1460/White-Haired Hospital Update

White-Haired Hospital Update
Date of Scene:	10 May 2016
Location:	Mitakihara - Mitakihara General
Synopsis:	Kazuo visits Kukai late one evening in his hospital room to talk and see how he's doing.
Cast of Characters:	Kunzite, Kukai Souma

---

Kunzite has posed:
There are times of day when Kukai gets fewer visitors. Like, for instance, when school is in session and most of the people who might be visiting are either there or, in certain other cases, likely to be working. It makes the early afternoons more dull than they might otherwise be. On the other hand -- it's probably better than being outside, given the rain pelting against the windows.

The figure that pauses outside the doorway of his hospital room in defiance of both weather and school schedules is only somewhat damp, thanks to the insufficiently praised magic of umbrellas. White hair, white shirt, black slacks, gray eyes; Kazuo should probably be a little more careful about risking dressing like that around someone who might be visited by Prism Keepers. At the moment, his focus is on something more mundane: checking whether the room's occupant is in shape for visitors. Or at least, you know, conscious.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai, is, after yesterday, a little more leery of his guests than he otherwise would be. The whole thing with Sora had made him a bit upset and nervous. Not that spending some quality time with Nagihiko afterwards hadn't helped, but still.

At the moment, he's idly watching some show on television, thinking about what he must be missing in classes, thinking about his friends and what's going on without him, and when there's suddenly a figure at his door he starts, looking over. Wait. He knows this one, and leans back, letting out a small breath. "Oh. Hey, Kazuo. C'mon in. ... There's some little towels in the bathroom if you want one. You look kinda moist."

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo ducks through the door -- he's tall enough that dipping his head is a reflex; the hospital is actually fine, but there's an unnerving number of doorframes where the opening suddenly stops at about the level of his eyebrows. "I'll try not to drip on anyone who outweighs me. You didn't mention one of your brothers was employed as the stunt double for a bank vault."

A couple more steps, and he pauses to study Kukai critically for a second or two. He is, yes, not standing where he'd block the television. "You look better." Awake would be a good start by itself, but beyond that, too. "Mamoru sends his regrets; he'd have come by some time ago, but he's worried about uninvited guests following him in. Anything we can do to help alleviate the boredom?"

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai watches Kazuo duck into the room and smiles. "Who, Kaido? Yeah. He has a job on a construction crew. Not as the foreman or anything, but the wheelbarrow. We had to tell him once we wouldn't play football with him on the other team anymore, even if he did make up the entire team." His grin is infectious and warm - even in the hospital, Kukai still has his Jack's Grin to rely on when he wants it.

He nods, turning off the television to focus on Kazuo. "I feel better. Awake does wonders for better. I saw the picture where everyone came and visited, you and Makoto and Daisuke. Thank you very much, and thank Makoto for the baked goods. I got some out of the second box, at least."

He hmms. "Well I'm pretty sure I don't want to do the video game thing, if that's what Mamoru's thinking. Or maybe I could try it, but I think I'll be outta here in a couple days in any case and I don't wanna fool around with it. " Kukai chuckles. "It's weird, everybody else is good at video games, but I'm really kinda bad at them except the ones that just require reaction time and not, you know, talent. As for books or movies or anything... nah, I'm fine."

He thinks for a minute, rubbing his chin. "....You know what you could do, and I know it's not something you're good at so I won't ask a lot of it, but... Tell me what all's going on out in the world? I had four or five pots all set to boil at any time before I went in here, in a figurative sense, and I've lost track of everything."

Kunzite has posed:
"Daisuke does good work." Kazuo finds a bit of wall space with nothing immediately electronic attached to it, and leans back against it. His shoulders are dry, at least, he won't leave a damp patch.

The video game thing. Kazuo's reactions are their minimal selves, but the brief flicker of his eyes toward the ceiling says a good deal; he stayed out of the informal competition the night Kukai was over, too, come to think of it. Watched from the background, but didn't join in. "It's where you put your practice hours," he says. "Some people get good at video games; and then some of us decide to get up off the couch occasionally." This is entirely unfair to his brothers, granted, but being unfair to brothers is a tradition that predates the invention of the wheel. "Good to hear you'll be able to do that again in a few days."

(He has no idea how anyone has been able to keep Kukai in a hospital bed this long. He doesn't remember hearing about there being actual broken legs -- ahhh. Kaido. Kaido explains everything.)

What all's going on out in the world. Kazuo's habitual slight frown deepens for a moment, but he's glancing toward the door rather than toward Kukai when it does. "I don't hear that much, or in your circles," he admits. "It's been largely quiet. A couple of incidents; a night without stars, and Miss White lost another warehouse. I haven't even heard of any fallout from the last dance; usually there's at least a few people ready to draw knives on each other after one of those. Unsettling. Particularly when we know that there's at least two -- three? -- plans still running under the surface. Hope you're not expecting to get much rest after you get out."

Footsteps in the hall, and Kazuo doesn't change tone, or pause, or so much as blink; it might be the same topic. "Queensland still hasn't figured out what to do with Goromaru, either."

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai nods. "Daichi told me Daisuke helped me out. Healed me. It does seemed to have sped up my recovery time a whole lot. I'll have to thank him for that." Is that a faint blush? Something about purple hair, probably.

Kukai shrugs a little. "I think it's good to be well rounded at what you're capable of doing, but I'm not good at some things for one reason or another. Schoolwork, for instance." He makes a face. "If it wasn't for soccer, I'd be in trouble. But hey, Mamoru is good at both being off the couch and on it. I'll just be happy to be able to walk around without my midsection trying to carve its way out of me."

Kukai looks over at the door as well, but is listening to Kazuo. "Jeez. No wonder she was in such a foul mood that day. I wonder what happened? And the stars thing doesn't concern me, really, as long as they came back the next night." He blinks, then leans back. "There was a dance and I missed it? Aw, MAN." He sounds actually torn up about that. "Rest? Man I don't sleep real well in here in the first place unless they put pills in me. I won't sleep for days once I'm done in here."

Kukai arches an eyebrow but then shrugs, as Kazuo changes the topic. "Rugby's different in Australia. They'll get into fistfights and break each other's bones and generally kill one another when they get the chance. Goromaru did good in the World Cup, but he might do better coming home if they're just going to keep disrespecting him."

Kunzite has posed:
The faint blush goes by without prying. Possibly thankfully. "Everyone has their weak points," Kazuo says instead. Mamoru, presumably, included. Though given where his loyalties lie, he's not about to tell Kukai where those are, or how much of an advantage Kukai has over Mamoru in them.

... getting into fistfights and breaking one another's bones and generally killing one another might possibly explain why Kazuo bothers to remember anything about rugby in the first place. On the more peaceable hopsital front, a pair of nurses walk by outside, talking with one another in low tones; one glances into the room, but they don't stop. "If their coaches don't get their heads on straight, he probably would," Kazuo agrees. "I don't know what they're thinking over there."

Echoes of the steps die away, and he switches topics back with that same lack of audible demarcation. "What happened with the warehouse? Fiore took it down." A brief pause, and he gives a little twitch of one hand. "Alien boy; something's using him to seed energy-draining flowers. Apparently he can also cause explosive plant growth. It ripped out the building's support." It hasn't been Miss White's favorite couple of months. Not everyone is going to feel all that terrible about that, for some reason.

"As for the dance -- there'll be another, undoubtedly. Akemi's friend seems to regard a month without one as a month lost. As likely as not there'll be announcements by the time you're out of here." Exaggeration, but not by all that much. Nor does Kazuo ask if there's someone Kukai has in mind to take to one. Gauging by the last demonstration he saw, the problem with the question might be the singular.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai chuckles and shrugs, looking at Kazuo for a moment with knowledgeable, knowing eyes. He's pretty sure one of Mamoru's weak points is standing here in front of his hospital bed, but it's not something he'd ever use to hurt either of them.

Kukai sighs. "It's Australia. They're polite enough, but they're very much more... aggressive. Like really aggressive, straight forward, even more than the Americans or Europeans. They don't give a damn, when it comes to winning a match. I'm not sure if Goromaru's used to that kind of play. I don't even think I would be, myself."

Kukai looks back at the door, then to Kazuo as he changes topic again. "That's the one Mercury made the post about on HeartNet, I think? That's ... weird. Why did he attack her do you think? You know, besides the fact that she keeps sticking her fingers into everyone's red bean buns?"

He shrugs. "Yeah, true. I just hate not being in the limelight." He grins at Kazuo. "It's a weakness of mine, I'll give you that one free." He scratches the back of his head. "Heard anything .. well, I don't know if you know her, but about Princess Runealy? We were working on something shortly before I came here."

Kunzite has posed:
-- some of Mamoru's weak points come with weaponry, it's true. Some of those are even on his own side, these days; it's a definite improvement over a year ago.

"He wasn't after her, or her people. Just bad luck; fights wind up where they wind up, sometimes. And the good luck to cancel it out -- no civilians in the place, and no-one he was fighting took serious damage, that time." That White's fingers get into the wrong place on a regular basis is entirely not disputed. Part of him itches to ask about some of the things Daichi said, about Kukai's own dispute with her. Later, maybe. Later, probably.

-- and Kukai's grin prompts the corner of Kazuo's mouth to turn upward for a moment in answer Weakness? "You keep it well-hidden," he assures Kukai with an otherwise straight face. "Princess Runealy --" His eyes flicker up and to one side; it's a little more of an effort to recall. "I know of her, more than know her. But no, I haven't heard anything of her in the last couple of weeks. Mamoru knows her better, but he's still picking up the pieces of his social connections. She's not in more trouble, is she?"

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai nods and lets the Fiore issue go. Bad luck happens to everybody. "Well, we'll find him soon I hope."

He can't help but laugh a bit at the sight of Kazuo smiling, even for a moment. Then Runealy. "Well... I don't know. Maybe. There's been some crazy things going on. I'll look into it when I get back out. Mamoru might want to call her at some point, but the truth is that it may just be better for him not to get too involved. Easier for you, too, and your siblings. She's got a lot of backup as it is."

Kunzite has posed:
"Likely," Kazuo agrees to Kukai's estimation -- straightforward and without flinching. Good shape is slowly becoming a less apt description for the condition Mamoru is in, after all. "If the problem's hers rather than yours, though, she'd be better to make that call. He's attached to her; I don't know the details." There was something else -- "I haven't heard anything about the other girl, either. Utau. I've been watching, where I can."

Kukai Souma has posed:
You can almost see the steam that emits from Kukai's ears when Kazuo mentions Utau. "Well... she apparently came to visit me when I was unconscious." 'In a coma' may be more accurate, but it's also a little bit - well, no, a lot more terrifying. "My brother Unkai said she came along with another girl, Norie."

Kukai grows quiet for a moment, then nods at Kazuo. "Mind if I lay a trouble of mine on you? Nothing I expect you to do anything about, just something I want to share. It seems to be a bad habit of mine, but dang if a lot of the girls I try to help or flirt with or anything don't turn out to be half rotten."

Kunzite has posed:
Interesting. The last time there was a conversation about Utau, by whichever name, the steam was only wisps, not jets. Norie isn't a name Kazuo's familiar with, either; the little tilt of his head says that much.

Hands are lifted and spread open in invitation, after. "You're not the first to have that problem," Kazuo says. ... and that one he is more familiar with. Though for him, it was more 'a lot of the girls who were chasing him,' back when that happened. ... okay. Almost all of them. Okay. There was one possible exception. Maybe. "Go ahead."

Kukai Souma has posed:
There's a sigh as Kukai leans back against the headboard. "Yeah, well, I wish it was easier to solve. I'm still sort of mad at her about running off during that last fight, but... I guess I understand. Things happen."

He motions over towards the little in-room boom box someone had brought in. There's a CD case near it with Utau's picture on it. "I mean, she brought a card and her latest CD. I think she hoped I'd hear her singing and it'd help wake me up. They played it a couple times, and then I listened to it again when I woke up and it sounded kinda familiar, so..maybe?"

He thinks for a moment. "I dunno. Somebody fussed at me recently about how I see the world, that I see bad guys and good guys and I try to beat the bad guys. I don't, really. I know people have reasons for what they do, but I know that when people do bad things, even if they're your friends, you have to stand up and try to stop them." He chuckles. "Kinda like that kid in that first magic university movie. I forget the names."

Kunzite has posed:
The motion prompts Kazuo's eyes to follow it; a moment later he straightens and paces over to study the CD case. Trails a fingertip over that, then over the little boom box, before drawing his hand back. "Concerned sounds better than trying to kill you," he says. Then turns toward the bed again, studying Kukai -- not the same way he did the CD. There was a strange kind of focus in that one, blocking everything else out. This is a little more open.

"People have trouble keeping those separate." Probably not the magic university movies. Okay, maybe also the magic university movies. Who can track all those titles? "If someone's angry at something they did, most people read it as that person being angry at who they are. Takes a lot of time and trust to unlearn that habit. Breaks a lot of things in the mean time. But there's nothing else to do but keep trying, is there? If you give up on stopping your friends when they screw up, you lose your friends in a worse way than their just being angry at you."

Kukai Souma has posed:
The CD feels clean. Normal. Not even any residual energy.

Kukai emits an annoyed grumble. "It's... sort of an ongoing thing and I..." He looks over at Daichi, who's napping in a small bed of still-folded tissues on the windowsill. "I have a bad habit about flirting with people who later end up trying to kill me. Mostly because they found out who all I've been flirting with. There was a scene, earlier today." He rubs his eyes. "Still every time I see a cute girl or an especially girly looking guy I end up hitting on them. It's a thing."

Kukai listens to Kazuo and sighs, leaning back. "And you see that's the thing. I do see it as being different. I know people can do bad things and know they're bad and still have a reason to do it and want to do different but not have a way out. I get that, I really do. I'm glad I haven't been put in that position, I don't know what I'd do to change it." He shrugs. "Yeah. Exactly. You have to fight for people and try to pull them back from doing dumb things. They just enjoy throwing dark magic and stuff at you otherwise like a butthead." He hmms. ".... I think I lost the point of what I was going after."

Kunzite has posed:
Kazuo makes a mental note. Be careful as hell around Kukai and Zoisite, just in case. "Sounds like you've got the same problem in both places," he says. "What you know in your head, isn't what the people you're dealing with think they know about you." And then they get mad, and then there are murder attempts. Though with some of them the murder attempts might happen anyway.

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai thinks about that. Tridents grazing his stomach, energy bolts launching themselves at him, all sort of things. "Yeah. Yeah. I suppose I'm just bad at talking about things like that. But it'll be all right." He rubs his chin, then looks at Kazuo. "So... anything else you wanna talk about? What's on your mind, for instance? Or ... I dunno. Just anything."

Kunzite has posed:
"As long as you're not flirting with people who turn out to be half rotten because you get a kick out of your dates trying to kill you." Kazuo says that one like it's a serious possibility; but he also moves on fast enough that it might have been a joke. Maybe.

Which leaves him with what's on his mind. Hell. "Me? Going to try to talk to Tadase. Not through you, you have enough problems; I'll find someone else to take the message. But you were encouraging it, so I thought you should know."

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai shivers. "What? No! I just..." He coughs. "Well, you know. Bad girls tend to be really cute the first time you see them, and I..." He shrugs and continues. "Oh. Yeah, I do - but really, I may be the best person to talk to him about it. I wish he'd come and see me, since I think they may let me out in the next day or two, but I'll catch up with him when I can. I wouldn't mind talking to him about it, but honestly, the best way to do it is just to go do it. You don't have a lot to lose besides him yelling at you."

Kunzite has posed:
There are all kinds of warnings that could be given here about falling victim to cuteness without looking closely enough at what's behind it. Problem is, if Kukai were the type to listen, he'd have learned the lesson the first time. Kazuo has already had to cope with four teenagers getting through that stage. And with surviving the age himself -- twice, technically, even if he only remembers one. He knows too well that the only warnings that are going to get through to Kukai on that front are the ones that bounce off his skull enough times, and about all he can do is hope for not too much collateral damage in the mean time.

He shakes his head at the suggestion, though it's not entirely a negation. "'Four or five pots all set to boil,' you said. You're going to have your hands full enough figuring out which way those situations went while you were in here. Bad idea to put anything else on your to-do list till you've got a handle on those."

Kukai Souma has posed:
Kukai nods. He is a little dense in some ways. Smart in others, though. "Look, I don't mind taking a little time out of one day and just.. hell, I can call him on the phone and say 'hey, I met this guy, he says he knows you, he's really sorry, he wants to come see about making up for things.' That's practically normal. And it's important that we all be willing to help one another and do what we can to support each other when we can. If we didn't, y'know, there'd still be a pile of youma in the North Pole." He shrugs. "We do what we can. I'm not offering to go stand in between the two of you, just to broach the subject with him."

Kunzite has posed:
-- there wouldn't still be a pile of youma in the North Pole. Largely because there wouldn't still be a North Pole; it might technically still be there, but there wouldn't be anyone around with enough capacity for thought left to stick a label on it.

"I know," Kazuo says. "And I appreciate it. But you need to be doing other things with your days when you get out of here, and I know where to go to find either him or someone else who knows him." -- and Kukai has enough problems without being the recipient of the expression Tadase gets when he has to think about Kunzite for a moment. Yeah, no, he'll leave that one unmentioned. "It'll be fine." Or not. He'll find out.