Kunou didn't need to precognition to tell that a something bad was going to happen and instead of speaking, only intertwined her fingers with the distraught girl.
"Everything was fine," Riko squeezed back," But t-then...I ruined it all. After you cleared your first Divine Organ, I felt urgent. Like I was falling further behind...I-I just wanted to stay by your side, Kunou-sama. Your talent is sometimes..blinding."
The Nekomata smiled sadly as she clutched desperately at her fingers. Golden eyes looked on with a mixture of understanding and warmth.
"So," She took another steadying breathe," I did something I shouldn't have. I begged a few Elders to provide me aid. I figured that sense the Reconciliation Method only required Ki to be fed into the organ, than it shouldn't matter if it's my own or not. Sadly, my theory was found true and after not even a few hours I had officially cleared my Lungs."
Kunou held back her instinctual cry of congratulations as she saw those black ears droop into mere puddles of their previous forms. And after that fact was pointed out, she could noticed a slight pressure being pressed down on her lungs but it was barely noticeable as that illusory golden furred body covered her in it's embrace. But it felt different somehow, as instead of the continuous waves that emanated from both her mother and teacher it had a staggering gate.
"When it happened, I hacked up so much...I don't want to even think of it, that they called in a few healers to check up on my condition. I don't know how long I was coughing but by the time I stopped….everyone was dead."
"Everyone." Riko's shoulder's shook as fresh, hot tears rolled down her face," The nearby healers, Elders and servants. All of them were just lying there, clutching at their throats. Faces frozen with a panicked expression. I panicked too and ran out of the courtyard to get help. That too was another mistake…"
Kunou slipped around the table and dragged the girl into her chest as she began to blubber, a new stream of snot and tears only adding to the stained kimono.
"T-t," The Nekomata buried her face into the young girl's side," T-they kept falling over! Everyone I passed just clutched as their throats and fell over, blue in the face and it only further fueled my panicked escape. I-I don't know how long I ran but by the time I realized it, I was near the Clan gates where the guards also collapsed on the ground. I just wanted to get away, to keep myself away from my family and Clan. That's where Master Yamato found me. He told me he would handle everything and to come here."
Only the sound of Riko's heavy sobbing could be heard as the young Kitsune rocked the older girl to sleep. She gentle rubbed at those blackened locks, her gentle breathing falling into place as she looked out the nearby window.
'Poor Riko…'
***********************************************************************************
"Thank you Master."
Yasaka bowed deeply to an average looking man dressed in a plain white kimono, his long black hair streamed behind him like an inky river. Iori sat leaned up against his new favorite tree as he quietly meditated on the day.
Things had been very eventful for him that day.
After this little break from teaching, he had decided to spend his time studying the incredibly intricately detailed Boidokī. Trying his best to unravel the secrets this piece of modern Ki enchanting had in store for him, when all that had been interrupted by a sudden flood of foreign Divine Pressure that prickled at his senses. With but a simple application of Touki, he appeared before the auspiciously decorated compound of the Nekomatas.
There leaning heavily on the open gates, slumped a sobbing Riko. The pressure given off from her bounced ineffectually against him and that alone had told him all he needed to know. After calming her down temporarily, he saw fit to send her to Kunou to join in her own isolation and went inside that much too silent compound.
"It was no problem." He waved his hand dismissively," The situation wasn't as bad as I feared. Only 5 actually died. The rest just fell unconscious. They'll have to be checked for any long lasting damage but other than that, they should be fine after a night's rest."
Despite his insane battle prowess, he started this journey as nothing more than a simple healer.
"None the less," Yasaka didn't raise herself, nine tails waving in the wind," I still must thank you. Thank you for not holding their previous actions against them. Thank you for looking out for my people."
Sighing softly, he only patted his lap. A grin wormed itself across her down-turned face and with a mere flash of Youki, she shrunk down into the form of a small golden fox and nuzzled herself into his lap. From the heavy amounts of purring, he could tell he hadn't lost his touch.
That's how they sat for awhile, both lost in their own memories at this nostalgic position.
"What happened?" The fox murmured," I thought Riko wasn't going to be able to clear out her Lungs for at least another few weeks?"
"I thought the same." Iori gazed up at overhead tree foliage that blocked out the reddening sky," But it seems, Riko got too impatient and forced the process. She damaged not only her Lungs but also her channels. She'll need months, at the earliest, to fully recover from all that damage. A full year if she uses any Ki beyond what's required."
There, Yasaka winced in symphony or at least tried to do the rough approximation of one while still in her ridiculous form.
"Taking away Senjutsu from a Nekomata, is like cutting a limb off. For a lot of them, using Ki is apart of their daily lives. They've grown so use to it since they were but mere toddlers, that I have no idea how Riko will cope with all of this."
"She'll have to deal with the majority of it by herself," He said solemnly," But some of the blame does fall to me."
"Don't." Iori rubbed a bit harder at her small ears as he felt her ready reply, leaving her as nothing more than a drooling mess incapable of speech in the next moment. "It is true. I am still taking my knowledge for granted. Back then, it was well known that flooding your Channels with excessive foreign Ki can and will damage them. Especially if they're Liver's aren't cleared. But it seems, even that basic information was also lost to history."
"No," She wheezed out between a few rapid breathes," No. I made sure that fact was written down and also that it was taught everywhere within my borders. No Elder, much less of the Nekomata Clan, should've even thought of doing something so reckless. This is both the fault of youthful carelessness and arrogant old Yokai."
"…" He didn't know if that made himself feel better, but he decided not to argue with the fox. There had been many incidents like this when he started taking on disciples, honestly if he was just glad that Riko hadn't cleared her Heart or Brain instead. Either of those would've completely decimated the Nekomata Clan. "Maybe that is the case but it doesn't change that this mistake will not be made again."
"You're going to call Daidachi over?" Yasaka asked,"...I guess that's for the best. Marui nor his mother will be all to happy to not see their boy for so long but I'm sure I can calm them down."
"Good," He nodded," I'll call for him in the morning, let him enjoy one more night with his family. It'll be awhile before he'll see them again."