Seathan Kellar
New Member
[5th][10th] Week 95/96: Hospital Blues
Word Count - 7,618
*Plot*
Saiga - Black
Roy - Blue
Saiga opened his light gray eyes to the harsh light of the unknown. He squinted hard in order to peer through the blinding essence. Slowly his pupils began to contract, revealing to him the familiar rooms he had grown so accustomed to. He found himself in the Tenth Division Infirmary.
The battle with the Sine Qua Non rogue had left him completely wasted of all his strength. A severe sense of guilt overcame his mind as he began to recall the incident. His loss meant that a large section of the Tenth Division would be lost to the hands of the rogues. He winced as he reached over for a glass of water residing near the side of his bed. He needed something other than blood for once, to quench his thirst. Unfortunately, it was much to far away from him. He leaned over, causing massive shocks of pain before accidentally falling out of the bed. A passing nurse was kind enough to help him.
"Well, well, well. I can't say I'm surprised to see you here again, Mr. Senryunose. What is it, the eleventh time? The twelfth perhaps? You just can't seem to stay out of trouble." She gave a brief smile as though trying to joke with him.
Saiga frowned slightly, causing the nurse to back off in her light humor. She did not mean to offend, yet her words were true. Saiga could not keep himself out of harm's way. And he was not strong enough to handle things when things did go wrong. He looked passed her, without a word, at a fellow nurse behind. Her exotic blond hair bounced about as she came trampling into the room.
"Miss! Miss! Another squadron of shinigami have come in! We need you quick!"
Saiga gave a nod to the nameless nurse to whom he had never gotten the pleasure to actually learn her name. She was simply the lady that always seemed to pick up the pieces of his shattered mind and soul. After she left, a deep depression set in upon the shinigami's heart. With his beloved Sierra bedridden herself, and his adorable Mishu in the wretched care of the Tenth Division Pet Care Center, he had no one to keep him company. Not a soul would come pass to visit him. He longed for a friend, or at least something to peak his curiosity. Something to maintain a source of entertainment upon his heavy heart. Could there be such a person?
"Sir! Stop right there, we need to treat that wound on your arm!"
"Like hell you do! Get out of my way you crazy old hag! I'm going to visit my friend and if you try to stop me I'm just going to end up dragging your *** along with me!"
The random noises of a struggle erupted from down the hallway as more shinigami from the third division ran by the doorway towards the location of where the sounds had emerged from. More noise resulted as the shinigami that had crossed by the door way just earlier flew across it. "Get the hell out of my way!"
That was so distinct now that it could belong to no one else by Roy Karosiji. His right foot made the first step into sight as he then came into sight with seven people holding on to him and he dragged them along for the ride. He continued to persevere beyond that doorway towards Saiga's bed. "Yo! Saiga!"
In a quick series of movement Roy threw everyone off of him and stood erect before his comrade. He raised his left arm up that was now bleeding from a recently re-opened wound and gave him a thumbs up. "What's going on?"
"Sir you really need that injury taken care of." The old lady at the door yelled as she walked over to Roy.
"Blah blah blah, this scratch won't even slow me down! Stop worrying about me you old hag and take care of the other shinigami that need more attention than me! Geez, I swear Saiga, this crazy lady is stalking me."
"Well it looks like my fortune is changing...But is it for better...or worst?"
Saiga looked to the man standing before him. His stubbornness could be heard even before he entered the room. By now, Saiga had grown increasingly familiar with the man's tone. There could only be one person as he, and that was Roy, his long time foe and companion. He gave a loud sigh as the nurse continued to yell in the background, intent on treating Roy's arm.
"Hey there, Roy. I have to admit I wasn't..." yet Saiga was cut off by the woman's obnoxious voice. "Sir!"
"I WASN'T EXPECTING YOU HERE!!!" He finished with a loud yell.
"Sir, please, that arm..."
"SO ROY...Ma'am, could you please just let him be for at least one moment!" said a slightly frustrated dark haired shinigami as raising his voice caused his sores to ache.
"Fine!" said the nurse, stamping her feet, and bunching her face into a pout. She beckoned for the other members of security, who at this time where still trying to pull the man down. "If he wants to die, so be it! It's not my problem! The nerve..."
"Sorry, about that Roy." retorted Saiga with a slight nod. "She must be new here...or at least I've never seen her before..."
The grey eye shinigami reached over for another glass of water, while trying to coax his friend to come closer. "Though, she has a point. You really should get that looked at." A pair of beady eyes peered around the corner at their direction.
Unfortunately, multi-tasking was not one of Saiga's strong suits. Motioning for Roy to come closer and reaching for the water, on top of breathing and talking, all at the same time, prove to be much to difficult for the clumsy shinigami. He ended up falling from his bedside once again, though this time fully out, sprawled onto his face. His fall was broken however, by the gentle, and spotless, marble floors of the infirmary. As he nose began to bleed slightly, he attempted to stand, pressing the "DO NOT PRESS" button on the bed. Needless to say, things did not end well for poor Saiga, as the bed closed around his foot, encasing it in a quilted prison.
"Ha Cha!!!"
"Yeah, its definitely gotten worst..."
Roy could only wince at the sight of Saiga getting hurt in a 'floor slam' followed by a 'bed crusher' combination. Managing to refrain from saying the classic sentence, 'Oh that's gotta hurt,' he came by Saiga's side and knelt down to one knee. Finding the remote for the bed, he released the folding mechanism so that it would recline back to it's regular full length. "Looks like you're in need of more medical assistance than I'll ever need. Are you okay?"
After helping Saiga back up into the bed, Roy got a towel and wet it before trying to clean the blood on his comrade's face. This proved pointless however as blood continued to ooze out of the nose in a minute but constantly flowing stream. He sighed and handed his friend the towel, "Here, apply pressure to your nose with this for a little while to stop the bleeding."
Just as soon as Roy finished saying that the annoying nurse had came back in. Yet before she could say or do anything, Roy ushered her out of the room with a few calm words that summed up what had happened and that the situation was already under control. After closing the door behind her and locking it, he returned to the bedside while grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it up behind him.
Setting the chair with the back facing Saiga, Roy rested his bottom into the seat and crossed his arms over the top part. Although his arm was wrapped with a firmly tied cloth that had been discolored with old blood, Roy didn't even show so much as a flinch to display any signs of pain had he been in it. "I had a nice chat with Sano the other night and he told me you had checked into this place. So what's up?"
"Nothing really, and thanks for helping me just now." said Saiga as he held the towel against his nose, giving his voice a high nasal pitch.
The dark haired shinigami managed to prop himself upwards, after a flash of pain, and sat in a more appropriate speaking position. He looked back to his friend, who had been so kind as to help him off of the floor. He smiled slightly at the thought of his clumsiness. It always seemed to bring disaster to the two, yet now it brought the friends closer together.
"Maybe Roy is just what I need to pull myself out of this slump. Having him here won't be so bad. I mean, he is a friend after all. That is what I wanted...a friend..."
After sipping from the slightly scuffed glass, Saiga continued on with the conversation. "So yeah, Sanosuke is a good kid. We got into a bit of trouble him and I. Those dam rogues. They came here to Tenth too, which is why I'm such a mess now. I mean look at me." Saiga rose his right arm and waved his hand slightly as to convey his feelings of anguish.
The taste of defeat returned once again to his mouth as he thought back to the incident. Defeat sort of tastes like blood, which was probably because the fountain from his nose had slipped past the towel, and seeped into his mouth as he breathed. After a coughing spasm which sent his eyes jolting towards the bed, he looked back to Roy.
"So, what happened to you? Someone actually managed to catch to you, Speedy?"
His question was finished by a loud sneeze, as the blood had crawled into the back of his nasal passage. With the towel now completely gruesome, he cast it aside. Though the bleeding did not stop, it did slow its pace, coming to a slow crawl. Slightly embarrassed, Saiga kept his head down as Roy spoke. His cheeks grew red with shame.
"That was...absolutely disgusting."
" Well, something like that.." Roy got up and attained another towel for Saiga, handing it to him before sitting back down. "I guess if you count being a human shield as getting caught, then yeah."
'Right, cause that's going to make a whole lot of sense when he doesn't even know what the hell you're talking about. I can be such an idiot sometimes...' After giving a slight sigh, Roy regained his composure and cleared his throat a tad. "Well, it's probably for the best if I told the whole story from the beginning. I had just finished a battle with Lok against yet another assassin. Turns out I'm becoming quite a popular tenacious fella about those rogue. Anyway, stupid Lok passed out after the battle and I literally had to carry his sorry unconscious *** back to the tenth division dormitories. Honestly, you and him both waste way too much energy in combat with those high powered attacks. It's no surprise that you guys fizzle out after a big battle.
Back to the point, I was leaving the dormitories heading towards the eighth division sector when something caught my attention. There was one of the guard dogs that we train for searching out the enemy actually doing battle with a rogue. Sadly I had came at a time when the poor girl was getting the finishing blow. That however wasn't the end of the whole scene, apparently that dog was the mother of a puppy and was protecting her cub with all she had. It wasn't enough for that Sin Qua Non rogue though, after being bitten by the mother, he was still a bit pissed off and had decided that finishing off the baby would make him feel better. And well, me being in the condition that I was in, didn't have enough energy to do much but stop the attack with my arm.
To make a long story short, I beat the living hell out of that guy. With my left arm useless from having a nerve in my bicep stabbed, I decided that it would be best to get treatment at the infirmary and then I took into my right arm to bring him along the little puppy with me. But instead of getting fixed up there, I bumped into Sano. That kid took good care of me, he even offered me a place to stay rather than one of these crappy hospital beds."
"I don't think that they are that bad...Though I suppose a regular bed would be nice right about now...Maybe a shower...Some food...
Saiga caught himself from his day dream as his mouth began to salivate. He removed the towel from his face, the bleeding nearly at a halt, and attempted to reach out for a light snack. Now this snack was placed on the same table as the previous glasses of water. Learning his lesson in pain, Saiga was struck with a second thought, and refrained from further injuring himself, though his stomach let out a tiny roar.
"Well, that sounds to be a bit unfortunate, but at least the puppy got away in good shape, neh? With your speed, I'm sure even healing will be a quick process as well." Saiga gave a slight nod before shifting the conversation away from the subject.
"I'm glad you came to tell the truth. There hasn't been much to do here." Saiga focused his attention on a tiny fly near the corner of the bed. "I've just been here wasting away. All because I was too weak to stop that guy. It really gets to me. I mean the training grounds are probably in ruins now. If those two hadn't shown up, well...I probably would have died. Pretty pathetic right?"
The fly continued to catch his gaze. It circled his feet before hopping to his leg. With a quick motion, he went to squash it, yet he hesitated. The sudden burst of rage he felt, coupled with the urge to take another life, felt unnatural. He did not know what was happening to him. He was sure Roy knew about it too. The side that always came out during battle. It seemed to take hold of his current emotions. Saiga felt he was slowly losing control with each battle. He needed to get stronger. Not only for his friends, but for himself. But would that mean strengthening the demon within as well?
"Anyway...Forget I said all of that. Let's talk about something else, seeing how were kinda locked in here." said Saiga noting the click from before. "I've never actually heard about your past, Roy. I'm sure it could kill a few minutes. Why not, while we wait?"
'God.. here we go again... I just told this to Sano last night...' Roy seemed to be a little annoyed by the question, but he didn't show it through his facial expression one bit. He was silent for a moment while he debated upon reciting what he had spoken about the other day like an over used Shakespearian poem. "Very well... I'm sure you wonder just who I was back when I was still alive. It probably won't surprise you, but I was the leader of a massive gang that controlled the slums of Ryukyu called the Lone Wolves. Everyone knew me by the title of the Fuujin of Ryukyu.
Since I was a child, I grew up as an abandoned orphan in the slums to fend for myself. To tell you the truth I don't even remember my parents' faces clearly, the only thing that I really know about them was that my father was an American soldier. Day in and day out I was brought up on the constant verge of death just like many of the other kids that lived there. It was no wonder that most of the kids that grew up there turned out to become hostile gangsters that just attack the community.
My childhood as well mostly consisted of stealing food and living in a broken down and abandoned building. It was such a moldy old broken down building that the threat of it collapsing on our heads any moment always existed. But when you're tired and afraid of being eaten by the wild animals that wonder the streets at night that was a risk that was easy to take. Although it was rough growing up, there were three other kids who grew up with me that I considered the closest thing to a real family. They were only three people that I cared about in that world and, even though I was just a punk with little skill in fighting, I wanted to become strong enough to protecting them with my own hands. But that all changed when I met my former sensei, Master Cho."
"It was when I was around the age of ten when I first met Master Cho. At that time one of the kids that I lived with named Elisa grew ill with a heavy fever and it didn't look like she'd make it out alive without medicine.
With that said her brother Vahn was getting really desperate and asked me to help him break into a pharmacy to steal some. Unfortunately the place that we chose to break into was a basement of operations for a group of Yakuza. They were busy making drugs at the time, but when you bust down the front window and try to steal as much medicine as you can it causes some complications.
When those Yakuza heard their building was getting broken into the came up stairs with swords drawn. Knowing better than to risk a fight with them we grabbed the supplies we needed before turning tail and running. Naturally they gave chase, but when you know every nook and cranny of the slums, it's easy to loose a group of people. Originally there had been ten people chasing after us as we ran for our lives. After all the twists and turns, along with running through crowds of people, throwing stuff in the way, and going through open buildings, we were only being followed by three.
To our surprise, however, four of Yakuza that had seemingly been lost in the crowd managed to come around from the other side. We were flanked and forced to go in a direction we didn't want to go. Eventually we ran to an area where there was a fence and rather than me trying to climb it I just helped Vahn jump it. He had a sister to take care of and with the medicine he had stolen I was sure she'd get better. Vahn got away but I was now cornered and surrounded with no way out. Even if I tried to climb the fence they could have easily pulled me down. And if I stayed I could have at least kept them busy as a punching bag while Vahn escaped.
Being ganged up on by seven people and beaten to a bloody pulp wasn't the end of the story. When you mess with the Yakuza they make an example out you. By the time they were done it felt like they had broken almost every bone in my body. I don't really remember much after that except for being dragged by my hands out of the alley by them and one of the Yukuza members pulling out their katanas before passing out.
When I next woke up I was staring at a brown bamboo covered ceiling next. My wounds were treated and I was wrapped up in multiple bandages. The first thing I heard was the loud sound of two fists hitting each other with great force. I tilted my head left to see two men fighting each other with unbelievable skill. After the battle the person who had made the other surrender came to my side. He was built like an ox and had this old wise man's beard going on, but the look in his eyes was warm and comforting. It turned out that this man had fought the Yakuza and saved my life. From that day on Master Cho had brought me up in the ways of ninjutsu. My training was rough and constant, even when I slept I was trained to have heightened reflexes that would allow me to react to my surroundings in an instant. A couple of years had passed before my training was complete. On that day my Master told me to go back into the world that he had taken me from and continue life in my own path.
It was the first time in a long time that I had left the sanctuary of that place returned to the slums that I used to live in. I had decided long ago that I would visit the building that I used to spend time with those three kids. Only when I got there the building itself was destroyed, it had collapsed at some point during the span of my absence. I remained there for a little while before walking off somewhere to explore what other changes had occurred when I was gone.
Of all the places I would have never expected to get attacked by Koji, the third kid who used to live with me and the others. I didn't know who he was at the time but after a little while we suddenly realized who each other was. He took me back to Elisa and Vahn where we discussed things and talked about the current situation of the slums. After hearing about the worsening condition of things, I decided that I would become leader of my own gang and force peace into Ryukyu with my own hands. And I did just that. We had started out small, but in a short period we managed to take over gang over gang until all of the slums functioned under my word and the world of those three childhood friends of mine. Any who, time went on and a lot of crazy stuff happened, but to make this already long story any longer would just be annoying. So we'll just say I ended up dying and everything went to crap without me."
Utterly fascianted with the story, Saiga fell into a light, drug induced sleep. After stumbling awake, he looked back to Roy in earnest content. He continued to listen on, hiding the slight drool at the corner of his lips from Roy's view. He wiped his mouth before opening and closing his eyes a few times so as to wake himself up. After that seemed to fail, Saiga was struck with a sense of curiosity.
" If I can just reach that sandwich...yeah...Then I'd be set."
After having what you might call a "third" thought, the shinigami slowly crept his way to the edge of the bedside. He looked at Roy, nodding his head in agreement as the man spoke. The sandwich drew ever closer to his fingers. It's aroma became intoxicating as his stomach let forth a loud roar. With his mouth salivating, he made one desperate leap on faith.
"Noooo!"
After picking himself from the floor, sandwichless, Saiga gave a quick glance back to Roy, who continued on with the story, not caring, or at least not mentioning Saiga's wacky antics. The dark haired shinigami sat up straight in his bed, forfeiting his light snack, and waited for Roy to finish speaking. After rubbing the back of his head from the previous encounter with the floor, Saiga spoke.
"Dam! That sounds pretty rough." He had heard just enough of the story to get the general idea of what had happened. "I guess things like that make you who you are, right? I almost don't want to tell my story now."
'Again with that stupid sandwich... Why can't he just sit still and listen to my story for a few minutes? I guess my lack of enthusiasm from repeating the same thing I told Sano must have shown through my body language or something. That and I'm not a really good story teller... maybe I should have paused more here and there to let him squirm around a little.'
Roy reached over and grabbed the edge of the plate with the sandwich in it. He then brought it in front of Saiga so he could pick it up and eat it. "It's okay if you don't want to. Telling the same story over and over again to someone gets a little tedious, but I am kinda curious as to what you were in the past. I remember when I first bumped into you when I was hunting down that cross dressing Sin Qua Non spy. Whenever I thought back to that time, I usually thought "how can a clumsy oaf like that end up becoming a Shinigami?" . Not to insult you or anything, but it's just that you don't seem like someone that'd just join Seireitei on a whim, nor do you look like someone that enjoys the face of danger enough to be drawn into the roster sheet that way either. So it's been sorta making me wonder what you did in Soul Society that made you want to become a shinigami."
Now that Saiga was currently busy eating the sandwich, Roy placed the plate back in its former resting place and got up to his feet. He assumed a shadow boxing stance and bounced up and down on his toes in what could be considered a harmonious rhythm. Even though Roy told Saiga that he was brought up learning how to fight by using martial arts, specifically ninjutsu, his fighting stance was more that of a street fighter. It had barely any reference whatsoever to the art of the ninja, in fact Roy seemed more like a boxer if anything. The only thing that could be linked back to his old training was his footwork. Every step he took seemed light, almost as if he could suddenly change directions at a moment's notice and burst towards a different area of attack.
A quick combination of jabs flowed from his right arm in an endless stream that almost made it appear as if he had more than one arm throwing a punch to the untrained eye. After the series of rights, Roy ended his combination with a left hook finisher blow that would seem painful for someone should their head be located in that particular spot. All together his feet stopping moving as he planted them flat and abandoned his fighting stance before giving a sigh of relief.
"Man that felt good, getting rid of the stress is best in these dire times of war. The more I sit around and think about things the more anxious I get about what my future might hold for me. Originally I joined Seireitei immediately after I got done wandering around Soul Society beating up the weaklings there. There weren't any people left that I could have a good fight with without either winning to easily or losing and dying in an instant. For a martial artist that's the worst place to be, so it was only natural that I came here and joined. I want to train myself to become stronger, to face opponents who can actually put up a fight. Shinigami or none shinigami, people with untold strength come here to Seireitei constantly. Knowing that much it was hard to refuse joining the best position that would place me in the midst of battle against such foes. That was why I joined Seireitei."
Saiga finished eating his sandwich, at least for the most part as there was still a big chunk of bread in his mouth, and then spoke. "Raha...rasa jaro ah" Then he cleared his throat and spoke again. "I guess I owe it to you. I should tell you my side of the story then, since you've been fair enough to tell me yours." Saiga sat up, and prepared for his story telling.
"Well, it goes a little something like this...There is really not much to say before I died. I lived on this little farm out in the countryside of Japan. Nothing special really. In fact, we were mostly poor. We never had a surplus of money. I remember working long hours just to make ends meat, just enough to survive. But as long as I was with my father, I was happy. He was a big, strong man, as most dads usually are or appear to be to their children. He always held a strong sense of pride. Unfortunately, he didn't make it very far in my life. He died from heart disease when I was around twelve years old. Things only got harder after that." Saiga paused to take a sip of water, and cleared his throat before continuing.
"My mother was pregnant with my sister at the time, so she couldn't help on the fields. I ended up having to do all of the labor. I broke my back for hours, never stopping under the hot sun or in the frigid winter. But even still, my mother's warm embrace saw me through it. Yet fate has never been kind to me. One day, when I came home from the fields, my mother went into labor. Needless to say, she died of birth complications after delivering her own child, by herself. And thus, my sister Misa was born." Saiga looked to Roy to make sure he was still listening.
"So yeah...Misa and I grew up together. Without my mother, making a living wasn't all too hard. I mean, Misa didn't eat that much. She was always a skinny girl. But then again, we still ran into trouble. I needed to get a job and earn some money for our house. On top of repairs and taxes, there was no way a few extra crops could have covered that. So while I went to the city, Misa stayed home and took care of whatever she could. I always felt bad leaving her alone, but I sort of had to, y'know?" Saiga gave a sort of half smile before continuing. The subject of his sister brought his spirits down even more.
"Other than that, things weren't that bad. At least we were living. Every now and then, I'd take Misa to the lake so she could swim, and bask in her freedom from worries. There weren't many kids in those times, probably because kids take too much effort to feed. So I had to be there for Misa, the few times I was there I mean, aside from the odd jobs. I guess those times at the lake have really helped me though, now that I think about. That's where I learned to ice skate! It's done wonders for my sword fighting skills." Saiga looked to the floor as he continued. His eyes were dark, as though some inescapable sadness had captured them, and removed their light.
"And then, she died as well. I came home one day...And there she was. It was something horrible. It...it didn't even look like her." Saiga's eyes began to shift around as his head began to pulse. His fingers gave a slight twitch as he thought back to the incident. "There was so much blood. So much carnage. And then nothing...I woke up here in Soul Society, but then it only gets worst. When I come to my senses, I've already killed a few people. I can see them fading away into god knows what, so I panicked and ran. And there I hid for a few months, in the 69th sector of Rukongai."
"But then, a few months turned into a few years. I realized that I never aged. Sort of a shock if you can remember? I scrounged around for food, like some kind of animal. Fighting people off and robbing. I must have hurt so many, but I had too! It was kill...or be killed. So I guess in a way, our experiences were not that different, eh Roy?" Saiga paused to nod at his friend, giving a sort of light smile. "At first, I wanted to give in. I wanted to die, and end all of the suffering. But when I found out that all Souls come to Soul Society. I thought of Misa. I figured I could find her. I wanted to keep her safe, after all, she was my sister, and that's basically what I had been doing all my life, up until the end there...where I failed. I had to make it up to her. But little did I know how massive Rukongai was, and...how dangerous."
"I'm sure you might have been surprised at the vast expanse of Rukongai. Though you might have fit in better, seeing how you were the leader of a gang. Not me though...Let's just say I had trouble adapting. Being my naive self, I walked into nest after nest. 'Cept these weren't birds' nests. They were gang hideouts! I got into fight after fight screaming 'Where is Misa?!' and 'Do you know where she is?!' or 'Is that food? You gonna eat that?' As you could have guessed, I didn't exactly get the answer that I was looking for. More like, I got stabbed. And then I got stabbed again. Hence why I have all these scars around my body. Proof of my failure."
"But all those fights, and stabbings, taught me to fight. I mean, the stabbings of course didn't teach me much, aside from massive pain and blood loss, but the after the fights, I kinda got used to fending for myself. Though, it kinda put me off to the whole fighting thing. I still don't really like to fight. Only to see if I've gotten stronger. To prove to myself that I'm not failing Misa yet again. But I still can't seem to find her. After all of these years! I've gotten a few dry leads. Nothing has worked. I was thinking that, after the invasion, I might go back to Rukongai, and see if I can't find anything now. Maybe before that, you and I could train a little, if your up for it Roy? I mean the whole reason I became a shinigami was to get stronger. It's sort of why I joined the Academy in the first place." Saiga reached his hand over for a shake, a sort of bond between friends.
"Sound good to you?"
'So this entire time he hasn't given up looking for his little sister Misa... He and I are two really different people indeed. When I died and came here, I never once thought about searching for Vahn or any of the other guys. To me soul society is just too big of a place to do that. Instead I always figured I'd just get strong enough and create a reputation that would ensure that he'd find me. Though our goals are the same, I can't really say who's strategy is better.'
Roy's eyes glared at Saiga almost menacingly, he leered in a similar fashion akin to a way a snake would peer over its food before striking and devouring it. The gaze wasn't one that was meant to be shown, but something made Roy want to crush this sense of easiness that Saiga had about the situation. "Don't take this thing like it's buying milk at the store. You're searching for your sister while I'm gaining a reputation to make it easier for Vahn to search for me. We're bother using a different manner of tactics here, but we both wish for the same thing; to find our family."
'Unlike Misa though, Vahn is strong enough not to die when left unchecked in Soul Society. I shouldn't tell him that she could have been killed by thugs or anything else. That'd just ruin his hope. But I will get it through his head that this isn't a light topic to think about now and then when you're doing your laundry.'
He got up from his seat and pulled it back to the small table against the wall. There was a deliberate tension brought on by his movements, a kind of pressure that cramped the room and made it feel as if he was going to lunge at Saiga and remove every limb from his body. Pushing the chair in under the table, Roy stood with his back towards his comrade.
"It's true that you've grown strong in your experience fighting those gangsters. However, fighting a gangster and fighting someone like me are two different things. Especially if I decided to fight for real rather than playing around with you like those other times we fought. Don't think just because you're not dead that it means you'll have a chance at finding her. For all you know she could be held prisoner in the lower regions of Rukongai, in what most people call no man's land. I've heard that the people all the way down there are around captain level in strength and you'll die if you're not always on guard. For someone like you and the way you are right now.... it'd be impossible for you to even reach that place before you'd die in one of the sections before it."
Placing his arms behind his back, Roy held his left hand in his right while spacing his legs a foot apart from each other in a military stance. "Training you to become a little stronger isn't enough in that case. If you plan on going to Hell in Soul Society, then you're going to have to attain a kind of strength that even rivals that of a captain. Such isn't an easy task for anyone, even I am still struggling with that goal. Yet..."
He dropped the stance now and turned around to face Saiga. Bringing up his right arm with the back of his opened hand to Saiga, Roy clenched it into a tight fist. "I'm not going to give up on that goal regardless. And you're not going to either, even if I have to drag your unconscious butt through a purgatory of pain and anguish to do it!"
Roy seemed to be getting too into the thought of training Saiga and beating the crap out of him repeatedly. So much that an evil gleam couldn't help but show before he stared laughing out loud with his hands on his hips.
A sense of uneasiness crept onto Saiga. Or it could have possibly been that Roy was too close for comfort. Nonetheless Saiga smiled as he took Roy's statements to be his way of saying "Yes" . Still, his sudden switch in emotions was unsettling to Saiga. A large bead of sweat formed on the side of his left temple as he looked up at the now glaring demon.
"Y'know, I never noticed how creepy this guy is..."
A click came from behind the door, followed by a loud squeak from the rusted hinges. The nurse walked back into the room, holding what appeared to be a rather large needle. Saiga could only guess at who it was for. He laughed knowing the needle was for Roy.
"Ha, I didn't think she'd go this far. But he still won't take any help. Especially from a needle. Maybe I should help her out a bit."
"Time for my medication, miss?" said Saiga with a faint wink.
The nurse looked back rather perplexed, yet continued stepping forward.
"So, Mr. I Don't Need Help From Professionals, are you just about ready to accept my help?" The nurse held a bitterness in her tone, but one could tell she was only trying to help.
Saiga looked to his friend to see his reaction. After having dealt with his stubborn for far longer than this, he realized he would have to step in. He prepared himself for his next act. Secretly crossing his fingers for luck, Saiga went into action.
"Yeah, Roy. It might be best if you let her check that out. It couldn't hurt right? I mean my training can wait till later. I guess it'll have to." Saiga gave a broad smile.
" Now for the final touch..."
The dark haired shinigami could think of only one way to catch his friend. He would draw him in close, and then grab onto his arm, as the nurse would sedate him. Only then would Roy get the assistance that he needed. The plan was foolproof, or so Saiga thought. His fortune was never that kind, at least not enough to work out the way he planned.
Saiga reached out for a tissue on the side of his bed, while faking a sneeze. Then, purposely hitting the "DO NOT PRESS" button, the bed closed once more, crushing his body, and trapping him once again. He gave a loud yelp for help, crying out "Dammit! Roy, can ya lend me a hand again?" He suppressed at a light malicious giggle as he felt someone draw closer. When his friend finally drew near, Saiga reached his arm out from the cushioned prison and grabbed a firm hold of an arm.
"Now! Get him!"
Saiga gave a quick, short lived laugh. Yet the person whose arm he was grabbing was not that of Roy, but of the nurse herself. She cried out, "What on earth is the matter with you, Mr. Senryunose?!"
Slightly embarrassed, Saiga quickly tried to cover for himself. He whispered to the nurse. "I was trying to get Roy for you! So you could give him the sedative!"
"Why would I do that?!" exclaimed the nurse. "This is for you!"
Saiga's eyes shrunk at the words. His mouth was left agape. The words escaped from his lips, "What?!" . He tried to resist, jumping back onto the sheets, but it was too late. The needle was already half way through his arm. She was a very quick and skilled nurse. Before he knew it, the tranquilizer had been set in. Saiga felt his eyes begin to close. His words became slurred.
"Rrrooi..."
A sick, drug induced grin spread across his face. In his fall from consciousness, Saiga fell back onto the pillows, his hand crushing the fly that had been pestering him the entire time. Even in sleep, did he kill. Death was not something he could escape, not even in his dreams. The Sine Qua Non began to fill his thoughts once more, creating horrible visions in his already twisted mind. Almost immediately, the young shinigami passed out, leaving his friend to wonder at what had just happened.
" You're a pretty crazy nurse.. I'd never expect you to use That big of a needle on him." Roy said as he removed the red cloth that was tied around his arm to reveal a mostly healed wound. "To think that you were able to figure out that my arm was almost back up to tip top shape is kind of scary."
"I am a professional, it's not hard to tell that your wound was already treated after seeing how easily you withstood all of us from trying to drag you down. But I'm still upset at you for not letting me take a look at it to verify my suspicions."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, don't think this changes my feelings or that I even care for one second about what you think. I just came here to visit an old friend of mine, now if you were wearing a skimpier outfit other than those blasted samurai robes, than I'd have come here to visit you instead." Roy winked at the nurse, but ended up getting hit in the head with a clean bed pan instead. He rubbed his head in pain and he knelt down into a crouch. "What'cha did that for?!"
"For you being a stupid idiot. Now get out of here before I give you some of the same stuff he got but with a bigger needle!" That threat was enough to make any warrior with common sense back off. And Roy knew better than to test out how far this scary ***** was willing to go.
"Sorry Saiga, looks like I can't help you in this situation. Please take good care of him miss nurse." Roy stood up and bowed to the nurse before slipping out the door. " See ya."
He walked down the hallway, screams of agony could be heard left and right from each and every room he passed by. There had been many injured on the battlefield, some had lost an arm or a leg, while others were not so lucky and on the verge of losing their life while they laid there on their new death bed. He took the cigarette from the hand of a patient who had just managed to light it as he walked by.
"You're not allowed to have these when you're here. Don't let me catch you smoking these again or I'll tell the warden." Was all Roy had to say to remove the fighting spirit in the angered shinigami. He moved the cancer stick to his lips and partook of death's wonderful perfume. Breathing in the intoxicating aroma took off the edge in his system.
'Truly... this is war at its finest.'
~Hospital Blues~
Word Count - 7,618
*Plot*
Saiga - Black
Roy - Blue
Saiga opened his light gray eyes to the harsh light of the unknown. He squinted hard in order to peer through the blinding essence. Slowly his pupils began to contract, revealing to him the familiar rooms he had grown so accustomed to. He found himself in the Tenth Division Infirmary.
The battle with the Sine Qua Non rogue had left him completely wasted of all his strength. A severe sense of guilt overcame his mind as he began to recall the incident. His loss meant that a large section of the Tenth Division would be lost to the hands of the rogues. He winced as he reached over for a glass of water residing near the side of his bed. He needed something other than blood for once, to quench his thirst. Unfortunately, it was much to far away from him. He leaned over, causing massive shocks of pain before accidentally falling out of the bed. A passing nurse was kind enough to help him.
"Well, well, well. I can't say I'm surprised to see you here again, Mr. Senryunose. What is it, the eleventh time? The twelfth perhaps? You just can't seem to stay out of trouble." She gave a brief smile as though trying to joke with him.
Saiga frowned slightly, causing the nurse to back off in her light humor. She did not mean to offend, yet her words were true. Saiga could not keep himself out of harm's way. And he was not strong enough to handle things when things did go wrong. He looked passed her, without a word, at a fellow nurse behind. Her exotic blond hair bounced about as she came trampling into the room.
"Miss! Miss! Another squadron of shinigami have come in! We need you quick!"
Saiga gave a nod to the nameless nurse to whom he had never gotten the pleasure to actually learn her name. She was simply the lady that always seemed to pick up the pieces of his shattered mind and soul. After she left, a deep depression set in upon the shinigami's heart. With his beloved Sierra bedridden herself, and his adorable Mishu in the wretched care of the Tenth Division Pet Care Center, he had no one to keep him company. Not a soul would come pass to visit him. He longed for a friend, or at least something to peak his curiosity. Something to maintain a source of entertainment upon his heavy heart. Could there be such a person?
"Sir! Stop right there, we need to treat that wound on your arm!"
"Like hell you do! Get out of my way you crazy old hag! I'm going to visit my friend and if you try to stop me I'm just going to end up dragging your *** along with me!"
The random noises of a struggle erupted from down the hallway as more shinigami from the third division ran by the doorway towards the location of where the sounds had emerged from. More noise resulted as the shinigami that had crossed by the door way just earlier flew across it. "Get the hell out of my way!"
That was so distinct now that it could belong to no one else by Roy Karosiji. His right foot made the first step into sight as he then came into sight with seven people holding on to him and he dragged them along for the ride. He continued to persevere beyond that doorway towards Saiga's bed. "Yo! Saiga!"
In a quick series of movement Roy threw everyone off of him and stood erect before his comrade. He raised his left arm up that was now bleeding from a recently re-opened wound and gave him a thumbs up. "What's going on?"
"Sir you really need that injury taken care of." The old lady at the door yelled as she walked over to Roy.
"Blah blah blah, this scratch won't even slow me down! Stop worrying about me you old hag and take care of the other shinigami that need more attention than me! Geez, I swear Saiga, this crazy lady is stalking me."
"Well it looks like my fortune is changing...But is it for better...or worst?"
Saiga looked to the man standing before him. His stubbornness could be heard even before he entered the room. By now, Saiga had grown increasingly familiar with the man's tone. There could only be one person as he, and that was Roy, his long time foe and companion. He gave a loud sigh as the nurse continued to yell in the background, intent on treating Roy's arm.
"Hey there, Roy. I have to admit I wasn't..." yet Saiga was cut off by the woman's obnoxious voice. "Sir!"
"I WASN'T EXPECTING YOU HERE!!!" He finished with a loud yell.
"Sir, please, that arm..."
"SO ROY...Ma'am, could you please just let him be for at least one moment!" said a slightly frustrated dark haired shinigami as raising his voice caused his sores to ache.
"Fine!" said the nurse, stamping her feet, and bunching her face into a pout. She beckoned for the other members of security, who at this time where still trying to pull the man down. "If he wants to die, so be it! It's not my problem! The nerve..."
"Sorry, about that Roy." retorted Saiga with a slight nod. "She must be new here...or at least I've never seen her before..."
The grey eye shinigami reached over for another glass of water, while trying to coax his friend to come closer. "Though, she has a point. You really should get that looked at." A pair of beady eyes peered around the corner at their direction.
Unfortunately, multi-tasking was not one of Saiga's strong suits. Motioning for Roy to come closer and reaching for the water, on top of breathing and talking, all at the same time, prove to be much to difficult for the clumsy shinigami. He ended up falling from his bedside once again, though this time fully out, sprawled onto his face. His fall was broken however, by the gentle, and spotless, marble floors of the infirmary. As he nose began to bleed slightly, he attempted to stand, pressing the "DO NOT PRESS" button on the bed. Needless to say, things did not end well for poor Saiga, as the bed closed around his foot, encasing it in a quilted prison.
"Ha Cha!!!"
"Yeah, its definitely gotten worst..."
Roy could only wince at the sight of Saiga getting hurt in a 'floor slam' followed by a 'bed crusher' combination. Managing to refrain from saying the classic sentence, 'Oh that's gotta hurt,' he came by Saiga's side and knelt down to one knee. Finding the remote for the bed, he released the folding mechanism so that it would recline back to it's regular full length. "Looks like you're in need of more medical assistance than I'll ever need. Are you okay?"
After helping Saiga back up into the bed, Roy got a towel and wet it before trying to clean the blood on his comrade's face. This proved pointless however as blood continued to ooze out of the nose in a minute but constantly flowing stream. He sighed and handed his friend the towel, "Here, apply pressure to your nose with this for a little while to stop the bleeding."
Just as soon as Roy finished saying that the annoying nurse had came back in. Yet before she could say or do anything, Roy ushered her out of the room with a few calm words that summed up what had happened and that the situation was already under control. After closing the door behind her and locking it, he returned to the bedside while grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it up behind him.
Setting the chair with the back facing Saiga, Roy rested his bottom into the seat and crossed his arms over the top part. Although his arm was wrapped with a firmly tied cloth that had been discolored with old blood, Roy didn't even show so much as a flinch to display any signs of pain had he been in it. "I had a nice chat with Sano the other night and he told me you had checked into this place. So what's up?"
"Nothing really, and thanks for helping me just now." said Saiga as he held the towel against his nose, giving his voice a high nasal pitch.
The dark haired shinigami managed to prop himself upwards, after a flash of pain, and sat in a more appropriate speaking position. He looked back to his friend, who had been so kind as to help him off of the floor. He smiled slightly at the thought of his clumsiness. It always seemed to bring disaster to the two, yet now it brought the friends closer together.
"Maybe Roy is just what I need to pull myself out of this slump. Having him here won't be so bad. I mean, he is a friend after all. That is what I wanted...a friend..."
After sipping from the slightly scuffed glass, Saiga continued on with the conversation. "So yeah, Sanosuke is a good kid. We got into a bit of trouble him and I. Those dam rogues. They came here to Tenth too, which is why I'm such a mess now. I mean look at me." Saiga rose his right arm and waved his hand slightly as to convey his feelings of anguish.
The taste of defeat returned once again to his mouth as he thought back to the incident. Defeat sort of tastes like blood, which was probably because the fountain from his nose had slipped past the towel, and seeped into his mouth as he breathed. After a coughing spasm which sent his eyes jolting towards the bed, he looked back to Roy.
"So, what happened to you? Someone actually managed to catch to you, Speedy?"
His question was finished by a loud sneeze, as the blood had crawled into the back of his nasal passage. With the towel now completely gruesome, he cast it aside. Though the bleeding did not stop, it did slow its pace, coming to a slow crawl. Slightly embarrassed, Saiga kept his head down as Roy spoke. His cheeks grew red with shame.
"That was...absolutely disgusting."
" Well, something like that.." Roy got up and attained another towel for Saiga, handing it to him before sitting back down. "I guess if you count being a human shield as getting caught, then yeah."
'Right, cause that's going to make a whole lot of sense when he doesn't even know what the hell you're talking about. I can be such an idiot sometimes...' After giving a slight sigh, Roy regained his composure and cleared his throat a tad. "Well, it's probably for the best if I told the whole story from the beginning. I had just finished a battle with Lok against yet another assassin. Turns out I'm becoming quite a popular tenacious fella about those rogue. Anyway, stupid Lok passed out after the battle and I literally had to carry his sorry unconscious *** back to the tenth division dormitories. Honestly, you and him both waste way too much energy in combat with those high powered attacks. It's no surprise that you guys fizzle out after a big battle.
Back to the point, I was leaving the dormitories heading towards the eighth division sector when something caught my attention. There was one of the guard dogs that we train for searching out the enemy actually doing battle with a rogue. Sadly I had came at a time when the poor girl was getting the finishing blow. That however wasn't the end of the whole scene, apparently that dog was the mother of a puppy and was protecting her cub with all she had. It wasn't enough for that Sin Qua Non rogue though, after being bitten by the mother, he was still a bit pissed off and had decided that finishing off the baby would make him feel better. And well, me being in the condition that I was in, didn't have enough energy to do much but stop the attack with my arm.
To make a long story short, I beat the living hell out of that guy. With my left arm useless from having a nerve in my bicep stabbed, I decided that it would be best to get treatment at the infirmary and then I took into my right arm to bring him along the little puppy with me. But instead of getting fixed up there, I bumped into Sano. That kid took good care of me, he even offered me a place to stay rather than one of these crappy hospital beds."
"I don't think that they are that bad...Though I suppose a regular bed would be nice right about now...Maybe a shower...Some food...
Saiga caught himself from his day dream as his mouth began to salivate. He removed the towel from his face, the bleeding nearly at a halt, and attempted to reach out for a light snack. Now this snack was placed on the same table as the previous glasses of water. Learning his lesson in pain, Saiga was struck with a second thought, and refrained from further injuring himself, though his stomach let out a tiny roar.
"Well, that sounds to be a bit unfortunate, but at least the puppy got away in good shape, neh? With your speed, I'm sure even healing will be a quick process as well." Saiga gave a slight nod before shifting the conversation away from the subject.
"I'm glad you came to tell the truth. There hasn't been much to do here." Saiga focused his attention on a tiny fly near the corner of the bed. "I've just been here wasting away. All because I was too weak to stop that guy. It really gets to me. I mean the training grounds are probably in ruins now. If those two hadn't shown up, well...I probably would have died. Pretty pathetic right?"
The fly continued to catch his gaze. It circled his feet before hopping to his leg. With a quick motion, he went to squash it, yet he hesitated. The sudden burst of rage he felt, coupled with the urge to take another life, felt unnatural. He did not know what was happening to him. He was sure Roy knew about it too. The side that always came out during battle. It seemed to take hold of his current emotions. Saiga felt he was slowly losing control with each battle. He needed to get stronger. Not only for his friends, but for himself. But would that mean strengthening the demon within as well?
"Anyway...Forget I said all of that. Let's talk about something else, seeing how were kinda locked in here." said Saiga noting the click from before. "I've never actually heard about your past, Roy. I'm sure it could kill a few minutes. Why not, while we wait?"
'God.. here we go again... I just told this to Sano last night...' Roy seemed to be a little annoyed by the question, but he didn't show it through his facial expression one bit. He was silent for a moment while he debated upon reciting what he had spoken about the other day like an over used Shakespearian poem. "Very well... I'm sure you wonder just who I was back when I was still alive. It probably won't surprise you, but I was the leader of a massive gang that controlled the slums of Ryukyu called the Lone Wolves. Everyone knew me by the title of the Fuujin of Ryukyu.
Since I was a child, I grew up as an abandoned orphan in the slums to fend for myself. To tell you the truth I don't even remember my parents' faces clearly, the only thing that I really know about them was that my father was an American soldier. Day in and day out I was brought up on the constant verge of death just like many of the other kids that lived there. It was no wonder that most of the kids that grew up there turned out to become hostile gangsters that just attack the community.
My childhood as well mostly consisted of stealing food and living in a broken down and abandoned building. It was such a moldy old broken down building that the threat of it collapsing on our heads any moment always existed. But when you're tired and afraid of being eaten by the wild animals that wonder the streets at night that was a risk that was easy to take. Although it was rough growing up, there were three other kids who grew up with me that I considered the closest thing to a real family. They were only three people that I cared about in that world and, even though I was just a punk with little skill in fighting, I wanted to become strong enough to protecting them with my own hands. But that all changed when I met my former sensei, Master Cho."
"It was when I was around the age of ten when I first met Master Cho. At that time one of the kids that I lived with named Elisa grew ill with a heavy fever and it didn't look like she'd make it out alive without medicine.
With that said her brother Vahn was getting really desperate and asked me to help him break into a pharmacy to steal some. Unfortunately the place that we chose to break into was a basement of operations for a group of Yakuza. They were busy making drugs at the time, but when you bust down the front window and try to steal as much medicine as you can it causes some complications.
When those Yakuza heard their building was getting broken into the came up stairs with swords drawn. Knowing better than to risk a fight with them we grabbed the supplies we needed before turning tail and running. Naturally they gave chase, but when you know every nook and cranny of the slums, it's easy to loose a group of people. Originally there had been ten people chasing after us as we ran for our lives. After all the twists and turns, along with running through crowds of people, throwing stuff in the way, and going through open buildings, we were only being followed by three.
To our surprise, however, four of Yakuza that had seemingly been lost in the crowd managed to come around from the other side. We were flanked and forced to go in a direction we didn't want to go. Eventually we ran to an area where there was a fence and rather than me trying to climb it I just helped Vahn jump it. He had a sister to take care of and with the medicine he had stolen I was sure she'd get better. Vahn got away but I was now cornered and surrounded with no way out. Even if I tried to climb the fence they could have easily pulled me down. And if I stayed I could have at least kept them busy as a punching bag while Vahn escaped.
Being ganged up on by seven people and beaten to a bloody pulp wasn't the end of the story. When you mess with the Yakuza they make an example out you. By the time they were done it felt like they had broken almost every bone in my body. I don't really remember much after that except for being dragged by my hands out of the alley by them and one of the Yukuza members pulling out their katanas before passing out.
When I next woke up I was staring at a brown bamboo covered ceiling next. My wounds were treated and I was wrapped up in multiple bandages. The first thing I heard was the loud sound of two fists hitting each other with great force. I tilted my head left to see two men fighting each other with unbelievable skill. After the battle the person who had made the other surrender came to my side. He was built like an ox and had this old wise man's beard going on, but the look in his eyes was warm and comforting. It turned out that this man had fought the Yakuza and saved my life. From that day on Master Cho had brought me up in the ways of ninjutsu. My training was rough and constant, even when I slept I was trained to have heightened reflexes that would allow me to react to my surroundings in an instant. A couple of years had passed before my training was complete. On that day my Master told me to go back into the world that he had taken me from and continue life in my own path.
It was the first time in a long time that I had left the sanctuary of that place returned to the slums that I used to live in. I had decided long ago that I would visit the building that I used to spend time with those three kids. Only when I got there the building itself was destroyed, it had collapsed at some point during the span of my absence. I remained there for a little while before walking off somewhere to explore what other changes had occurred when I was gone.
Of all the places I would have never expected to get attacked by Koji, the third kid who used to live with me and the others. I didn't know who he was at the time but after a little while we suddenly realized who each other was. He took me back to Elisa and Vahn where we discussed things and talked about the current situation of the slums. After hearing about the worsening condition of things, I decided that I would become leader of my own gang and force peace into Ryukyu with my own hands. And I did just that. We had started out small, but in a short period we managed to take over gang over gang until all of the slums functioned under my word and the world of those three childhood friends of mine. Any who, time went on and a lot of crazy stuff happened, but to make this already long story any longer would just be annoying. So we'll just say I ended up dying and everything went to crap without me."
Utterly fascianted with the story, Saiga fell into a light, drug induced sleep. After stumbling awake, he looked back to Roy in earnest content. He continued to listen on, hiding the slight drool at the corner of his lips from Roy's view. He wiped his mouth before opening and closing his eyes a few times so as to wake himself up. After that seemed to fail, Saiga was struck with a sense of curiosity.
" If I can just reach that sandwich...yeah...Then I'd be set."
After having what you might call a "third" thought, the shinigami slowly crept his way to the edge of the bedside. He looked at Roy, nodding his head in agreement as the man spoke. The sandwich drew ever closer to his fingers. It's aroma became intoxicating as his stomach let forth a loud roar. With his mouth salivating, he made one desperate leap on faith.
"Noooo!"
After picking himself from the floor, sandwichless, Saiga gave a quick glance back to Roy, who continued on with the story, not caring, or at least not mentioning Saiga's wacky antics. The dark haired shinigami sat up straight in his bed, forfeiting his light snack, and waited for Roy to finish speaking. After rubbing the back of his head from the previous encounter with the floor, Saiga spoke.
"Dam! That sounds pretty rough." He had heard just enough of the story to get the general idea of what had happened. "I guess things like that make you who you are, right? I almost don't want to tell my story now."
'Again with that stupid sandwich... Why can't he just sit still and listen to my story for a few minutes? I guess my lack of enthusiasm from repeating the same thing I told Sano must have shown through my body language or something. That and I'm not a really good story teller... maybe I should have paused more here and there to let him squirm around a little.'
Roy reached over and grabbed the edge of the plate with the sandwich in it. He then brought it in front of Saiga so he could pick it up and eat it. "It's okay if you don't want to. Telling the same story over and over again to someone gets a little tedious, but I am kinda curious as to what you were in the past. I remember when I first bumped into you when I was hunting down that cross dressing Sin Qua Non spy. Whenever I thought back to that time, I usually thought "how can a clumsy oaf like that end up becoming a Shinigami?" . Not to insult you or anything, but it's just that you don't seem like someone that'd just join Seireitei on a whim, nor do you look like someone that enjoys the face of danger enough to be drawn into the roster sheet that way either. So it's been sorta making me wonder what you did in Soul Society that made you want to become a shinigami."
Now that Saiga was currently busy eating the sandwich, Roy placed the plate back in its former resting place and got up to his feet. He assumed a shadow boxing stance and bounced up and down on his toes in what could be considered a harmonious rhythm. Even though Roy told Saiga that he was brought up learning how to fight by using martial arts, specifically ninjutsu, his fighting stance was more that of a street fighter. It had barely any reference whatsoever to the art of the ninja, in fact Roy seemed more like a boxer if anything. The only thing that could be linked back to his old training was his footwork. Every step he took seemed light, almost as if he could suddenly change directions at a moment's notice and burst towards a different area of attack.
A quick combination of jabs flowed from his right arm in an endless stream that almost made it appear as if he had more than one arm throwing a punch to the untrained eye. After the series of rights, Roy ended his combination with a left hook finisher blow that would seem painful for someone should their head be located in that particular spot. All together his feet stopping moving as he planted them flat and abandoned his fighting stance before giving a sigh of relief.
"Man that felt good, getting rid of the stress is best in these dire times of war. The more I sit around and think about things the more anxious I get about what my future might hold for me. Originally I joined Seireitei immediately after I got done wandering around Soul Society beating up the weaklings there. There weren't any people left that I could have a good fight with without either winning to easily or losing and dying in an instant. For a martial artist that's the worst place to be, so it was only natural that I came here and joined. I want to train myself to become stronger, to face opponents who can actually put up a fight. Shinigami or none shinigami, people with untold strength come here to Seireitei constantly. Knowing that much it was hard to refuse joining the best position that would place me in the midst of battle against such foes. That was why I joined Seireitei."
Saiga finished eating his sandwich, at least for the most part as there was still a big chunk of bread in his mouth, and then spoke. "Raha...rasa jaro ah" Then he cleared his throat and spoke again. "I guess I owe it to you. I should tell you my side of the story then, since you've been fair enough to tell me yours." Saiga sat up, and prepared for his story telling.
"Well, it goes a little something like this...There is really not much to say before I died. I lived on this little farm out in the countryside of Japan. Nothing special really. In fact, we were mostly poor. We never had a surplus of money. I remember working long hours just to make ends meat, just enough to survive. But as long as I was with my father, I was happy. He was a big, strong man, as most dads usually are or appear to be to their children. He always held a strong sense of pride. Unfortunately, he didn't make it very far in my life. He died from heart disease when I was around twelve years old. Things only got harder after that." Saiga paused to take a sip of water, and cleared his throat before continuing.
"My mother was pregnant with my sister at the time, so she couldn't help on the fields. I ended up having to do all of the labor. I broke my back for hours, never stopping under the hot sun or in the frigid winter. But even still, my mother's warm embrace saw me through it. Yet fate has never been kind to me. One day, when I came home from the fields, my mother went into labor. Needless to say, she died of birth complications after delivering her own child, by herself. And thus, my sister Misa was born." Saiga looked to Roy to make sure he was still listening.
"So yeah...Misa and I grew up together. Without my mother, making a living wasn't all too hard. I mean, Misa didn't eat that much. She was always a skinny girl. But then again, we still ran into trouble. I needed to get a job and earn some money for our house. On top of repairs and taxes, there was no way a few extra crops could have covered that. So while I went to the city, Misa stayed home and took care of whatever she could. I always felt bad leaving her alone, but I sort of had to, y'know?" Saiga gave a sort of half smile before continuing. The subject of his sister brought his spirits down even more.
"Other than that, things weren't that bad. At least we were living. Every now and then, I'd take Misa to the lake so she could swim, and bask in her freedom from worries. There weren't many kids in those times, probably because kids take too much effort to feed. So I had to be there for Misa, the few times I was there I mean, aside from the odd jobs. I guess those times at the lake have really helped me though, now that I think about. That's where I learned to ice skate! It's done wonders for my sword fighting skills." Saiga looked to the floor as he continued. His eyes were dark, as though some inescapable sadness had captured them, and removed their light.
"And then, she died as well. I came home one day...And there she was. It was something horrible. It...it didn't even look like her." Saiga's eyes began to shift around as his head began to pulse. His fingers gave a slight twitch as he thought back to the incident. "There was so much blood. So much carnage. And then nothing...I woke up here in Soul Society, but then it only gets worst. When I come to my senses, I've already killed a few people. I can see them fading away into god knows what, so I panicked and ran. And there I hid for a few months, in the 69th sector of Rukongai."
"But then, a few months turned into a few years. I realized that I never aged. Sort of a shock if you can remember? I scrounged around for food, like some kind of animal. Fighting people off and robbing. I must have hurt so many, but I had too! It was kill...or be killed. So I guess in a way, our experiences were not that different, eh Roy?" Saiga paused to nod at his friend, giving a sort of light smile. "At first, I wanted to give in. I wanted to die, and end all of the suffering. But when I found out that all Souls come to Soul Society. I thought of Misa. I figured I could find her. I wanted to keep her safe, after all, she was my sister, and that's basically what I had been doing all my life, up until the end there...where I failed. I had to make it up to her. But little did I know how massive Rukongai was, and...how dangerous."
"I'm sure you might have been surprised at the vast expanse of Rukongai. Though you might have fit in better, seeing how you were the leader of a gang. Not me though...Let's just say I had trouble adapting. Being my naive self, I walked into nest after nest. 'Cept these weren't birds' nests. They were gang hideouts! I got into fight after fight screaming 'Where is Misa?!' and 'Do you know where she is?!' or 'Is that food? You gonna eat that?' As you could have guessed, I didn't exactly get the answer that I was looking for. More like, I got stabbed. And then I got stabbed again. Hence why I have all these scars around my body. Proof of my failure."
"But all those fights, and stabbings, taught me to fight. I mean, the stabbings of course didn't teach me much, aside from massive pain and blood loss, but the after the fights, I kinda got used to fending for myself. Though, it kinda put me off to the whole fighting thing. I still don't really like to fight. Only to see if I've gotten stronger. To prove to myself that I'm not failing Misa yet again. But I still can't seem to find her. After all of these years! I've gotten a few dry leads. Nothing has worked. I was thinking that, after the invasion, I might go back to Rukongai, and see if I can't find anything now. Maybe before that, you and I could train a little, if your up for it Roy? I mean the whole reason I became a shinigami was to get stronger. It's sort of why I joined the Academy in the first place." Saiga reached his hand over for a shake, a sort of bond between friends.
"Sound good to you?"
'So this entire time he hasn't given up looking for his little sister Misa... He and I are two really different people indeed. When I died and came here, I never once thought about searching for Vahn or any of the other guys. To me soul society is just too big of a place to do that. Instead I always figured I'd just get strong enough and create a reputation that would ensure that he'd find me. Though our goals are the same, I can't really say who's strategy is better.'
Roy's eyes glared at Saiga almost menacingly, he leered in a similar fashion akin to a way a snake would peer over its food before striking and devouring it. The gaze wasn't one that was meant to be shown, but something made Roy want to crush this sense of easiness that Saiga had about the situation. "Don't take this thing like it's buying milk at the store. You're searching for your sister while I'm gaining a reputation to make it easier for Vahn to search for me. We're bother using a different manner of tactics here, but we both wish for the same thing; to find our family."
'Unlike Misa though, Vahn is strong enough not to die when left unchecked in Soul Society. I shouldn't tell him that she could have been killed by thugs or anything else. That'd just ruin his hope. But I will get it through his head that this isn't a light topic to think about now and then when you're doing your laundry.'
He got up from his seat and pulled it back to the small table against the wall. There was a deliberate tension brought on by his movements, a kind of pressure that cramped the room and made it feel as if he was going to lunge at Saiga and remove every limb from his body. Pushing the chair in under the table, Roy stood with his back towards his comrade.
"It's true that you've grown strong in your experience fighting those gangsters. However, fighting a gangster and fighting someone like me are two different things. Especially if I decided to fight for real rather than playing around with you like those other times we fought. Don't think just because you're not dead that it means you'll have a chance at finding her. For all you know she could be held prisoner in the lower regions of Rukongai, in what most people call no man's land. I've heard that the people all the way down there are around captain level in strength and you'll die if you're not always on guard. For someone like you and the way you are right now.... it'd be impossible for you to even reach that place before you'd die in one of the sections before it."
Placing his arms behind his back, Roy held his left hand in his right while spacing his legs a foot apart from each other in a military stance. "Training you to become a little stronger isn't enough in that case. If you plan on going to Hell in Soul Society, then you're going to have to attain a kind of strength that even rivals that of a captain. Such isn't an easy task for anyone, even I am still struggling with that goal. Yet..."
He dropped the stance now and turned around to face Saiga. Bringing up his right arm with the back of his opened hand to Saiga, Roy clenched it into a tight fist. "I'm not going to give up on that goal regardless. And you're not going to either, even if I have to drag your unconscious butt through a purgatory of pain and anguish to do it!"
Roy seemed to be getting too into the thought of training Saiga and beating the crap out of him repeatedly. So much that an evil gleam couldn't help but show before he stared laughing out loud with his hands on his hips.
A sense of uneasiness crept onto Saiga. Or it could have possibly been that Roy was too close for comfort. Nonetheless Saiga smiled as he took Roy's statements to be his way of saying "Yes" . Still, his sudden switch in emotions was unsettling to Saiga. A large bead of sweat formed on the side of his left temple as he looked up at the now glaring demon.
"Y'know, I never noticed how creepy this guy is..."
A click came from behind the door, followed by a loud squeak from the rusted hinges. The nurse walked back into the room, holding what appeared to be a rather large needle. Saiga could only guess at who it was for. He laughed knowing the needle was for Roy.
"Ha, I didn't think she'd go this far. But he still won't take any help. Especially from a needle. Maybe I should help her out a bit."
"Time for my medication, miss?" said Saiga with a faint wink.
The nurse looked back rather perplexed, yet continued stepping forward.
"So, Mr. I Don't Need Help From Professionals, are you just about ready to accept my help?" The nurse held a bitterness in her tone, but one could tell she was only trying to help.
Saiga looked to his friend to see his reaction. After having dealt with his stubborn for far longer than this, he realized he would have to step in. He prepared himself for his next act. Secretly crossing his fingers for luck, Saiga went into action.
"Yeah, Roy. It might be best if you let her check that out. It couldn't hurt right? I mean my training can wait till later. I guess it'll have to." Saiga gave a broad smile.
" Now for the final touch..."
The dark haired shinigami could think of only one way to catch his friend. He would draw him in close, and then grab onto his arm, as the nurse would sedate him. Only then would Roy get the assistance that he needed. The plan was foolproof, or so Saiga thought. His fortune was never that kind, at least not enough to work out the way he planned.
Saiga reached out for a tissue on the side of his bed, while faking a sneeze. Then, purposely hitting the "DO NOT PRESS" button, the bed closed once more, crushing his body, and trapping him once again. He gave a loud yelp for help, crying out "Dammit! Roy, can ya lend me a hand again?" He suppressed at a light malicious giggle as he felt someone draw closer. When his friend finally drew near, Saiga reached his arm out from the cushioned prison and grabbed a firm hold of an arm.
"Now! Get him!"
Saiga gave a quick, short lived laugh. Yet the person whose arm he was grabbing was not that of Roy, but of the nurse herself. She cried out, "What on earth is the matter with you, Mr. Senryunose?!"
Slightly embarrassed, Saiga quickly tried to cover for himself. He whispered to the nurse. "I was trying to get Roy for you! So you could give him the sedative!"
"Why would I do that?!" exclaimed the nurse. "This is for you!"
Saiga's eyes shrunk at the words. His mouth was left agape. The words escaped from his lips, "What?!" . He tried to resist, jumping back onto the sheets, but it was too late. The needle was already half way through his arm. She was a very quick and skilled nurse. Before he knew it, the tranquilizer had been set in. Saiga felt his eyes begin to close. His words became slurred.
"Rrrooi..."
A sick, drug induced grin spread across his face. In his fall from consciousness, Saiga fell back onto the pillows, his hand crushing the fly that had been pestering him the entire time. Even in sleep, did he kill. Death was not something he could escape, not even in his dreams. The Sine Qua Non began to fill his thoughts once more, creating horrible visions in his already twisted mind. Almost immediately, the young shinigami passed out, leaving his friend to wonder at what had just happened.
" You're a pretty crazy nurse.. I'd never expect you to use That big of a needle on him." Roy said as he removed the red cloth that was tied around his arm to reveal a mostly healed wound. "To think that you were able to figure out that my arm was almost back up to tip top shape is kind of scary."
"I am a professional, it's not hard to tell that your wound was already treated after seeing how easily you withstood all of us from trying to drag you down. But I'm still upset at you for not letting me take a look at it to verify my suspicions."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, don't think this changes my feelings or that I even care for one second about what you think. I just came here to visit an old friend of mine, now if you were wearing a skimpier outfit other than those blasted samurai robes, than I'd have come here to visit you instead." Roy winked at the nurse, but ended up getting hit in the head with a clean bed pan instead. He rubbed his head in pain and he knelt down into a crouch. "What'cha did that for?!"
"For you being a stupid idiot. Now get out of here before I give you some of the same stuff he got but with a bigger needle!" That threat was enough to make any warrior with common sense back off. And Roy knew better than to test out how far this scary ***** was willing to go.
"Sorry Saiga, looks like I can't help you in this situation. Please take good care of him miss nurse." Roy stood up and bowed to the nurse before slipping out the door. " See ya."
He walked down the hallway, screams of agony could be heard left and right from each and every room he passed by. There had been many injured on the battlefield, some had lost an arm or a leg, while others were not so lucky and on the verge of losing their life while they laid there on their new death bed. He took the cigarette from the hand of a patient who had just managed to light it as he walked by.
"You're not allowed to have these when you're here. Don't let me catch you smoking these again or I'll tell the warden." Was all Roy had to say to remove the fighting spirit in the angered shinigami. He moved the cancer stick to his lips and partook of death's wonderful perfume. Breathing in the intoxicating aroma took off the edge in his system.
'Truly... this is war at its finest.'