[video] 2/6, evening - Megumi vs. the modern HMO

[megitsune]

[The video feed comes on to the office Megumi has now occupied in the General Hospital. You can see tatami flooring and a pot simmering on a hot plate. A timer dings in the background and there is the sound of her speaking:]

This is ridiculous. What is the need for all of these papers, I'm up to my ears in them. Taking the time to fill them all out takes time away from where we should be-- the patient's bedside. And why is this "medical board" having us perform so many tests on each patient even when the diagnosis is already clear? No one gets better from running all of these unnecessary tests, but we have to bill them anyway. It's a waste of time and money-- ours and the patients'.

[A man's voice can be heard, it's an NPC supervisor] That's not my concern, Doctor Tanaka. Fill out the files or-- do what the rest of them do, get yourself an assistant and make them do it. I don't care, just get it done. Good day.

[The door closes and Megumi turns around and shuffles back towards where the communicator is. She can be heard cracking an egg into a bowl and muttering something that sounds very much like:]

It's Takani, you stupid ass.

[She cracks another egg for her tamagoyaki, and that's when she notices the mirror was on that whole time.]

Hmph. Figures.

If you are out there, and you're injured-- and I know there are many of you after all of that. Come to the clinic at the hospital tonight or tomorrow. I won't give you the same nonsense or run-around that they are recommending us to. It's my job to get you well and back home.

[Open to action threads here, or you can tag in to this log!]

Comments

[megitsune]

[Dryly, her voice flat.]

I'm so glad you approve.

[She clears her throat. If her pale cheeks are the slightest shade of pink, that's just your imagination.]

[pawned]

I'm sure you wouldn't need my approval to do anything. [Itou's imagination is pretty poor, to be fair. Unless it's about ambitious things, but hey.]

[megitsune]

You're darned right I don't. I've made up my mind to try going. So if you're uncomfortable with the idea, make sure you don't sign up for the same missions.

[pawned]

[What language and what temper. If Itou wasn't so amused, he might be offended. Or not.] I never tried to dissuade you, did I?

[megitsune]

You made it sound like you were trying to?

Have you gone on many of these missions?

[pawned]

Was I? You must be mistaken; the thought never even occured to me.

And no, not at all. The Grand Canyon one was only my second. I've only been here since December, you know, and my six weeks was spent in recovery.

[megitsune]

I must be! [Have a smile!]

I see.... please excuse me for not remembering. Somehow your air of experience makes it seem like you've been part of what's going on here for some time. I suppose it's simply your professional demeanor.

[pawned]

Or my age. [chuckle] I seem to be at the extremity of age here among the guests. It's rather surprising.

[megitsune]

[She gives a soft snort.]

Well, personally, I find it rather refreshing. It's nice to have someone to talk to who isn't a teenager. You can only put up with hormonal adolescents for a certain amount of time before you need a break. Shoo the kids away for grown-up time, so to speak.

[pawned]

[Except you're ten years younger than he is, and he usually refers to people your age as kids in his head. He probably shouldn't say that, though, because he doesn't much enjoy the prospect of getting railed on by anyone.]

I'm sure you're right. [placidly, with a touch of hysterical laughter in his head.] The Shinsengumi where I'm from has plenty enough of that.

[megitsune]

[Little does he know, she wouldn't rail on him for that. Besides, she insists he's more like twenty-seven. He has the air of a boy who was raised mostly indoors, she's decided, it makes him seem that way.]

You don't need to agree with me if you don't really think so. Plenty enough of the hormonal adolescents, or plenty enough of the adult time, in your Shinsengumi?

[My, the Shinsengumi sounds like such a suggestive place to be all of a sudden. Maybe that's why he likes it so much, she thinks with a chuckle.]

[pawned]

[To be fair, a dojo is also considered indoors. It's not his fault he has nice skin!]

Idiot adolescents. Even when they're my age. I'm not quite sure about hormonal, though. It's been a while since I was a teenager, as you've noticed.

[megitsune]

[There's a pause in her conversation. She has a sad smile on her face as she looks down, thinking of home.]

[It's so strange to her that the person from home she's spent the most time with, who's showed he cares about her, is a man she loathes who hates her just as much. Life is extremely hard to predict.]

[She says it without thinking:]

I miss my idiots.

[pawned]

We all do, at the end of the day. That's probably why we're also idiots. [shrug. He didn't really get a chance to miss the biggest idiots of them all, though. They are just. Right here.

But the one he misses the most is Takahisa.]

1/2

[megitsune]

[She nods but doesn't otherwise move a muscle, unsure if she has words she'll allow herself to say yet. It's hurting a bit too much. She remembers things a little too well, still, her missing idiots are all right there in her mind's eye, rushing back at her.]

[Yahiko trying to tell her that he'd take care of everything for her, trying to look and sound like a man so that she'd feel comforted--]

[Sanosuke's blood gushing out everywhere around the broken blade of Saitou's sword, how badly the smell of it had made her want to vomit but she held it together because she had to hold him together--]

[the warmth of Kenshin's bare skin against her cheek as she broke down and hid her face in his back scar, wishing that--]

2/2

[megitsune]

[Abruptly, Megumi stands up as if she's been stuck with a pin, taking her mirror with her to the sink. Her voice is slightly louder than before, as she meticulously scrubs and fills her teakettle with water.]

Yes, I am a complete idiot. That's for sure. Are all of your idiots here, Itou-san?

[pawned]

[Did Itou say something wrong? He worries about that for a moment before the question makes him think of something else, and he peers at the screen.]

The three biggest ones are. We're lacking one, but I'm not quite sure I'm ready for his presence. [Since the last time Itou saw him, he had Yamazaki killed.] Too much foolishness in one place, you know. My poor heart deserves a break.

[megitsune]

[She dumps out her teakettle and scours it again, swallowing hard.]

Mine too.

[Now she has to grasp at somethinganything for a subject change.]

Do you know where to buy good tea, here. I think I'm nearly out.

[pawned]

[She must really be missing someone, Itou decides. A sweet heart? He didn't know the first thing about how girls think, though.]

There are a handful of Japanese novelty stores here with a supply of decent tea. One of them is run -- or was, I'm not very certain, but it's next to where I work -- by a guest.

[megitsune]

[She snorts softly, ashamed.]

I don't... know that I've ever seen a store like that here. I suppose we can tell who needs to get out of the library and the hospital more, hm?

[pawned]

Indeed. [agreeably] I've only acquired mine from the grocery, though, and some Japanese shops. They're decent, if not quite traditional.

[He thinks of offering her some, but he's not usually given to charity and he's not sure if she'll take it.] If I find something very good, I'll make sure to tell you.

[megitsune]

[She wouldn't take it. She's not given to accepting charity.]

The... grocery. [She almost wants to groan.]

I can't understand how anyone can shop in those. I need terrain maps just to find the rice. It's very different from simply waiting for the tofu or miso seller to come by with a bucket.

[pawned]

It's not so difficult to navigate. [snort] If you can memorize the streets of a village, a few well-lined shelves of items shouldn't be too difficult.

[megitsune]

[Megumi snorts as well but it's aimed at herself. She pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to stave off a headache just thinking about it all.]

It shouldn't be. But if I dare to go inside, and just see a huge... vast... area of so many things in one space, and then there are lots of big displays of this and that, and it's all in this new language I can now use after arriving here, and there are bright lights and music playing and sometimes a very loud voice from above telling me what I must purchase? [She means the advertisements over the loudspeaker.] The machines that they use to allow you to purchase the items making startling noises? The people running into me with those rolling metal wagons?

They have a whole row of glass cabinets that keep things frozen in ice. You've... seen this, right?

[pawned]

It's common enough where I'm from, actually. But there are also smaller versions of these, which are far less loud, bright, and technologically advanced. Perhaps you should try those, first?

[Hm.] Well, I suppose I could take you to the big one and help you navigate. It's the least I can do for one so adept at taking care of me. [It's not charity, anyway.]