Description: In the aftermath of Kentou's fight with Jaeger, we next see our heroes recouperating in the Hospital. Hotaru speaks her peace on the matter as Kentou is perplexed.. and grateful.
"...Jello..."
Kentou's mousey eyes narrow at the quivering cup of green molded suger-slime. Lips, bruised in one corner, pressed into a thin line. A line that threatens to devolve into a pout at any given moment, but forcing himself to be strong. Impassive. Unchanging like the yonder mountains.
The youth is sitting upright in his bed. Changed out to a simple blue gown with the bed sheets pulled up to his lap. All but mummified with bandages, one arm slung at his chest with his other at his side. That shoulder got preforated painfully by gunfire, but thats alright. The doctors have him on juuust enough painkillers to let him ignore the bulk of his injuries. An hour or two in surgery to remove some of the more problematic shrapnel and scattershot.
Half of his face masked by bandages, with most of it held together by white wraps over his brow like a headband. The boy certainly LOOKS like hell, but the Doctors insist he should be ready to head home in a week or so. His young constitution has remarkable resiliency, thankfully.
But all that isn't the hard part.
he HARD part.. Is having to subsist on jello for another few days.
The boy cautiously pokes the wobbly morsel, making the alien substance dance for his curiousity.
Of course, since he finally awoke and the details of his circumstances told to him.. Kentou has had a lot of time to think. He was told how dangerous Southtown was, a crime-ridden slum filled with scary people. The boy didn't really believe HOW scary it was.. Until that monster fell from the sky and almost killed him.
Some, perhaps, would consider that a wake up call to snap out of his stupid little dream and try to make something of his life. To him? ... Nah. That.. That was a distraction. An accident. Whatever that terrible thing was.. That could happen to anybody. It wasn't a fighter. Not really. It was just a killer.
And the difference between those two concepts are vast in the boy's mind.
She's already been told that the boy will be fine, given some time to recuperate, and the relief that washed over her at such news was literally palpable to the nurse that gave it. As soon as she was on her feet again and staff indicated that it was okay to visit the young man that they found unconscious next to her, Hotaru takes the time to visit.
She lingers in the door for a long moment, perhaps hesitant, unsure as to what she should say. Her vest and blouse were in no condition to be worn after the patching up she required, and the plain, black tea shirt she's been given to wear over the bandages around her shoulder conceals the stab wound she received there to some extent. A large, square patch is over her right cheek, covering another set of stitches holding closed a ghastly gash, a second gift from the marauding robot. Her white pants are splattered with her dried blood, but since she won't be staying another night here, the girl hadn't requested that a change of clothing be brought over from the Kyokugen dojo where her belongings are for the most part these days.
Finally she steps into the room, cautious, quiet steps, approaching the bed that is to be Kentou's bunk for a couple of days at least. "Hey," she speaks, though her voice sounds a little muffled, the girl mostly talking out of the left side of her mouth as to avoid aggrivating the cheek wound. A closer inspection of his condition is made, the left side of her mouth curling up a with a bit of a smile. "You look like you pissed off a tank."
Bright eyes move from the dancing jellow at the tray table over his lap to the muffled voice. Not recognizing the tone at first, as stressed at it is from that terrible wound.. but as the young lady stands fully in view there can be no doubt.
%Like the girl.. Kentou also is speechless. Youthful eyes shifting over her bandaged form as the edges of his lips begin to sink. So she did get hurt.. really hurt.
..Saving him.
After the kindly officer told the boy what happened, how he was found and whom he was found with.. The boy was more than a little stunned. The coincidence was.. incredible. That she just happened to be there.. her of all people, the sensei that he rightly cheesed off with his one-boy assault on the youth center. ... And she fought off that monster for him, risking her own life against that.. ungodly thing.
The boy had rehersed several possible things to say. Everything revolving from gruff and proud to tearful apologies. Instead, all he can manage..
"H..Hey.." Kentou's unbound hand slowly rising in something of an awkward, halting wave.
While his greeting is lackluster, his expression alone speaks worlds of the turmoil behind those gleaming eyes.
He should say something to her. Anything.
"I.." Slow swallow, "..N..Nobody ever saved my life before.. ah.." Eyes drifting away, only because he can't bare the shame of meeting hers right now, "..I.. wish I knew.. how to thank you enough.."
"Nn," the girl replies, not really sure how to take his deep gratitude, partially spoken, but also communicated thorugh the way he looks at her before lowering his eyes to focus elsewhere. "You're welcome," she states after a moment, still speaking out of the left corner of her mouth. "It's hopefully not something you've had need of before, ne?" There's a hint of a tease in her tone. After all, in order for someone to save your life, your life has to be in danger in the first place. And a boy his age should not have to admit to that having been the case.
"I-" she starts to continue, but the pause that follows belies just how uncertain she is about explaining what she is about to say. "I... owe you an apology though," she finally speaks, her own eyes straying over the bandages that cover him before coming to rest on the side of the bed as she takes another step forward. He didn't have to end up like this. She could have prevented it. "I should have interceded sooner. I should have helped. I almost did. It's just... I saw you fighting that thing and you were... well... to be honest, amazing. I think you almost destroyed it all by yourself. All I had to do was chase it off then. You did all the real work."
Her eyes peek up a little, searching for his face, perhaps wondering if she will find anger there for having left him on his own against that monster.
"I'm sorry. I- I should have helped sooner."
"Eh-heh-heh.." Kentou very lightly chuckles at Hotaru's jab, the youth sheepishly scratching the top of his head. The one region on his body that doesn't hurt too much right now. The boy will admit he's been in a few tight spots in the past. Beaten up pretty badly at a couple points.. But nothing of this order of magnitude. Not by a long shot.
Still, at the young master's acknowledgement the boy inclines his head. Nodding once wordlessly as he feels.. grateful at her words.
Words that inspire him to say something else as he quickly lifs his head to speak.. only to be pre-empted by Hotaru's halting tone. Stopping before saying anything further as he listens to HER own apology in turn.
Is she.. pulling his leg? Is this some kind of joke? Her words.. don't make sense to him. Well, they DO but.. they certainly don't. Was he at the wrong killbot ambush party and nobody told him? Was he, or was he not the kid who hid under a car and ran for his life? Who was just incredibly happy he didn't bawl his eyes out before being shot to death?
"I.." Words failing him as he processes this revelation. The first part is hard enough to comprehend but the second..
..The second..
"..R...Really?.." Angry? Kentou's so happy .. He's trying not to cry, though the watering at the corners of his luminous eyes betray that emotion. Voice a hushed whisper, "..I was..?"
Was he amazing? It was all such a blur. So much violence, fear and chaos. Explosions and robot killing machines. In the movies all that always seems so.. clear and easy to follow. But -living- a movie like that is.. another story entirely. He.. supposes he hit that thing a few times. Mostly out of raw, complete panic. Didn't feel like he did much to it.. Just the equivolent of beating on its chest and hoping to make it go away.
It takes several moments for Kentou's distant and teary gaze to return to Hotaru's.. and see in her expression that she genuinely, truly regrets her hesitation. The idea seems.. incomprehensible to him.
"N..No! No. No.. r..really.. no." Shaking his head a little, wild bangs swishing with the movement, ".. You saved my life.." Kentou repeats firmly, "..What could.. what could anyone ask more than that? I.. I mean.. I certainly didn't save anyone there ah.."
Oh God those screams, the gunfire.. Closing his eyes a second at the terrible memory, "I..I wish I did but.. I was so scared.." As hard as that is for him to admit. Fingers tightening into a fist at his side, "..I just.. wanted to run and hide.. You.. you're a hero.. Hotaru.."
"Yeah," Hotaru says, providing only a one word answer to his hushed questions. Maybe she's been hanging around Acacia too much lately - some of her laconic nature might be rubbing off on her. But the way she says it leaves no room for argument with her assertion. He handled himself amazingly well against such a deadly machine and no one can convince her otherwise.
His response to her apology seems to lift a weight from the girl's shoulders, however, as she stands up a little straighter, expression warming slightly. "Well, it... it doesn't always play out the way you think it would when you find yourself in a situation like that." And now her tone carries the weight of one speaking from experience. As if perhaps she has put her own life on the line before... or, well, multiple times before.
"My mother always used to tell me that courage is doing what you're afraid to do." She pauses a little, hand coming out to lightly tap the boy on the head where she saw him rub, figuring that she wouldn't be hitting a bruise there. "You can't show courage unless you're scared of something in the first place. Don't let... don't let how you felt on the inside make you forget how you carried yourself on the outside."
Her hand falls to her side and she takes a step back from the side of the bed as if having had her say. "So yeah. You... you were amazing. You fought with a lot of natural instinct. And your timing..." She smiles, shrugging slightly, only to wince as the gesture jostles the wound below her shoulder. If he had aimed only a bit lower, she might have been laid up far longer than a single night. "Well, not a lot of people can dodge bullets, all right? I'm just glad you're going to be okay. I guess it takes more than a rampaging robot to keep you down."
In some ways, the girl's somewhat terse speech is reassuring. Its not like the boy really knows what to say either. This is.. completely new territory for him. If only for the simple fact that.. Apart from his Mother long ago..
Nobody has ever actually been there for him. Not only has nobody saved his life in such a.. dramatic fashion. But nobody was ever really there to pick him up when he fell before. He always had to get up on his own.. or not at all. After a fashion Kentou never really thought much of it, that's just how the world works. At least.. it was. But now the world got a whole lot more complicated. For the better, maybe?
The boy's attention is recaptured as Hotaru speaks again. This time with more authority, even punctuating her words with a small rap on his head. Cowlick bobbing with the brief motion. Bright eyes attentive as he slowly begins to nod.. thinking over her words. That.. that DOES make sense, actually. And in light of everything.. If what she says about his own performance was true.. perhaps that is true after all.
"I.. I won't.. I mean I will! ..Show courage.. I mean.." Following the logic as best he is able.
As she moves away, the boy watches her attentively. Absorbing her critique .. eagerly, "R..really?.." His one visible cheek flustering a bit at the praise. Unable to keep from grinning at that, "..Yeah, uh. Bullets kinda move faster than.. most of the beefy guys in street corner Dojos these days.." '_' "..Hurt more too.." Rubbing his shoulder very, very gingerly with his unbound hand before wincing. Ow.
At her parting words Kentou speaks up quickly, "Wait I.." Blurting out swiftly, reaching out his free hand to her.
.. Catching himself.
"Seriously.. really. Thank you.. I mean for saving me but.. also.. Saying that.. it.." Nodding as he slowly looks down, "..It means a lot to me.. I'm sorry you got hurt because of me.. I'll.. I'll make it up to you.." The how and where parts, he has no real clue.. But honor compels him to offer none the less.
She smiles faintly as her mother's words seem to resonate with him as well. She's glad she's remembered a lot of the things the nuturing, caring woman who raised her taught her over the years. Lessons that went far deeper than words - explained with the depth of conviction, sticking with the cut up fighter to this day even after all the time that has gone by.
"Yeah," she says again, eyes seeming to refocus on his as he asserts his intent to show his courage in the face of the terrible things he might see, the left side of her mouth curling up into that half-smile again. "You better. My mother was a wise woman. Don't make the mistake of disregarding her words."
She's about to bid him goodbye and turn away when he asks her to stay a moment longer. Freezing mid-step, she looks to him again, gentle, blue eyes meeting his brown irises, so full of youthful vigor. "You'll have your chance someday. But until that time, don't worry about it, ne?" she replies, shrugging a little, but with only her right shoulder this time as to not aggrivate her injury further.
"I'm sure I'll see you around. Already bumped into each other twice. Life is funny that way..." And with that, she takes another step back, right hand coming up to rub absently at the shoulder injury concealed by her shirt. "Just get better. And be careful out there. Now get some rest. And, enjoy the jello..." Her tone fades out, suggesting not even optimistic Hotaru believes that /last/ part to be possible.
Then she turns, facing the door in order to take her leave, her smile fading, replaced by a thoughtful, almost pensive expression, half-hidden by the way the right side of her face is patched up. What was that thing that attacked the city? Who has that kind of technology? If she hadn't happened by, he /would/ have died, squeezed to death in its metal claws. What would have happened if she faced it alone? The girl's eyes narrow slightly as she slips away.
Log created on 01:40:45 08/22/2007 by Kentou, and last modified on 02:20:50 08/26/2007.