NeeP Productions Presents:
Strong Enough for a Man...?
By Niki (NeeP) Paradis
It was getting dark when Ryouga and Jiro finally
finished setting up the tents. The fire was starting to die down
at the time. Jiro put the last of the cut firewood into the flames.
"We're going to need more, Oniisan.
It's your turn to chop the wood."
"Right." Ryouga went to the woodpile,
which was located a little ways away from the fire. He set a log
onto the chopping block.
"Hiiiyaaa!" he shouted as he split the
log in half --the economical way --by using a karate chop. He continued
to split wood in this manner while Jiro set the kettle on the fire to boil
for their instant noodles.
Jiro sat back after putting the kettle
on. It's a beautiful night, she thought as she looked up through
the treetops to the sky. It's so quiet, so peaceful...
"Yow!" Ryouga was practically
screaming.
Jiro started at the shriek.
"What's wrong? Oniisan, are you
okay?!?"
Ryouga was kneeling by the chopping
block, bent over and cradling his hand. Panicking, she rushed over
to Ryouga, and tried to help him up.
"What is it?" she asked, as she gingerly
took his hand.
With tears in his eyes, Ryouga let his
'foster-sister' examine him. The light was dim, away from the fire,
but Jiro was able to make out the splinter of wood embedded in his hand.
"Oi! That's gotta hurt," she commented.
"Well, yeah." Ryouga's voice was
a hiss of pain.
"Let's examine it over by the fire.
The light's better over there." Jiro took a few pieces of the cut
wood in one hand and the wrist of Ryouga's un-injured hand in her other,
and took both over to the fire.
Once Jiro set the wood and her 'foster-brother'
down, she examined Ryouga's hand again. The splinter was embedded
a little more than a centimetre deep. She grimaced. *That's
not gonna be fun for either of us*, she thought. Outloud, she said,
"It has to come out, before it gets infected."
Ryouga nodded miserably. "Just
do it," he said.
"Right." Jiro went to her backpack
and pulled out her little first-aid kit and a needle from her sewing kit.
She went back to her patient who was biting his lower lip. She sat
with her back to him, and secured his arm under her own. She gripped
Ryouga's wrist with the hand that was attached to her securing arm and
held the needle with her free hand.
"Are you ready," she asked.
"Ready." Ryouga's voice was a
whisper.
The needle barely touched the flesh,
when Ryouga yelped --right in Jiro's ear.
(Now, Jiro's ears are pointed, which makes them more conductive to sound --which meant that Ryouga's yelp was waaaaay louder to her than it would have been to most people.)
Jiro winced, and waited for her head
to stop ringing.
"Stop that! It HAS to come out,
Oniisan!"
"I know, I know, but it hurts."
Jiro turned to look at the individual
who she has witnessed taking several hits by various Martial Artists and
shake the blows off. The person she has seen slammed into solid stone
and walked away with barely a scratch. She looked at this person,
who now had tears running down his face at the removal of a splinter.
She sighed and shook her head. Who knew? she thought.
"I promise not to yell like that again,"
Ryouga said softly.
"Okay, then."
Jiro tried again. But before the
needle even reached the flesh, Ryouga's hand jerked out from under her
arm.
"Oniisan!"
"Sorry, sorry."
She tried various methods of securing
Ryouga's hand, from a tighter grip to sitting on his arm to sitting on
his head. But everytime, Ryouga managed to pull his hand away.
Jiro growled.
"Do you want this to get infected?!?"
she asked in exasperation.
"No, of course not," Ryouga replied.
"It's just the anticipation of the pain."
Jiro looked thoughtful. She looked
at Ryouga, and she looked at his hand.
"Maybe you just need something to help
relax you," she said. "Wait here." She got up and went to her
backpack. Ryouga watched as Jiro rummaged through the contents.
"Here it is," she chirped as she pulled
something out.
"What is it?" Ryouga was surprised
to see Jiro bring her old water-bucket back to the fire.
"It's a water-bucket," she said simply.
"What's it for?" he asked.
Without replying, Jiro raised the bucket
and brought it down hard on Ryouga's head. It was a blow that was
worthy of Akane and her mallet. Ryouga went out like a light.
"I thought that would work," she said
to herself as she continued to work on Ryouga's hand.
Ryouga woke up a while later with a slight
headache. He sat up and looked at his bandaged hand. Then,
he looked at Jiro who was roasting marsh-mallows over the fire.
"Why did you do that?" he asked, refering
to the blow on the head.
"You wouldn't stop squirming," she said.
"It was a low blow."
"So was yelling in my ear."
The two glared at each other for a bit.
Then Jiro giggled.
Ryouga chuckled.
"It was a splinter, Oniisan...And here
I thought that you were 'Oh-so-tough'."
"Um, just don't tell anyone, okay?"
Ryouga grinned sheepishly. "Especially Ranma --he wouldn't let me
live it down."
"Okay, but you'll owe me one."
Jiro chuckled. She picked up the bag of marsh-mallows that was sitting
beside her and held it up. "Marsh-mallow?" she offered.
"Thanks," said Ryouga as he helped himself.
"And thanks, Jiro," he said, holding up his bandaged hand.
"No problem. That's what little
sisters are for."