Title: ARR! (#006)
Author: Blue and Red
Characters/Pairings: Inui, slight Tezuka/Echizen
Word count: 1396
Summary: In which Echizen has to recover under Inui's TLC.
Author's notes (Blue): Personally, if Inui were my doctor, I think I'd rather take my chances... Though juices of his are scary! Some Tezuka/Echizen here if you look carefully... Red and I like to keep our options open... ;)
Oh, and if you're interested in how the pirates from other ships are doing, do check out our other story "A Countryside Sojourn" which features none other but Rikkai!
Echizen hurt. Pain was the first thing that registered when he opened his eyes. Right after that, large hands gently lifted his head and tipped some oddly tasteless mixture down his throat. The pain subsided somewhat but the resulting drowsiness made it no easier to think. So Echizen drifted in and out of consciousness, alternating between brief stabs of pain when he woke fully and the drugged relief accompanied by drowsiness that invariably followed.
Sometimes, in the period of hazy sleepiness, he thought he felt firm hands with long, capable fingers on his body, stroking his hair and cheeks — hands like he dreamt of almost every time he slept now. Once or twice, he thought he saw the flash of light bouncing of glasses. On one occasion, he managed to creak out, "Tezuka-senchou?" but sleep claimed him and he never heard the answer.
When he fully regained consciousness, however, it wasn't Tezuka he first saw but rather the ship's doctor. Inui was busy scribbling into a large notebook, mumbling, "Yes. Yes."
"Inui-sempai?" His voice was rough from the lack of use.
"There was an 87 chance that you would awaken today. How are you feeling?"
Echizen attempted to sit up straight and failed miserably. "Ready to get out of here."
Light glinted off Inui's spectacles. "I thought you might say that. Fortunately, I have prepared a little something that will help you—"
Golden eyes widened. Echizen shook his head frantically and promptly lay flat on the bed from his semi-propped up position.
Inui swirled a blue liquid in its flask. "Hm. You've been out for more than a week, and the injury in your side hasn't fully recovered. To be expected, of course. I don't predict that you'll be able to walk around until tomorrow. Are you sure you don't want—"
"No."
"Very well. Just to let you know, we've docked at Port Gray — a pirate haven of sorts. We'll be staying here for some time." Inui pushed his glassed further up his nose. "You will accompany me tomorrow to see another physician. I'm afraid that we don't have the resources on Seigaku to ensure a full recovery."
Echizen made a noncommittal noise and rolled over gingerly. Correctly interpreting it as a sign that Echizen wanted to be left alone, Inui moved towards the door. Before he left though, he said quietly, "The crew is grateful that you saved the captain's life. There is a 99 chance that someone else will visit you within the hour, and the odds are that Tezuka himself will be here."
"Mmm."
The cabin boy buried his face in the solid feather pillow and didn't stir even after the door closed behind the bespectacled man. The door opened again so softly minutes later that he didn't even realise he had a visitor until it threw itself on top of him.
"Mreow!"
Karupin nuzzled the back of the cabin boy's head, demanding attention but Echizen only had eyes for the man who had just stepped into the room.
"Kaidoh thought it might do Karupin some good to visit. He claims he's been irritable of late."
Businesslike, Tezuka walked to the sick bed and rolled his cabin boy over so he lay on his back. Echizen didn't reply; it was surreal lying there idly scratching the underside of a purring Karupin's chin whilst Tezuka-senchou fluffed his pillows. Half of his mind wasn't sure this wasn't all a hallucination perhaps caused by some concoction Inui might have forced down his throat. Certainly he didn't doubt the doctor's ability to brew some narcotic that might—
"Does it still hurt? When you lie like this."
Tezuka placed a hand on Echizen's midriff. Later the cabin boy would tell himself it was the resulting stab of pain that had made him start, not the feel of that hand touching him so gently, and yet with the authoritative weight of possession. Whatever the reason, the captain of Seigaku caught the movement and removed his hand. Pulling out a small bottle from a pocket, he uncorked it.
"Sorry. Here, Inui says this will take the pain away."
"No!" The word was blurted out before Echizen could stop himself. Tezuka frowned and the cabin boy quickly rephrased his words. "I mean, no thank you, Senchou. It doesn't hurt that much."
Truth be told, the cabin boy didn't appreciate losing control over his body and he wanted to be awake for whatever came next. The frown didn't quite go away but Tezuka corked the bottle again and sat down on the edge of the bunk.
"Echizen… You did very well back on the merchant ship. You have my thanks."
If it had been anyone else, they would have received the trademark Echizen Ryoma "Mada mada dane". Tezuka got a very quiet, "You're welcome."
"Now, you have to drink this. Doctor's orders."
As Tezuka poured the mixture down Echizen's throat, a hand buried in silky dark locks to lift his head, he disclosed another tidbit of information.
"Your probation's over. You are the permanent cabin boy of Seigaku."
"Mada mada dane." And then Echizen fell asleep.
Poke. Poke. "Wake up, Echizen."
He felt himself being lifted and draped over someone's back. Huh… Not Senchou. Tezuka was like sea and sunshine, but this person smelt quite fishy. Literally. Inui, then.
Still feeling sleepy, Echizen dozed lightly. He didn't, however, notice when Inui stepped off the comforting back-and-forth swaying of the ship onto the solid, wooden planks of a dock, and later the hot, dusty soil of a road.
After some time, Inui nudged him. "Can you stand on your own, Echizen? I would like to find out if my friend is around."
When he rested his feet on the ground, his legs nearly buckled, but Inui steadied him. The doctor guided him to a post and Echizen leaned on it while Inui rapped a certain beat on the door of the house they were in front of.
In the short interval between then and when the door opened, Inui made a mental note. Echizen unable to stand properly. Most likely due to lack of exercise. Natural athleticism allows him to regain use of limbs quickly.
"Ah, Sadaharu." A voice interrupted Inui's train of thought. "I expected you sooner. Seigaku did dock a few days ago."
"I had a patient, Renji. I hope you don't mind that I brought him along. Even so," a small smile grew on Inui's face, "it's good to see you again."
The man Inui called "Renji" turned to face Echizen, who felt distinctly uncomfortable. Renji's eyes were merely slits – a bit like Fuji's, but the tensai's eyes seemed to be smiling. For this friend of Inui's, there was more of a sensation that he didn't need his eyes; that he could see everything without opening them.
"Salutations. You must be a new member of of Tezuka's crew."
Echizen did not offer more information.
Inui recited, "Echizen Ryoma. Fifteen years old. Seigaku's new cabin boy. He was injured in the last skirmish we had; although I have set him on the road to recovery, I'd like you to take another look at him."
Nothing was visibly processed on Renji's countenance, but he took a step back into the house — a gesture of invitation. Although his side hurt like crazy, Echizen shuffled through the door without assistance. He did not like the stranger.
The sun was setting when they left Yanagi Renji's house. Echizen still wasn't too fond of him, though he had to admit that Yanagi's methods were somewhat preferable to Inui's. The Seigaku doctor's remedies were remarkably circuitous and never seemed to pinpoint the problem, while Yanagi's prescribed regimen felt more effective to Echizen.
"We complement each other well." Was that wistfulness he could hear in Inui's voice? "It is a pity that he is a doctor on Rikkai."
"Isn't that another pirate ship?"
"A rival of Seigaku's," confirmed Inui. "There are times when life pits friends against each other."
Echizen wasn't sure how he ought to respond to that; it wasn't something he was too concerned about.
"Hm. Anyway, we're spending the night in town." As he said that, light glinted off his glasses. Echizen felt a wave of impending doom wash over him.
It only got worse when he saw that the sign reading "Welcome to Port Gray" was missing an "r"…