Once again, thanks to my reviewers, although a lot of you decided not to come back... oh well. I'm still glad people are enjoying this fic ...insert obligatory disclaimer here. Also, happy late birthday to Ranma! Haha, this fic is an excuse for not buying you guys real gifts!
-X-
Mao stopped cowering from against the opposite wall to Rei and drew herself up to her full, professional, not-very-impressive height. Rei was still about a head taller than her, but she appreciated that it made her look a little less pathetic.
"I came here because you still need medical attention. It is my job to ensure that the people of this village stay safe and healthy. And running off in the middle of the night surely did you no good, judging by the state your bandages are in."
Rei looked over his shoulder towards the cloth that was bound around his torso, and saw that she was right; when the dressing had first been applied, it had been pure white. It was now a father nauseous-looking grey colour, albeit a few patches of blood from where particularly bad cuts had once again begun to bleed from the physical strain running back to his home had put on them.
"Now, there's one thing I'd like to ask you," Mao said softly, leaving Rei feeling rather patronized, "Why did you run away?"
Rei hesitated, wondering if she should really know why the town, the surgery, and generally the whole surrounding area made him feel uneasy. Although it was really the key to her better understanding his situation, it wasn't something he felt ready to casually share with his physician.
"The town just makes me nervous... and the longer I stay there, the more danger I feel I'm in."
Mao nodded, and grabbed the bag full of medical supplies from where she had dropped it when she had entered the room. She opened it, and dug through its contents until she found the small jar of antibacterial cream, scissors and clean bandages. Rei watched her cautiously the whole time, having been unnerved by her sudden intrusion. When he had left, he had tried to send them the message that he felt he didn't need help, but unfortunately, Mao apparently hadn't wanted to let him live by his own remedies. As the pink-haired woman righted her posture and tossed her hair back over her shoulder, he quickly averted his gaze from her.
"Sit up straight, please," Mao instructed, and Rei did as he was told, reaching behind his head to grab his hair and hold it away from his body as a force of habit. Mao gratefully dropped everything but the scissors onto the end of Rei's bed, and sat down next to him, ready to cut the old bandages away from his flesh. It then occurred to her that Rei's bed must have been designed for a child, because there was barely enough room for both of them to sit on it. Judging on the way Rei had half been hanging off the end of the bed when she'd come in, and the worn, tattered state of its wooden supports, it must have been at least fifteen or twenty years old.
Mao parted the scissors' and slid the top of the bandages between the two separated blades, violently hacking away at the matted cloth. Rei regarded her silently, apart from the occasional uncomfortable snuffle when the cold metal brushed against his skin. Mao felt rather uncomfortable with this silence, so she decided to try and make conversation.
"So... do you live here alone?"
A slight hesitation preceded Rei's reply. "Yes. I was orphaned when I was four years old, just a few months after my family came to this village from our hometown."
"Truly?" Mao suddenly reached the bottom of the bandages and eased the cloth away from his body, shuddering when Rei hissed as the cloth came away from his weeping cuts. "My parents died when I was three, from a terrible fever... I would have died if I didn't have my brother. How could you stand being alone for that long?"
"I couldn't."
Mao became aware that this was becoming an uncomfortable topic for Rei, so she decided to change the subject. "Do you have any idea why they came after you?"
"I assume it was the same reason as last time."
"They've come after you more than once?" Mao asked, grabbing the small bottle of antiseptic cream, and gesturing for Rei to lie facedown on the bed. He followed her command and craned his neck over his shoulder, so that he could face her while he was answering. "Only once or twice more. This was the first time they've ever attempted to physically harm me. The other times it was just the usual... you're bad luck, you bring misfortune..."
Mao was once again stunned by his sincerity. Many of the people she had treated looked down upon her as an inferior, a servant to their every medical whim. Perhaps it was only the fact that they were both looked down upon by their society, but Mao felt a mutual level of trust between herself and Rei. Maybe it was only the fact that they held their social status common to the other's... but Rei seemed like the most sincere person she knew, but sincerity is nothing without honour. Yet, he was the rare sort of person that she felt would keep any secret she told, honour any pledge...
Rei's form took up the entire bed. She'd either have to sit on top of him or perform the entire task standing.
She smeared the cream across her fingertips and stared at Rei's torn flesh, wondering exactly where she should start. Because the cuts nearest to his shoulders and arms would undoubtedly give him the most trouble, she decided to start there to give him a little relief from the pain. Being as gentle as was physically possible, Mao brushed the ointment evenly across the wound. The tension in Rei's muscles increased dramatically as he tried to cope with the pain from his wounds, even though the pressure Mao was applying to his skin was only small. Mao halted her progress, and looked towards Rei's face.
"I'm not hurting you, am I?"
Although Rei knew it was only common courtesy, he felt somewhat brightened by Mao's concern. "I'll say this; you're certainly not hurting me as much as the pain of the cuts was before you arrived."
Mao nodded approvingly, grabbing the small jar again and once again smearing her fingers with the ointment. "I'm glad it's helping, even though it is only a small improvement... as long as we keep applying this cream to the cuts, the scarring won't be nearly as bad as it would have been, had you been left unattended."
"I have a feeling that if I'd been left unattended, I'd probably be dead," Rei said lightly, gritting his teeth violently when Mao plastered the salve over the more disfigured flesh on his back. Mao evened out the latest addition to the layer of cream that she was daubing his back with, and decided to not reply. There were questions she wanted the answers to about his life, how he had lived by himself for so long... but she knew that would be intrusive into his private life. However, the small amount of girlish curiosity in her mind was getting the better of her, and before she could get control of it, her mouth was open and she was asking him.
"If you don't mind me asking..." Mao started, waiting for a signal from her patient, willing for her to continue. Rei tilted his head over his shoulder and looked at her, golden eyes filled with inquisitiveness.
"How did you manage to live out here by yourself for so many years? You were only young when your parents died... how did a four-year-old manage to keep himself alive? You don't have to answer if you don't want to," Mao said hurriedly, noticing the look of increasing unwillingness on Rei's face.
Rei shut his eyes, thinking back over the details of his life. Most of the details would undoubtedly incriminate him, but this was the only negative impact that could come out of telling her how he had manage to stay alive. He sighed, feeling Mao's curious gaze on him hopefully.
"After my parents died... I continued to stay in this house. For a while I just ate what was already here, and drank from the stream near here... I assume you saw it on your way here." Mao nodded, urging Rei to continue. "After that... everything I ate was pretty much off the trees around here, or stolen... most of my clothes were too, actually, but now I'm old enough to be wearing old things my father used to wear, so theft of clothing isn't really a prerequisite of my life anymore."
"And the food?" Mao asked uncertainly, vaguely aware that this time when she began to massage the balm into his skin, he didn't flinch.
"I have to eat," Rei replied. "And may I just say that I am in no way proud of what I've had to do to keep myself alive. It was most probably a waste anyway, seeing that if the townspeople come after me again, I may end up dead."
"You really shouldn't think like that, Rei," Mao said, carefully surveying his back for any spots she had accidentally missed smothering in the antibacterial cream. "In the world, they say that there is always two people who love you so much they'd die for you."
"They're both gone now..." Rei sighed, "And there are too many degrees and descriptions of the word 'love' in the world. I think it really has become meaningless."
"I couldn't say," Mao responded, stretching her legs and leaning over the bed to snatch the bandages from near Rei's right foot. "The only person I've ever felt any sort of love for is my brother. My parents died so early in my life and had so little to do with us as children in general that them passing away seemed almost... unremarkable to me, as cruel as that may sound. I will never feel romantic love, because all the Healers in the village, since the beginning of medicinal treatments of ailments, have been married to their work..."
"A shame, really," Rei interrupted, regarding her with a look of amusement.
"What is?" Mao asked, offering Rei her arm in order to help him sit up so she could reapply the bandages.
"That you'll never feel what it is to love someone," Rei smiled up at her, keeping a firm grip on her arm.
"And why is that?" Mao asked unsurely, feeling heat rise to her face at the way Rei's hold on her arm softened as he regained his balance.
"I have extremely good reason to believe that the statement you just made will eventually become untrue." Mao's incomprehension became apparent on her face, so Rei decided to clarify what he meant. "Just because you aren't allowed to display love doesn't mean you'll never feel it."
"I don't understand..." Mao whispered, the look on Rei's face seemingly locking her in place.
"You say you're not allowed to fall in love, but do you really think that anything can stop you? You're the only person in the world who knows how you feel inside. So wouldn't it be more appropriate to say you're allowed to fall in love, but never show it?"
"I suppose so..." Mao mused, and realized he was right. Rei released her arm and she sat down on the bed beside him and started the long task of reapplying the bandages to his injured form. Rei snuffled softly every time she recoated a particularly sensitive spot, but he gradually became used to the pain, and it grew slighter and slighter with every layer of bandages she put on. Eventually she sat back, satisfied with her effort, and nodded happily at Rei.
"This new dressing should last until the next time I see you, Rei."
"I see..." Rei murmured, getting to his feet carefully and accustoming himself to the feel of the new bonds. "And when will you be coming to see me next?"
"How about this time next week, in the afternoon? That is, assuming your bandages stay in a relatively good state of wear..." Mao smirked, and got to her feet.
"I don't appreciate that implication, thanks," Rei said drolly, folding his arms.
"I realized," Mao smiled at Rei and walked towards the door. "I'll see you next week, Rei."
Rei nodded, and Mao disappeared around the doorframe and down the stairs. Rei waited until the front door clicked shut behind the pink-haired woman. He then collapsed back against his bed, eyes closed, preparing himself for the usual, lonely week to pass by.
-X-
For both Mao and Rei, the following week proceeded with as much normality as it could have possibly suffered. Mao dealt with screaming children, anxious parents and Lee's incessant complaints about the patients he dealt with, and that she, a female, was treating Rei, a male, and that it should be left up to him. She felt her brother was too cautious, and as a refreshing change as compared to how she usually felt about having to visit her patients, she was actually looking forward to seeing Rei again. Rei dealt with lying on his bed, feeling particularly lonely after Lee and Mao's company for the two days beforehand, and generally waiting for Mao to come back. Although he had only know her for a brief time, it was probably the most friendly relationship he had been involved in with a human being for over ten years. Perhaps it was only this that made him so endeared to her, and the fact that she saved him, but he felt a deep attachment to her. Both of them felt their nerves being repaired as the time to see each other again drew nearer.
Mao's heart felt particularly light as she carried all of the supplies she would need to treat Rei in her arms. Her brother had been called out to visit an ailing patient, so this week she had been forced to carry all she would need manually. She wasn't as bothered by this as she had assumed she would be, probably because this week she didn't need to carry as much. She had assumed the only things she would need would be another tube of cream and more bandages, and assuming that the cuts on his back were beginning to scar, there would be no more bleeding. However, the preoccupation of her arms proved to be more of a hindrance than she had first estimated; the path to Rei's house was so overgrown with slippery grasses, and covered with fallen leaves and gnarled tree branches that she lost her balance more than once. Perhaps she just noticed the difference because the last time she had come this way, she had been paying slightly more attention.
When she reached Rei's home, the first thing Mao noticed was that, as compared to her last visit, the house seemed more secure. All the windows and doors were tightly shut, whereas last time she'd been here, one week ago, they had been left open carelessly. Although there was a certain degree of trust between most of the villagers, and the majority left their windows open and doors unlocked, even when they were out of the house. Then again, if she had been Rei, she probably would have shut herself up in the house and gladly locked all of the windows and doors, then thrown away the key.
Mao knocked on the door gently, and receiving no reply, knocked as loudly as she could and called out to Rei for added effect. After once again getting no response but silence, she assumed that Rei was out of the house, although she had no clue where he would actually have gone. Perhaps the reason he didn't hear him coming up from behind her.
"Have I kept you waiting?"
Mao smiled and spun around. Rei was standing behind her, grinning straight back at her, wearing only his usual pair of long black pants, with damp hair hanging down behind him like a heavy curtain.
"What have you been doing?" Mao inquired, pointing to his moist hair.
"Bathing, like most normal people do," Rei replied, subconsciously reaching over his shoulder to grab his hair and attempt to wring the dampness out of it. "In the stream over there." Rei waved his spare hand carelessly in the general direction of the stream that Mao had originally used a guide to find his home. A tint of pink rose to Mao's cheeks at this information, but Rei was too busy violently strangling the water out of his hair to notice.
"Most of the villagers... including myself and my brother... we get our drinking water from that stream."
Rei's eyebrow twitched upward in slight interest and he reached the ends of hair; the water that emerged from his hair probably could have easily filled a mug. "Has it ever made you sick?"
Mao shook her head slowly, and Rei smirked, amused by her embarrassment. "Then I doubt that I'm in any way bad for you." It could have just been the way he worded his answer, but Mao felt a nervous jolt run through her stomach. Her senses then came to her, and she realized that Rei had taken off his bandages in order to wash his wounds. With his eyes on her carefully the whole time, Mao stepped around him so that she was facing his back, and shifted his hair to allow herself to see his abrasions. Just as she had assumed, they had scarred over, and the majority of his skin was now nothing more than a mass of scabbing.
"How are they healing?" Rei asked quietly.
"As well as they'll ever be healing," came the reply. "And why the worried tone? Are you concerned about the quality of your skin once it's fully healed?"
"Nothing as vain as that..." Rei paused, considering how snooty he must have sounded. "I'm actually more concerned about whether it will impair my physical capabilities."
Mao frowned at the boy's back, and being excruciatingly gentle, ran her index finger down one of the deeper cuts. "I don't think there's been any muscle damage; the cuts weren't quite deep enough for that." Rei muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Sure felt deep enough to me'. Mao chose to ignore him. "If you're more worried about why it's so sore now, then you really shouldn't. These wounds will definitely take some time to heal; you shouldn't rush it."
Mao stepped back around his form to face him. "Although we could probably stop bandaging it now... I would like to just keep it protected from infection for one more week. But I don't think there's any infection, so I won't have to use the cream again."
"That's fine," Rei responded. Mao knew that today's task you be a lot easier than the previous week's; basically all she had to do was wrap the bandages around tight enough to keep them on for a week; nothing as detailed and spectacular as the last time. Rei was able to assist her this time through by holding the starting end of the bandages against his chest, whilst Mao walked steadily around him repeatedly, making sure that there would be enough layering to last him the week.
"Thank you for that," Mao said, when the length of material had been used up. She placed the full tube of cream she had brought along with her into his hand. "In case the skin breaks again, which it may, just keep this with you."
"Thank you," Rei said, looking down at the small container in his hand. Now was really the time that she should depart his company, but after both of them searched their feelings, they discovered that they didn't feel that they wanted to be left alone so soon.
"Mao, if you haven't got anything to do back in the village..." Rei hesitated as her eyes locked upon him. This did indeed sound like a desperate bid for company, but he didn't really care, as he had nothing to lose, "I'm going to see my pets now... do you want to come with me?"
Mao considered his request. She certainly didn't mind spending more time with Rei, as he seemed to be one of the more tolerable patients she'd had in her life, and she wasn't exactly looking forward to going back home to care for the intolerable ones. She could just tell Lee that Rei had required more treatment than she'd assumed, thus she had been held up with treating him.
"Yeah, I'll come with you," Mao answered, and Rei's face lit up with happiness.
"Thank you Mao... I'll go and change into something more appropriate, then..." Rei disappeared behind the front door, and Mao sat down on the front step of his house to wait for him. At this point in time, she was extremely grateful that Rei lived away from the village, as people might have grown extremely suspicious of their relationship if they had seen them together... especially for a person such as herself, who wasn't supposed to have any sort of relationship with men at all, even if it was only friendship. But, this was the point that had been bothering her the most; did they really consider it to only be a friendship of sorts?
-X-
Kind of another cliffie... don't worry; I know a lot of you will like chapter four. This chapter was too... dialogue-dependant, but hey, there had to be one. Thanks for reading, and review if you feel so inclined (or even if you don't!).