Varia's Chained Cloud (Nanbaka x OC x KHR)

Breakout 21

In the infirmary, Uno leaned against the couch with Nico as they sat nearby Jyugo who was sitting on a hospital bed, covered in bandages.

"It looks like Rock still hasn't woken up yet."

"Sensei said he's apparently just sleeping and that he's not particularly injured or sick or anything," Nico replied. "Same for Yamato-chan. Seitarou-chan is undergoing treatment right now... And Aki-chan is nowhere to be seen... It kind of... Got lonely all of the sudden, huh..."

"You know, I wonder what that thing stuck to the back of Rock's neck was? Apparently the Yamato that Hajime half-killed had the same thing stuck to him," Uno said, clenching his hand. "Rock stopped when we removed that charm looking thing, right?"

"Yeah..."

Uno sighed. "Well, I can't help but think that that charm had something to do with it, though. Didn't they say that there was nothing wrong with his body?"

Nico placed a finger to his chin. "But I feel like I've seen that charm somewhere before."

"Huh? Seriously?" "I wonder where it was."

"Hey now, pull yourself together. Just where did you see it?" Uno asked, pointing his finger at him.

"Hmmm, it was relatively recent..."

"That charm is probably from Building 5," Tsukumo interrupted, opening the curtain that separated his and Jyugo's hospital bed. "I've seen that same thing many times before, and I've heard of them all being used that way."

Jyugo's uncovered eye widened. "Tsukumo... Are you already ok?"

"Sort of." He touched his bandaged shoulder, recalling how Rock threw him into the ground. "It hurt a bit, but there's nothing wrong with the bone. Well, they did tell me not to move too much, though. It gave me a bit more defensive practice too." He stopped talking, noticing Nico and Uno's looks. "...Hm? What's wrong?"

"No, well... I was just wondering if you were always that kind of character," Uno replied. "Where did your speech pattern go?"

Tsukumo facepalmed, a depressing aura surrounding him. 'UWAAAAAAAAHHHH! I MESSED UUUUP! I let my real self slip out! It's so embaressiiiiiiing. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!'

"No way, are you not a ninja?!" Uno shouted in disbelief.

"...Eh... No, um..."

Nico jumped. "Eh?! Tsukumo-kun, you're not a ninja?!"

"Th-The way of speaking can get a bit long, so..."

"You're not a Japanese ninja?!" The two shouted.

'This exchange really takes me back,' Jyugo thought to himself.

Tsukumo sweatdropped, avoiding eye contact. "F-For now let's return to what we were talking about... About that charm, I heard something about it from Cell 8. The charms Building 5 use are special items that their owners can use to manage their "Ki". I heard it can be used for suppression and control so that inmates proficient in qigong techniques and the like don't do anything reckless," the ninja explained.

"Hold on," Uno blurted out. "Rock and Yamato can't use anything like qigong, and besides that, what does that have to do with anything?"

Tsukumo put a hand to his chin, thinking. "Qigong techniques are something that evolve a person's physical abilities... A charm that can control... If it can control the body of someone who has mastered their abilities then wouldn't it be able to repress and control a normal person as well?" He theorized. "If it's a person who can't use qigong, then conversely it would be even simpler."