Come on…
Come on….
Please work!
A slightly louder hum fills the apartment, along with a weak breeze as the blades of the fan spin at a steady pace. It makes a slight clicking sound every now and then, a testament that not all its parts are its original parts but replacements I found from a busted up blender base the other day. Still, it isn't overheating, it isn't smoking, and there is no sign of it failing in any way other than the irritating clicking sound.
"Yes!" I cry out in triumphant because this is triumphant. I've been spending HOURS on this little fan, mostly out of stubborn pride, if I am being perfectly honest.
Maintenance Proficiency level has risen X4
Maintenance Proficiency Level 64
Ability to maintain, clean, and fix up items and/or possessions effectively. Speed and success improves per level. Increase in quality of the item 0.25% per level increase in speed of action 0.5% per level once action is familiar. Current ability, quality increase 16%, speed increase 32%
"You actually got that thing to work, Google-eyes?" Ami asks in surprise. I smirk at her. Yes, I actually did. I fixed the unfixable, and conquered the unconquerable. Right now, I feel on top of the world!
"Was there ever any doubt?" I ask in a bit of a cocky voice. I can't help it at this moment.
"Yes." Ami replies instantly, and my smirk falters. I sigh and get up, moving over to the table. I look at the small bottles and jars full of different coloured liquids labelled with smudged ink and tape. I just hope that they stay readable. "Want to try this?" Ami then asks, pouring two cups of tea, and my eyes dart back to the jars and widen in horror.
"No," I say, getting serious instantly and inserting myself between Ami and her creations.
"Come on… I read a book about it!" Ami whines, motioning to a book in the corner of the table.
"You are not testing poisons on yourself! That's stupid!" I retort back, and why is the hell do I even need to explain this to her? Shouldn't it be evident that poisoning yourself is idiotic?!
"I'm not testing it! I'm building immunity!" Ami exclaims, and I pause for a second. I do remember Raido talking about how building immunity was important for a poison expert… but Ami is too young, and she doesn't have adult supervision or anything like that!
"You will still be drinking poison." I state back with a small glare. Ami sighs, rubbing her temples as though I am being unreasonable here. I am not being unreasonable. I am being RESPONSIBLE.
"Just a little, not enough to kill anyone, just make me sick and the more I do it, the less sick I'll get." Ami reassures as though that is supposed to be reassuring. "Look, I know all the safety stuff. I'm only eating a general one that will make me throw up. The more deadly ones I'm applying to my skin to cause a rash." She placates, and it is not working.
"Not budging," I tell her, and she rolls her eyes again, and I feel very upset.
"I'll do it with or without you." Ami then says, and I pause. Could I really even stop her? Who exactly can I tell? Yataka maybe? Or Hazuki? I couldn't tell Koharu. Something tells me she would only encourage it.
"How exactly can you know that it won't kill you?" I ask with narrowed eyes.
"I'm glad you asked!" Ami exclaims and pulls me to the couch to begin a long lecture as to why she chose this first poison as her baseline. "I used a hydrangea base mixture because it is among the most common 'cover poisons' out there. Though not deadly unless in a high dose, it turns into a cyanide variety poison with various symptoms. Though easy to treat, the effects are rather quick, but that is not what poison experts use it for!" Ami begins to explain, and I just stare because, she thinks telling me she wants to drink low levels of cyanide is going to make me let her drink that stuff? Is she insane?
"Ami…" I begin to say, but she cuts me off.
"Poison experts use it to throw off what poison they really are using due to how vast the range of symptoms are to hide other symptoms or to make other poisons more deadly. It's also very versatile, being able to be both a liquid and a gas." Ami begins to lecture. I am beginning to think that she just wants to show off and is no longer trying to convince me.
"Ami, I don't want you to drink poison. You could… well, who knows what you could do! You could die!" I interrupt, and Ami frowns.
"Google-eyes, do you really think that it's any more dangerous than what being a ninja will be like?" Ami asks, and I pause. A ninja, huh? Right sometimes I can almost forget that Ami is going to be one too. I can forget even though she constantly talks about the academy and poisons. Or, instead, I can choose to forget.
"No… but that doesn't mean that…." I begin to say, but Ami crosses her arms and sits down next to me.
"If I am a good poison expert, won't I be safer as a ninja than if I have no skill at all?" Ami asks, and I feel weird. Ami isn't usually the reasonable one between the two of us. She is usually the hard-headed one that jumps in without thinking, while I am usually the one with the forethought. "I'm going to do this, with or without you." She says, brown eyes narrowing as she fiddles with her skirt's purple fabric, now losing some of that confidence. "I know what I'm doing. Just… just trust me, ok?" Ami says and gets up, grabbing two cups of tea and, with a great deal of precision with the help of a dew-dropper, places a drop of the poison in each one and hands one to me before taking a sip of hers. I look at the swirling liquid. I make my decision and take a sip.
You have been Poisoned!
New Skill!
Poison Resistance Proficiency Level 1
The ability to resist the effects of poisons in general from varying degrees is based on the advancement of the poison. General resistance lessens poison effect by 0.25% per level. Current ability resistance 0.25%
I need to trust Ami. After all, I am not the only Kunoichi to be in this house. Ironically I hate tea but I am going to probably be drinking a lot more of it. Maybe I can get some coffee or hot chocolate instead? The mundane thought soothes me somewhat as I look at Ami. Does she survive all of what's to come?