Just a little snapshot in between our regularly scheduled updates

Chapter 52: Mayumi's Interlude

In the silence, the buzzing of the fluorescent lights above was made obvious. The sound grated against Mayumi's ears as she sat at the iryō-nin station.

Night shifts at the hospital, for all that they were largely uneventful, were the worst of them all. The hour of sleep Mayumi would manage to catch before needing to get ready for morning classes did nothing to curb her exhaustion. Then fitting in studying, her part-time job and household chores left her with little time to make up the missed sleep.

As an intern, she was meant to be accompanied by a supervisor at all times, but the senior assigned to Mayumi rarely showed up to the night shifts. This meant that there was no one to catch her if she decided to sneak away for a nap, but it also meant that if there was an emergency there would be no one but Mayumi to rely on. The possibility of the latter kept Mayumi from shirking her duties. Instead, she used the time to revise her lessons.

She'd gotten a later start than the other students, only discovering the extent of her chakra reserves a few years ago. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the iryō-nin track was not a particularly popular one. Few ninja opted to take up positions at the hospital, resulting in looser enrollment requirements. That was how Mayumi found herself in a cohort of six other girls, all several years younger than her and all from either civilian families or families only on their second generation of ninja.

It was difficult not to feel othered. Her classmates had known each other for longer, some even growing up together. They lived with parents, going home to warm meals, coming to class fresh-faced after a good night's sleep. Unable to mimic that youthful glow, Mayumi's carefully made-up face and styled hair to disguise the bags under her eyes and lack of natural shine in her hair only served to emphasize the contrast. With no family to fall back on, Mayumi never allowed herself to run late to class or to forget to complete assignments or to not know the answer when called upon by the teacher and the gap between herself and her peers continued to widen.

Checking her wristwatch, Mayumi sighed softly. It was nearing the end of her shift. Grabbing her clipboard, she prepared to do one last round.

There were only five overnight patients, which was already more than usual. Ninja had a bad habit of trying to get out of the hospital as soon as possible, even when they would be better off staying.

Two of the five were casualties of this year's chunin exams. It didn't make sense to Mayumi that a proctored exam held in a show of peaceful collaboration between all the countries should be this violent, but there were a lot of things about this world that didn't make sense to her.

Orphaned children abandoned by the authorities responsible for the very wars that cost them their parents. Veterans given no grace to try to heal their psychological scars. Healing arts sidelined in favour of destructive techniques. A hospital with more civilian staff than those capable of iryō ninjutsu in a village where a significant percentage of the population was regularly injured.

Unlike the finals, this past round of matches hadn't been open to the public and, having not been assigned as medical support, Mayumi had not born witness to the events that had put the two pre-teens in such a dire state that they had no choice but to stay overnight at the hospital.

She had, however, heard whispers regarding the girl.

"Such a shame. She'd be better off stepping down and taking up a civilian life."

Hyuuga Hinata. She read the name off her chart as she walked down the hallway of closed doors and opened the one to the girl's room.

The girl was practically Konoha royalty. Belonging to a clan both ancient and secretive, the first heir to attend the village's academy due to her lackluster response to her clan's teachings, if rumours were to be believed. And now after her match in the chunin exams the village was abuzz with rumours about her again.

She was so small.

That was the first thing that struck Mayumi when she entered the room.

Hinata's ashen skin was nearly lost in the white hospital sheets, her short, midnight blue hair a shock of colour where it lay mussed on the pillow. The hospital gown she was wearing had ties in the front for easier access to her injury and it was loose enough that Mayumi could see the beginnings of the bandages that were wrapped around her chest.

A strike to her heart, dealt by a family member. A second blow that had to be stopped by several jounin.

Looking at the stilted rise and fall of her chest, Mayumi doubted she would have survived it.

Yet another thing that didn't make sense to Mayumi.

She checked Hinata's vitals, noting the numbers down as she went and confirming they were all within range. Then she drew open the curtains just a little, allowing the dim light of dawn to filter through and fall onto the foot of the bed.

When she turned back around, she nearly screamed. Her clipboard clattered to the floor, piercingly loud.

There was a boy in the doorway.

In Mayumi's tired mind, the boy was a ghoul, a disturbed spirit haunting the hospital.

Then she blinked and came back to her senses.

Uchiha Sasuke.

The second patient from the chunin exams. The only one pointedly not listed as part of Mayumi's rounds, not to be checked on or disturbed by anyone except the most senior staff.

Because Uchiha Sasuke himself certainly wasn't just anyone. The last of a clan as ancient and as secretive as the Hyuuga, brother of the mad genius that had slain his own flesh and blood.

If Hinata was spoken of in pitiful whispers, Sasuke was spoken of in awed and fearful undertones.

"Already so beyond his peers. All that power…but what if he ends up like the other one?"

There were so many expectations of what he was and what he could be, but Mayumi only saw a young boy.

"Sasuke-san?" Mayumi called.

Dark eyes were glaring a hole into the prone figure on the hospital bed.

"Uchiha Sasuke-san," Mayumi repeated. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be out of your room."

Tearing his eyes away, Sasuke turned that glare on her. It would have been intimidating if Mayumi didn't have eight years and at least half a foot of height on him.

"I was just leaving," he said, voice rough.

Mayumi made a concerned sound. "Did you just wake up? You're dehydrated," she said. "Let me get you a glass of water and I can walk you back to your room."

The boy's face twisted into a grimace. "I don't need it."

Mayumi may not have been privy to his chart or the details of his injuries, but it was clear that he was still unrecovered. "If you push yourself before you're ready, you'll just do your body more harm. That kind of wear and tear will accumulate and you'll be worse off than if you just let your body rest…"

But Sasuke wasn't listening to Mayumi's recitation from her textbooks. His attention was on the girl again. Mayumi couldn't quite grasp the emotion in his eyes except to know that he looked incredibly focused.

It wasn't the kind of look you gave to a stranger.

Cutting off her lecture, Mayumi asked, "Do you know her?" When Sasuke didn't respond, she continued, "If you want, you can come back when visiting hours open. The reception lets you put in flower orders for Yamanaka Hana. I can show you how later, but first how about we go back to your room?" she offered him a kind smile.

At this, Sasuke finally looked at her again, this time as if she had two heads. Mayumi bit back a laugh and just winked cheekily at him. "There isn't a girl around who wouldn't love to receive flowers from a cute boy," she teased. Something about the situation gave her a burst of giddy energy despite the lack of sleep. Maybe it was because she could recognize the new emotion that was displayed on Sasuke's face.

Embarrassment.

"I'm leaving," Sasuke barked, schooling his expression back into a glare. He took off, moving swiftly for someone with injuries serious enough to warrant an overnight stay at the hospital.

It took Mayumi a moment to react and by the time she rushed after him it was too late.

"Oh no!"

Mayumi scanned the now empty hallway. A second door two rooms down was thrown open. She went to check, not expecting much and finding nothing but a rumpled bed.

Defeated, Mayumi returned to Hinata's room and pick up her clipboard, which she then proceeded to smack softly against her forehead. "I'm doomed," she muttered to herself.

But as it turned out, no one seemed to care that she'd let Uchiha Sasuke run off under her watch.

Her supervisor had simply shrugged. "Well, he's considered an adult since he has that hitai-ate. And there's no clan or guardian that's going to come after you for negligence. Just leave it be."

"He's a child," Mayumi had protested. "And unwell. He needs treatment."

"None of them are children. Not anymore."

Mayumi wondered if there were children anywhere in this world that were allowed to reach adulthood at their own pace.

Sighing to herself, she began to pack up her things to head home. With her purse over her shoulder, Mayumi straightened out the wrinkles in her clothes, took a deep breath, and fixed a smile onto her face before exiting the iryō-nin quarters.

Nodding and smiling genially at the staff and patients, Mayumi made it out of the hospital and onto the awakening village streets. It was then that she was halted by the sound of her name. Though it wasn't meant for her ears, she couldn't help but automatically turn towards it.

"Is that Mayumi-san over there?"

"A full face of make up this early? Isn't she trying a little too hard?"

"Always sucking up to sensei and always flirting with all the guys, she's the definition of try-hard."

"Shh! I think she heard us!"

There, across the street, were the six girls from Mayumi's cohort, gathered together outside a restaurant. The logo on the sign hanging above their heads looked familiar and it took only a few seconds for Mayumi to place it as the one printed on the take-out bags the girls would occasionally be carrying when they stumbled into morning class together a few minutes late.

She'd long suspected that they had get-togethers she was excluded from, but this was the first time she'd caught them in the act.

"Ah, good morning Mayumi-san." Of course, it was Io who was bold enough to acknowledge her. The other girls circled around her, substantiating, in a literal way, Io's figurative position as the center of their cohort. A position the girl had managed to snag not by being the smartest or prettiest or wealthiest or wittiest, but seemingly simply by being the loudest.

It was, perhaps, an unkind thought, but one Mayumi was hard-pressed to disprove.

Mayumi didn't let her smile waver. "Good morning," she returned chirpily.

"Only you could be so energetic after an overnight shift, Mayumi-san," Io said. "I guess that's how you stay at the top."

Mayumi laughed lightly. "You're too kind, Io-san. Honestly, everyone's doing really well in class." She aimed her smile at all of the girls. "I need to head home to freshen up. I hope you girls enjoy your breakfast." As she started to leave, again the sound of her name stopped Mayumi in her tracks. But this time it was meant to.

"Wait, Mayumi-san!" Io called. There was a slight undercurrent of uncertainty in her voice and when Mayumi turned to look at her over her shoulder, she felt the handful of years between them acutely. "Ah…did you want to join us? Since you're here already." Io shifted a little awkwardly as she posed the question.

Mayumi blinked. Her eyes caught on Io's expression, taken aback by the sincerity of the offer.

"I —"

"Mayumi!"

Eyebrows flying up in surprise, Mayumi addressed the newcomer. "Genji, what are you doing out so early?"

Genji winced. "You're making me sound lazy," he said before laughing the comment off and holding up a bag. "Actually, I was hoping to find you. You've been so busy lately, working hard and acing your classes, I thought I'd pack you breakfast and we could catch up? I can tell you all about the classmates you left behind."

It was Mayumi's turn to wince. She knew Genji was being Genji, talking her up, but his phrasing made it seem like she spent her time bragging to him about how great she was doing when in reality Mayumi hadn't really spoken to him about her classes at all.

Glancing between the girls and Genji, Mayumi tried to keep the strain off her face. Truthfully, she just wanted to go home alone and sleep, but that was seeming more and more out of reach.

Finally she turned a conciliatory smile on Io and saw the other girl's expression close off before she even got the words out. "Thank you for the invitation, but I don't think I'll be able to make it today. Maybe next time?"

The grin Io gave her was dripping with artifice. "Next time," she echoed, toothachingly sweet. Then she turned and entered the restaurant, the other girls following her in with conspicuous looks to Mayumi.

Genji blinked obliviously. "Shall we?"

Holding back a sigh, Mayumi smiled wider. "Let's! This was very thoughtful of you Genji." As she said it, Mayumi realized how true it was and she forced herself to relax. "Thank you. Really," she said with more feeling.

Cheeks darkening with colour, Genji ducked his head. "It's nothing."

As they walked side by side, Mayumi warmed from being in the company of someone who cared. She wondered what it would be like to have that every day. "You know Genji, there's open positions at the hospital…I could put in a good word for you."

Genji's steps faltered for a second and Mayumi's brows scrunched together.

"Genji?"

"Hm? I guess it would be a step up from waiting tables, huh?" Genji started walking again. "Would I be reporting to you? I might have to start calling you Mayumi-san."

Genji was just joking again, as usual.

Mayumi shook off her concern. "Don't be silly! No matter what, you can call me like you always do. Nothing would change."

She hoped he took her up on the offer. It would be nice to have a true friend at the hospital.

Thought she deserved a send off after everything - got a small snapshot of her life.

Next chapter will be posted this week as usual.

MVH