The Red Maelstrom

[28] Pride

"Koi koi! Koi koi, koi koi, koi koi!"

Yoshiaki clicked his tongue in vexation and reached over to tap an indignant Kohana on the forehead with the hanafuda cards in his hand. "This is the twelfth time you've lost; it's time to accept your hopelessness," he declared a little too gravely. He leaned back with his arms crossed as Kohana glared at him venomously. The smug bastard.

"I've never seen someone fail at this game so terribly..." He raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Are you sure you know how to play this game? You can't win simply by hoarding points the way you do." Kohana felt heat blooming in her cheeks as she stared at the accursed yaku that led to her tragic defeat. She'd underestimated her enemy; when that medic came by to lend them his deck of cards, Kohana hadn't thought Yoshiaki to be the type to be knowledgeable at card games.

The Kusa-nin narrowed his eyes at her as he gathered the cards and carefully placed them back in their sleek black container. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself."

Kohana launched herself at him, unmindful of the table sitting between them. She wasn't about to sit on her bed and take that insult! There were a lot of things Kohana was pretty good at, Koi koi just happened to be something she hadn't mastered yet.

"You little—" she began to growl, but Yoshiaki caught her arms and pushed her back, leaning his whole weight against the table to forcefully have Kohana sit back down. "Get off me, you moron, you're still healing! Don't blame me if you strain yourself and extend your stay for another week."

At the mention of her long overdue release, Kohana pursed her lips, feeling a faint tingle of heat at the tops of her ears. "Shut up..." she grumbled petulantly, but Yoshiaki only responded with a sigh. "Don't get lonely," he teased lightly.

Kohana smirked. "Not unless I still remember you even exist once you step outta that door." Technically, she was to be discharged in less than a day because the staff was convinced that she needed to start moving around to aid in her recovery provided Kohana took her supplements regularly (she'd lost far too much blood, after all). She paused, a vague unease creeping up the back of her mind when she recalled Yoshiaki's decision. All was well with him as far as Kohana should be concerned, but she couldn't help but wonder what he was going to do upon being officially discharged from the hospital. His teammate, Kei Hisako, had made it to the final round, which only meant that Yoshiaki and the rest of his team were to stay in Konoha.

"Wh-What're you...uh... gonna do now?" Gods was it embarrassing to ask the person who tried to kill her about his plans—not that Kohana held anything against Yoshiaki. Awkwardness only far too frequently kept them from casual conversations, and even their Koi koi match earlier carried not even an amicable discussion of interests, but unsportsmanlike taunting. Verbal assaults aside, Kohana reckoned that they did in fact bond, but it was a bond that was mostly founded on mutual respect and tolerance of each other's presence.

Naturally, Yoshiaki appeared discomfited and apparently caught off guard by the reluctant inquiry. He cleared his throat and ruffled his hair. "Sightseeing, I suppose, though I imagine it would run smoother with a guide. The locals might not take too kindly to a foreigner skulking about."

Kohana gave Yoshiaki a blank stare. Who's the idiot now? "You're a kid before you're a foreigner, y'know?"

"Well, I am a shinobi before I am a child," Yoshiaki murmured almost inaudibly. Something about the sentence struck Kohana as wrong, gut-wrenching, even. But no sooner did she discard the thought; she couldn't understand what elicited her reaction.

She sighed instead, crossing her arms. "Can't be helped then," she said. With a wide grin, she stood and pointed at herself. "I'll be your tour guide!"