[Ghouligan]

Antoine hadn’t recovered.

Before he left the Caribbean, he had tackled a criminal syndicate that had put his father in debt. The payment crippled every facet of his life. He wasted his days at the casino trying to win back the money he owed them. He never knew an honest day’s work.

With dwindling prospects, they decided to take their payment in blood. They’d kill him and harvest his organs. They’d sell what they could on the black market. It was more money than they’d ever see from him in the rest of his pathetic life. They didn’t care about the son he had left behind.

By the book. Antoine did everything by the book. He called the police and reported he was missing. Then he reported he had died. And when they brought in the men responsible, a fall guy took the blame. The rest were set free. Probation at worst. The system let him down. The very system he turned to for stability.

As flawed a man as he was, his father deserved justice. And Antoine served it. His isn’t a story of vengeance but of duty. When you stain your hands with blood you change as a person. And through these murders, he lost parts of his soul.

Antoine hasn’t recovered since.

When he arrived in Japan, looking for his long-lost brother Emile, he ran into Bernard. He owned a restaurant serving America’s Finest Cuisine™ — burgers. Bernard then hired him as security. With the injuries he received as “security,” he could feel himself slowing down. Japan was as broken as any other country. Antoine couldn’t help but get involved in business that wasn’t his.

“Shinjuku?” Antoine asked. “How do I get there?”

“You really need to learn Japanese. There are signs and public transportation everywhere.”

“I won’t be here long.”

“Didn’t you say that a month ago?”

“I’m learning Japanese.”

“Fat American Burger does not count as Japanese.”

“...”

“Here’s a map. They’ll take care of you.”

“How do you know about all these places?”

“I schmooze around, doll.” Bernard winked. “You know what’s important? You getting fixed up. By the sounds of it, you haven’t healed properly. And I don’t want you dying on my watch. You’re my best security guard.”

“I’m going.” Antoine clocks out from Bernie’s Burgers. He looks at the map and does his best tourist impression, matching the symbols on the sheet with what’s around him. After a few trains here and a bit of walking there, Antoine eventually finds the building. He thinks.

Only one way to find out. Antoine knocks on the door. “Mochi mochi.”

---

Megumi Okumura

[Megumi Okumura]

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[attr="class","carvetitle"]The Doctor

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[attr="class","carvenotes"]Ghouligan

[attr="class","carvetext"]Boring afternoon for Gumi. Zaza and Chuckie were both off doing other things and she didn't know where Goose was as it had been gone for a few days. Aside from a few early morning patients she had been lazing around for the entire afternoon, laying on her couch with a comic in hand and a sandwich.

Whenever Goose returned, she would be ready with the other half of the sandwich otherwise, she'd have to spend the entire night arguing with it again. You'd think that wouldn't be a big deal, but each head had a different opinion, so it got old pretty quickly. Easier to just have extra food on hand!

The knock on her door made her pause mid-bite, placing her stuff down and brushing the crumbs off her shirt. She would call out "Coming~!" and with a spring in her step, would bound over to the door, open it, and crank her neck up to be greeted with the sight of a heavily tattooed man looking back at her "Yo! You know mochi mochi isn't on this street? This is my home mochi mochi is 5 blocks down and then take a right, can't miss it!" she fired off fairly quickly which the man likely wouldn't have understood at the speed in which she spoke. Taking a look again it was clear that this man was a foreigner and that was why he didn't say anything! She would clear her throat and try again, this time in Spanish "Do you understand Spanish? I was saying Mochi Mochi isn't here; you've got the wrong address but don't worry it happens~!" she added cheerily waiting in anticipation to see if this got through to him. She only had English and sign language left otherwise they'd be here all day!

[attr="class","carvecredit"]IVYLEAF33

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[Ghouligan]

If there was anything he learned while in Japan, it was to nod along to whatever people were saying. They usually said what they needed, smiled, and went on their way. And he’d use this tactic on this unsuspecting woman until it was his turn to speak. Perhaps she knew English. Once he had a moment to interject, he’d ask. But the moment never revealed itself.

Antoine was familiar with the speed people spoke Spanish. Hell, he fell victim to its trappings, too, especially when he was excited or passionate or arguing with someone over something mildly annoying. It wasn’t until she did the same to him in a foreign language did he realize what gibberish he must have been saying to unsuspecting, un-fluent ears.

She stopped.

He went to open his mouth and before he could get a word out she interrupted him. This time, in a language he understood. Thank god.

“Spanish, yeah.” He let out a deep breath and the tension in his shoulders disappeared. He hadn’t realized how stressed he had been until someone spoke in his tongue again. “I think I’m supposed to be here?” Antoine showed the address on the sheet he had. “A place for healing, right?”

---

Megumi Okumura

[Megumi Okumura]

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[attr="class","carvetitle"]The Doctor

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[attr="class","carvenotes"]Ghouligan

[attr="class","carvetext"]Oh thank the lord! Megumi sighed a breath of relief as she crossed the language barrier. Her parents both spoke English and Spanish so she could pick it up rather quickly at a younger age and had over a decade to learn Japanese.

"Where ya from?" she asked, initially disregarding his question about her services until her ears caught up with her brain. "Oh duh! Ya that's me! Megumi at your service!" she would take the paper from Antonine and inspect it quickly "ooh Bernard, huh? Yeah yeah, come in!" She'd move to let Antoine past her to enter her place. It was messy and littered with what Megumi called treasure but could just as easily be considered junk. She would lead him past this, stepping over a few piles before they'd hit the door to the basement where she had her room used for all things medical.

She'd push the door open which had a big picture of a goose with a x over it and gesture for him to enter. "So, whats bothering ya? I don't charge a fee for first-time patients, but if ya need ta come back it'll cost you uh..." she placed a finger on her chin, tapping it in thought and then snapping her fingers "Food next time! perhaps something sweet? Or maybe savory. Oh oh! Bernard has this special item I always ask for I call it the 'Fat American Burger' he'll know what I'm talking about!"

[attr="class","carvecredit"]IVYLEAF33

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[Ghouligan]

“I grew up in the Caribbean. Lots of traveling across the islands. Hard to consider any one of them a home.” She was scatterbrained. Her mind probably looked like her house. A mess. It was a wonder she got anything accomplished. Then again, maybe she was one of those genius types. If Bernard was recommending her, then she had either had to be good at what she did or do it illegally — probably both.

Antoine’s hand slid in his pocket, grabbing his wallet. He stayed at Bernie’s so he didn’t have to pay rent as it was taken out of his check. And considering the great, affordable prices and his lack of expenses otherwise… he had saved up most of his few paychecks at this point.

“No charge?” Then, he paused. “Oh. I know that one.”

It was clunky. And not great. But it was definitely Japanese as opposed to the fluent, natural-sounding Español coming out of his mouth prior.

“Fat American Burger.” Then he switched back to English. “It’s the only thing I know how to say apparently.” He thought back to the confusion over ‘mochi, mochi.’ Was that wrong?

“Let me know what you can fix. I have these,” He showed off various small cuts, bruises, and callouses across his hands and forearms. “Then, uh, these.” He lifted his shirt a little to show off some of the scars on his torso. “Have some on my thighs, too.” Antoine let his shirt back and then turned around, pointing to his back. “And my back hurts. Like all the time. I’m used to it but I wouldn’t mind if it didn’t.”

---

Megumi Okumura

[Megumi Okumura]

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[attr="class","carvetext"]"Aha! Another western person! No wonder your Japanese stinks, how long ya been here for?" she purposely didn't disclose where she was from for her own protection. Well, that would be if the people who killed her fam were still chasing her after a decade. Still from Chuckie's advice, it was better to not be so cavalier with that info!

"The only thing you know how to say??" Megumi would burst out laughing. "Bernie should be teaching you better than that!" Pulling out her gloves from her pocket, she would slip them on to give Antoine a proper examination. She would focus on tracing her fingers over the scar tissues and bruises to get a feel using the feedback she received from her palpitators. 'No deep lacerations, probably getting beat up a little too often' she thought to herself "So...you must be a fighter huh? for good? for evil? profiiiiiit~?" none of it mattered to her, but it would give some more context as to how someone ended up with this many injuries.

"Oh! I can fix ya back. It's gonna hurt a lot cause my roommate took my last anesthetic. I'm just gonna fuse some of your spine together, kay~?" she wouldn't wait for an answer instead tracing her finger down his spine before placing both palms equidistant to each other and using her quirk, she would snap some of the ligaments and strained muscles back into their original positions. For Antoine, this would feel like his entire back had shifted and was lit on fire. "That's one-quarter done! too much at once ya'll go into shock and probably die" she laughed taking a step back to let him work out the pain as she prepared for the next batch.

[attr="class","carvecredit"]IVYLEAF33

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[Ghouligan]

“Not long.” Time was nebulous. It could have been a week, it could have been a month. It all felt the same to him. A strange, foreign land with esoteric symbols etched onto every corner of the country. “But I don’t plan on staying much longer. Just visiting.”

Somewhere, deep inside, he still believed this was a visit. In a few days — weeks at most — he’d find his brother, tell them of their father’s passing, and be on their way back to the Americas to meet his mother for the first time. It would be a simple process. Family came first, after all.

“Fighting’s all I’m good at. So, I do it.” It was deeper than that. He didn’t do it because he was good at it, his skill demanded he fight. “I don’t think security guards are heroes or anything but they’re not bad people. Usually.”

“Wait, while I’m standi—” The flames of hell flared beneath his skin. They roared against his insides as he gritted his teeth. He stood there, unmoving, his nails digging into his fingers as blood started to drip. The pain was unbearable but worse were the memories that came flooding back.

“One more time.” He barely squeezed out. I deserve this.

---

Megumi Okumura

[Megumi Okumura]

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[attr="class","carvenotes"]Ghouligan

[attr="class","carvetext"]"Funny stuff! Thats exactly what I said about a decade ago." she was digging through a packed drawer for a few things to help during this procedure. Without anesthetic, he'd have to bear the pain a little longer until she could find a few of her useful painkillers. None were truly as effective as being completely numb, but Antoine looked like a tough guy!

"Ya know, everyone I've met who comes from abroad somehow doesn't leave. Even my cousin came here for work and met a nice lady so he's stuck!" she laughed, knowing that if Antoine heard the full details of Chuck's situation that he would have a bajillion other questions. "Oho fighter, huh? I get a lot of ya. Bernie not wanting anyone to learn the secret recipe~" her rummaging would finally come to an end as she was able to find her numbing solution and smellingsalts.

She watched unblinking as Antoine came to grips with the pain. "Woah, you're honestly pretty tough! Usually, one of those and someone would be a crumpled ball on the floor." she would approach with a rag to dab up some of the blood dripping from his sides and then give him a small push so he was sitting on the table. "Round two~!" she said cheerily, applying the numbing solution up and down his spinal cord and then moved on to the next section. The pain level would surely drop albeit just a tiny bit as this wasn't more than a topical numbing cream. To prevent him from spazzing out further she would use her quirk to make the bench sticky enough that even if or rather when he passed out he wouldn't fall and crack his head open on the pavement.

Thank god for unconventional medical practices! Something like this in a hospital would have cost a couple of million yen at least and then months of recovery time.

[attr="class","carvecredit"]IVYLEAF33

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[Ghouligan]

“A decade ago?” God help him if he’s trapped here for a decade. Antoine wasn’t sure what improbable force could compel him to stay, but if Japan were to trap his soul then it’d be Emile’s fault. Emile was the reason he came to Japan and the pit in his stomach warned him that he’d be the reason he stayed, too.

“Yeah, well, like you said. Fighter. As in not a lover. Don’t plan on getting tied down anytime soon.” Antoine relentlessly fought against his destiny. Even if Emile didn’t chain him to this country, there was still an ongoing state of affairs. This place was a mess. Maybe he could do some good work here.

Secret formula? It’s grease. Americans love grease. Maybe, Megumi lived here too long if she hadn’t caught wind of what made ‘authentic, American cuisine.’ Still, not his place to spill Bernard’s secrets. Lord knows he wouldn’t want Bernie spillin’ some of his.

“Round two.” I can’t move? “Wait, why is the bench—”

He passed out.

---

Megumi Okumura

[Megumi Okumura]

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[attr="class","carvetext"]"A lover?" her eyes would flick up and down. "Is that something I should also be treating? I don't know if I have the equipment to run tests for that kind of thing but as long as whatever your business is isn't bothering you too much!" She didn't really need much more information than that and just assumed that he was talking about funny business, entirely missing the point of the colloquialism. She tended to blank out details and highlight keywords in conversation and in this case she was completely off base.

Once he passed out, she would circle the table, propping up his slumped body the best she could before making the decision to finish the work before he would wake up. Even when she freed him from the bindings, he would be unable to stand until the process took hold and his spine realignment had the rest of his body catch up to the process. After a few minutes, she would uncap the smelling salts and wave it under his nose "Okay~ wakey wakey! How do you feel? Probably sore I'd bet. You're not paralyzed don't worry it'll take a few for your legs to get feeling again."

[attr="class","carvecredit"]IVYLEAF33

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[Ghouligan]

“Better than ever.” The lie slipped out of him before his consciousness slipped in. Antoine hadn’t realized who he was talking to nor where he was. But as he saw Megumi’s face he realized what had happened. It’d be embarrassing if he had an ego about it. “I can’t feel my legs — right, you just said that.”

Everything was hazy. Antoine was only grounded by the pain in his back. It was different than before, though. A good pain. The kind of pain that will fade away. Eventually.

But for not it would throb and burn and ache and laying still never felt so… awful. If he didn’t feel better after this he’d march straight to Bernard. Huh, then again… without legs… how would he march?

“So, while we’re here…” He might as well kill time. And as far as he remembered, which wasn’t much at the moment, they were having a conversation. “What were we talkin’ about?”

---

Megumi Okumura

[Megumi Okumura]

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[attr="class","carvenotes"]Ghouligan

[attr="class","carvetext"]"Uhm..." Megumi was just as scatterbrained as she was good at medical procedure, which admittedly was probably not the best combination. Not that Antoine wouldn't be able to pick up on that had he been paying attention during the time he's been conscious. "Oh! We were talking about your stay in Japan." she'd hand him an ice pack to apply wherever as she switched to working on his scars. This would be a substantially less painful process and would feel more like a skin irritant than a pain strong enough to make him pass out.

"So, what brought you to Japan anyway? Friends? love? Revenge? money?" these were the most common motivations she had heard from other transplants. Well, that and being on the run, but she didn't like to bring attention to that given that it was her reason for being here. "I know you think it'll be a quick stay but in case you're not you might want to make more connections." she finished grafting the skin together on one scar and moved to the next big one "Or at least listen to Bernie! He's great and helped me out a lot a few years back"

[attr="class","carvecredit"]IVYLEAF33

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[Ghouligan]

The process continued.

Fortunately, they moved on to something tolerable. It was still uncomfortable but felt oddly familiar, almost like he was getting tattooed again. Speaking of, he should look into his next set here in Japan. At this point, he’d been here long enough to get a memento. Settling on what will be difficult though. There ain’t a chance in hell he’s getting one of Bernie’s Burgers.

“Family,” Antoine applied the icepack to the back of his neck. “My father recently passed. I’m here to tell my brother.” Megumi did good work. If he planned on returning, he’d give some information to keep his stay plausible. Sometimes sharing intimate information gives the illusion of honesty. And Antoine thrived in the unspoken.

“Is this a connection?” He asked. To him, life had been transactional. When the neighbors watched him, they charged his father. They knew he was broke so they used his services. He was kind of a handyman and did good work. Could have had a great career and done a lot of good for their community if he hadn’t fallen victim to his vices. And if those vices didn’t cost him his life.

“Because I’ll be here pretty frequently.” He quickly added. “Bernie did say you were the best. And if I should listen to Bernie, then…”

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Megumi Okumura

[Megumi Okumura]

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[attr="class","carvecount"]0000/0000 WORDS

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[attr="class","carvetitle"]The Doctor

[attr="class","carvedesc"]IS IN

[attr="class","carvenotes"]Notes, lyrics, stats, tags can go here I guess. Doesn't scroll, but it's a pretty big space.

[attr="class","carvetext"]"Yeesh, I'm sorry for your loss! I know what it's like to lose a parent," she continued stitching up his large scars "Is this a connection...?" she raised an eyebrow in confusion at the question. To her, it was pretty obvious, especially if he was connected to Bernie so she decided to tell him, "Of course! Long as you pay my fee, you're welcome here any time. I treat anyone as long as they can bring something to exchange for me" she would point over her shoulder to a box on the shelf labeled 'Stuff'.

She'd release the adhesive that was keeping him glued to the table and take a step back, shrinking herself to get a better angle at an oddly placed scar on his leg "What's the story with this one?" It looked like a stab wound, but she could never be too sure "As much as I'd love to see you around and get more things even if you're only going to be here for a while you'll need someone to get your back out there! I have a cousin who works alone a lot, and you should see how much he gets messed up! I had to stitch his skull back together the other day" She'd laugh at the thought of Chuck slumped over, bleeding on her table because he was stubborn and wanted to provide for Zaza. "Oh and if you see a goose with a few heads around town you tell them that Megumi said hi! That's my roomie, and if you tell them you're a friend I promise they won't attack you, maybe"

[attr="class","carvecredit"]IVYLEAF33

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[Ghouligan]

“Mom or Dad?” Antoine didn’t hesitate. He wouldn’t push if she put up walls, either. Maybe she hadn’t moved past it yet. Maybe you never do. “Is that why you moved here?”

He looked over at the box of stuff. He’s not really sure he understands her price point. But if Bernard recommended her, finances weren’t a problem. Instead, she wanted a burger or some other memento or trinket to play with. Megumi seems the type to like puzzles. But that could just remind her of work. It was future Antoine’s problem. Right now, he knew what to get her. When that well runs dry, then… he’ll have to start thinking.

There were a few offers on the table. He could ask about her cousin. The goose, too. But were either of these people someone to trust? Someone to work with? As long as he was undercover it was best to keep an arm’s distance. “Bernard’s on a budget. Won’t be working with anyone else for now.”

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Megumi Okumura