a piece of chalk

A short, heart-faced girl opens the door. Her hair is styled into twin braids that almost reach her waist. “Good afternoon,” says the girl. “I heard–”

She freezes.

Her eyes land on Soujiro, who’s probably still liking Pekopeko’s comments.

“I-I heard… that… w-who is…?”

“Soujiro?” Asks Koharu. “He’s my assistant. Don’t mind him. He’s uh, handling some correspondence for me. Are you the co-worker Nagumo mentioned?”

The girl remains frozen.

Sighing, Koharu takes off a bracelet, then tosses it as Soujiro, who catches it reflexively. “What’s that?” He glances at the girl, who visibly flinches. “Ah. What, am I not allowed to be here or something?”

“That’s not… I…” She swallows. “One moment please.” She then shuts the door. The first few words had been spoken with Hyojungo–Standard Japanese–but near the end she switched back to Saga-ben. At least she’d tried; the demon nurse had spoken to them like he would to a local right from the start.

Soujiro grimaces.

“Soujiro, that’s mean. Reacting to women that way is why you don’t have a girlfriend. Also, it’s rude to react to local dialects like that.”

“That’s not–” He sighs. “I’m from Kyoto, come on now. That’s not what happened. Anyway… if anything, she reacted poorly to me.”

“Nah.”

“Yeah? Listen, I’m used to it. I can tell. Not everyone can be a pretty boy like Toshifumi or whatever his name was.”

“That’s not true,” Koharu replies, “You’re attractive in your own way.”

“God! I hate when people say that.”

But it’s true; she can see how someone would find Soujiro attractive. He’s very tall, very built, with more tattoos than fingers and a voice that’d be perfect for a villain in a cartoon. He keeps styling his hair differently in his failed attempts to get girls.

Meanwhile, Nagumo Munetoshi the demon nurse is the definition of ‘wasted beauty’. No amount of aesthetic grace can fix that sort of attitude. Moreover, in this day and age, anyone can be classically pretty–it’s one’s personality that makes one’s meat suit shine. Koharu herself is a clone among clones among clones. She knows it. She shines as much as a piece of chalk.

“I’ll just leave,” Soujiro says.

“No!”

“Yes. The hotel I booked is pretty nice, but it’s also an hour away from here, and my shift’s about to end, so...”

“Don’t care. Stay.”

“What, do you want me to see you getting folded during therapy sessions?”

“Yes?” Koharu places her hands on the wheels. She’ll roll him over if she has to. “The… thing is…”

“...yeah…?”

“...my leg hurts.”

Soujiro raises his eyebrows. “Shouldn’t you tell that to the medical staff?”

“It hurts a lot.”

“Do you want me to tell them, or…?”

“No. What if–what if you check it?”

“Uh, I’m not a medical professional…”

“Also,” she continues, “My stomach hurts, kind of. Sometimes I get a headache after 7 PM. What if something happens in the middle of the night?”

“Then tell the doctors? Hello? Or we could just, you know. Go back to Tokyo.”

“But–”

Nagumo Munetoshi the demon nurse opens the door. “What’s that about a headache?” He asks.

Soujiro knows her enough to know that she’ll run him over if he so much as peeps, so he nudges his head at her instead. “Nothing,” Koharu responds, narrowing her eyes at him. “Everything’s great. Great. Where is the girl?”

“Girl?” Nagumo blinks. “Oh, Dr. Shimazu? She had a sudden… emergency… so she asked me to do this for her.”

Another impressive name… “Well, I feel fine. You can leave now.”

Nagumo’s sardonic smile enrages her to primordial levels. “Sorry, Ms. Fujinomiya, but I can’t do that.”

“Can’t you tell Soujiro what to do so he can do it for you?”

“Nope.”

“Soujiro is a doctor, actually.”

“I’m sure he is. From what I’ve heard, you’ve been sitting down for six hours now. That’s terrible for an injury like yours. We want you to walk again as soon as possible.”

“I can walk, technically,” she replies.

“Impressive! Then how about lying on the bed? Can you do that?”

“Obviously.”

Nagumo gestures at her. “Show me, then.”

Koharu stays frozen in place. Everything hurts. What started as a dull ache now feels like her heart fell down to her bad leg. Soujiro fails to hide the smile behind his fist again, so he probably won’t help.

Ah, that’s it–a trap. Nagumo wants her to ask for help. Soujiro wants her to give up and go back to that soda hospital. But she won’t. “On it,” Koharu says. “Easy.”

“Of course, Ms. Fujinomiya. I’d also be more than glad to help.”

Instead of assisting her, Soujiro stands up, hands on his hips. “You’re really gonna try to go through with it, huh?”

“Yessss…”

“Just say the phrase,” insists the demon nurse. “‘Help me, please’.”

“I’m… ffffine…”

“What if she makes it worse, though?” Asks Soujiro.

“The injury? Don’t worry. I wouldn’t be letting her do this if it meant she could actually harm hers…” Nagumo trails off. “...never mind, I forgot who this was for a moment. Playtime’s over, Ms. Fujinomiya. I’ll help you up.”

But she doesn’t budge.

Nagumo’s smile is frozen in place now. “Ms. Fujinomiya, if you would please cooperate…”

“Soujiro can–”

“Soujiro can’t,” the aforementioned says before he leaves the room. “You got yourself into this mess. My shift’s over. See ya.”

“Traitor! HEEELP!”

Nagumo watches him leave, with his smile frozen and artificial. He’d really fit right in with Koharu’s peers. Without looking at her, he says, “Now, listen. I don’t know why you’re here, and I don’t care. I have ten other patients to take care of. Ten. By myself. Shimazu had a panic attack because of your giant boyfriend and had to leave. The other nurse is off today, and the head nurse is not someone who’ll tolerate this shitshow. The main doctor is at the other clinic because of an emergency. So I’m taking care of this entire place by myself. Again. With you as an extra. Either you drop this tantrum, or you’re going back to your rich kid hospital. Understand?”

Koharu grits her teeth, looking away.

“Understand?”

“...yes.”

“Good.”

She gets it, though. She’s not even mad. She knows how she gets. Despite his attitude, Nagumo’s touch is practiced and gentle. By his scent alone, even if they’d never met before, she’d know that he smokes and drinks coffee more than anyone should. That’s what she focuses on when he lifts her instead of… anything else.

“Good. Very good. Hold on to me.” Like how his voice is suddenly so soft.

“I know what to do.”

He huffs.

She does, though. She’s been doing this for half a week now. The nurse back in Tokyo was a cute old man who had to ask for help more often than not. By the time Koharu lies on the bed, she wants to melt. Tantrums are always inelegant, especially when unwarranted. “So… the girl from before… the doctor… she left?”

Nagumo reaches out for a stool, then sits on it like he’s the one melting. “She did, yes. Why?”

“Soujiro isn’t my boyfriend.”

“Childhood friend?”

“No. Assistant.”

“Hmm…”

“Will you do the, uh… but you’re not a physical therapist…”

“No,” he says, “But your giant assistant chased her off. I’ve done this dozens–no, hundreds of times at this point. Just relax. Oh, and tell me when it hurts.”

“Okay, but my leg looks ugly.”

“Trust me, I’ve seen worse.”

“Really ugly.”

“And?”

Koharu bites her lip. “Is the head nurse also male?”

“What–ohh.” He sighs. “You should’ve told me you’re uncomfortable with me being–”

“No, no, that’s not it. The nurse back at home was also a man. But he was like. Not my age?”

“So it bothers you that I’m young?” And male.

“Um. No…”

She expects him to look mad again, but his smile is genuine this time, which unnerves her. “How about this? I’ll talk to Mrs. Gouda to see if she’ll swap with me whenever I’m scheduled to do your sessions. She’s… fifty-two, I think. And female. Should be fine, no?”

Koharu knows she should take the chance. That she should be grateful and stop annoying the staff. She knows. But. “You said she wouldn’t tolerate my… that.”

It takes a moment for him to get it. “Then don’t cause any shitshows.”

“What about the other one? Or the doctor? What other clinic?”

“It’s her day off and she just had a kid, so I’d rather not call her unless I really have to.” As he speaks, he tests… stuff. Physical therapy stuff. They look like torture devices. “Long story short, a lot of them go back and forth between this clinic and the one next town. For example, Mrs. Gouda is from the other one, but she’s supervising this place and shows up sometimes. The main doctor shows up once a week unless there’s an emergency. They’re also understaffed. But I can ask.”

“And Dr. Shimazu?”

“She’s here twice a week and your giant boyfriend scares her, but I can ask.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Then Koharu says, “Never mind. You’re fine.”

“Huh?”

“You’re fine, I said. You can do this stuff. So do it. Just know that my leg looks ugly. Do you have a girlfriend?”

The following silence makes her feel silly, which is probably his intention. “If I tell you I have a wife and thirty children, will that help you calm down?”

“You’re not wearing a ring.”

“It’s invisible.”

She has no answer to that. None.

Having disarmed her, Nagumo’s killing blow is, “You’ll be fine, Ms. Fujinomiya. If you feel uncomfortable or if anything hurts, please let me know.”