Family Reunion (Aftermatch of Toshio vs Nanako)

"Out of my way!"

Another medical orderly (maybe the fifth or the sixth- Makie wasn't really counting) was shoved aside violently as Makie stormed through the hall, paying little or no heed to whoever was walking past it. She had been in her room, resting up between matches and listening to some music, when she had heard that Toshio had been in a match. A very, very brutal match, which had ended him with him being wheeled off to the infirmary.

Angrily, she shoved aside another passer-by until she came up to a nurse. What ensued was a brief shouting match- one which began with the nurse yelling at Makie for causing so much disruption in a medical area, and Makie shouting back that she would cause as much disruption as she god-damn pleased until someone told her which room her brother, Toshio Akamatsu, was being held in, and could they ever so please show her the direction while they were at it? The nurse was obviously bright enough to figure out that the sooner she told Makie what she needed to know, the sooner this annoying teenager would be out of her hair, so she didn't hesitate to tell Makie where her brother was.

After a few minutes of racing down the hall, momentarily getting lost, and almost pissing off AFW security, Makie finally found her way to the room where Toshio was being kept. Finding a doctor by the door, she quickly explained to him that she was Toshio's sister, and was quietly let into the room. SHe found Toshio lying on a sickbed, looking particularly worse for wear. His lower body was covered by bedsheets, but his face and upper body bore ugly-looking bruises. WHoever had done this to him, Makie realized, had been very brutal and very thorough.

She swallowed, her throat feeling unusually dry. Toshio's eyes weren't open. She took a tentative step forwards. "Toshio?"

His eyes fluttered open. "NNnngh?" He gave a low groan. "Makie...wha...what..."

Relieved that Toshio was, at least, alive, Makie leaned down and hugged her brother tightly-- an action that caused a red-faced Toshio to writhe and flail his arms wildly. "GHHHAAGHK...stop...body...still...hurts!" he gagged.

"Oh shut up, I'm worried about you, idiot!" Makie shouted back, releasing her hug as she glared down at him. "When I heard you were sent to the infirmary, I had no idea what to think! I was terrified that you had been crippled or something!"

Still wincing from Makie's hug, Toshio reclined in his bed. "Nah," he replied with a pained smile. "Doc says its just a few cracked ribs, a disclocated shoulder, a few torn ligaments in my knee and elbow, and I came very close to having my arm broken. Other than that, I'm fine."

"Oh, piss off," Makie shot back. Now that she was satisfied that Toshio was (mostly) okay, she sat down on the chair next to his sickbed. "And before you ask, no, I didn't bring you anything. If I'd been thinking clearly, I'd have brought you some get well candies and a porno magazine."

"Hah, hah, hah," Toshio said dryly, before sighing. "How've you been, sis? It's felt like ages since you and I talked."

Makie nodded solemnly. "Because of that stupid feud between you and Kyo, you mean?"

Toshio made as though to rise up out of his bed. "Hey--" He stopped midway when the pain in his back flared up, and he sank back down into the bedsheets. "No fair, you said you were never going to take sides in that!"

"And I didn't!" Makie shot back, some anger now audible in her voice. "That doesn't mean that the feud was stupid, and that you both acted like idiots!"

"I wasn't an idiot!" Toshio exclaimed defensively. "I beat Haruka in a match fair and square! Kyo's the one who chewed me up about it and started sulking, just because I defeated the girl he had a crush on--"

Makie's hand moved its own accord, slapping Toshio hard across the cheek. "Ow!" he gasped, surprsed. "What the hell was that for?"

"For being a dickhead!" Makie retorted angrily. "Okay, fine, Kyo acted like an ignorant jerk, but you're the one who struck out on his own and left! You had one victory, and because of that you decided to strike out on your own break up our team!"

Toshio blinked. "H-hey! I only wanted to get out from Kyo's shadow, that's all! Don't tell me you've never felt the same!"

"Of course I have!" Makie snapped. "But I never treated my siblings like crap because of that!"

For a moment, the two of them were silent. Their silence infected the rest of the room, with only the beep of hospital machinery breaking it at all.

Slowly, Toshio let out a long sigh. "I guess it's too late to say I'm sorry, huh?" he muttered.

Makie gave a sound of exasperation as she shook her head. "Baka...if I wasn't willing to forgive you, then I wouldn't be here, would I?"

Toshio smiled a little at this. "Well, when you put it that way..." He suddenly frowned. "Hey, stop calling your older brother an idiot!"

"Then stop acting like one!" Makie replied, this time smiling a little. "I figured you'd end up in here at some point, anyway, either sooner or later."

In response, Toshio gave a derisive snort. "Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence, sis," he grumbled. "Your sympathy for your injured brother is amazing."

"Oh, quit being such a baby," Makie replied, giving her brother a teasing shove. "So spill the beans. Who's the girl who finally had enough of your stupid one-liners?"

"Hey, my one-liners are gold!" Toshio protested. "My last opponent simply has no taste, that's all. Well, plus she kinda had a size advantage on me. Her name was...Nanako Junouchi, or something like that."

For a moment, Makie went quiet. Toshio frowned, though, when he saw the colour drain from his sister's face at the mention of the name.

"Nanako Junouchi?" she repeated.

"Yeah," Toshio replied, now curious. "Why? Do you know her?"

His sister grimaced. "Sort of," she said, almost in a growl. She stood up. "Look, I have things I need to take care of, Toshio...I need to run."

"Hey, I'm just glad you cared enough to visit," Toshio replied with a weak grin. His grin faded quickly. "Do me a favour, will you? Let Kyo know I'm here and tell him...fuck it, tell him I'm sorry, okay?"

Makie smiled at her brother and nodded. "Get some rest," she replied, before turning and heading out of the infirmary room.

It was only after she left the room that Makie clenched her fist tightly. First Nanako had blindsided her and left her almost knocked out after she had beaten her fair and square in a match...and now she had gone and left her brother hospitalized. Her expression darkened. She was going to find that oversized bitch, and she was going to make her pay for messing with her and her family. And this time, she wasn't going to be nice about it, either...