"I'm fine, Chiyuri." Hearing the sound of her name seems to snap her out of it. At least, enough to loosen her tongue a bit. You have every right to be angry, all things considered. Until this point, she'd been telling you to take it easy on yourself, and now she goes and loses herself like this.. For some reason, you can't seem to muster up the energy.

"I-I.." She stammers, leaning back on her haunches. "I'm sorry, I-"

"I said I'm fine." You repeat your words more forcefully, hoping it might serve to lessen her guilt over hurting you. "Help me up."

She obeys silently, pulling you back up by your arms. The pain resurfaces as you try to flex your muscles, and you don't try to fight it as your strength fades. She doesn't complain with the added load, carefully yet laboriously setting you upright all on her own without so much as a peep.

And once she's done, she just stares at you, waiting for you, expecting you to scream or yell or lash out in anger. You know you should, and as much as you'd like to, you just can't bring yourself to do it. Maybe it's the pain, maybe your tired. Maybe, you'd enjoyed that kiss more than you thought..

"Yumemi?" She reaches out to you, reluctant yet intent on setting her hands upon you. Her expression is one of fear, but fear of what? "..Boss?"

"My hair." You grit your teeth as another wave of pain comes over you. The sound of your voice comes out sounding angry because of it, and the hurt on Chiyuri's face is evident. She takes a step back as you struggle to fight down the pain.

"I-I didn't-" She gives you a pleading look, begging you not to be angry, to not hate her, to not harbor an emotion you haven't held for her yet. Her posture is defensive, yet clearly unsure of herself.

"Don't give me that look." The pain is less enough that you're able to force a smile to your face, and though you try to lighten the mood, it doesn't really help. "You forgot to wash my hair."

"You.." Her eyes turn away briefly, and you can see her confidence slowly returning. "You still want me to-"

You nod, trying not to use words as the pain comes and goes. You don't want to push her away again, especially when you don't mean to.

"Even after I-" Again, she averts her eyes, as if to look at you were some sort of insult.

"Just shut up and do it." You begin to grow frustrated. Normally she'd recover from something like this a little sooner..

"I.." She looks up, smiling meekly. "I don't deserve you, sometimes."

"I'm a forgiving woman, Chiyuri." You smile back, your strength slowly returning as time progresses. "Just.. Try not to be so rough next time." You make a grab for the bottle she was using earlier. Though you know it's the wrong stuff, and mostly empty at that, you chuck it at her regardless. "Now hop to it!"

She catches it without missing a beat--hardly moving as it lands in her palm--and puts it aside as she positions herself to help you back into the water. The soapy residue on your body washes off as you're pulled back in, and you wonder if it would have turned out differently had you not been so slippery to the touch.

She grabs another bottle from the shelf, and though she does a piss-poor job at it, she tries to forget that anything ever happened. Hints of that fear you saw in her earlier still linger in her mood and mannerisms. Hopefully, this close contact will calm her down.

You remain still with your eyes closed as she wets your hair, running her hands through it once or twice before pretty much dumping the whole bottle onto your head. It's strawberry scented, like the last bottle. You wonder if that's all she knows about your likes and dislikes, but you don't bother to mention it. The sensation of her hands massaging your scalp feels too good to think of much else. Even the pain in your chest seems as nothing compared to it.

"'s nice.." You find yourself thinking aloud, whispering to yourself. "Maybe when I'm healed, we can-"

"Something the matter?" Chiyuri's hands stop moving as she talks.

"No, don't stop." You moan, "Keep going."

"Does it really feel that good?" She takes her hands away, "I was just about done."

"Damn!" You curse aloud, the sensation still fresh in your mind. Then, you get to thinking.. "Well, as long as I'm injured like this, you can indulge me. Can't you?"

"It's an honor and a privilege." She answers, laughing aloud as she dumps a bucket of water over your head. "Now let's get you into some proper clothes."

"Not yet." You brush hair and water from your eyes. There's still something you have on your mind.. "I want to see it."

"Hmm?" She doesn't seem to understand, at least, not immediately.

"The scars, my hair.. I want to see how I look."

"Ah-" She pauses, stepping around to help you back up. "Alright, I understand."

Her hands tuck under your armpits, tickling you slightly as she tries to lift your entire body from the water. Again, you have to help her. She can't do it on her own, but the flexing of your abdominal muscles brings forth another wave of intense pain. You try to ignore it, at least, long enough to safely remove yourself from the water.

As you stand, it seems to subside. It only seemed to get worse when you were sitting, but now, it's not so bad. What is bad, however, is the way you have to stand so Chiyuri can dry your body off. You feel like you're in some kind of debauched prison search or something similar, but you grin and bear it.

Soon enough, you find yourself comfortably sitting in the slightly more dignified wheelchair with a blanket over you, like some crippled old lady. Well, you certainly are crippled, but that's beside the point..

You wait and watch as Chiyuri tends to her own soaking wet body, toweling off and dressing herself as quickly as her small body can manage. She flips a switch, and the bath water drains as the lights begin to dim. Convenient..

"You've got a mirror in your room, right?" She asks, wheeling you out into the hall with haste. "I can't remember for the life of me.."

"I do, but..."

[ ] "What about your room?"
[ ] "The one in the locker room is closer."
[ ] "No, it's nothing. Keep going."