The Ninja I Picked Up
The kunoichi seemed to have reached her limit. She collapsed the moment she stepped inside the house.
I had never been much for exercise, but my physical abilities had improved overall after awakening. Carrying her was easy.
I laid her on the bed in the unused room and checked her breathing first. It hadn't stopped, but it was definitely shallow. Her pulse was too fast and weak.
“……She made it all the way here in this condition.”
I glanced down at her side. Her hand, soaked in blood, was still pressed over the wound. Fortunately, the bleeding seemed to have slowed.
I tried to lift her clothes to examine the injury more closely. The fabric, however, was stuck to her skin, glued by blood and sweat. Forcing it off might reopen the barely staunched wound.
Damn it.
There were many things I needed to confirm—how deep the wound was, which direction the cut ran, whether it reached the muscle layer. But with her entering the early stages of hemorrhagic shock, priorities had shifted.
I put on gloves first. Surgical gloves were scattered around the house. I grabbed scissors and began cutting away the blood-soaked clothes from the outside. I left the stuck portions alone and carefully peeled back the surrounding fabric instead.
The deep, gaping wound came into view. For a moment, my breath caught, but I forced my gaze to stay fixed. Kenji's memories contained far worse injuries he had operated on.
In this moment, I am Sato Kenji. Don't tense up. Focus like a doctor.
As time passed, my original self grew clearer than Kenji's. Now, almost nothing of him remained.
But his memories stayed intact. That was enough.
I faced the kunoichi's wound again. The amount of visible blood was less concerning than the signs of prolonged endurance.
The blood had already dried in patches across her clothes, yet fresh seepage continued beneath the pressure points.
“Respiration maintained. Pulse rapid and weak. Skin cold and pale. Loss of consciousness.”
I voiced her condition aloud to cool my thoughts. It was Kenji's usual habit.
I raised the room temperature, pulled a blanket over her, and adjusted her head slightly to keep the airway clear. A body that had lost blood needed warmth first. I wished I had an IV bag left, but none remained.
But Kenji saved her. I can too.
I spread out sterile gauze and antiseptic drapes, then used saline-soaked gauze to gently loosen the fabric clinging to the wound, starting from the edges. The stiffened cloth gradually gave way. Through the gaps, I confirmed the wound's outline.
Looking at the whole picture, I could tell. Thankfully, it wasn't a deep frontal stab.
I laid out the sterilized instruments beside the bed in order: forceps, sutures, antiseptic, gauze, hemostatic agent, and even local anesthetic and painkillers.
Seeing familiar tools in front of me cleared my head a little.
“……”
Everything until now had been mere first aid. From here on, it was real.
I exhaled shortly and widened my eyes.
I will save her.
Sato Kenji's hands began to move.
**
Late at night, the kunoichi snapped her eyes open. She instinctively tried to sit up, then felt the injury and relaxed the tension in her abdomen.
“……?”
The pain was lighter than expected. At least it wasn't the searing agony she had felt before losing consciousness. Her entire body felt heavy and dull, as if someone had pressed the pain down.
“Ugh.”
Yet when she tried to draw a deep breath, a stiff ache followed from inside her side. What had happened?
“Where…… is this?”
Only then did her surroundings come into focus. The room wasn't small. It lacked a lived-in feel, yet it was kept spotlessly clean, as if regularly maintained.
She remembered entering that large house earlier, led by a stranger's hand.
……Wait. A stranger's hand?
“……!”
The situation before she lost consciousness flashed back. Her face flushed bright red.
Losing consciousness in front of a man.
As a ninja, she had failed. If her clan found out, what would they say this time? That she was unqualified? Or worse, that she should be expelled entirely?
A bitter taste filled her mouth.
……But where is that man?
While unconscious, she had been completely defenseless. Even an untrained person could have killed her if they wanted to.
The scent of disinfectant lingered at the tip of her nose. Looking down, she saw a clean bandage tightly wrapped around her side. Beside the bed, the man was dozing, his back against the frame.
Completely unguarded.
Don't tell me…… this man treated me?
Since her side was injured, he must have removed her clothes. Perhaps he had exposed even more. The thought made her face grow hotter.
Showing that to a man I just met……!
He had introduced himself as a doctor. Every doctor she knew cared only about money. He would surely demand payment.
But she had no personal savings. She belonged to the clan, and all mission rewards went to them.
……Should I kill him?
The solution was simple. Since he had seen her face, eliminating him to remove future trouble was the rational choice.
Yet as she quietly watched the sleeping man's face, she soon furrowed her brows.
Killing the person who saved her life was wrong, no matter how she looked at it. Killing an innocent person also went against her nature.
Then I should at least run away……
The moment she tried to move, she noticed a sticky note attached to the back of her hand. Small writing covered the paper.
Don't move even if you wake up. The wound might reopen.
No need for treatment fees, so don't think about running away and rest. You need to sleep well to recover quickly.
P.S. I didn't look at anything other than the necessary areas for treatment, so you can relax.
The note read as if it had read her mind. She felt embarrassed for having plotted just moments ago.
“……Tch.”
Something about it annoyed her, but at least one worry was gone. Since a doctor had written it, staying still would probably aid recovery.
The kunoichi looked down at the bandage around her side. He was a complete stranger, yet her wariness had unknowingly eased.
Had anyone ever tended to her so carefully to save her life? She searched her memories but found nothing.
How foolish.
With tension released, drowsiness crashed over her like a wave. Her eyelids felt heavy, perhaps from blood loss.
She was used to fighting sleep, but there was no need to resist now. The doctor had said resting well would speed recovery.
“……”
The kunoichi glanced once at the man beside the bed, then slowly closed her eyes.
**
Time passed. Sunlight began to rise. Warm rays slipped through the loosely drawn curtains and brightened the room.
Vrrr.
The phone vibrated softly. With eyes still closed, I fumbled around until I found it.
“……Hello?”
Treating her until late at night had left me without proper sleep. Drowsiness still clung thickly to my mind. I tried to steady my voice, but only a weak breath escaped first.
-Director? Don't tell me you just woke up?
A familiar voice came through the phone. Okada Reiko, the nurse who had worked with Kenji for a long time. The name already felt familiar to me as well.
“Ah, Reiko. What time is it?”
-It's seven-thirty in the morning. You usually come in at this hour, so I called when I didn't see you.
“Sorry. I had trouble sleeping last night.”
-……Is something wrong?
Reiko asked in a worried tone. I gave a small laugh and answered.
“Nothing's wrong. I'll get ready and head over soon.”
-You don't have to rush. There's still time before the clinic opens.
“Got it. And Reiko.”
-Yes?
I turned to look at the kunoichi on the bed. She appeared to be sleeping deeply, but her breathing was far more stable than last night.
“I'll be bringing a patient this morning.”
-A patient? At this hour?
“Trauma case. She was collapsed in front of the house. I gave emergency treatment last night, but I need to check for internal damage. Prepare for examinations.”
A brief silence followed on the other end.
-……Director. You said nothing was wrong?
“I'm not the one who's hurt, so don't worry.”
-Haah, I really can't live like this……. All right, I'll get everything ready.
“As expected, only you, Reiko.”
I hung up after hearing her sigh.
I set the phone down and stood. Staying in the same position all night had left my back and shoulders stiff.
I turned toward the bed to check the kunoichi's condition. Two wide-open eyes were staring straight at me.
“Uwah!”
I nearly fell backward in surprise. Clutching my pounding chest, I shouted.
“If you were awake, at least make some noise! You startled me.”
The kunoichi frowned.
“Telling a ninja to make noise? Are you an idiot?”
“I'm not your assassination target. You can just act normally.”
“I am acting normally.”
“……”
If that was the case, there was nothing left to say.
I scratched the back of my head and approached her. She tensed, bracing herself.
“I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to check your condition.”
I spoke calmly and reached for her side.
“I'm going to remove the bandage, so don't tense up. The wound could reopen. Just hold your clothes so they don't slip.”
I lifted her top slightly and unwrapped the bandage. Though I had only exposed a small part of her side, her breathing grew rough in an instant. A faint blush spread across her face.
She's completely shy.
Truthfully, I wasn't in a position to comment. Without my professional mindset as a doctor, my own hands would have been shaking.
After checking the wound and bandage, I nodded lightly.
“Looks good. No fresh bleeding or signs of worsening.”
“Does that mean it's almost healed?”
“……You were injured yesterday and already expect it to be fully healed? Quite greedy. I've only done emergency treatment so far, you know?”
I explained patiently to the silent kunoichi.
“The surface is stitched, but there's no guarantee the inside is fine. You'll need a proper examination at the hospital.”
She moved her lips for a while before asking in a small voice.
“Why…… did you save me?”