The Best Medicine

Four years ago

"So what am I thinking now?" Asked Tsuki, jumping over a shallow stream.

Her mind reading friend smiled at her. "You want more cookie dough." She answered.

"Duh!" Laughed Tsuki. "What about now?"

"Muffins."

"And now?"

"Llama…"

"And now?"

"Er… cookie dough, muffins, llamas and rice milk."

Tsuki nodded thoughtfully. She looked around at the bleak woods surrounding them.

"Where shall we go?" She asked.

Aya squinted through the trees. "That way!" She said, pointing to Tsuki's left.

Tsuki raised an eyebrow at her. "Why that way?"

Aya grinned. "Because I know what you really want," she said, grabbing Tsuki by the hand and dragging her away.

Tsuki groaned.

"Aya-chan…" She protested. "We've been walking for ages!"

Aya continued to lead her friend through the woods. "Really?" She said. "I must still be high on cookie dough; I lost track of time. We're almost there anyway."

"Where is 'there' exactly?" Asked Tsuki, struggling to keep up.

Aya smiled at Tsuki over her shoulder. "It's what you've been wanting all along…" She told her.

Tsuki frowned. "Which is?"

Aya grinned slyly and turned away.

Aya dragged the silver haired girl over a grassy embankment. Tsuki was almost unconscious from exhaustion; probably the result of all the sugar finally wearing off.

"Tsuki-chan…" Aya whispered into her dozing friend's ear.

Tsuki didn't seem to hear her, so Aya slapped her across the face.

"Wake up, biatch!" She yelled as a startled Tsuki clutched her reddening cheek. "We're here!"

Tsuki blinked and peered over the embankment. She saw a small, green, wooden building with white cloth hanging over the large open doorway. She looked back quizzically at Aya.

"This is what I wanted?" She asked. "What is it?"

Aya grinned. "A brothel…"

"WHAT!?" Screeched Tsuki, grabbing Aya by the neck and throttling her.

Aya was laughing so hard she began to cry. "Kidding!" She sobbed as Tsuki choked the life out of her. "It's not a brothel!"

Tsuki removed her hands from Aya's neck, not in the least amused. "So what is it?"

"A hospital." Answered Aya.

Tsuki started to panic. "Am I sick?" She exclaimed, testing her pulse. "Am I dying? OH MY GOD I'VE GOT CANCER, HAVEN'T I??!!"

Aya giggled. "Chlamydia, actually…" She said. "You caught it from an old man while on a sugar blackout."

Tsuki screamed. "I'VE GOT CHLAMYDIA!!!" She began to cry uncontrollably.

Aya stared at her. "I was just joking, Tsuki-chan."

Tsuki sniffed. "So I haven't got Chlamydia?" She asked, wiping her purple eyes.

"No," replied Aya. "Well, not that I know of… I suppose if you had recently…"

She caught Tsuki's glare and stopped talking.

"Anyway!" She said, changing the subject. "I brought you here because there's someone here who uses healing jutsu."

Tsuki finally got it. "Oh!" She exclaimed, perking up. "You think they'll teach me?"

Aya shrugged. "Maybe… If you seduce them a little…"

Tsuki stared at her. "WHAT!?"

Aya giggled. "You really are gullible, Tsuki…"

Tsuki glared at her and the two friends gazed down at the wooden building.

"Heh," both of them sniggered. "Wooden…"

The hospital was not very busy when Tsuki and Aya walked in through the wide doorway. They were standing in a small room with white painted walls decorated with metal engravings of animals.

"Shiny!" cried Aya, running up to the decorations like a penguin.

There was a young lady reading a book at the reception desk. Tsuki and Aya walked up to her sheepishly. To Tsuki's shock, she realised the woman was reading 'Make-out Tactics' (which raised some awkward questions that would have to be addressed at a later stage). The lady glanced at the two of them and went back to reading. However, she then realised that there were children present and hastily threw the book under the desk.

"Er… can I help you?" She asked, coughing awkwardly.

Aya was too busy staring at all the shiny things hanging from the walls to answer, so Tsuki took over.

"We're looking for the… heal-y… jutsu-y… muffiny person." She said incoherently.

The woman stuck her head into a back room. "Yuina!" She called. "Visitors!"

Tsuki frowned. "Yuina?" She thought to herself. "Bind vegetables?"

Somebody shouted something back and the receptionist nodded.

"Just go on through," she told them.

Tsuki didn't react straight away (she was busy thinking about bondage). After a moment the glazed look in her purple eyes disappeared and she dragged Aya through to the back room, thanking the receptionist as she went. The woman made sure the two children had gone and pulled out her book again. Unbeknownst to her, Aya had crept up behind her and was reading over her shoulder. She fell off her seat as Aya suddenly screamed "YAOI!!!" and fled the room, flailing her arms like a lunatic.

Aya entered the room to find Tsuki cringing at the sight of a wounded man lying sprawled on a wooden operating table. His chest been cut open and the two girls could see his organs pulsing away. There were two women tending to him. One, a young girl about twelve years old, was holding a green cloth over his face, obviously providing anaesthetic. The other was an elderly woman who was picking shards of metal out of the man's ribcage with a pair of fine tweezers. Both of them were dressed in long leaf green kimonos. The old woman looked up at them as she worked.

"Can I help you?" She asked the girls.

Tsuki stared at the bleeding man. "Er… if you're busy, we'll come back later." She said, rubbing her feet together in a self-conscious manner.

"No, no…" Said the woman, picking the last of the metal pieces out. "We're almost done."

She put down the tweezers and placed her bloodstained hands over the wound. Her hands began to glow and Tsuki and Aya were amazed to see the wound instantly healing over. When the woman was finished, his chest looked good as new.

"Akiko," She said to her assistant. "That should do."

The girl removed the cloth from the man's face and placed it in a metal basin.

"Wow!" Exclaimed Aya, still staring at the man. "That was amazing!"

The woman smiled at her. "It's nothing special." She said modestly. "It's just a simple healing jutsu." She began washing her hands in a nearby sink. "I'm Yuina by the way."

"Do you think you could teach me to do that?" Asked Tsuki hopefully.

Yuina looked at her thoughtfully. "Is that why you came to see me?" She asked.

Tsuki nodded.

The old nurse folded her arms and looked at Tsuki critically. "Why do you want to learn healing jutsu?"

Tsuki stared at her feet. "I found this man in the forest…" She answered bashfully. "He was injured and I couldn't help him. He died…"

Yuina raised an eyebrow.

"I don't want anyone else to die just because I can't save them." Tsuki continued. "I want to help people."

Yuina smiled broadly. "That's the most noble and pure reason you could have given." She said, placing her hand on Tsuki's shoulder. "I will teach you."

Tsuki beamed happily. "Thank you, Yuina-sensei!" She cried, hugging the old woman.

Yuina pushed her away, muttering something about 'personal space.' She looked at Aya, who was swaying from side to side to the tune of her own private songs.

"What about you?" The old woman asked her. "What are you here for?"

Aya shrugged. "There's shiny stuff on the walls." She answered.

Yuina blinked and leaned over to Tsuki. "Don't let her near the surgical equipment…" She whispered in her ear.