Katsuko clawed her way out of sleep, fingers scrabbling at the seal burned onto her stomach. She rolled to her knees, panting, crouched in the darkening gloom as she wrapped her arms around her middle. Her chakra throbbed, swelling up like a bruise as her coils fought to contain the influx of energy. “Oh gods, oh gods...”

The wards and dampening seals inlaid in the floor and walls dulled the roar of her chakra to something manageable, if painful. If they’d left her in the operating room for observation, she’d probably already have burnt to a crisp.

There was a shuffle of movement from Ichiba’s cell. “Katsuko? Katsuko! You’re alive!”

She lifted her head, meeting Ichiba’s teary gaze with a watery grin. “Looks that way, kid.”

He sobbed, reaching for her in a futile gesture. “Katsuko, oh gods, Asuma--after they threw you, he got so angry that he--and then they--”

Asuma was slumped against the grating between their cells, one arm dangling through the bars. Katsuko scrambled over to him, grabbing at his wrist to check for a pulse. The weak, steady beat of the big vein against the pads of her fingers made her sway in relief. “He’s alive.”

Ichiba let out a long breath.

“Asuma,” she whispered, cupping his cheek in one hand. “Asuma, I made it back. Please, wake up.”

He breathed, slow and halting, and didn’t wake up. The orderlies had broken his nose and bruised his face and chest, deep painful welts that made her wince just looking at them. His shoulder was swollen, probably dislocated. Katsuko looked around, saw the blanket and crawled back to retrieve it. Asuma stirred a little as she draped it over his shoulders, but he didn’t wake up to protest and he needed the warmth more than she did. The seal had burned all the cold out of her, maybe for good.

She clasped his hand and curled up against the grate to wait.

Several hours later, she was woken from a light doze by a bone-rattling groan. Asuma shifted, trying to pull his arm back, and paused as Katsuko tightened her grip. Very slowly, he blinked and stared at her through two black eyes. “Hey, swee’heart,” he slurred, teeth bloody. “Y’look beautiful.”

“You look like shit,” she told him bluntly, vision blurring a bit. She wrapped her free arm over his uninjured shoulder and pressed her forehead against his, lightly. “But thanks for breaking that bastard’s jaw.”

He leaned in and gave her a bloody-mouthed kiss, sharp with relief and the tang of copper. “Any time.”

She blinked, lips parting in surprise. “I think,” she told him, dazedly. “I think that was my first kiss.”

He brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek, smiling. Somehow, even with the bloody teeth, he managed to make it look charming. “Want to make it two?” A frown creased his brow, briefly. “You’re hot, sweetheart.”

She rolled her eyes. “They shaved my head. I’m bald. You’re obviously just deranged.”

After a moment, though, she tilted her head and leaned back in, pressing her lips against his curiously. He kissed her back, making an irritated noise when the grating between their cells blocked him from reaching any further. Then he pulled back, catching an unsteady breath. "No, I mean literally hot. You're fevered."

Oh.

Well, that made more sense.

Katsuko scooted back, motioning at her stomach where the seal was branded. “Kaminari put this on me. Screwed with my chakra big-time. I’m guessing the heat’s just a side effect.”

As Asuma stared down at her naked torso, Ichiba made a scandalized noise. “What are you guys doing?”