You Have to Be Willing to Understand
Disclaimer: I do not own Hakuouki Reimeiroku, any of the Hakuouki series, or any of the characters or Ibuki would have had a part in Hakuouki.
Chapter 11
Of course, it took at least an hour for the checks to be over but Ryunosuke couldn't talk to the doctor just yet. They had to spend the whole day cleaning since Kondo declared it as 'A Cleaning Day.' Ryunosuke didn't have any problems with it and helped dust and sweep. After everyone finally finished, Ryunosuke noticed that the sun was about to set and he set off to find Hijikata since he didn't know where the doctor was currently at. Of course, luck was on his side for once and when he got to Hijikata's room, he knocked and walked in to find Hijikata and the doctor talking.
"Ah, we were just talking about you. I really would like to have a look at your leg. The way Saitou described it, it was in need of rehibilitation. Come on, sit. I want to at least look at the damage." the doctor said as Ryunosuke sat down next to the doctor, putting his leg out and rolling his pants up to show the jagged scar.
"Matsumoto-sensei, should you really be doing this in here? Wouldn't you prefer a more open area?" Hijikata asked, a bit iffed at the fact that there was a medical examination going on right in the middle of his room.
"That's a good idea Hijikata-san. Do you have a room that's well lit at the moment where he can lie down?" Matsumoto asked. Hijikata nodded and Ryunosuke rolled his pants back down before following those two as Hijikata led them to a mostly unused part of the building. He opened a door to one of the rooms that still had sun leaking through the window and Matsumoto nodded. "Thank you Hijikata-san." he told Hijikata as they walked in. Ryunosuke was a little nervous since no one but Saitou and Tano-san actually knew how this injury affected him but he didn't say anything. Ryunosuke laid down where the doctor instructed and told Matsumoto how it happened and what it felt like when it got hit as well as how it was affected by temperature differences.
"Hm. It sounds like one of the nerves along the back of the leg was severed. Now we just need to figure out if it was the tibial nerve or the sural nerve. You said you could still feel your toes to a certain extent, right?" Matsumoto asked and Ryunosuke nodded.
"I can feel the temperature in my toes but I can't move them without an actual effort." Ryunosuke explained, laying with is chest to the ground as the doctor examined the scar. He poked and prodded at it and his eyebrows drew together in concentration.
"I think you severed the more important one. The tibial nerve. But you seem to be able to move your ankle to a certain extent. And as far as we know, nerves like these have a hard time growing back without surgery. Did anyone give you a surgery when you got this?" Matsumoto asked as he pressed down on the scar itself. Ryunosuke had already told him that he couldn't feel it unless he pushed hard enough.
"No. Tano-san only stitched the skin back together and helped me walk until it healed." Ryunosuke told the doctor.
"Hm. This is quite odd. You only have half of the effects of a severed tibial nerve yet it shows no sign of healing. Have you experienced any pain since it's healed? Any shooting pains focused on this area?" Matsumoto asked. He'd been examining the area with his hands the entire time, feeling the nerves and how one just seemed split in half with a small edge on the end of it from it trying to heal itself.
"Um...no. I don't believe I have besides the pain of thinking I could move my foot certain ways and not being able to. Phantom pains, was it?" Ryunosuke told the doctor. Matsumoto went to the top half of the scar where the small edge was and gently put pressure on it. Ryunosuke wasn't prepared for the overwhelming shot of pain that spread from his leg all the way up his body. He yelped in pain for a second, making Matsumoto drop his foot in surprise.
"Hm. How you've lived with this and not had pain like that every time you walked, I don't know. Something is-" the doctor began before noticing Ryunosuke had transformed into a white-haired, yellow eyed, Rasetsu. Ryunosuke caught his breath and whimpered as the pain slowly ebbed away and sat up, not noticing his transformation. He puffed out his cheeks to help himself relaxed as he rubbed the pain away.
"What's wrong Matsumoto-sensei?" Ryunosuke asked as he saw the look of pure shock and slight fear cross the man's face.
"Y-You're a Rasetsu..." Matsumoto muttered.
"Oh...I transformed. Wait! How did you know about the Rasetsu?" Ryunosuke asked and Matsumoto sighed in relief, noticing Ibuki wasn't going to suddenly kill him.
"I...I think you should attend the meeting between Kondo, Chizuru, and I in a few minutes. That way I can explain to both you and Chizuru. This transformation could be the explanation for your halfway healed nerve since it was such an old injury." the doctor said as he watched Ryunosuke transform back into his normal self. 'But I didn't feel anything when I drank the potion. Not even an itch!' Ryunosuke thought as he decided to follow Matsumoto out of the room and to wherever they were meeting Kondou and Chizuru. When they arrived, Ryunosuke blushed slightly as Chizuru and Kondo focused on him.
"Why did you bring Ibuki-kun here?" Kondou asked Matsumoto as the doctor said next to him. Ryunosuke sat next to Chizuru, still confused as to why he was there.
"Does she know?" Matsumoto whispered to Kondou who nodded. "Okay. Well, I was performing an examination on a past injury from the day he was pushed off the bridge since Okita had thrown a pin at Ibuki's leg to immobilize him. This severed a nerve in Ibuki's leg which controlled his ankle and his sense of touch from the injury down to his toes." the doctor began, ignoring the looks Kondo and Chizuru were giving Ryunosuke.
"And as I was checking the state of the nerves, I hit a small edge on the end of the severed nerve, putting Ibuki in pain and...well. Ibuki, do you mind?" the doctor asked and Ryunosuke sighed before he transformed into his Rasetsu state. Chizuru gasped and slowly crawled away from him. She had been wondering why Ryunosuke's eyes were red and now she knew why.
"W-Why would Hijikata-san agree to do this?! What if it failed?!" Chizuru stuttered out and Ryunosuke sighed and crossed his arms.
"I guess he felt guilty for letting me live and wanted to make me pay for it. I agreed to do it but I still blame him for the differences between me and the regular Rasetsu. It was Sannan-san's calculations that most likely led to this." Ryunosuke explained.
"Well, it's certainly...different..." Chizuru muttered.
"I can't believe he did this without my consent." Kondou muttered and Ryunosuke transformed back to normal, his eyes going back to the red color they'd been before he transformed.
"Don't worry about it Kondou-san. I agreed to this so it's not like he forced it on me. I'm surprisingly strong and so far, there hasn't been a down side. I'm not in pain or anything. You don't need to get mad at Hijikata-san. Besides, I had the option to live or be an experiment and do the Shinsengumi's dirty work. I was fine with that and now, here I am. Perfectly fine and taking care of an injury I should have dealt with years ago." Ryunosuke said with a smile. Kondou smiled back hesitantly but didn't object.
"Well I guess it's okay then. Hijikata did what he thought was best..." Kondou muttered as if trying to convince himself. Chizuru looked disturbed when Ryunosuke looked back at her.
"What's wrong Chizuru-chan?" Ryunosuke asked, directing Kondo and the doctor's attention to her.
"Why would father agree to carry out this kind of research?" she muttered.
"Father?" Ryunosuke questioned, confused.
"Koudou-san's opinions didn't count. He couldn't defy a shogunate order...but Koudou-san ended up leaving after all. I believe it's precisely because of his conscience that he made such a decision." Matsumoto told Chizuru as Ryunosuke's eyes widened.
"K-Koudou-san? Chizuru, Koudou-san is your father?" Ryunosuke asked in shock. They looked nothing like each other. Sure, the man had been nice but he had this creepy and secretive feeling around him every time Ryunosuke saw him. Chizuru nodded almost sadly and Ryunosuke felt bad for putting her in this position.
"Have some faith. Your father is a man worthy of respect." Matusmoto told Chizuru and Ryunosuke smiled, putting a hand on her back.
"Yeah Chizuru-chan. Have some faith. Your father was a really nice guy. I'm not really sure what's going on but have some confidence." Ryunosuke told her and she lifted her head with a small smile.
"Yes, of course." she told everyone.
"By the way doctor, I have something to show you." Kondou said as he got up. He looked troubled but was giving everyone a smile to not make them worry.
"Where do you want me to go doctor? Did you get enough information on the injury? Do you want me to do anything?" Ryunosuke asked as both he and Chizuru also got up.
"Yes. With certain therapy, the feeling won't come back but it will most certainly become usable. I would stand on that foot for long periods of time and try to move from there on just that foot. But with the Rasetsu's regenerative powers, it shouldn't be much of a problem any more." Matsumoto said with a smile. Ryunosuke sighed in relief.
"Thanks Matsumoto-san." Ibuki said with a small bow. So Saitou DID know what he was talking about...
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Author's Note: Sorry it's soooo long and boring. I was going to end it while Ryunosuke was talking to Chizuru about her father but I decided that I'd go ahead and finish the conversation that way I can finally move on TO THE NEXT DAY! I've spend SEVEN chapters on ONE DAY! That's freakin ridiculous! I hope you enjoyed reading up until this point. Please review! I always answer!
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Ainhoa11- Haha! Yeah, I had a feeling Sannan wouldn't lose his cool or get angry so the only thing left was confusion and shuffling around like the mad scientist he is. And yes, Ibuki-kun is an Oni now. I'll explain some of the more complicated stuff in the next chapter. This chapter was kind of a boring filler and the next one should have a bunch of important information.
Kimagure Author- Yeah, our little Ibuki-kun's an Oni. But no, I haven't seen the SSL image. WHERE ARE YOU PEOPLE FINDING THESE THINGS?! I haven't seen it! Why haven't I seen it?! Where can I see it?! Hehe. Sorry. I guess I'm just not looking hard enough. Anyways, yes, Ibuki-kun looks adorable when he blushes. I'm glad you like the plot. It's going to be a little boring for the next chapter or two but things will start picking up again soon. I promise. ^u^
alohamiems- Yes, you are indeed correct. Ibuki is, in fact, an Oni. (It's not like anyone else in the Shinsengumi knows though. They all think he's a different type of Rasetsu. ;) ) I'm glad you like the story. Sorry my updates are a little slow. It's just the fact that I'm playing Hakuoki of the Fleeting Blossom and I'm going back and making a few corrections to my plot notes and rewriting certain future scenes so I haven't really been focusing on these few boring chapters. But as I've been saying, it will get better. X)
RricheRownd- YOU FOUND IT?! Where can I find this picture? You can PM me with the link, right? Please feel free to do so if you can. XD ANYWAYS, I'm glad you like it. Sorry the updates are getting a little slow. I've been playing Hakuoki Demon of the Fleeting Blossom and I'm making corrections in future scenes that I've already written (not full chapters or I would be updating a lot more) and writing down plot bunnies so I haven't really been writing these next few boring chapters. Let's just call it 'writer's distraction.' But I'm still pushing through it so I can update within a month of the last update. I'm glad you like the story and are still reading. Like I said, if you can PM me a link or book or something, please do okay? Thanks for reading and reviewing! ^w^
Ecktay- My updates will usually be within a month of each other and if they're not, it's because of end of the year tests or something of the like. I'm only a freshman in high school so I'm not SUPER busy but I can be pretty busy at times. I make room for fanfiction of course so being busy is never really a problem. Thank you for reminding me to update! (Let's face it, I'm quite forgetful and I almost forgot X) ) I'm glad you like the story! I look forward to more reviews from you! ^-^