Finding Miss Shizumi took nearly an hour. She tended to move her little clinic to where she figured people would need her help most, but Yuko couldn't imagine why she'd set up shop in the middle of the East. Just a tent with a few collapsible seats around it and a makeshift doctor's office inside. The area was like a sanctuary. No one would try and mess with the only qualified, free and fairly available doctor in the district.
Yuko wasn't the first to arrive, not that she expected to be. At least the wait wasn't long. Upon entering the tent, she made herself comfortable on the makeshift medical chair. Shizumi was occupied with some cleaning before turning to Yuko.
Shizumi was clearly a fairly young adult, though she was definitely in that stage of life that was hard to put an exact number on. Her stripes were much thicker than Yuko’s, only having one set on her cheeks, emphasising her pink eyes which always had a serene look to them, like nothing could phase her. Yuko didn't know if it was part of her impromptu work attire, but Shizumi always kept her golden hair in a braid over her shoulder, as well as wearing a simple track black suit and an apron. Yuko was happy that Shizumi was from the North. She deserved much better than this place, but still chose to reach out anyway.
When the woman did turn her attention to Yuko, there was an immediate frown as she spotted the bandage. Yuko tried to comfort her with a smile.
“Yuko… What happened?” the blonde asked as she started to undo the wrapping, not buying it.
Yuko averted her gaze and shrugged. She wasn't sure if it was shame or something else, but Shizumi’s gaze drilled into her even without making eye contact. “Got stabbed over some credits. I was just fine until he pulled the knife,” she paused for a moment before continuing, “Haven't had salt in months...”
Shizumi sighed softly while examining the cut. “Yesterday?”
“Not long before the blackout.”
Stepping away and diving into a set of drawers, the nurse took out a few items. “I suppose I accept your excuse to not come find me immediately.”
Yuko flinched as the disinfectant was applied to her injury, hissing softly. “What do you think about it? The blackout, I mean.”
There's a small pause. “The last big technical failure was before I was born. It doesn't sound good, though. I'm trying to get everyone any urgent help they need before I go back North. I'll be setting up my clinic near there for now,” Shizumi explained, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Stress does bad things to the mind, and I don't want to get caught in the middle of people doing something they'll regret.” She turned her attention back to the injury. A gauze was treated with a few products Yuko couldn't recognize, applied it, and started packing the ordeal with a pristine white bandage. Another laid available right next to her.
“Thanks, Miss Shizumi,” Yuko muttered with a smile as she clenched and unclenched her fist a few times. It still stung just as much, but now she at least knew it wasn't because of the inevitable infection.
The nurse nodded and offered the other bandage. “Just try and avoid putting yourself at risk for infection,” she offered instead. “Come by whenever you need me.”
Yuko knew she could, but it was still difficult to actually do it. She didn't want to rely on Shizumi so much. Besides, East was plenty busy a client for Shizumi as it was. There was no need for her to make things worse.
“I will,” she responded, clearly an empty promise. The young woman hopped off the medical chair to leave. “You watch out too, yeah?”
There was a small giggle as the woman relaxed a little. “That's literally part of my job description. I like to think I'm good at it.”
When Yuko arrived in class well over an hour late, Satoru didn't linger on his pupil's arrival, instead simply welcoming her and directing her to her seat. Getting everyone's attention back to the subject was a different matter, though. Whispers floated around the classroom, as they tended to whenever Yuko arrived. She never struggled to ignore them, though.
Satoru appeared close to middle aged, his black hair kept short and piercing yellow eyes made it easy to track where he was looking. Always wearing a professional but not over-exaggerated white button up shirt with black pants, his looks clashed with the expressiveness of his teaching. It was easy to tell he loved his job.
Throughout the duration of the lesson period, Yuko couldn't help but notice the occasional gaze Satoru would shoot her way. It'd been a few days since Yuko had attended any of her classes, so she supposed it made sense he was trying to get her up to speed. Or perhaps there was something else attached to it. Was he relieved she showed up again? Worried because of the blackout? It wasn't like she was the only East kid here, though as far as she was aware she was one of the more centrally located ones and the most likely to miss class. She also could have been not the only one to receive the attention.
The current subject was kegare. A strange, basically featureless substance that most people came to associate with the cold darkness of the tunnels. The only way to sense it was when it was already inside of you. The first signs were a general discomfort and nausea, but past that it became harder to pin down. It was also tied to the Bloat. A disease without a cure where you'd rapidly start swelling all over, most often contracted by people exposed to kegare. Yuko had seen it a few times when she was younger.
Paying attention was difficult. She already knew this stuff, or picked up on it quickly enough. It allowed her mind to wander. To East. To her father and Miss Shizumi. To the throbbing of her arm and the guy who stabbed her.
“Miss Yuko, can you stay a few more minutes after class to discuss what you've missed?”
The girl's attention shot back to her teacher. Was class really almost over? “Sure, yeah,” she agreed vaguely.
As the rest of the students filed out of the classroom, Yuko moved to take up a spot near Satoru’s desk, who in turn also took a seat.
Discussing the missed material was brief. He had to know she wasn't going to be doing much homework, but she guessed he hoped she'd try. Maybe if things were different. She didn't hate school. There was just so much on her mind that she didn't have much room to worry about school and homework. The fact that she still bordered on passing grades was a miracle.
As Yuko was about to stand, Satoru spoke up once again. “One last thing. I suspect things will be getting worse in the East District. I've been told they already are, but it will likely keep going. Please try to be prepared. If you have any questions-”
The girl stood up, the squeaking of the chair against the floor interrupting her teacher. He meant well but it's not like she had time or resources to spare to prepare for “worse”. “Thanks, sir, I'm already working on it.”
The moment Yuko left the classroom, she felt tense. The people around her were excitable, the chattering of her schoolmates more prominent than usual. The reason why reached her soon enough: Shini was officially funding an expedition to explore the tunnels.
Yuko was ecstatic at the idea. Maybe they'll finally find something new out there! With the support of the city itself, it'd be a lot easier to navigate the tunnels, right? Mining usually went much better than deserting, so they had to know something on how to navigate the tunnels without getting infected with kegare. Maybe she could be part of the team. Leaving Shini would be so liberating, the idea alone always brought a smile to her face.
The decision seemingly came out of nowhere, though. They apparently never stated an explicit reason, but the blackout from the previous day probably played no small part in it. People guessed another large part was the flooding of the East District earlier that day.
Wait, what?