Yakyuu-baka and I sat accross Shamal in the doctor's living room. The homeowner put three cups of hot espressos on the coffee table and sighed, stating his trademark motto, "I actually only treat women."

I rolled my eyes, bored, and Yakyuu-baka chuckled lightly while Shamal continued, "But since the Don of Vongola asked me himself, and that Hibari kid was glaring at me for answering the don's summon late which resulted in me interrupting his tightly-scheduled meeting with the don.."

I groaned, "Get to the point already, Shamal."

Shamal looked at me lazily and sighed again, "Okay then," he took a cup in his hands, "How did you get the cut?"

I leaned back on the leather sofa, "The tip of a knife thrown at me by my last hit." My last hit. A few months of being pulled out from missions felt like years already.

"Is it poisoned?" Shamal put a cube of sugar in his drink.

I shook my head, "Nope. I remembered the knife being dry, and while that's not very assuring, the thirty something doctors and their labs I have been forced to visit didn't find any kind of toxin in my system. They have also done numerous physical examinations and tests.. They concluded that I am perfectly healthy."

"Aside from the tiny bloody cut in your finger," Yamamoto took a sip from his milk-flooded beverage.

Shamal nodded, "Treatments?"

"Bandages, lots of them, all kinds of wound-healing remedies possible.. The chinese brat and her arcobaleno master even tried some herbal-thingies," I shuddered at the thought of the painful side effects from some of the most desperate tries, "And a certain surgery gone wrong."

Shamal snorted, "Yeah, I heard. The one that widened your cut because the stitch holes, too, emitted blood, and in the end made things worse?" He shook his head with pity, "Poor surgeon."

"Poor ME," I corrected as Yakyuu-baka left to get more coffee. Looking down, I griefed upon the expanding bandage on my pointer finger, which was currently mummified into thrice it's original size. Oh, and speaking of the bandage, it would need to be replaced soon. In a few hours, this fat lump of cloth would have turned scarlet, wet with blood.

"Yeah, yeah," Shamal giggled, "You've been taking supplements to compensate for your bloodloss, right?"

"Yeah," that reminded me, I haven't taken any since God-knows-when. I shrugged, that could be taken care of later, right now, there are more important things that have been bugging me, "Oi, Shamal. What do you think of permanently sealing my wounds? I mean, maybe with a plate of metal.. or Juudaime's zero point breakthrough?"

Shamal frowned, "I don't think that's a good idea.. I mean, it might work. It might even enable you to carry out missions again, but what if you get more cuts? Are you planning to cover your whole body with iron? Or ice, for that matter?"

I winced, "I guess you're right."

Shamal sighed, "Have you had any.. unstoppable bleeding before in your life? Before this cut? Are you genetically haemophilic?"

"Aneki said this kind of 'incident' never happened in my childhood, either," I shook my head in response, "And noone's blood in my family ever had problems clotting properly. Well, except mine right now."

Shamal nodded again, "Then.. is there any difference, any at all, of this cut from the cuts you've got before?"

I dug my memories. From the fight against Belphegor alone, I should've tasted the blade of a few hundred knives, and they felt no different, so, "Nope."

Shamal spent a few minutes staring at his coffee, thinking hard, "How about the treatment? Any different?"

"Nope, like I said. Just the old, good banda-" I halted.

Shamal caught my hesitation, "What? What is it?"

I said, not sure what to make of what I've just realized, "Baka-onna.. She had treated all my wounds for over a decade."

Shamal's jaw dropped a little in surprise. Yakyuu-baka came with a pot of just-brewed coffee and immediately joined the interrogation, "Umm, did her.. methods.. of treating wounds not similar with the common method?"

"No," I shook my head slowly and turned to Shamal, "I taught her with the guide from one of your medical books."

Shamal stayed quiet, but Yakyuu-baka pushed, "Completely? No deviation at all from the guide? At all?"

I turned my head again, preparing to shout a loud 'NO' to Yakyuu-baka. But I stopped halfway.

No way. Impossible. It doesn't make sense at all.

The kiss.

"You sure you don't want me to wait?" Yakyuu-baka spinned the stirring wheel left and stole a glance at me, "I'm totally fine with waiting, you know. I'll give you a ride home."

"For the thirteenth time, Yakyuu-baka!" I growled, tired, "I don't need the ride. Drop me and go home, for Vongola's sake!"

The idiot gave me a look full of doubt, but he pulled the car in front of the cemetery gate.