| Almost Not Alone [Genma, Rina] | [Aug. 29th, 2009|10:40 pm] |
[Takes place on the 3rd of April, one day after After the Rain, five days after Meet You on the Other Side, and about five years after Got That Mountain to Climb.]
It was almost a rule, that Genma always had to screw up all of her hard work whenever she wasn't there to fix it. Turning up the water from 'hot' to 'scorching,' Rina poured another handful of shampoo and tried desperately to scrub all the branches out of her hair.
One week. One week she'd been gone, and this was the kind of thing he got up to. How did he manage it? She'd been looking forward to a nice, relaxing shower ever since she'd crossed back over the border, and instead here she was, frantically scrubbing her skin off along with the grime.
Ducking her head under the spray for the fifth time, she forcefully widened her eyes, not letting them close. When she closed them, all she could see was--
Don't think about it. The note said it wasn't as bad this time.
No sense worrying until she got there, anyway--right, as if thinking that ever helps--and they wouldn't let her into the hospital until she was clean. Dragging her fingers roughly through her hair again, searching for dirt and debris, she ended up with just a handful of pale, gleaming strands.
Finally.
The water ran clear now, instead of red-black with ink and unidentified blood. Rinsing her hair one more time, she shut it off gingerly, using her fingertips so the layer of grime she'd left on the knobs wouldn't transfer back to her hands again.
Housekeeping could deal with the dirt; she didn't have time.
She'd brought two towels, so the second one stayed clean. Wrapping herself up in it, she scooped up her filthy uniform with the other, and dashed back across the hall to her room, scrounging a few bare threads of chakra from who-knows-where to deactivate the seals on her door. A pair of sweats and a t-shirt took no time at all to pull on, paired with a set of ninja sandals, and then it was only an instant more for her to snatch up her spare seals-kit. Not even bothering to wring out her dripping hair, she slammed back out the door again seconds after she'd gone in.
The hospital was only next door; even that seemed too far away. But she didn't have enough chakra left to translocate, so she'd just have to run. |
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