Spoiled Brats, Chapter 35

[DarkFyre99]

Spoiled Brats

Disclaimer: Kyon-kun... denwa.

Chapter 35 – Aftermath

Mizuno Saeko had had difficult patients before. Some people simply did not know what was best for them. But three of her four patients at the moment had taken stubborness to a new height. Every single one of them insisted that they were "fine." 'Except for the girl with the crushed throat, that is. She still can't talk, but she can mouth, "I'm fine." The taller of the younger girls could have internal injuries, but we can't take X-Rays through that outfit of hers, and she refuses to take it off. The other one has lost a lot of blood, but we can't insert a needle for a transfusion, nor can we stitch up her lacerations. At least the butterflies are keeping the wounds closed.

'And then there's the "adult" of the trio,' Saeko thought as opened the door.

"I don't suppose you're here to let me out and see the girls, are you, Doctor Mizuno?" Takeda Megumi asked once again as she entered her hospital room. The woman was busy consuming the breakfast she had wheedled out of a nurse. "I'm perfectly fine."

"'Perfectly fine' people don't pass out, Takeda-san."

"I didn't pass out. I fell asleep. I had a very busy morning, so I needed a nap. I also need to replace all the calories I burned." The auburn hair woman glared at the doctor as she approached her bed. "Has Doctor Ono shown up yet?"

"It's only been an hour, Take-"

A handsome man in glassess walked into the room. "Sorry I took so long, Takeda-san." He bowed to Dr. Mizuno. "You must be Mizuno-sensei. I'm Ono Toufuu, Takeda-san's and Tendo-san's doctor."

Saeko blinked. "Small world."

"Not really. It's estimated that only one in a thousand have 'the gift,' and traditional healing techniques often work better on us than modern medicine does. Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

The female doctor watched as the one gave her stubborn patient a very brief examination, doing things to her body that made absolutely no sense. "I see you've been overdoing things again, Megumi-san."

The younger woman frowned. "Is it bad, Doc?"

"Not as bad as last time, but I definitely think you should lay off teleporting the rest of the week. Just make sure you get plenty to eat, and take a nap if you feel tired."

"Roof hopping okay?"

"That should be fine." The younger doctor grinned impishly. "You know, I haven't roofhopped in almost forty years. I'd forgotten how much fun it is."

"Forty years?" Mizuno Saeko asked in surprise.

"Since I entered college, actually. My sempai said that while it may be faster, it's better to travel by regular means, especially if I wanted to be a neighborhood doctor. It's a lot easier to get to know the people you'll be treating."

"How's Akane doing?"

"I haven't seen her yet, and I figured I'd wait for Kasumi and Ken-san to catch up. Speaking of which..." Saeko blinked when he produced a picnic basket. "Kasumi thought you'd be hungry."

Saeko stared at the basket in the man's hand. 'Where'd he keep that?'

Takeda Megumi smiled brightly as she got out of bed. "Lucky! I always love Kasumi's meals, and it's been ages since I got to enjoy one." She opened the basket and looked in. "Hey, there's enough for the girls as well." She looked at the two doctors. "Shall we go check on the girls, doctors? And make sure that they're getting something to eat?"

- + - + -

Ranma walked alonside the man she'd long considered a second father to her, carrying her big sister's picnic basket. Trailing behind them was the mother of Mizuno Ami, who was looking more than a bit shell shocked. 'Not that I don't blame her. It's not every day that an outright supernatural battle breaks out at your next door neighbor's, and then you find yourself completely over your head, trying to care for a bunch of magical girls.' Ranma glanced over her shoulder. "I really am sorry about having to meet this way, Mizuno-sensei. I kept on meaning to ask Ami-chan to introduce us, but..." Ranma shrugged helplessly.

"You know my daughter well?"

"We met soon after Minako-chan moved in with me, and the two of them became friends pretty quickly." Ranma frowned. "I'm so glad Minako-chan took my advice and scaled back her career. The pace is gruelling enough for an adult." She glanced apologetically at Toufuu. "Sometimes too gruelling."

The trio arrived at the Sailors' hospital room. Ranma entered first, followed by Drs. Ono and Mizuno. "Sorry I couldn't make it earlier, ladies, but Mizuno-sensei threatened to have two orderlies sit on me if I tried to get out of bed." Jupiter giggled, while Venus' smile turned into a grimace, and her hand once again reached protectively to her throat. "Ladies, this is Ono-sensei, who's been my doctor for years." She looked at Toufuu. "You'd better take a look at Sailor Venus first, Doc. She can't heal properly if we don't get food into her."

"Of course. With your permission, my dear?" Toufuu asked Venus, who nodded gingerly. He began gently examing her throat. After a few seconds, he looked over at Ranma. "This could've been fatal. Akane did this?"

She nodded. "She wasn't in her right mind, though. Kiima used one of those impression eggs on her." Ranma frowned. "Those things take 48 hours to hatch, if I remember correctly. I really underestimated that bitch. She must've been planning for this day for a long time."

"Don't beat yourself up over it. You've got enough on your plate as it is." He looked at Venus. "Can you take off your glove, my dear?" She stripped off her right elbowlength glove. He poked, prodded, and manipulated her hand and arm for a minute, nodded to himself. "Her transformation seems to be compensating for the blood loss, but while it seems to have replaced the volume lost, it hasn't replaced the red blood cells." He looked over at Sailor Jupiter. "I understand you lost quite a bit of blood yourself."

"Not nearly as much as V-chan, Doctor."

"Well, I think it would be best if we get some liver into you both, so that your magic has the raw materials to fully replace the blood you lost." Seeing the girl's faces, he smiled. "Alright, steaks then." He frowned at Sailor Venus. "But first, I need to make sure you can actually swallow what you eat. Can you scoot forward a little? Nevermind, the bed's automatic." The back of her bed dropped away from her back. "Okay, let's see we can get your ki pathways to prioritize your throat..." He pressed several points on her body, his frown returning. "Damn. Your transformation isn't giving me the control I need. I know it won't be pleasant, but in the long run, it'll greatly speed your recovery if you'll drop your transformation."

Sailor Venus and Jupiter shared a look. "If you're thinking of refusing for my daughter's sake," Mizuno Saeko said casually, "Don't bother. I'm going to have a long talk with the girl when she gets home from school."

Jupiter shrugged. A few seconds later, there was a flash of light, and Aino Minako replaced Sailor Venus on the bed. The girl's eyes bugged out, her complexion paled, and her hands darted to her throat as she began gasping for breath.

Toufuu's hand danced across the girl's body. "Easy now, you don't have adrenalin in your system anymore. Just a little bit longer... okay, you can transform back." After several seconds of watching the girl try to speak, his finger shot out, pressing a point just below her sternum.

Minako croaked out, "Venus power... make up." In a flash, a visibly relieved Sailor Venus sunk back to the bed.

Dr. Ono examined the girl for a few more minutes. "Good, it doesn't look the transformation is trying to 'fix' things." He looked over at Dr. Mizuno. "I'd feel better if she recovered at my clinic. We're better prepared to take care of things there." His gaze turned to Jupiter.

"I'm not going to have to transform back too, am I?" Sailor Jupiter asked in a small voice.

"That depends upon your injuries." He examined the girl's torso for a few minutes, his eyes widening. "Akane did this too?"

"Hai," Jupiter said. "She hit me with that energy blast of her right after she'd blasted Megumi-sensei."

"I didn't think she was even capable of generating a ki blast. She hasn't trained seriously in... years." Toufuu looked at Ranma. "Kiima?"

"Probably."

"Were you even transformed?"

"No." Jupiter frowned. "One minute we were talking. The next, blam!"

"I can't believe Akane would deliberately go for lethal strikes..."

"What part of 'not in her right mind' don't you understand, Doc? Those impression eggs create complete and utter loyalty and devotion towards the first person the 'hatchling' sees. If Kiima ordered it, she'd probably slit her own throat." Ranma glanced over at Dr. Mizuno. "That's why I recommended that Akane-san be restrained as soon as I woke up. We don't know what orders Kiima gave her." She turned back to Toufuu. "So, what's the verdict?"

Ono Toufuu looked at the anxious girl. "There's no need for you to change back, my dear. In fact, it would be best if you didn't. I'm afraid you'll both be missing several days of school." Toufuu smiled at the stunned look on his colleage's face. "Their healing rate is remarkable. I've never seen anything like it. I'd like to look at my sister-in-law now."

"Of course. This way."

Ranma put the basket on the side table between the two girls. "I'll be right back. You girls get some food in your systems. Venus, I think I saw something nice and cold in there that you'd be able to swallow." Ranma hurried after the other two.

- + - + -

Tendo Akane's room was easily identifiable, thanks to the two guards flanking her door, courtesy of Col. Anderson of the American Air Force. They weren't the only ones waiting outside her room.

"You bastard!"

Ranma wasn't surprised in the least when Tendo Ken, Akane's husband, took a swing at her. In fact, she had dropped all her normal defenses. She did turn her head with the blow to minimalize the impact, though.

"You haven't been back in her life a day yet, and look at what happened!" The man grabbed his wrist. "And OW!"

Ranma bowed apologetically. "Tendo-san, the reason I left in the first place was to protect her and her family from my enemies." Ranma added helpfully, "And the proper way to throw a punch is like this." She demonstrated. "You want to keep your wrist straight. That way, the shock is absorbed by your forearm bones, rather than the tendons in your wrist." She turned to the guards, and said in English. "We'd like to see Tendo-san, gentlemen."

"Of course, Ma'am." One of the guards opened the door for them. Inside, a female guard tensed up, before she saw Ranma and visibly relaxed.

Ranma looked at her ex-fiancee. Akane was awake, and smiled as they entered the room. Shackles, enchanted to absorb the woman's ki, circled both her wrists and ankles, their ends fixed firmly to the bed's frame.

"Hi, Takeda-sama," Akane said pleasantly. "Are you okay?"

Ranma smiled despite herself. "I am, tomboy. But you almost killed the girls."

Akane looked down, chewing on her lower lip. "I'm sorry about that, Takeda-sama. But Kiima-sama was quite insistant that I put down any potential resistance once I got into your apartment."

"I see. That was quite the ki-blast you had there, Akane."

"I know! Kiima-sama's been training me for years now." Akane got a bit starry eyed, before she looked down at her wrists in irritation. "I never realized how sturdy these hospital beds are. I've been trying and trying, and I simply can't oull these out."

Toufuu looked worriedly at the woman in bed. "What would you do if you could pull those out, Akane-san?"

"Why escape of course! Kiima-sama was quite specific about that too."

"And where would you escape to?"

"I'm sorry, Takeda-sama, but I can't tell you that."

Ranma caught the eye of the two doctors. "We'll give you some time alone with your family, Akane."

"You're my family too, Takeda-sama. I've barely gotten two hours with you since you returned."

"Thank you, Akane. But I gotta check on my girls."

"Of course, how silly of me. Tell them I said hi, and I'm glad I didn't kill them, even though they are enemies of Kiima-sama."

"Of course."

- + - + -

Outside the hospital room, two doctors and a devil hunter exchanged glances.

Saeko found her voice first. "That was just..."

"Yeah," Ranma agreed. "Doubly so, when you consider Kiima practically killed her..."

"What I want to know is how we break Kiima's hold over her," Toufuu said.

Ranma scratched the back of her head. "The only way I know is to put her in another impression egg, and make sure the first thing she sees is a mirror." Ranma frowned. "And there's no way I'd even consider turning over the keys to Saffron's assension unless she tells me where to get one." Ranma glanced at the clock over the nearby nurses' station. "Well, doctors, I'm going to check in on the girls, get some more food in my belly, then I'll have to hail a taxi so I can get to a rehersal I'm late to." Ranma bowed. "It was nice to meet you, neighbor, despite the circumstances. Sorry about being such a cranky patient. Doc, thank you for taking care of the girls."

"My pleasure, Megumi-san."

"Later!"

- + - + -

Author's notes: Sorry about the inadvertant delay. My turn finally came up to check out "World War Z" from my local library on Friday. (Just one copy among the eight libraries in my county? Argh!!!) Needless to say, it was the kind of book you simply can't put down until you finish it. Now I'm tempted to do a Ranma ½/Sailor Moon/Zombie Apocolypse story. Curse you, muse, for being so easily distracted!!!

[Dumbledork]

That was great.

[Ordieth117]

and I simply can't oull these out."

oulll should be pull. That's the only one I noticed.

Things seem abnormally smooth and oddly shallow this chapter. Can't put my finger on it exactly, but I think this could almost be better off as a short summary.

[J. St.C. Patrick]

A nice little chapter.

I noticed a few things that need attenion:

'And then there's the "adult" of the trio,' Saeko thought as opened the door.

as she opened

"I don't suppose you're here to let me out and see the girls, are you, Doctor Mizuno?" Takeda Megumi asked once again as she entered her hospital room.

the doctor ( to avoid pronoun confusion)

The woman was busy consuming the breakfast she had wheedled out of a nurse.

Suggestion so as to distiquish which woman:

The "adult" of the trio was ... etc.

The auburn hair woman glared at the doctor as she approached her bed.

haired

The female doctor watched as the one gave her stubborn patient a very brief examination, doing things to her body that made absolutely no sense.

is something missing here, a discriptiver? or is 'the one' a reference to somethng?

Saeko stared at the basket in the man's hand. 'Where'd he keep that?'

This should be italicized as you have her thoughts in italics above

Ranma walked alonside the man she'd long considered a second father to her, carrying her big sister's picnic basket. Trailing behind them was the mother of Mizuno Ami, who was looking more than a bit shell shocked.

alongside

He began gently examing her throat.

examining

"Okay, let's see we can get your ki pathways to prioritize your throat..."

see if we

There you go!

I agree with Ordieth117 that things seem abnormally smooth. I'm putting it down to a combination of Dr. Mizuno's professionalism and being in shock at the events and the revalation about her daughter.

[DarkFyre99]

Thanks for the C&C folks.

I was going for shock on Dr. Mizuno's part, but I was also trying to get Akane come off as creepily cheery as I imagined, given what she did at Kiima's orders. Not sure how that part of this chapter worked out.

*shrugs*

In any case, the emphasis National Novel Writer's Month is quantity, not quality. My usual writing style is to write something, do (or write) something else for a week or two, and then come back and reread it and see if it's as good as I thought it was when I wrote it, and if it still made sense. I don't have that luxury for this story, though I am trying for quality as well.

Which reminds me... I really have to publish the rest of my fanfiction folder one of these days. I've got 17 stories in various stages if completion, only two of which I've published so far. Most have only a few chapters, but my first attempt at fanfiction has thirteen chapters finished so far. I just need to get around to rewriting the one scene in chapter three that doesn't work...

[Ordieth117]

I look forward to reading whatever you decide to publish.

[J. St.C. Patrick]

Thanks for the C&C folks.

I was going for shock on Dr. Mizuno's part, but I was also trying to get Akane come off as creepily cheery as I imagined, given what she did at Kiima's orders. Not sure how that part of this chapter worked out.

Akane as creepily cheery came off quite well.