Playing For Keeps - Ch 62 (Adv) - Make A Wish (Patreon)

“What was that? That… Grimm?” Bia demanded.

She was looking around warily, but I didn’t bother. “Later.”

[Detect Aura] confirmed that Tyrian was gone. The tiny Grimm was dead now, no hint of the black goop remaining, and Salem had either seen me through it or she hadn’t. Nothing I could do about it either way. What I could do, was…

“Did anyone catch a stray?” I called out, turning and striding toward the half-destroyed waiting area. “Anyone injured at all? Worker or patient, if you or someone near you is injured, speak up!”

“Ov– Over here!” a man coughed, and I jogged that way instantly, dropping the Family Sword back into the sheath and returning it to its baldric. I also cut off all my combat buffs,

The speaker, a faunus trauma nurse, had a nasty lump on his head, but both his hands were pressed to the thigh of a very pale human woman, applying pressure to a gash that was nevertheless seeping blood.

‹Add Value By What You Do›LV 5Vittorio Nicoletta

Spamming [Identify], I confirmed Vittorio had a mild concussion, but the woman was bleeding out despite his best efforts to keep her blood inside her.

I laid my hands on either side of his, also applying pressure and drawing a gasp from the woman. I triggered [Lay On Hands] followed by [Gaia’s Pulse] and her hazy eyes rapidly drew into focus.

“Wait, my wife got shot too!” a black-haired man cried. “She’s–”

I glanced that way with another [Identify], but…

“I’m sorry,” I said softly, not moving away from the woman I was currently healing. “There’s nothing I can do for her.”

“But… she’s…” The black-haired man looked from me to the body on the floor. “She pushed me out of the way…” he whispered.

With [Gaia’s Pulse] active, it only took about ten seconds of [Lay On Hands] to bring a critically injured civilian back to near-perfect health, so I let go of the woman and grabbed Vittorio’s wrist instead.

He let out a sigh of relief almost immediately, but I hung on until [Cleansing Touch] also popped to be sure the concussion was gone before calling out, “Next!”

“Here!”

Vittorio the nurse followed me, so even as I dropped back to my knees to [Lay On Hands] once more, I told him, “Find anyone else injured and triage; when I finish one patient, you direct me to the next.”

To my surprise, he stammered, “B-but, I’m barely out of school; I’m not in charge here–”

“Right now I’m in charge here,” I cut across him. “Gather up whoever can help and worry about first aid, but when I say I’m ready for a new patient, you direct me to them.”

Vittorio took a deep breath, and his resolve firmed. “Yes, Sir. Him next, then?”

He was pointing at a severely injured man slumped against the wall. I ran over as fast as I could, leaving Vittorio’s scrubs billowing from the speed of my passage, but the patient’s last bits of HP drained away and he died before I could trigger [Lay On Hands].

Fucking damn it. I just know I’m gonna have nightmares about this day.

Gritting my teeth, I looked around at the sound of a loud grinding and caught sight of Bia shoving the broken ambulance back outside. I took a moment to shoot a text to Qrow before heading toward where Vittorio had called out again.

DM: Paladin -› Scarecrow | Tuesday 10:48

‹Paladin› not that I doubt you have a good reason but where the fuck are you

My Scroll started ringing a moment later.

I never meant to start a fire; I never meant to make you bleed–

Fishing it out one-handed since I wasn’t alone, I put it on speaker ​​​​​​​and skipped my usual greeting in favor of repeating, “Not that I doubt you have a good reason, but where the fuck are you?”

“Something came up and I trusted you to handle your side.” Qrow’s reply was curt. “Seeing as you had time to text I gather you’re done?”

“That’s not always a good indicator, but in this case, yes, the fight’s over; Tyrian was exfiltrated and we’re cleaning up,” I summarized as I started healing the next patient and Vittorio went looking for someone else.

“What do you mean?”

“Tell you later. It might be important. I’m healing the injured right now, then I need to check on Leonardo. Is your thing urgent?” I didn’t bother asking if it was important; if it weren’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation at all.

There was some muffled murmuring as Qrow spoke to someone on his end. He hadn’t put his end of the call on speaker, and I was a bit busy, so I didn’t catch it. Finally he came back on. “No, it can wait. But they want to talk to you specifically.”

I considered that. Multiple people, or a singular ‘they’? Qrow was with two souls when I last checked on him, so maybe literally ‘they’. Either way, he’s clearly being vague on purpose right now, so I won’t press him.

“I’ll talk to them at the safehouse tonight or tomorrow,” I decided, jogging to where Vittorio was now pointing.

Some more murmuring, and Qrow confirmed, “Tonight, then.” There was a pause, and he asked softly, “Are you all right?”

“Bia and I are. But he came at us more recklessly than we anticipated, so not everyone is.”

“Fuck.”

Something in the tone of Qrow’s voice, even over the phone, convinced me he was feeling the same way I was. It helped settle the urge to bitch him out, at least for the moment. If this meeting doesn’t turn out important, we’re gonna have words… but he has to be thinking the same thing.

“If you have anything else to do on your end, just take care of it; I’m probably spending the day here.”

“Got it. Good news is, I think our mission here should be wrapping up.”

Huh? Tyrian wasn’t the root of the problem, though… “About time,” I grunted.

I straightened up, looking around for Vittorio. He gave me a shrug, so I pointed at the main door to the rest of the hospital, and he nodded.

“I’ll talk to you later, Qrow.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

Okay, pretty sure I don’t need to guilt trip him over changing the plan, I thought as I spammed [Identify] around the room once again. He obviously thought it was important, but he probably still feels like shit knowing there were injuries because of it.

It seemed I’d healed everyone I could in here, so I glanced over the popups I’d gathered during the fight.

[Story Event Complete!]

[You have defeated Tyrian Callows!]

[You have gained 70,000 EXP! (Reward halved due to Tyrian’s escape.) You found 75,000L! (Reward quartered due to Tyrian’s escape.)]

[Level up! Your level has increased by 2! Your skills have increased. Tap for a full list.]

[A skill has been created through a special action! Goading an enemy into focusing solely on you has created the skill [Taunt]!]

[Taunt (Passive) LV 5 EXP: 84.14%][Passively increases Grimm aggro by 15%.][Range: 12 meters.][ACTIVE: MP: 475][Actively challenging or insulting a specific target has a 13% chance to increase their aggro toward you by an amount equal to CHA. The target must be able to perceive your Taunt.][Non-sapient targets have a multiplier applied to their chance to be taunted successfully. Sapient targets will instead have a multiplier applied to their aggro increase when successfully taunted.][Current multiplier: 1.6×]

Oh hey, that turned into a new skill. New use for CHA, too, so I don’t have to kick myself over how many points I have in Acting. I’ve never been one for smack talk, but I might have to unlearn that, because this is damn useful for tanking. Hopefully the passive range doesn’t go up too fast… I don’t want to actively draw more Grimm than I need to, and I could see it biting me in the ass if I’m already in bad shape…

What else…? Steadfast, Sword and Board, the new Taunt skill, buncha physical Resistances, lots of Robust, Bēngquán, Powerful, Giant Killer, and even Detect Aura and Detect Grimm? Must’ve been really close to a ding on that last one, didn’t think I was… No change to it this level, but Detect Aura just increased its passive range by 33% and the active range multiplier went up too.

No sign of the end of [If I Only Had The Nerve] though… I guess Qrow must think his lead will finish it up, because Tyrian was only ever a side objective in that quest.

In the meantime, Bia had shoved the broken ambulance far enough to be both out of the building and out of the way of any new emergency vehicles that might need to approach. It was blocking the sidewalk outside, but that wasn’t our problem. She had also acquired a broom from somewhere and was brushing the shattered glass off the drop-off rank so that newly-arriving ambulances wouldn’t puncture their tires.

Vittorio returned, waving me after him, and I cracked my neck before following. Still got a whole day to go.

With nobody actively dying, and the Emergency Department cleared enough for the janitorial staff to handle cleanup, Bia took up a guard position outside the missing wall. Temporary folding chairs were brought out to replace the ones that were damaged, the nursing staff set back up to work around the Tyrian-shaped hole in the triage desk, and the ER was up and running again in less than twenty minutes, with the next ambulance arriving shortly afterward.

I, meanwhile, was once again grabbed by Dr Theoriakolos as soon as I stepped out of the room and dragged by the wrist back into her office. I shot Vittorio a comically betrayed look before the doors swung closed, but he just shrugged. Fair enough.

Inside, Leonardo was waiting with the on-duty Hunters, Honeywell and Choi.

‹An Educated Fool›LV 79Lali Choi

Choi was a squat, androgynous Hunter with coal black hair, deep epicanthal folds, and a surprisingly smooth voice. “Professor Lionheart, what in the world happened?” they asked.

“That’s what I want to know!” Dr Theoriakolos attempted to shove me into a chair, which failed utterly when [Steadfast] kicked in. “That lunatic obviously came here looking for you, Roma! I agreed to allow Semblance healing, not turn my Emergency Department into a sting operation!” She continued shoving me impotently.

I rounded on Leonardo myself and demanded, “You didn’t brief the hospital on what we were doing?”

He sighed, shaking his head. “Operational security, Jaune. Our people were briefed; no one else needed to know.” Before Dr Theoriakolos could retort, he turned to her and bowed his head. “I am sorry for the deception, Doctor, but this was my prerogative. The man who engaged young Jaune nearly killed me last Thursday.”

“So you used a student as bait!?” Honeywell demanded.

“No, that part was my idea,” I said, raising a hand. “But I expected the staff to be aware of the plan so they could plan ahead for how best to evacuate the patients from wherever the fight ended up happening.”

Leonardo still looked regretful, but he shrugged. “Evacuation procedures are already part of their training. The only thing warning them would have done is create more opportunities for the trap to leak.”

“Then why did we bother briefing the other Hunters?” I asked. “Their role in the plan was just to guard their sector, and that’s already part of their training, isn’t it?”

“And yet, one does not tend to become a Hunter without feeling the urge to jump into dangerous situations in the absence of orders to the contrary,” Leonardo pointed out. “The purpose in informing them was to keep them in their assigned sectors in case the fight traversed.”

Dr Theoriakolos had stopped shoving me by then, though she still looked mutinous. “Half a dozen of my patients are dead, Leonardo!” she hissed. “People I had a duty to help; I swore an oath to never desert or injure a patient even for the sake of my own life, and you made me complicit in that!”

“I have turned up evidence of seventeen distinctive murders since my encounter with the man last week,” Leonardo replied, his voice steady despite the misery on his face. “And those are only the ones I was able to confirm. I do not celebrate our losses today, Doctor, and I will allow the law to render its judgment if the Council deems it necessary, but I stand by my decision. Tyrian Callows needed to be dealt with. I trust he was dealt with?” he added, glancing my way.

“He was exfiltrated by a Semblance I didn’t recognize,” I lied easily. “He was in dire need of healing though, and Qrow thinks he’ll have fled the city.”

“I suppose it’s the least we could hope for,” Leonardo sighed. “Regrettably, our job as Hunters is not yet done; we need to consider how to salvage public morale so that this tragedy does not result in a Surge.”

“I’m happy to keep plying my Semblance, but I can only be in one place at a time, so put me where I can do the most good.”

Leonardo turned to Dr Theoriakolos, who had dropped into the seat behind her desk. She still looked livid, but was plainly giving the question serious thought. “You sent the other students to the Pediatrics wing, yes?”

“Oh wow, it’s SSSNburst!” Dang, they really are that popular, huh?

The long-term section of the hospitals Children’s wing — a bit of a misnomer since it seemed to contain patients aged anywhere from 2 to 20 — was primarily set up with beds in groups of four instead of singles. On the one hand, that seems better so kids don’t feel so isolated… on the other, fuck me that implies so many sick and injured kids…

This room’s patients were maybe ten, and at least two of them were clearly big fans, because after the first one’s excitement, the faunus girl in the bed across from her immediately retorted, “No way, Julie; they’re probably just impersonators. Look, that guy doesn’t even have a tail!”

Well, she’s not wrong.

“I know that, Keiko!” Julie insisted, her words slurring slightly. “Not him, but the rest of them!”

Before the argument could continue, the kids all fell silent as Sun’s voice came out of Neptune’s Scroll. “Hey, hey, I know he’s not as good-looking as me, but cut Jaune some slack, all right?”

“Keep telling yourself that, Sun,” I snarked back, before leaning toward the kids and stage-whispering, “He might be a better singer, but don’t let him know you think I’m more handsome or you’ll hurt his feelings.”

Sun’s indignant “Hey!” elicited giggles from all the kids, and I couldn’t help but smile. This is what the tenet of Joy is all about. ‘It is not enough to preserve life, it is even more important to enjoy it, so that you never lose sight of what you are fighting for.’

Keiko’s wolf ears laid back again as she asked, “So are you guys really SSSNburst?”

“They are,” I promised, gesturing grandly at the other three, who had taken three of the seats between the four beds.

“Sun is out of town,” Neptune explained. “So we asked our friend Jaune to fill in.”

“So are you… a Huntsman singer too?” whispered a girl by the window; Thalia according to the chart at the foot of her bed.

“I’m a Huntsman too, at least,” I agreed. “I won’t be replacing Sun on an album anytime soon, but I can just barely carry a tune well enough for a private performance.”

The kids cheered and immediately began requesting songs.

“Easy now,” Scarlet laughed. “We’ve got lots of rooms to visit today, so you’ll have to decide on one song for now, right?”

They immediately fell to arguing about their favorites, not even looking up when a doctor entered. She held up her Slate, and I glanced at it long enough to ascertain that there were four signatures before turning back to the kids and clapping my hands to get their attention.

“We’ll have time for a few more songs in the common area later,” I promised. “And to make sure you all get to attend that, I have gotten permission from your parents or guardians to try healing you with my Semblance. Who wants to go first?”

It probably said something that my claim was met with more skepticism by ten-year-olds than the grown adults in the ER. I wasn’t an expert on how to phrase things for kids so I deferred to the pediatrics doctor, and after a few minutes’ reassurance, the girl I’d been talking to raised a sickly hand.

“I’ll go first,” Keiko said, her jaw jutting out determinedly, even as her arm trembled and sank back to the mattress.

I gave her a kind smile, nudging Sage out of the chair by her bed so I could sit down and offer my own hand. “When you’re ready, Keiko.”

The pediatrician who had been accompanying us to each room on this floor stepped forward and held up her Slate again, showing me Keiko’s chart. Broad atrophy and paresis of skeletal muscle, cause uncertain; seems to be under control but she’s under observation in case there’s some kind of muscular dystrophy. Weird, but should be fixable.

It took another moment before Keiko was able to muster the energy to raise her arm again to lay her hand in mine, but I knew she would feel better about herself if I waited, so I did. Once she had, I gently closed my fingers around hers and triggered [Lay On Hands] and [Gaia’s Pulse], and began to channel [Cleansing Touch].

Keiko took a deep breath when it kicked in, which was a good sign. A few people I’d healed today — including some kids, unfortunately — hadn’t shown any reaction to [Lay On Hands], and only a couple of those had recovered at all after [Cleansing Touch].

On the other hand, everyone who did feel better when I started healing them showed remarkable improvement, and the same was true for Keiko; a slight tension in her shoulders disappeared, her skin took on a healthier color, and several atrophied muscles visibly filled back out. Much like the hand I’d regrown earlier, my Semblance probably wouldn’t eliminate the need for physical therapy, but her overall recovery should be much shorter. Her HP was full long before [Cleansing Touch] popped, but I stuck it out just to be on the safe side.

When I let go, Keiko raised her hand, staring at it. Her fingers still had a slight tremor, but she didn’t have any difficulty holding her arm up like before. Tears started in her eyes, and she grabbed my hand again before I could pull it away, squeezing with strength she definitely hadn’t had a minute ago. “Thank you…!”

I reached over with my other hand to pat her head softly. “You’re welcome, Keiko. I’m glad I could help. In return, you have to keep doing what the doctors say, okay? And when you grow up, if you find yourself in a position where you can help somebody, try to offer what you can. Okay?”

Keiko sniffed loudly. “Okay.”

Ruffling her hair one final time, I stood up, gently extracting my hand so the doctor could check Keiko’s new vitals. After seeing her recovery, the other kids all clamored to be next, so to avoid any hurt feelings I proposed a game.

“Each of you pick one member of SSSNburst here, and they’ll play rock-paper-scissors to choose the order,” I said, and in short order I healed Thalia of diffuse panbronchiolitis causing inflammation and lesions in her lungs, Julie of an uncertain ataxia, which explained her speech impediment, and the boy in the corner, Bryan, who hadn’t spoken until now due to vocal fold paralysis after a partial laryngectomy — I wouldn’t have expected him to be kept in the same room as the others, but I didn’t bother questioning how this particular hospital arranged things.

Once all four kids were done and chattering cheerfully, I leaned against the wall next to Sage, who let out a deep sigh. “You’re good people, Jaune.”

I glanced at him, but he was watching Scarlet play patty-cake with Keiko and Neptune joking with Brian, who had really wanted to talk to Sun. I shrugged. “I try.”

“The sting was dealt with?”

“Such as it is,” I sighed. “He’s gone, and once Qrow and I go home I wouldn’t expect him to come back. If he does, he’d be aiming for Professor Lionheart again, but I think Grandma is planning to assign my sister Violet to the school for a while, to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Mr Jaune?” Julie called, and I pushed off the wall to chat with her.

“Yes, Julie?”

“We voted and we know what song we want,” she told me solemnly.

“All right, as long as you understand I don’t know any of the dances,” I laughed. “Let’s hear it.” I still wasn’t a particularly talented vocalist, but I had 32 ranks in [Singing] by now, so I could muddle along okay, especially when it wasn’t a solo.

Fortunately, the song they wanted was one I already knew.

Dream of anything;I'll make it all come true.Everything you needIs all I have for you.I'm foreverAlways by your side.Whenever you need a friend,I’m never far behind.

If the stars all fall,When there's no more light,And the moon should crumble,It will be alright.

Don't you worry about the dark,I will light up the night with the love in my heart.I will burn like the sun,I will keep you safe and warm.Like the smell of a rose on a summer's day,I will be there to take all your fears away.With a touch of my hand,I will turn your life to gold!

[BGM Unlocked! – “Gold” by SSSNburst (composed by Jeff Williams)]

All four of the kids were singing along, and just like every mini-concert I found myself unable to stop smiling. Won’t be changing my profession anytime soon, but this ain’t too bad.

Name: Jaune ArcLevel: 64 (Next: 4.33%)Title: InitiateRace: HumanAge: 18Job: Journeyman HuntsmanClass: PaladinSemblance: The GamerHP: 8629/8629MP: 4709/4709STR: 234 (100)CON: 297 (105)DEX: 167 (54)INT: 139 (51)WIS: 118 (53)CHA: 162 (53)Points: 127Money: 1,040,025LStatus: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]

A/N: If you’re enjoying this story, feel free to check out my discord server at https://discord.gg/H6V854Fvbg

‘Make A Wish’ is a not-very-subtle reference to the US nonprofit Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants ‘wishes’ for children with serious illnesses. This is mostly a cleanup chapter, so that we can wrap up the Mistral arc, but I wanted to make sure Jaune actually did run around and do some healing, especially of the sick kids.

I actually didn’t expect Qrow to completely fail to enter the fight, but I already mentioned last chapter the fight didn’t go at all like I originally anticipated. It’s probably fine.

You have no idea how many times I revised that [Taunt] skill, but I think I’m happy with it.

There’s also another hint at Bia’s Semblance in here. Which is not a secret with any significance, to be clear… I’m just having fun hinting at it until Jaune figures it out, because he’s never actually used [Identify] on her.

Discussion Prompt

Where do you fall on Leonardo’s need-to-know decision? Would it have been better to risk the news spreading by informing the hospital staff ahead of time?