Chapter Text
Tsumiki yelped when she saw Chabashira entering the infirmary, a piece of clothes - probably a towel - tainted with blood pressed against the back of her head.
“Oh my god ! What happened Chabashira-san ?” she asked immediately, putting aside the clean sheets she had been in the process to make the beds with. “Come in and sit down, please !”
She manhandled the Ultimate Aikido master toward the closest chair available, and made sure that she wasn’t about to pass out.
“Ah, I’m sorry to bother you” Chabashira said. “I’ve been trying this new movement, and I didn’t control my force very well and… I didn’t want any degenerate male to see me like this, and I didn’t want any girl to think I will not be able to protect them if needed. I can wait for a while if…”
“No !” Tsumiki replied. “No, no, this is a good thing that you came to see me ! Most of the students with athletic capacities never come to see me, even when they are hurt, so I’m glad you are putting your trust in me.”
She hesitated for a moment.
“I’m going to move the towel away, Chabashira-san, alright ? It might bleed a little - the head always bleeds a lot - but I need to disinfect the wound and make sure that you don’t need to go to the hospital. Please, tell me if you’re ready.”
The other girl visibly tensed.
“I see. I trust you with my life.” Tsumiki blushed at this declaration. “I’m not… very good with blood, though. I’ll become pale and can even throw up if I see anything. I don’t want to inconvenience you like that but…”
Tsumiki nodded seriously, taking Chabashira’s hand in her.
“I’ll be very careful, I promise.” She took away the towel, making sure to keep it out of the other’s sight. “It’s nothing too deep, as I thought. I’m just going to clean up everything, is that okay ?”
Chabashira nodded, but Tsumiki felt the pressure on her hand increase.
“I should say, I would have never suspected someone like you would be afraid of blood” she said, trying to distract the Aikido master. “You always seem so strong and confident to someone as weak as me.”
“You’re not weak at all, Tsumiki-san !” exclaimed Chabashira. “But I don’t think being scared of blood is weak either. I’m not practicing Martial Arts because I enjoy blood or violence, I’m not one of these blood-thirsty male who just want to hurt and destroy other people. But I refuse to let this fear take away my Neo-Aikido. I would feel worthless if I didn’t do something I respect and love so much just because of potential injuries.”
“That’s so brave !”
Tsumiki was glad to see Chabashira so fired up, and not as tense as before. She started to carefully clean the wound with warm water.
“I’m trying. I just don’t want people to know about it, because they would try to scare me. They can’t hurt me physically since I can send them fly on the other side of the room, but these boys would use my phobia against me if they knew.”
Tsumiki nodded. She wasn’t as good as Chabashira to hide her own weaknesses, unfortunately. That seemed… exhausting.
“I won’t say anything, I swear” she said.
“Of course !” the other girl replied with enthusiasm. “Thank you, Tsumiki-san. I’ll come back again if I hurt myself again. Your hands are magical, I can’t feel any pain anymore ! Isn’t that amazing ?”
“Ah… That’s… I… I’m just doing what I’m good at” Tsumiki stuttered. “Thank you for putting your trust in me, I look forward to your next visit”.
She bowed so politely that Chabashira only realized after she left the room that it was a very weird thing to say to someone who was getting treated for an injury at the infirmary.