Leashed | • • • | Blue Exorcist

A&E

Thankfully, my doctor moved to calm Shura down. He dropped his grip on my chin and I hung my head low, protecting my shameful marks. Shura spoke a few more words of my ungrateful attitude before plopping back down in her chair. I peeked through my bangs, seeing her fold her arms and cross one leg over the other; how bratty of her.

"Rin?" Tanaka's voice was reassuring, but I found myself guarded. I didn't want to share these secrets with anyone. I've already involved enough people, can't we just deal with my other injuries and call it good? "I understand this is stressful, maybe even a bit embarrassing." He hit the nail on the head with that statement, and I nodded meekly. "I won't judge you here, though. Everyone has problems in life, it's all about how we cope with them that we differ. Let me see, I want to make sure you're okay." His voice was level, still unbiased. He probably saw stuff like this more than I'd like to think. So, reluctantly, I lifted my head up to meet his gaze.

A small smile played at his lips and he praised me for cooperating. "May I?" He gestured slightly and I nodded once again. He leaned over to his right, toward a nearby wall, fetching a pair of blue gloves from a box. In a blink, he had them on and I felt one hand tilt my head back, and then another gently touched my wounded neck. He asked me to lean back, as to not strain the already broken scar. I obeyed and leaned back against my palms, which allowed him even more visibility. He hummed a few times, tilting my head at a few angles to adjust his view. Then, he took a step back, allowing me to put my head down.

"We'll Dermabond the open lacerations, and the scratch marks will only need some antibacterial and dressing and they should heal up fine. We'll also monitor his shoulder and any other injuries that he may have sustained from the fall." He turned to Shura, addressing her solely, "sometimes wounds take a few hours to a few days to appear, so this may not be the extent of his injuries. However," he started to take off his exam gloves, "I doubt anything serious will arise. Especially if his shoulder isn't dislocated. The place of impact is usually the worst." He once again turned to me, "you didn't hit your head when you fell correct?"

A moment of snarkiness took hold of me, "no, the only time my head hit anything was when I was thrown around." My eyes wandered to Shura, who knew I was calling her out. I saw her eyes flash.

"Don't make this look like we beat the shit out of you, kid. You got aggressive and we had to wrangle you in."

I huffed, "you didn't have to be so violent, though." I ground my teeth, "my hands were already tied behind my back, why'd you have to throw me to the ground and toss me onto that car?" I took a deep breath releasing some of the anger I didn't know I had. "Seemed pretty callous to me."

She did the same, her chest rising high before she let out a gust of air. "Sorry, kid, but imagine being woken up and having to deal with all this?" She uncrossed her arms and gestured in my direction. "Especially when you have no idea what the hell is happening, and you're only student is throwing a tantrum in the middle of nowhere." She shook her head, "you'd be a little upset while trying to figure things out."

I glanced away, heat starting to warm my cheeks. "Sorry I woke you up," I mumbled, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen." My eyes traced the floor, coming upon my physician's white shoes. I'd kinda forgotten he was here. Slowly, I dragged my gaze up to his expression, and I simply saw that there was none. He was watching our exchange in silence. Almost calculating as we let on bit by bit of what transpired not too long ago.

I was broken free from my thoughts as Shura piped up once again. "Don't apologize," she said sternly, "if all this means you get help," she gave a small huff, almost a chuckle, "I can handle the sleep deprivation." I nodded, taken aback by her thoughtfulness. It wasn't something I was used to receiving.