#sleppycreates

"Pft- Yeah, he is a priyatel skelet."

"And what's that mean?"

"Vkop? It's like... a burial."

"WHAT!?" Ryuji yells out, eyes wide, prompting his tired friend to laugh and shush him, her own teal eyes narrowed from how wide her smile got. "Why- how do you even use that?"

"Shhh-! You goof, we're in a hospital!" Slep has to ask him, eyes watering from glee. Oh, how she loves to see her friend's boisterous reactions, it was always the fastest way to cheer her up. He is just so expressive! It's only natural she'd want to push him to emote as much as possible and see all the ways his face changes, no?  "And it's meant to be used for when you want to say 'together', so-"

"What, like you're buried together!? That's SO messed up!"

"Noooo!" a tear of pure joy streaks down her cheek, shoulders shaking from quiet laughter, but losing all the air from her lungs anyway. The battle between being politely quiet in a place such as a hospital versus the sheer gigglyness of teenage youth is a tough one to fight. "It's-..." she has to take a deep breath, lungs filling up with a shrill squeak alongside a few final chuckles escaping her as she wipes her face with her fingers, eyes burning and vision blurred. "I wanted to say more like... When you dig a tunnel, or when a hole ruins the ground. Vkop."

"Well then definetly don't describe it as a burial! Shit!" her friend sighs, grinning brightly as he sinks into the pillows with happy calm. It's nice seeing his brown eyes sparkling again, his sleepy friend thought, since the whole...

Tired eyes drift down to a cast wrapped around his entire leg. Femur breaks are tough, she supposes. She hasn't broken a bone yet, nor has she met someone who has, but she knows the femur is one of the strongest bones in the body, so she supposes a full-leg cast makes sense. Still, something about the off-white gauze wrapped tightly from hip to foot made Slep shift in her seat, deeply and entirely uncomfortable. There's a hefty bucket of hesitation that pours over her hand as she reaches out to... well, she didn't know. Just reach out and feel, she guesses, trying to smother the voice in her head that told her a gentle rub might be comforting to Ryuji.

"..Does it feel better?" she murmurs raspily, a singular knuckle brushing over the edge of the wrapping covering Ryuji's knee.

There's a long pause, long for her friend atleast, before he answers quietly, "..Physically. It's fine if I don't move it."

A more uncomfortable feeling grows in Slep as she sees the sparkle fizzle out from his eyes, so she quickly redirects with the first comment she can blurt out, "Good, guess you can start catching up on school work then."

"Shit," he groans at that, eyes rolling to the ceiling and staying there for a while. Sucess, atleast he was distracted now.

"Mhm. Don't worry, I'll get you all the notes, help with homework... Just don't ask me any math stuff because I can't understand any of it. Everything else should be easy though-"

"Please stop talking about this!" Ryuji whines, practically on the verge of a sob, making Slep smile a bit.

"Sure. In that case," nimble fingers retract from his injured leg, reaching instead for a school bag and pulling out three volumes of comics, "I think this might be more your style."

"Hell yeah! You're a lifesaver, man," the boy perks up, gratefully snatching the paperbacks away. "And next time, please get me some Nastea?"

"I am NOT feeding your disgusting drink addiction in the hospital, tipo!"

☆

Okay, so maybe it wasn't gonna be that easy. School suddenly seemed way less interesting, the subjects dragging sluggishly and the teachers looking a lot more untrustworthy. It was bad enough that Mr. Ushimaru was throwing chalk with godlike precision at unattentive students, but PE was also becoming a pain in the ass. Slep was getting tired of the glances everyone was giving her, the fusion of pity and odd guilt even worse when done by Emiko and Tsuda. No matter, she was just gonna focus.

Running laps around a stadium at the start of June sure was interesting. By interesting, Slep meant sweltering. The humudity was the worst part, honestly, the wet feeling in her lungs making her feel like crying. Ah, that might just be the realisation that she'll need to rewrite most of her notes whe she comes home because her awful handwriting and shorthand wouldn't make sense to anyone, especially not her injured friend. Hell, she couldn't even make it out sometimes because she forgot what her own shorthand was meant to be.

How did Ryuji do this? He is- ..was a track runner, but all Slep could think about while running is just.. thinking. There's too much thought to have, she really wants some intense music to blast her ears off in the middle of this. But then the repetitive motion and the long running is a bit nice. Maybe... maybe there is a chance to just focus on not busting your lungs, or legs, and just.. run.

Yeah.

...

I could get used to long, meaningless runs like this.

Slep's feet are practically gliding off the red-stained path, a feeling of gazette prancing almost making her laugh. She barely registers leaving her classmates behind, perks of being a slight bit taller. Nowhere near the male classmates sprinting ahead though, a slight grudge growing in her chest. Or maybe her head, since it felt so damn hot.

Bump. Falling! Catch yourself.

...

What? What just happened?

Slep was bewildered to find herself seated, facing the opposite direction than the one she was running in. Did the guy trying to pass by her trip her accidently? Damn, she must've been spacing out-

Oh. Hm. Well that's not good. Slep stares at her leg with a coldly serious face, eyes zeroing in on the middle of her knee. She rationalized that her knee must've scraped on the rough path, but wow, she didn't expect it to just split open like this. A circular hole, possibly 4 centimeters in diameter split her knee open with surprising neatness, exposing her kneecap to the warm air. It looks so incredibly white and smooth and, for some reason, wet. Bones are wet. Slep briefly wonders what it would be like to touch it, but honestly she didn't want to find out. Besides, she is too busy staring at the singular red vein that was on the stark white bone, completely entranced by the contrast.

A slow oozing of red slowly fills the wound, reminding Slep of a swimming pool and thus snapping her out of her daze, making her hastily cover her knee with her right hand. Not close enough to touch ofcourse, but just enough to hide it from sight. She didn't want to frighten anyone, especially since she knew Emiko was squeamish about this kind of stuff.

She smiles awkwardly at everyone running past her, not wanting to alert them, and only calls out to Tsuda when she's close enough. "Tsuda! Sorry, but can you call Ms. Kanou? I've got a situation."

"Huh? Oh, sure!" Tsuda smiles and runs a diagonal right through the grass in the middle of the stadium to shorten her distance instead of continuin her lap. How kind of her.

This is probably fine. Not really a reason to panic. Oh, but... should she move her knee? Slep kind of didn't want to, an irrational fear of her kneecap falling right out scaring her. Still, it would probably be better to straighten her leg instead of keeping it awkwardly half-bent, no?

The kind teacher, along with a few curious students, steps closer, reaching out with a water bottle as an offering, "Hey. Feeling dehydrated?"

"..A bit," Slep admits, smiling tensly as she accepts the water, taking with her dominant aka right hand, uncocering her wound, "but I've got a different concern? I uh... I fell," she murmurs, chuckling and shrugging her shoulders. "Clumsy, aren't I?"

"Ooh, that's pretty nasty alright," the teacher winces, but remains calm. Good, Slep doesn't really want a fuss right now, especially since it didn't hurt. Ah, maybe it just didn't hurt yet. Adrenaline. "Could someone here pack Slep's things? I'll be back so we can wrap this," Ms. Kanou smiles, jogging away to get a first aid kit.

Damn, she's cool. Slep already liked her before this for being a genuinely strong, energetic teacher, but wow she's really cool. Taking a few more sips of water, Slep patiently waits for Ms. Kanou to wrap her leg and for a classmate, (Tsuda once again - goddamn Slep needed to thank her profusely after this) to bring her back her bag and uniform, before the trio saw a slight problem. "..So how do I go home?"

"Well, I can carry you to my car. I'll drive you to the clinic, then you call your host family," the PE teacher says calmly and does exactly as she said. She picks Slep up, bridal style. Holy shit, this was immensly cool, and Slep has officially found her favourite teacher in this school! Slep silently lets the badass woman carry her away, feeling numb all the way until the clinic. The ways in which adrenaline will frazzle your mind truly is astounding.

There was just one issue, as upon arrival nobody was in. Cars were outside, lights were on, but noone was in. Slep tries to calmly phone her host family, but it's a confusing mess when even her teacher can't seem to find out where anyone was.

☆

Ah well, this is fine. A 30 minute drive to the nearest hospital was just as fine, thank goodness her host family owned a car. But the rush was starting to wear off, and a nasty prickling was already taking place on Slep's knee in the car. Atleast a friendly, familiar face was there to admit her as a patient? Still, the degradable sutures Slep had to get were.. well not painful since the doctor numbed her knee, but she could feel the stitching tug at her skin and that was almost worse. Regardless, it was a surprisingly quick procedure, stitched and wrapped in no time, leaving Slep to roll out of there in style - in a wheelchair with a completely straight leg.

Maybe this is why such a great shock spreads across her face when she sees a familiar mop of black hair huddling on the same hallway as her, supported by a shorter woman and a pair of metal-looking crutches. "..Ryuji?"

The teen moves his head, brown eyes wide with surprise, "Slep!? What the he- What happened?" he asks right away, making the woman by his side turn her head too. Ah, she has the exact same warm eyes, the same nose, and the same hands. What a beautiful mother. The realisation of her tiredness and worry came after, snapping Slep out of her observation.

She chuckles, shrugging, "I fell while running. Hole in my knee showed my bone!"

"Holy cra-! Slep!?"

"No shush, I'm fine. Instead tell me how am I in the chair and you aren't?"

"His leg wouldn't quite fit," a soft, lovely voice speaks, Ryuji's mother smiling. "It's nice to finally meet the friend Ryuji talks about so much, I just wish it was under better circumstance... I am Akane, his mother."

Slep has to smile at that, nodding, "It is a pleasure. I am, well, Ribič Slep... You two are quite alike," she murmurs and clears her throat, feeling bashful. Then again, she was awkward around most adults, especially ones that know about them. Hell knows what Ryuji told her... "I apologise, but I better leave, my host family is waiting outside..." she hums and smiles at the both of them, looking apologetic.

"Right. See ya at home," Ryuji grins before freezing suddenly and looking ahead, adjisting his hold on his crutches, "M-mom, c'mon!"

For some reason, his reaction made Slep's heart race. Probably just post-injury stuff. With a little wave she sends the pair off, wheeling out in silence.

☆

"...So how funny is it that we both injured the same leg?"

"It ain't the same! Especially not since you just fell," Ryuji protested. Slep didn't have the heart, nor desire, to tell him she was tripped. She wasn't angry, so she didn't want her friend to be either. "How fragile even are you, you made of porcelain or something!? Besides, you're not walking around with a crutch," he grumbles, mashing the screen of his phone harder. Videogame battles between the two  always were an intense ordeal, even more so in person.

"You aren't either! You're not allowed to walk for 8 weeks!" Slep protests, swiping across her phone screen in retaliation. "And atleast you won't be waddling like a duck," Slep sighs, recalling how awkward it feels and looks to walk with a completely straight leg. The stitches had to heal, after all, plus there was a horrible burning pain anytime she tried to bend her knee. Definetly keeping the leg straight until it stops aching.

"Myeah, but you make it look cute."

"I'll kill you."

"Not if school kills me first."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I need to kill myself before the next math test," Slep grumbles, her eyebags almost becoming more tired.

There's a tense silence for a bit, the duo just battling eachother ingame as they try not to think about returning to school and that shitty teacher. A little inkling of fear taints Slep's victory, a nagging worry that her words may not have been received well by her friend that really wasn't doing too well at the moment - not in school where his grades weren't great, and not with friends where the travk team was "mysteriously" disbanded. That is, atleast, until Ryuji darkly huffs, eyes colder than ice, "..I'll kill myself first."

[+1 hospital visit aquired!]

[+2 hatred of school aquired!

[status effect: Hurt Together, Heal Together!]

[+100 EXP!]

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The knee injury did actually happen to me by the way ✌️🙂 A girl that hated my guts tripped me and i fell onto asphalt! Yay!!! And when my very awesome teacher carried me to her car and drove me to the clinic literally 1 minute away from school NOBODY WAS THERE! So i had to call my mom, waot 30 minutes for her to drive from work to me, and then 30 more minutes to go to the hospital! YAY!!!!!!! (<- sarcastic enthusiasm but i promise i'm chill about it bjwbsjsb-

Anyway, shoutout to Ryuji Sakamoto, you would've loved to see me penguin around✨️💫🌟