Act 2: Proposition

Nazo was dreaming about flying across the city, in a blue suit with silly red shorts, while screaming "here he comes to save the day", when he felt a light falling on his eyelids. The light didn't feel like the shimmering of water or light falling through the trees and hitting his eyes, but more something like a sunray trying to penetrate his eyelids. As he slowly opened his left eye, trying to find the source of the annoying light, he noticed Tairaki sitting in the chair next to the table.

Nazo: "hey, knock that out, it's annoying and I was having such a funny dream"

Tairaki giggled. "I noticed, you were humming some weird song about saving the day. So how's my favourite patient of room 316?"

Nazo felt a bit uncomfortable (wow, her favourite patient of this room) when he suddenly realized that he was the ONLY patient in the room.

"He-" But Tairaki wouldn't let him finish his protest.

"Because, if you are feeling any better, I want to take you somewhere" as she continued to reflect the sun into his eyes.

"whe-where do you wan- KNOCK IT OFF, stop shining that thing into my eyes!"

Tairaki giggled and threw it onto Nazo's bed. "I think you might actually like it".
Nazo held his hands in a cup-like position, hoping it would be some silver-wrapped candy, because the food in the hospital…well, Nazo had had better food. When it landed in his hands, Nazo's eyes grew several inches as he was profoundly shocked by what he saw. (this can't be.)
Glimmering in his hand were the two headbands he had gathered. One from his dad, and the other one from the academy. They had ingeniously been put together. A piece of black and white cloth had been sewn together, and each colour had received a headband, making it a perfect circle.

Tairaki: "Hope you like it, I thought I'd make it into 1 thing, so that your past will be tied to your future"

- "Wow….simply wow. Thank you very much." Nazo thought about the way he behaved last time. "Now I feel even worse about my reaction last time"

Tairaki: "Don't worry about it."

Nazo thought about where to wear the headbands and decided it would be a good idea to wear it around his neck. Then the headbands would not only provide clear and visible proof that he's a shinobi, they would also shelter his neck from harm from both sides.

Tairaki: "Tee-hee…. Thinking like a shinobi already. Using the headbands as a protective measure. Smart."

Nazo was surprised at her response, wondering how she knew what he was thinking. "You're not some sort of voodoo-mind reader-thingamajig person, are you?"

Tairaki raised one eyebrow and frowned upon Nazo, immediately making him feel tiny and puny. "Maybe you're not the only person who's a shinobi here."

"So you're one as well?" Nazo asked.

Tairaki immediately start swinging her hands from left to right, while frantically gesturing "no" with her head. "It's just…many shinobi have landed in this hospital, and I've seen quite a few in the past months. They've all kept their shinobi ways and always kept thinking how they could use everything to their advantage…well, except for the dead ones of course"

Nazo shivered at that last part. (She surely has a morbid sense of saying it like it is)

Undisturbed by how Nazo gazed at her, Tairaki further explained that the room they were in, had certain features that a shinobi would probably already have noticed. Nazo had to admit to himself that he hadn't thought about all this that meticulously.

Tairaki: "The door for example: It's obvious that standing behind that door reveals a blind spot for anyone entering this room. I'm sure you've also noticed, looking out the window, that we have a rather large garden and a glasshouse where we grow fruits, vegetables and flowers and such".

Nazo shied away from looking at Tairaki when he realized he hadn't noticed about any of those things. He was too busy dreaming, thinking about his headbands and Tairaki's frightening first encounter.

Tairaki noticed she was telling him things he hadn't discovered by himself.

"Hey, don't worry, no one expects a freshly graduated academy student to have the same skills as a veteran shinobi". She tried to comfort him with those words and it seemed to work, as Nazo managed to put on a little smile.

"Let's hope you have more skills than the dead ones, right?" she giggled. Nazo's eye twitched again (AAARGH…thanks lady, that's very comforting…).

"Well, let me help you on your way while you're recuperating. That pouch you have there, is it for seeds or something?"
- "yeah, I got it from my parents, it's the only tangible memory I still have"
"As I thought. Well, that's why I actually came and that's what my proposition is all about: why don't you pay a visit to the glasshouse when you're up for it? I'll gladly show you around, and maybe you could do some work there to help me out?"
- "Sure!" Nazo said. "Maybe I could find some interesting things there, thanks a lot Tairaki." Nazo pulled away his sheets and jumped out of bed, bending through his legs slightly and holding his two hands - gathered in a fist - in front of his body. (All right, I ran out of herbs during the academy fight, maybe I can restock there.)

Tairaki stood up with a bashful glow on her face and a tiny smile as she walked to the door.
"Meet me there in the afternoon."
- "Why can't I go now? I'm all psyched up."
As tactfully as she could, Tairaki said: "Oh, I just thought you might want to have those sheets cover you up or something because you won't be able to go out dressed like that"

Nazo looked down and noticed he only had on a shirt and a cute little underpants with a little piglet as a print on it. (AAAAAAAAAARGH, crap!) As swiftly and casually as he could – hey, it's never a bad thing to still try to keep your cool with a lady around -, he tried to say "oh, you're probably right" and pushing his shirt down to cover up his crown jewels while shifting closer and closer to his bed.

"Well, I'm off now" Tairaki said as she closed the door. Nazo hoped she hadn't seen whatever he didn't want her to see. Unfortunately, Nazo could hear Tairaki yelling to the other nurses: "Hey, guess what I've just seen". Nazo felt all the shame of the world enter his body, as he dropped his head and sighed.

(This is going to be a long, shameful day)