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Ren is in the clinic.

[Akechi's words are blunt, monotone, and he tries desperately to not any ripples of worry or distress slip through his thoughts.

Still, those focusing closely may still feel it. A tingling feeling like ants skittering across one's brain.]

I will be doing what I can to care for him. Obviously, I'm not clinic staff, but I owe him as much.

[Something like irritation starts to flare, but it fizzles out fast.]

I told him not to overdo it. Now he's going to fall even further behind.

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[He was in the middle of adjusting Ren's blankets. When Firoza approaches, his feathers fluff up for a fleeting moment before he settles down and hops over to meet her.]

Thank you for coming, Firoza-san.

[She hums in affirmative and places the bag down where Akechi can get it. There's a nice mix of berries in there - healthy snacks for recovering, and fretting.]

It is no trouble. [A pause, to glance at Ren.] If it is not too much...might I ask how it happened?

[Shuffling closer, he peeks into the bag. A berry is as good a start as any, so he picks it up with his beak and places it in his wing.]

It happened rather suddenly. The exertion from multiple missions, combined with the race may have compounded the existing issues with his aches and pains. It may also be a similar affliction as A.B.A-san's, though hopefully he'll recover more swiftly.

[He can't imagine going months with Ren stuck like this. It isn't right.]

I sincerely hope it is not nearly as lengthy as A.B.A.'s recovery.

[Sits and frets softly in the boys' direction.]

Is there aught to be done to help ease his aches at all? For when he rouses, I mean. That...that cannot be easy to live with. Not at all.

[Akechi watches Ren's unconscious form, his frown firmly in place.]

Perhaps he ought to consider some form of physical therapy. We may be able to receive pain relief as well, but that would require Ren to acknowledge his pain.

[Ah...so he's like that, huh.]

I can...unfortunately relate. Even though I know it causes much grief to others. [But like. Who else would take these burdens and survive them? Who else could get back up, if she couldn't?] But I'm not sure if what my friends have expressed to me, and how they expressed it, would be the best for him.

[You know. Crying over your prone form and yelling at you for being a dumbass.]

Ren will bend over backwards to help others, but the moment his needs are in focus, he denies there's a problem to begin with.

[He huffs, pecking at some of the food in annoyance.]

Hah, yes, that's it. I do that, too. But...I am making the effort to be better.

[It's just something you learn after a couple near death experiences - I mean, being thirty years old. Totally just because she's comparatively an old lady.]

So long as you remain by his side, I think he will come to learn that for himself, as well. But he really must wake up to do that.

Indeed... And, of course, I'm far from the comforting or reassuring sort, so this is decidedly placing me outside my comfort zone.

[Yet when he peers back at Ren, his features soften. Out of everyone he could have chosen, Ren chose him.

It baffles him even now.]

...For what it's worth, I think you're doing a fine job. And sometimes, it doesn't matter what sort of person is there when you wake up...but the person themselves, being there.

I suppose you have a point. Ren decided I was worthwhile, despite everything I did to him.

[The specifics go unsaid for now. Instead, he'll peck at his food so me more.]

[Ah...a complicated past. She'll let Akechi keep his secrets.]

'Tis funny, whom we choose to keep at our sides. Who chooses to stay. For it is...a "two way street"? That is the term, I think.

That is the correct term, yes.

[If only Ren were awake, he'd surely have things to say. As is, he remains fast asleep.]

Though, I suppose this world has granted us a blank slate of a sort. Should any of his teammates arrive, I have to wonder how they'd view the situation.

...You need not elaborate if you feel uncomfortable.

[She wants to make that clear, that Akechi is not here to be pestered and questioned about things he's dancing around. But even so...]

Then again, if it is something you wish another party to hear...at any time, of course, on your own time...I've been told I'm a good listener.

[By virtue of being pretty quiet and just sort of not minding when people exposit in her direction.]

[It's... difficult to decide. Akechi's crimes, his inescapable mistakes are something he's generally kept close to the chest, save for Shoka. Other than Ren, she's the only one who's even gotten a trace of his murderous past...

Well, her and Flowey.]

To put it bluntly, I'm a former assassin.

Oh. [A soft surprise, but not. Not as much as one might expect.] And you do seem very young, still. Well, in, ah, in comparison to myself.

[A pause.]

...If it helps, my hands are not clean of blood either.

Well, it certainly doesn't hurt.

[It might be easier, then, to explain. They've worked together enough times that he can at least trust her to an extent.]

Two of my hits were parents of Ren's teammates. One of them was a wretched man who used my abilities for his own gain. The other was simply an obstacle in my father's way.

...I see.

[Yeah that...that would piss people off for sure, if they were friends of your date friend.]

And...you may correct me if I am wrong, but...I assume you felt you needed to do those things. For whatever goals you felt needed to be pursued, to protect yourself. To do what had to be done.

[She sighs softly. There is a twinge of sorrow to her face. Not pity, not shaming. Just. Damn. Kids shouldn't have to kill. Even if the world treated them as adults, sometimes.]

At least you can pick out two. I know...even out of self defense, in the interest of protecting the realm...there are yet people who despise me for taking away those they loved. And I cannot blame them for it.

...How perceptive.

[He growls out a sigh. No sense denying it, however. It is the truth, plain and simple.]

I have killed more than two people and harmed many more. I told myself that my targets were vile people who deserved their fates, and while some of them were, the same can't be said for all of them. It was simply a means to justify to myself what I believed "had" to be done.

...It may not be a comfort. But, for what it's worth, I am sorry.

[Sorry that there are still places like that. Out beyond the confines of her star and its reflections, where hands are yet stained red...she's not naive enough to think it could all come to a peaceful resolution, someday. There will yet ever be strife.

But like. The kids, man. The teens. They don't need this.]

And I know not your reasons...I know not your methods. But I am certainly the last person who could judge you.

[Even the worst of the worst that she had faced - judgement was not hers to pass. She fought, she protected, and yes, she killed. But that was no judgement.]

It was my own damn fault. I walked into a situation, thinking I had control, and got more than I bargained for. Worst of all, I never had control...

[Scoffing, he shakes his head. It is what it is, bitter though it may be.]

Still, it's not something I typically share. The last thing I need is to sow dissent among our guild due to a past that hardly applies here.

I hadn't planned on telling.

[It's not like her situation. He's not...well, he isn't going out with the intent to find adventure in a dangerous fantasy world.]

If you wish to begin anew here, then you should. Not everyone gets that chance.

Indeed. Not to say that I 'deserve' it, but I'd be a fool to squander it all the same.

[He has a choice for once, even in this tiny form. No higher power setting him up for failure, no obligations to act as a hitman for society's most wretched elites...]

You and many others I know would share that sentiment. But...I'm glad you won't squander the chance.

[A soul in the aetherial sea takes a long time to cleanse and be born a new for that. To be able to do this in one lifetime is priceless.]

Frankly, Mightyena-san is infinitely more agreeable than my previous 'superiors.' Even within the restraints of the guild system, we're rather fortunate to be so accepted despite our status as outsiders.

[It speaks to a certain kindness he's seldom seen with humans. Are Pokémon simply well-meaning, or is there more to it?]

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