inbox — hello yes this is cat speaking

[nagano]

"—Nagano here. Actually, I'm not here. Leave a message."

TEXT • AUDIO • VIDEO • ACTION

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audio ↪ un: 012601 [nightfell]

[craters]

Hi Chef!

（ yes, she has not forgotten that title. ）

I just wanted to thank you again for the food you put together for me. My friends really enjoyed it, it was a nice little piece of home for them.

How are you doing?

[nagano]

[ A reply comes shortly after her initial message. ]

Hello, Doctor Zero-One-Two-Six-Zero-One.

[ Nor has he forgotten his cheeky was of addressing her. ]

I'm happy to hear that you were able to share it with them. I got to chat with Naruto. He seems like a real excitable type when it comes to ramen, so whenever either of you are itching for a piece of home, ring me up.

As for me? I'm... decent. Making good use of your supplies. A real un-life saver, they are.

[craters]

Excitable is one way of putting it... I'm glad you got to meet him, though! He's one of my best friends.

（ don't give her the opportunity to gush about him, just don't do it. because she will. ）

Sounds like you've gotten into some trouble since we talked last. Is everything all right? Still attached? No infections?

[nagano]

It was only over text, but with the way he types I imagine he's even more... vibrant in person.

[ Do it. Don't be a coward. Gushing about your friends is metal as heck. ]

I'm fine. Striking a balance between minding my own business and ruining the Reapers' abduction plans is difficult. Really, I've had more trouble with the roaming Badaliscus while picking berries.

...Badalisci?

In any case, the combat is a good distraction. How are things in the city? Keeping busy with your patients? I've been hoarding scaleberries and I've discovered that Badaliscus skin works surprisingly well as dressings after being sterilized, so you might receive a surplus when I return the supplies you lent me.

[craters]

He's pretty vibrant, all right. Hard to miss him, or mistake him for anyone else.

（ how can one girl pack so much fondness into a couple of sentences? maybe it's her superpower. ）

City's fine for the time being. The way to Hale is back open, so I've been able to visit and speak with some of the medical experts there. It's a pretty remarkable place!

Badaliscus skin, huh...? Do I want to know how you figured that out?

[nagano]

...I'm glad you have each other. Unfortunate circumstances aside.

[ So much conveyed in so few words. There's a pang in his chest as he thinks about his brother. ]

That's good to hear. I'll have to make my way down there myself. An offering of scaleberries might allow me to jumpstart some connections.

I don't imagine someone in the medical field would be very squeamish, but the story is unpleasant nonetheless. It's up to you whether you want to hear me ramble, but consider that I can also talk about how ridiculous some of the festival's concoctions were to experience instead.

[craters]

（ unfortunate circumstances indeed.

she's still not entirely convinced of their collective untimely demise, but she knows that naruto has been beating himself up trying to get them home, and she hates how hard he is on himself about it.

she shakes her head, and continues on — ）

I'm not squeamish. You can go ahead with the story.

[nagano]

[ Kaito sighs to himself before recording his next message. ]

I found myself surrounded by a pack of them the other day. It wasn't like I was cornered—I had plenty of openings to escape. But another Restless was badly wounded and they seemed to be waiting for him to die, so I wound up... i̴n̴t̴e̶r̴v̵e̵n̸i̶n̴g̴.̴

[ Dark laughter rumbles in his mind.

T̶h̵a̶t̴ ̵w̸a̵s̵ ̸a̶ ̶p̸r̸e̴t̴t̸y̵ ̷g̷o̸o̷d̴ ̴d̶a̴y̷ ̵f̷o̷r̷ ̸u̴s̵.̷ ̴Y̴o̴u̴ ̴l̷e̸t̴ ̶l̸o̸o̷s̶e̸.̴ ̴I̵f̴ ̷o̴n̷l̵y̷ ̴y̷o̸u̸ ̵h̴a̷d̷ ̸l̸e̸t̵ ̷g̷o̴ ̶c̴o̵m̶p̸l̷e̷t̸e̸l̸y̷.̵ ]

In the process, I wound up severing some of their limbs. While trying to toss them out of the way, strips of dead skin sloughed off, and the texture and strength felt roughly equal to bandages. Since I was short on supplies, I ended up tearing off some more, sterilizing them, and the results were surprisingly effective.

The next time I was in Stygia, I confirmed my findings with some literature in the library. Although Badaliscus skin will eventually crumble away, in the short term they make good for substitute wrappings.

[craters]

（ her old sensei used to talk about seeing underneath the underneath. there are things here in the shifting sands of his words that she can't quite grasp. that urge to pry, to know, is a shinobi reflex she can't entirely dismiss, but there are other more pressing matters. ）

Was the other person okay...? I understand if you'd rather protect their privacy, but please give them my name.

[nagano]

[ Curiosity kills the cat, but people like Kaito thrive off their inability to leave things alone. He'd relate to that small internal struggle if he knew about it. ]

I made sure he was stable. The worst of his injuries were some deep lacerations across the chest and exposure to Basilicus poison. Both were treated.

He insisted on being brought back to his Door, though. I let him know about your clinic, but given the way he shrugged me off I'm not sure if you'll be seeing him any time soon. His name's Magnus. Gave me some major old hermit vibes.

[ Major NPC vibes too, but a plot hook's a plot hook. ]

[craters]

（ well, there's nothing she can do about someone who doesn't want her help. she just exhales, and shakes her head. ）

All right. Thank you for telling me.

（ and then, perhaps a little less seriously — ）

Did you have a good time at the festival?

[nagano]

It was...

[ He trails off. So much happened within a matter of days. From stopping Syo and Hibiki from killing their Pucks, to the maze fights, to consuming literally everything that was being offered at the stalls, and then the horseman...

It's a whirlwind of memories that hits him all at once, but he eventually manages a chuckle. ]

I think it was better than it was bad. I was pulled in a lot of directions. The food was nice. I hoarded some pumpkins.

How'd you and your friends enjoy it?

[craters]

Pumpkins...? For cooking?

（ spoilers: they do not carve pumpkins in child soldier land. ）

We had a good time! （ ma'am that is a Lie. ） I will say the highlight of the evening was probably helping to return a lost child to his mother, though.

[nagano]

Yes. Cooking and pickling. It's too bad I couldn't carve any of them for decorations. Foodstuffs are too scarce to waste in any capacity.

[ When y'all get back to Konoha you need to revise The Ninja Way to include pumpkin carving, or else.

She's fortunate that their conversation is over audio or he'd be thinking about her lie for the rest of the day. A part of him might still not be convinced. ]

Happy to hear that. I'm just glad I could prevent unnecessary bloodshed during the lantern fiasco. Almost watched a fae get killed twice.

[craters]

Why would you carve them?

（ she is definitely not envisioning jack-o-lanterns, that's for sure. ）

In the woods, you mean? Yeah... I think there are some people who are rather quick to land on violence as an answer. I can't blame them, given where we are.

[nagano]

For festivity's sake. In my world there's a holiday known as Halloween where one of the many aesthetic themes are hollowed-out pumpkins with spooky faces carved into them, lit up by candles from the inside.

Mm. Yeah. I mean, I don't blame them either, but a kill is still a kill—even in this twisted unliving world. Regardless of whether their hands are stained with blood or not, if I can prevent any needless death, I will.

[ After a short period of silence, a sketch of a carved pumpkin is sent her way. ]

Here. I mocked up a quick example of what I was talking about earlier.

[ ...Kinda detailed for a mock-up done in minutes, Kaito. ]

[craters]

（ his stance on killing isn't one she shares. shinobi are raised to do just that, and even as a doctor she takes no issue with dealing death when death is due. but she can respect his stance just the same, and it gets a nod, even though he can't see it. but she doesn't address it, instead moving on to — ）

Oh! How cute!

You drew that just now?

[nagano]

[ It's a tough stance to maintain, especially when it seems to be full of holes. Kaito will hunt when he needs to, and he's put down mindless beasts aplenty. But if there's even a shred of sapience, he'll stubbornly argue to keep even the most vile of sorts alive.

Whose call is it to end or preserve life, anyway? When is he going to face the next challenge to his beliefs? ]

I did.

[ I used to have a flower book that I would draw sketches in.

Kaito deletes the line and pushes that thought out of his head. ]

The other side has some recipes for cakes and desserts. I had originally wanted to use scaleberries as an ingredient, but after learning about their medicinal properties I think they're too valuable to spend on food.

I wonder if anyone else is thinking about rationing for the coming winter.

[craters]

I actually think scaleberries are more harm than good. They might heal whatever's wrong with you, but they can afflict you with something else — in the time it takes to determine what the new ailment is, it could have already progressed to a fatal stage. I'm not sure that's a chance I'd encourage anyone to make.

... also, I know you said as much, but please don't cook with them for that reason.

I know that her Majesty Queen Gilia had mentioned it on the network? Have you connected with her at all?

[nagano]

I'm with you there. However, there's a very clear value to them—at least with Hale's healers. If they can make something with the berries that has more benefits than detriments, then I'll keep on collecting them.

Queen Gilia and I are acquainted. I'll admit I haven't spoken much with her in the past few weeks, but I noticed she's already taken steps to start preserving food for the winter months. For my part, anything I can't outright store at my place will be dried and preserved that way.

[craters]

I agree that there are circumstances under which they can be useful, I'm not saying don't collect them! I just wouldn't recommend people eat them unsupervised, you know?

Clever.

Do we know yet what the locals think of the food situation in the winter months? It might not be as dire as we're anticipating.

[nagano]

Yeah, absolutely. I've stopped a few people from scavenging here and there.

I'm not super concerned about the locals' opinions. Regardless of whether there will be famine or not, I want to have a large store of food in case some kind of disaster strikes. It could be a Maelstrom, monsters attacking Stygia, a sudden shift in opinion of the Hierarchy against us...

Perhaps that's paranoia, but I won't be caught unprepared. If nothing else, I can provide for someone else who's suffering.

[craters]

I can understand that desire.

If there's anything I can do to help, let me know.

I'm not accepting payment for my services in the clinic, but I've made it clear that people can pay in other ways, with food or clothing/blankets or helping me tidy things up. If you'd like, I can reserve a percentage of whatever food is brought for you to use?

I treat a lot of fishermen, and they've taken to bring me a bit of their catch when they come in.

[nagano]

If you're comfortable with that arrangement, we can shake on it. Whatever you give to me will be reserved strictly for emergencies.

In exchange, you'll be first on my list of weekly food deliveries. 🙂

[craters]

You got it! 🤝