Chasing after a rival(for Shadowofice)

After the bloody match with Violet, which Megumi only won because Seraphim Harmonia intervened, Megumi ran backstage as fast as she could to catch up with her rival and now protector. She stopped as she reached the end of the ramp, slightly breathless. Her wounds she got from the match throbbed with pain. She knew she needed real medical attention, and quickly, but right now seeing Sera was much more important.

Megumi pushed open the door to the locker room. She peered around, seeing nobody around. She went inside, hoping to somehow be able to fine Sera in the huge arena compound. She moseyed around, but did not find Sera. Then she realized that the most obvious place for Sera to be is the clinic, probably dressing those wounds. Megumi headed there too, hoping that she was there, and maybe even fixing herself up a little there.

Damnit... why did it all have to get screwed up in the end?! Even as Seraphim was at the clinic, she still found herself cursing over and over under her breath, extremely displeased with herself for how the match went. She was going to push herself beyond her limit, and yet instead she just ended up with a few unneccesary wounds.

Still... Megumi had ended up okay in the end, so it was all a happy ending, right?

Seraphim let out a long sigh, sitting on the end of a hospital bed, not even bothering to sit back like a nurse suggested. Not only that, but she simply demanded gauze and bandages before telling the doctors and nurses to get lost, and had decided to tend to her own wounds herself. A little bit of ice cold water, some antibacteria medicine, gauze, then wrap it with bandages, and she'd be alright. The whole process of mending her own wounds was a very common thing for Seraphim, practically routine for the one eyed wrestler, not even bothering to change out of her wrestler's attire at this point.

For a moment, she was thinking about Megumi, but also Alison, Tracy, Sharaiya, and Phoebe, her mind slowly flashing back and forth between the people she cared about as she addressed her wounds. while doing so, her crimson eye slowly softened, a subtle frown breaching her face like it all just depressed her, unaware of her surroundings at this point.

Megumi burst into the small hospital ward without even bothering to knock. The stunned doctor and nurses at first did not respond to Megumi's presence, but once they came around they rushed over and quickly tried to treat Megumi. Megumi didn't resist, going along with the medical staff as they eased her to a hospital bed and began to cut off the crudely bound bandages and remove Megumi's clothing to get at the wounds beneath. Megumi had not realized it, but the cut to her side had bled considerably and needed to be cleaned. The nurses formed virtually a screen around Megumi so she couldn't see outside. Finally, the doctor moved aside, giving Megumi an unblocked view of Sera, right across from where she was.

"Sera!" Megumi called out, "Seraphim Harmonia!" Megumi tried to get up, but unlike Sera she was forced down by the nurses until they could properly bind the wounds.

Seraphim had been lost in her thoughts for some time now, nearly finishing with her wounds by now, one nurse even watching her with a raised brow at how good she was doing this, clearly having done it to herself numerous times before. She couldn't help but feel like she screwed up, like she should have been there sooner, not just for Megumi, but for all of her friends. 'Can't do anything right... It's my fault everyone's hurt..' There were very few moments in Serpahim's life where she actually showed her depression, but she always carried it with her, just knowing how to hide it well.

Then, among her thoughts, Seraphim blinked when she heard her name called, looking up as she snapped back into the real world, only to realize a crowd of doctors and nurses around one bed, seeing someone between it all. "...Megumi..?" She knew that voice, and as she was coming back to reality, it made sense to her that she would be here. Of all the times, Seraphim really didn't feel like talking to the girl, she felt somewhat responsible in all of this, but she also felt obligated... at least to see her once.

[size=85:2avdufj3]"Move aside doc..." She slowly got to her feet, casually dragging herself through the doctors and nurses, only to get a brief chance to look at Megumi, but falling silent. Seraphim's gaze was.. hollow and empty, the shine in her crimson eye becoming like that of a dying rose, and a small frown on her soft face. Not saying a word, she already felt like turning away, not even wanting to look at what happened to Megumi at this point.

There was a brief moment of silence as the doctor got pushed aside and Megumi finally saw Sera's face. In their match before, Megumi hadn't truly taken a good look at her opponent, being more focused on fighting. In the match that just ended, Megumi was more focused on the flashing steel of Violet's ninjato and the blood than her savior's face. Now she beheld it truly for the first time. Sera's features would've been pretty if they weren't so hard, Megumi thought. Just by looking at Sera's face Megumi felt as if she could tell a little bit of the harsh past the girl had endured. It was nothing Megumi could imagine.

Then she saw Sera's eyes. Megumi remembered them the best, for the burning fury they held was what terrified Megumi the most when she had to face this woman. Now that fire was only embers within the dull recesses of her eyes.

"What's with the sad look?" Megumi asked, "Aren't you glad to be seeing a friend?" Her unbandaged arm reached out to gently touch Sera's hand.

She stopped when Megumi spoke, half turned around at this point, but not leaving just yet, refusing to leave the question unanswered. It didn't stop her from pulling her hand quickly away from Megumi's attempt though, like the contact with her was something she was afraid of, pulling away so quickly one would think she saw Megumi's hand as a pair of vicious claws rather than a friendly gesture.

"...We're not friends... there's no reason I should be happy, sad, or anything." Seraphim replied slowly, her words sounding like they were awfully lacking of any true emotion at this point. The closest one could compare it too was a void, just a few empty words that came from her lips without meaning, like it was the best she could say and even that had no weight to it.

Megumi's face fell a little when Sera pulled away from her. Her hand was left empty, and her words were lost in the gloom of Sera's mind. There was something wrong with Sera. The more she thought about it, the more Megumi felt that she knew what was wrong.

"Hey, don't blame youself for me getting hurt," Megumi said, "Don't feel so down, it's not your fault."

By now, the situation was fortunately being placed under control, and just one doctor and two nurses remained as they continued to tend to her. The medical staff seemed ignorant to the talk between the two as they were stabilizing Megumi's wound at the moment, but it didn't stop them from still looking at Seraphim's wounds with curious eyes, like they wanted to give their own opinion despite Seraphim's impressive work in bandaging herself. Ignoring this all, Seraphim just sighed, hearing Megumi's reply and just shaking her head slowly, looking down still as she released a short sigh.

"Of course it is..." She said back slowly her hands slowly sliding into her pockets, not even cringing from her own pain in moving her own injured arm as she did. That entire aura about Seraphim she always carried; her proud posture, her confident outlook, her deviant grin, none of it was there, she looked like a teenage girl who was just deeply scorned by her parents, or just heard some ill-fated knews that left her shattered.

"It's not your fault," Megumi said softly, "I don't quite know what happened to you in the past, but whatever it is, it's not your fault it happened." The doctors finished binding her wounds, stopping the bleeding gash on her arm with tight bandages. They also put a gauze pad on the cut in her side, stopping the bleeding there too.

"It's no big deal, see?" Megumi said, "I'm all better already!" She got up off the bed, clad only in her underwear at this point. She walked straight in front of Sera.

"I don't think I've said this yet," Megumi said. She took a deep breath, "Thank you!"

Why did she have to bring up her past into this? Seraphim wanted to make a quick rebuttle about how that had nothing to do with this, but before she could, Megumi got to her feet and mentioned it wasn't a big deal. Maybe... maybe it wasn't, but it still wracked her conciousness, and she couldn't shrug it away. Though, those thoughts did take a back seat when Megumi stood up, revealing herself nearly in the nude, causing Seraphim's depression to drop away as she turned to the side, faintly blushing red.

She had already gotten a good look at Megumi before, and even caught quite a feel for her too, but Seraphim had never wanted to embarress the girl to the crowd, so she never really saw Megumi stripped down this much. She was incredably beautiful too, but Seraphim didn't want to be disrespectful and stare. Then something else happened... she thanked her. Those words actually came strongly to her, and it became a growing ember to her once dying flame, allowing her to let out a long sigh of releif, no longer feeling as bad to know Megumi was going to be okay, and appreciated Seraphim's help, especially after what she had done to her before. She couldn't look at the girl still, at least not how she was unless Megumi didn't mind, but Seraphim managed to speak, just barely. Her words were just past a whisper, and sounded weaker, almost... shy?

[size=85:16u730x0]"You're... y-you're welcome... Megumi-san."