When they got back, Chiyo headed straight for her room instead of joining everyone else for dinner. Her shoulder hurt way too much and they would probably make a fuss about her wound. She wanted to clean up the wound before Yamazaki got back. If she thought the others would fuss...man….Yamazaki would be worse ten fold.

She opened the door to her shared room relieved that she was the only one there. The rooms seemed to sway every so gently. " Probably the blood loss….the blood loss" she mumbled to herself. Chiyo prodded to a wooden box next to her desk and pulled out a bottle of alcohol and surgical tweezers. She went out and doused the tweezers with the alcohol to sterilize it. Closing the door behind her she took off her top. She looked over her shoulder and saw the true extent of the bullet wound. " Shit."

There was a bloody hole on the back of her shoulder and it's edges were ragged and marred. The bleeding had stopped a whole lot but there was still a small stream of it trickling down her back. She remembered doing this back in her Aunt's old clinic. All she had to was numb her skin and remove the bullet. She reached into her bag again and pulled out some white pills that she popped into her mouth.

" It takes about twenty minutes for the painkillers to work. Guess I'll just lay down in bed until it happens." she thought.

She layed down on her stomach onto her futon and inhaled the fresh scent of the sheets. The blankets felt cool against her burning body and relieved some of the ache of her muscles. She sighed and thought," Ugh there's some blood on the floor. I'll close my eyes for a few seconds and than I'll clean."

Her eyes closed. Just a minute. I'll wake up in one minute...


When they got back, Chiyo headed straight for her room instead of joining everyone else for dinner. Her shoulder hurt way too much and they would probably make a fuss about her wound. She wanted to clean up the wound before Yamazaki got back. If she thought the others would fuss...man….Yamazaki would be worse ten fold.

She opened the door to her shared room relieved that she was the only one there. The rooms seemed to sway every so gently. " Probably the blood loss….the blood loss" she mumbled to herself. Chiyo prodded to a wooden box next to her desk and pulled out a bottle of alcohol and surgical tweezers. She went out and doused the tweezers with the alcohol to sterilize it. Closing the door behind her she took off her top. She looked over her shoulder and saw the true extent of the bullet wound. " Shit."

There was a bloody hole on the back of her shoulder and it's edges were ragged and marred. The bleeding had stopped a whole lot but there was still a small stream of it trickling down her back. She remembered doing this back in her Aunt's old clinic. All she had to was numb her skin and remove the bullet. She reached into her bag again and pulled out some white pills that she popped into her mouth.

" It takes about twenty minutes for the painkillers to work. Guess I'll just lay down in bed until it happens." she thought.

She layed down on her stomach onto her futon and inhaled the fresh scent of the sheets. The blankets felt cool against her burning body and relieved some of the ache of her muscles. She sighed and thought," Ugh there's some blood on the floor. I'll close my eyes for a few seconds and than I'll clean."

Her eyes closed. Just a minute. I'll wake up in one minute…

Yamazaki walked back to his shared room. Yakamura-kun wasn't there today for dinner and to be honest, he was a bit worried. Saito had explained that she was feeling tired and wished to stay in her room. Before leaving, he had requested to take something to her room. A bowl of miso soup, some rice, and grilled fish sat on a wooden tray as he hummed softly to himself. He could see the bright glow of a lamp through the tatami doors..

He knocked on the door and gently called out," Yakamura-kun, can I come in?"

There was no reply and he called out again. He tentatively opened to door find her sleeping already. " That's odd he thought." She was sleeping on her stomach and she wasn't wearing any clothes on the top half of her body. He set down the tray and leaned in close to take a look.

He muttered a few curse words of choice as his eyes widened. There was a gaping bullet wound on the back of her left shoulder. On her desk lay a bottle of alcohol and some tweezers.

" Looks like she was going to attempt to remove the bullet herself. Silly girl. She should have asked me for help."

He got to work immediately and ran out to the well to fetch a bucket of water. Running to the kitchen, he could see that Okita and Saito were still cleaning up from dinner.

" Okita-san can you please help me?"

Okita turned over with a bored look on his face," What is it? It better be worth it…"

Yamazaki in return snapped back," I think it's more than worth it Okita. Yakamura-kun's hurt and I need you to heat up a bucket of water."

" Neh, she's hurt? Must have been from that skirmish in town that Saito was talking about right Hajime-kun?"

The purple haired man nodded and mumbled," You go back and help her. I'll bring the water in when it's ready."

" Thank you so much Saito-san."

He bowed and ran back to his room. Chiyo was still passed out when he got back. He knelt beside her and placed a hand on her cheek. It was warm...much warmer than usual. She stirred slightly and mumbled," Mmm that feels nice. You're hand is so cold."

" Oh Yakamura! Are you okay?! What happened?"

She groaned slightly and mumbled," Yeah I'm fine. Ouch why does my shoulder hurt to much?"

He sighed and replied in a teacher like tone," It hurts because you got shot in the shoulder and didn't even bother to tell us. Now, let's have you take some pain killers."

" I think I just took some a while ago."

" Can you still feel your shoulder?"

" Mhmm."

" Well then...it's not strong enough."

From his desk he retrieved a bottle of liquid astringent. He had been using this solution for years already and it never failed to "beat the feeling out of anyone". After cleaning his hands, he poured the liquid generously onto the wound and blew on it. Unknown to him, Chiyo shivered a little a faint blush started to grow on her cheeks. " I'm not wearing any clothes and he's so close to me…" she thought.

After five minutes he asked," How's your shoulder feeling?"

She responded wide eyed," It actually doesn't hurt at all! What did you use?"

" I've been using this for a long time and it's never failed. You'll see later after you're better."

At the exact moment there was a knock on the door followed by," Yamazaki-kun I have the heated water. May I come in?"

It was Saito. Chiyo suddenly realized that if he came in...he would realize that she had lied to him. What would he think of that?!

She shook her head vigorously at him which earned her a questioning glance form Yamazaki. However he went ahead and let him in. Saito had the sleeves of his kimono tied up with a tasuki and his hair was in a messy side ponytail. He looked slightly disheveled yet his face remained stoic and unfazed.

He set down the teapot he held next to Chiyo and his expression turned sheepish. " U-um, may I stay?"

Yamazaki nodded without even looking at him and immediately got to work. He poured some hot water over a cloth and wrung it out on a small metal pan beside him. Chiyo winced as she felt the warm water react with her wound to create an awful sting on her shoulder.

" Sorry. This might be a but uncomfortable."

Chiyo held back her pain biting her bottom lip. Yamazaki was already so kind to help her and she didn't want to trouble him by making him scared that he was hurting her. She look silently at Saito who also stared at her with his shining purple eyes. Guilt flooded her senses as he looked away and showed immense interest in the ground.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Yamazaki cleaned her wound. Not even the stinging from the water could clear the guilt that hazed Chiyo's senses.

" I'm going to remove the bullet okay? Please bear with me. It will be very painful but I know that you are strong. After all you told me that you one time chased a boy into a classroom and he refused to leave for hours."

He laughed and she laughed weakly in return. Then he added as a side note," By the way, what's you favorite color?"

Suddenly she felt the tweezers probe into her wound and she let out a yelp. Saito's eyes shot up and he said," Yamazaki. Is she going to be alright?"

" Yup. It's just painful for a while but she'll live."

Chiyo was already expecting that. When she was in London, her aunt would always ask patients a question to calm their nerves if she was giving a shot. Before they could even answer, a sharp needle would have found a way into their veins and bloodstream.

Saito's calm composure seemed to break a little as Chiyo hissed in pain when Yamazaki wiggled the tweezers around. He moved closer to her and put his hand over hers and rubbed her hand with his index finger. Panting she looked at him and smiled a little. He only frowned harder and closed his eyes.

Sweat beads formed on Yamazaki's forehead. He was trying his best to find the bullet. The wound was probably already infected and any minute longer could make it worse. Normally, he drowned out the patients cries but seeing Chiyo hold in her pain seemed to make him want to yank out the tweezers and comfort her. After moving around a bit more he sighed in relief and thought," I found the bullet! All I need to do now and pull it out."

He whispered soothingly to Chiyo," It's almost over. Just hold on for a bit longer."

" Okay. Just do whatever you need to."

With a count of three he yanked the bullet which earned him a moan of pain from the tense brunnete below him. With a sigh, he dropped the bullet and tweezers into the pan. Chiyo also exhaled and closed her eyes. However, Saito's hand still stayed glued on top of hers.

" How are you feeling?"

" Pretty good for what just happened. However, even though you numbed my skin...I could still feel it."

" Just take a nice long time to think about what it would have felt like without it."

They both laughed at the joke. " True enough."

Yamazaki proceeded to clean up the rest of the wound with the warm water. Afterwards, he added some stitches. Saito's hand never left hers for a second. Surprisingly, it felt comforting. Yamazaki finished up in silence and Saito said words for the first time during the procedure," Can I have a moment alone to talk with Yakamura-kun?"


" Um sure...if that's what you want. I'll go outside to clean things up." said Yamazaki as he gathered his things and promptly left.

When Chiyo heard the door shut, she gulped and avoided Saito's eyes. She had deliberately lied to him when he asked her if she was okay and now she had to face him.

" Yakamura-kun."

She continued to stare at the sheets of her futon. He sighed and repeated," Please look at me."

Chiyo had no idea where all her boldness came from but, she still kept her eyes glued to the ground. Suddenly, she felt a finger slip under her chin forcing her to look up. Her brown eyes seemed to burn at the intense gaze from the purple-eyed man.

" Yakamura-kun."

" Saito-san...I-"

" Why did you tell me that you were fine this afternoon when you were obviously wounded?"

Chiyo kept her mouth shut. She didn't know what to say.

" Yaka-"

" I'm sorry Saito-san. I didn't mean to lie...honest! You guys are all going through very tough times and I didn't want to add to the troubles."

" Keeping it from us adds trouble to our hearts."

Her eyes widened and she asked," What does that mean?"

He sighed and gently whispered," We all care about you Yakamura-kun. You have brought something to us that...well I don't know how to describe it. We need you."

The thumb that held her chin moved up to pat her head. " The next time you're hurt, I want you to tell us right away. Alright?"

" Okay. Thank you."

" Good not get some rest. Today was a very long day."

She felt warmth leave her as his hand slipped away and he left the room. What happened to Saito?