They made it to the caves, and Katsuhirou will now begin recovery. Please reference EK's excellent Intensive Care Unit and Tenshi for the details and general plotline of Heihachi's recovery. Obviously, some of the specifics of the plotline will be different, esp. for Tenshi, but the basic medical situation and the relationship between Honoka and Heihachi is maintained.

As with any of these stories, I own none of Samurai 7, so don't sue me.

The Lord of the Rice

Recovery, Night 1

They'd been waiting for about an hour when a doctor dressed in scrubs came out to meet them.

The doctor scanned his clipboard again before beginning. "It looks like he's going to make it: you managed to get him here just in time. Assuming he makes it through tonight, there shouldn't be any problems. Even so, it'll probably be a couple days before he wakes up, and there will be a recovery period. He won't be in any danger at that point, and there shouldn't be any long term side affects, but he won't have any strength at first, and it'll take several days for most of it to return.

As I mentioned, tonight is the most critical time, and we need someone there to provide some kind of stimulation: touching him, speaking to him, etc. He won't consciously realize it, of course, but it should provide just enough to keep him with us."

Kirara answered firmly, "I'll do it."

The doctor looked at her. Unlike the strong-arming it took to convince Honoka to watch the other samurai, it looked like they'd almost have to give this on a sedative to get her to leave before he came around. "Fine. As soon as we're done here, a nurse will come and show you what you need to do. We put him in the same room with the other samurai, and it looks like one person should be able to watch them both after tonight."

"Other samurai?" Kirara asked for them all.

The doctor flipped through a few sheets on his clipboard. "Oh, didn't they tell you? We had a small observation and rescue team in the area, and they found a samurai on the capital engine. It seems he was trapped under a large piece of debris of some kind and bleeding heavily. They immediately rushed him back here, and we did some initial surgery. He still hasn't come around yet, but it looks like he's going to make it, although he'll have a long recovery and some serious disabilities. Mizuki-san is watching him at the moment, and I'm sure she'd enjoy some company."

"Wow! That's great! We had no idea. Katsuhirou-sama will be incredibly relieved! He was really upset after he couldn't find Heihachi-sama's body this morning," Kirara answered with enthusiasm.

"Sorry about that. The situation was highly critical, so they didn't have time to give you any notice," the doctor answered apologetically.

"That's ok. We're just glad it looks like he's going to survive."

"Good. Ah, here's the nurse now. She'll take care of arranging all the details," he finished, gesturing to a middle-aged woman who had walked in as they finished.

"Who's going to be watching the boy?" the nurse asked gruffly.

"I will," Kirara answered.

"Anyone else?"

Shino glanced nervously at Kirara. "I suppose I will, but not until later."

"Fine. You can both follow me, and I'll train you at the same time," She turned to Kanbei and Shichirouji. "You can leave. I'll make sure the girls get taken care of."

They samurai stood there a moment too long.

"I said I got it covered. Go, get some rest, quit cluttering up my waiting room," she said, dismissing them with a wave of her hand. She quickly turned and walked down a hall. "Follow me, girls."

"Yes, ma'am," they answered crisply, following her at once.

As the women turned a corner, Kanbei spoke to Shichirouji. "Well, it looks like we might as well go. Stop by Honoka's house and drop our things off. Kirara's going to be sleeping in late, so I'll make sure I don't schedule anything before 1."

"But…"

"Just go home for the night. It may be the last time we're here for a while, and I wouldn't want to face Yukino's wrath if I kept you here for no good reason."

"Wise man, although, if I were you, I'd be a lot more worried about what Kirara-dono might dream up," he said lightly, ignoring the glare from Kanbei. "Anyway, let's get going."

At that moment, the girls followed the nurse into the room. A tired looking Mizuki looked up at the noise, and, upon recognizing Kirara, smiled, jumped up, and embraced the older girl. "Kirara-san! I'm so glad to see you again!"

Kirara returned the embrace, if with somewhat less enthusiasm. "It's good to see you, too, Mizuki-chan. How's Heihachi-sama doing?"

"Well, he seems a little better. Last night was really tough, and nee-san was so exhausted after watching him she said she nearly collapsed on the way home. You really need to ask someone else, though. Oh, and who's that with you?"

"Shino-chan. She's an old friend of mine from Kanna. Shino-chan, this is Mizuki-chan. She's one of the girls we rescued from the capital with Sanae-san. We'll be staying with her and her sister Honoka-san while we're here."

"Enough," the nurse interrupted. "You girls can talk all you want later. Right now, I'm going to show you how to take care of both of the patients. Now, if you'll just step over here, I'll start by showing you how to use this unit."

The explanation went on for about 20 minutes. Neither of the girls had any difficulty understanding what she was explaining, but the nurse had them demonstrate each point to prove it. "You'll do, I suppose. I imagine you'll get hungry sometime while you're here. To get to the cafeteria, go out of the room, turn right, go until the hall Ts, turn right again, and it's just ahead. The food isn't very good, but it's nutritious. Anyway, it's the end of my shift, so you can ask Irusuka-san who works the next shift if you have any questions," she turned and left.

Just as she left, Honoka walked in---and stopped. "Kirara-dono? What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Honoka-san," Kirara answered. "Katsuhirou-sama breathed some poison gas when he was scouting the wreckage of the capital this morning, and we barely go him here in time. They say that if he survives the night, he should make a full recovery. At least for now, we'll be helping you and Mizuki-chan watch them. Kanbei-sama and Shichirouji-sama came as well. I hope you don't mind if we stay at your house for a few days."

"That should be fine. We can really use the help. By the way, who is this with you?"

"Shino-chan. She's an old friend of mine from Kanna."

Shino bowed lightly toward the sisters. They looked similar, but the older one had different hair and a harder look about her. "I'm glad to meet you. Thank you so much for allowing us to stay at your house. I hope we won't be an inconvenience."

Honoka replied first. "Pleased to meet you as well."

"Nee-san, Kirara-dono says she'll be staying here with you tonight. Should I show Shino-san the way to our place?" Mizuki asked.

"Yes, do that. Shino-san, go with Mizuki. She'll show you where our house is, and where you can sleep for the night. I'll come and wake you and Mizuki up when it's time for you to come."

"Let's go, Shino-san. I'll show you the easy way to get to our place," Mizuki said enthusiastically.

Mizuki led the way. After waiting until she was clearly out of earshot, she asked, "Shino-san, is Kirara-dono doing better?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she looked kinda discouraged when they left to take on the capital. I was hoping she'd be in a better mood by now," the younger girl responded.

"I don't know. I didn't have a chance to talk to her before we set out for here, and we spent the whole trip keeping Katsuhiro-sama awake. Why, what was she upset about?" Shino responded.

"I'm not quite sure. The whole situation with Sanae-san and Rikichi-san upset her, but I don't think that was the biggest thing. I didn't see it, but there must have been some disagreement between Katsuhirou-sama and Kanbei-sama. Anyway, what I did see was Katsuhirou-sama running out of the Firefly with Kirara-san chasing after him. Not too long later, she came back alone, looking pretty discouraged. Yukino-san must have thought something like that was going to happen because she was waiting for Kirara-san when she arrived. I didn't hear what she said, but Yukino-san tried to cheer her up," Mizuki paused. "I don't think it worked, though, because we had to leave right away."

"She chased after Katsuhirou-sama?"

"Yea. Everyone could tell he had a big crush on her, but I think she just didn't want to notice. I never did understand why she'd chase him, though. After all, I think she's interested in Kanbei-sama. She definitely wasn't interested in Katsuhirou-sama. There must be something going on I don't know about."

Shino took a moment to think. If what Mizuki said was true, things were making a lot more sense. Still, it would be nice to get Kirara to answer a few questions. "Well, if you're right, that would explain a few things. Kirara is rather private, so she usually doesn't share much with me even if there is time. Still, even though they were pointedly ignoring each other, I saw Kirara-chan and Kanbei-sama stealing glances at each other the entire way here. I think she feels somewhat responsible for Katsuhirou-sama since she recruited him when he was completely inexperienced and innocent of battle."

"Interesting," Mizuki said. She opened the door to show Shino in. "Anyway, we're here. The samurai should have put your things in here somewhere."

Shino walked in and saw her pack in a corner. "Do you think I could use your fire pit to cook something? We didn't have time to stop today, and we're rather hungry."

"Oh, sure, go right ahead. In fact, let me go check. Nee-san usually leaves some for me, and there should be enough for us all," Mizuki said, turning toward the cooking area.

Shino followed. As intuitive as Mizuki was with people, she seemed as unskilled in the kitchen. "Mind if I take a look at that?" Shino asked.

"Sure," Mizuki answered, readily handing the spoon over.

"I think I'll just make a couple minor additions. Are there some bowls to serve it in?"

"Uhhhh. Ah, here they are," Mizuki answered, handing them to Shino.

"Shino-san, can you make sure Kirara-dono comes back as soon as you take over? I'm planning on scheduling a meeting with the Shikimoribito for about 1pm, and she'll need to be there," Kanbei asked.

"I can try, but she looked pretty set on staying there when I left a little bit ago. If Katsuhirou-sama's condition has improved, though, I should be able to talk her into it. What are you negotiating, anyway?"

"The fuel cells will need to be removed and hauled off. The ones that are in good condition shouldn't be too much of a problem, but the damaged ones could cause serious problems if they aren't attended to soon. Especially since it sounds like the main engine compartment is relatively undamaged, you should end up with a substantial payment even after clean up costs are included."

"Is this just a preliminary agreement? Won't it be hard to figure out everything without knowing more?"

"Yes, this is just the initial bargaining phase. I'm sure the final settlement won't be reached until after the work is complete."

"I thought so. I expect dad will help with the negotiations once you reach Kanna. He'll probably wring every possible yen out of them if I know him. I doubt I'd be any help here since I don't know anything about fuel cells."

"He's a good trader?"

"Definitely. He's way better than anyone else in Kanna, and many of the other farmers already have him trade their rice for them. In fact, with the nobuseri out of the way, he may even expand to neighboring villages. He could probably make a very good living at it if he wanted to move to Kougakyo and do it full time."

Kanbei looked surprised. "You really think he's that good?"

"Of course. He is rather cowardly and isn't a particularly good farmer, but he makes up for it with his trading."

"I'll keep that in mind. I doubt he knows much about fuel cells and the like, but it is always good to work with someone skilled."

Shino cleaned up as they finished. "I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight."

In the hospital, the two young women watched their respective charges and, somewhat surprisingly since there was nothing else to do, talked very little.

Toward the end of her shift, Irusuka-san checked in on the samurai and their watchers. Honoka was watching Heihachi as she had. It looked like she was starting to soften, though: she radiated little of the hostility toward him she had even a day earlier. She looked just as stubborn as she had, though. The other girl looked exhausted, but she didn't appear ready to quit any time soon. She knocked softly. "Hi. I'm just going to check the samurai over before my shift ends. Honoka-san, do you mind if I check Heihachi first?"

"Go right ahead," she said as she looked up.

The nurse checked him. "He seems to be doing a lot better. Would you agree?"

"Yes, he seems to be resting much more comfortably now."

Irusuka nodded to herself. Whatever Honoka had against this particular samurai, it certainly wasn't going to last if she kept caring for him. "Good. We shouldn't need to check on him more than about once an hour unless something comes up. Now, I'm going to take a look at our other patient," she said, turning toward Katsuhirou. "Hi, I'm Irusuka, the head night shift nurse."

"Hi. I'm Kirara. I'm from Kanna. I'm pleased to meet you."

The girl hadn't identified herself as anything other than someone from Kanna, but the way she carried herself argued that she was more than that. She shrugged mentally; that wasn't her concern at the moment. "Good to meet you Kirara-san. I'm just going to check a few things here," she replied, turning to look at Katsuhirou. The check only took a couple minutes. "It looks like he's going to be fine. He checks out just as the doctor noted he should. He'll probably be sleeping normally for another day while his body starts to recover, though. Ladies, it looks like both your patients are doing well. I'm sure the doctor will be by to make a more thorough check sometime this morning. Unless something changes, you'll only need on person to watch them both."

"Thank you," Kirara said, answering for them both.

"Well, I'll be going then. Have a good day," Irusuka said, leaving.

Honoka spoke. "Do you mind if I go get Shino-san to replace us? I'd like to let Mizuki sleep a while longer since she's pretty tired from the last couple days."

"No, go ahead. I'll stay until Shino-san gets here."

Shino woke up to someone shaking her. "Shino-san, wake up," the voice said. It was dark, so it couldn't be time to get up yet. She tried to roll over. "Shino-san, wake up," the voice repeated more firmly with more vigorous shaking.

"Huh?" she said dumbly as she started to wake up. She opened her eyes in dim light to see a young woman with light-colored hair rousing her: Honoka.

"Shino-san, you need to get up so you can go relieve Kirara-dono," Honoka said.

She was about to say it was still dark when she realized she was in the caves. Cursed caves, anyway! She hadn't even been here a day, and she already hated them. "Oh," she responded rather dumbly. She definitely wasn't fully awake yet.

"I'll go get you a little something to eat. The wash pan's over in the corner. The restroom is just in back of the house."

Shino just nodded and slowly moved to get up. Honoka moved to the kitchen to prepare something simple.

"How are they doing," Shino asked as she ate.

"Irusuka-san said Katsuhirou-sama is doing well. He'll probably sleep another day before he wakes up, though. The other one seems to be doing better than he had been."

Shino noticed the difference in the way she mentioned the samurai. Clearly, there was something about Heihachi-sama she didn't like, but it wasn't obvious what it was. "That's great! Is there going to be much to do there most of the time?"

"No, it'll probably be very boring."

"Do you think it would be ok if I took my knitting supplies along and worked on it? I'm way behind on a few new pair of tabi for my family."

"That sounds good. You won't have anything else to do most of the time, anyway. Do you remember how to get there?"

"Yes. Mizuki-chan showed me last night."

"Have a good day."

"You, too. I hope you sleep well."

Notes

I was thinking of going further with this, but I wanted to get this chapter posted before Christmas. The next chapter should have somewhat more exciting things happening.

Tabi: socks you wear with sandals.