~Hakurei Shrine~ > Patchouli's Scarlet Library

Worldly Affairs of the Outside World Chapter 10~ 02/03/12 Update

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Anunsew:
Chapter 1


[Reality as perceived by humans is flawed. Humans derive their concept of Reality from their five senses, which can become impaired by many circumstances. For example, someone suffering from extreme paranoia believe that someone is always watching her. Her senses tell her that she can "hear" that person walking behind her, "see" that person watching her from the corner of her eye—or at worst cases,"smell" that person's perfume...or sweat. Even if it resides within her mind, her senses tell her that it is real—therefore, a Fantasy of the mind becomes a part of her perception of Reality, at least to other people who will regard this person as mentally unbalanced.]

[If that's the case, then Reality is perceived differently by people according to what their senses tell them. The only reason that people can call a certain standard of Reality, what I can call a General Reality, is because that people generally share the same culture and beliefs within a span of an area. The chances of a person having a mental disorder also diminishes as the area becomes smaller, but mental instability constitutes only a small part of the deviants that attempt to undermine the General Reality of the greater population. The number of deviant minds from that General Reality is relatively small, but—]

Maribel Han sighed as she put down her pen as she paused in writing. The sun was setting, and the room's window was facing to the west. The orange sunlight was lighting up the usually dark room, which was furnished with queer pots, statues, and other trinkets of some strange ethnicity. Other than that, the room was quite normal. It was neither big nor small, but it was roomy enough for the two people sharing this clubroom.

"Mary, are you done yet?" said the person sitting on the other side of the table. Lying facedown on her arms, Renko Usami gave a snort that showed off her boredom with tone of magnificence.

"No, sorry," Mary replied. "It's a long essay, you know." Renko gave another snort, but she didn't say anything else. The room was quiet as usual, though Mary could hear the rhythmical ticking of the wall clock behind her. Finally, Mary spoke and broke the eerie silence. "Didn't you have plans this afternoon?"

Renko groaned. "Well, the UFO sighting last night was a hoax. It was actually an experiment by the geeks at the Chemistry class." Renko sat up and leaned backwards on her chair, rocking herself back and forth as she spoke.

"Well, I guess there's still that ghost sighting from last week. They say it appears in the floodplain at night but..." Renko threw a glance at the window. "...sundown is exactly 67 minutes and 32 seconds away. Gah, I'm bored."

Mary closed her notebook. "Well, the floodplain is a long walk from here, so we better get going then." Renko gave her a strange glance. "What? Did I say something strange?" Mary asked her tentatively.

"Not really, it's just that you're not this enthusiastic as often when it comes to Ghostly Field Club activities." Renko answered back. "Well, I guess it's not too bad." Renko stretched her arms, relishing the feeling as her circulation reached her tired muscles from sitting for so long. "Okay, let's get going!" Renko exclaimed with a sudden burst of energy.

"You're energetic all of a sudden..." Mary pointed out with a sigh. "Just don't get us into trouble this time."

Renko smiled back like a girl who got a new dress for her birthday. "What are you talking about? If you only ran faster, that undertaker from last time wouldn't have caught us, you know?" Renko put both hands on her hips with a confident air around her. "I just know—this time, we're gonna find something big."


★~//~//~//~//~//~//~★

The floodplain was always quiet at night. It was a superb place for a romantic hang out, especially at the moon's sixteenth night. Sometimes, you can even spot a fisherman throwing a line across the river, hoping to catch a big one. There was a legend among the nearby residents that a big fish lived in the river, a guardian that protects the creatures that live inside the river. Nobody has ever seen the fish before though..

Well, since legends are a source of pleasure for the Ghostly Field Club, it's not much of a problem. And certainly, romance is not in the air when they are around.

"Look, those couples are going away..." said Mary. Couples who were enjoying each other's warmth on a cold night caught sight of the two and started to pack their things and leave. "Er...why are they going away?"

"Who knows? You know humans can be a strange lot," Renko answered quickly. She tweaked her hat in a carefree gesture. "It's better if we can work around the floodplain without being disturbed."

"...and now they're giving as scared glances,” continued Maribel. “Renko, did you do something to these people?" Mary looked nervously at the couples as they hurried away from the floodplain. Soon enough, only Mary and Renko were left by the floodplain. They were only accompanied by the quiet, rhythmic croaks by the river.

"Not really," Renko casually replied. She kneeled on the grass and examined the ground with a small flashlight. "Oh come to think of it, I was here a few nights ago..."

"Our club is getting negative feedbacks lately," Mary reminded her. "I don't want to stand in front of the university board if ever we get into REAL trouble." Renko did not pay much attention and nodded off Mary's words on reflex.

Mary sighed at her friend's inattentiveness. "If the university decided to close us down for being a bunch of troublemakers, I can't really say anything to your defense, you know."

"Sure, sur—oh look at this Mary!" Renko stood up and held something small between her fingers. She raised it to her eye-level and pointed the flashlight towards the object with her other hand. "Hmm, this looks like a small piece of Aurum..."

Mary approached her to take a closer look. "Aurum? You mean gold?" The small object was a shiny shapeless lump, barely bigger than a small bug.

Renko nodded while she continued to examine the small piece. "It might not really be gold though, it could be a painted rock or something. It's strange to find something like this though. This river doesn't have any gold deposits, else there would've been mining prospectors going around. Unless somebody put this here..."

Renko put down the flashlight, and in doing so, Mary caught a glint through the taller grasses upriver. "Hey, I saw something over there," Mary walked towards the source of the glint without waiting for Renko to catch up.

"Wait up, Mary!" Renko called out, but Maribel was already within the tall grasses. These tall grasses were planted deliberately and designed to hinder the erosion of the floodplain in case of heavy rainfall. Renko followed her friend through the tall grasses, pocketing the small trinket for later inspection.

Mary suddenly froze. "Hey, Renko! I see something over here!" Renko caught up with her and nearly dropped the flashlight.

There was a young girl lying facedown on the grass. Her clothes were slightly torn in some places, and numerous cuts and bruises at her arms and legs. On impulse, Renko checked the girl’s pulse. "She's alive. It's best if we get help immediately." Renko looked around to see if there was someone nearby they could call for help, but the floodplain was already devoid of people except for them.

"There's a nearby clinic that I know," Mary replied. "Let's take her there."

Renko nodded in agreement.


★~//~//~//~//~//~//~★

Renko carried the girl at her back as they entered the clinic. The clinic was nearly empty except for a couple of old people waiting at the lobby. Some nodded slightly, taking a nap while waiting for their number to be called. An old man stood by the counter, and was talking to a young long-haired girl, probably no older than a high school student. Renko looked around the clinic to ask for assistance and the girl approached them.

"She's unconscious and injured," Mary told the girl. "Is there a doctor around?"

The girl nodded, gesturing them to follow. She led them through a hallway and then into a room with two unoccupied beds. "Lay her on the bed. Miss Satsuki will attend to you shortly."

Renko laid the unconscious girl carefully on the bed. She didn't have a good look at the unconscious girl at the floodplains, so she was surprised to discover the injured girl was barely a child, probably someone in her middle school years. The girl's clothes were not badly damaged, but they looked as if it was caught with a sharp object while she was running; probably from a bush or a thorn. The cuts on her arms and legs confirmed Renko's suspicion—as they are injuries of someone who tripped and fell while running very fast.

Renko's thoughts were disturbed by the arrival of the doctor. The doctor was a woman in her early twenties, dressed plainly in a white medical uniform. However, what startled Renko wasn't the doctor's youth or her dress—it was her presence. From the moment she entered the room, it was as if a warm fireplace was lit inside the room. Her presence calmed their nerves, like a child being carried by its mother. The doctor walked placidly towards them, neither showing hurry nor slowness. Time seemed to slow down as she approached. Maribel and Renko were entranced by some unseen mesmerizing force as she approached.

"Meimu, bring me a bottle of povidone-iodine and some bandages," the doctor said. Her voice broke the spellbinding enchantment that fell on Maribel and Renko. They both blinked in surprise, and both were speechless by the whole experience. However, the girl named Meimu seemed not to take notice of anything strange, and went out of the room to fetch the needed items without as much as a nod.

The doctor faced the two university students. "My name is Dr. Satsuki," the doctor introduced herself with a gentle voice. "What happened to your friend over there?"

"Er...we found her by the floodplain a while ago," blurted Renko. "We don't know anything about her, but she looked hurt and unconscious so Mary and I took her here."

"I see," Rin started to examine the unconscious girl as Meimu reentered the room with a bottle of Betadine and a roll of badages and handed it to Rin. Rin took them and started treating the girl's wounds. Meimu turned to the two university students.

"Miss Satsuki is going to treat her now. It would be best if you wait in the lobby for a while," Meimu told the two of them. Gesturing at Renko and Mary to follow, she led them out through the door and back into the lobby. Meimu offered them a seat in an empty sofa.

"Would you like some tea or coffee while you wait?" Meimu asked the two girls.

"Tea please," Maribel answered. Meimu nodded and left. Renko sighed audibly.

"I didn't know there was a clinic here.” The lobby was already empty, and the old people were gone. She looked around the lobby and found it a bit desolate.

"It's newly opened," replied Maribel. "I've only been here once before." The lobby of the clinic was sparsely furnished. Besides the sofa they were sitting on there was only another sofa across them. Aside from the small wooden counter beside the hall leading to the patient's rooms, those were all the furniture inside the clinic’s lobby. The walls of the lobby were painted white, as well as the other rooms in the clinic, but it only added to its bareness.

Renko blinked. There was young girl barely visible behind the counter. She read a book silently and paid them no attention. She did not notice the girl when they first entered the lobby, and she only barely noticed her now when she was looking directly at the counter. The girl's eyes suddenly lifted up from her book and returned her puzzled look. Realizing that she was staring, Renko looked away.

"I must be tired," Renko muttered under her breath, but Maribel heard her and laughed softly.

"Say, did you notice anything strange about the doctor?" Renko asked Mary. "She seemed a bit too young to be a professional doctor."

"Hmm, haven't you heard of her before?" said Mary. "She's Dr. Rin Satsuki, she's a word of mouth in the medicine industry until some time ago." She folded her arms as the cold air conditioning of the clinic started to creep under her clothes. "She gave a lecture in our university last year."

"Dr. Satsuki?" repeated Renko. "I may have heard of her...or not..." She closed her eyes and knotted her eyebrows as she tried to remember. "...wait a minute, it's her?"


★~//~//~//~//~//~//~★

Renko remembered a story in the news, though she can’t really remember when.

It was about a doctor who was able to revive a young boy who was involved in an accident. The boy was hit by a truck while crossing the street in a busy part of the city. The truck driver was in a hurry and did not notice the young boy until it was too late. As luck would have it, the truck's braking system also failed, and the driver wasn't able to avoid the boy who was blissfully unaware of the incoming danger.

It was a gruesome scene. There was blood everywhere. His arms and legs were bent at odd angles. Pedestrians watched the horrible scene as they struggled to get their phones out to call the emergency hotline. Innocent bystanders rushed to try and aid both the boy and the driver who ended up slamming his truck on a nearby lamp post.

However, before a paramedic could arrive, a young woman introduced herself as a doctor cut through the crowd and rushed to the boy's aid. She checked for a pulse and performed mouth-to-mouth, and suddenly the boy stirred and opened his eyes as the paramedic arrived and took over.

The paramedics were amazed. The boy lost more than twenty percent of his blood but he was breathing normally and his heart rate was normal. When the bystanders told their story, the paramedics were even more puzzled. By all accounts, the boy should have died instantly upon impact with the truck. If he could even be revived, it wouldn't have been done just by simple mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

But the boy was alive. He was immediately taken to the hospital. The boy complained only a little, and his fractures were surprisingly minor. That would have been the end of the story if it wasn't for the other thing.

The truck driver was pinned between the steering wheel and his seat because of the impact of his collision with the lamppost. The truck was nearly a wreck, and the driver was wedged in the deformed mass of metal in front. The paramedics wasted precious time trying to get him out of the truck, until the fire department arrived and sawed off the metal frames that trapped the victim.

Then the paramedics checked for a pulse and found that the heart had stopped beating. After trying to defibrillate him in vain, they were already setting up some calls to the morgue when another person intervened. It was the same young woman who revived the boy earlier..

She introduced herself as Rin Satsuki MD/PhD. The paramedics could only stare at the young girl in disbelief as she approached the dead truck driver. Before they could stop her, she was already performing chest compressions in an attempt to revive the clinically dead person. Suddenly, the driver suddenly gasped, and Rin demanded to a nearby paramedic to cancel the morgue appointments and call for another ambulance.

Both the driver and the boy were able to recover fully in the hospital and were back to normal in less than a week. Rin Satsuki became the subject of public interest after her 'miraculous' rescue of two lives in one night. However, she gave little comment about the accident and her contributions. She did get an award and a lump of cash from some big medical-oriented organizations. However, she requested it to be donated to a couple of small charities.

She became  a subject of intrigue by the media for some time, but the hype soon died down. It was barely remembered by some people now.
 

★~//~//~//~//~//~//~★

When Meimu returned with the tea, Renko was already excited about the young doctor. "Hey, is she really the Rin Satsuki?" she asked her However, Meimu only replied with a puzzled look.

"Er...I don't really know what you're talking about, but I guess you can say yes," Meimu replied tentatively. "Is there anything else—"

"Yes, can I ask you a couple of questions?" Renko asked the young girl. "Are you Dr. Satsuki's assistant? How long did you know each other?"

Meimu replied with a smile, but she looked uneasy at Renko's bullet-fire interrogation. Maribel decided to intervene. "Renko, you're being too rude.”

"It's okay," Meimu replied, sighing gratefully at Maribel’s rescue. "Miss Satsuki is a bit popular around here. We do get a couple people who like to ask questions about her."

A small voice suddenly interrupted their conversation. "You're too accommodating, Meimu," the voice told them. "You should tell clients off from time to time." The voice came from the girl who was reading behind the counter. She was looking at them above the pages of her book, giving them a nonchalant stare.

Meimu waved her off. "And you're just brimming with happiness, aren't you Kiyuu? You're supposed to be a receptionist, but you scare off most of the patients away." Kiyuu did not reply, but sank back to her book instead.

Realizing that the two were watching the exchange, Meimu bowed apologetically to Maribel and Renko. "I apologize for my little sister's rudeness. She's just bad at dealing with people."

"It's not like they pay us you know," Kiyuu cried out from the counter. She did not lift her eyes from her book.

"It's more of a charity work, really," she continued, not noticing Rin as she exited the hall beside the counter.

Whack.
Renko winced as Rin smacked Kiyuu behind the head with a small notebook. "How many times do I have to tell you to be more polite?" Rin sighed in exasperation. "Working for free doesn't give you the right to be rude to other people."

Rin turned to the two university students. "You two, I need to talk to you about your unconscious friend."

Renko and Maribel followed Rin back into the patient's rooms and ignored Kiyuu's indifference and Meimu's exasperated sighs.


(Next: Chapter 2)
well, duh.


★~//~//~//~//~//~//~★

Omake
Renko Edition

Renko here, member of Ghostly Field Club, and holder of at least fifty percent of the club's internal affairs~
Today, I bring to you a report about a REAL (as opposed to rumors of someone who saw something...I got the person who actually SAW it.) ghost sighting by the floodplain LAST NIGHT!

*clap* *clap *clap*

Anyway, it supposedly appears at night by the floodplain, and tonight we will see if there is any truth to it. Too bad Mary is too busy to join tonight, so only Usami(mi!) will be advising you tonight.

"Excuse me, miss? Can't you respect some privacy?"

Er, who are you?

"My girl and I are just spending some quality time here, we would appreciate it if you can turn down the noise down a bit."

Who's noisy? Heck, I'm not even using my megaphone yet.

*feedback noise*

Everyone at the floodplain, listen up!

"Hey, turn that thing down? What time do you think it is?"

It's 11:43:20 (and counting!) my good sir. This time check is brought to you by Renko Usami(mi!).

"GAH! Don't point that megaphone at me while you're talking! SHEESH!"

Anyway~ All people spending lovey-dovey time at the floodplain, can you please do you affairs somewhere else. Hey! I see you over there! NO PDAs allowed! Yes, I see you there, the guy with the brown shirt. Kiss your girlfriend somewhere else, this is public property!

"You there, with the megaphone! Stop making noise! Hey, aren't you that Usami girl from the graveyard a few days ago?"

Crap, the police is here already. Damn, I'm popular.
Looks like I have to cancel this Usami(mi!) special for tonight, gotta run fast! Gotta burn those calories from that candy bar three hours, twenty-two minutes and thirty-three seconds ago!

"Hey! Get back here!"


★~//~//~//~//~//~//~★

Omake
Kiyuu Edition:


There's a lot of old people around the clinic lately. For some reason, they seem to hang around the clinic even though they don't need medical attention.

"Excuse me, little girl, can I have a cup of tea?"

I'm not a little girl and er, didn't you have three cups already?

"Oh, did I now? Sorry for asking then."

That's why I hate old people. Just because we're a charity clinic doesn't mean they can hang around here all day, asking for tea.

"Excuse me, little girl, can I have a cup of tea?"

I'm not a little girl and no, Mrs. Yokomoto, you already had five cups tonight.

"Oh did I now? Sorry for asking then."

I wonder if Meimu's tea has some narcotic in it? These people seem to be rooting for the stuff.

"Excuse me, little girl, can I have a cup of tea?"

What's up with you people? You people keep calling me little--I'M NOT THAT LITTLE!

"Hey Kiyuu, are you shouting at the old people again?"

No Meimu. I am not shouting. I AM RAEGING!

"What?"

Never mind, you'll never get it anyway.

"You should stop reading weird mangas, you know."

They're not weird. And this book I'm holding happens to be a novel, thank you very much.

*door opens*

"She's unconscious, is there a doctor around?"

*shuffling sound of feet*

Huh, it's not often we get REAL patients.

"Excuse me, little girl, can I have a cup of tea?"

OH FOR THE LOVE OF--
I'll get you a cup already, stop bothering me.

"Thank you, little girl."

FOR THE LAST TIME, I'M NOT THAT LITTLE, OR SHORT, OR--
..whatever, just wait here.

*footsteps*
*clinking of porcelain cups*
*clicking of an electric kettle*
*pours*
*mixes*
*footsteps*

Here you go.

"..."
"..."
"...er"

It's tea. I made it, so stop bothering me.

"This tea tastes a little bit strange, don't you think?"

I just mixed random leaves and poured hot water on it. Isn't tea just like that?

"It tastes awful."

I have more, if you'd like to try.

"..."

*puts cup down*
*shuffling footsteps*

Anybody else who would like to try some?

*shuffling footsteps*

"Hey Kiyuu, did you see where the bottle of Betadine--hey, where did the old people go?"

Oh, they went home for the night.

"Really? I hope they don't catch cold on their way home--hey, who used up my jar of spearmint? I just bought it today."

Meh, I don't know.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anu corner:

So I managed to compile this neatly after all that trouble. :3
it's just the first chapter, and my head is spinning already. :ohdear:
Hopefully, my attention span will not fail me when I'm writing. Oh well, I can always imbibe a copious amount of coffee...

Most of this probably doesn't make any sense. I hope it starts making sense soon enough. At least, I hope it does to me. :ohdear:

Anyway, comments would be welcome. As well as point-outs and criticisms (braces self).

Kips McKipzerson:
Seems pretty good. I lol'd at Kiyuu and renko's omakes :V

crow:
The story is really good. You should keep on writing it! There were some misspelled words, but nothing too major. 

CS:
Can I have a cup of tea?

*switches on megaphone* Can I have a cup of tea, little girl?

This story's pretty good, and I think the omakes are really good too. Really well written but yea, like Immaterial Crow pointed out, there are a few spelling mistakes but overall it's really good

Anunsew:
Thanks for the comments!

I'll try to be more careful about the spelling in the future; since I only use Wordpad when typing (opening .rtf in a slow PC is faster than .doc; don't ask how slow...).

Also the omakes are supposed to fill in parts of the story that aren't that important (like why the people at the floodplain flee at the sight of Renko) but I tried to make them a little funny. :)

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