The Reason We Fight

Chapter 69. The Intervention

Tserriednich allowed Kakume to go to the clinic but had gotten one of his guards to tail her all the same. She got the call asking her to present herself for a checkup, and suspected that Leorio was behind it somehow. The last time she was there, she left in a hurry before any of the doctors could do any actual tests. Her tail was following close, breathing down her neck, so to speak. He wasn't very skilled at it, but she also didn't dare make any effort to ditch him, lest it made the prince more suspicious of her. She walked to her destination with no conviction, just following the script. Her rage at the idea that she had been abandoned yet again sliced through the fog of fatigue that had been suffocating her.

As soon as she entered, she heard an automatic voice call for her to proceed into one of the examination rooms. Her shadow wouldn't follow her past this point.

The space was cramped and stuffy, full of crates and boxes and medical equipment occupying every corner of the room. Leorio invited her in, just as she expected. She noticed Kurapika standing behind the examination table, looking worse for wear with dark circles around his eyes. She paused and looked at Leorio accusingly. "Ambush or intervention?"

"Bit of both, actually".

Kurapika approached her, a mournful expression on his face, desperate. "I've been worried sick about you, Shuri! You're not acting like yourself, it's scaring me. Please... talk to me! Tell me what's wrong".

Her emotions spilled out like a dam cracking under the pressure of the water. She couldn't keep it in any longer. "Everything", she whimpered. Her dry voice was a mere whisper but its strength, her last, delivered her meaning much more clearly than her words ever could. In spite of herself, the rage she had felt earlier evaporated like steam off of her body.

Kurapika's brow puckered full of distress. He took a careful step towards her, unsure of how she would react.

"Members of the royal family of Kakin give their slaves a Nen-augmenting drug", Leorio explained. He had been reading up on it, apparently - familiarizing himself with it since her last visit. "Its long-term use has a varied range of effects on the body, but in all cases, the prognosis isn't good..."

"No...", Kurapika managed, his breath cut short. "Leorio, is there something you can do? A remedy of some kind?"

"Unfortunately, we can only slow its progression", he admitted. "However, there could be something on the Dark Continent. Remember, Cheadle mentioned an expedition done by the United States of Saherta. What they found..."

"The herb. The panacea..."

Kakume kept her silence. The ghosts she's been seeing, the echoes of her past, haunting her day and night... it was crystal clear what they signified. They wanted her soul back. She was supposed to die, and the gallows were still waiting for her. But why? she wondered. Why bother giving me life at all?

"Leorio, can I get a minute alone with Shuri?", Kurapika asked in a pleading voice.

"Yeah. I'll get some equipment to get a couple tests done, if that's okay with you".

Kakume nodded, keeping her head down, her bangs obscuring her face.

When Leorio left the room, Kurapika took her face into his hands. "Look at me, Shuri", he said, serious. "We're going to get through this, you hear me?"

She felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Is that it... is that my second chance? The chance to die of illness? How the hell is that fair?" She hiccupped, her feelings of despair swelling large in her chest. "And what am I doing with my last moments? Every minute I stay in this ship, I grow weaker. Each time I look around, the walls move in a little tighter".