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 Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:14 am
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Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 4:40 pm
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 The hustle and bustle of Arashigakure's night life were nothing but a dull drone and the occasional glimpse of distant neon lights that could be seen twinkling down an unbent street on this quiet boulevard. Empty and devoid of people save for a young woman with brightly flushed cheeks and an older man who clearly had too much to drink, there was little to see or do here.
However, silence wasn't all that bad. It let one feel and hear things they might normally not notice. With the beating of Severin's heart on her shoulder and his breath in her ear, Kagerou remembered the last time they had gone out for drinks. Before... everything, and as long ago as that was, they had walked down a road back then that was much like the road they walked down now. Quiet and peaceful, with their way lit dimly by the street lights. Recalling those days, she stretched her neck up to gaze at the stars in the misty night sky without thinking, but this wasn't Kiri. There was no mist and there were no stars. It was merely a vast canvas of inky darkness, the moon shining with crystal clarity and the stars washed out by the lights of the ninja world's most technologically advanced city in the sky.
That was right. That last time in Mist, she and Severin had been in quite a different situation, too. She had been carried by Sev, not the other way around as it was right now. Kagerou laughed at that memory, bringing her head back down to earth, forgoing disappointment for merriment. Back then, after Kagerou knocked out, he'd carried her home on his back, like the gentleman he was. She had come to her senses halfway through, but she pretended to still be asleep. If even for a little moment, it had felt nice to pretend that he reciprocated her feelings. Those were good days to miss. He had smelled of flowers and spring like he always had, with only a slight dash of sweet scent from the fruity alcohol he preferred back then. It was very much different from the stumbling drunk by her side now, his envious fragrance masked by strong scent of the darker drinks he preferred now.
Though, if one thing was the same, it was that she was still grateful to have him by her side.
"Hey, Severin," Kagerou's melodic voice whispered into the night sky. He would be able to hear her, but in his drunken stupor, she didn't really expect him to notice. It would probably be for the better if he didn't notice. Even then, Kagerou kept on talking, "There's something I have to do with my family, and I don't know how long it will take. This might be my last time seeing you outside of our counseling sessions.". A feeling of uncertainty welled in Kagerou's chest, and she closed her mouth into a smile before anything unnecessary leaked out.
[29 sentences]
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 12:03 am
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xxx๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐xxxxx๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐?xxx
A lot of what happened, from the Rev room up in till now, had become a drunken blur. Severin was slowly stumbling down the quieter streets of Arashi, propped up by his best friend in the whole world. He knew his excessive drinking worried Kagerou, but it was the only thing that numbed the pain now. The only thing that blocked out the constant feeling of wanting to give up. But... things weren't too bad in this moment. Kagerou smelled pleasant, as she always did, and the grip that kept his arm slinged around her was gentle but firm. It reminded him of a time long since passed, except he was the one who had drank too much this time.
His feelings then, just like now, were muddled and confusing. Kagerou was younger than him, though not by much. But he had always... held her in a different regard. She was of the highest standard, and he wouldn't let himself ruin her. He had made that promise to himself a long time ago. Back when things were easier, back when she was the sweet medical shinobi caring for him during his recovery. There was something different about Kagerou Kiritani. Something that he refused to taint and shatter like he had done to far too many men and women in his lifetime. It was all he did to the people he became involved with-- he ruined them like Inka had ruined him.
Her voice startled him out of his stupor, causing a bolt of pain through his head. Sev winced, but tried to keep an uneasy smile on his face-- but he quickly lost it. The last time? She was leaving him again? His throat tightened. She mentioned her family, meaning that this... thing she had to... it was important. Something she had to do. One eye opened, staring down at the ground as they stumbled along. The expression he wore was serious now, his mouth set in a hard line, his glazed over eyes suddenly clear like ice.
"You're... leaving again....?" His voice came out rough, at a low volume, and full of more weight than he wanted. The years of limited to no talking had done a number on his vocal chords, which was only blatantly obvious in moments like these when he wasn't trying to make his voice seem more like it was back before he had been lost in Kiri. He cleared his throat, and tried again, but there was next to no improvement. "Must be import'nt...... I'll miss you..." The last bit was tacked on like an unconscious afterthought, and Severin didnt even realize he had said it out loud.
He would. He would miss her so much it would physically hurt.
Severin, when he'd wake up tomorrow, would panic. Kagerou was the center of his life right now, he revolved around her. Without her around to boss him in to taking care of himself... He'd be in trouble, for sure. Severin right now, however, was just trying to enjoy these last moments of peace before his life was tossed in to chaos again. He leaned in a bit closer, as if trying to imprint her small frame in to himself. The hand that belonged to the arm slung around her gently gripped at the soft fabric of the clothes she wore. He really didn't want her to go.
xxxxxxx๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐xxxxxxx๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ข๐xxxxxxx
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Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 5:07 pm
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Kagerou laughed it off, clear chimes ringing through the empty night. It was no different from her usual laugh, but the quiet gave the bright peals of laughter a stark edge, like they didn't belong. Whether she laughed for Severin or for herself, she wasn't sure. It had felt appropriate at the time.
If she minded, or even noticed, that Severin strained to speak, Kagerou didn't show. "So you're awake?" she asked, rhetorically of course. "It's nothing to worry about, and I'm not leaving immediately," trying to inject her cheer into her dejected friend, the bright woman spoke jovially "I just don't quite know when I'll leave or when I'll be back." Accustomed to physical contact as she was, she didn't give it a second thought when she leaned her head towards Severin to knock their heads together affectionately. There was a whole laundry list of things she wanted to say to Severin. Make sure to eat. Make sure to clean. Don't stay out too late. Moderate your drinking. The usual. However, right now was perhaps not the best time. She would probably just give him a splitting headache.
It was almost like Severin had the same idea because as she turned her head towards him, he also leaned in with his. Taking advantage of this better opportunity, Kagerou got their foreheads to connect. Enjoying this small moment, she stopped walking and focused instead on giving her dear friend a big ol' smile from pointblank. "Cheer up," she wanted to tell him through that smile, "The sun'll come out tomorrow~".
She didn't show it, except through her shadowless smile, but she could feel Severin. She could feel the way he gripped the waist of her sweater, lightly so that she wouldn't know, but this was Kagerou. Even if it wasn't touch, she could hear it in his voice, from his first weighted words to the final words that sounded like a wispy afterthought. If it would hurt him so much to miss her, then she would almost rather that he not think about her. However, she had no idea how to ask something as bizarre as "forget about me," so just like when she laughed earlier, she could only show him a bright and hopefully contagious face.
"Hey now, Sev," Kagerou called, waiting to see those freezing eyes relax and melt into something more comfortable. It didn't sit well with her the way Sev looked at her like he would never see her again. She teased, "if you hold me too tightly, then I won't be able to lead us home. Kuku~". Tightly wasn't any way to describe the dashing drunk's feather light grip, nor was it stopping her from going anywhere. If anything, it was gentle, and not a touch Kagerou disliked. Though, the hug maniac generally wasn't one to dislike many touches. She just, knowing how difficult it was for Severin to establish connections, didn't want to risk discouraging his small successes.
[34 sentences]
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Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 4:58 pm
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xxx๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐xxxxx๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐?xxx
Severin stared in to Kagerou's eyes, his own searching their crimson depths for something or another. Maybe he was looking for reassurance that she'd return to him, or maybe he was just looking for a distraction. Kagerou continued on, saying they wouldn't be able to get him home if he clung to her like that. Maybe that's what he wanted. With soft but fluid movements, Sev pulled Kagerou close to him. With his height, he towered over her and had to bend forward somewhat to hold her face gently against his shoulder. One arm wrapped around her waist, while the opposing hand carefully made it's way to the back of her head. The Raigyo's fingers somewhat weaved in to her silken hair. Now that his face was out of sight, his expression dropped in to something sad and forlorn. He knew Kagerou would still know what he was feeling, they were that close. But he could still hope that maybe she'd think he was being strong. The embrace was light, even a child could wrangle their way out of it. All the same..
"Maybe I don't want to go home..." He mumbled. Home... if that's what you could even call his pathetic, small, apartment. Kagerou had kicked him out of the Kiritani estate pretty early in his recovery. She had said something about him "needing to be able to stand on his own". Independence, or some s**t like that. But he was far from independent. This tiny Kunoichi in his arms would probably never realize how dependent he was on her. If I go home, he thought, then this ends, and you leave.
A nearby light in a store flickered out, leaving just the streetlights. Sev felt his chest tighten. He hid a lot of the damage he still suffered. Kagerou wasn't an idiot, and she was very intuitive. He knew that she knew he wasn't okay, that he might never be okay. But still he tried. She worried about so much... she didn't need to worry about him too.
xxxxxxx๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐xxxxxxx๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ข๐xxxxxxx
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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 12:15 am
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Giggling, the green haired kunoichi admonished, "What will I do with you, Sev?" as he only pulled her in closer, smooth as oil on water. Nonetheless, she let herself be enveloped in the warm arms, her back arching as she worked with Severin's movements to fit her body into his. Face against his shoulder, she could hear his heartbeat, the tense and relaxation of the muscles as his facial expressions changed out of her sight. She wouldn't turn and look, though. No, she'd give Severin this one as she lost herself amidst his curtain of white hair, humming, almost purring, in appreciation of the gentle touch through her hair, so long as he avoided the top of her head, but that was a detail that he should know by now. Seeking to reciprocate the hug, her hands raised up to encircle him and affectionately pat his back as he let out whatever expression he needed to let out.
Indeed, what would this helplessly affectionate young woman do? She wasn't without her own urges as she stood there, surrounded in the scent of lotus and camellia. It was a scent different from the past, different from the days when she would be able to joke that if she ever wanted to find the Mizukage, then all she would need to do is look where Severin was looking. So much had changed, of course. The Raigyo's scent was only one thing, one very small thing, and sometimes, like a silly girl, she would find herself wishfully thinking that maybe some other things could change. Sometimes, like right now, she felt like she could imagine a deeper meaning to straightforward statements about not wanting to go home to an empty apartment.
As the street grew dimmer with the loss of one store's light and Kagerou could feel Sev's chest tighten, her hands stopped patting. "If I recall correctly, what Severin likes is..." Her fingers curled, their tips pressing into the clothed back to let him know that she would be here, feel that she would be with him even after she let him go. Through the pressure exerted by her fingers, she could feel the ridges and valleys of the scars through the clothes. Scars he refused to have healed. No, rather, scars he had to have. At the same time, her head shifted across his shoulder, sliding to snuggle deep into the crook of the flower-scented neck, warm lips brushing upon the pleasant smelling alabaster skin. She relaxed, letting Severin hold the weight of her body. How long has it been since she was held like this? Let someone hold her like this? Oh yeah. It had only been a couple years, and back then, it had been Severin too. This was dangerous.
She indulged only for a moment, else she wouldn't be able to lie to herself that this was okay. That she was just a little tipsy, her alcohol tolerance unusually normal tonight. As suddenly as she her fingers had gripped into the back and her face had dipped into the shoulder, it was over. Her touches were light once more. Pleasantly weightless or empty and without weight? That didn't matter. "... Who Severin likes is Inka." Head separating from the neck and hands lowering from the back. She was no Inka. She wasn't even normal. No matter how tightly she held him, he would still deserve someone who was a better match.
Gently, soft hands peeling bodies apart, her feather-light touches reminded him not to act so rashly and her to mind her place. Off the small of her back and out of her hair, she regretfully returned Severin's hands to his side before grabbing his face in her own two hands, holding it away from her, at a distance both platonic and ideal for studying his features. Her eyes swept over the valleys and hills of the awfully finely shaped face, smiling in a soundless chuckle as she recalled all the hearts this face had enraptured, and yet how few she had seen it truly open up for. That she was one of the few cherished and trusted enough for such privilege, she could not ask for more. As long as she had this man close to her, she would not complain.
Once again, she had the urge to knock foreheads, to be nearer to him once more, but she knew this time that she couldn't take such advantage of Severin's current vulnerability, so she satisfied herself with just remembering his face once again, for no doubt over the hundredth time. The face that had this uncanny knack of showing up right when she needed it, from their first meeting onwards. The face that she couldn't disappoint.
Without warning, she sighed, sighed with a smile. "Indeed, what will I do with you?" she repeated her question from earlier, "What? If you don't want to go home, then am I supposed to invite you over for a sleepover like we're a couple of teenage girls? You know, even I'm too old for that~"
She worried about so much... but so long as there was something to worry about for Severin, then she wanted to worry about it. He was too important to her. If she lost him again, this precious soul... How much guilt and regret would she live on with?
[55 sentences]
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Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 7:56 pm
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The tinted blue eyes of the opposite looked blearily back into Kagerou's scarlet as she waited for an answer. However, as the mouth began to move and shape words, the eyelids dropped, and soon the rest of the body followed suit. Without hesitation, Kagerou smoothly slid forwards to catch Severin before he crumpled further. "Is it...," she talked to herself as she adjusted underneath the tall man's weight, "... too much if I ask, for a third time, 'What will I do with you?'". She chuckled softly, running her fingers through the silver locks of the other. With a finger on his pulse, she could tell that he would be fine. Despite how she worried, she had to selfishly admit that this felt nice...
Yet at the same time, the body she held felt empty, like a puppet after its strings were cut. The heart still beat and the breath still moved, but something had left. Lonely red eyes moved up to the skies as she gripped the unconscious Severin tight, and she realized. Though, that wouldn't change her wish for his happiness. Letting go, she shifted her body around so she could carry Severin back to his apartment on her back.
Then she realized, "Ah, that's right. I needed to ask him about his blood..." Her eyes glanced to the man she carried on her back. It would be nice if she could have talked about it on their walk home, or if she could set up another good moment like now in the future. There was, her intuition told her, a lot that could be unpacked with that one request, at least some things she could reassure Severin of if she could phrase and explain it properly. However, none of that would matter now. "Well," she spun her thoughts more positively, "I wouldn't have the time in my schedule for a second meeting, anyways." There was so much to do before she left. Then even more to do after. She was glad Severin didn't know any of that.
Compared to what she had given up for her mother's life, and what she would give up, one scene was a small cost. Scarlet eyes hidden behind bobbing green bangs, she figured that she'd just leave a note after tucking him into bed.
[27 sentences]
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Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2021 12:20 am
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 Swirling a vial of blood before the bright lights of the sterile lab, Dr. Kagerou's eyes glowed red for a brief flash. A variety of machines and fuuin arrangements surrounded her in the small lab, each one familiar to Kagerou. A few she had even suggested after seeing them used with great effect in Arashi. Though, she didn't need them at the time. She put the vial down to write some notes. Unfortunately, she couldn't work with Severin. He replied to her note in the positive, as she expected, and even didn't ask any questions when she asked if he could come to her family's property in the Water Country instead of the Arashi hospital to perform the transfer. Unfortunately, he only just had time to donate his blood.
Kagerou sighed, still seeing Severin's back as he left in her mind's eye. She would be lying if she said she hadn't been looking forward to working with Severin on her implant, but it was what it was. Besides, it wasn't much more difficult working by herself. She picked up another sample and observed it in a similar fashion as the former.
Though, no matter how tired she was, she continued to smile. Wearing loose jeans and a purple hoodie, she was the spitting image of her younger self. In fact, Kagerou was her younger self. She'd reshaped her cellular structure and dna to her last well recorded natural physical form to discard any unnecessary factors that could overcomplicate the bloodline transfer and also, out of nostalgia's sake.
Placing aside the vials, Kagerou took her notes to a small, tabletop terrarium, within which a twisted tree grew, birthed from some of Severin's blood that had its Mokuton abilities activated. Understandably, his Mokuton wasn't a natural strain of the Senju bloodline, but that was to be expected. He had spent all those years steadily corrupting within the Sero's corrupted chakra, and his Mokuton abilities had awakened while encased by the Sero's presence. Be it some hidden lineage or just a chance of fate, Severin really did appear to be favored by the tree, in its own twisted way, to take its chakra into his body as thoroughly as he did.
"Desirable, isn't it?" a soft voice purred over Kagerou's left shoulder, "Such corrupted chakra... Aside from the connection it has to the Sero, it's absolutely fascinating."
"Indeed," Kagerou admitted, she her smiled proved to be much more grounded than her cousin's, "but I still won't let you study Severin."
Continuing to purr, showing no hesitation or change in her alluring voice, Momo replied back without skipping a beat, "Oh, poo~ That's too bad. Then I guess I'll just have to make you my subject?"
The beats continued without rest as Kagerou responded back, "Eggs in a basket, Momo. I'm still conditioning the blood sample for an implant," as she shrugged her shoulder gently to let Momo know that she's going to use that arm.
Momo took her chin off the other Kiritani researcher's shoulder, "But you're almost done with that step. You wouldn't call me otherwise~"
Red eyes stared down into pink, but Kagerou couldn't deny what was said. She could only smile and ask regretfully, "Is this payback?". Her eyes moved away, with the excuse that she needed to focus on comparing some readings from the tree and the blood samples, both her's and Severin's.
Momo blinked, but her expression otherwise flawless, the only readable emotion within it desire. The Kiritani were always such proficient actors. Even such a proficient actor could only say so much to answer such a question, "If Aka had never given that implant, then Momo wouldn't exist~" Her eyes narrowed and she took a step back, leaning to a side and weighing her head to the other in a youthful posture, "I should tell you my report on the samples you had me look into, huh?".
When to advance. When to retreat. Right now, Kagerou could see it was time to retreat. "Mm," the doctor nodded, "Report, please."
Folding her hands behind her back, Momo gave the report in a succinct manner, detailing the effects of several factors Kagerou wanted her opinions and observations on. "In the end," she wrapped up her findings, "The blood sample you adjusted presented no significant alterations when used to induce flora. You should be proud."
"I see.
"But that's not the sample you're going to take, are you?"
Green hair like the forest waved as Kagerou shook her head. "No, I'll set it aside for our storage, and the experiment being a success is a good indicator of one way we can approach the problem of curbing the Sero's corruption." Her sentence finished, but the end lingered in the air as red orbs shifted over to the other Kiritani.
"It might not be quite the same, but I wouldn't mind having another sister," Momo giggled, eyes peering from underneath half-closed lip. There was a pause, almost imperceptible, and then words in the same tone but a different vein, "So the results from my implant, they were helpful, right?".
"... Yes. Though the implant materials are vastly different, some of the fundamentals are the same."
"And that means your implant will have less risk?"
She seemed playful, the girl with the glowing pink eyes and flowers that budded from her skin, sickly green roots apparent beneath the light gray skin. Kagerou couldn't help but recall that Momo was probably due for another pruning soon.
"Yes..."
"Good."
A soft "ding" sounded and two vials popped out of a processing machine. One, a healthy red. The other, glowing threads of some sort of sickly green swam in a vivid red liquid. Holding the latter to the lights, she gave one last check before handing the vial to Momo, who prepared it per their previous arrangement. A thin needle drew out some of the serum. The rest was set aside, in case an additional dosage would be needed later. Otherwise, it would be properly logged and stored with the other samples pertaining to research on the Sero that was under Momo's responsibilities.
While Momo handled the final preparations for the implant, Kagerou changed rooms. The scenery received a sudden shift, once that door was slid open. From metal and sterility to sunshine and greenery. Glass panes, sturdier than they seemed, covered this circular room in a sizable dome. Though, the first 10' of the walls were made of dirt. Grass covered the ground, the occasional root, not considered enough of a bother to efface, hung around. It was, for all intents and purposes, a small greenhouse. Just, with no botanical specimens within it. Oh, and... a questionably designed chair that grew out of the ground for equally questionable purposes.
Kagerou approached the chair and stopped in front of it, arms crossed and a bemused smile upon her features. "Momo... is just joking, right?" She looked at the straps on the chair. "We could just use a normal medical examination chair. She wouldn't actually make me sit in this for an implant, right?".
Teasing, Momo's voice drifted over from the door, "Neh? You're not gonna take a seat?~" She sauntered in with a wooden tray, upon which various medical implements were arrayed. With a sashay of her hips, tables and counters arose around Kagerou and the chair she had doubts about. "After all, you did say you'd take that cutie Severin's place~"
Unable to tell how serious her cousin, though not of the same flesh and blood, was, Kagerou could only ask, "Momo pls," as she desperately held up a smile.
"Fiiiiine," and the chair took on a much simpler form, shrinking until it was just a stump on the ground.
Kagerou easily sat on the stump, and for good measure, her hands waved in the air a few times, gathering chakra but ultimately failing to. Her eyes, as well, remained unchanged despite the rare attempt to have them be otherwise. Only after these tests were done, did she feel content to proceed. Well, no, even then, she worried, asking, "So the only techniques that will work here are Mokuton? In that case, what will happen if I go berserk and..."
"Then we'll just have to have a good time with some hard wood~" Momo replied coquettishly. Though, no questionable physical contact was made at the time. She held a needle in hand, but kept a respectful distance as Kagerou fully steadied her mental state. Her real reply soon followed, "Whether it's the Mokuton or the Sero's corruption you're afraid of losing control with, I'll have you know that I've got quite a few more years of training and living with both than you. Don't think you're some unstoppable force, Kagerou. It's unhealthy for you."
"But still," Kagerou didn't sound convinced, but she slipped her hoodie off, tossing it to the side, and opened her track suit to slide it down over her shoulders, "Are you sure I shouldn't wear the chakra restraints as well?".
"Oooh, kinky~ I don't think you'd need them here, but I certainly would take that offer after this. Mhm~
Another helpless sigh, "Momo," but she said nothing else.
Lowering her head as the other young woman walked around her, Kagerou exposed the back of her neck to the medic. With a practiced touch that would have sent chills down Kagerou's spine if she had any desire for her cousin, the green hair was gently swept aside, revealing the nape of the neck to admiring pink eyes. Black marks ran across it, the shoulders, and further down the part of the back still covered by Kagerou's top, a pre-marked fuuin technique in precaution for the Sero's chakra. Then, as delicate as a petal's last hold moments before it would fall, the thin needle was aimed directly above the spinal cord and the fluid within injected.
Kagerou, fully trusting the doctor behind her, didn't flinch even once. Her eyes closed as she felt the needle pierce, and she meditated on the foreign chakra that entered her body. Her chakra wouldn't take shape outside, but it was a different story within, and with practiced motions she had grown used to using on so many others that had been her patients, she used her chakra to lead and control the implant. She was so focused on her own task that she could barely feel the familiar pressure of Momo on her neck, but the presence of chakra was there, assisting her.
Condense. Separate. Disperse. Circulate. Repeat. It was a cycle, starting with small doses that she kept centered around her spinal cord, and then gradually increasing the amount of the Sero's chakra she released into her body from that starting point. The foreign corruption was painful and, at times, hallucinogenic, but the light smile and steady breathing of the implanted would make it seem it was easy as some relaxing meditation.
The formation of a cold sweat was the first signs of an abnormality gone wrong. Momo's fingers pressed down slightly harder as the warm body beneath her began to shiver almost uncontrollably. A rattling breath. A warning, "Aka!". Fingers clenching legs tightly. By the time her nails drew blood from her thighs, Kagerou had hunched over double and the rattling breaths had become constant. Her eyes were no longer shut, but in an unaware state of half-open, half-closed as sickly green veins began to spread from her neck to the rest of the body. The black fuuin marks spread across helped to corral the chakra away from the most vulnerable points, but it couldn't wholly stop whatever was happening to her body. White sclera gradually darkened, eyes flickered erratically in a struggle to activate against the restrictions set upon the body by the area.
Within, it was a burning chill as the chakra, once adequately introduced, took root in Kagerou's system. The Sero-influenced Mokuton acted with a mind of its own at the first opportunity, taking advantage of its foreign presence to attack Kagerou's unprepared body. That is, until another chakra pierced the girl's body and dominated the corruption within.
A gurgled, "Guh-uh," coming from within, but Kagerou endured once she figured out that the new-new roots in her were coming from Momo. She felt like she couldn't breathe, and shortly after, she couldn't feel her body at all. Though, in the corners of her blurred vision, she could see that thick branches had wrapped themselves around her limbs and torso. For how long she remained in that state, Kagerou wasn't sure, but she endured, keeping her mind strong. Knowing that she would rather feel this light-headed suffocation than require mental interference pushed her through until the very end when, with a loud gasp, she gulped in what felt like her first breath of fresh air in ages. The branches released her to fall helplessly onto the ground, coughing and trying to regain her wits about her. Her sense of hearing, lost in the earlier turmoil, returned and the first thing she noticed was the heavy breathing not too far behind her, the pounding heart, and the subtle sounds of wet cloth being squeezed in a hand.
Quickly regaining her wits at the first signs of something worrisome, the green haired medic twisted her head to the source of the noise. Eyes wide. No smile. No smile until she remembered she wasn't smiling, after which she forced one onto her face as she asked, "Nadeshiko, what happened?" because there Nadeshiko stood, healing the newly earned wounds across her body, a combination of punctures and bruises.
Nadeshiko, a Momo without the dark skin or the blooming flowers. Though, green roots still traced across the smooth, pale skin. This more traditional beauty, marred as she might have been, cooly responded, "If you don't know, then don't worry about it. Momo does leave a message. Go and rest, but you are to see her tomorrow for a check-up."
Growing a chair from the ground to sit upon, Nadeshiko rested her exhausted self. "The corruption acted up, but we think, so long as you remain well within your bounds, it won't do that again. Your chakra network really is something. Even with the genetic predisposition for Mokuton, it integrated the chakra at an abnormal pace and then quelled the corruption as part of the process. Still, we can't really be sure."
"So a check-up is necessary?" Kagerou smiled as she summoned a bottle of water from her storage and handed it to Nadeshiko. She understood what must have happened, and knew it was a predicted risk. When her body lost all feeling was probably when it had lost control of the new chakra nature. She had been restrained in an attempt to both protect her and stop her attacks.
Nadeshiko took the water with a small word and thanks and took a measured sip. Lips leaving the bottle with a smack, Nadeshiko measured the sadly smiling woman in front of her and then asked, "Yes, but otherwise. Congratulations, Kagerou, you finally have a Mokuton implant. Tell me, does it feel anything special because it came from Severin?". Her voice was gentle, but there was a comforting tease to its tone.
Kagerou, as Nadeshiko expected, blushed and immediately averted her gaze. It was just unfortunate she recollected herself so quickly. "Ahm. No, not in any technical or data-relevant way but..." She moved her hand over her heart. "It's the feeling that matters. Genetics, compatibility, battle data. All of that is important, but for me, the most important part is what I feel about my implant. If it's from someone important to me, who I've studied extensively, I think I'll be able to use it much better than if I just took in an implant from some random person." She took in a breath of air then released it. Yes, she could definitely feel it in the new chakra running through her veins now, the ever so gentle kindness of Severin. Though the implant was new, she already felt familiar with it. As if she could...
An elegant hand with long, delicate fingers was held out to Nadeshiko, palms up, ready to present.
"See?"
From the center of her hand, she grew twin sprouts intertwined, their leaves entangling with each other and the single bud on each sprout bobbing with the other in tandem.
"Watch."
The whisper elicited a blossoming, and from the buds came forth a lotus and camellia. Pure white, equally untarnished, despite what the original owner of this blood thought of himself.
[185 sentences]
Start: https://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?page=1&t=25465482#388317384
End: https://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?page=1&t=25465482#391476651
Bonds
Sentences: 330
Posts/Times Completed: 82
XP per Completion: 400 XP
Total XP: 32,800 XP
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