| [Jun. 3rd, 2013|02:58 am] |
If Raidou had stepped any slower, the closing door would have taken his nose off.
“I don’t think he even filed an injury form,” he said, after a beat.
Katsuko gave him a look of dry judgement. “Of course that’s what you’d be worried about.”
Raidou scowled. “It’s important,” he said. Not for this minor scratch, maybe, but you never knew what subtle stab or innocuous injury could turn out to be serious problem—or who’d treated it with what, if there wasn’t a paper trail.
“You’ve got that face again,” Katsuko said.
“There’s no face.” He rapped his knuckles on the door.
It jerked open, and Toushiro advanced with a form thrust out at Raidou’s eye level. “I’m working on it,” he said, with far more vibrating stress than any man in a knitted sweater should rightfully have. Behind him, a slow sliding noise ended in a scattered thump as a stack of paperwork landslided off the desk. Papers drifted past the doorway.
Toushiro’s eye twitched.
Very carefully, Raidou stepped out of blast radius. “That’s great. Good job, sensei.”
Katsuko grabbed Raidou by the elbow, making him twitch in surprise. “Can’t talk gotta go now bye sensei!” she said in a rush, and hauled Raidou up the hallway.
They passed a kunoichi bracing what looked like a very broken arm. Raidou wished her luck.
The elevator was empty on the ride back up. Raidou leaned against the wall and got in touch with his headache, which was starting to make itself known in the aftermath of adrenaline. Katsuko occupied herself pressing every single button. She was eying the emergency stop when their floor dinged and the doors opened.
“Don’t,” said Raidou.
“Well, now I have to,” she said.
He narrowed his eyes at her.
She gave him a sunny smile, smacked the door close button, and bolted out just before the doors sealed shut. Because she’d pressed every single button, the elevator jolted serenely up to the next floor.
When he walked back down the stairs to the main floor, Katsuko was leaning by the entranceway and laughing. He smacked her upside the head as he passed. “Obviously you’re feeling better.”
She stopped laughing, but a twinkle lingered. “All fuzzy puppies and unicorn sparkles up here, captain,” she said, tapping her temple—and, yep, cracked up again. Katsuko provided more amusement for herself than the rest of the village combined.
Raidou’s mouth twitched. “Then I guess you don’t need a head watch. Want to call it quits for tonight?”
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