Ikigai

Chapter 16: Unspoken

The bright rays of light and the gentle breeze coming through the open window were enough to wake her from her much-needed sleep as the quiet beeping of a monitor droned in the background.

Struggling to sit up, she was slightly disoriented and sensed nothing in particular but the bed beneath her. 

"W-what...."

Her voice was a rasped whisper in the empty room and as the sense of loneliness started to overwhelm her, the rash on her arm started to itch. 

Despite the monitor's sound, Kintsugi could sense nothing outside of where she lay and the detachment from her surroundings unsettled her. 

"Ah, you're awake."

The sound of a door opening and closing and then a person's familiar voice.

Kintsugi flinched.

"Didn't mean to startle you."

"Y-you're fine," she said as she dragged a hand across her face.

"Good news. As far as the doctor's concerned, you just need a bit of rest, there's nothing really wrong with you."

"What happened?"

"Mmmm," the man paused as he leaned against the wall next to her bed,"...they're thinking it was something you ate. Although they couldn't really tell at first."

"What I ate?"

"You don't have chakra, do you? Actually, now that I think about it, where are you from? The reports weren't very clear on that."

"I-I didn't eat until late in the afternoon. Just some pork skewers an- w-wait." 

Kintsugi jumped off the bed in a hurry and headed to where she had heard the voice, not giving a second thought to what might be around her, what she might be wearing, or her lack of being able to fully sense her surroundings.  

"Woah, hold on!"

Her hands had found his shoulders as she tightly held him against the wall.

"What time is it?!"

"W-wait a sec," he said trying to move out of her grasp, but her surprisingly strong grip kept him in place.

"It's 2 in the afternoon. Now, get off me!" He urged with a blush Kintsugi couldn't see.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Kakashi!" The man yelped out. 

"I expected something like this from Kotetsu, but you Izumo-san? That's surprising."

"Stop kidding around and get her off me."

Kakashi sighed and with a more serious tone turned to face Kintsugi. 

"Get off him, will you. Just take a deep breath or something."

"Take a deep breath? It feels like my insides are being ripped out!"

"It's probably the knocking agent. Doctor says it was rather potent."

But Kintsugi wasn't paying attention to a word Kakashi was saying as she scrambled to pull out all the wires and IV's the nurses had put in her, a billion thoughts racing through her mind.

"I-I need to leave. You boys have fun or whatever it is that you do."

"Woah there, where do you think you're going?"

Kintsugi hadn't taken more than a few steps before she seemed to stumble forward. It was clear she couldn't fully stand on her own two feet, yet she was still determined.