[color=#E34234][b]Takumi Minamoto - The Second Sexy Halloween Costume[/b][/color] [i]Third Ward, Sakura Clinic, Fourth Floor[/i] [hr] For a few long seconds after his final utterance, the world was left in a tense repose. The half-ghoul’s eyes - now both a very human shade of green - remained affixed to the sight of his older brother and the defeated but still defiant kakuja. Itsuki… Takumi didn’t know what to think about Itsuki, his reckless rage, and the sudden stillness that had come over him. It was true that desperate times called for desperate measures, but he still felt like an absolute waste of human life for using that particular piece of ammunition against his unhinged elder brother. It was an impulsive move, probably one of his most impulsive ones to date, but it was his only shot. The fingers of his mained hand dug into the bloodsoaked carpet. If Takumi could put himself in Itsuki’s shoes, he knew he wouldn’t be feeling so hot right now. Past failures, lapses of judgement, personal weakness… Nobody wanted to remember those. Especially not someone like Itsuki, who didn’t seem to be able to let go too easily. But to Takumi’s pleasant surprise, Itsuki just let the girl go. Falling forward onto the bloodsoaked carpet, the human breathed a sigh of relief, only now conscious of the fact he’d been left breathless by the anticipation. He forced out painful, gladdened laughter, silencing himself only upon the sound of his name in Itsuki’s irate voice. [color=#E34234][i]’Time to pay up,’[/i][/color] Takumi thought grimly. He was really going to get it now, he was sure. He winced; somehow the possibility of getting hurt was a lot more painful than all the puncture wounds. Slowly, he turned to look at his brother, the guilt spelled out on his face plain as day. [color=#E34234]“I understand, onii-san,”[/color] Takumi lowered his head, [color=#E34234]“It won’t happen again.”[/color] Yet somehow, he had the feeling that he wouldn’t be able to keep that promise. As Itsuki moved to speak to Rin, Takumi placed his good hand flat on the ground next to him, and pushed himself up to his feet. [color=#E34234]“Nngh.”[/color] The heat of battle was gone, and replaced only by the soreness of flechette rounds and spikes, it seemed. He looked at his mutilated hand and let it hang against his side. [color=#E34234]“I don’t think that’s very necessary,”[/color] he countered upon hearing exactly what Itsuki had instructed, [color=#E34234]“She said earlier that she didn’t want to fight us. I’m thinking she was just crazy because it's a kakuja thing.”[/color] Perhaps he could’ve worded that a bit more elegantly, but he meant [i]exactly[/i] what he meant. It was only now that Takumi had come to the realization, but he’d given Itsuki the benefit of the doubt for far too long. He couldn’t let him stay on his current path. Even after all the charity he’d been shown, the kakuja had shown a blase disregard for everyone and everything apart from his own whims. And as much as Takumi didn’t want to believe it, he was sure this was some kind of self-serving venture. A way to justify the results of his actions to himself, and to rectify the aftermath of his actions. [color=#E34234]“...”[/color] Takumi’s mouth became a hard line, and for a moment, he breathed a bit more ragged than before. [color=#E34234][i]’Yeah,’[/i][/color] he thought, [color=#E34234][i]’Yeah… That’s the problem.’[/i][/color] He looked back to Itsuki and Hana, the latter of which had thankfully interrupted his train of thought by making some subtly sarcastic statement about shoving stale genitalia down her throat. [color=#E34234]“Heh, sorry onee-chan,”[/color] he apologized sheepishly, unintentionally rubbing blood into the back of his hair with his injured extremity, [color=#E34234]“Guess I don’t make great calls under pressure, huh?”[/color] He grinned. The battle was over, so it was best to get back to the swing of things quickly; no use wasting time moping.[color=#E34234] “But it worked out for the best, didn’t it? Er, sort of.”[/color] Takumi was taken aback by the angry glare, however. As much as he wanted to say something like “You didn’t see what I saw!”, he refrained. The kakuja lady could explain for herself later, and it wasn’t as if Hana was being uncooperative right now. As he watched the doctor do her work, he heard her quote a familiar passage. [color=#E34234][i]’Art of War chapter 12’[/i][/color], he recalled before confirming Hana’s rhetorical question with a simple: [color=#E34234]“Mhm.”[/color] Everything seemed to be going alright so far, so Takumi took a seat on the floor - getting some blood on his butt in the process- and decided to take it easy in the meantime. He snapped to attention upon hearing his name in a surprisingly imperative tone. He turned his ear to Hana, who was issuing out commands at a rapid pace. [color=#E34234]“Affirmative,”[/color] he nodded and, before Hana could even finish her final sentence, was up and ready to carry out his orders like a good trooper. But there was something that was bothering him. [color=#E34234][i]’Third drawer… Key.’[/i][/color] He clenched his good fist around the metallic object and headed for the elevator. [hr] [color=#E34234][i]’Counterclockwise…’[/i][/color] he pushed the key into the hole and rotated to the left. His fingers travelled along the underside of control panel, before encountering a bump. [color=#E34234][i]’Secret button.’[/i][/color] Immediately the elevator began to descend. He began naming off the checklist of things to retrieve. [color=#E34234][i]’Five flasks of GBP, and two doses of...’[/i][/color] He paused. [color=#E34234]“...RCS...”[/color] There was [i]no[/i] way that meant what he thought it did. No way at all! That stuff was usually too expensive for even hospitals, and the only other way was... Before he could hypothesize, the elevator dinged and opened up to a chilly room filled only with the hum of machinery and rows of lockbox-esque cabinets. [color=#E34234]“It’s like a morgue,”[/color] he noted during his search for the freezer with the keypad. [color=#E34234]“Here you are…”[/color] he began punching in the numbers. 5-4-2-1-enter-mechanical-rotation-click-open. [color=#E34234]“Bingo,”[/color] he grinned, grabbing hold of the properly labelled flasks and setting them in the simple little basket he had made with his kagune. [color=#E34234][i]‘Now for the RCS…’[/i][/color] Of course, it didn’t take long for him to find it; that box of syringes was unmistakable. [color=#E34234]“No fucking way,”[/color] Takumi’s voice was a combination of horror and amazement, [color=#E34234]“Now how’d you get your hands on [i]these[/i] babies?”[/color] [hr] The elevator arrived on the fourth with another ding, and out stepped the designated nurse for today, holding a gift basket for the poor patient. Sadly, there were no get-well cards, flowers, fruit, or anything that fluffy. Just two pointy objects and bottles of strange fluid. Takumi set it down gently beside Hana, looking rather awkward as he did so. Should he pretend he didn’t know what those syringes were? The box was labelled, but… [color=#E34234]“Erm. This is the stuff, yeah?”[/color] He asked as a final confirmation before turning his attention to the wavering form of Miyako. [color=#E34234]"I'm back,"[/color] he joked before taking a few steps back to give the Hana and Rin room to work.