. "Oooh, that's right, good job Aki~ Be careful when you run around like that okay? Don't run with sharp things!" She ruffled his hair, like her father does when she catches a fish, any fish. Even when she caught seaweed sometimes, he knows she tried, and pats her head. Naoki hoped that it would make Aki happy too.

She waited for the mednin's next instruction, since she did want to get out of the hospital. All the beeping she'd been hearing through the ceiling was driving her sanity to its limits.

 

[Sagasu Yume]

The mednin smiled, her curiosity sated, as she pulled a stool over to take a seat next to the girl’s bedside. Her headache was beginning to subside and she was able to focus on the task at hand. Chewing the side of her cheek, she gives a bit of a grunt at the mention of Magnetica’s name and mumbles, catching her self at the last moment; there was a child, two if you wanted to be technical, in the room.

Well, Magnetica’s a b-… ad person. Most kids your age are still at the ‘Future Hero of Suna’ stage. Looks like you’re already a hero of the village. Keep up with things like that and you’ll be the next Main Branch sennin.

Her eyes scanned down the chart, seeing the cuts and scrapes that she’d been treated for already. Flipping backward and forward, she frowns, checking the backsides of the pages for something that seemed to be missing. With a puzzled look, she glances back up to her patient.

I can’t find anything that would require follow-up passed what you’ve already been in for. You say that she hit you with one attack, and knowing her style, it probably left you concussed. Are you feeling any residual pain? Are noises interfering with your kin’s type of vision more than usual? I heard you… er… playing your instrument earlier. Is it more difficult or do you have a lack of co-ordination from your regular functions?

It was a circumstance they didn’t have to deal with often. Usually the easiest way to assess head trauma was through the eyes. As they would offer no help due to their lack of response to light stimuli (i.e. blindness), she had to go the 20 questions route. Pulling a pen from her pocket, she sat poised with a pad of paper on the clipboard that held Naoki’s stats.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Aki's happiness was infectious. Naoki was consumed by it, which was evidenced by the large grin on her face. "Heh."<i></i> Sousuke laughed as he too ended up smiling. Smiles were a bit more natural these days to the Steward these days now. As Naoki ruffled the hair of his ward, Aki threw his arms around the older child in the form of a hug. Sousuke raised his hand slightly. He wasn't sure how Naoki would react to the sudden action coming from his ward. Hopefully Naoki had the patience to deal with Aki's spontaneous nature. In truth, this was the first time he had ever seen his ward interact with a child of ... a smaller age difference.

"Aki be careful. Aki never run round-a-round with cizzors."<i></i> He declared. He let go of Naoki and placed his hands on his hips and puffed up his chest. The word he was trying to say was scissors but it came out differently of course. The word Tsukiko was saying acquired Sousuke's hard stare. Aki looked back and forth between his keeper and the lady who came to the house a few nights before. "Maggy a baaaad person?"<i></i> He mimicked. Sousuke nodded at the doctor for her choice of words. It was for the best really that word was used. Sousukewould not have his great-ward ... use such foul language. Granted Okibi had learned some words, but each and every time she had said one of those words, she was met with strong disapproval.

The doctor and the child exchanged words about her condition. The Steward raised an eyebrow and waited the answers. He was concerned. Naoki was a growing child. He certainly wanted to make sure that her growth was unhindered due to physical ailment or injury. The Steward would keep silent as the procedure continued.

 

[Samejima]

Naoki was a little surprised as she was given a hug, but showed no sign of that other than a little jump and a bit of a surprised expression. She was a bit flustered though, having never gotten hugs from new people. "Ehehe..." She patted him on the back, and the grin didn't falter as the boy let go and proudly announced his understanding about the dangers of running around with sharp objects. "That's good, you're smart too huh Aki?"

She noticed a little pause as the doctor spoke. She didn't pay it much mind though. "Sennin..." She thought about her training with the current Main Branch Sennin, and the goings-on of the training two weeks ago. It ended fairly well, but she was feeling somewhat apprehensive about cursed seals and anything of the sort.

But back to the doctor's questions. "I don't think there's anything else that hurts right now... I know I was able to play it before but I don't... remember? How to play it, I mean. Does that make sense?"

Naoki herself couldn't make sense of it. It's like she lost an ability she never knew she had, so it wasn't much of a loss, but it would be nice to know how she lost it. She waited anxiously for any sign of a change in expression, trying to block out the beeping without losing the sound of the heartbeats in the area.

 

[Sagasu Yume]

The medic jotted some notes down on the chart. No pain. Slightly delayed responses. Erratic attention span. Mild memory loss? Some of these things might not be factors as the attention span of a child was difficult to gauge at best, but it was worth noting. The girl was able to hold a conversation and knew where she was, so Tsukiko was hopeful. The symptom that concerned her the most was her lack of memory. Something repetitive, such as and instrument or writing, was often the last thing to be forgotten. Many amnesia cases she had dealt with could sign their name but not tell you what it was, or walk you to their house but not give you directions. The brain was a fickle thing. Laying the clipboard on the bed, she takes out her stethoscope and places the binaurals around her neck. With one hand, she rubs the diaphragm to warm it up and motions with her head for the girl to lean forward.

I'm going to listen to your breathing and heartbeat, then take your blood pressure and temperature. It's a matter of process really, since I'll be taking you to Radiology after to scan over that brain of yours. It doesn't hurt, but the machine can be rather noisy. I can give you ear plugs if they would help. Before we start, do you have any piercings, implants, or magnetic ink?It's unlikely that they'll cause a problem but sometimes they get irritated by the scan. We'll have to take precautions if you do.

She set to work, kindly instructing Naoki to breath in, hold it a second, and then out as she places the bell over different areas of the child's back. Looking up, Aki has flopped forward, mimicking his new friend. Letting her patient sit up, she leans across to Aki and puts the bell on his back if he lets her, and has him do the same. She thought she had her fill of toddlers but when they're so curious she can't help but love them. Marking down the readings, she retrieves the cuff and wraps it around Naoki's arm, just above the elbow.

This will get a little tight but it shouldn't be painful. If it starts to hurt, you let me know right away.

She watches a ball-baring rise up the scale on the wall with each compression of her hand as her thumb holds the stethoscope to the girl's inner elbow. Steadily the sound of a heartbeat would thrum in her ears. When the cuff is tight enough, she slowly releases the air, taking note of the systolic and diastolic values. Finally, she popped a thermometer into her mouth with the instructions not to play with it. It had to stay still or it wouldn't get a proper reading. To police this, she takes the girls wrist and times out a pulse. Any time Aki would appear to want the procedure repeated, she would accommodate him, changing her instructions for the thermometer to 'Don't bite'. Once the stats were all gathered, she drops the clipboard into the slot at the bottom of the bed.

You two are more than welcome to join us, Takahashi-sama.

Kicking the brakes off, she wheels away from the wall and out into the hallway, heading for radiology. The basement was in various levels of disarray due to Keystone being obliterated so the in-house pharmacy and morgue had to be relocated as much as possible. Unfortunately, that meant sharing space in an already crowded hospital. If one were to go exploring, they wouldn't know whether they would meet a cadaver or caregiver next. Swiping her pass card to scan her credentials, the lights switch on in the lab and a sign above the door turns from green to red. She sets the brakes out side of the room and holds the door open for the others to go in.

Aki and Sousuke, you'll have to stay behind this wall. Naoki, I'm going to have you lay down on the bed there in the middle of the room. Once we have you situated, I'll be closing the door between us but there is an open comm-system so all you need to do is talk and I'll hear you.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Aki followed along with the procedures. Someof them he wasn't used to like the thermometer. He stared at his great-ward when it came to this. He didn't bite down on it. He swapped glances from Sousuke to the device. This was all very foreign to him. After they were done he hopped off the bed and made gestures for Sousuke to pick him up, which he did. Sousuke followed Tsukiko as she wheeled Naoki down the hall way to go over the next part of the treatment. Given that this was heavy duty machinery and works Sousuke would call out to Naoki. " I sometimes do the maintenance work on these machines ... they shouldn't be malfunctioning."<i></i> Truth be told, Sousuke could tear the machine apart and then put it back together.

As they passed by the lab, Sousuke too pulls out his keycard and scans it. Sousuke's expression twitched slightly. "Power in this part is still fully charged? Thank fully the Cabal didn't hit this place. Can't say the same for my lab. Still though, if necessary I can give it a full charge."<i></i> He inquired. The Steward had designed the power cores. If necessary he could pull one or two out and recharge them. He turned to Naoki and explained. "My labs used to be close by, in walking distance until those nasty Cabal jerks blew it up. I used to have my armours set up there along with my weapon, and their appropriate test facility."<i></i> Sousuke seemed to grow slightly gloomy at the prospect that all of his research was gone. Luckily most of it was still in his head, and even more luckily none of the Cabal members learned how to fully make use of his tech. Ironically they were on the receiving end of it being that Sousuke still had some tech on him when he had that face off in the Toraono dojo.

Now it was time for the next phase of Naoki's assessment. "We'll be here too Naoki."<i></i> Aki waved at her as they did as Tsukiko bid them to and stay behind the wall.

 

[Samejima]

"Huh? Uhmm..." 'Piercings' is another word for earrings right? As Naoki heard from her mother when she wagged her finger at the little girl, telling her she wasn't to get any until she was old enough. But what are im-plants? And I know about ink, but what's magnetic ink...? Is it related to Magnetica?

Having been raised outside the village, she still had no information about magnets or what they did... They were never in use at home after all. "I don't have any piercings, but I don't know what im-plants or magnetic ink are..." Additional explanation and a couple nods from Naoki would reveal she didn't have any of either though.

While being examined, Naoki would be quite still and would follow every instruction, as she had the past few times. A clear "mmhm" told the doctor that Naoki would tell her if the cuff started to hurt. Of course, Naoki knew it wouldn't, but she had to show her understanding somehow. The thermometer in her mouth left a weird aftertaste, and she had a funny expression on when it came out, lips pressed together into a line and jutting out.

They started off for the room where Naoki would be getting the scan, and she was assaulted by some pretty loud noise. Ohh. I don't like coming here. On the upside, she was able to sense everything with a heightened sense of perception, and could practically feel the wheels rolling around as she was wheeled into the proper room.

The Steward told Naoki about how he did the maintenance for these machines sometimes, and was a little confused. Main-ten-ance... Mal-func-tion? She was really unfamiliar with machines and the like. She smiled at him though, to provide some sort of response. Naoki's ears' nerves were now working overtime to try and reduce as much noise coming in as possible, and frankly she'd rather not try too hard to hear things people say at the moment.

So of course she had no idea what a lab was either. She did know that losing armour and a weapon wasn't good though. "Aww... I wanted to see- well sort of, see armours..."

As she was told to go lie down on the bed, she recognised her cue. "Ah um! Could I get some earplugs please!"

Naoki would thank whoever gave them to her by gripping their hands together firmly and looking them straight in the eyes (as well as she could considering the headband), then go lie down like she was told.

[MFT]

 

[Sagasu Yume]

We’ve been diverting power to the more essential systems and only powering on the heavy machinery when needed. Yume spent… a lot of time in Keystone during your absence. I doubt all of your research was lost. Perhaps the physical creations were gone, but I was with Shinji when he retrieved stacks of paperwork from her office there moments before the explosion.

Paper work hadn’t been the only thing they had found. Cadavers that had been drained and experimented on, possibly ante-mortem, were strapped to metal tables. Shinji seemed a little disturbed but mostly unphased; it would seem that there was always a price to genius and that price generally stemmed from death in one way or another. There wasn’t a natural way to remove herself from the conversation so she simply cut away to help Naoki situate herself on the bed of the scanner. It would seem that there would need to be some explanations prior to the scan.

Implants are anything that goes under the skin. Pins used to keep bones together. Enhancements in different forms. As for magnetic ink, it’s a special type of ink used in certain tattoos that can cause a rash or discomfort during and shortly after the scan. As you are so young, I find it unlikely but these are the questions I must ask.

Going to a side drawer, she pulls out a sealed bag of single-use ear plugs and gives them to Naoki after popping the seal so that she didn’t have to worry about opening it. There was a trick to it and Tsukiko had seen many plugs go flying from inexperience. The last thing she does before going is to slip the headband from the girl’s eyes.

I’ll hold this for safe keeping. Metal has a way of acting unpredictably when scanned and it will block what I need to inspect. I’ll keep it safe and give it back immediately after we’re done.

Disappearing into the room where Sousuke and Aki were, she takes a seat next to them and starts to calibrate the machine, gladly accepting any help the Steward would offer. The bed would slide forward and back through the tube as different sections of her brain were captured, ensuring that she was thorough so that they wouldn’t have to perform this again. It was uncomfortable for most with average senses. She could only imagine how it was for someone with heightened aural relays.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke at the mention of piercings absent mindedly rubbed the golden ring he did have. It was an earring for him, but for its original owner, it was a finger ring. Naoki spoke of how she wanted to see his armours, or at least the one way she could. "They'll be replaced some day. The current model I'm using has spiked shoulders..."<i></i> He had taken one of his father's old puppets and turned it into a suit of armour. "It's a bit clunky and blocky compared to my older models, but it still works reasonably well... it certainly isn't as impressive as my other models."<i></i> In a way Sousuke was ... glad that Naoki had disengaged from the fight with Kaito. Considering he had consumed part of the Cabal's agent life force and was part in his downfall. The description of that particular armour was ... not quite monstrous, but it was something darker and not fit for table talk.

As Naoki went into the machine, Sousuke kept an eye on the levels. He covered his mouth with his left hand as he read the power levels. Everything was consistent. The machines were operating with no flaws. That much was comforting, but the results to follow were even more concerning. Being the Steward, Sousuke naturally cared for his villagers. It was his place to keep them safe and sound. With the Cabal attacks, and the deaths that they had brought, his mood had darken as of late. The Steward had hoped that Naoki hadn't suffered any significant lost due to that battle. "Anything showing up that's exceptional?"<i></i> He inquired. It came out more of a mumble at first. The Steward removed his mouth from his hand. "For all my knowledge, I never specialized in medicine... or surgery. At least not ... proper medicine."<i></i> His eyes shifted from left to right as he was trying to interpret the readings. Aki grabbed onto Sousuke's leg. The humming of the machines were slightly unsettling for him. Sousuke patted the child's head. "Naoki's okay Aki. You don't have to worry. These machines are helping her."<i></i> The child looked up and gave his father a small smile. "Nothing at all to worry about."<i></i>

 

[Samejima]

Naoki nodded in an understanding way when the mednin told her she needed to take the headband off for now. She kept her eyes closed, as she was used to now, before she went over to the bed to lie down.

Nyah. I haven't gotten used to this. It's just so loud... She would try not to incur any more injuries from anything magnetic or gravitational or unseen-force-related now, it was quite a pain to make sure the effects were gone. Through the open-comm system, though she was trying her best to block sounds out, she could hear the Steward and the mednin talking, and would likely be able to hear any observations made towards her own condition. She was still quite sure nothing bad remained, since she felt perfectly fine. And she was able to get through that much training in the first week after the battle too, granted, it was only because of the-

Seal! I forgot to tell her about the seal! Uhh but it only affects my chakra or something like that... so it shouldn't be a problem...? Unsure of what else she could do in that position though, Naoki remained quiet and waited for any sort of cue to get off the bed (and away from the noise), whether the scan was completed or if the seal did cause some kind of problem and she should've said something about it.

 

[Sagasu Yume]

The mednin wasn’t certain if she was supposed to be engaging her company or simply doing her job. She listened with a half-smile as Sousuke spoke to her about his practices and watched the readouts over her shoulder. With careful taps on her keyboard different images would come into focus, showing mushrooming visuals as Naoki’s brain was reduced to a two-dimensional screen. Once she had captured the data she needed, she issued the commands to put the imaging machine into stand-by, reducing the noise to nothing more than the slight hum of electricity comparable to a lamp. As the shutdown sequence commences, the bed slid out on hydrolics to allow Naoki the opportunity to stand when she was ready. Depending on the ink used in the girl’s seal, her hand might itch a little but from what Tsukiko saw, there was nothing wrong with her patient. Coming out of her intense focus, she turns and gives the Steward and Aki and smile, tilting her head indicating that they could go back into the room and led the way.

Good news. There’s nothing wrong with you. A little hyperactivity between your audio-visual synapses but that would be expected as one is compensating for the other. I’ll sign off on your chart that you’re healthy and don’t have to continue coming in for check ups. Any concerns?

Extending her hand as she spoke, she offered the girl her headband back. Every now and then it was nice to have a happy ending to treatment. It happened less often than one would think. Usually there was some form of residual aftermath that followed people for the rest of their life; children were more resilient than most adults.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

The readings came up on the screen. Nothing exceptional. That was a good start. The Steward making mental notes to himself in the future. Certainly there was more to this, but this was a good start to begin with. Even more thankfully there was no tech errors.

Both Sousuke and Aki followed Tsukiko back. Seeing Naoki outside of the big and weird machine caused Aki to be joyous. His new friend had nothing wrong with her. That was swell. The child rushed forward to hug his friend and comment, in what way he could, about her having NO THING WRONG with her. Aki was stopped short by Sousuke. His great ward crouched down and motioned for Aki to give her a moment or two. Being a Hashigaki the machine's noises had probably thrown her senses off. Her balance would need to resituate itself. Aki's mouth dropped and he was about to ask why, Sousuke help his index finger up to cover his lips. He next then held the index finger out. Wait a moment. Let Naoki get herself situated. He motioned to his ears. Aki did the same with a quizzical look on his face. He was about to say 'AH!' but he didn't. He covered his mouth with both his hands.

Once Naoki was situatuated and seeming all the better now to be interacted with Aki would once again make his way towards her. This time Sousuke didn't react fast enough to stop him. Aki's intent was once again to hug his new friend, although with less force. Then he would do the same but to Tsukiko, except his hug would be around her legs. He was so grateful for this lady for checking up on his friends. When he first met her, he wasn't so sure about her. Gran Gran M didn't seem to like her much. Why Aki couldn't understand.

 

[Samejima]

Oooh... Spinny... Naoki wasn't quite able to remember the right word to express her disorientation for a bit, stepping off the bed and trying to stand. There was a little bit of a stumble, but nothing to worry about. Looooud. Uh?

She sensed Aki begin a run, and it was in her direction! Wai-what what what? Bending down a little and stepping back reflexively, as if she knew how to catch a smaller child running at her anyway, she straightened herself up just about as quickly as she began to adjust herself. The Steward had gotten Aki to stop. O-oh... okay.

She tried to steady the pounding between her ears and bent her neck a little in either direction before taking her headband back and tying it around her eyes. S-syn... uh... Oh! Then I'm okay right? "Um, no, 'm feeling okay. Thank you for today Doctor!" Naoki gave the good doctor a bow before getting that hug from Aki. Hehe. Hugs are nice... she thought, giving Aki another ruffle of the hair before he went to hug the mednin who'd helped her after she subjected everyone in the hallway to some pretty rough playing.

Why she was unable to play it well now was still a mystery though. I wonder why I can't play it well anymore. Was that last one just a coincidence...? It did happen awhile ago. Maybe I need to actually learn how to play it, the right way, now that I know how to use my sound chakra...

She'd just follow wherever they went next though, being unfamiliar with the hospital's layout.

 

[Sagasu Yume]

The mednin gave a reserved smile at the sight of the children’s embrace. She could understand why some women adored children and why most of them wanted their own. At one point she had been one of those women but her semi-recent experiences had left her without that desire. She would stick to keeping people alive rather that bringing new life herself. Part of her reason was her uncertainty of her genetics. The knowledge of burdening a child with a predisposition to her issues made any lingering desire dissipate. Bringing the wheelchair with them to return it to the main floor, Tsukiko guides the posse to the main entrance and ruffles Naoki’s hair as they arrive.

I should take care of your paperwork. I trust your contact information is correct? I doubt there will be any changes to the diagnostic but just in case it’s good to know where to find you.

With a polite nod to her patient and a bow to the Steward, Tsukiko turns and heads down the hall, letting her hand pat Aki on the head if he holds still long enough to let her. Casually her hands find the deep pockets of her lab coat as the rubber tips of her heels click off the stone flooring. Ending the day with a happy story and compliant patient was all she could ask for.


[Topic left]

 

[Takahashi Aki]

Sousuke watched as Tsukiko left them. It struck Sousuke a little odd that this was the woman Shinji was dating. What sort of power play complex was between the two of them, he wasn't sure. Granted Yume mentioned it was more of tension, but given their displays from earlier it was possible that was not the situation anymore for the older Sagasu. People change. Sometimes change can be big, sometimes it can be small. Sousuke turned to Naoki. "Don't worry about not being able to play the instrument. Sometimes ... when people are pressured or are in a difficult situation their truest potential manifests."<i></i> He explained to the child as he thought about it. It was a possibility. Some people excelled when under pressure, but then again they had to push themselves that much harder in order to endure the event before them. "From my own personal ... I've learned that sometimes I can surprise myself. I am capable of using more than just plasma... I've learned to make use of the darkness, not the evil sort, think of it more along the lines of using the power of the night. Granted... I'm using my sword to channel it... and it feels natural, but I... don't ever remember learning how to use such a power."<i></i> Sousuke would attempt to describe. Naoki was there when he had tapped into the Black Blade and used it to alter his very being. She had disengaged from the battle when he struck Kaito down using a more complete arsenal.

"You don't remember any of the notes or the positions for holding the strings?"<i></i> He inquired. Maybe talking about it would help her out. "Maybe the instrument was damaged. I could have a look at it?"<i></i> Entirely possible again. If the instrument was damaged then perhaps that was why it didn't sound right to begin with.