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Sena is a professional. No one in this academy will ever doubt that.
She often shows up on scenes of conflicts, sometimes even while the firefights are ongoing.
And she'd... subdue anyone who gets in her department's way.
There's a reason why vehicles of the Emergency Medicine Department are up-armored and equipped with front bull bars.
So, at some point, an unspoken rule was formed; any kind of quarrels in Gehenna, big or small should be de-escalated the moment they show up.
Nobody wants to go against medics when they're the ones who will determine how long you will be bed-ridden.
Except one person.
"You know, I've been on this same bed for the last owowowowowowow-"
It's a simple relationship between Sena and the adult.
He fucks up, Sena un-fucks him up.
He bleeds, Sena bandages.
He breaks a leg by jumping out the window, Sena ties him onto a bed.
He whines about needles, Sena jabs it in even harder.
Whatever holes he opens, Sena manages to close them.
"......"
So what if he got shot at trice, fell down several sets of stairs and got rammed by a speeding SUV?
AND didn't come to her immediately, instead, decided to take a nap in some abandoned classroom of Abydos High School?
"Sena."
"Yes?"
"Owie."
"Sure."
"That's not what I- errrrrrrrrrrgh!"
Conversations like this have been going on for a week since Sensei got hospitalized here.
All the small fragments on his body are well removed, the gouge on his left deltoid has been wrapped up tight by bandages and gauzes.
And all the minor flesh wounds are not reminding him of their existence constantly anymore.
Overall, he's doing okay. Based on his self-diagnosis, that is.
Alas, if only he's the medical professional here.
"Sena..."
Sensei isn't even sure whether he should act fine or weak at this point; neither has proven effective against her.
Being good with words isn't all that useful when you're the patient that pissed off your doctor.
He has learned that the hard way.
"......" Her expression remains unwavering; neutral and professional, almost aloof in his eyes.
He could've just bust out the I'm sorry pretty please and hope for the best.
But he can't keep getting away with it next time. And the next time. And the next.
He will dive into fights regardless. It's his second nature.
These things we do, that others may live. The motto from his old, gone days resonates in his head.
Anyway, he needs to do something to cheer Sena up, or else he's going to be stuck on this bed in the foreseeable future.
Speaking of whom, she just finished changing out new bandages and gauzes for the adult's "flesh wound" he claimed.
Sena flattens her lungs with a sigh in resignation as she takes her gloves off.
The last time he was in serious condition was during the signing of the Eden Treaty, but back then Gehenna was practically at the brink of going to war.
This time, he suffered no major bleeding nor did he lose consciousness; in fact, he apparently pulled over a random car and hitchhiked his way here.
Somehow, Sena felt more anxious and irritated than before, and she doesn't know why.
"You won't be sorry. I know."
"Well that depends on what you're talking about."
"...As a medic, I prefer the corpses- patients to not visit me often, or not visiting me with such injury."
"...I'll try to eat more apples and see if that'll work instead."
"It will not."
"Sena..."
Back to square one again. He can picture the giant boulder rolling back down.
And Sena is packing up her equipment, his window is closing.
"You know," He decided to go for a Hail Mary. "I've survived worse, you saw the evidence of them, no?"
Sena freezes for a second, her ember eyes instinctively glances over his body covered in a blue robe.
She saw those gnarly scars on Sensei's body; the seemingly claw strikes on his side chest, a gunshot scar she knows too well.
And the odd one on his chest. Which is, based on her medical opinion, a definite kill blow.
Sena continues her line of thoughts with a blink; her patient lets her, quietly sitting still.
Under those scars, her department personnel also found something else strange in his blood other than worryingly high amounts of lead.
It's an odd compound mainly consisting of a special cell; his body is constantly producing such cells at quite the amount.
It escaped their detection equipment, until one of the medical staff found that Sensei's blood seems to weigh a bit more during a blood test.
All they know at the moment is that this cell takes up at least 40 percent of his entire circular system and is 100 percent not natural.
They don't know what it's for, what it does or why in the hell Sensei has it in him.
Sena did asked while he was here for further treatment after the Eden Treaty incident, but he said it was-
"-a trade secret."
"!..." Sena blinks again in surprise, coming back to reality.
And the moonlight irises blink back at her; she has been spacing out looking at those eyes.
"Heh." Sensei smiles at Sena. Finally got something out of you.
Sena closes her eyes. "If you can actually read minds, I would like to have some privacy, Sensei."
"I don't." He adjusts his sitting posture on the bed he spent way too much time on.
And he goes on. "I have these scars, is not because I acted careless, nor did I have a death wish." Mostly.
"Is because I knew, even when I fall, or suffer unimaginable pain, there will always be someone who will have my back."
"It's the nature of our jobs; we dived into fights and they made sure we can keep doing so."
"And I'm sure you, and the entire Emergency Medicine Department can attest to that."
"You are special, Sensei." Sena frowns. "And you are not like us."
"I get that a lot." He snickers at that. "And yet, here I am. Just like everyone else."
Her reopened golden gaze narrows at the adult.
Nope. Wrong line. Sensei blinks instead. He's not exactly smooth and suave as he'd like now.
"Look," He takes a deep breath to regain his composure.
"What I'm trying to say is," He lightly clears his throat to sound clearer. "Much like we trusted our logistics, I trust you, Sena."
"I have faith in you bringing me back from the grasp of death because I know you are the very best."
He pauses to let the punchline sink in her; he can see her sights are barely-noticeably shaken.
"And Sena," He scoots a little closer to her.
"I'm actually sorry. For making you worried and anxious like this."
"Will you forgive me?"
Sena gasps a little, her always stern expression has visibly softened.
Please? Sensei lifts his eyebrows, looking forward to her response.
"......"
She closes her eyes again. "...Let's head out for the discharge formalities."
"I'm good to go?" He has to pinch himself to not sound too excited.
"Yes." Her honey-gold eyes looking back at him are narrowing, this time with a smile. "Don't you trust me?"
Sensei returns a smile as he grabs his cane by the bed. "That I do."
"And I'll send you a schedule."
"Schedule? What for?" That's out of nowhere.
Her lovely smile deepens. "For when I'll be available, so you can repay me, Sensei."
Her straightforward manner almost throws Sensei out of balance before he can even stand up.
Sena gets off her seat with her box of equipment in her hand.
"I'll look forward to it." She offers a hand as the adult props himself up.
Sensei welcomes that as he feels his body coming back to life. Never felt so good leaving the bed.
"That, I will, too."
And the two now marches toward to the front counter.
Supporting each other's footsteps, one after another, closer than ever.