| [Feb. 22nd, 2012|04:48 am] |
Katsuko stared at him in amusement from a few feet away, idly tossing her kodachi up and down. “I am not short,” she said. “Take that back.”
"Shorter." Ryouma tipped his head a bare fraction, enough that he could glance at her sidelong; he was wincing slightly, as if he was in pain. "By at least eight inches. You're a midget speed demon of pain."
Katsuko cackled and caught her kodachi, sheathing it and her katana before ambling over to Ryouma and squatting down by his side. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said, reaching over to poke him in the forehead. “You gave me a workout, though. Looks like all that training’s paying off.”
"All that training kept me from getting killed in the first hour. It didn't do anything to stop you from putting me through the ground in the second." He propped himself up on his elbows, shaking his head abruptly to clear it. "How long did it take you to get back into mission shape?"
Katsuko shrugged. “Three months, but I lied like a rug to get out of the hospital. You’ve got frien-- you’ve got people besides the medic-nin helping you, and you’re in better shape than I was when I first got back. I’d say a month for you, tops.” She glanced at the shiny new peshkabz lying on the ground where he’d dropped it a few minutes and one disarm ago. “You picked up how to use that pretty quick, too. I’m proud of you, grasshopper.”
The smile that crept across his face was small but genuine. "Always been a quick learner. The brain isn't the problem--or wasn't until you conked me, anyway. It's the stupid muscles." He sat up the rest of the way and squeezed the bicep of his right arm with his left hand, rueful. "Too weak, too slow, an' tired too quickly. Good thing I can still take a beating."
“Hey,” Katsuko said, and poked him gently in the shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ll be mission-fit and back to badass in no time. Chin up, or I’ll bop you over the head again.”
Ryouma jerked his chin up, literally, tilting his head back to expose his throat. "High enough?" He smirked at her as she snickered, then he said, "You said one month. I'm takin' that as a promise, y'know. Nobody else will commit to a number. Are you buyin’ me lunch to make up for the bump on my head, or is this the part where I play masochist and pay you for my bruises?"
Katsuko raised an eyebrow, but a loud growl from her stomach interrupted her reply. She glanced down at it, then gave Ryouma a sheepish grin as the growling continued on for several more seconds. “...Food? For the sake of friendship?”
"So I'm not your friend if I don't buy you food? This is the..." He counted rapidly on his fingers. "Fourth time. An' I cooked for you twice. How come I'm the only one who has to bribe my friends?"
Katsuko gave him her most innocent smile. “Because you’re the only one nice enough to keep your friends from starving to death! Just think of it as another facet of your nurturing personality and feed me. C’mon, Ryouma, I even know a restaurant where the owner’ll give us-- well, you, you’re paying-- a discount. If he doesn’t throw a ladle at my head first.” |
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