It took around a couple of days after that, with Sasori and Mikansei working hard to try and help each other out, that Sasori got to the point where he only needed to do a few little things before Mikansei’s experiment was complete and the wounds would disappear forever and she’d no longer be in pain. They were both pretty happy at that fact, but there were still other things to think about; and they were things that weren’t easily pushed away.
Well, for them, at least.
But for the moment, they were taking a break from working on her experiment, having a little time to themselves, and while Sasori had remained in the hideout, Mikansei had opted to go for a walk outside to get some fresh air. The statement he had said to her before still hadn’t left her mind—and it hadn’t left Sasori’s either. They weren’t sure what to do about it, and it concerned emotions; that ultimately meant it was the last thing they found easy to talk about. If there was a way to resolve it, they’d try and find it. Though for now, all they could do was continue on as normal as they could and see how things went.
Of course, this tactic was easier said than done.
Mikansei was casually ambling along through the trees, not really paying attention to anything around her. She had been told to dismiss her emotions from the beginning, disregarding them as something that would only get in the way. Being a perfect weapon meant that emotions didn’t come into the bargain, and she had accepted that for what it was. But then she had been taken in by the Akatsuki. How they treated her brought up feelings within her that she didn’t understand from the start, considering they were alright with letting her speak, not controlling every aspect of her life as Tanju had done before. That had taken enough time to begin with, let alone when Sasori came into the equation.
Now all these things were running about inside of her head; everything being turned on its head the more she got to know him. Mikansei liked the feelings that arose within her when he was around, but there was an uncertainty that she couldn’t comprehend. An innate survival technique that had always been inside of her but had been merely encouraged to blossom with Tanju around. It made her wary of getting too close to Sasori; worried that something might happen that would affect her. The part that was still dealing with the change from Tanju spoke up for one point, and then the natural side to the survival technique merely added onto the idea. All in all in made her turn from one to the other, unsure and almost afraid with what was going on. Then again, it was pretty unusual for her, so it was always gonna be hard to deal with.
Sasori was her friend; he had been so lovely to her from the moment they met. He had been the one to suggest taking her to the Akatsuki; he had been the one to make sure she was okay, asking about her injuries and whether they were hurting her. Then he had tried to get to know her on that first mission, wanting to protect her when the battle arose. Even when she had collapsed, he had merely done all he could to help Mikansei. He had taken her into his room, wrapped her arms in bandages and made sure she was alright, not going to talk to the rest of the Akatsuki until she was ready.
Even then she had cared about his opinion.
It was why she had been worried what he would think when he learned the truth.
But he had been fine with it; protective and concerned once again, and had convinced her to tell the rest of them. He had known Mikansei was worried about how they would react, but knew that they wouldn’t do anything—he had just wanted to make sure everything worked out. His protectiveness had shown up once again at this point, and now, looking back, she wondered whether, if they had reacted badly, he would have tried to do what he could to make it right again. To keep her safe regardless of whether the Akatsuki consented with his opinions or not. The idea made her smile absentmindedly in happiness as the thought crossed her mind and she continued on.
Maybe the feelings had always been there; she just hadn’t ever truly known what was going on. Emotions weren’t easy for her to understand, so maybe she hadn’t really thought about it in that way until she got more used to the change in circumstances and being around different people; doing different things. Maybe Sasori saw something in Mikansei that he liked more than the others—it sometimes seemed like he saw her as special, but not in the way Tanju did. Instead it was more like…her, personally. It wasn’t like she hadn’t noticed the same kind of thing in him.
But that was merely one option.
She couldn’t help it; analysing a situation over and over until every weakness was worked out and destroyed. It could be that it was just the change that was overwhelming her. Sasori had been the first one there to really help her and treat her nicely, trying to do what he could to make sure she was alright, and then finishing the experiment to stop the injuries from harming her anymore. It could have been that his actions were merely out of kindness—that there were similarities that made him pity you. That it was just this strange show of benevolence, after being controlled and abused her entire life, which caused her to react so strongly and have these feelings erupting inside of her and not be able to control.
And Mikansei had no idea which one it was.
Now she placed her hands in her pockets, looking down at the floor as she tried to weigh up all the good things and the bad. She could choose the good things…but then what if she was wrong? He could turn away from her. But she shook her head a moment later, knowing she was being irrational. Mikansei didn’t even know what was going on in her head, so there was no point actually trying to choose a solution; a way to sort things out. All she could do was try and understand the changes within her mind, body and heart, and then, if that actually managed to succeed, to figure out what she would do next. This thought merely caused her to sigh.
It would only mean she had even more to think about.
This was exactly the reason why Mikansei didn’t notice people approaching her, and fast. She was feeling a little too tumultuous with things going on in her free time to come back to the outside world and the battle field. Not now everything bad she had been through in life was merely a memory. Not now Tanju was a nightmare that she was slowly getting over with Sasori and the rest of the Akatsuki’s help. All that she could focus on was how she would deal with the Sasori situation, and she wasn’t as prepared as she would have liked to have been when they suddenly came into her sense and slowed to a halt in front of her.
Instantly tensing, she glanced around and activated her chakra, noting there were five of them, what their positions were and she began to calculate their strengths and weaknesses; what kind of jutsus they used and what methods they favoured. Like so many times, just when she was breaking fully away from Tanju something else came crawling back into her notice; but this time she was much more willing to fight harder than ever to keep her independence. She didn’t know who they were, but it was obvious what they were here for—well, obvious until one of them began as a greeting,
“Hello, Mikansei-chan. Interesting to see you again after all this time. We’re not here to kill you, if that’s what you’re thinking. Not at all.”
“And why should I believe that? I don’t doubt you worked for Tanju—since I killed him, I don’t think you’d be particularly happy about that, and still aren’t.” She shot back with a slight scowl, her fingers stretching as she prepared to attack or defend at any sign. But the guy remained calm, shrugging back at her comment, before turning back to look at her straight in the eye and respond simply,
“Maybe at first...but now we are. Because we get to have what he left behind. We get to finish what he started...and control the perfect weapon.”
Now at that, Mikansei wasn’t sure how to react.
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