[X] Proceed as planned. You'll bring her to the Saints after she's had rest, though it would be prudent to contact them now. Try to forget or maybe calm down from the whole thing, and send Oriko to rehabilitate her
As Hijiri Kanna speaks, you feel the urge to slap her rising. Since before she had even met you, she had been working for Sidonia, seeding Asunaro and Mitakihara with Evil Nuts in order to attack both cities. She knew all of this, she knew Sidonia's plans from the very beginning, and yet she never said anything to you.
"So why are you telling us this now?" you ask.
"Because I haven't eaten or slept properly in a week," Hijiri Kanna says. "Because I'm in so much pain that I can barely think straight. Because I can feel the corruption coursing through my veins, and maybe I'd like to have the last laugh before my own idiocy in going along with her plans finally kills me."
You still want to slap her. She's not telling you this because she's had a change of heart, but because she's in pain and at the end of her rope. If she had any other option, any other place to go, to eat, to sleep, to be free from pain, she'd still be keeping her mouth shut. Even now, how consumed is she by her hatred that she would rather see the entire world burn if it meant the person she hated died along with everyone else?
Hijiri Kanna bites her tongue, and with eyes that plead for a sympathy both you and she know she doesn't deserve, she says "Because maybe I don't want to die without telling her parents that I'm sorry for deceiving them."
"Should'a thought about that before ya burned all yer bridges, fucko," Kyouko says. "Trust me, once yer that far, it ain't just enough ta say yer sorry. Ya gotta mean it. Ya gotta do something about it."
"What else am I supposed to do in my condition?" Hijiri Kanna asks Kyouko. "I'm half-dead and I've told you pretty much everything that I'm aware of. Anything more than that, Sidonia didn't say."
"Archer, what do you think?" While Kyouko barks at Hijiri Kanna – it's unproductive at this point, but you can't blame KYouko for wanting some catharsis. You'd like to bark at her, too – you reach out to contact Archer. "She's told us as much as she knows. Can we-?"
"I'm strongly against it," Archer replies. "She's already put our family in danger once before. I'm not really in the mood to let her do it again."
"Neither am I. But she's been cooperative so far, and…" This is the part you hate. You hate it because you don't believe Hijiri Kanna deserves it, but you'd be lying if you thought you could still be a good person, kicking a homeless girl when she's down. "I know she's been horrible to us. But repaying treachery in kind doesn't make us any better than her. She was living out of a cardboard box when I found her, Archer. She literally has nowhere else to go. I'm sure Oriko would agree. Love thy neighbour, and all that."
"You know, I really hate how nice that girl is sometimes," Archer says. "It's kind of hard to be a vindictive SOB when my daughter's girlfriend is the most wholesome person to ever exist."
"I'm sure Oriko wouldn't like you placing her wholesomeness above the Lord's," you say. "But I know what you mean. Oriko's just too nice sometimes." That said, Oriko's niceness is sure to come in handy when it comes to dealing with Hijiri Kanna's arm. "What do you think happened to it?" you ask Archer, as though you didn't already know the answer for yourself.
"We need to remove the arm as quickly as possible."
With some help from Rider, you've managed to move Hijiri Kanna from her cardboard box, and taken her halfway on the journey, meeting up with Archer and Lancer at the Mitahiara-Shirome border. It only takes Archer a few moments of looking over Hijiri Kanna's body before he makes his call. While Lancer silently lays down some runes to seal the Grief and keep it from spreading any further, Archer turns to you and asks "She said Sidonia removed her old arm and grafted Niko's arm onto her in its place, right?"
You nod your head, and ask "But why does that mean we have to get rid of it now?"
"Because of how Sidonia grated the arm onto her," Archer says. He points to the inflamed patch of red that covers Hijiri Kana's immobile right shoulder, and says "Based on my structural analysis, it looks like Sidonia used a lump of Grief as her solder, and then basically spot welded the arm into place. In other words, it's not just that she can't move her arm because it's in so much pain; she can't move her arm because it's not really attached to her. It's just been stuck there, and the Grief Sidonia used to do it is what's causing her infection. The sooner we get this arm off, the sooner we can begin cleaning her up."
"Don't bother," Hijiri Kanna says. "I've already accepted that I'm going to die. A hot meal and a shower is really all I'd like before I go."
"If you are already intent on giving up your life," Lancer says, applying just enough pressure to Hijiri Kanna's shoulder to get her attention, "Then why are we spending the effort to look over you and keep you healthy? Do you wish to make a mockery of our efforts? To spit in our faces as we try to save you? For shame, child. For shame that you have already given up on life at so young an age."
"Don't think yer getting off that easy, fucko." Kyouko grabs at Hijiri Kanna's collar. "Ya wanted ta say yer sorry ta Emo's parents, right? Well, ya better buck the fuck up and survive, 'cause it's like I said before; a simple apology just ain't gunna fuckin' cut it at this point. Ya gotta mean it. Ya gotta do something about it; and ya can't do that if yer dead."
"Right," Archer says, nodding his head in agreement with Kyouko, even as he shoos her away from the patient. "Homura, get Ortensia and Nightingale on the line. Tell them that we've got a patient in need of an amputation, and to meet us at Oriko's mansion."
"I can get in touch with Ortensia, and I'm sure she'll come running if it involves hurting a child," you say, with no love lost on Oriko's prickly cousin. "But Nightingale might be another matter. It's late, and I doubt she'd want anything to do with this one, not after all the trouble she's caused her master."
"Just do it," Archer says. "Finding this little brat should be reason enough to get in touch with the Saints, since they're the ones I'd prefer to hand her off to once she's eaten and had her shower. If Nightingale doesn't want to deal with her, that's her prerogative, but the Saints should still know that their little troublemaker has finally shown her face."
"I take it you're still mad at me," Hijiri Kanna says. It isn't a question.
"Mad at you?" Arcker asks. "I'm not mad at you. Mad doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about you. You put my family's lives in danger when you revealed our location to Sidonia, and if I had any say in this, you would not come within ten-thousand light years of my family ever again for as long as you live." Archer leans in close, close enough that you're sure Hijiri Kanna can feel Archer's breath on her face. "Sidonia threatened my wife. She threatened my family; and all this time, you had information that could have helped us put a stop to her. So no, homunculus, I am not mad at you. I am so far beyond mad that there isn't even a word for it."
"Archer-!" Your voice causes Archer to stop, and you say to him "She understands." She had better understand. She had better understand just how far you're sticking your neck out for her after everything she's done. "Kicking her when she's down doesn't solve anything." Even if it is cathartic.
Archer gets up, and excuses himself before things can get any more intense. The last thing he says to Hijiri Kanna is "Be glad Homura is right; it wouldn't be fair to kick a crippled homeless girl when she's down. But mark my words, if you betray my family again…" Archer doesn't have to finish his sentence. The message is clear.
"Thank you," you say to Archer. "I know you're upset with her. So am I. So thank you, for agreeing to take her back with us. I know she doesn't deserve our kindness, but…"
"But you couldn't just leave her there when you saw the state she was in." Archer finishes your thought for you. "I understand completely. I may be mad at her, but I'd be a pretty terrible excuse for a father if I saw a homeless girl in pain and decided to make her life worse for it. Even if she deserves it."
"Let's just focus on doing what we need to put this behind us for now. I know we're both upset, but dwelling on how upset we are won't help anyone." When Archer nods his head for you, you say, out loud "I'll go make some calls to Nurse Ortensia and Nightingale now."
Nurse Ortensia is easy. "I've got an idiot with me who needs to have her arm removed," is just about all you need to say to hook her. "Her arm is infected with Grief and it's spread to the rest of her body. Archer says we need to amputate and flush the wound. Can you meet us at Oriko's mansion?"
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" is Nurse Ortensia's response. "You're lucky this sounds like something you'll actually need me for, or else I'd hang up and go back to sleep."
"I'm sorry for interrupting you, really," you say. "But Archer said to get in touch with you. He's got Lancer with him and she's doing what she can to keep the Grief in check, but… They're pretty far gone. We need a professional for this. After you, I'm going to be getting in touch with Nightingale as well."
"It's fine," Nurse Ortensia says. "I mean, it's not really fine, but it's whatever. I'll be there… Sooner rather than later. Just do whatever you need to stabilise the patient until we arrive."
"Thank you," is all you can think to say. "I know I ask a lot of you, so I want you to know that I appreciate your willingness to help on such short notice." Nurse Ortensia gives you a terse grunt, and the two of you mutually hang up on each other. Now for the hard conversation. Now to call Nightingale.
*Ring*
*Ring*
*Ring*
"Akemi?" It's Kazumi who picks up. "Listen, if you were trying to call Niko, she's not available right now," she says. "She's… Uh… She's kind of busy. So am I. You, uh, you kind of caught us at a bad time. See, Niko took too long getting some work done, so Assassin and I both decided that she needed a break, so I'm here, uh, trying to keep her, uh… Break-ed? Break-ing? You know; I'm trying to keep her occupied while she's relaxing so she doesn't burn herself out or anything, so-"
"That's fine," you say, cutting Kazumi off before she can awkwardly stumble over herself any further. "Actually, I wanted to speak to Nightingale. It's…" You look over to where Archer and Lancer are, after Archer returned to crowding around Hijiri Kanna. "It's important. We found Hijiri Kanna, and she's… In pretty bad shape. I need to speak to Nightingale about treatment options."
Silence falls over Kazumi's end of the line, and the silence lingers for an uncomfortably long period of time. Through the other end, you can hear Kazumi whispering "Niko, can you go get Assassin? Akemi needs to talk to her about something," before the silence resumes and Kanna Niko, you assume leaves to collect her servant. Several seconds later, the voice of Nightingale speaks out, saying "Tell me everything."
So you do. You tell Nightingale everything; finding Hijiri Kanna in a cardboard box, learning that she'd been manipulated and abused by Sidonia into working alongside her, the state of her arm; everything. "Archer says that we need to amputate. Given the… Delicate, situation, between she and your master, he thought you should be informed, and I can't say I disagree. Do you think you can-?"
"It's rather late, but yes, if you need someone to perform the amputation, I can be there," Nightingale says. "Just keep her calm until I arrive. Let her know what's going to happen to her, and tell her that we'll contact her parents once this is over so we can ask their permission to proceed with either regrowing or transplanting a new arm, or obtaining a prosthetic for her."
"Something tells me those two aren't going to want anything to do with this one after what she did to their actual daughter."
"Regardless, Hijiri Kanna is still listed as the eldest daughter on the Hijiri family register. For all legal purposes, they are her parents, and as such I will need their consent to proceed. I'm making an exception because of the medical necessity of the amputation, but I still believe in informed consent. Her parents need to know what's happening to her, and I will need their permission to proceed after amputating her arm."
"I understand," you say. Frankly, you aren't convinced that the Hijiris will want anything to do with their daughter's homunculus, not when they have their real daughter and not after everything the homunculus has put her through, but you hold your tongue. No sense arguing when the point has already been made. "Do you know where to meet us?"
"I do not," Nightingale replies. "Would you give me an address? I can find my way from there."
So you do. You give Nightingale the address of Oriko's mansion, and say to her "We'll be looking forward to seeing you. Hopefully we can put this mess behind us soon enough."
"I couldn't agree more. This… Is going to wreak havoc on my master's recovery."
Now, there's just one thing left you have to worry about; aside from feeding, showering, sheltering, and cleaning up Hijiri Kanna so she can be turned over to the Saints after she's had a decent rest; and that's [ ] How do you tell your mother about all of this? (write-in)
