/jp/ - Otaku Culture

(1/2)
Sterility, that’s what the air stunk of.
When I blacked out after the beating Seija delivered to me, I’d assumed I would either wake at the Styx or a hospital bed in Eintei and I always imagined the river between life and death smelled of flowers, so this must be Eintei.
Closer and opening my eyes made the time pass a little faster, morning, mid-day, night, night again, an Inaba nurse shining a light in my eye, more night…
As I started to become more lucid, I didn’t ask the rabbits anything and did what they told me. Answers could come later, and I didn’t trust anything I would say on the strange, pain-blocking drugs they no doubt put me on.
What surprised me is how caring they were. These weren’t the clinically regimented staff I was used to, no, instead they were brushing my hair, making sure all my limbs were comfortable when moving me, and saying things like ‘poor thing’ while fluffing up my pillows. Did pregnancy do this to them?
My only complaint was the other patient in my room whose identity was obscured by a curtain. They kept making these strange wheezing noises and snorts like a farm animal while some strange device periodically whined, probably indicating something about their health. Thankfully, they seemed to be improving and the strange whines grew less frequent.
Finally, the day came where I was lucid enough to sit up and assess myself, it wasn’t pretty. Plenty of scars, bruises, and burns peppered my body, parts of my torso where still wrapped in some kind of cast, and collections of stiches that looked like the legs of insects weaved over parts of my body. Strangest of all, my left hand, which had been inverted by that Oni, seemed to be trapped in some cage-like device that kept me from articulating any of my joints, but I suppose that was for the best as I wasn’t eager to re-live the agony of the doll-like hand moving sporadically, painfully, against my will.
“Are you feeling well Goro-san?” the doctor, Eirin asked.
In my business Eirin was very well-liked. She offered honest work gathering herbs outside the bamboo forest, provided treatments nobody else could and wasn’t fussy about the payment, and hadn’t performed heinous deeds that Youkai and Gods were notorious for.
I didn’t doubt her intentions with running a hospital or even as a business partner, but I didn’t fully trust her. For one, she was clearly of foreign mind. Now, Outsiders had a similar problem, acting on logic from a world far removed from our own and we got along fine, Eirin however, seemed to have somehow carried that world along with her in her brain. She’d say things like ‘crossing the river shouldn’t be so hard, just build a bridge’ as if it were as simple as lighting a stove and ‘It’s fine, just pay me back in the next decade or two’. It made it hard to empathize with her.
“I’m better thanks to you and your nurses Eirin-sensei” I replied.
“Excellent, because it’s time to discuss business.” She began, place a small glass jar on the side table that contained a solitary white pill within it.
“I’ll need you to monitor and inform me of all the events taking place in and around the HSE establishment until It’s out of operation. In exchange I’ll waive the cost of your treatment.” She offered.