After escaping the clutches of the woman with the injured arm, Mai made her way down the corridors to the offices of the seated officers to deliver the message. While not uncommon to the area, as she was often selected to relocate numerous stacks of charts from area to area, she still felt a degree of apprehension - a feeling that had rekindled after that strange incident where she had apparently broken a flask or two; she had no recollection of it, or even the recollection of intent to damage something that wasn't Malik's. What had happened had happened, however, and Mai was not one to dwell...at least on that particular memory. Before the incident, her experiences in the offices were met with apprehension based on nerves associated with being the new girl. Was she doing this correctly, was she going to the right place, did she grab the right thing? Gradually, that was replaced with the sensation of confidence; yes, this was her job, this is what she was doing, and she was doing it well. Now, however, she had begun branching out, doing other things - though not always by choice - and the apprehension returned, along with a hint of nostalgia. She hadn't been back since the incident, at any rate, but her familiarity with the area had not lessened.

Confidently, she strode through the area, navigating through the bodies with excessive caution. She, too, recalled that unfortunate disaster last year as she sought out her father's medical history after his misspeak on the matter and caused an unwarrented amount of chaos. Ever since, she kept a degree of space between her and any other living being when in a rush. Just as well, seeing as no one had a fancy to collide with another and cause havoc...though Mai could twist it if she thought long enough with her romantic heart; running toward him with open arms, colliding in an amorous embrace, breaking her father's heart. Perhaps the anti-intrapersonal collision theory wasn't always applicable.

Approaching the closed door to the fukutaichou's office, Mai stowed away the secret smile upon her face and tentatively rapped along the wooden panels. "Hasegawa-fukutaichou-sama?" she asked, leaning close enough to try to discern if there were any sounds coming from within. She stood, eyes closed, listening. What a sight she would be if someone walked up....

sent from my notsosmartphone of breakingthingsness

Hotaru sat at her desk with her head in her hands. Stacks of reports, all tidy and well organized, were situated upon the surface of the desk but she paid no attention to the mounds of work before her. Rather, she was obsessing over the lack of direction her life had taken on over the years. She had served those who needed her aid in the best manner she could contrive, but what has any of it meant? Nothing significant had come from any of it.

The fukutaichou was not prone to bouts of depression, so her current state of mind was one of confusion now that she was confronted by the futility of her existence. Had she experienced such an occasion in the past she may have been better prepared to recognize the symptoms and therefore make some sort of combative gesture to overcome these 'blues'. As it was she could not identify the underlying problem of her current state of mind. So it was that the knock at the door came as a most welcome distraction.

Hotaru lowered her hand to the desk and called out eagerly grateful for any excuse to not have to examine her inner workings at the moment. "Come in?"

Mai's first test proved successful, and she slid open the door to Hotaru's office with a soft sigh of relief; at least she wouldn't have to go snooping around in there to try and find something resembling a schedule to deliver the message. Stepping into the office, the young Tanaka ducked her head as a sign of respect. "Pardon my interruption, Fukutaichou-sama, but Hitoshi- taichou-sama requested that I deliver a message to you in person," she said softly, raising her head to glance at her elder before her. "He said to let you know that he has left the building for a time and to also inform you that you are in command until his return, should something happen."

Her eyes struggled to meet Hotaru's, as they were instead focused on the mounds of paper on the desk between them. Organized, yes, but there were so many; in all her trips in the past, she could not recall a time when the fukutaichou's desk was so... busy. Something was off here, the girl was sure of that, but what was another matter entirely. Mai's eyes continued their concerned fluttering from face to desk, waiting for a response, as she debated whether or not to intrude on a personal level.

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The landscape of the canvas was pristine, unmarred by the stark contrast of ink though Sumie was standing before it, brush raised before the beige surface. Ink dripped idly from the bristles, falling to the floor at Sumie's feet where a sizable puddle of the dark liquid had pooled. Time after time the Fukutaichou's arm moved as if to add a stroke to the canvas, but each effort stopped just short of coming into contact with the canvas. While she knew that there was something very important to be painted, Sumie simply couldn't recall what it was. Her gaze turned to the brush held between fingers that bore more ink than the canvas and before her eyes the ink started to smoke. It evaporated from the brush and unfurled into the air in twisting gray streamers. The smoke burned her eyes and her lungs as it grew more voluminous. Sumie felt her lungs starting to seize as she squeezed her eyes shut against the contaminant.

Then she jerked awake in the hospital bed with a gasp.

Where there was smoke, there was fire, right?

Sumie pushed herself up into a sitting position and shoved the thin cover of the sheet off of her body. Her right hand came up to hold her head and she sat there like that for several minutes. Something important had happened. Sumie knew that much, but her exhaustion had put a haze over it. She remembered that much at least. She had been up all night and there was... the horde. Yes, she remembered that now. She also remembered that Kiba had been hurt.

Her legs swung over the side of the bed in one quick motion and she planted her full weight on them as soon as they touched the floor. The room spun around her and she sat down hard on the bed again. Once more she grabbed her head, but not in an effort to assist recalling a memory, that could wait, she simply wanted the dizziness to go away so she could find out what had happened to Kiba.

After a moment Sumie shook her head and stood up again, albeit much more slowly this time. Her stride carried her to the door though Sumie could still feel a certain wooziness throughout her that came from being exhausted then oversleeping all in one go. When she reached the door frame, the fukutaichou leaned against it, letting it support most of her weight as she pulled the standard inpatient garment tighter around her body against the feeling of cold, though it wasn't necessarily from her surroundings.

She inhaled deeply and managed to pull together the strength to call out to a passing Second Division member. "Excuse me! I need to speak to your captain." Sumie was unaware he had departed so she felt it would be far from difficult to get an audience with him. She was after all, a fukutaichou. Kurisuna's fukutaichou no less. Surely Kurisuna had been throwing a fuss about her being in the hospital. Thinking about her captain made the inside of her head feel like it was filled with static though and Sumie frowned. The fact was, Kurisuna would have been making a scene outside of her room or she would have been in there with Sumie, watching over her and she wasn't. In fact, the same went for Kiba if he was okay. It took a lot to lay him out for more than a few minutes. Surely he had been patched up by now.

So where were they?

Hotaru was transfixed for a moment struck down with a case of delayed hearing, as it were. Those eyes never ceased to leave her ill at ease as though they were condemning her upon some level. Clearly this was just a case of self doubt, the fear of inadequacy transferred to another for Mei had never been anything but professional and respectful around her. Today's malaise had altered her usually keen sense of perception, however, and she inferred much more than was intended from the way her eyes darted about failing to meet her own. What was the woman hiding? More to the point, where was Hitoshi off to? She folded her hands together upon the desk threading her fingers through each other and inquired, "Thank you for informing me, Mei. Did the Taichou say what business it was he was attending to or how long this might take?"

Concern was evident upon her features despite her attempts to remain passive in expression. Things had not been all that normal since the attack of the horde. Sleep, for one thing, was missing in her life; at least in any amounts that could be called conducive to good health. And then there was the dissatisfaction in her skills that had taken hold of her. During the attack she had nearly gotten herself killed. Had it not been for others about that day, she would have ended her barely illustrious career on the field. She found herself questioning everything since then but most of all what meaning her life now held. And that irritated her most of all. She was no school girl to be mooning about in this manner but a grown woman who had long since come to terms with who she was and what her singular life's goal was to be. Why now after so many hundreds of years did she year for something more? She unfolded her hands and began to tap her fingers softly against one another in a nervous gesture.

It seems the Taicho had become quite popular during his short leave of absence. Luckily he was well on his way towards the home base, after a god awful amount of time away from his Division. From the afternoon till the sun came down, quite a leave indeed. Luckily there were no terminal or otherwise critically attention needing . So he didn’t feel that bad about leaving...which didn’t help him feel somewhat terrible about himself.

But now was not the time for self-angst. Harupia managed to move in a good pace, moving back to Sereitei much faster than towards the Rukongai. He still did use some time outside of the woods, using some of his bandage supply to wrap it around the bleeding eye socket after applying some of his healing Reiatsu, to make the flow of blood less critical. Though the girl was conscious, she was too weak to really offer any resistance besides verbal. Which was both good and bad. If she was that weak it meant she was wounded for quite some time. And it never made healing a wound any easier.

Carrying the girl in his arms, moving as fast as his legs let him, he passed the glances of the guards and Shinigami he passed, being well known enough not to stop him along his way. He would explain anything later, now he needed to get back to his Division as soon as he could...he had no idea of the extent of the wounds, but he needed to find out quick if there was to be any hope of saving her.

Finally, he reached his destination, the evening hours being quite slow...till he came in, now glad the door was kicked off so he didn’t have trouble getting in. The entry way for once empty besides the two Shinigami guarding the open doorway and the receptionist, he would quickly say "You come and help me take this girl to an operating room 3, you, go and find Hotaru-san and at least one more person to help, NOW!" not giving them much time to react, moving into where was the closest room fit for operating. Right now a life was at stake, so the nice had to take a back seat to the medical mind.

And so it would happened that as the Shinigami sent for Hotaru moved towards her office, he would stumble upon Sumie, who was stumbling out of her room weakly in search of him. In a rushed tone he would say "Hitoshi-Taicho is getting ready for surgery, and I’m pretty sure you should be still gathering your strength in bed!" passing her as quickly as he spoke. He wasn’t quite wear he was speaking to another Fukutaicho, but he had orders, and they were dealing with a pretty badly wounded girl there. The chances of Harupia finding the time to speak with her were slim.

His quest would come to an end as he would enter Hotaru's office without a proper knock, seeing her conversing with another member of their Division. Panting slightly from his run he would breath out "Hi-Hitoshi Taicho is back...with a wounded girl. Eye completely ripped off. He's in operating room 3, requesting any assistance available" he concluded, looking both at Hotaru and Mai, indicating they should both come, before leading them there.

As that went on, inside of the room, while the other Shinigami prepared he operating table, Haru would be taking of the soggy bandage, assessing just how badly the eye was hurt, under some proper lighting, and in a clean environment. Of course he was careful as he needed to wash his hands. He didn’t touch, only looked for now. If she was still breathing and conscious to this point, things were not that bad...relatively speaking.

[bgcolor=E86100] During the trip from Rukongai, the loud roars of the miniature tiger were lowered down in tone, not letting a single patient of the hospital wake up.. pfff- NO. This loud-mouthed chibi-beast wasn't going to quiet down for a single second, letting out her roars of pain!

"ICANTAKEYOUONYOUWONTGETMEGRRWARR"

The insults came roaring out, aimed towards Harupia the Wonder-Doc, or in Sui's vision; The Grim Reaper. The black cloth, the tall statue. It could only be the God of Death here to take her to the underworld, those green eyes glowing into her blurry vision, piercing into her soul, as Sui wasn't even aware of where she was..

Mai was far from the perceptive individual she longed to be, but several things alerted her to something not right about the situation, most prominent of which being the mispronunciation of her name. She opened her mouth to politely correct the fukutaichou automatically, but then thought better of it; bringing her jaw to a close, she merely waited for the fukutaichou to finish her query, noting the seemingly increasing anxiety building up in the room -- the fukutaichou's anxious fingers taptaptapping against the desk.

Clearly, Hotaru was stressed.

"No, ma'am. He followed Shuchiku-taichou and the young child out the, ah, broken--"

The man barged in, hurriedly relaying his charge, then staring at them until they moved. Mai would step back from the door, to allow Hotaru out first. As she would follow the pair to the suite, she would reflect back on where the day had gone; if she really was in that room with the belligerent woman for that long, then that meant Harupia was out longer than she had thought.... Which meant that if something would have happened, would no one have known who was in charge? Would that mean that Mai was at fault? And what had he found to cause someone to rush here so harried-like?

"Oh, I hope it's not that little girl," she murmured, unaware that she was thinking out loud.

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"No, no, n-" Sumie's voice hitched as she muttered her weak retort to the passerby. Something was wrong. He had mentioned surgery. Was it Kiba? Was that why he wasn't there? Was that why Kurisuna wasn't there either? Maybe she was at his bedside waiting for Sumie. No, that didn't seem right. It had once, but not now. Not for a long time, but it felt particularly wrong seated in her thoughts at that moment.

Sumie's brow furrowed in concentration and effort as panic gave rise to another attempt at figuring out what she was missing. It also got her body to move. The flood of adrenaline jump starting her muscles as well as an spark. Though her gait was still shaky, Sumie's quick gait moved her to retrace the steps that the medic had taken to get to her point. Sumie had been in the Second Division more than enough with Kiba in the past. She knew where they carried out important surgeries. Not that the mental map in her head was desperately needed as a grating voice was making more than enough racket for Sumie to track once she got closer.

The voice was the first clue to the fact that it was not Kiba receiving treatment. The scene before Sumie as she rounded a corner confirmed it, though perhaps more questions were answered than raised. Part of the chaos which had filled her mind subsided though her bloodstream was still feeling the effects of it and would be for sometime unless she burned it off or crashed when it had run its course. Neither was too likely in this instance because it was too soon for the latter and Sumie had simply stopped in her tracks to stare and to think.

If Kiba was not in surgery, he should have been with Sumie when she woke. If Kurisuna was not... Sumie didn't know what would have kept her taichou away. She hadn't been injured when Sumie last saw her. That was more than Sumie remembered upon waking so she focused on that; the last time she had seen Kurisuna. What had happened... Fragments of images, blurry and slow from the exhaustion she had been feeling when in the taichou's presence last, flitted through Sumie's mind. A tall blond had been there... Shigeo, yes. Which meant he had probably come with a message from Kiba, but Sumie was bad at remembering what was said on a good day unless she saw it written, so she didn't try to piece that together.

Something else had happened though, but what was... "Oh no," Sumie whispered. She remembered now. She didn't need what Kurisuna said after raising her sword to know what the motion meant. Unlike when the original incident took place, Sumie wasn't twenty-four hours without sleep and straight out of combat. The pieces clicked near instantly and Sumie paled. No thought to manners given what she felt was happening, Sumie hollered across the hall; door shut or not, Harupia would hear Sumie, she had quite a set of lungs on her.

"Harupia-taichou, where did Kiba go!?"

He had been there after all, even if he wasn't now. If Harupia knew where Kiba had gone when he left, or even a general whereabouts for him now, Sumie could try to retrace his steps or track down someone else who knew. Kurisuna on the other hand would probably be more difficult to find as she was less prone to walking through walls and causing as big of a scene, but there was always a chance... Sumie bit her lip. It was best to focus on one thing at a time.

Not much of what was going on made a lick of sense to Hotaru; that was great cause for concern. Certainly when the emergency call to attend Harupia in Surgery three came bursting into the room, she went into a series of actions to respond as quickly as possible. She could try to puzzle out events on the go and wasted no time in leaving her office and the hateful silence behind. That only led to more introspection and as yet this had proved to be entirely fruitless. Despondent, confused, and with serious memory lapses of late would aptly characterized her current state. For instance, the sight of the door to the area being gone nearly caused her to stop in her tracks and gape, only she was mindful to get to surgery and instead increased the pace with which she moved. Certainly she should have known what Mai was talking about when she said Harupia went out after the Shuchiku-taichou and young child; however, the Fukutaichou was no more informed than before her question was answered.

What child was this that Mai had mentioned in the office? She heard the woman speak again as they rushed toward their collective destination and this time with concern for that child in her softly spoken words. Certainly no one wished ill upon anyone, but somehow when a child was injured it seemed to be viewed as an event even more tragic than the norm. But it was as though this particular child should have been known to her in some manner. Or was Hotaru jumping to conclusions and growing concerned over her lapse in life's timeline for no good reason? Perhaps there was a logical explanation for her ignorance in these matters? She pushed all thoughts of the dilemma aside and focused upon the here and now. Taking time to speak to Mai as they rushed up the hallway she said, "I am glad you are here, Mai. By the sounds of it, all our hands will be needed for this one."

Just as she was about to enter the prep-room for surgery, she heard a voice ringing out for Harupia. Her gaze, even as she was pushing through the doors, took in the sight of Sumie demanding to know the location of Kiba. She left the woman unattended for, from the harried delivery of her call to surgery, there certainly was not time to deal with the situation; she would be no aid to the woman due to her detachment from current events. Instead she went to wash up and gird herself for duty before entering operating room three.

There she walked into a scene that most medical personnel hoped to avoid; the combative patient. It was common enough though concerning the severity of the girl's wound. Shock and panic often resulted from great trauma such as this. At least it was preferable to the opposite, the defeated soul who would not fight to live. The battle cry ringing through the room attested that this girl had a strong will to survive and that would only increase her chances, provided her agitated state did not cause her further injury or prevent them from giving her medical treatment. She moved to the opposite side of the bed and did not waste time with greeting her Taicho. Instead she got right to business.

"Shall I sedate her, Taicho?" Even as she was asking the question, she was turning to a tray that held prepared syringes they typically used to perform such a deed. The attendants had prepped the room to perfection; but then they drilled often enough and had fine tuned each of their duties over the years until there was little to find fault with. Trays of sterilized instruments were laid out in the exact same order each and every time. Vials of medications were at hand to be administered in the swiftest fashion possible and so further cut down on the time a patient had to be 'under the knife'. Supplementary items such as gauze and silk for suturing were close at hand and Hotaru found her center of being, as it were. This emotional dis-junction within her receded as she allowed her mind to focus outward and upon her patient's needs rather than her own.

Well, at least she had enough strength to be a loud mouth...so that meant she wasn't going to die anytime soon. As long as she didn't lose consciousness on her own accord it meant she was in figuratively good shape. It was lucky that the socket and area around it looked...clean. There were a few bruises and scratch marks, but it seemed those could be caused by her laying on the ground. There were no deeper gashes, so it didn't seem like the Hollow swiped at her face deep enough to remove the eye...this had to be a more precise wound, with the creature stabbing right at her eye to do it. Quite a sadistic attack, which meant it had to be an evolved Hollow...or a member of the civilized race of the Wasteland...The thought of one of the Rukongai citizens, or worse, a Shinigami doing this, made him shudder inwardly.

He looked down at the girl with a serious face, ignoring her loud hollering, before turning to one of the other two Shinigami preparing the room saying "I need to prepare myself for the procedure, you put some pressure on the wound, she cant lose more blood. Don't worry, she has fight in her but she isn't strong enough to do more then shout" with a nod the younger Shinigami would apply the proper pressure, his hands cleaned and his finger tips coated in haling reiatsu, which would nullify any additional bacteria moving into the socket. In the mean time, Harupia took the time to prepare himself for the procedure, cleaning his hands thoroughly, taking of his Haori which was the dirtiest of his clothing, and also making sure the room was set up properly. Everything seemed to be in order.

And then another holler ran rampant through the Division, calling him out...Just like his father used to say, one missing brick can topple a whole wall...Luckily his men were sift, and soon the trio of the messenger, Mai and Hotaru came by. Giving a soft, weary smile towards them as he said "Yes Hoataru-san, I doubt we'll be able to do much without that...Now, does anyone know who else is asking for my assistance?" to which the male medic replied "Natsukoi-Fukutaicho woke up... I told her to go back to her room but she" before being silence by Harupia and saying "Its ok I understand. Take a break, you've ran around enough. You, go up and get Natsukoi-san down here...I doubt we'll convince her to rest otherwise..."

As the second Medic nodded and went up the stairs, he would turn to Hotaru and Mai saying "Alright, we need to get to work here. Hotaru-san, prepare some light sedation. She has been lying wounded for an undefined time, but I can safely assume it was at least several hours. Mai, help me move her to the table. Once she's asleep we can proceed accordingly " nodding to the pair before moving towards the girl, now holding the pressure to minimize the bleeding with his own hands, waiting for my to pick her up by her legs,b before placing her on the proper table. All the tools were set in place, so now they only needed a calm patient...even in hr week state, there was always the risk she would find the strength to move in the least opportune time.

In the meantime, the other male Shinigami who was sent up, a chubby brown haired male, who had treated Sui earlier on, moved up slowly, worried about the patient. It didn't take long for him to find the Fukutaicho, which he approached and then said "Natsukoi-Fukutaicho...Harupia-Taicho asked me to take you o him. Though right now he is preparing to operate on a little girl with a plucked out eye, so I'm not sure if its a really good idea to disturb him now...I'm sure he will get to you and answer you questions as soon as he has the time if you wait just a bit longer."He didn't want the medics to be distracted, so he would try to persuade her to go back and get rested. If she did insist however, he would lead her down to the room.

[bgcolor=E86100] A blur.. It was all just a blur to her.. The things that happened, and the things to come. Sui knew nothing of them. And right above her stood the tall figures, staring down at the child with their colorful eyes, almost giving her the feeling of them stabbing her. The green eyes were there, just like before.. but joining them, were purple and blue ones.

Were they there to feast on her soul? Her body? The remains of what the other failed to finish? Like a couple of crows, picking on the rest of her life.

"S-Stoooop.."

She pleaded, hoping the figures around her would stop their attempts on finishing her off..

Mai quickly followed Hotaru toward the suite, trying to not let her mind spiral into thoughts she couldn't afford to be thinking at the moment; if she was going to assist in this emergency, then she had better be on her game. Frankly, it would be devastating to all parties involved, and her future, if any one of the medics involved were off.

The one with the most lose, career-wise, was Mai, as she was the youngest, greenest, and most vulnerable; the other two would have dealt with this situation, or a like one, in their pasts, but Mai's only experiences generally included her father and the chaos they had a knack for bringing upon themselves, and the aftermath of any sort of minor inconvenience the gotei may have had. The one exception being the recent invasion of the horde, which they were still sort of dealing with; the vocal fukutaichou that Mai and Hotaru passed enroute to Harupia being one of the patients they were still working on.

A murmured apology to Sumie, or an automatic response given a busy situation, would have informed the fukutaichou that someone would be with her momentarily, there was an emergency that they were attending; if this got lost in the hubbub of the trek and situation, would not have been too terribly helpful anyway, as Harupia would have heard the call and sent someone to assist.

In the room, the fukutaichou was soon forgotten. The young Tanaka hesitated upon entry, paling slightly at the sight before her. Always it had been an adult or peer, someone her own age or older, but never a child. She's so pale.... She's still fighting, so at least that's good, but if she keeps this up she won't stop bleeding; if her blood pressure keeps rising with all this struggling, she'll just keeping pumping....[/color]

Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Mai entered, turning slightly to avoid contact with the other medic that was leaving. Carefully, she approached Harupia and Sui, wary of any flailing limbs coming toward her. "Shhhh, it's okay, you're okay," she said softly, addressing the child directly. "We're here to help, I promise."

Mai stood at the ready, ready to gently grasp Torako behind the knees and slid her fragile frame onto the table at Harupia's command. Those violet eyes softened to a sort of maternal shade, matching the tone of her constant reassurances to the terrified child. Keeping her eyes on the young girl's face, Mai would nod to Harupia when she was ready for the shift; it was plain to the Tanaka that the little girl was scared out of her mind, and knew from personal experience that being scared and hurt without your mother was greatly traumatizing. She was nowhere near ready to become a mother herself, but she could at least operate as a surrogate...seeing as that was about all she could do while Hotaru and Harupia were doing what they did best.

[bgcolor=555555]

Sumie was typically a levelheaded woman. When one had to deal with strong tempers and unstable minds in the form of of Kiba and Kurisuna, it was a necessary trait. That was not the case now though. Sumie was by no means an unfaltering individual when it came to her moods in extreme situations, which is what her mind and body were screaming it was and it had nothing to do, or so she though, with the medical emergency of some whining child. Tunnel vision was near immediate as she focused in on the poor messenger, the passing of Hotaru and Mai blotted out.

Quick to react and even quicker in step, Sumie closed what distance there was between her and the unseated male. Her arms were angled up so that her fingers were closing in to grasp his collar and pull him closer. A vein pulsed hard in her forehead and though the majority of her flesh had paled out, her cheeks were bright with a furious flush. "I don't have time to wait around," Sumie hissed through the rigid set of her jaw. "And here's going to be a lot more wounded to worry about besides some girl."

Sumie's voice rose as she spoke now. Of course her words sounded like a threat that she was going to do something rash, but that wasn't want she meant at all. Inside her head the images flashed back in time. There was the incident Kurisuna and Shigeo had revealed, but there was something slightly further back in time. Something that should have had Sumie worried. She remembered glimpsing the back of the scene. Kiba had dumped fish and Kurisuna had reacted by cutting through one in an instant. Sumie had thought it a mere display of prowess as she had not heard the words the captain spoke afterward about missing her intended target of Kiba, but now, Sumie knew she should have kept a closer watch on things. It was entirely possible she was too late as it was, but she wasn't going to sit around and wonder anymore.

Hotaru moved with decided purpose to sedate the girl, but as she did, a sharp pain burned in the right side of her abdomen. "Oh," she whimpered in surprise, dropping the syringe to clutch at the slightly swollen surface of her side which felt hot beneath the cloth of the her uniform. "Something is wrong. I think it's my appendix," she continued. "I'm sorry, Taichou. It seems I'm adding another emergency to your plate. I'll be in operating room two." And so the Fukutaichou stumbled off to round up others to prepare for her own surgery.

SPOILER: Click to show

Hotaru exited as per her absence post here. She will be demoted to unseated by means of medical leave following the conclusion of this thread and will not receive points for her participation here.

Everything was going smoothly. The girl was conscious, afraid, but still with them, she was moved gently to the table, Hotaru was preparing the sedative...but then she started bleeding on her own. Appendix...well that was the perfect time for that to pop up now wasn’t it. He would simply nod as Hotaru left turning to the unseated guard of the door and saying "Would you please assist Hotaru-san to the operating room? Make sure she fine" to which the male nodded as he followed her out. This was getting better...his lieutenant was injured, and he had to save a girl who he put in danger himself in a way...he just needed to stay calm, this wasn’t his first life and death scenario. With a deep sigh he would say "Mai, I want you to stay clam now...Hotaru-san will be fine, she can guide the seated members to deal with her issue. And I’m sure we'll be able to handle the situation here, we just need to keep calm. Now, I want you to pressure the girls eye and face here and here, so the bleeding will be under control. I also want you to begin some minor Chiduyo healing so it’ll slow down. She lost a fair amount of blood as it is. Preparing proper sedation won’t take that long and I really want to save the girl more pain..." he said with a weary smile, pointing Mai to the proper pressure points.

As long as she knew what to do, he knew she would do just fine. He needed her to stay calm. As long as she held them there Sui should feel fine. As she took over his spot he quickly moved to the table, preparing another syringe of the sleeping agent, as well as some numbing past to rub around the eye itself. He didn’t want the girl to wake up mid treatment.

The unseated member would be quite surprised as the women caught him by his collar, but grew quite irate as she bereted him, yanking her hand away from himself (or at least attempting to) before saying " Believe it or not we have bigger priorities then listening to delusional ranting’s of a women who shouldn’t even be out of her room! And if anything happens to the girl because of you meddling...argh, just follow me" he would say before trying to head down, regardless if he released himself from her grip or not. He guessed there was no use in reasoning with the women, he simply hoped the Taicho knew what he was doing letting her come. He just hoped the girl would live through the whole ordeal

In the meantime, Harupia managed to prepare another dose of the sedative, quickly approaching Sui and gently grasping her arm saying "Ok now, I have need you to catch some sleep now...it’ll be all fine once you wake up" giving her a light smile before applying the sedative. She would be mostly unconscious, not exactly out cold, but to numb and woozy . He needed her semi-conscious to be able to gouge if she wasn’t slipping away from them. He would then look over the eye, seeing how well Mai managed to stop the bleeding, while taking a bit of cotton and sanitized water, beginning to clean the area around the eye, while saying "Mai, I’ll be instructing you which tool's I want you to pass me during the procedure. Wash your hands quickly and get the proper attire on. Good job on controlling the bleeding of the eye, were doing good here" he would say, though his face wasn’t smiling right now, fully focused on the job at hand.

As he was cleaning the wound, and Ma was preparing herself for assistance, the messenger number 2 would come back with Sumie in tow, saying "Taicho-san, Natsukoi-fukutaicho is here. Are you su..." before being cut off by Harupia who said "As long as she doesn’t come here and poke into the eye socket it’s all good. Go wash up after Mai-san, In case I’ll need another set of hands..." which the member did without much talking. After that he would rise his head briefly to Sumie while saying "Good to see you on your feet."

After which he would look back down, assessing the sound and preparing it for procedure while saying "Though you should be still lying in bed. Kiba-Taicho will probably break my office door's if something bad happens to you. He is fine himself, quickly healed up. Kurisuna-Taicho as well. I’ve last seen Kiba earlier today, when he brought this girl from his own Division, before heading off to do an important task of his own." His tone was very rushed, like he tried his best to get this all out of the way as fast as he could while still focusing on the girl. His voice did break a bit as he said "Later today I found this girl in this state on the edge of the Rukongai forests. She was trailing Kiba-Taicho, but I'm not sure if she lost him or not. But I’m sure he is capable of handling himself. That is all I can say about the matters you might be worried about. Anything else will have to wait until this girl is stable. You are welcome to wait till then", he concluded.

He assumed she was worried about the two Taicho, and wasn’t aware of any other concerns she could have. But whatever it was, it would have to wait. He couldn’t let this girl die. It was bad enough knowing that because of his tardiness she would be losing her eye... It was his job to make sure she was all well,and here they were now... he needed to stay focused, to do his job. Time for self walloing would come later. He needed to make sure he did as much as he could for this girl. After a brief moment he would say "Patient ready for surgery, are the assistants ready?" calling out Mai and the other male medic. Time for the tricky part

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No.. no.. no.. no.. no.. no..

The words echoed within her, escaping her mouth through mumbles of fear. No. No. No. Stop. Please.. As of this point, she wasn't even aware of what was going on, who was around, where was she? All that ran through her mind were the eyes staring down on her, which by now, she couldn't see either. Had she passed? Was she dead? No. The sedative given to her, unbeknown-st to herself, was slowly knocking her out, until, finally, she was on adventures in dreamland.

[SEDATED EXIT FTW]

After gingerly placing Sui on the table, Mai was already moving forward to at least clutch the girl's hand for moral support during the procedure; she would have managed to slip between Hotaru and the table before the fukutaichou would've administered the sedation, had she not suddenly made a minor clatter as her own injury came to light. Wide-eyed, Mai looked between Hotaru and Harupia for a moment before the second emergency was delegated and the fukutaichou escorted out to her own suite; now Mai was the secondary, it would seem.

Gripping the edge of the table near Sui's hand, having been intercepted by the sudden departure and unable to grasp the tiny hand as she wanted, Mai could only nod as Harupia instructed her to place her fingers along the damaged orifice; with the small amount of gauze given to her so that she could apply an even, constant pressure (already difficult with her long pianists hands and the small face), the young Tanaka made the sacrifice to use one of her pristine, white cloths for her own cleanliness overtop the wad to ensure the pressure was constant...and to keep yet another barrier between her and the blood. Fortunately, the blood was well on its way to being fairly coagulated, the majority of it having started to dry, though there was still frank blood from the socket itself.

Her fingers, middle three digits placed along the contour of the underside of the brow, with her thumb and pinky finger on the upper edge of the zygomatic bone, encircled the eye as Harupia instructed, tips swathed in the healing energy to start expediting the the process. Beneath them, the cloth and gauze, secured by her five-point star, was applying the necessary pressure to staunch any further bleeding, aided by the touch of her palm. On the other side of the child's face, Mai's other hand acted as a gentle, yet steadfast, barrier, cupping Sui's cheek to discourage any sort of motion that would dislodge the healing hand.

This close proximity brought Mai's face closer to Sui's, and with it a stream of murmured encouragements and reassurances intended to calm the terrified child down; regardless of her own effect, Harupia would soon administer the sedation and the child would be quelled. Brow knitted at the suddenness of the sedation -- always nervous about it even in a healthy individual -- she allowed herself to be pried away by her taichou's words and obediently went to the sink to wash up.

She diligently scrubbed her hands in the disinfectant, quickly but not rushed. Her hair was already pulled back from her experience with the woman from earlier, and though a few strands had escaped their confines, she was not posing a threat to the sterility that Harupia had created; she was an excessively clean, impeccably groomed individual, and as the secondary, would only need clean hands anyway. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but she would not contaminate the site.

Reapproaching Harupia, glanced toward the door for a moment before nodding to her taichou, signalling she was ready. She kept her face as impassive as possible as he relayed his story to the fukutaichou entering behind her companion, though it was a horrible thing to hear. Her hands curled open and closed, like a kneading cat, just below the edge of the table, desperate to touch the child for reassurance...for both of them.

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Sumie's dark eyes swept once over the girl as Harupia divulged his tale. It was enough to confirm that she was not of the Gotei; such an appearance stood out even in a crowd and Sumie would recall having glimpsed it before, especially if she had been in the Fourth were Sumie visited quite often. In reply to the long-winded story, Sumie's mouth actually curled into half a snarl, perhaps as a mockery of traits she had seen in Kurisuna. "You just left the area where you found a wounded person who was trailing Kiba without notifying the Fifth Division scouts in the area or sending backup upon returning? Your job is to provide assistance to the Gotei before those of the Rukongai! What if Kiba was hurt, or worse, by whatever did that to the girl!?"

Sumie threw her hands up in the air and turned on her heel to stalk out of the room, huffing and muttering something along the lines of, "Incompetent," as she went. It wasn't that Sumie truly thought as much, but her emotions were overcoming the filter that registered and controlled the flow of words from her brain to her mouth. Perhaps in the future when she came to her senses she would send the captain an apologetic letter, but for now her course was set and she wasn't to be stopped. Not that anyone would bother with the two emergency surgeries being prepped for at the same time.

She retraced her steps to the room where she had woken up. Her normal garments along with her zanpakutou and the thin box the old woman had given her were stacked neatly on a chair by the bed. The fukutaichou disrobed and redressed faster than she could recall having done before. Once her zanpakutou and the box were tucked firmly in opposite sides of her obi, Sumie was off, heading straight for the Second District forests that Harupia had mentioned.

[exit]

Harupia didn’t respond to Sumie's outbreak, and as she stormed out, and the male medic who just finished cleaning himself tried to stop her he would say "You won’t be able to restrain her alone, and by the time you'll manage to round up a few man she'll most likely be gone. Hopefully the guards at the gate will stop her... if not I’ll deal with it personally. You should go and send a message to Tachibana-Taicho... she did rise a good point there" with the male only nodding as he went out of the room. He let out a small sigh, as the eye was almost ready for the actual procedure, his clean up coming to a close.

Of course he was not really pleased by her words. He could understand his concern about Kiba. Still, the thought of a creature which, if brutal, was too weak to kill this girl, being too much to handle for a skilled Taicho... Even assuming it was a being who let her live only out of sadism, he was pretty sure that if anyone could handle it was the long hair Taicho...ehh, she was simply exhausted and emotional, so she spoke her mind out. He couldn’t blame her, he did agree that he should have summoned for help from the 5th as soon as he came back...but focusing on a girl who could be dying did put you into a kind of tunnel vision state...

Which was why he didn’t venture forward to find the Shinigami. He was no tracker, and going into the woods would take a lot of time. And he sincerely hoped that her wanting him to leave a dying girl alone just because she didn’t happen to be from the city was her being emotional...Bah, no need to expect the worst of anyone. She simply puts her friends before other people. At least that how he understood it, though he couldn’t say he knew her that well. Now he would only worry about her getting herself injured again...he hoped three would be the charm and it wasn’t to serious. Because with her being still exhausted, he was pretty sure to see her in his division soon. Whatever she got caught by the guards outside of the building (though with them repairing the doors they could be a bit less observant...plus she was higher rank so she had the leverage) or once she gets back to wherever she would run of...cause he was sure she wouldn’t go to her room.

All those thoughts course through his mind, a form of calming himself down. This was a mundane task, but he needed to be thorough. And looking down at the destroyed eye as he cleaned the area around it, he needed to focus on something else. Sighing a bit again he would say "Disinfection of the area is completed. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the wound, a clear puncture through the eye, the organ is unsalvageable. I shall commence with removal, and the sealing of the nerve endings... It looks gruesome I know, but we can make this work. The sedative should keep her asleep for the whole procedure unless I strike the wrong nerve. And I can’t be doing that in front of my companions right?" he said with a weary smile, trying to cheer himself up more than anything before saying "Just pass me the tools I ask for, and follow any instructions and it’ll be all fine. When you're ready Tanaka-san, pass me the refractors" he concluded, the last sentence meant to build up her confidence a bit. He believed she would do just fine. She proved herself time and time again. He really needed to find a spare moment to promote her, heh. Maybe once this is settled with.

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Arashi had stepped into the gruesome scene just at the end of an outburst. Your job is to provide assistance to the Gotei before those of the Rukongai! What if Kiba was hurt, or worse, by whatever did that to the girl!? Arashi slightly grinned, thinking of all the things she could argue that statement with but instead she shook her head and let it pass, looking at the girl who held the same last name as her captain. Arashi spent the whole time walking over here wondering if coming to Mai about the situation at hand would be considered favoritism. But then…she’d really never met her captain’s daughter. Just…knew it was her captain’s daughter and that she existed. She never really heard her captain speak of Mai nor did she stumble upon Mai when she’d walk about.

”Sorry to be interrupting.” Perhaps it wasn’t the best way to enter a room with a bloody girl. A bloody girl…a girl…a child. Arashi’s color drained from her face as her eyes locked onto the girl. She didn’t move, not even her chest to indicate her breathing.

A face appeared in Arashi’s mind. “Arashi!” It called out. She could see the girl running towards her. ”Tsuru…no.” Arashi whispered allowed. Suddenly the face was bloody and the eyes were lifeless. Arashi’s eyes quickly shut and she shook her head.

”But it seems I have come at just the right moment, but this can be discussed after the girl is taken care of. Do we know who she is? Is there any way I can assist?” The face of the girl she once called daughter completely wiped from her mind. Now she was focused on this girl, the quicker she was taken care of, the quicker she could get her duties dealt with.

Silently, Mai stood by as the fukutaichou of the third exploded at Harupia. While her eyes stayed on the girl's chest, to ensure she was still breathing, the young medic’s ears were well aware of the impending doom that Sumie was unleashing onto the chief medical officer. Unsure of the entire situation, or rather the relationships of all those involved, as she was only a spectator and not privy to the inner workings of those not around her, those central to the council that governed their actions, she didn’t have much of a choice. That did not prevent her from trekking inward, however, as she began to put the pieces together, trying to understand why Sumie would act the way she did.

Mai did not know Sumie on any level other than her name and rank, but she did have the rather unfortunate experience with Kiba a few days ago; if Kiba was out and about, and able to kick down doors, then he could likely protect himself from anything he was like to encounter in the second district. The child chasing him was just that - a child - chasing a man known to create wreckage in his wake, and in the dark; any number of things could have damaged the eye, not just a foul creature or evil being. In her mind, Harupia did what he could given the options presented to him: he was alone in the dark with a wounded child, with no obvious signs (as she understood it) of the taichou he was currently looking for. While maybe not following the protocol the division had in this situation, could he have done anything different? Would she have done anything different?

No, she surmised, glancing up to Harupia’s face for a moment after he dismissed the other medic in the room, leaving her alone with him. He seemed tired, stressed. Sumie’s words probably did get to him, and while Mai didn’t catch that last bit the fukutaichou muttered under her breath, anyone who had heard such words would at least experience some form of self-doubt. Harupia, at least, seemed too focused on the situation to care overmuch, a trait that they both shared, though she herself would have had difficultly regaining her composure. No, her pride would have demanded that she finish the discussion.

Color rose to the girl’s cheeks, a combination of shame at her naïveté and her own romantic ideals; she wanted to be a better person, be like her Taichou, and make him proud. She couldn’t do that in her current state, not without disappointing everyone she cared about. Quickly, she blinked away her tears, sharply ducking her head to avoid catching Harupia’s eye. She couldn’t take that right now, not without telling him. It had only been a few days, but...that emotion was there, she could not deny it.

Just what that emotion was, though, she was unsure.

A moment passed, allowing her a tenuous reign on her emotions. She needed to be on her game for this, get her head on straight. Taking a breath to steel herself, she rolled her shoulders back and straightened up. She would do this. Her eyes rose to Harupia’s face, waiting for him to finish cleaning and preparing the wound. She had noticed a change in the last few minutes, before Sumie had said her piece, and she wanted to make sure that it wasn’t a fluke. Hotaru mispronouncing her name wasn’t all that uncommon - the two names were dreadfully close - but Harupia’s change in honorific was somewhat concerning; she had always been addressed with the more casual “chan” suffix, and while it was a little offputting at first, she had come to accept it as part of Harupia’s demeanor.

Now, he had referred to her with the “san” suffix, not once, but twice. Had she done something wrong? Did she manage to upset him somehow, make herself less presentable in his eyes? The possibility of increased respect hadn’t crossed her mind, and as he addressed her, Mai somewhat stiffened as she reached for the instrument he requested. “Sir, I...” she began, intending to at least offer him some words of approval - she had noticed the other sigh as well, and that interpreted sadness was killing her.

Then another voice, a foreign voice, was at the door, questioning her Taichou and interrupting her. She may have upset Harupia, most likely by unintentionally dallying in relaying her message to Hotaru, but now fate insisted on delaying them from saving this girl. Mai already felt protective of the child on the table, and every moment wasted was eating her away.

“I think there is someone else at the door,” she finished, placing the instrument in Harupia’s waiting hand and then glancing up at the new fukutaichou in the door. She could offer encouragement later. Not that she had a choice. “From my father’s office.”

Ahh, another guest. He really wished he would get so much visitors when he wasn't busy... he shook his head, not liking the sour tone of his humor as he nodded to Mai who offered him the needed tool, before saying "She's a younger girl from the Rukongai area, who was just getting ready to leave after the monster invasion we faced... and now this happened. I'm quite certain I can still save her. For now, I would be very grateful if you kept anyone else from coming close to the room. I cant afford any more distractions during the procedure. Ill discuss whatever matters brought you here as soon as I'm finished here, Arashi-san" while he attached the refractors to the eye to keep it open while he operated. His tone was a bit dry, but he couldn't afford to waste any time. He would be much more open to conversations after he was sure the girl didn't die

So far it looked well. Her pulse was a bit weak, but stable, normal with exhaustion and high blood loss. Now, since the eye lids were wide open, he could pear into the damage eye. Or should he say, ruined. There was no real way to save the eye. He could only salvage what was left. Turning to Mai he would softly say "Ill need the forceps, and the scalpel please" waiting for his assistant to pass on the instruments to him. Once that was done, he would say " Since the eye is clearly not functioning, we'll have to remove it. To do that, we'll need to sever all muscle and nerves from it...like soo" as he raised the lifeless organ up,and then dug the sharp blade of the scalpel over the skin, cutting away all the flesh. This was a weird time to be narrating what he was doing,but it helped him calm himself down, and his hands needed to be as steady as possible. And besides, it would be a good way for Mai to learn something as well.

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Arashi listened carefully as the captain told her the information about the girl. Arashi looked at the child again, scanning over her features then nodded to the captain. She turned to shut the door and kept a watchful eye out for anyone seeming to want to enter.

Her thoughts returned to Tsuru. She smiled softly, thinking about holding Tsuru’s hand and swinging her around as she told stories about her father. Arashi’s eyes watered and she was happy she wasn’t facing the other two. She could still hear Tsuru’s laughter and see her green eyes.


Arashi glanced back to see the procedure being done on the girl and it was a mistake. She felt sick to her stomach, the world started spinning. She turned back to the door. For some reason she saw Tsuru’s bloody face with the eye removed. That wasn’t what happened. Tsuru’s face was intact! Bloody and scratched but…in one piece. Arashi’s mind was playing dirty tricks on her.

She laid a hand on the door frame and tried to hold herself up without the other two noticing. She didn’t want to be a bother, she leaned against the door frame…all she ever was…was a bother. She was a bother to Tsuru’s family…that day. She just got in the way. She couldn’t protect Tsuru…what was she thinking?

She mustn’t be a bother now. This child was more important! She continued to watch out the door, trying to keep the world from spinning and her lunch in her stomach.

As Harupia explained the situation to Arashi, for what seemed (and may have been) the third or fourth time that day, Mai hunched inward involuntarily. It wasn't necessarily the repeated story that had her blanching, nor was it exactly the tone of Harupia's voice as he relayed it; it may have been the situation in general, or the added effect of her...maternal?... feelings cropping up. Regardless, if she managed to get home tonight, or what was left of it at the end of this troublesome task, she would no doubt cry herself to sleep and hug her father, tell him that she loved him (though perhaps not in that order).

Now that the eyelids of the damaged eye were held open, Mai could inspect the dying organ firsthand. It was unpleasant, a clotty red and black mess of congealing blood and vitreous fluid, and fairly sickening to the young woman's stomach. Harupia's narration wasn't helping matters much either, but she wasn't going to ask him to stop; she could understand, and appreciate, the fact that he was explaining the procedure to her to help her understand what and why he was doing, despite his frustration with the situation.

Very carefully, she handed him the instruments he asked for, hands trembling slightly. The newness of the procedure, the patient, and the repetition of the events leading to the present had a compounded effect on the weary technician. She did not let that affect her attitude, however, as she not only subconsciously trying to impress Harupia, but to keep herself assured that she could do this. Self-doubt was a crippling experience, and she did not need that added stress, did not need to look like a fool, or worse.

After she handed the tools to Harupia, Mai grabbed some of the supplied gauze and held it at the ready. The organ may have been dead, but the vessels supplying it were not; blood would soon course down the girl's face if Harupia did not stop the bleeding as soon as it started, and with her pallor, she could not afford to lose much more. Unwilling to actually touch the sterile field unless directed to do so, Mai simply stood with her hand outstretched, near enough to Harupia for him to grab it if he needed it. She did not care to look at the procedure, instead keeping her eyes on Harupia's face.

Peripherally, she recognized Arashi's discomfort, as it was similar to her own, but she did not react to it. She kept her gaze on Harupia, searching for hints on what to do next; if she was thinking ahead, planning out tasks and keeping her mind off the visual aspect surgery, she was doing well. If she was thinking of the surgery, her stomach would curl and upend the meager meal she ate sometime previously. She would be a fool, and a terrible one at that, surely falling from Harupia's graces once and for all.

Harupia also felt a slight discomfort seeing the state of the eye, the dead tissue and fluids covering the entire socket, though it was more because of the girls age. Being a Taicho meant he went through hundreds,if not thousand procedures of all sorts, including tending to gravely wounded warriors. He observed the operation of his father after his final battle with the Hollow, and that was a gruesome injury indeed. But he learned to cope with it. As Mai would look at his face it would be calm and focused, maybe a bit stern, at least compared to his usual visage. He was simply fully focused on the task at hand, not letting himself get distracted by the cavalcade of thoughts that threatened his mind. Somewhat opposite to his assistant, thinking about the surgery entirely made him feel slightly more calm then the aftermath of it all.

Before long he would say "As I'm sure you are awear, once I remove the eye things might become a bit messy. As soon as Ill do it I shall apply my Chiduyo to minimize internal damage and seal up the veins properly. I can see you have the gauze ready, that's good. Ill need you to apply pressure as you did before, easing it up slightly after every 5 seconds. If we do this right we should avoid any serious problems". He said it all still looking down, finishing up the final part, adding in quickly "Ill also need a container for the inert organ and a pair of clippers ready before we can move forward". He didint quite notice the distress Arashi was going through, but when he was dealing with a serious issue like this, he knew he had to let his empathic feelings rest. At least for the time being

Preparing his scalpel for the final cut he would rise his head and say "Ready when you are Mai-chan. Don't worry, if we get through this without complication, it'll be just a quick wrap up. We're doing good" giving her a very slight smile. He could feel that she was somewhat distraught by the whole ordeal, and he hoped he could at least help her a bit with that. Once he saw that everything was prepared, he would severe the final veins of the eye, and capturing it with the clippers, take it out of the socket. Now the built up blood would start to flow, but he knew it was coming, quickly disposing of the dead eye, he would put both of his hands around the eye socket, a neon green light starting to emit from his fingers. His inner energies were now spreading into the girls head, seeking out the damaged tissue, sealing up the bleeding veins. It would take a bit but slowly the bleeding would lessen itself until it was gone, and with Mai having the gauze and applying some pressured, there should be a very meager loss of the blood. Of course both of them would need to wash their hands pretty well, but that was the least of their worries.

[bgcolor=black]

Arashi was still leaning against the door frame, listening to the captain speak. As he went on explaining the procedure Arashi envisioned it within her own mind. A chill went down her spine as she imagined the captain removing the eye of Tsuru. Her mouth began to water as her stomach churned over and over.

Arashi leaned her head against the door frame and with her right hand she tried to wipe away some of the sweat growing just above her brow. She ran a thousand thoughts through her head; all of them trying to distract her from what was going on but somehow all reminding her. She started to focus on her breathing, to ensure she wouldn’t pass out.

She couldn’t help but imagine what it was like. To work on a child…to take the eye from the child. She was surely imagining it more bloody and gutsy than it actually was. She shook her head, tired of imagining the bloodied child. She swallowed some of the spit that gather in her throat and tried to calm her mind down.

As Harupia spoke, relaying his orders, Mai went into action; the table had been prepped fairly well, and there was a small bowl set aside for such purposes. Without straying too far from her position, Mai reached out with her free hand and brought the bowl forward, bringing both it and another set of clean clippers that he had asked for closer to the eye itself. With a deep breath to steel herself, she nodded, far less confident than she appeared; Harupia's small smile of encouragement did reassure her slightly, however, though it did not bolster her confidence.

"I'm ready," she murmured, positioning herself so that she could quickly dart in with her gauze to staunch the flow of blood. As soon as the eye was placed in the bowl, she gingerly cast it aside; Sui was small enough that she didn't cover the entire table, her tiny leaving most of the surface available for place-holding. Hesitating slightly, she glanced down at the carnage before her, paling considerably. No amount of preparation could have prevented her stomach from cartwheeling the way it was; it was her first experience with such a gruesome situation, after all, and she was far from a cold-hearted monster.

She was, for the moment, a maternal being, with a warm, aching heart. Whether it was the concern on Harupia's face, the entire situation, or the girl herself, Mai did not know, but the feeling to protect was quite strong. Harnessing that feeling with trembling hands on the reins, she quashed the desolate disgust rising within and went to work. Later, she could vomit to her heart's content.

Quickly, she swallowed and reached forward, bathing the gauze in her fingertips with the healing energies in order to assist with the coagulation process; the amount of blood lost so far had worried the Tanaka, and each passing second was another that could mean the difference between life and death. Finding a place between Harupia's hands proved more difficult than she had originally thought, though by taking a step nearer the girl's head, Mai had found a way, almost seamlessly, to snake her hand between his and apply pressure where needed. At first, she kept a respectful, professional distance between herself and Harupia, but the stress of the situation and the precarious position her arm found itself in had forced to take a step closer just moments after she had actively participated. Her body bent and twisted at an awkward angle, a subconscious posturing to help her feel better about placing her arm just so; it served no purpose other than providing her mind with the added security that she was actively trying to not stand shoulder to shoulder with her Taichou. As much as her heart willed it, her professional subconscious had overruled it.

Harupia wouldn’t care much about Mai's position, to him being professional meant knowing how to treat patients not how to stand properly when talking with someone. Still, it seemed to go well. Mai was applying the pressure, his hands were working on reducing the bleeding, sealing up the vessels inside her eye. All was well, they could do I...oh no.

Something happened. He didn’t try to show it, though Mai would see his face scrunching in even more focus as he worked, pouring more of his energies into her. This couldn’t be, he could still...but she was fading...how could it be? The sedation was strong, but not that much...he made sure he had clean everything...but how long was she laying there? A few hours perhaps, and him moving her...could the blood cloth up...an aneurism...Was it possible...No he must do something, he...

And just like that...it was over. His experienced touch along with his Chiduyo allowed him to feel the vital signs of person he was operating very clearly. Even the faintest heartbeat...nothing here. The girl...was at peace, forever now. As the light from his fingertips faded, he would sigh a bit rising his head and say "I...we did the best we could Mai-chan...including you. You did nothing wrong. Whatever happened had to happen before she got on the table...but whatever it was...she didn’t make it..." After taking a deep breath, he would turn to her and say "I know it must feel horrible...but It’s something you have to endure for now. Please, go and take Arashi-San to my office after you wash yourself...I’ll take the body to the freezer for the autopsy later..." he would conclude, trying to sound as gentle as possible. He knew it would be hard for her. To his knowledge it was her first deceased patient...now he felt bad draining her into this...

As the girl would leave the room, he would linger a bit watching the dead girl. So calm and peaceful...yet with the raptured eye sticking out. A being full of potential, one who perhaps had a bright future before her...gone just like that. Partially by his fault...not during the procedure, but letting her go out in the first place. He would need to work on security...most defiantly. Was it his fault? Kiba's for luring her away? Was it simply another death to the wretched Hollow? Who knew, and who cared... a life was cut short, and it pained him as always...even more, because she was so young, so lively...Wiping the water from his eyes, feeling he was getting a bit to sentimental for his own good, he would cover the body with a white sheet and take it to the cold room. he would make sure what happened later once he calmed himself a bit. And addressed the Fukutaicho...he hoped this one would be more cooperative then Sumie...

(Exit)
(Sui Deceased)

It happened so fast. One moment she was helping, sealing off the bleeding vessels, and the next, Harupia’s face furrowed. She could feel the concern radiating from his shoulders, though she did not lessen in her application. Her btouch and skill was far below the level of her Taichou’s –she still required the visual affirmation of her chiyudo’s effect. As such, when Sui departed her body and Harupia stepped back, Mai continued on; it wasn’t until he spoke and said that she was gone that she stopped.

She stood there dumbfounded, hands slowly falling to her sides. Harupia was speaking, telling her that it was okay, that it wasn’t her fault, but she wasn’t listening. She couldn’t listen. He was background noise, a sound that didn’t even register. Someone had died right in front of her – a child! How could she move, how could she do anything but stare?

It wasn’t until she felt Harupia shift beside her that she finally registered what was said. She shifted her eyes toward him first, head following slowly. She nodded several more times than what was necessary, a series of an almost palsy-like short jerks. Her motions were mechanical as she went to the sink, still in disbelief, still shocked. While always slow to wash her hands, she was doubly slow this time, trying to rub some life into them. But Harupia had asked her to do something, and she had to oblige him. Someone had said once before that there would be time to grieve later.

She swallowed back her tears, for the moment, and turned around to face the “Right...right this way, Arashi-san,” Mai said after a moment. Her voice was flat, devoid of any life or color, as was her face; she herself appeared to be exsanguinated, though her exhaustion was the major contributing factor in her lack-of coloration. The shock didn’t help much either, sending all the blood in her face to pound in sync with her pulse in her ears. There was nothing she could have done, as Harupia had said. Still, the loss of life, especially the life of a child, was a hard thing to come to grips with.

She had lost her mother when she was six, but time had dulled the pain that it had wrought. Now, the death of the child had reopened the wounds, bringing a deep and sorrowful pain to the young woman as she maundered past the equally perturbed fukutaichou. Her heart was heavy, and while she had made the mundane task of washing her hands without tears, her first step over the threshold of the door had triggered them.

[exit to Come a Cropper]

SPOILER: Click to show

Taking the liberty to post before Arashi on account of it making more sense that Mai would be taking her to Harupia's office before being exited.

preemptive edit for linking to next thread, on accounta plannin ahead o: