When All is said and Done... (Open)

[Seishuku Kensei]

Kensei struggled to stay conscious as he tread through the city, desperately trying to hide the wounds he sustained in the conflict that involved the focus of his mission, a young man named Arashi. His coverings hiding most of the blood from his self-charred arm, the medical salves and other treatments he performed could only do so much before he required actual medical attention. Treading forward in a pace he would be ashamed to travel at had he not been injured, Kensei stopped to rest, and view his surroundings.

"It all happened so fast... I was a fool to think I could go into this conflict as haphazardly." Kensei murmured to himself, flinching at the pain. Despite the set back of being no where near powerful enough to stop Arashi as he were now, Kensei stilled burned with the determination to see his father's murderer brought to justice. Taking his satchel off Kensei sat himself on the ground near a relatively quite part of the street near the curb, to examine his wounds. His flesh was both scarred from the corrosive magic wielded by Arashi and by the heat of his own lightning in an attempt to dispel the vile curse.

The only other thing that perturbed Kensei was his abandonment by the strangers he sought to mutually help in his conflict, hardening his heart further, making him less likely to be so trusting in the future. "What were they, they were to powerful to have been humans, and they had wings... There powers were terrible, and that beast..." Kensei thought to himself, his breathing more labored as he though to keep his mind going. It was to no avail as he began to slip further in fatigue, closing his eyes and slipping into unconsciousness.

[Oracle]

[This takes place after "The Walrus and the Carpenter"]

The night was growing stronger as the last signs of daylight seemed to die within the Tokyo skyline. Oracle's eyes seemed to glisten in the twilight setting as he walked down the sidewalk toward his Tokyo offices of Skylight Industries; his eyes focused on his goal for the evening. Aika had a mystery to her that matched his own. He wanted to find out what it was; what made her tick. He always had a thing for finding out how things worked, and she was definitely acceptable to be called a "plaything," if you get my drift...

But Oracle's eyes then went out of focus, once he saw a man lying on the ground. Still in his guise of the billionaire Markus Bleache', Oracle headed toward the man. With his presence and his wounds, another being in this realm would have deemed him dead. But Oracle knew better. After checking his pulse, he found out that he was unconscious; a certain state that the Malakite found all too familiar with.

Oracle got a good look at his face. Quite a looker he was. His brown hair was definitely helping his attractiveness to him, but once again, Oracle knew his priorities. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a few numbers. He placed it toward his ear as he heard it ringing.

"Yes, this is Markus Bleache'," he said. "I need an ambulance at my current location as soon as possible. I have an unconscious man with what looks like a severe burn to his leg. He looks to be in his early twenties. I want him taken to my personal medical clinic and treat him as if you were treating me, understand?"

Oracle hung up the phone and placed it back inside his pocket. He squat down to get a better look at the wound on his leg and pondered on the severity until he heard the ambulance arrive. He looked and huffed.

"It's about time," he said.

The medical team removed a stretcher and other medical supplies as they loaded the man into the ambulance. Oracle rode inside as the ambulance headed to Oracle's personal clinic and followed them into the room that they set up for him as they got him settled.

Picking up a magazine, Oracle sat down in a chair next to the brown-haired bed-rested man, awaiting him to awaken from his unwilled slumber...

[Seishuku Kensei]

Kensei awoke from what seemed to be an eternity in the undisclosed amount of time he was unconscious, his head throbbing as his limbs were racked with pain. Despite his attempts he was unable to sit up, noticing that his equipment and gear had been stripped from his body, laying on a bed in a room most unfamiliar to him. "Where I am, who has brought me here?" Kensei said, looking around the room, only to see a man to his left, reading a magazine.

Kensei hated not doing according to his own plan,. and he was very cross at himself for succumbing to his injuries and placing him in this predicament. Laying back with his eyes on the ceiling, Kensei's breath was still heavy, but his condition was better after receiving medical attention than he was lying on the street, "Who are you..." Kensei said, struggling to remove his facial mask, making his breathing easier.

His bleeding had stopped, and despite his pain, Kensei felt a wound on his soul, failing in his task yet again, and now at the mercy of a complete stranger, a place he did not want to be, given his own independant nature.

[Oracle]

Oracle heard the rustle of the hospital bed to his right and glanced over his magazine to see that the man he brought in was starting to come to. This brought a smirk to his face as he once again covered his face with the magazine as he heard the man speak through his facial mask, questioning how he arrived in his private medical quarters.

Once again, Oracle was rather smug about the situation; reading a magazine that absolutely bored him with his legs crossed, ignoring the man's ramblings until he heard him ask the question he wanted him to ask to make this moment seem more cinematic for lack of terms:

"Who are you..."

Oracle turned a page in the magazine. "You were unconscious," Oracle said to him. "If I did not find you and bring you here, you would have been left for dead by the selfish pigs this city have seemed to attract. Do not worry; my finest doctors are looking into treating that ghastly wound on your leg as we speak. I apologize if this situation is not to your liking, but in your state at the time I was given no other choice."

Oracle placed the magazine on his lap, staring at the man who was amazingly able to move his mask away from the bottom half of his face.

"You look as if you are not from here, so I will assume that you do not know my face," the Malakite said to the human. "My name is Markus Bleache'."

[Seishuku Kensei]

The stranger had introduced himself as Markus Bleache, and informed Kensei he was being attended to by his own personal medically staff. He could agree that many people in the world outside of Kensei's secluded home village, were indeed selfish and uncaring, but Kensei did not know him any better than anyone else, so like all the others he was a stranger. "Why, why did you save me, I was not in need of your help." Kensei asked, flinching from the pain of his newly treated arm. Sedated and weakened, Kensei used his free hand to attempted to find any weapon that may still lie on his person.

Unable to find one, his hand fell back on the bed on which he lie, and he closed his eyes in frustration and exhaustion. "I am Kensei, and this is all you need to know of me." He said slowly slipping back into unconsciousness. He waited for this Markus to explain the purpose of salvaging his life.

[Oracle]

Oracle continued to scan the completely useless magazine as he heard the man's rattle and ego-perspired tone of voice. He peeked from the top of the book just after the man declared that he needed no help at all, just to see himself prove his previous statement completely wrong.

He saw every inch of pain karma induced on the man, apparently punishing him for saying such lies. The Malakite would have laughed if he weren't trying to be a generous host. But it was what the man said next that allowed Oracle the option of doing just that.

"I am Kensei, and this is all you need to know of me."

"HA!" Oracle blurted out as he threw the boorish magazine across the room, wiping his fingers of the filth it held on his blazer jacket. He stood up and walked to the end of Kensei's bed.

"The self-righteous type," he outwardly acknowledged as he leaned against the ends of the bed. "I've run across your type before. You have to do everything yourself; ashamed that you would ever allow yourself to stoop so low as to allow anyone else who is willing to lend out a helping hand to aid you. I used to be like that; hell, I still am. But what you don't understand Kensei was that you were in no position to help yourself, so I took the liberty. Why? Because it was the right thing to do."

That was when Oracle saw a clipboard below him, resting in a folder attached to Kensei's bedside.

"Ah," he said. "Your chart." He looked at Kensei as he picked it up. "Well, lets see what it says, shall we?"

Oracle flipped through the papers attached until he found the diagnosis.

"Patient in question is suffering from third degree burns on the right foot," Oracle read. "Extracted compressed contents of unknown antibodical substances that appeared to have been the cause for loss of skin and muscle tissue. If left unchecked, possibility of amputation would have been 85 to 95 percent affirmative."

Oracle looked at Kensei again as he dropped the chart back in it's slot as he kept a smug grin on his face.

"Yes, you're right," he said sarcastically. "You were in no need of my help at all..."

[Seishuku Kensei]

Kensei sulked as the truth of the man's words sunk into his mind. His situation was dire, and as it seemed, he was in position to refuse any help the was being offered to him. "I apologize for my brash comments. I do not trust easily, and despite my appreciation of this aid you have given, I am still weary as to why you have help me. I knew the extent of my injuries, and I also know that the resources to restore my health would have been difficult to come by. But here we are in your 'private' facility, so again, what do you from me?" Kensei asked again, now taking a more direct approach as to inquiring about why he was the care of a stranger, after expressing his gratitude.

[Oracle]

Oracle smirked as he looked off around the other parts of the clinic. He nodded after hearing Kensei's question, which was proceeded by his thanks for treating him Oracle could only guess.

"Ah," he started, continuing not to look at the bed-rested Kensei, "the direct approach. I admire that in a man with a mask."

Once again proving that the Ningenkai's ways and customs were rubbing off on the Malakite after once again quoting lines from cinema, Oracle gazed at Kensei, trying to answer that question himself. Why did he bring him here? What did he want from him? It was unlike Oracle to be a good Samaritan and not expect anything else in return; there must be something this Kensei either knows or has that Oracle does not. So, Oracle gave the most honest answer he had ever given anyone to date.

"I don't know."

The disguised Malakite leaned against the end of the bed panel, continuing to stare at his patient.

"Please, do not take this the wrong way Kensei," he began, "but I feel that our crossing paths is a little bit more than just coincidence. Whereas when I found you, I had no intentions to better myself -- no intentions to profit in recovering your state. I do not believe in life debts; you do not have to worry about that from me. However, I believe that we could learn a great deal from each other."

Oracle smiled warmly.

"Besides," he said. "You look like all you need is a friend..."

[Seishuku Kensei]

A friend, the concept of camaraderie was a foreign one to Kensei, a man who's professional life was spent in seclusion and isolation. Deeply involved in his career that did not require much speech, Kensei had not developed the affinity for communication with others, seldom speaking to even his own father, the person whom he revered the most. He was a man of few words who lived the code of his people, and now his world had seemed to fade away, leaving him chasing what seemed to be a nigh invincible and deadly opponent, and now at he mercy of a strange who insisted on small talk, despite the ninja's reluctance to it.

"Friendship, this concept sounds foreign to me..." Kensei said, removing his cloth mouth guard. "I am unfamiliar to your ways, and I do not often freely converse with others, ever. Regardless of your apprehension to life debts, I do owe you something for the aid you have provided me. When my health is restored, ask of me what you will." Kensei said, turning his head to the side to comfortably, hoping to gain some rest to speed up the recovery process.

[Oracle]

He was earnest and self-righteous; Oracle didn't have to use his racial ability on the mortal to figure that out. And his insistence toward the life debt was not expected at all. It was true; Oracle sought no gain from Kensei's situation, therefore finding the life debt out of the question. However, Kensei insisted. This gave Oracle no other choice.

He stood up straight and sighed as he lowered his head. He was trying to think of a way to use this life debt that would benefit himself positively. But instead, he decided to dwell on this subject later. He rose his head and nodded it to Kensei's direction.

"Understood."

"Mr. Bleache'?"

Oracle turned to his left to see one of Skylight Industries new interns; 22 year old Jonathan Senji. He was quite a looker and a great face for Oracle to gaze at whenever he had an off day. The fact that he always acted nervous around him just made Jonathan that more adorable in Oracle's eye. And this moment was definitely not so different.



"Yes, Jonathan?" he addressed the intern.

"Your new secretary paged me," he told Oracle. "She says that there are two men waiting in the main lobby wanting to see you. She told me that they didn't have an appointment, so I could only guess it was urgent."

Oracle sighed and looked to his right, massaging his brow. He contemplated the complications of the day; he was really hoping that he would have the chance to leave for the restaurant to meet his inevitably waiting Aika. But it seemed like the work of billionaire Markus Bleache was never done.

"Tell her to tell them that I am on my way, Jonathan," he said, shooing him away with his free hand. As he heard Jonathan's footsteps, he stared back at the resting Kensei, unmasked and about to fall asleep to wait on his wounds to heal.

"You get some rest, Kensei," he said. "I shall return momentarily."

Oracle then walked out of the infirmary, thinking back on how smoothly the night would have been if he never decided to have a conscience and help out the masked man. But with this life debt that Kensei insisted upon the Malakite, he could use it to find out a bit about him, since he did indeed say "ask of me what you will." And he would make use of that debt, when all is said and done...