| [Dec. 7th, 2015|06:33 pm] |
“I can transcribe for Tousaki, since I don’t have anything better to do,” Kakashi said. Ryouma gave him a startled look. Katsuko did as well.
Irritation flashed briefly across Kuroda’s face. Genma looked from Kakashi to Ryouma and back, assessing, and said, “We’ll discuss the details after this meeting, but I don’t have any objections.”
Ryouma regained a little of his normal color. He gave Kakashi a tight but grateful smile. Katsuko remembered what Kakashi’s handwriting looked like and blanched.
Kuroda nodded. "That aside, I anticipate this team being mission-ready within the next month. We will meet here every three days at 0900 so I can continue to evaluate you. I will also assign individual tasks as I see fit. Ueno, I want you to report to my office at noon tomorrow."
Katsuko had the sinking suspicion that ‘headquarter tasks’ meant she’d just become Kuroda’s glorified personal assistant. She gave him a crisp salute. “Sir.”
Kakashi copied her with the expression of a man who’d accidentally wandered onto a scuttled ship and had just now realized the water was up to his knees.
"I'll be monitoring everyone's medical progress in conjunction with Toshiro-sensei and communicating that to Kuroda-taichou,” Genma said. “With the exception of Tousaki, we will need to pass a fitness for active duty test before we can return to the field."
Very carefully, Ryouma said, "Do you recommend I postpone my knee evaluation, Shiranui-fukuchou?"
"Proceed with that as planned. Today or tomorrow for preference. Our window of opportunity for you to have that evaluated and treated while the rest of the team is on leave hasn't changed."
She didn’t glance down at Ryouma’s knees because she’d been trained better than that, but the automatic urge to was still there. Kakashi, who had no such compunctions, turned his head and gave Ryouma’s bad knee a blatant stare, brow creased.
“Yes sir,” Ryouma said, and saluted. He kept eye contact with Genma as he did so, subtly excluding Kuroda from his respect.
Kakashi, meanwhile, switched his bemused stare from Ryouma’s knee to Ryouma’s face. After a few seconds he turned his attention back to Kuroda, but not before his unspoken Why hadn’t you gotten your knee checked before? broadcasted to everyone in the room.
Kuroda waved a brisk hand. “It’s a weakness, Tousaki. Take care of it before it gets someone else killed.”
He swept out in clear dismissal before anyone could do more than blink. The door shut behind him with a final click. |
|