After successfully recovering and destroying the seal that was used by Hataro to control Orochi RIsu, Kyohei returns to his apartment in the village to pack an overnight bag before immediately rushing to the hospital to check on the her condition.

Breathing heavily from the mad dash he made, sprinting to Konoha General Hospital, Kyohei ran straight past the automatic doors that led to the Emergency Wing of the hospital and to the reception desk. “Orochi Risu,” he exclaimed before giving the woman behind the desk a chance to even greet him, “I’m looking for Orochi Risu. What room is she in?” Although he had just returned from his business in The Dungeon, Kyohei had cleaned up well. Wearing a simple, grey hooded sweatshirt with the name and symbol of the Konoha Shinobi Academy emblazoned on the chest, black jeans, and black sneakers the Uchiha looked like a complete civilian that had hurried from home to the hospital, which was exactly what happened. After all, he was not here as a representative of Konoha or the Black ANBU, but as a man in love rushing to the side of a woman.

Impatiently the Uchiha waited for the receptionist to pull up a room number and the moment he she told him he would bolt out of the lobby and down the hall. Unwilling to wait for the elevator, he simply ran up several flights of stairs in order to reach Risu. His eyes now frantically darting back and forth, examining the plates on the outside of the rooms that displayed their numbers, Kyohei couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Hospitals made him uncomfortable. They had ever since he was a child. The air was cold and sterile, it reminded him of death, and this place was no different. He never went to the hospital on his own, even when he knew he should have. The only reason that he was there was Risu.

Kyohei would eventually find the room, and after a bit of arguing with the nurse on duty, was allowed to enter Risu’s room to visit her. His heart sunk into his stomach as he stared at her laying unconscious on that hospital bed. He had failed. All of this Black ANBU business, everything, was part of the deal to keep her safe, but in the end he couldn’t even do that. Frustrated, he would drop his bag at her bedside and pull a chair up as close as possible to the bed. He didn’t know how many hours had passed with him sitting there, watching over her, only leaving her side to use the restroom just outside or to get coffee to try and stay awake. He wanted to stay awake, to be there when she woke up. He didn’t know what the after-effects of what had been done to her would be, but he knew he was responsible.

Even Kyohei however, could not fend off his exhaustion from the day’s events forever. He would lay his head on the mattress, telling himself that he would just rest there for a moment before returning to his vigilant watch over Risu. Taking her hand in his, Kyohei would gently pull her hand down to him, resting the back of it against his cheek while at the same time stroking the side of it slowly with his thumb. In his mind he always wondered why it came to this, him watching over her unconscious body, helpless to do anything but stand guard. It was similar to their very first mission together when she accidentally set off a bomb trap or the night she came to his apartment for help, only to find herself at the mercy of Enaka once again. But this time was different. This time it was not some outside force, unknown to him that had harmed her. Kyohei had only joined the Enaka to prevent exactly this situation, but even still he could not protect Risu. This was his fault. Enaka might have given the order and Hataro might have put the seal in place, but Kyohei couldn’t shake the feeling that it was him who put her in that hospital bed.

Kyohei was angry, stressed, frustrated, ridden by guilt, and worried, so much so that he wanted to scream, but he had no energy left to act, only to feel. Feeling his eyelids beginning to grow heavy and close on their own, the Uchiha would gently squeeze Risu’s hand in his, bringing it from his cheek to his lips as he pressed a kiss against the back of her hand with what little strength he had left. “I’m sorry Risu,” he whispered, his thoughts beginning to trail off as his exhaustion seized control and he began to drift into sleep, “Please… come back…”

---

808 | 808~

It had been a grueling time for the medical personel of Konoha's hospital, as they had to tend to a hysterical young woman praxtically screaming her lungs out in pain and anguish for a rather long period of time. No seditives or medical jutsu were enough to help the young woman calm down, yet at some point during the grueling process of spasms and convulsions, the Orochi lady finally and almost miraculously slumped down in exhaustion and relief, finally giving the medical personel the rest they needed and so much deserved, as it seemed that the entire ordeal had finally passed.

Right when one of the medical personel wanted to go home, a young man came rushing in, asking for the very patient they had been worrying about for that entire time. In herself she thought about the young patient's family not even dignifying her with a simple visit, while a boy who was obviously not from the Ouroboros clan came in rushing like a beast to see her. The nurse's lips curled into a smile, when she realized why it was this young man who came rushing in first...love.

With the light of the sun creeping through the window, the rays had started to annoy a waking Risu, who wanted to raise her hand to cover her eyes from the irritating bright light shining straight into her eyes, yet when she tried to lift her hand, she felt an unusual resistance which made her turn her head aside. A soft smile came to her lips when she realised it was Kyohei's hand keeping hers tightly in his grip. He seemed exhausted, sleeping rather deep, with the warmth of his breath reaching all the way to her face.

She had no idea how much time had passed between the time she was held in the dungeon and that very moment she woke up in the hospital bed, but what she did know was that she was extremely tired and that her entire body felt as if she had been through a fight with a hundred wild beasts or something, not the type of morning she would wish to anyone she knew, except for maybe the man who was now not in Konoha.

"Some people can apparently sleep through anything," She spoke softly, while rustling through the Uchiha's white hair with her free hand. She had no idea why he seemed so tired or so bruised and battered, but she knew that she could simply convey her thoughts in a simple word. "Thanks..."


Leaning a bit back, she looked at the light coming through the window, gritting her teeth when her eyes started to feel irritated. Even after all that time and all those events that had happened, she was still as annoyed as ever by the first light of dawn. With a quick jerk, she hoped and tried to wake up Kyohei, really being fueled by the desire to cover her eyes from the sun's light. "Can I...perhaps get my hand back, sleepyhead?"

511/511

“Huh?” Kyohei groaned softly as he felt himself being awoken with a sudden nudge. The Uchiha always was a bit slow in the mornings, almost stubborn in his refusal to get out of bed. He always had been. It was for that very reason that he always avoided jobs that involved him waking up early in favor of nocturnal missions. In any normal circumstances he would put up a fight about waking up as well, but something else had caught his attention. A familiar voice, one that made his ears perk up in excitement on their own. Still half asleep, his mind struggled to pin a face to the voice, but for some reason he knew that hearing it made him… happy. Perhaps it was a desire to see who exactly it was that the voice belonged to, but his eyes would begin to flutter open, squinting as the light from the windows began to glare in his face.

The Uchiha looked up and paused for a moment, staring at Risu as if his mind was still lagging behind his body and he had not yet fully processed the situation he found himself in. After a moment however, everything would kick in, causing his tired and heavy eyes to light up as the corners of his mouth turned up to form the beginnings of a wide grin. “Risu!” he exclaimed as he used his hands to balance himself while he raised himself up from his seat. Then, with no regard for any of the furniture around him, Kyohei almost pounced onto her, bringing his right knee up onto the bed to support his weight without flopping on top of Risu. The sudden raise of his leg would cause his heel to clip the underside of his seat causing it to flip over, but he was so distracted that he didn’t even notice. Wrapping his arms around Risu, he would pull her into him and squeeze her tightly in his embrace while he nuzzled his face into the side of her neck.

---

342 | 1150~

With a groan and a moan, the man next to her bed finally seemed to respond to her nudges. Before she could react though, the Uchiha jumped on her like a long lost child seeing his mother again after a tremendous experience. She got smothered by a strong hug, while she had to exhale to avoid getting squeezed to a pulp. She knew that she had severely weakened and that her physical strength was lacking due to extreme exhaustion, but she couldn't quite place her finger on the 'why' she was exhausted in the first place. Pain she could understand, since the last thing she remembered was having been tortured to a breaking point and after that she only remembered seeing Hataro enter her cage before she blacked out and woke up in the hospital.

Not willing to hurt Kyohei's feelings or give him suspicion of her not truly being completely in that place at that time, she wrapped her own arms around the Uchiha's chest and pulled him slightly closer, inhaling to strengthen herself a bit, placing her nose and mouth against his neck, somehow feeling safe and sheltered at that moment.

"Did...did something happen?" The young woman suddenly asked, pushing her face a bit back with her head into the pillow, Kyohei's face still hovering over her. "I know I was captured, but I dont know how I suddenly end up here in the hospital. Am I awake or is this a dream?"


Placing her hand on Kyohei's forehead, Risu's fingers softly rustled through his hair, lifting her face towards him again and placing a soft kiss on his lips. Both the feeling and the taste, the smell and the appearance, it all fitted. So she wasn't dreaming at all.


"Apparently not a dream," The Orochi lady sighed gladly, yet tired. "So...any news on how in the sage of the six paths' name I got in this dusty and dull hospital room and why I feel like I've exhausted all of my strength and chakra...I'm so exhausted that raising my head already takes so much effort."

360/871

Kyohei let out a deep sigh as Risu pulled back from the kiss and began to ask about the cause of her hospitalization. It seemed as though while she was being controlled she had no conscious memory of the events that had taken place, which was both a good and a bad thing. Part of him was relieved that she didn’t actually have to live through the whole ordeal, but now the job of explaining the situation fell to him. It wasn’t a simple thing, telling someone that they had been being controlled and forced to attack the leader of their military force, especially when you don’t have all the answers as to how exactly it happened yourself. There was also the issue of Risu still not being privy to the information about Kyohei’s involvement in the Black ANBU. That was a conversation that they would need to have eventually, but not now. Not when she was like this. The only thing that mattered now was her recovery.

“Ah, well that’s… complicated,” he began as he placed his left hand against Risu’s right cheek, brushing his thumb gently across the lips he had been apart from for too long and his right down to the mattress beside her to hold his wait up. “I don’t really know where to start. I hadn’t seen you in a couple of days and then I just randomly got a call last night and came running here. How about this. What’s the last thing you remember before waking up here?”

“Now, now,” a female voice sounded from the entrance to the room, “There will be plenty of time for all of that later. For now I need to do my job.” From behind the privacy curtain the nurse from before would emerge, rolling in a cart of medical equipment obviously meant to be used to examine Risu upon her waking up. The nurse looked down to see that the chair next to the bed had been knocked over, which she could only imagine being done in a hasty action after seeing the patient wake up. It was likely the sound of that chair falling over that signaled for her to come in to check on the room. “Alright, lover boy, this is a hospital, not a hotel. Off the bed,” she said as she slid to the side of the bed and shoo’d away his knee from the mattress, “As for you, young lady, how are you feeling? Your records indicate that you have medical training. You should have no problem identifying any irregularities or symptoms you’re experiencing. The doctors were having quite the difficulty diagnosing you. It was like nothing we’d ever seen before. And then just gone in an instant. Truly bizarre.”

---

472 | 1622~

Just when she hoped to get an answer out of Kyohei regarding her quite fatigued state, Risu's lips started to pucker up, while she pouted a bit when the nurse on duty suddenly interrupted him, shoving him aside to look at her patient. With the Uchiha getting off the bed, she seemingly checked the charts at the end of the bed and asked wether or not the Orochi lady could somehow determine the exact reason for her current state on her own accord, since the doctors had not yet figured out the reason themselves.

After she was posed the question, the young woman started thinking for a moment, humming out loud while pondering about the array of symptoms which she had experienced in the short time she had been awake. She knew about the tiredness, the fatigue and the overall soarness of all her muscles, joints and even her skin felt kind of tingly and irritated. 

"Hmm," Risu sighed, while her hands started glowing purple and she let them go over her legs, abdomen, her arms and her chest. After having done that, she sighed again as her hands turned normal again. "With everything I seem to have, I'd say I would have had some kind of heavy chakra drain or some kind of chakra pollution or overload. Most likely the two last ones in combination...however, I would not be able to explain how I was ever even able to be succumbing to such an effect and as to why it has happened or what has caused it, I am in the same spot as everyone else, I guess."


With a short time, being an entire day as blank as a white canvas of a starting painter in her memory, Risu was wondering what had brought her to such a point, yet after her eyes caught on to Kyohei again, she simply shook her head a bit and gave an extremely innocent smile. "I must have probably done something really, really bad to end up like this...so that's nothing uncommon or unusual for someone like me."

351/1222

Kyohei smiled back at Risu and placed a hand on her head, moving his fingers through her hair as he petted her. As much as he was concerned for her health after the whole ordeal, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat nostalgic about seeing her being so docile. It had seemed more and more in recent weeks that she had grown distant and even when they could be together, she had been abrasive and aggressive. He didn’t dislike that side of her, but there was a part of him that did miss her acting like a normal girl and not just acting out her position. “So wait,” Kyohei interjected, raising an eyebrow curiously at the nurse on duty, “You couldn’t find anything?”

The woman simply shook her head in response. “I’m afraid not,” she spoke with a concerned expression, “Which is why her case is so strange. When she was brought in last night she was barely even conscious. And we couldn’t run any tests last night because she was thrashing so violently, even with sedatives. She had to be restrained. Then she just stopped. We did some scans after that, but there were no real abnormalities or injuries in her body to be found. It was like whatever it was that was afflicting her just vanished without a trace. What she’s feeling now is likely just the exhaustion that would follow an episode like that. Her body must have been spent.”

Kyohei became visibly irked at how casually the nurse seemed to attempt to absolve the hospital of responsibility for identifying any problems. “And so what does that mean for her?” he inquired, with just enough aggression in his voice to make it known that he wasn’t happy, “This is your job, isn’t it? You couldn’t find anything obvious, so you’ve just given up on trying to identify and treat any potential after effects? Is this a game to you?” It was rather uncommon for Kyohei to become visibly irate in public, but his emotions were still running high from the night before and anything that involved Risu was a sensitive spot for him.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” she replied with a frown, “We can only treat illnesses and injuries that exist. If we run scans again and don’t find anything than there is nothing we can do but prescribe painkillers if she needs them. But if the tests read like they did last night there really won’t be any reason to keep her here and she can be released.”

---

438 | 2060~

Theme

Risu watched as Kyohei had started to argue with the nurse about the diagnostics and what had seemingly transpired in the time she had been unconscious. It seemed to her that alot more had happened than she had thought to have happened. Writing in pain, screaming endlessly, that was something she had not thought about, nor could she remember such a thing to have ever happened...except maybe...

Three years ago, Konoha hospital: Asylum ward

She hasn't moved at all since that day, has she?" A well-dressed man with cold eyes and a cold voice exclaimed while sitting on a chair next to a bed upon which a young girl was sitting immovable and almost like a statue, lifeless as a corpse except for the slow, silent breathing. "I should've expected something like this to happen from your failiure to hold back, Hataro."

A man wearing an ANBU outfit and mask stood at the other side of the bed, nodding apologetically when the black-haired man with the cold eyes directed his words to him. The man with the cold eyes stood up and leaned towards the young girl on the bed, checking her pulse, the dialation of her pupils and her breathing.

"Not all hope is lost," The man suddenly exclaimed, motioning the ANBU operative to start something, while he took off the young girl's clothing, turning her a bit, so she would be with her back towards the ANBU operative. "She's strong enough to endure the pain of the seal you've made. Now place it on her so she can become something useful in the future."

present time

"Ugh...I'm getting a headache from this," The young woman in the bed sighed, while the nurse and the Uchiha were still arguing. Calmly, she placed her hand against the side of her head and softly started to massage the part where the stinging sensation had started spreading. "I'm not a child you have to worry about every damn second of the day. Could you two please calm down a bit?"

That flash of a memory wasn't clear for her, but Risu did have a gist of what had happened now and despite the fact she was laying in a hospital bed, somehow she felt rather relieved, as if some sort of terrible weight had been lifted from her. "Meh...I'd say I'd need a few days rest and after that I'd be the old, strong me again...I hope."

423/1645

Kyohei would huff defiantly at the nurse before turning his attention back towards Risu after her request. He would immediately return to the side of the hospital bed and place his palm on Risu’s forehead, running his fingers into her hair and massaging her softly with the tips of her fingers. The nurse, having been the same nurse that had been tending to Risu since she was first brought in, did nothing but smile at the young man’s concern for his girlfriend. With a small sigh she would take the charts at the end of the bed and walk towards the door.

“Well, we’re going to have to run some precautionary tests before anything, just to make sure there are no unforeseen complications,” the nurse announced as she began making her way out of the room, “I’m off to go make preparations. I’ll be back shortly to take her to the examination room. Just sit tight here until I get back.”

After the nurse exited the room, Kyohei would motion to pick up the chair that he had knocked over in excitement when Risu had awoken, once again positioning it right next to the hospital bed. Taking a seat, the Uchiha would lean himself forward onto the bed, just as he had done when he fell asleep next to her. “Are you sure you’re okay…?” he asked, the excitement in his voice from earlier giving way to a distinct tinge of concern, “…I guess now that we have time before she gets back you want an explanation as to what led to you being in this hospital, huh? Long story short, I hadn’t seen or heard from you in a few days, not since the night I had brought you dinner before you headed out to work earlier this week. That in itself didn’t really raise any suspicion. It’s kind of become a normal thing at this point, with your promotion and all. I just figured that when you were ready you’d get in contact with me again.”

“It’s not like I give out my number very much, so when I got that call last night I figured it would be you. Especially that late. You are the only person that would call me in the middle of the night like that. But when I answered, the woman on the other end wasn’t you, it was someone from the hospital. They told me that you were in intensive care and I rushed over here as fast as I could. The story I was told was that you were found under the influence of some kind of remote control jutsu. Someone had placed some kind of seal onto you that allowed them to use you as a weapon against the village. It resulted in you challenging the Hokage and duking it out with your friend Chisaki in the middle of the village. Eventually they were able to break the direct control, but you lost consciousness and that’s how you ended up in this state in the hospital.”

“It was difficult to get to your room, you know. They kept insisting that only family is permitted into the patient’s room, but it wasn’t like anyone was there to vouch for me. They told me that if I was so insistent on staying than I would have to wait in the lobby, but that wasn’t happening. I couldn’t not be here. Eventually, as stubborn as I am, I was able to argue my way in here. That nurse that just left has been responsible for taking care of you since you were brought in last night. She was the one that let me in. So I just sat in this chair waiting… for however long it would take. The nurse at one point scolded me about not sleeping being bad for my health. She wanted me to go home and assured me that she’d notify me the moment anything came up, but I told her that was impossible. It just wouldn’t be possible to go home if I left the hospital. You are home for me.”

---

702 | 2762~

Risu's eyes widened a bit when Kyohei sat down calmly after the nurse had left the room, his voice calm and collected while explaining the entirity of the situation which had been unraveled not to long ago. She had been away for a bit longer than she had thought, much longer even. Despite the fact that she was sure that she had not been captive for all to long, it seemed that she was wrong, her captivity might not have been that long, but the black void in her memory now seemed to dissolve. She had been under some kind of control, a remote control jutsu which forced her not only to challenge the hokage, but also one of her closest friends.

Why than, why didn't she feel bad, why was it that she somehow seemed to accept this? Was it because of the jutsu, a lingering aftereffect or was it plain and simple because she had done something she actually wanted to do?

"Did...did I kill anyone?" The young woman asked, with her eyes becoming rather wet, her expression showing doubt and sadness, even a hint of fear for the answer. She had killed before, slaughtered a few people and blatantly tortured others, but that was in the name of justice and for the safety of Konoha, but she didn't want innocent people to be part of this world's dark, vile side. "I dont...I dont remember. I only remember that I...I saw my mom, my old teacher, I saw them and I lost. This man, this monster must've been responsible for it."

With shaking hands, the Orochi lady tried to wipe off her tears, which started to roll down her cheeks, with reddish lines becoming visible on her usually porcelain white skin. In an instant, she tried to grab Kyohei's hand, feel it's warmth and hold on to its strength, as if she wanted that very hand to be a replacement for all she had lost, her hope, her love, her life.

"Never leave me, never...leave me," Risu cried, leaning towards the Uchiha, resembling how she looked the first time she came to him for his aid, for his support. She seemed so frail, so small at that moment, just like she did now. Her ideals were twisted, her desires had become dangerous, her dreams had turned into bleak visions of a dark future. She only had, only needed Kyohei...if she wanted to survive, to live on with her head held high. "If you wouldn't be by my side, I'd destroy everything and everyone."

439/2084

It was almost surreal, seeing Risu in such a vulnerable position. Being physically injured or weakened was one thing, but it was so exceedingly rare for her to be so open emotionally. Kyohei could probably count on one hand the times she had been like this with him, including one time she might never remember. He had always watched over her, even when she wasn’t aware of it, ever since their first mission together. She had always been strong. She was arrogant and at times callous and selfish, but he knew that what she showed on the outside was what the world had made her. He also knew there was a pained and vulnerable girl beneath her outer shell. It would sound almost comical to those who didn’t truly know her that she of all people would need his protection, but Risu was more than the cool and confident front she put on. She was worth throwing protecting, in any way he could.

As Risu leaned towards him and reached for Kyohei’s hand he would take her hand in his and grasp it tightly, as if trying to stop the trembling. The Uchiha loved Risu’s cockiness and attitude, but seeing her brought to tears and calling out to him desperately spoke to his innate protective instinct. He would be lying if he said that at least some part of him wasn’t glad to see that he was still needed. Too often had their time apart due to work made him doubt what role he played in her life. He wished she never had to suffer to reach this point, but he was glad that it was him she turned to when she did.

“Never,” he replied, reassuring her as he raised her hand in his and kissed it before placing it against his neck. Kyohei would lean into Risu in turn, pressing his forehead against hers as he closed the gap between them. Now face to face the Uchiha would raise both hands up to his lover’s face, resting them against her cheeks as he used his thumbs to gently wipe away the tears that ran down from her eyes. Without saying another word he would bring his lips to hers and kiss her, gently tugging on her lower lip as he pulled away. “That’s not a world you ever have to think about, Risu,” he said staring deep into her eyes, his own filled with love and longing, “I love you. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than with you. No matter what, you’ll always be my Hebihime.”

---

439 | 3201~

Hi no Kuni-High security prison, dungeon floor

Two guardsmen watched from their wooden chairs, one reading an old, yet entertaining book of a foregone era in the only light inside the deepest part of the prison they were stationed at, provided by a single candle. At the other end of the corridor filled with empty cells, there was one other candle's light. A single cell with a single person had been demanded for one of Konoha's most dangerous criminals ever, a man who had managed to manipulate the course of history from within the shadows for so long, that not even the current hokage knew his influence to its full extend.

That man, was none other than Orochi Enaka, former clan regent of the Ouroboros and former advisor to the Hokages. Calmly, this man as well seemed to look at a book, yet there were only blank pages in front of the man's eyes and a pencil in his hand. He had written down names in this book, hundreds of them and every time they were no longer of any use, they were striked through with a fine line.

Names like Orochi Yoroi, Hamada Ryuha, Orochi Aori and even Uzumaki Myra had been scrapped in that little notebook of his. Yet a single name remained untouched on that very page: Uchiha Kyohei, the pawn who would be vital to the end of that man's lifelong journey through the shadows of Konoha.

"I reckon all the preparations have been made...Hataro," The man whispered silently, yet with a cold demeanor from within his cell, without even turning his face towards the shadow near the bars of his cell. "If they are complete, so be it. The final push will come forth from a direction Konoha would've never expected."

The shadow seemed to make a movement akin to a bow, before vanishing from sight, after which Enaka put his pencil and his notebook on a small wooden stand near the small bed which was assigned to him, sighing deeply. "Now then...let's see what you will do, my little Uchiha pawn."

Konoha hospital

She was glad that he was close to her, comforting her and helping her get through all this, but at the same time she wondered why he knew so much, how he knew so much. If some people called her mysterious, the Uchiha was right up there with her in the same category. For a moment she hesitated to hug him tightly when he pressed his lips against her in a soft and gentle kiss.

"I hate to ask something like this from you, Kyohei, but I have no other choice," Risu sighed, trying to avoid eyecontact with the uchiha. "If I want to know the truth, I need to talk to my uncle. It's not something I'd be waiting for with joy and pleasure, after all, I'm the one who has framed him when he was in Kumogakure. He's the only one who can explain the meaning of this, the reason why I should go through all this, why we should go through all this. I need to know Kyohei, because I can feel my hatred burning inside, my rage consuming me with every step I take."

550/2634

Kyohei wasn’t a fool. He had been with Risu for long enough to know when something was… off. In general they tended not to speak about how strained their relationship had become in recent months. Risu had become more and more dedicated to her work, obsessed with what had become her own personal crusade under the cover of the Konohagakure ANBU. On the other hand, Kyohei had begun spending more and more time in the employ of the Black ANBU. In many cases he felt that Enaka’s constant pulling of Kyohei away from home was done intentionally, a tactic to lure Kyohei further away from Risu and closer to Enaka’s clutches. The Uchiha had done all he could to try and preserve their relationship, but more and more it had begun to feel like no matter how much of a priority he made Risu, he’d always be second fiddle to something else. Be it her job, her own goals, or whatever, he was always an afterthought. Only when she was vulnerable or in need did he ever feel she reciprocated his efforts and feelings… and even then…

As Kyohei went to kiss her, it became more than apparent that she was not interested in intimacy at the moment. He felt her hesitation and saw the way her eyes seemed to shy away from meeting his gaze as he pulled away. By the time she opened her mouth to speak, he already knew something was coming. Even after this, nothing had changed. He lowered his gaze as she asked him about wanting to see Enaka, not concerned with the dull look in eyes and empty facial expression that followed. She didn’t seem keen on maintaining eye contact with him anyway, so why should it matter.

“After all that’s happened, after all he’s done you still want me to be ok with taking you to see that man?” the Uchiha said solemnly, pulling himself away from the bed and standing up to walk over to the window. He stared out the window silently as he let out a disappointed sigh, “Fine. I’ll take you… after you’ve had time to recover. For now, my only concern is making sure you’re ok and getting you back to normal. You’re not going anywhere near that man while you’re like this.”

Immediately, a knock at the door could be heard, prompting Kyohei to turn around to face it to see the nurse returning to the room with a wheelchair. “The preparations have been made for the tests that need to be done before your release, Miss Orochi.”

---

443 | 3644~

For a moment, Risu's eyes almost turned red from anger and disbelief, but even so, it was only a moment. Even if she still did not like an 'outsider' pointing out the problems that had been within her family and clan for so long, she had to admit that she could understand why Kyohei did not like what she had to say, what she asked from him. Sadly, this was the only way to fulfill her own ambitions, her own ideals, which wether Kyohei or Risu liked it or not, were actually fairly equal to the ones Enaka had apparently.

"Just think about it, Kyo," She sighed, pressing the back of her hand against her forehead when she tried to keep calm, making sure she wouldn't get bad results from anymore tests just because of some slightly elevated heartrate or bloodpressure. "If there's one man who can tell me what I want, one man who has the information, the knowledge I seek...tell me one name, give me one man who could possibly hold all the answers and you will see that both our choices will allign and that only one name will pop up in our mind, wether we like it or not."

She waited until she had done her say, before getting out of the bed slowly, settling herself into the wheelchair. As the nurse gave a short nod to Kyohei, Risu sighed and before she vanished with the nurse into the corridor, a few last words escaped her lips:

"Really, just think about it. He can't do anything from within his prison, he's guarded by my best men and he's under constant surveillance. All we need to do is ask some questions."

Right then, she was gone, the nurse bringing her to the doctor who had been monitoring her progress after she had woken up so suddenly. The tests were rather menial, with some bloodsamples taken, a few tests for her bloodpressure and a check on her chakraflow just to be sure. All in all it just took about half an hour before the nurse brought her back, this time without the wheelchair, telling Risu she would be back in a few moments with the young woman's release papers.

Risu at the same time, walked into her room, ignoring Kyohei for a moment if he was still there, taking a moment of rest to sit on the bed, before she had to get dressed. "Well, have you figured out any other person who could hold all the answers to my questions?"

431/3065

It was at times like these that Kyohei wished that there wasn’t so much secrecy between them, even though it had always been a necessary evil. Risu spoke to him as if he had no knowledge or place to speak on her actions, ignorant to just how involved he actually had been. Sometimes he wondered if she really thought he had just been sitting around waiting on her while everything had been going on. It was frustrating and hurtful to have the person he cared most about, the one that he had sacrificed so much for at a moment’s notice look at him and speak to him as if his presence had become nothing more than a hindrance.

This wasn’t the first time this kind of thing had happened between them, and if the past was any indicator of future events, it would not be the last. It seemed that nowadays their goals and interests had drifted apart. Her primary concern was her obsession, his primary concern was her and ensuring that she did not allow her fanaticism to swallow her whole. Of late it seemed like she had begun valuing his input less and less, and the look of anger in her eyes as he told her what she did not want to hear was an immediate reminder of the turn their relationship had taken. It seemed now that the tears she shed only moments ago while she begged him to stay with her were nothing more than a distant memory.

The Uchiha said nothing as Risu was wheeled off for testing, scoffing at the idea that that man was completely helpless in his current situation. As if a few guards and a small cell were enough to contain something like that. In truth, Enaka was likely to only be playing nice while some other mechanism of his own design was set into motion. Even entertaining the notion that anything short of death would be capable of keeping that man in check was laughable. Those “best men” that Risu spoke of were likely trained in tactics and techniques that Enaka not only mastered, but taught. The truth was that he would likely only be in that cell for as long as he chose to be.

While awaiting Risu’s return from her testing, Kyohei would head down to the coffee shop that sat in one of the hospital pavilion’s lobbies and get two cups, one for him and one made to the specifications that he knew she liked. Assuming all went well, they would be exiting the hospital after all. Thinking back to the night before, he recalled how outrageously she was dressed in that leather getup. It wasn’t necessarily the kind of outfit one would wear out in public casually. When he returned to Risu’s room to wait he would take off his hoodie to give to her to wear over the clothes she had with her, so she could cover up a bit to get home. Anxious, he would find himself unable to sit or rest, instead standing and pacing with his own coffee in one hand and his hoodie slung over his elbow.

Hopefully the little break afforded by the tests would give them a chance to hit reset and put the last argument behind them. At least, that’s what he thought would happen. He thought wrong. When she returned to the room she didn’t so much as acknowledge his existence. He expected to hear the news of how the tests went, and when she wouldn’t so much as look at him he assumed the outcome was less than desirable. Instead, when she finally decided she was ready to talk once more the first sentence that came out was rehashing their squabble from before.

The Uchiha would loudly exhale, using all of his self-control to hold back a rebuttal that would serve to do little but exacerbate the situation. Grabbing the still hot coffee he had bought for her from the window sill beside him he would say nothing at first, instead walking towards the bed. He stopped just short of a small side table within her reach before speaking. “No, you’re right. You’re always right,” he answered, his voice devoid of aggression or anger, but instead filled with weariness and disappointment which were visible in his eyes when he looked at her, “You win. Congratulations.”

Slowly, Kyohei placed the coffee down on the small table beside her. “Just the way you like it,” he said, before placing his hoodie on the bed beside her, “And I thought you might need this too.” His exhaustion was apparent in his voice, a contrast to the excitement he exhibited upon seeing Risu wake up. He would not wait for her to respond. Instead, he turned away from her immediately and picked the weekend bag he had brought with him up off the floor before making a beeline for the door. He stopped, only for a moment to speak, “I’m going to wait outside,” and then stepped out of the room to take a seat in one of the many chairs that lined the hallway.

---

869 | 4513~

It wasn't exactly what she wished to happen, seeing Kyohei so devout of energy or actually anything. Sometimes he seemed to lack attachment to the world, to reality, always behaving so shady, as if he was just a spectator on the play all called 'life'. His words hit her like a flyswatter square in the face, making her pipe down, silencing her completely. As she looked down to her hands, she heard the sound of a full cup sliding over the small table next to her. With a nod, she grabbed the coffee, taking a sip from the black and bitter liquid, feeling it flow into her throat, warming her up from the inside out.

"I'm sorry," Risu managed to mutter when Kyohei left for the door and said he was going to wait outside. For about a full minute, the young woman sat on her bed, thinking about how she had acted towards the only person who went out of his way to help her and visit her in the hospital, realizing that she had gone to far. Ofcourse he would've been mad if with her proposal, it was to be expected, but she had not expected him to feel and act so beat up because of it.

Standing up on her own two feet, Risu walked to the wardrobe, trying to find her clothes, but all she found was a pretty outrageous leather dress and hairpiece. Almost shocked with the appearance of this clothing, the young woman wondered what had gotten over her to take on such a strange-looking dress. "Dang...now I'm certain that I wasn't in a right state of mind."

Taking her clothes and pulling them on, the young orochi lady found Kyohei's hoodie, which she quickly picked up and held close to her face, surprised that it smelled so fresh and...so typically like the Uchiha. After a few sniffles, the young woman got her shoes on, which yet again surprised her, as they were kneelong, high heel leather boots, which did fit the bill with the dress and hairpiece, but somehow seemed to be rather strange for the young woman.

"Kyo..?!?" She exclaimed rather loud when walking slightly at a slow pace towards the exit of the hospital, hoping to apologize to the Uchiha, while at the same time stretching out the Hoodie as much as possible to hide the most outrageous parts of her outfit. "Kyo...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be acting like that."

423/3488

training:

Feeling restless in his seat, Kyohei could not bring himself to sit still any longer. He eyed the men’s bathroom just across the hall, making a split second decision to go and wash his face again while he waited for Risu. He had brushed his teeth and cleaned up before, when she had been wheeled away for testing, but he still felt drained from the long night before and thought that splashing his face might help him come to. He took only a few moments to get in and splash his face with cold water, but as he was drying he heard his name being called from the hallway, followed by an apology. It was Risu. He recognized her voice instantly.

Hurriedly he would swing open the bathroom door to see her struggling to walk down the hallway slowly without the wheelchair that the nurse had provided. Kyohei quickly ran over to Risu and grabbed hold of her in order to support her while she stood. Moving around to the side of her the Uchiha would slide himself beneath her left arm, allowing her arm to rest on the top of his back and give her something to grab onto if need be, while he wrapped his right arm around the small of her back and her waist in order to help stabilize her. “What are you doing moving about on your own?” he blurted out of concern, ignoring her attempt at an apology in favor of trying to get her back into the chair, “20 minutes ago you could barely even move around in your bed. That’s why the nurse brought the chair in the first place. You haven’t even been officially discharged yet and you’re pushing yourself too hard. What are you doing?”

Kyohei’s face was turned towards her as he spoke, his expression distinctly different from how it was when he left the room. What his face denoted now was slight annoyance or irritation and overwhelming concern. His concern for Risu’s condition and his need to answer her calling out for him had immediately overwritten what he was feeling prior, at least for the moment. The Uchiha would bring his freehand up to her forehead and back down to her neck to check for fever as he spoke before finally resting it on her stomach. “What was so important that you had to come out here by yourself without the chair?”

---

410 | 4923~

For a moment, Risu felt slightly relieved, not because Kyohei was still around, but because he didn't leave. A strange way of thinking, but still that was how it was. Her eyes followed him, as he came to her to support her and reprimand her for her rushed actions. It seemed he wasn't glad at all that she had left her room and had tried to walk around unassisted by anything or anyone.

"I'm sorry...I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," the young woman said, while accepting the help she was granted by the Uchiha, as he brought her to the wheelchair a bit further back to the room. "I'm just...I have so many questions, so many things on my mind...I need to have answers Kyohei, I just need them."

Settling herself in the chair, while Kyohei had tried to feel if she had a fever or not, the young woman sighed deeply. It wasn't like her to be asking for help or to apologize, let alone beg for help, especially now. She had grown so much, but for what reason, to be belittled again?

With a swift nod of her head, she tried to shake off those feelings, deciding that she could better think about the questions she would like to have answered. After all, wasn't that what had started this short moment of annoyance; the fact that she wanted to talk with Enaka about a few things, despite him being the cause of almost all of her pain and despair in the present and the past and probably the future as well.

"I just...wanted some questions answered which only he could answer," The Orochi lady sighed, pulling Kyohei's hoodie a bit straighter, so the outrageous outfit wouldn't be overtly visible. "But if you really want to...I can hold on with those until I've gotten my strength back, is that a bit more reasonable?"

331/3819

training:

After allowing Risu to sit back in the wheelchair, Kyohei would place his right hand on the top of her head and rustle her hair gently. As much as he was upset with her and as selfish as she was, he still couldn’t stand to see her unhappy. The Uchiha would take a knee in front of the wheelchair and nudge her head forward to meet him halfway as he leaned into her, pressing his forehead against hers. “And here is where our goals are different,” he began, trying his best to put on a reassuring smile, “Your goal is your own ambition. You need answers. My goals is to protect what I care about most. What I need is for you to not put yourself in a more dangerous position than you need to. I know I can’t stop you from doing what you feel you need to do. But you could barely move around in your bed when you woke up next to me. Maybe getting up and moving around has you feel like some of your strength is returning to you, but that doesn’t mean I can sit back and watch you throw yourself back into harm’s way. There are many things that we need to talk about, but not here. I already called for a driver to come pick us up and get you out of this place, so let’s get you discharged. Whatever happens next, we’ll deal with together, ok?”

Having said what he felt needed to be said for the time being, the Uchiha would raise himself up from the ground and move around the wheelchair, positioning himself behind it in order to push. Before moving the chair out of the room he would lean down over the back of the chair and kiss Risu on the cheek before making their way to the front desk to be checked out.

---

322 | 5245~

[Exit]


Str B-1 > B-3: 1700/1700

Spd B-1 > B-3: 1700/1700

End B-0 > B-2: 1500/1500

345 words remain.