| [Aug. 23rd, 2014|05:02 am] |
“I can eat your food,” Kakashi said, half-lidded and magnanimous.
“You just wouldn't get any back,” added Raidou.
Kakashi smiled sleepily in affirmation.
“Well, you could get your food back,” Katsuko offered, propping her chin up on Kakashi's head. “It just wouldn't be in a form you'd want.”
Genma grinned at her (and regretted it, because ow, nose.) “That’s another thing I like about you, Ueno. Classy and clever.”
“That's me,” Katsuko agreed, nodding smugly. “A noble lady of refinement.”
A soft, delighted laugh came from the pile of blankets that had started swallowing Kakashi again.
No one was pressing Genma on the penalty or prize phase of the game, which was just dandy as far as he was concerned.
Katsuko’s clone finished the tanto in the same moment, displaying its handiwork with evident pride. “Look good?” it asked, holding the blade so it gleamed in the yellow light.
Kakashi shed blankets and sat halfway up to take the tanto, then dropped back with liquid ease, all rubber-band muscle control with no real awareness, like a skilled drunken brawler. He hugged the weapon close against his chest, fingers curled loosely around the naked blade. “Thanks, Kats'ko,” he mumbled, eyes closed.
The looks on Raidou’s and Ryouma’s faces had to be mirrors of the one on Genma’s own, as sharp eyes darted to that lethally-edged steel. Drugged, unpredictable when half-conscious, and armed was not the most reassuring combination of traits Genma could have picked for Kakashi.
“Last time I had to do medical work on Hatake when he was out of it,” Genma said, “was when he passed out after getting his tattoo. Taichou saved me from a crushed larynx. And a few hours ago taichou saved me from Hatake breaking all twenty-seven bones in my hand when I was working on Ueno’s shoulder and she yelped.” He looked at his patient, laid out on his back and clutching a blade like a warrior corpse ready for the pyre. “Anyone else think arming him was a bad idea, and this looks creepy?”
Katsuko and her clone shared the panicked, guilty expressions of a babysitter who'd just watched her charge run out into a crowded road with an ox-cart bearing down.
Ryouma shot her an exasperated look. What did I tell you? he mouthed.
Without missing a beat, Raidou eyed Kakashi strategically, then pointed at Katsuko and flicked trail signs at her. Five minutes. Sleep. Disarm.
She nodded in acknowledgment, holding herself with a careful lack of tension so as not to alarm the ninja she’d just supplied with a freshly sharpened blade. |
|