neornitheslogs | Insert one freshly revived asshole

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Insert one freshly revived asshole

First thing in the morning:
Well, that was terrible. Embarrassing, horrible, and stupid. But, he was glad to not have the pain anymore. And he had his face back the way it belonged. Sure he was vain, but even most people might have trouble with what gallons of acid would do to a person.

He knew he had Hina and Eiji to face out there, as well as the woman that caused the problem in the first place. But first, he was going to get everything back to normal. That meant it was time to get his hair back to something resembling presentable. The tournament and being in bed for days hadn't done it any favors. And if he was taking his sweet time, then that was probably on purpose.

He wanted to see Hina, he really did. He had somehow missed her during his self-imposed isolation. That was something he hadn't expected. But, he wasn't sure if he was ready to see her. Not after what had happened yesterday. If she had seen that, then...

Eventually, he ran out of excuses to not leave his room. He stood the collar up of his shirt and headed for the door.

Later, in the library:
That bitch was gonna pay. And so, he was going to lay bait the best way he knew how. He stretched out on top of the bookshelf, as he usually did, to wait for her to decide she had something to say about it. He was pretty sure Hina and Eiji wouldn't let him anywhere near her if he'd said anything, or worse warn her. She deserved to feel every inch of the pain she'd put him in.

Evening, courtyard
Back in his favorite tree, with a popsicle. He's more or less dressed for the weather for once. He needed a plan for the future. If he was going to return to who he used to be, then he had to put certain safeguards in place first. Because he wouldn't be able to protect Hina the same way as before.

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"Ah... how are you feeling, Eiji-san? Ankh and I were worried." That's the only reason she can think of for Ankh wanting to come see him right away, anyway.

No, what he was worried was the candy stash. He knew this guy was durable enough to deal with whatever it was he'd had taken off. "So what did you get cut off?" Such delicacy.

He kind of doubted that Ankh was worried...

"Toenails." He frowned at Ankh. It probably didn't sound like that big of a deal, especially when compared to what had happened to a lot of other people, but it really did hurt. "But I feel better than yesterday at least. Um, thanks for asking about me."

At least Ankh was all healed. Eiji had to live with that pain. Hina couldn't imagine it.

She finally let go of Ankh's ear. "No problem! You are our friend, after all."

Hearing how Eiji had been injured, he just humphed. He shoved him backward so he'd topple back into a sitting position on the bed. "Don't do anything stupid."

Once he was free, he went right back to what he had been doing. Ah, there they were. The antidote candies. "I'm hanging on to these. If you keep them you'll give them all away and there won't be any for us when we need them."

He smiled at Hina, but the second Ankh pushed him back down he was frowning again. As for finding his candy... he didn't know if he was more upset that he'd taken it or that he was doing through his stuff.

"What kind of person goes through someone else's underwear drawer?!" He reached across the bed and tried to grab at Ankh. "This is totally unfair!"

"Wait, wait, wait." Hina also grabbed at Ankh. "You can't do that. He won those fair and square, Ankh."

He dodged and sidestepped both of them. "These are for us if we get screwed over on money again. If I leave them with him he'll give them away to any asshole who asks."

"So what if I do? We aren't the only people who might need help, Ankh. I already gave you guys most of them anyway!" He reached so far across the bed that he fell off. Again.

"Eiji-san!" Hina rushed over to help him up. "Look, I agree with Ankh that you should keep some of those for yourself, but this is not the way to go about this." She glared at Ankh. "Put them back."

"Hell no. Besides, that's a shitty hiding spot. I'll find something better." He was not going to back down on this. He was not going to end up dead because of this moron's idealism. "And stop falling out of bed, you're only going to hurt yourself worse." Yeah, that was some semblance of showing concern for someone else.

Well, since he was somewhat incapacitated, he supposed he ought to return the favor from the previous days. "When's the last time you changed those bandages anyway?"

Eiji gave Ankh an irritable glance, but it wasn't like he could do anything to stop him. He crawled back into bed and crossed his arms. At least Ankh couldn't take his CP away. No matter what he was still going give someone candy if they needed it, even if that meant paying for it himself.

That small bit of concern was surprising, though, and made him let go of some of his frustration.

"Last night, but I can take care of myself." Okay, so he was still grumpy about it.

Hina sighed and sat down beside Eiji. "Do you have any spare bandages? I'll go get some if you don't."

"There's probably some left in my room," Ankh answered and turned to leave, completely avoiding eye contact on the way out.

And while he was in his room, he was going to find a better hiding spot for the candy.

He barely had time to blink before Ankh was out the door. Eiji sighed and crossed his arms, his emotions in total conflict. He'd thought he would be happy to see Ankh alive, but here they were bickering like usual. It was like an endless cycle and the only thing that was changing was how quick Eiji was to get frustrated by it. He'd pretty much forgot that Hina was even there.

Hina crossed her legs and rested her chin in one hand. "I'm sorry about him... He has a good reason to be upset, but that doesn't excuse his behavior."

He got whatever supplies had been left in his room and brought it to Eiji's. Without anything further to say he set to work on Eiji's bandages. He did give both of the others a glare as if daring them to question what he was doing.

He was just repaying a debt, nothing more.

Eiji nodded, but didn't make any other indication of hearing her. Sometimes he wondered if Ankh had ever really been such a good guy to begin with. At first he'd believed it without a doubt, but there were times where he didn't know what to think. The only reason he didn't question it even more is because he knew Hina still loved him with the hope that all of who her brother used to be was still there. For her sake he'd try to keep believing that too.

When Ankh returned with the intention of actually doing something nice for him, he felt a tinge of guilt for thinking so negatively.

"Ankh, ah..." It was a little bewildering. "Thanks."

He was quiet for a little longer while he worked. He could have been gentler than he was, but he wasn't all that rough either.

When he spoke up again, his voice was gentler than usual. "I don't like being in debt to people. Most people don't. Helping people can end up being a heavier burden than you were at first prepared to bear. But I guess I don't need to tell you that. We both learned that lesson the hard way." He glanced over to Hina but couldn't look her in the eye for anything more than a moment. "Thanks, Eiji..."

He started to go again, leaving the supplies behind.

Eiji felt completely dumbstruck by the way Ankh was talking to him. It wasn't bad, but it was... something totally different. Kind, almost. Maybe that had just been a glimpse of the person Hina was talking about.

"You're leaving?" He reached forward, but quickly withdrew his arm. Ankh had probably made up his mind already. He might have been embarrassed, too.

"Ankh--" Hina got to her feet and reached for his arm. Despite what he was saying, she knew there had to be more to it than that. He was still Shingo, after all. "Um, thanks for stopping by to help."

He let her stop him. He was still kind of confused about where to go from here. If anywhere at all. He took her hand off his arm and just held her hand. "Let's head back upstairs, okay?"

Edited 2014-11-23 05:49 (UTC)

Eiji smiled, but kept to himself. He was happy when they could have those sort of moments, even if they weren't often enough.

"Ah-- sure." She looked down at their intertwined hands and smiled.

She glanced back at Eiji. "I'll see you later, all right? Take care of yourself."

He tried not to focus too much on what he was doing. Yeah, this felt right, though. "This makes us even," he told Eiji. That came out a little more roughly than he'd meant it to. Oh well.

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yokubo - 2014-11-26 14:05 (UTC) - Expand

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