Work Text:
Another wave of pain pulsed uncomfortably through Kuon's head. She winced, placing her hand against her temple and began gently massaging it with her fingers all while keeping her eyes glued to the computer screen in front of her.
It had been a while but she was back in Tokyo now. Her trip around the country was very fruitful indeed - and very enjoyable, she and Sophia had a lot of fun seeing all of the sights and trying the local cuisine - but now she was home… and had a huge pile of work waiting for her. She honestly hadn't expected anyone to want to work with her after Emma went berserk but apparently people still valued her programming skills.
So now here she was, typing away nonstop, writing line after line of new code for countless projects. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd left her home office.
Her heading was pounding. Her eyes burned. Her fingers ached. Her stomach felt as if it were imploding. Her legs felt like jelly.
But still, she kept working. This was the same as usual.
"Ichinose-san… Please take a break." A worried voice came from her phone on the edge of her desk.
Ah right, she didn't have this before.
Kuon forced a smile onto her face as she picked up the phone and tried to reassure her companion. "I'm alright, Sophia. I just need to finish this program."
"You said that for the last six programs." Sophia refuted, pouting slightly.
"Did I? Sorry, I don't remember that…" Kuon awkwardly chuckled, having no memory of any interactions like that.
The red-headed girl in her phone frowned worriedly. "You look really pale, Ichinose-san… At the very least, you need to eat something; I haven't seen you eat at all in a couple of days."
"It's alright, Sophia… I don't really have much of an appetite right now…"
"That's a sign that you've gone too long without food. Please, Ichinose-san, you need to rest."
"This project has a time limit, I can't just leave it…" Sighed Kuon as she continued typing away.
A determined scowl enveloped Sophia's face. "Okay, I've got it. I have checked your current lineup of contracts: five of them do not presently have time limits. The one you are currently working on is due in a week. And two others have due dates months away. By my calculations, based on your average pace for the past few projects, it will take you at least an hour or at most two hours to finish this current project. After you finish that, you will rest."
Kuon awkwardly laughed at the logical argument from Sophia. Even though she was the one who originally programmed her, Sophia still managed to catch Kuon off guard.
"Sophia, I appreciate your concern but I-"
"You will rest."
Kuon's eyes widened in surprise as Sophia's expression let her know that this wasn't up for debate. Did hanging around those Phantom Thieves for so long make her this stubborn? Or was something like a teenager's rebellious phase? Or… wait, were the Phantom Thieves going through their rebellious phase? They were rebels, after all…
"Ichinose-san." Sophia's voice pulled Kuon out of her wandering thoughts.
"Hm? Oh, right, um, well…" Kuon decided to just accept defeat, knowing full well she wasn't going to win an argument against Sophia. "Alright… I'll finish this and then I'll take a break… How does a week off sound to you?"
A satisfied smile spread across Sophia's face. "Very good! Once you're done, you should take a bath to freshen yourself up and relax your muscles. While you're in the bath, I'll order you some soup and sports drinks from a very well regarded health food restaurant."
"Hold on, Sophia, I'm really not all that hungry…"
"That's because you haven't eaten in so long, that's a sign that you need to get something in your system. Which is why I chose soup: it's easily digestible and has many important nutrients to help your body recover." Sophia explained, fully focused on helping Kuon recover her strength whether she wanted to or not.
Kuon sighed as she carried on typing, eager to finish this project. She hadn't really thought about it the whole time she'd been working… but a bath did sound really good right about now. She'd finish up and then have a nice, long soak. And who knows? Maybe she'd regain a bit of her appetite by the time her food arrived.
"I've also scheduled a doctor's appointment for you tomorrow." Sophia informed her.
Kuon flinched and whipped her head back around to look at Sophia, quickly regretting the speed with which she turned her head as her vision blurred for a few seconds.
"H-Hold on, Sophia! I don't need to go to a doctor! I'm fine, I'll just follow your advice and rest at home!"
Sophia's brow furrowed as she lightly shook her head. "While I am designed to be humanity's companion, I'm not fully confident with my ability to take care of their health. A doctor's opinion is far more valuable than my opinion. Besides, the doctor I booked an appointment with is someone Joker had nothing but praise for."
It felt a little strange to hear her own creation acknowledge her limitations but Kuon had to admit she was proud of Sophia. It was a relief to know that she'd rather refer to outside sources than potentially share misinformation. She closed her eyes with a soft smile.
"Alright then, Sophia… If Amamiya-kun recommended this doctor then I'll trust the two of you."
Sophia beamed brightly, relieved to hear that her creator would be prioritising her health for the first time in quite a while. "Really?!"
"Yep, so first thing's first, I've gotta finish up this code so if you could give me some peace and quiet for a little bit, that'd really help me concentrate."
"Okay, I've got it!"
"Is this the place?" Asked Kuon as she glanced at the sign of the building.
"According to Joker's directions, yes." Sophia affirmed confidently.
Kuon tilted her head with curiosity as she read the sign properly. "Takemi Clinic, huh? …I swear I've heard the name 'Takemi' before… Where was it…?"
"Tae Takemi. She's recently made a name for herself within the medical field. She developed a cure for a particularly persistent disease and has saved multiple lives. Joker actually helped her with the clinical trials for said cure." Sophia informed her, pulling up the information from an article about a recent medical conference Takemi attended.
"Ohhh, that's right! I read about that… Supposedly her superior tried to ruin her reputation by pinning his own mistake on her, only for her to bounce back and create an cure practically by herself. Guess I'm in good hands, then." Kuon lightly remarked with a smile before walking into the clinic, making sure to lean her hand against the wall as she walked since she was still a little shaky on her feet.
Entering the clinic, Kuon saw a woman with dark blue hair wearing a gothic looking outfit a lab coat sitting next to a small girl with pigtails. The woman simply smiled and nodded while the girl excited rambled on and on about something.
Seemingly noticing that someone had entered, the woman in the lab coat glancing over at Kuon. She turned to the small girl and gently tapped her shoulder. "I'm sorry to cut you off but it looks like a patient has arrived so I need to get back to work now."
The girl beamed brightly as she quickly jumped off her seat and skipped towards the door, stopping to wave before leaving. "That's okay, I was basically done anyway! I'll tell you how the movie was after we go, okay? Bye, Doctor! See you later!"
The doctor waved back with a languid smile. "I look forward to hearing about it. You have fun, okay? See you later."
With that, the girl happily jogged out of the clinic. Kuon couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. "Is someone in good spirits after being cured?"
The doctor rested her clipboard on her shoulder with an amused smirk. "No, she's been healthy for quite a while now. She just lives in the area so she likes to come chat with me whenever I'm not busy. She tells me all about the playground drama happening at her school."
"Ah, I see. Well, she's clearly pretty excited right now."
"Oh that? She had a little bit of a rivalry going on with her best friend because they both liked the same boy, but that boy asked her out on a date to see a movie so she's all giddy about that."
Kuon's eyebrows raised in surprise. "A date? Wow, kids grow up fast these days…"
The doctor chuckled as she walked over to the reception desk. "I thought the same thing. Anyway, what are you here for? A check-up? Picking up a prescription?"
"Oh, uh, a friend of mine booked an appointment for me. I've been overworking myself a bit lately so they got worried and wanted me to have a check-up." Kuon explained, glancing down at her pocket where the mentioned friend was resting.
The doctor - who, thanks to the ID card on her lab coat, Kuon finally identified as Takemi herself - nodded understandingly as she leaned over to the notebook on the reception desk. "Alright… Your name, please?"
"Kuon Ichinose."
"Ichinose… Ichinose… Ah, yeah, there you are. Alright, well, just follow me this way." Takemi gestured for Kuon to follow her as she opened the door to the examination room.
"Okay then." Was all Kuon said as she stepped into the examination room, her shaky legs not going unnoticed by the doctor.
It was a pretty simple check-up with Takemi getting Kuon to list all of her current ailments and investigating each one.
Sure enough, all of her ailments were caused by lack of sleep, lack of food, lack of exercise - or rather lack of movement as a whole - and just generally overworking herself and not taking care of her body.
After hearing about how all her ailments were caused by her not doing things to fulfill basic human needs… Kuon couldn't help but feel a little childish. Would this be considered 'embarrassment'? She was still figuring the whole emotion thing out but at the very least, she felt a little silly.
"Is there anything else bothering you?" Takemi enquired, crossing one leg over the other.
Kuon thought about it for a bit before holding out her hands. "Yeah, just one more thing… My hands really ache. Like my fingertips feel sore and my wrists just feel tired… And if you look-"
She lifted her hands to show them trembling slightly. "They've been shaking like that since I stopped working last night."
Takemi hummed thoughtfully as she reached out and took hold of Kuon's hands. She gazed down at them intensely as she thoroughly examined them. The fingertips definitely appeared sore, all of them red and some appearing to be slightly blistered. She pressed her thumbs into the palm of Kuon's hand, taking note of the way her muscles twitched underneath her touch.
Kuon wasn't really sure how to react to this. For some reason, she felt as if she had to straighten up her posture. She looked down at Tae as she focused her attention on the examination. She took notice of the way her hair framed her face, and how her dark eyeshadow gave her eyes this mysterious yet elegant appearance. Her lips were pursed, occasionally twitching as she muttered observations to herself. Her necklace would jingle every time she moved, sometimes clacking against her ID card.
… What was this heat Kuon was feeling in her cheeks? That was strange, she'd never felt anything like this before. Was she grateful for the doctor's help? No, she'd had plenty of doctors before and she'd never felt like this… Weird…
Before she could figure out an answer, Takemi released her hand and looked up her face. Those deep brown eyes stared deep in Kuon's eyes, making her chest clench slightly.
"You said you're a programmer, right?" The doctor asked.
Kuon nodded, trying to focus on the doctor instead of the tight feeling in her chest. "That's right."
"From the looks of things, you've probably given yourself carpal tunnel." Was Takemi's diagnosis.
Kuon blinked. "Carpal tunnel? From typing?"
Takemi shrugged and made a note on her clipboard. "You get carpal tunnel from anything that makes you overexert your hand and wrist muscles. It's why so many artists remind each other to stretch those muscles after working for so long."
"Huh…" Kuon looked down at her hands, gently massaging the areas that hurt most while Takemi pushed her chair over to her desk and retrieved something.
"These compress braces should help your muscles recover but I would advise you to not do anything too strenuous while recovering… Including typing." Takemi informed her as she handed two sleeve looking objects to Kuon.
The brunette glanced to the side with a troubled expression. Sure, her and Sophia had agreed on her taking a week off… but there was no guarantee that her hands would heal within a week. She still had things she needed to work on…
"I know that face… You're thinking of still working despite my advising against it, aren't you?" Takemi asked with a knowing gaze, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.
"I… Well, I'm a very busy woman, so…"
"So you'd ignore doctor's orders and worry your friend again?"
Kuon's face tensed as she feels Takemi's gaze burning into her. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, clearly a sign Sophia was sending her to convey her disgruntlement at this decision.
She sighed and fiddled with the hoop of her earring. "I mean, I've still got several contracts pending… If I don't finish those within the allotted time, then…"
"… Alright. One second." Takemi swilled her chair back over to her desk and began typing away. Kuon decided to take this moment to try on these compresses. The slight pressure immediately made some of the aching pain fade. She couldn't help but give a small, approving nod at the sensation.
Noticing that reaction from her creator, Sophia immediately pulled out the notes app and wrote that down. That was definitely useful information to have just in case something like this happened again.
Kuon's attention was quickly pulled back to the doctor as the sound of a printer entered her ears. Takemi held onto the edge of a sheet of paper, pulling it out once she was satisfied that all the relevant information was present on the sheet.
"Here's a doctor's note explaining your situation. If any of your employers have an issue with you pausing your work, you can send them a copy of this. And if they insist on forcing you to work in this condition, well, they'll be the ones facing legal issues." Takemi explained as she handed the paper to Kuon.
The programmer read through the notice with a stunned expression, only half paying attention to the words as one section of Takemi's explanation stuck out to her. "I'm sorry… 'Legal issues'? That's happened before?"
Takemi tapped her painted nails against the arm rest of her chair. "Well, I personally have never taken legal actions against anyone for doing that, I have had a few stern words with the idiots who push their employees to the breaking point and they quickly changed their tune afterwards."
"Really?"
"Mm-hm. A lot of upper middle-class businessmen seem to find me quite intimidating… I can't imagine why."
Kuon couldn't help but laugh at that sarcastic remark. Considering some of the people she'd worked with before, she could definitely see that. Hell, it wouldn't surprise her if some of the more superstitious types thought Takemi was a witch.
"I see, okay, I'll keep that mind, Doctor." She said with an amused grin.
Takemi softly smiled back. "Alright then, is there anything else bothering you?"
"No, that's pretty much it. Thank you so much, Doctor." Kuon announced, carefully standing back up as her head was still a little fuzzy.
Takemi followed her, standing up and handing her a handful of paper slips. "Alright, well then, I've prescribed you a few things. There's some muscle relaxants, some painkillers and some vitamin supplements. Also, I've written out a suggested diet plan since you're lacking in quite a few nutrients - mostly iron, I would definitely recommend eating foods with higher iron contents."
Kuon nodded along to each suggestion, taking everything to heart since she really needed to start taking better care of herself. "Okay, I'll look into that."
"And lastly…" Takemi took out one last scrap of paper pinched between her fingertips and handed it over to the brunette. Kuon opened it to discover a phone number. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to give me a call."
Kuon stared at the number in surprise. Eventually she pulled herself together and smirked. "Would this number be for personal or professional use?"
Takemi simply shrugged and gave a vague grin. "Whichever you prefer."
Huh… Well that was certainly an interesting development… Not that Kuon disliked it. If anything, she was quite intrigued.
She gave the doctor a cheeky smirk as she slid the paper into her chest pocket. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you very much, Doctor."
Takemi returned that smirk before focusing her attention back onto her computer and the countless emails she unfortunately had to reply to. "Anytime. Take care now."
"Thanks again." Kuon quickly said as she excused herself and shut the office door behind her. Exiting the building, she felt her phone buzz again. She smiled as she pulled it out of her trouser pocket, already knowing she was going to greeted by Sophia's bright smile.
"Well? Was that helpful, Ichinose-san? I made notes based on Dr. Takemi's suggestions!" The redhead spoke cheerfully.
"It was very helpful, Sophia. I'm sorry I tried to argue against going."
"It's okay, I already knew that you're stubborn."
"And you're not?"
"I-… I suppose I am too."
Kuon giggled lightly as she lifted her head and looked around the area to find her way back to the station. She stopped as another building caught her eye.
"Hey, Sophia. There's a grocery shop right here. What do you say you look up some foods that are high in nutrients I need and I buy them before heading home?" She suggested, figuring she might as well start her recovery process sooner rather than later.
Sophia beamed brightly. "That sounds great! I'll look up recommended meals and point out all the ingredients to you!"
"Ooh, that sounds good! I hope you'll talk me through making them too."
"Of course! I'd love to!"
"Well then, let's get going already!" Kuon cheered quietly to avoid any strange looks from passers-by.
Sophia responded with a smile and an enthusiastic pump of her fist. Kuon smiled back at her and then entered the shop. Although she had to admit she was still a little distracted as she picked up a shopping basket.
She'd had people ask her out before, back in highschool and college but she never really felt any need to do so. None of those people really interested her and some of them just really rubbed her the wrong way. But Takemi on the other hand… She was quite the interesting character. And that slight flustered feeling she experienced when she was staring at Takemi… She supposed that's what attraction felt like. Very interesting, she'd have to do some further research.
With a small chuckle to herself, Kuon made a mental note to text her later that night and then carried on with her business.