Doctor's Orders

by sailorplutos

Nico Yazawa realizes becoming a doctor is not as easy as she ever thought. It's all Maki's fault.

As sunlight filters through the shutters of her bedroom, Nico wonders why the hell she decided having such a loud idol song as her alarm was an acceptable idea. She also wonders why she's been, apparently, sleeping on the —very uncomfortable, cold, dirty— floor instead of her —comfortable, soft, big as hell— bed, naked. And she specially wonders whose warm breath is tickling the back of her head, whose long, slender arms are hugging her waist, and whose messy, red hair is resting on her pillow.

She tries to sneak away from the redhead's arms — she sure is strong for someone who's still asleep, Nico thinks as she picks up her scattered clothes of the floor. An unfamiliar yet pleasing smell fills the room after she is able to retrieve her companion's clothes. They scream "rich girl" and Nico feels a little proud of herself for being able to get such a nice partner for the night.

She finds her phone still on her coat, and she panics a little when she starts to realize what day is today and what she did last night and why her head hurts so damn much. "At least I had fun", Nico thinks, sighing loudly before she tries to get some suitable clothes for the day. Her messy room and the fact that her sheets are on the floor and her shirt was literally found by the door of her apartment do show how much fun she had list night. If only she could remember anything…

After all the scattered clothes have been retrieved, Nico takes a bottle of water out of her fridge and runs back to her bedroom, where the rich girl is still sleeping loudly. Nico knows that she's in a rush and that she should wake her up, thank her and kick her out of her house and her life forever, but she looks so cute like that —mouth half open, messy but fantastic hair, hugging a pillow with all her body—it'd be an actual crime to disturb her sleep.

Nico looks at her phone again and mutters a low and raspy 'fuck' under her breath. It's 6:12 am, she has to be at the hospital in less than an hour, and she has a thirty-minute-long walk before her and a hot redhead sleeping naked on her floor. If only she had been this lucky any other weekend…

She tries to find something nice to wear today. Maybe if she's dressed in Chanel, her co-workers and —God forbid— her employers won't notice the fact that she's hungover and she hasn't taken a shower in more than 24 hours. If she did recall correctly, her parents gave her a Chanel sweater when she was, like, twenty years old? She hasn't grown an inch since then, so it can work.

Behind her, the redhead starts to wake up, disturbed by Nico's constant muttering and swearing. Just as Nico is about to put on her undergarments, the redhead turns around and stares directly at her. An awkward silence is set between the two, as both of them start to get some flashes of what actually happened last night.

"I— Uh…" Nico tries to be as smooth as possible as she starts to get dressed. "I don't mean to be rude or anything but… But I need you to leave. Like, now. Because I have to get to my new job on time and…" "And you're pretty distracting," she thinks as the redhead gets up and tries to reach for her own clothes.

Nico somehow navigates his way through last night's events and how freaking good the redhead looked naked on top of her and— wait, no. Nico shakes her stupid thoughts off while she put on that damn Chanel sweater (which, not to her surprise, still fits her) and blushes wildly when she realizes the other girls hasn't gotten dressed yet.

"I'm sorry, but my head hurts a lot. Do you perhaps have something I could, uh, take? An Aspirin would be fine" mutters the redhead, running her hand through her hair. A picture of her long, slender fingers exploring her whole body flashes through Nico's mind, and she's about to choke on her own breath. Couldn't that girl put some clothes on before she asked anything?

"Look, I need to go now, seriously. This is my first day and I can't be late. I had a lot of fun last night, uh…" She is trying very hard to remember the redhead's name. Something with an M. Madoka? No. Something about food…? "Maki. So, I— uh, I'll be leaving now and you can take any pill you want from my cabinet and… And you can even have breakfast if you want —though I only have a box of cereals, but it'll work anyway…"

Maki looks confused. Like a lost puppy. Nico wants to pinch her cheeks and make out with her for a while, but she doesn't have the time.

"N-no! It's okay. Just— just wait for me. Wait a second, please." Maki almost begs as she starts to get dressed faster than anyone human can. Nico takes the chance to let her eyes linger for a few seconds. The redhead is as hot as she was last night in that bar, with nice hair —now even better, I mean, sex hair!—, nice abs, nice legs and nice looks overall. Good catch. She also has nice taste for clothes, Nico notes, as Maki buttons her blouse (it's designer, of course. Rich girl)

Just as Maki struggles with the last button, Nico thinks she's have had enough of this. She's going to be late for her first day of work and all because of a hot redhead who cannot button her own blouse. "She was better with her hands last night" Nico tells herself, a smirk slowly appearing on her lips as she holds Maki by the wrist and tries to lead her out of her apartment.

Maki seems to be so confused (and flustered) that she doesn't show any resistance.

"I had a lot of fun last night." Nico says again, trying to sound casual, even though her eyes scream 'please give me your number and maybe marry me?' which Maki doesn't seem to notice. "But I have to go now. If I recall correctly, your car is outside, so…"

"I'm hungover. I shouldn't drive." Maki mutters matter-of-factly, and it almost sounds like a groan.

"Uh— Yeah, well, whatever. Just let me go, please. I'm on a rush."

Maki holds her head with one of her hands. It's pretty obvious that she isn't used to hangovers like Nico is. "What time is it?"

"It's… Oh, fuck." grumbles Nico, doing her best to take the backpack she had already prepared for the day from her room. Her short legs aren't helping her much. "It's 6:34. I have to go now or I'm never making it to the hospital! C'mon, let's go!"

Maki does as she's told, but Nico is certain that she just doesn't know what's going on. She's (pleasantly) surprised when the redhead turns around and kisses her on the cheek. "Thanks… I— uh, I had fun, too. S-see you around." she mutters before she runs back to her —nice and expensive-looking— car. The tips of her ears are a darker shade of red than her hair.

Nico stops and allows herself to stare at Maki's figure for a couple of seconds. Eventually, she shakes herself out of it and reminds herself that's she's going to be late on her first day. With that goes back in, grabs her keys and wallet and runs out again, sprinting down the street and into the city.

---

Nico can't believe it when she makes it on time to the Nishikino Hospital. That's what she has learned after years of being late to school with her siblings— her legs may be short, but she can run twice as fast as anyone her size. She can't also believe that she's been accepted there, because the Nishikino Hospital was, without a doubt, one of the most renowned hospitals in the country, where many world class surgeons and doctors had started their careers.

When she arrives at the changing room, at least twenty pairs of eyes turn around to look at her, and none of them are friendly. That's the intern life, Nico tells herself as she makes her way through the crowd to an empty spot at the back of the room. She sits down next to an energetic-looking girl with orange hair who's already in her scrubs. Nico starts to panic as she realizes she's the only one still wearing her street clothes, so she starts to change as fast as possible.

"Don't worry so much, nya!" a loud voice exclaims next to her. The orange haired girl is smiling at her and Nico feels the urge to pat her head. "I heard the Chief of Surgery is supposed to give us some kind of speech, but he's doing some super important and dangerous surgery now so he can't come."

Nico nods as she finishes putting on her scrubs. She doesn't know what to say, but the orange haired girl keeps smiling and talking.

"Anyway," she says, offering her hand to the black haired girl, "my name is Rin Hoshizora. I'm probably older than you because I had to repeat a year at the university, but you can talk to me informally." Rin explains, looking extremely proud of herself, weird enough for someone who, apparently, struggled during her days at university.

"Nico Yazawa. And trust me, I'm older than you." Nico smirks, shaking Rin's hand. She's about to explain why, but all of sudden everyone's attention is directed towards the door, where a nurse with glasses hugs a clipboard and a doctor appears next to her. Nico recognizes her right away.

The nurse tries to make everyone quiet, as a loud murmuring fills the changing room, but her voice can't be heard over the intern's whispering. She looks very flushed and Nico —and Rin, she notes— worries that she may faint in any second.

The doctor claps her hands a couple of times and all the interns become quiet in less than a second. The nurse looks at the floor, blushing bright red.

"Thanks" the doctor says with a calm voice. Everyone moves closer to her, as if by instinct, which seems to please her. Nico and Rin follow, too, though Nico can barely see anything from behind the crowd. "Anyway, I think it's only fair if I tell why I'm here in the first place instead of Dr Nishikino. I imagine most of you wonder why," she starts, and almost everybody nods their heads. "Dr Nishikino has been at the operation room for about five hours now." Everybody gasps. Even the nurse seems to be surprised. "He's performing a very complicated surgery with the best neurosurgeons of our hospital, and we're hopeful that everything will be fine when they finish. So I was asked to come here in his place. I hope none of you are disappointed or angry, because one day you'll be busy performing surgeries too, so I expect you to understand the situation."

Everybody nods with energy. The thought of performing a surgery makes them feel excited and even Nico can't help but smile. Rin is bouncing on her seat, holding the sleeve of Nico's scrubs.

A shy hand rises in one of the first rows in front of the door.

"Ah, yes? Is there any problem?"

"N-no! Of course not! I—" the intern chokes on her words, but the doctor's calm smile encourages her to go on. "I just wanted to know your name."

"Well, of course. Silly me! I got so excited over Dr Nishikino's surgery that I forgot to introduce myself," the doctor laughs. Nico can see some of her male peers start to drool. "My name is Nozomi Tojo. I'm a Paediatrics Resident. I'll take care of some of you, too, so I hope you can feel comfortable around me." Nozomi gives a polite bow.

The interns bow back and give her a small round of applause. Nozomi looks so pleased with herself that it seems like she's about to clap as well.

"All of you have come here hopeful, dreaming of becoming great surgeons, performing complicated and impossible operations, becoming the best between your companions. A month ago you were in being taught by doctors. Today, you are the doctors, so we expect you to behave according to it. You'll spend here most of your time, you will see people die, you will save people from death, and you will do your best to become the greatest. This is your starting line. If you achieve your goal, well, that's up to you." Nozomi smiles a little and takes a deep breath. Most interns don't know what to say or do— Nico is one of them.

Nozomi's eyes scan the room. She's smiling, but her eyes hold a mischievous sparkle to them, something Nico has seen before and has yet to decide if she likes or not.

Rin is still holding her sleeve, and she looks pale, but Nico is stuck on her own thoughts: she has already messed up an internship, what if she does again? What if Nozomi is right and she is one of those who cannot achieve their goal? What if…?

"Well, well, everyone. Koizumi will be calling your names now. You'll be divided in groups of five and each group will be assigned to a resident. Please pay attention, we don't have time to lose," calls the doctor, clapping her hands to make sure everybody is listening. "Go on, Hanayo-chan," she gives an encouraging smile to the nurse and gestures her to start.

"Y-yes! I will start now." Clicking her pen, she reads through the names. "Sakamaki, Shiga, Fukuhara, Kizaki and Hyodo…" Five girls step forward, giving each other unfriendly looks. "You're with Dr Sonoda"

"She's at the end of the corridor, I think," Nozomi adds, and the five interns leave the changing room to find their resident. Nico chews her inner cheek and taps her foot nervously as she waits for her name to be called.

She's nervous. She doesn't want to admit it, but she's nervous— hell, she may even be more nervous than Rin is (and Rin has been bouncing on her seat for, about, half an hour. She probably has lost weight there). Nico can't screw up, because this is her last chance to make her dream come true.

"…Kurosaki and Hoshizora," calls the nurse, and Rin jumps like a spring, "you're with Dr Kousaka. Ehrm, g-good luck" she says, and Nico frowns. What's with her wishing them good luck now?

She gets her answer in less than ten seconds, after Rin says goodbye while waving her hands like a child on Christmas morning. Nico waves back at the orange haired girl and is about to answer, but she becomes speechless when Rin kisses the nurse on the cheek as she exits the changing room.

After ten —quite awkward now that she's alone— minutes, there's only five interns left in the changing room. Much to her dismay, Nico is one of them.

"Seems like you five have to stick with me, huh?" hums Nozomi with a snort of amusement. "Thanks for everything, Hanayo-chan. Can you please do what I told you before?" she asks, turning to the nurse, who has been on her own world for a good while now.

"O-of course, Nozomi-san. I will be going now, if you let me." Hanayo answers, her back straight, trying to look confident and ready (even though she's still blushing).

"Thank you very much, Hanayo-chan. Take your time."

"N-no problem! I will do my best," says the nurse as she runs through the door. Nozomi takes a couple of seconds looking at her before she turns back to her interns.

All of them tense when she does— Nico tries her best not to, but she fails.

"Well, are you going to stand there all day or do you want to go and save lives?" the doctor chuckles, and her interns try to do the same. None of the five finds it amusing at all. Nozomi knows it. "Aw, c'mon. Lighten up a little for me? I promise I'll let you have as much fun as you can."

Nico allows herself to scoff at that, and her four companions look at her with furrowed brows and shocked expressions.

Nozomi giggles, but doesn't say anything about Nico's attitude. "Okay, follow me. I'll give you some advice while I show you around and then I'll give each of you something to do. I hope you like kids because while you're with me, you're going to deal with a lot of them."

They follow the doctor through a long corridor full of stressed nurses, patients, a couple of doctors and a lot of noise.

At the reception table, a few booklets and a weird, dark device await for them. Nozomi points at the stuff on the desktop and runs a hand through her hair.

"We'll start with the basics, y'know? Trauma protocol, etcetera. Take a pager each." The interns quickly obey, and Nico can't help but frown when one of the girls —what were their names again?— elbows her when she tries to reach her pager.

"If a nurse pages you, stop whatever you're doing and start running. Your first shift starts now and will last two days, in other words, forty-eight hours. Sounds pretty nice, right? I know."

Nozomi keeps walking. She takes them through the corridors and opens a wooden door with one of her hands. Nico tries to peak into the room after the doctor has flicked on the lights. Three bunk beds line the walls, as well as a couch on the far corner. There is also a TV —nicer than Nico's TV— and a water machine. "On call rooms. Don't try to sleep here, because residents like to hog them to either sleep or make out. Find another place— and don't make those faces!" Nozomi laughs when she sees the displeased faces of her interns. "Trust me, you won't mid sleeping on the floor after twenty hours of no sleep at all. Now let's get moving."

---

"Sorry for the drag. You already knew all of that, didn't you?" asks Nozomi with one of her stupid smiles.

"Shut up, Nozomi. Shouldn't you be more subtle about your bias for me?" Nico tries to strike back, but it doesn't sound half as good as it did in her mind.

The doctor chuckles. "Just because I chose you to take care of this patient doesn't mean I favour you. I thought you were the most suited for him."

Nico doesn't have much to say, so she shrugs and follows Nozomi through the hospital to the east wing of the building, where Paediatrics is located. They have known each other since their first year in university— way before Nico decided to drop out to become a singer (what was she even thinking about back then?), just to later join again to finish her studies and pursue her real dreams. They worst thing is that Nozomi always supported her (she even came to Nico's first "concert", which was an absolute disaster) and Nico never gave something in return.

And it makes Nico feel terrible, because she is a grown-up woman —she is 32, for God's sake! — who has barely worked in her life, living in an apartment that hasn't been cleaned in, like, years and the only person who she can actually call (best) friend is now kind of her boss and she is still treating her like shit.

"I'm sorry," she blurts out, blushing. That's the last thing she can say. At least for now.

"You shouldn't be, Nicocchi." Nozomi smiles and Nico wants to punch her because she knows the doctor isn't half as pure as she acts to be, but she still manages to make her heart shake. But then again, it's Nozomi we're talking about, and Nozomi has always known how to reach everyone's soft spot (even Nico's).

"By the way, I have a lot of good news for you," says the doctor, fidgeting and smiling like a teenager who has just had her first kiss. It's a shy smile, Nico notes as she tries to save that picture inside her head, because it's rare to see Nozomi like this. "After you're done with your shift, we'll tell you everything"

Nico nods and follows Nozomi as she walks down the hallway straight to room number 2173.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'we'?" the black haired intern asks, but the surgeon is already entering the room.

Nico enters behind and her eyes scan the room. It's a common hospital room— there's a bed, some devices she has seen when she screwed up her past internship, there's a patient and a couple of very worried parents waiting for their son to be cured. Nico feels bad for them.

"Good afternoon, Mr and Mrs Ichijou. I'm Dr Nozomi Tojo and this is Dr Nico Yazawa, and we'll take care of your son from now on," says Nozomi with the best of her smiles, because she doesn't want the poor couple to feel worse. "Nicocchi, take care of the boy while I talk to his parents."

Nico does as she's said and walk towards the bed, where the boy is sitting. He's small, with dark hair and eyes —it makes Nico smile because he looks a lot like her brother—, and he seems to be scared to death.

"Hey, hello. I'm Nico. What's your name?" she asks with a friendly smile.

"I'm Megumi. Are you the doctor?" he questions back, with his big eyes full of interest.

"Kind of. Nozomi is your real doctor," she points at the purple haired girl behind her, "but I help her with everything. You could say I'm her… Hm…"

"Her sidekick? Like Batman and Robin?" Megumi straightens his back, a huge grin creeping on his chubby face.

Nico can't help but laugh, because she knows Nozomi would love that comparison. "Yes, like Batman and Robin"

"So can Dr Batman help me? My head hurts a lot. I can't sleep. I can't pay attention in class!" he throws his arms in the air, offended. "I know it's weird because all of my friends hate school but I really miss it." That's when Nico realizes Megumi has bags under his eyes and looks sleep-deprived. That's when she starts to worry.

"She's the best. She will help you, I promise."

"It's only that… I want to be normal. I have spent the last months at home because I was always sick and we didn't know why"

Nico frowns so deeply she ages three years. "And this is the first time you've come to a hospital in months?"

"Yes," he shrugs. Nico isn't pleased.

"And you haven't felt any recovery?"

"…No" Megumi says, looking away from Nico's eyes. Then he stares at her parents, still busy talking with Nozomi, and moves closer to Nico. He gestures her to bend down so he can talk on her ear. "It's gotten worse, but don't tell my parents. I don't want them to worry more about me."

"It will be our secret" Nico smiles slightly, sticking her pinky out towards the little boy. "I promise." Megumi laughs, delighted, and wraps his little finger around hers.

They keep talking about random stuff —school, videogames, toys, and other things you know a lot about when you have basically raised three younger siblings by your own— for a couple of minutes until Megumi suddenly grimaces.

"I feel really bad," he murmurs.

"Yeah, I know, but you have to wait until Dr Nozomi decides what's best—"

"No! I— I'm feeling really bad right now. I'm dizzy. I want to throw up."

"Nozomi!" Nico yells, and the doctor turns around to find the little boy holding his head between his hands. He has started crying. Nozomi approaches him and starts to ask him questions, holding his tiny hands between hers. A couple of nurses have entered the room and ask the doctor if she needs any help.

The door slams open and the nurse with the glasses from the changing room —Hanayo?— appears, trying to recover her breath.

"Hanayo-chan, sign him up for a CAT and call anyone you need to help him now. Mr and Mrs Ichijou, please come with me and we'll continue talking outside" Nozomi gestures towards the door and the couple, much to their dismay, leave the room. The doctor is about to leave when she turns around to Nico, who's stiff, looking at the boy. "Nicocchi," calls the purple haired woman, "go to the labs. They'll give you something to do there."

Nico finds herself left behind before she can say anything.

---

Nico lies on a spare stretcher and tries to eat a sandwich she has bought from a spending machine. She has realised something in the past 13 hours: after four years of pre-med, four years of medical school and a failed idol career— she can't do shit.

She's been carrying labs around for, like, ten hours straight; Nozomi's been avoiding her; she's pretty sure that at least a ninety-seven percent of the other interns hate her and she has gotten lost twice in less than half an hour. Oh, and her sandwich tastes like playdough.

"Best first shift ever," she mutters, hiding her face on the stretcher. The fact that she still has thirty five hours of hell before her doesn't help to lift her mood. If only she had graduated with Nozomi, they could have been through this hell together…

"Nico-chan!" a loud voice yells through the hallway. The black haired girl gets up as slow as she can (because maybe, just maybe, they'll think she's dead and leave her alone) and turns her head around to see Rin jogging towards her, waving both of her arms.

"Hush, we're in a hospital, for God's sake," Nico groans, running a hand through her hair. She decided to leave her trademark pigtails behind and style her hair in a ponytail, but now she regrets that decision. She doesn't feel like herself at all.

"Sorry! I'm just really happy. Dr Kousaka is soooooo cool… She let one of the girls perform an appendectomy, which is like, amazing, nya!"

"Oh, good for her, uh— I guess"

"She was lucky, though. Next time, I'll be on the operating room!" Rin assures, clenching her fist. Nico is positively surprised to see her being so confident.

"So you aren't jealous?"

"Huh? Should I be, nya?" The orange haired girl tilts her head like a confused puppy. It reminds Nico of something she shouldn't be remembering.

"I don't know. The girls of my group got very jealous when Nozomi asked me to see a patient with her. I don't want to imagine how they'd feel if she gave me a surgery on my first shift!"

"Meh, let them be. At least you got the fun part, nya!"

Nico isn't convinced that she had any fun at all, but she agrees anyway.

They stay silent for a couple of minutes, something Nico is very thankful of— she's glad that she can share her time with someone who would probably push her off a cliff if that meant she got to work with Dr Tojo instead of her.

"Hey, Nico-chan, I need to check my phone. Do you want to come with me?"

Nico looks at her pager and gets up. She has nothing to do (at least by now), so maybe stretching her legs won't do any harm. "Sure. Where did you leave it?"

"It's in the changing room, nya! Let's go!" squeals Rin and stars to drag Nico by the wrist down the hallway. A couple of nurses give them looks of amusement that make the black haired girl blush.

Rin keeps carrying Nico around for a good five minutes until she stops in front of a door. It's a changing room, yes, but Nico is positive that it is not the changing room Rin and her used that morning.

"This isn't it. Let's find our changing room, Rin," Nico says as she starts to walk away from the door.

"Whaaaaaaat!?" The orange haired girl cries. "It has to be! Right? Rin can't be confused, nya!"

Nico sighs and walks back to Rin's side. "This place is pretty big, it's normal for us to get lost. If you are so certain that this is it, we can just check and-"

Nico doesn't continue talking, because when she opens the door and takes a look around the room, two things attract all of her attention— first of all, she was right and this isn't their changing room. Second of all, the room isn't empty.

In one of the corners of the place there's a couple making out. One of them, a girl with long, blue hair with half of her shirt unbuttoned (Nico finds it amusing that she's blushing so hard) and another girl with ash hair, a nurse, judging by the colour of her scrubs —which are on the floor instead of her body—.

The nurse notices Nico after a few moments of intense staring, just as the blue haired woman starts to kiss her neck. The intern expects her to be angry and to kick her out of the room, but the ash haired woman just winks her eye and returns all her attention to her lover.

Nico is so dumbstruck that she can only close the door and stare at Rin with wide eyes.

"What happened, nya? Are you okay, Nico-chan?" asks Rin worry filling her voice.

"Y-yeah! Wrong room, though. L-let's go find your phone somewhere else!"

---

It's her thirty sixth hour in the hospital when Nico's pager starts to beep out of the blue. Apparently, she needs to go to the Paediatrics wing as fast as she can. She asks a nurse to deliver the pile of binders she's holding to the labs and sprints down the corridor.

When she arrives, the other four interns are already there. Nozomi is there, too. She's smiling, but Nico has known her for years— she's worried about something, which makes the black haired woman uncomfortable.

"Fantastic! You're all here. I have good news for one of you," Nozomi grins, knowing that she has their full attention now. "As you may already know, the most promising intern of each group is usually selected to assist during a surgery, and we have a tumour resection to do."

All five girls gasp loudly at the announcement. Nico is starting to get nervous and she can help but chew on her lip until it starts to bleed. It can't be…

"One of my patients, a nine year old called Megumi, has a huge tumour on his brain and Dr Nishikino is taking him to the operation room as we speak, so we can't lose any more time," Nozomi stares at each one of them for a couple of seconds. Her glance lingers on Nico a little longer, but it goes unnoticed by everyone else. "Congratulations, Ichinose. Get ready to scrub in. I'll see you in the operation room"

Ichinose jumps on her seat with a happy squeal. Three of her colleagues congratulate her. One doesn't.

"What the hell are you talking about, Nozomi!?" shouts Nico, walking towards her friend. Her face is red and she looks like she's about to cut someone, but Nozomi doesn't pull back. Instead, she confronts her, arms crossed over her big chest. "That boy is my patient! I should be the one saving his life!"

Nozomi points at Ichinose, who's looking at the scene without knowing what to say or do. "Go to the operation room. Now!" Ichinose runs so fast that Nico swears her legs are going to come off (not that she cares, though). "And don't you three have patients to take care of? C'mon. Leave us alone."

Silence builds up as the room is left with only Nozomi and Nico, glowering at each other.

"We will talk about this later. Go do some scut work in the ER."

The doctor leaves Nico alone again, closing the door behind her.

Groaning, Nico kicks a nearby chair before she starts to cry out of frustration.

---

Seven hours left until her first shift is over and Nico already wants to retire. At least she's been busy in the Emergency Room for the few past hours, she thinks to comfort herself. Her arms are numb after using them non-stop for nine hours straight.

She's glad that one of the nurses decided to let her rest for a while and she's also glad that Rin decided to share her bento with her so she doesn't have to eat another playdough-tasting sandwich.

Hanayo, the nurse with the glasses that follows Nozomi around, is sitting with them.

Nico has learned a lot about her in the past half hour— she's childhood friends with Rin; she's Nozomi's most trusted nurse; she speaks so soft it's actually hard to understand her; and Rin has a very big, very obvious —and very cute— crush on her.

"Kayo-chin and I wanted to be doctors together since we were this short, nya!" Rin purred. Nico tried not to be offended by the fact that 'this short' was barely an inch smaller than her. "Oh, and you should meet our friend! She's the daughter of Dr Nishikino. How cool is that, nya?"

"R-rin-chan, I don't think that's—"

"Don't you fret Kayo-chin! We'll make sure to make them meet after the surgery is over, nya. I'm certain they'll like each other a lot!" her eyes sparkled. "We can be medical friends or something like that, nya! Like on that TV show… What was its name…?"

"I get it, Rin. Thank you, but I don't need to have friends here." Nico waves her hand in front of her face and glances at Rin, who looks very upset.

"Yes you do! We're going to spend our lives here. You need a friend," she points at herself and then at Hanayo, "or two"

Nico purses her lips "I already have a friend."

"It's too early on our relationship to call me 'friend', Nico-chan, but I think—"

"No! I wasn't talking about you. No offense"

Rin starts to fake cry on Hanayo's shoulder and Nico has the sudden urge to roll her eyes so deep she can see her brains. "Don't be such a child, Rin"

"Then don't be such a bitch, Nico-chan" smirks the orange haired girl, her head still resting on her friend's shoulder.

Nico starts gaping, which probably makes her look like a fish, and it only makes smirk grow wider. Hanayo is embarrassed at her friend's choice of words and struggles to find something to say to calm everything down —because Nozomi has told her about Nico and her hot blood, and Hanayo doesn't want her to punch Rin on the face or something— but her pager starts to beep out of sudden and she hops off the stretcher without a word.

"The surgery is over, I— I need to go. Sorry, Rin-chan, Nico-chan," she mumbles before she sprints down the hallway.

Nico is still trying to find a witty answer to fight Rin back, but another idea strikes her.

"I-is she talking about Nozomi's surgery?" she jumps off the stretcher, too. Rin frowns, confused. "I need to check if everything went well. Sorry!"

The black haired girl runs through the hallways, following Hanayo's steps (and bumping with more nurses than she'd like to admit on the way). She can hardly breath, but she needs to know what happened to Megumi.

And so she keeps running.

When she reaches the entrance of the operation room, Nozomi is leaning by the door, looking exhausted and paler than usual. She doesn't even bat and eyelash when she sees Nico approaching her with fast steps.

"What happened, Nozomi!? Is he okay? Did everything—?"

The surgeon cuts her off, weariness filling her voice. "I've sent Ichinose to tell the parents. I don't think you would like to be in her place at the moment," she crosses her arms and sighs. A scrub nurse (Nico recognizes her as the nurse who was making out with someone in the changing room and starts to blush) pats Nozomi's shoulder with a comforting smile and leaves. She doesn't even look at Nico.

"But what happened? Is Megumi alright?"

"He didn't make it, Nicocchi" Nozomi finally says, and it feels like someone has dropped a bucket of ice cold water on Nico. She suddenly wants to cry and scream and punch something.

"But why—"

"He had a brain tumour growing inwards. The CAT showed it was on a very advanced state, and there wasn't much for us to do" her voice cracks at this point. "The tumour would have won over him sooner or later, so his parents asked us to give it a try. If only he had come a few months earlier, maybe everything would have been different…"

Nico feels her stomach drop in a way she supposes is solely reserved for hearing one of her first patient's ever —a nine year old boy, dammit— is dead.

"I can't believe you didn't let me go there! I have way more experience than freaking Ichinose, I bet there was something I could do, or—"

"Or what, Nicocchi? Do you think the kid's parents would have felt better if you were there and I told them 'oh, don't worry, Mr and Mrs Ichijou, your son has passed away, but the great Nico, who has more medical experience than any other intern because she got fired from another hospital, was there, so we did all we could'? I'm afraid that's not how things work here"

Nico stares at her own feet, feeling her face heat up of shame and anger.

The purple haired doctor holds her hand with an understanding yet sad smile. "This is why I didn't want to give you the surgery. It was hopeless. And I know he reminded you of your brother, so I didn't wish to make you break down on your very first shift. I'm not that terrible"

"I can't believe he's dead," the intern says under her breath, with her hand clasped around her friend's— it's the first time one of her patients dies so unexpectedly.

"Don't worry so much, Nicocchi. This happens on a daily basis here, you'll have to get used to it," she wraps an arm around her shorter friend's shoulders and starts to walk away from the operation room. "C'mon, let's go to the ER to find something to keep you busy."

"Sorry, I know I shouldn't be acting like this. It's just that I'm—"

"Shocked?" Nozomi finishes for her. "Of course you are. To be honest, all of us were back there. We really believed there was something for us to do for him, but even though we tried our best… Things don't always come out as you expect them to."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that. It's just… a weird feeling. I don't know how to describe it"

"Sadly enough, I know exactly how you feel. You'll have to get used to it and learn to deal with it, because you are going to experience it more than you'd like to."

Nico sighs. "Next time, I will try to be more professional and less passionate. Maybe thing won't come out so bad for me" she mumbles, rubbing the back of her head with one of her hands —the other is trapped between hers and Nozomi's body and it's starting to get numb—.

"That's the spirit!" hums the doctor, patting her back. She finally lets her friend free when they arrive at the hallway that leads to the ER room. "Be sure to check what the cards have to say every day and follow their advices! It'll help you get through everything," Nozomi says, sticking her thumb up with a stupid smile.

"Nozomi, you know that doesn't work—"

"Oh, and by the way, Nicocchi," cuts off the surgeon, and her eyes sparkle with mischief like they always do. "Starting from your next shift, you are going to be reassigned to another intern. I'm sure you'll like Dr Sonoda."

---

"Only two hours left", Nico thinks happily as she leaves the ER to go to the bathroom. Things have been rather calm since Megumi's surgery and she's been enjoying her time at the emergency room so far. It may be scut work, but at least none of her patients have died and all of them have left looking fairly better than they did when they came to the hospital, so she's satisfied.

There's not much left for her to do in the emergency room, so she takes some time to wander around before she reaches the bathroom. The hospital seems to be quite busy, with nurses running around and patients being carried through the hallways with fast steps. Nico enjoys the atmosphere surrounding her and smiles to herself.

It takes more than she expected to find the bathroom, but as long as her pager is silent, she doesn't have to worry much. She stares at her reflection for a few seconds while she washes her hands.

"Not bad for someone who has slept half an hour out of forty six, hm," she hums to herself, though she's positive the only thing she'll do when she gets home is sleep.

When she exits the bathroom, she decides to take another route to the ER —because she's seen a couple of other interns going that way and she doesn't feel like dealing with their ugly faces and stupid giggling—. Besides, she wants to know the hospital like the back of her hand as soon as possible, because patients on the verge of death don't wait for their lost doctors to find their way.

Walking back to the emergency room, Nico passes in front of a very familiar door, which she doesn't notice until she hears a loud, clear moan through the wall. She stops walking and turns on her heels to the door in slow motion, a slight grin creeping on her lips.

"No fucking way," she mumbles under her breath.

Nico wants to laugh (or cry?) when she peeks through the slightly opened door and, just like she expected, her eyes discover again the nurse and the blue haired doctor making out.

Well, more like she discovers the nurse making out with the doctor's abs.

She closes the door carefully, trying not to disturb the couple, and starts walking to the emergency room again, still smiling. She just knows Nozomi is going to love this when she tells her.

---

"There is a woman dying" Nico tells herself, "and this stupid ass isn't doing anything to save her?"

She doesn't even know what she's doing or why she's doing it — well, yes, she is going to save a woman. A woman who is not even her patient, nor Nozomi's, a woman who's having a seizure and instead of being helped by the intern in charge, she's going to die.

Nico can't allow that.

She enters the room and pushes the other intern, who stands frozen in the middle of the room, out of her way. The nurses are trying to restrain the woman and push sedatives into her IV, but it isn't going to be alright with just that.

"D-did you page her doctors!?" Nico hears herself yell at the nurses. There are only two of them and both seem to be just as scared as she is.

"Yes! But we need to do something now or we will lose her!"

"Dr Nishikino won't make it on time! We need her," One of the nurses points to the other intern, who is apparently about to faint, "to do something now!"

"Fuck her! I'm here now!" says Nico with a confidence she didn't know she had until this very moment. But she knows this is her chance— to prove her worth and to save a life, something she couldn't do a few hours ago.

And so she sprints towards the cart with the defibrillator, pushing the nurses aside and grabbing the paddles.

"Charge..." Nico takes a deep breath and gets ready to enter the action. "Clear" She places the paddles on the patient's chest, who jolts with the shock.

Nothing happens, but Nico can't give up. Not now.

"Charge, please!" commands the black haired intern, feeling a drop of sweat running down her face. "Clear!"

"She's flatlining, we should st—"

"NO! I won't allow it!" Nico yells, cutting off what the nurse was about to say. She turns around just enough to look at her with fierce eyes. "Charge, now!"

"You are not going to die. Please, be strong…"

Nico has never believed in God, but she starts praying everything she knows, hoping this will be enough to save the patient. "Clear!"

The machines start to beep in a stable rhythm, and Nico cannot believe that she actually managed to save the woman from dying. A warm feeling fills her chest and she suddenly feels like crying, yet she only allows herself to sit down on a chair next to the patient's bed to breath properly.

The other intern is crying at the hallway, surrounded by a group of curious nurses and bystanders.

Someone starts to push the crowd to make their way towards the room, but Nico doesn't pay attention, relieved by the rhythmic beeping of the machines that stand beside her. She feels like she deserved a rest after that intense minute of life-saving.

That's when the doctor appears in the room. Nico isn't even looking, too tired to even lift her head, but she recognizes the voice as a slight blush starts to creep on her cheeks.

"I came as fast as I could! What the hell did just happen!?" asks the doctor, though it sounds more like a command.

"The patient seized and went into cardiac arrest. We— we pushed Lorazepam, but there was no change. Suddenly, she," the nurse points at Nico with a smile, "burst into the room and somehow managed to resuscitate her."

"It's good to see that at least one of the interns knows what she's doing," scoffs the other nurse, crossing her arms.

The doctor doesn't answer, too busy staring at Nico with her eyes wide open and not knowing what to do or say. The black haired girl slowly lifts her gaze to meet her eyes.

It's Maki.

"You," whispers the red haired doctor, and Nico feels her stomach drop.

---

Nico feels the urge to punch a wall when she hears her doorbell ringing for the third time even after she has tried to act as if she isn't home. "I don't deserve this" she thinks, trying to roll out of her bed without dying on the process. "I am a good person. I saved a life yesterday. I ruined lots of them before, but the past is the past."

Dragging herself through her small apartment, Nico tries very hard to take as long as she can before she reaches the door, in hopes that the person on the other side will get tired of her and will leave her in peace.

The doorbell rings a fourth time and Nico opens the door looking like an angry Chihuahua.

Nozomi is standing out there, holding a plastic bag next to her face with her stupid I-know-something-that-you-don't smile plastered on the lips. Behind her, a blonde woman looks at Nico with apologetic eyes, probably because she already knows what the black haired girl is thinking.

Nico tries to close the door, but a foot stops her.

"That's not very nice of you, Nicocchi!" Nozomi pouts and forcefully starts to open the door, aware that Nico is too tired to think about fighting back— and even if she did, she'd lose. "I even brought you chocolates! I forced Elicchi out of bed just to come here to pay you a visit! Can't you at least try to be thankful?" she actually sounds hurts, but Nico knows better than to fall into her acting.

"Wait, what? I thought the chocolates were for m—"

"Not now, Elicchi"

"But—"

"Elicchi."

Nico's left eye begins to twitch at the exchange — she needs at least eighty more hours of sleep to be able to deal with these two.

"Okay, come in. You have five minutes," she deadpans, looking at Nozomi with narrowed eyes.

"Of course. Ten minutes will be enough~"

Nozomi enters the apartment with Eli following her closely and laughs when she takes a look around her, which only makes Nico regret her decision more than she did just a second ago.

"Did a tornado pass by or is this the usual for you, Nicocchi?"

"Shut up," spits Nico, closing the door and walking towards the living room, where some empty paper cups lay everywhere and dirty clothes rest on the couch.

Nico kicks a shirt away before she sits down on her armchair, opposite of the couch where her true friends sit. Nozomi takes her time and opens the plastic bag —much to Eli's dismay— and offers her black haired friend a chocolate, smiling slyly. Nico is tempted to slap it away, but she takes it anyway and bites it to distract herself from the fact that, if she wanted to (and she does), she could stand up and punch Nozomi right on the face.

"So" she finally speaks up, after a few awkward seconds of chewing, "what the hell did you two want from me? Because you knew I was sleeping. And you" she points at Nozomi, who puts her best puppy eyes, "know how I am when I don't get enough sleep"

The purple haired doctor is about to strike back, but Eli cuts her off before she says something that encourages Nico to bitchslap the hell out of her. "I am— I mean, we are very sorry about that. I just wanted to say hello! Nozomi told me you have started your internship at the NH, but I didn't get the chance to see you yesterday, so…"

"Wait, you work there too?" Nico raises one of her eyebrows and leans back on her sit, interested.

"Yeah, didn't Nozomi tell you?" the blonde eyes Nozomi, who smiles sheepishly at her. She sighs before continuing "Anyway, yes, I work there as a plastic surgeon. I had a free day yesterday, but I really wanted to see you. It's been a while"

"I knew you were a plastic surgeon, but I didn't know you worked at the NH. I thought you knew better" she chuckles.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm sure Nozomi is always around trying to make out with you everywhere, which is, in my humble opinion, quite irritating when you are supposed to be working," the raven haired girl takes another chocolate from the bag (just to annoy Eli) and crosses her legs. "This reminds me! I have something very juicy to tell you, Nozomi"

Eli starts to flush bright red. "I— I don't— We aren't like—"

"You sure aren't," Nico says mockingly, only to make Eli's cheeks get redder.

Nozomi finally decides to take part in, leaning in towards Nico and patting Eli's back to make her less embarrassed. "Now, now, I think we're going off topic right now. We'll talk about whatever you want later, Nicocchi."

Eli's back straightens and she becomes unusually stiff after that. Nico starts to take interest and what her friends have to say.

"The truth is we came here because we wanted to tell you something really important for us."

"And I wanted to say hello!"

"Yes, Elicchi, you did, now let's get to the point, please." Nozomi rolls her eyes just enough to make the blonde pout. She kisses her cheek as if to say sorry, which only makes Nico want to puke. "Listen up, Nicocchi. The truth is…"

"I'm listening," Nico says, trying very hard not to sound curious.

After a few seconds of dramatic silence, Nozomi and Eli speak up at the same time —how the hell do they even do that?!—, almost making Nico fall off the armchair.

"We're getting married!"

Nico nearly chokes on her chocolate.

"Wait, are you serious? Oh my God! I'm so happy for you too!" She says, and for the first time in days, she genuinely is happy. She stands up and hugs both girls, who are grinning like idiots. "It was about damn time you did, by the way! How long have you two been dating? Like, a thousand years?"

"Actually, we've been together for six years now," Eli says, pride filling her voice.

"Wow, okay, that's a lot of time putting up with Nozomi. It must be true love, after all!" Jokes Nico, and all three girls laugh.

The purple haired girl smiles with mischief. "C'mon, Nicocchi, you're just jealous."

"Me, jealous? You wish, Nozomi."

"Aw, just because we didn't work out as a couple doesn't me—"

"Wait, what!?" Eli and Nico interrupt at the same time, giving confused looks at the girl, whose smile only widens.

"Nicocchi and I dated during university."

"Did you?" asks Eli, looking back at Nico, who seems to be rather uncomfortable.

"We definitely did not! She's just twisting the truth, like she always does."

"Don't be like this, Nicocchi, you know we—"

Nico slams her hands on the table and stares at Eli, because she's sure that looking at Nozomi will most likely end up with the purple haired girl being punched on the face. "Listen to me, Eli. We. Did. Not. Date. Okay? We just made out during a frat party, that's it."

"Oh my God, I can't believe you are able to say that out loud like that. My poor feelings are hurt now."

"But… you did make out, didn't you?" Eli asks, still unsure of what to think of the whole situation.

"I was drunk!"

"I wasn't."

"And I certainly didn't enjoy it."

"Really? Because I did. You were a very good kisser back then, Nicocchi. I hope you have gotten even better through the years." Nozomi hums.

"Okay, stop it there. Eli," Nico redirects her attention to the astonished blonde, "we didn't date. There were no feelings. I don't like her and I never will. Please stop looking at me as if you were going to murder me."

Nozomi sticks out her bottom lip and clutches her chest. "Ouch, that broke my heart. Good thing I have Elicchi here to mend it for me," she smiles and leans towards the blonde for a kiss, only to make Nico feel awkward at their exchange of saliva.

"God, stop it. You two make me feel like throwing up."

"That's because you're alone and you're jealous of us, Nicocchi. I'm pretty sure you haven't gotten lai—"

"And now you're just being rude. Did you really come to my house to tell me that I need sex, which, just so you know, I have plenty of whenever I want?"

Nozomi puts her hand in front of her mouth before she leans to whisper in Eli's ear. "She's lying because she's embarrassed that I'm right."

Eli chuckles and Nico's cheeks turn bright red.

"I heard that! And you're not right! Just this Monday I—" The black haired girl stops talking when she realizes what she has just done.

Nozomi raises her eyebrows, smirking. She's gotten what she wanted in the first place: to make Nico talk about her private life.

"Oh, really?" she asks. Nico wants to bury herself under her sheets and never come out again. "With who, may I ask?"

"T-that's none of your business, Nozomi!"

"It was you who started talking about that, not me…"

"Nozomi, don't be like this," pleads Eli, grabbing her fiancé's arm. The purple haired makes her best puppy eyes, but stops bothering Nico.

The three of them keep talking for a few minutes now that Nozomi has decided to stop with her teasing. As a reward for helping her before, Nico stops eating the chocolates, which makes Eli's eyes start to sparkle like they do when she looks at Nozomi.

"Nozomi, we should be leaving now," Eli says, taking a quick glance at her wristwatch. "I have a surgery very early tomorrow and I need time to sleep."

"Yeah, as if you two actually slept at night." Nico rolls her eyes with a small smile. Elu blushes and Nozomi giggles, but they don't deny it.

Nico takes them to the door and hugs them goodbye, secretly glad that they decided to pay her a visit. Before she steps out of the house, Nozomi turns around, having remembered something.

"What was that you wanted to tell me before?"

"Huh?" Nico tilts her head. "What do you mean?"

"You said you had 'something very juicy' to tell me, if I recall correctly"

The black haired girl snaps her fingers. "Ah, right! It's nothing, in reality. It's just that, during my shift, I walked into one of your scrubs nurses making out with a doctor. Twice."

Nozomi raises one of her eyebrows, interested. "Hm? Really? Which one?"

"Uh, I don't know her name. The one with ash hair and a weird tuft on her head?"

"Oh. Kotori?"

Nico shrugs. "I suppose. She was with you in Megumi's surgery."

"Then it's Kotori. Hm… I never thought she was the type to that kind of stuff at the hospital," Nozomi mutters, holding her chin, but Nico knows that, in reality, she is just wondering why hasn't she caught Kotori in the first place.

"Yeah, well. She is the type. Though I think the doctor isn't — she looked as if she was going to go into cardiac arrest in any second," chuckles Nico.

"You don't know her either, I guess."

"Nope. I don't, sorry. But she had long, blue hair, nice abs… I don't know — I didn't want to interrupt anything, so I didn't pay much attention." She tries to remember any more details, without success.

Nozomi's eyes light up as she tries to restrain a smile forming on her lips, which makes Nico worry. "Ah, Umi. This is… Unexpected."

"That's not the word I'd use, but yeah, whatever. I hope I don't have to deal with that again because it's really awkward now that I think about it."

"Don't worry, Nicocchi. I'm sure the cards will be on your side," she says, and the small intern is about seventy-eight percent sure the cards won't, but she nods anyway and holds the door for the couple after saying goodbye again.

Just as she is about to close it again to —finally!— go back to sleep, she hears Eli yell.

"We're throwing a party with our friends next Friday night! You're invited! I'll text you our address!"

"Don't even try to miss it, or I'll drag you there myself!" Nozomi adds with a cheerful tone, and her friend knows she's serious.

When she closes the door, Nico slams her head against it numerous times, groaning.

"Why me!?"

---

When she meets Dr Sonoda next morning, Nico wishes she had chosen another hospital to work at. Because of course, Dr Sonoda had to be, out of every single fucking doctor at the Nishikino Hospital, the one that kept making out with a nurse in the changing room of the second floor.

"Why me!?" Nico thinks for the second time in less than twenty four hours as she shakes Dr Sonoda's hand after being introduced to her. She can feel the piercing gaze of the other interns on the back of her neck — all of them must be very jealous of her for being able to touch the doctor for so long.

Nico feels the urge to turn around and tell them about Kotori and her make out sessions with the doctor, but doesn't, because it'd be quite inappropriate on her first day with Dr Sonoda. Maybe tomorrow.

"We've been receiving a lot of patients today, and there's a big chance that one of you will be scrubbing in with me if anything happens, so please do your best today and earn it," says the blue haired woman and Nico hears her colleagues sigh simultaneously. At this point they all must look like human versions of the heart eyes emoji. Nico doesn't blame them, though — Dr Sonoda is very dreamy, with her fantastic hair, her handsome face, her serious appearance (and her pretty nurse girlfriend).

But when Nico catches a glimpse of messy red hair at the end of the hallway, she thinks that maybe her peers aren't right and Dr Sonoda isn't the dreamiest. At least not for her.

---

"Congratulations, Yazawa-san. You're going in. Please go get ready. I'll catch up in a second." When Umi announces that she is the one going to scrub in, Nico isn't sure if she feels happy, proud or scared of what the other interns may do to her after their shift is over.

Nico marches down the hallway that leads to the operation room, hearing the doctor's voice fade as she goes further into the hospital. She tries to stay calm, but her breathing becomes erratic as she approaches the OR, already busy with nurses and people going in and out.

Another doctor and a nurse carry a stretcher with a person covered in blood on it, and everybody steps aside to make way for them.

"What are you doing here? Come on, we need to go in now." Umi pats her back and runs to the operation room, leaving her intern behind. The blue haired woman starts to talk with the scrub nurses —Kotori is one of them— and the other doctor as they get ready to operate.

Nico feels her mouth dry and is just about to turn around and run away from the hospital forever when a familiar voice calls from behind her.

"Good luck."

Maki is standing there, probably just out from one of her surgeries, with arms crossed over her chest and the tips of her ears slightly redder than usual. When her eyes meet Nico's, she turns around and leaves her alone again.

This time, when Dr Sonoda calls for her again, Nico feels a rush of confidence inside her and gets ready in less than twenty seconds to help the resident. She is going to be the best.

---

After the surgery, Nico is sent to inform the patient's family about his state. The man had been part of a car crash and he needed a liver transplant as soon as possible or he wouldn't live much longer. Fortunately, Dr Sonoda and Dr Kousaka make a great team inside the operation room and everything has gone just fine for the poor man.

When she tells his family that he is going to be alright, the man's wife hugs Nico with all her strength and starts to cry on her shoulder. She is joined seconds later by two little children who keep jumping around the intern with cheerful smiles.

"Maybe," she thinks as she pats the woman's back, trying to contain her own smile, "being a surgeon isn't that bad, after all."

---

For some reason she can't quite her finger on, Nico suddenly becomes really popular among the other interns and some of the less experienced nurses. Now Rin and Hanayo have to push everyone out of their seats if they want to eat lunch with Nico — well, it's Rin who does, while her best friend just tries very hard not to faint (this is why Hanayo can't have nice things).

It's during lunch when she discovers that, apparently, Kotori has been expanding the rumour that Umi has decided to make Nico her protégée and will make sure that whoever dares to mistreat her is going to be fired in less than a day.

Nico also discovers that, much to her surprise, Umi and Eli seem to be really close friends with Maki, which makes the number of her encounters with her during her shifts to increase. Somehow, they always end up fighting, and even the nurses appear to have gotten used to it.

And still, Nico can't stop thinking about her.

---

It's Kotori who opens the front door of Eli and Nozomi's house that Friday night, which only makes Nico question even more why did she decide that coming to their party could be a good idea. The fact that Kotori seems to recognize her doesn't help much, either — especially not when she grins like that.

"Ah, hello! You must be Nico, right?"

"Yes, nice to meet you." Kotori gestures Nico to enter the house and the shorter obeys, still taken aback.

"I'm Kotori Minami, pleased to meet you!" The nurse introduces herself cheerfully, offering one of her hands to Nico, who shakes it with hesitation. "I believe we have met before, am I right?" Kotori asks nonchalantly as she starts leading the other girl towards the living room. "I can't believe when hadn't been introduced before when we meet basically every single day."

Nico almost trips over her own feet.

"Y-yes! But I didn't tell anyone. Don't worry — your secret is safe with me. U-unless it isn't a secret and I am just making things up—" The intern starts stuttering and fidgeting, which only makes Kotori's smile get wider.

"It can be our little secret," chuckles the nurse before she enters the living room, where the 'party' is taking place. "Hey, guys! Look who has arrived!"

Kotori steps aside to let Nico take a look at the room. She has been there once or twice before, back when Nozomi and Eli first moved together — and now they're getting married. It's hard not to smile when she thinks about it.

But smiling gets harder when her gaze meets a pair of violet eyes she knows really well.

"What are you doing here!?" Nico and Maki scream at the same time, pointing at each other. Maki has gotten up from her seat and looks flustered, whereas the black haired girl seems to be rather angry.

Nozomi's eyebrow slowly starts to move upwards.

Everyone else's confusion goes unnoticed by the two as they keep moving closer and their yells keep getting louder. Hanayo, who sits on one of the couches next to Rin, hides her face behind her cat-like friend and mumbles a muffled 'somebody save us'.

"They invited me!" Both Nico and Maki point at the engaged couple at the same time, and even though Nozomi doesn't move an inch, Eli appears to be more worried than her partner about what's going on. She tries to speak, but she gets interrupted before she even starts.

"What!? You invited her!?" Violet and red eyes stare at the owners of the house, burning. Kotori, who still stands at the threshold, trying her best not to laugh at the situation, thinks that those two must be very passionate about each other to be screaming like that.

As usual, it has to be Nozomi who makes sure things calm down before it gets worse.

"Yes. We invited both of you because, as you may see," she opens her left arm, gesturing Maki and Nico to take a look around them, "we have invited all our friends here, too." Apart from them four, Nico notices Rin and Hanayo sitting together, Umi —who's now standing next to Kotori in a protective manner— and Dr Honoka Kousaka, who seems to be the only one amused by the scene.

As she starts to get a hold of herself, Nico can feel her cheeks becoming warmer at the realization of what she has done. Maki, now with arms crossed over her chest, seems to be embarrassed, too.

"So," Nozomi starts, leaning back on the couch with one of those shit-eating grins of her that most people confuse as innocent smiles, "I think it'd be interesting if you two told us why you know each other."

---

"Maki-chan, be a good girl and take Nicocchi home, please," says Nozomi casually a couple of hours later, when everyone decides it's a good time to go back to their houses and leave Nozomi and Eli to do "what engaged couples do" —which is just a pretty way to say sex so Rin doesn't understand it—.

Maki chokes on her drink, spilling it all over herself and her hoodie. "Fuck!" She takes a paper napkin of the table and tries to clean the mess. "Why the hell do I have to do it? If she came walking she can go back the same way. I'm nobody's babysitter," she hisses. "Well, I'm Rin's and I sure have enough with her."

"Hey! That's mean, Maki-chan!"

"And it's the truth, I'm afraid," the redhead scoffs. Rin puffs her cheeks, but doesn't answer back, calmed by Hanayo's gentle pats on her head. "Oh, great, now I've ruined my new hoodie."

"Don't be such a drama queen, Maki-chan. It was just water, nya."

"Shut up, Rin!"

The orange haired girl sticks her tongue out, victorious.

"It's raining buckets outside, Maki-chan. We cannot let our Nicocchi get sick and take away Umi's most promising intern, can we?" chuckles Nozomi, and Umi nods back in response.

"Do it for the patients, Maki," adds the blue haired doctor, not quite understanding the situation, but still willing to help. Umi and her have been good friends for a long time now, but Maki feels the sudden urge to throw her out of the nearest window.

A hand rises at the back of the living room. "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but don't I have anything to say in this?" Nico already knows the answer, but she asks anyway.

Nozomi walks to her side and wraps an arm around her shoulders — somehow, she seems taller than usual, which intimidates Nico more than she'd like to admit. With a tender smile, her friend gives the final verdict.

"Nope."

---

"I'm sorry this happened." Nico lets out a muffled groan, her face buried on her hands. She sitting in Maki's car —which is just as expensive as she imagined the first time— after a very awkward and silent trip to her apartment. She still can't believe Nozomi was able to force the redhead to drive her home.

"Uh, don't worry. I can't believe I let her convince me, though," says Maki as she rubs the back of her head. She doesn't know what to say or do when she's around Nico, especially after what happened between them.

"Yeah… A-anyway," Nico stutters, and tries to gain some composure after clearing her throat, "thank you for bringing me home. I know Nozomi can be a pain on the ass most of the time, so…"

"Most of the time? More like always."

"That's exactly what I meant." Letting out a small smile, Nico unfastens her seatbelt and gets ready to leave. "I'm going now. Thanks again. Have a safe trip."

Just as she is about to take a step under the waterfall that is falling from the sky, she feels her arm being grabbed and looks behind her.

"W-wait! I think Nozomi and Umi were right. You can't go under the rain like that or you may get ill. Let me take you to the door — I think I have a spare umbrella on the back seat." Maki speaks hastily, but it still makes Nico smile.

It's curious, she thinks, how different they act with each other when there is no one else around. Perhaps it is due to Maki's shy ('shy' meaning 'tsundere') nature, or perhaps it's because neither of them knows how things between them are going to end.

"You don't have to do this, you know?"

"Do what?"

"This. Pretend you care. Act as if you didn't hate me or something."

"I don't hate you. Why would I hate you?" Maki asks with raised eyebrows, a surprised look on her face. "You're pretty annoying, but…"

"I am annoying? God, don't even get me started on you."

"See? You're annoying as hell." The redhead rolls her eyes and Nico puffs her cheeks.

"Okay. Look. Do I regret sleeping with you? Kind of. Would I do it again? Probably." Maki turns her head around to stare at the other girl with wide eyes. "Anyway, if you don't hate me, stop making things so hard for us."

"Shut up. You're the one making things hard for me, okay? Now close your damn mouth and let me walk you home." Nico lowers her gaze, ashamed — maybe she's been overthinking everything.

Maki finds her umbrella and exits the car, making her way to Nico's side so the older of the two won't get rained on before she gets to her apartment. Nico is pleasantly surprised to discover that the redhead is, in reality, quite well-mannered, and not the bratty kid she acts like most of the time.

She doesn't even say anything when Nico wraps her arm around hers as they march under the pouring rainfall to the shorter one's apartment. In fact, neither is sure of what to do or say when they finally reach the doorstep — maybe it's the best if she doesn't say anything, Maki thinks. But she knows she can't bring herself to do that.

That's why, when they both are under the threshold, waiting for Nico to find her keys, Maki is able to gather up some courage to do what she's been dying to do for the past few days.

So, when Nico opens the door and turns around to face the redhead and say goodbye, she feels a pair of hands grabbing her shoulders and warm breath against her mouth. It's not an unknown feeling for her, as she has kissed Maki plenty of times before (or at least, it feels like she has), but the way her cheeks start to get red and the fact that a family of butterflies starts to flutter in her stomach make her realize that, this time, this kiss, everything is just different.

Nico kisses back, which seems to surprise Maki.

And, this time, as she blindly closes the door without breaking the kiss, Nico makes sure that they both land on the bed and do not end up on the floor like last time.

---

There's something very awkward about sleeping with your employer's daughter, Nico realizes, especially when you have to wake up at six o'clock in the morning and she's next to you, pouting like a baby because she didn't get enough sleep last night.

One can get used to wake up to this every morning.

Except maybe for the fact that Nico can't get up because Maki is holding her arm with such strength she might as well tear it off if the older girl tries to move away. When did she become such a kid?

"Maki-chan," Nico whispers, trying to free herself from the redhead's grip, which seems to become stronger as seconds pass, "we need to get up. We have to work."

She only earns a groan in response, and it annoys her to no end. Maki is the heiress of the Nishikino Hospital, and she out of all people should be responsible enough to wake up when she has to and not make Nico want to kill her right there.

"Maki-chan," she calls again, and this time it sounds like a warning, "let me go get ready or I'll kick you on the face."

"I'll get you fired if you dare," Maki grunts, holding tighter on her partner's arm with a small smile.

"You won't. Now let me go. I'm cold and I need to get ready to work." The redhead finally obeys and Nico moves away as fast as she can before Maki tries to hold her again. Instead of her, Maki takes a nearby pillow and hugs it.

Nico can't help but chuckle. "I can't believe you're acting like this when you're supposed to be the super-cool-and-collected Dr Nishikino. Your fangirls would be disappointed."

"This is the first time in weeks I've gotten some proper sleep. Let me enjoy the moment." Her voice sounds muffled through the fabric of the pillow, but she's using her usual annoyed tone of voice, so Nico supposes she fully awake now. Or at least she hopes so.

"So you call that 'proper sleep', huh? Interesting."

Maki turns around and throws the pillow at her with a loud snort, but Nico is able to dodge it easily. Though she's hiding her face under the sheets now, the black haired girl knows that Maki is probably flushing bright red right now.

"Shut up."

"Yeah, whatever you say. I'm going to take a shower now. You better be out of bed when I get out or I'm actually going to kick your ass," Nico warns as she rummages in her closet looking for something clean to wear. "I'm serious. Do you want me to call Nozomi to make you get up?" she casually asks, smirking.

Maki raises her head to look at Nico with sleepy yet piercing eyes. "You wouldn't."

"Do you really want to try me? She's my best friend. She'd love this."

"I don't believe you."

By the time Maki finishes talking, Nico is waving her phone with one of her hands from the threshold. "You are already awake, come on! Are you seriously testing me? She's my emergency contact. I only need to tap once…" Her index hovers over her phone's screen as she speaks.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Maki steps out of bed and starts looking around to find her scattered clothes, trying very hard to avoid Nico's smug smile.

"Good girl. Now get ready or we are going to be late."

They take turns to shower and Nico prepares breakfast for both of them — well, that is an overstatement. More like Nico is able to make enough coffee for both of them without breaking her (very old) coffee maker and puts a half-empty box of cereals in the middle of the table for them to share. Nico has never thought about it before, but her daily life is quite a mess and she's pretty sure those cereals are almost expired. And yet she's sharing them with a very drowsy Maki and it just feels so right.

"I can't believe you have this energy at six in the morning."

"Huh?" Nico is too distracted by Maki's face to actually listen to what she's saying.

Maki sighs and frowns before she continues. "I said that you seem to be very energetic even though it's just six in the morning. How do you do it?"

"You're the experienced neurosurgeon. You should already know how this works, am I right?" Nico raises one of her brows, trying to contain a chuckle.

"Well, yeah, but I usually don't sleep. I mean, I sleep at the hospital most of the time. And I barely sleep a couple of hours every day," the redhead explains before she takes a spoonful of cereal. "To be honest, when I'm working I never feel like sleeping."

"That's so unhealthy I actually cannot believe your parents are doctors and allow you to do that."

"What they don't know won't hurt them," she shrugs.

"They'll probably know if you even fall sleep over one of your patients while on the operation table just because you didn't sleep enough."

"What are you now, my mother? I'm sure you don't sleep much either."

Nico smiles cheerfully. "Yeah, you're right, I don't."

"So? How do you do it? Are you some kind of magical being?"

"Of course I am. I am the great Nico Nico Nii!" Nico exclaims, making her signature move to a very disturbed-looking Maki.

"Why do I have the sudden urge to spill my coffee on your face?"

"Shut up. Let me talk," pouts the black haired girl, still holding on of her hands on the air. "As I was saying, I, the great Nico Nii, contrary to popular belief, didn't spawn from Satan himself and—"

"Wait, what the hell are you talking about? Popular belief?" Maki asks, not sure whether to laugh or cry at Nico's speech.

"Do you ever pay attention to things around you? I thought you were in charge of interns."

"I am, but I don't understand half of what you're talking about. As usual."

"Well, it seems like you don't know, but, believe it or not, I'm not very popular among other interns, God knows why, and some of them say I'm Satan's little spawn." Nico sighs in distraught before she takes a sip of her coffee.

"They are most likely right," chuckles Maki, making a mental note to start listening what the interns have to say about each other.

Nico lets out an annoyed snort. "As if. They are jealous of me and the only thing they have left in their lives is talking shit about me."

"Wait a second," the redhead interrupts, having remembered something. "If they hate you so much, why are you always surrounded by people during your lunch breaks?"

"My, my! Does Maki-chan stalk me on my breaks? That's so high school-cute I'm actually going to let it go this time," the older girl hums as red creeps on Maki's cheeks. "Anyway, they just stick around me because Umi and Nozomi like me. Mostly because Umi likes me."

"And…?"

"What? You don't know?" Nico rolls her eyes, amazed by the redhead's inability to understand what's going on. "Obviously, Umi is every intern's wet fantasy and I'm sure all of them would give up this job for the chance to make out with her once."

Sipping on her coffee, Maki raises one of her eyebrows, cynical. "Seriously?" A small chuckle follows. "I can't imagine Umi doing that. She's not that kind of person."

The black haired girl is about to agree until the memory of a certain ash haired nurse kissing Umi's abs pops in her head and she almost chokes on the cereal she's been eating. Maki worriedly pats her back and asks if Nico is okay, but the shorter girl is too busy trying to erase those images off her mind.

From that point on, the conversation between both of them dies and an awkward silence settles as they try to finish their breakfast as fast as possible. It's fifteen to seven, which means that they should get going if they don't want to be late, but there's something that makes them want to stay like that for a little longer. Maybe it's just because they're together.

They regret their decision when, after a ten-minute-long car ride full of yelling and bikcering, both of them run out of Maki's car towards the front doors of the Nishikino Hospital. People stare at the couple in confusion and some members of the staff shake their heads at the picture — Dr Nishikino and Yazawa sprinting to the nearest changing room while screaming at each other because neither of them want to admit it was her fault that they're late.

Just as they both are already in their scrubs and ready to start that day's shift, Nico realizes that she doesn't know how to say goodbye without looking too desperate to see Maki again (mostly because she is desperate). The redhead doesn't seem to be bothered, though, as she turns her back to the older girl when they exit the changing room and starts to walk down the hallway without a word.

The intern stares at her for a few seconds, sighing at the familiar scene, as is just about to leave when Maki turns around and makes eye contact with her, freezing Nico on the spot.

"By the way," the redhead starts, twirling the tips of her hair with her left hand, "those cereals tasted like shit, Nico-chan." She grins and continues walking as if nothing happened.

Nico stands there for a little too long, her cheeks bright red and her heart beating faster than ever.

---

When Nico gets home after her shift is over, she realizes she hasn't cleaned her apartment in a while. Everything is such a mess she's actually thankful that Maki and her only used the bedroom or the redhead would have probably noticed that Nico lived surrounded by literal trash. A little cleaning wouldn't do her any wrong.

Nico is surprised to find Maki's hoodie under her bed and stares at it for a good five minutes before she decides she'll return in tomorrow to its owner. Maybe she'll even wash it.

But before she does anything, she tries it on. The sleeves are long and hide her hands, and she's sure that the damned hoodie is at least three sizes bigger than hers, but she feels really comfortable with it on. Because it smells like Maki, which makes Nico smile like an idiot. Washing the hoodie seems like a bad idea now.

---

"H-huh? What is this?" Next day, Nico does as she promised and brings the hoodie back to Maki, who is now staring at the shorter doctor with wide eyes and flushing cheeks, as if she was offering her a love letter or something similar.

Nico frowns at the redhead's reaction. "Uh, your hoodie? You forgot it at my apartment yesterday. Don't worry, it's clean, I washed it and everything," she lies, holding the garment in front of Maki's face, and the younger of the two just takes a step back and crosses arms, which only makes Nico's frown grow deeper.

"I-I don't want it."

"What the hell? I told you I washed it! It's your hoodie, for heaven's sake! Just take it!" She shoves it in Maki's face, but the redhead just moves aside and looks away, the tips of her ears becoming redder as seconds pass.

"Just keep it. Not that I liked it that much."

"You said it was new," the black haired girl deadpans and it only makes Maki more flustered. "Take it."

"I-it isn't new! And it's too small for me, anyway. It'd fit you much better than me. Keep it."

And with that, Maki walks away without taking her hoodie, her cheeks burning bright red.

Though she would never say it out loud, Nico is a little glad that she gets to keep it.

---

Six days after that, during Nico's day off, she is wearing Maki's hoodie and lazily watching some boring soap opera on TV when her doorbell rings. Confused at first, Nico doesn't know whether to answer it or pretend she's asleep — it probably is Nozomi, because the purple haired doctor is never happy letting Nico enjoy herself on her free days. And Nico most definitely doesn't want to deal with Nozomi's antics at the moment, but she decides to open the door anyway. Maybe she can throw her drink in her friend's face. That would make her very, very happy.

So Nico is really surprised when she opens the door and doesn't find Nozomi's mischievous green eyes staring at her, but instead she finds a couple of worried violet eyes and Maki playing with a lock of her hair. Though the day is cold, Nico is a hundred percent sure the redhead's face isn't red because of the chilly air.

A few seconds pass before either of them starts talking, because neither knows what to say.

"Uh, h-hello, I was just…" Maki blurts out, twirling her hair faster than before and trying not to make eye contact with the older girl. Something else seems to catch her attention, though. "Wait, why are you wearing my hoodie?"

Nico looks at Maki with a raised brow, then she looks at the hoodie she's wearing, then back at Maki. She lets out a sigh. "Because you gave it to me, remember?" She clears her throat and mimics Maki's posture and voice. "I don't want it because I'm a bratty tsundere, keep it."

"Hey, I do not talk like that! I didn't say any of that crap when I gave it to you!" Maki goes back to her usual self, and it makes Nico feel a little relieved on the inside. Awkward Maki is way worse than annoying Maki. "I was just confused for a second! And I most definitely am not tsundere!"

"Yeah, whatever, but you're still bratty," Nico says, resting against the doorframe with a small grin on her lips. "What did you come here for, anyway? Just to yell at me?"

The redhead stares for a few seconds, dumbstruck, her fingers twirling her hair with such energy Nico worries she may tear it off. "W-well, I just finished my shift and I had nothing to do and I thought that maybe you didn't have anything to do either and I remembered Nozomi told me you may like this film that came out recently so I-I…"

Nico is sure that, if you try hard enough, you can see Cupid shooting arrows at her butt as Maki keeps speaking and fidgeting. Is she asking her out? Yes, she's totally asking her out. Nico wants to jump and cry out of joy. But she has to keep it cool — Maki probably already thought she was kind of a loser (and her room full of idol posters didn't help prove otherwise).

And there is something bugging her.

"Did you ask Nozomi about my tastes in movies? Because that's really—" "Adorable. Cute. Sweet. Desperate. Please marry me."

"No! I didn't!" Maki waves her hands, looking embarrassed. "She just approached me after a surgery and told me about this movie she went to watch with Eli and that you would like… So I thought that…"

Of course it had to be Nozomi. It always has to be Nozomi, and yet, Nico is still surprised. Because this time she is actually thankful to her friend for being such an obnoxious person and for trying so fucking hard to control her love life.

A smile forms in Nico's lips and Maki widens her eyes, obviously scared that the shorter of the two will reject her and she will make a fool out herself.

"Okay," is the simple answer Nico gives, and it only makes the redhead feel more confused.

"Okay what?"

"I'll go out with you."

Nico smiles so brightly that, this time, Cupid's arrow misses her and flies straight to Maki's chest.

---

"That movie was shit."

"I liked it! It was really cute!"

"I can't believe you found that crap cute. What are you? Twelve?" Maki scoffs and tries to move away from Nico, who is resting her head on the redhead's shoulder and pouting like a little kid. They're sitting in Nico's living room and for some reason, the older of the two decided that trying to cuddle Maki would be a good and successful idea.

"It was cute! Very cliché, but still cute. I'm sure you liked it but you're just embarrassed to admit it." A finger hovers over Maki's face and she tries to bite it in response, earning a chuckle from Nico.

"I didn't like it. I still can't understand how you convinced me to pay for that."

"That was the irresistible charm of the great Nico Nico Nii!" She sings the last part as she makes her signature move, a moment in which Maki takes advantage of the distraction to shove Nico to the other side of the couch. "Ow, that hurt, Maki-chan!" Nico groans, rubbing the back of her head that hit the armrest.

"That's what you get for forcing me to watch such an awful movie." The redhead sticks out her tongue at Nico. There's nothing playful about what she's saying, but everything in playful in the way Nico stars crawling towards her with a stupid grin on her stupid face. Maki can feel her face start to warm up as the older gets closer to her.

"You always act really mean, Maki-chan." A pout replaces Nico's smiles when she finally gets close to Maki — so close that both of them can feel their breaths mixing. They've been this close before many times but now, sitting on Nico's old couch after their very first date (though neither of them is willing to admit it was a date), it feels like the first time.

The air around them is waiting. Nico gazes at the curve of Maki's parted mouth longingly.

"You're paying next time," Maki breathes, licking her lips. She can't bring herself to look at Nico in the eye, too busy staring at her mouth.

"So there's going to be a next time." It's not a question, but a statement. She starts to lean on.

By the moment Maki is able to finish mumbling "of course", Nico is already kissing her.

---

Rin is not the first one to notice how Nico's attitude has suddenly changed, but she is the first one to note it out loud. It is during one of the lunch breaks that she shares with Hanayo and Nico — because she feels safer if she has someone to protect her in case Nico goes nuts.

"Hey, Nico-chan," she starts, trying to sound casual. She runs one of her hands through her messy orange hair while the other grips Hanayo's, where Nico can't see it, "you seem to be, uh… more cheerful lately, nya. Did something happen?"

"Huh? Cheerful? What do you mean?" asks the older girl, her back resting on the wall and her hand holding a can of some fizzy drink she shouldn't be even drinking. But she's smiling and doesn't look the slightest bothered by Rin's question.

Rin takes a small glance at Hanayo, searching for her best friend's help, but the nurse doesn't seem to know what to say either. Instead, she just tightens her grip on Rin's hands, an action that makes the orange haired girl's chest flutter.

"I… I don't know, nya. You just have been acting different these past few days. I thought that maybe something nice happened to you."

"Yeah, y-you look more confident, too. It's really nice to see you like this, Nico-chan," Hanayo adds, looking to support Rin if suddenly Nico decides to go back to her old, always angry self.

Nico purses her lips, trying to contain a grin. She can't tell Rin and Hanayo that she's been going out in dates (or something like that) with Maki, because both girls are close friends with the redhead and they would probably start asking questions, which would ultimately lead to what Nico doesn't want to happen: Nozomi finding out. If Nico actually wants to start something serious with Maki, she cannot allow her best friend to spoil it with her obnoxious comments and ideas. She can't find out — at least, not yet.

So Nico just shrugs and acts as if everything was perfectly normal. "I'm the same as usual. Maybe you're just starting to notice it, but I, the great Nico Nii, have always been a very talented and cool doctor." Followed by her signature Nico-Nico-Nii move, this convinces Rin and Hanayo that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Nico at all.

Well, Hanayo isn't half as convinced as Rin is, but her pager starts to beep at that very moment and doesn't allow her to think about the topic much further.

---

There is something about Umi and Kotori's relationship that annoys Nico to a point she didn't know she could reach.

It has nothing to do with the shy smiles Umi gives her girlfriend when their eyes meet in the hallways, or with their astonishing coordination at the OR, or with the way their relationship is everything Nico wants to have with Maki. No, it's nothing of that.

It's the possessiveness.

Most interns have already noticed, too, even if they act as if they hadn't so as to get their hopes of getting it on with the dreamy Dr Sonoda up, but it's very obvious that most of them have already given up. Nico is also certain that a big number of members of the hospital staff are aware of this, but they sure keep everything discreet.

Kotori doesn't keep discreet. She grabs Umi at the least expected moments and takes her to nearest changing room to make out as if they were in high school and not working at a freaking hospital where they are supposed to save lives and be there for their patients all day.

But she is not jealous. Not jealous at all.

Nico has been jealous before. Back when Nozomi and Eli got together, she became their third wheel and jealousy took over her — something understandable, given the fact she started to get ignored by her best friends because they were too busy with each other.

She loves them as much as she could love someone, even if Nozomi is the worst, most annoying friend in the world and Eli is the biggest dork in to ever step on Earth (no matter how much she tries to prove otherwise).

It has gotten to a point where she would like to make them jealous.

So, when Nozomi approaches her one day and casually says "you must bring a partner to the wedding or we're not letting you in", Nico gets an idea that can ruin her love life forever.

But the great Nico is not one to give up without trying.

---

"Did you want to see me?"

Nico sighs. "No, Maki-chan. I called and told you to come to my house because I didn't want to see you, obviously."

"And I thought you couldn't get ruder."

A voice inside Nico's head is telling her to yell at Maki and to close the door on her face, and the temptation to do so is getting bigger as seconds go by. But there's another voice… Well, now that Nico stops to listen, it is also telling her to close the door.

"How about you come in?" the black haired girl offers, taking a step to the side so Maki can make her way into the apartment before Nico decides to do what her mind is telling her to do. The redhead doesn't even notice how Nico's left eye twitches as she tries to fake a smile.

Sometimes, it feels like Maki has been living with Nico the whole time. It's perhaps the way she walks around the shorter one's house as if she owns the place, or the fact that she already has her own spot on Nico's couch (which the latter makes sure to occupy when the redhead is away), or perhaps that drawer in the bedroom that Nico makes sure to keep empty for her.

Maki enjoys coffee and those tomato-flavoured pancakes Nico once found at the supermarket, and she makes sure that there always is enough of both for the redhead to stay just a little longer every day.

They drink in silence for a few minutes, enjoying one of those rare moments that they share without bickering or their friends teasing them. It's calm and nice and it feels more natural than it actually should, Nico thinks — because being with Maki by her side feels just right.

"Wow, Nico, that was gay."

"Hey," Maki suddenly speaks up, glancing at the black haired girl, "can I ask you a question?"

"Uh… I guess?" she answers, but she is starting to panic. Maki has been spending a lot of time operating with Nozomi lately, what if she has heard something she shouldn't know or she might misunderstand? Or worse, what if it was Nozomi who told her on purpose? Because that is most definitely something Nozomi-like.

The redhead takes a couple of seconds to think before she talks again. "Well… You see… Nozomi told me something and…"

Nico hits her head against the tea table. Of course Nozomi told her something. What are best friends for?

"N-nico-chan? Are you okay?" Maki asks with worry filling her voice. The older one doesn't lift her head, but mutters a low 'yes' and gestures the redhead to keep talking.

"Please continue."

"O-okay…" She clears her throat and takes a sip of coffee. "So, Nozomi told me that you used to work for UTX Hospital, is that true?"

The raven haired girl slowly turns her head and glowers at Maki. She's about ninety-four percent sure her forehead is bleeding, but she doesn't care.

"Is that what bothers you?"

"Uh… Nico, you're bleeding, let me go find—"

Nico grabs Maki's arm to prevent her for from getting up.

"Is that what bothers you?" She repeats, slowly this time. The redhead is starting to look scared.

"No! I was just curious. It's a very renowned place. And I saw you got a recommendation letter from there…"

Leaning back on the couch, Nico sighs. "I actually got three. People there were very nice."

"So… You failed your exam to become a resident?"

"Do we really need to talk about that? Because this is a good moment for you to go find something to fix this," Nico points at her bleeding forehead, "and for us to forget about this conversation."

Maki doesn't say anything, but instead she stares at Nico for a few seconds that feel like years to the black haired girl. She knows how to manipulate Nico: puppy eyes.

Though she's sure she will regret it later, Nico obliges. "Please take my first-aid kit and I will tell you."

The redhead smiles, pleased with herself, and walks directly towards the bathroom where Nico keeps everything.

It takes Maki just a couple of minutes to clean Nico's bleeding wound and put a cute band aid on it (Nico feels embarrassed because she only had band aids decorated with cute bears and she probably looks ridiculous).

"Fixed it." Maki hums, satisfied, and leans back on her seat, crossing her legs. "Now, tell me."

"I'm so going to regret this later…" Nico sighs, but she talks, anyway. "So, I got really nervous on my exam and I failed it. By only two points. And I got accepted here and well, you know what happened after that."

The redhead gives her a look of disappointment. "Is that all?"

"Yes, it is."

"I don't believe you, Nico-chan." The way she calls her name feels like an order, and Nico has to continue no matter how much she doesn't want to.

"Okay. Fine. The thing is, after I was told I failed, I went to the hospital to inform some of my ex-colleagues and… Well… Uh. One of them came to me and tried to comfort me. Please note that when I say 'comfort', I mean 'feel me up'." She makes her best disgusted face as she remembers the scene.

Maki is torn between raw revulsion and curiosity — Nico couldn't have been kicked out of a hospital just because she was caught in a compromising situation, could she?

"What happened after?" she cautiously asks. The way Nico grits her teeth doesn't go unnoticed.

"I— uh, I kind of… punched him on the face," the black haired girl answers after a pause, looking away from the redhead in embarrassment. "I broke his nose," she also mutters, though it's obvious she doesn't want it to be heard.

There is an awkward silence afterwards that lasts enough to make Nico want to throw herself out of the nearest window. Maki's expression hasn't changed a bit and she looks lost in thought.

When she starts laughing, Nico swears she has never felt so relieved in her whole life.

"That is amazing. I wish I could have seen it!" Maki cackles, whipping a tear off her eye. It's the first time Nico has seen her smile so much.

"Thank you, I guess. I don't think anyone at UTX found it half as funny as you did, though," she sighs, though the redhead smile is so contagious it is actually hard not to laugh, too.

When they both stop laughing, the silence between them isn't an uncomfortable one. It's the kind of silence you can only share with someone so close to you it's impossible to feel awkward around them. Nico and Maki may not be on that point of their relationship yet — but if one thing is sure, it is that both of them want to.

It takes less effort than usual for Nico to build enough courage to ask what she's been dying to ask the whole day.

"Look, Maki-chan. I really like you, so—" Nico starts, staring straight into the redhead eyes and trying to sound confident.

"W-what? Y-you like me?"

"Yeah. I thought that was established, you know, after all the times we've had se—"

"Okay! I-I get it. Please continue." The redhead gestures her to keep going before she hides her face in her hands, embarrassed. Nico can't help but grin.

"Fine. So I've been thinking this for a while now… You know Nozomi and Eli are getting married, right? Well, I would be really happy if you accepted to be my date to their date, because Nozomi said she would kick me out if I went alone and... Say yes only if you want, of course, I don't want you to feel forced or anything…" She starts fidgeting when Maki peeks through her fingers to look at her.

The great Nico Nii has never felt so not-great in her life.

"Yes."

Nico almost falls onto the tea table again.

"Yes?"

"Yes. I will go with you," the redhead says, playing with the tips of her hair like she always does when she's nervous. "If it's so important to you…"

A grunt of surprise can be heard when Nico suddenly jumps onto Maki's lap and hugs her with all her strength. The redhead is too flustered to push her away, especially when Nico starts covering her cheeks with small happy kisses (Maki can almost hear Umi yelling "Shameful!" from the other side of the city).

"Thank you! You're the best, seriously."

"Of course I am," Maki smiles, looking at Nico and stopping her sudden display of affection. "You are really lucky."

"Huh, really? Why?"

The redhead's smile turns into a sly grin as she starts to lean towards Nico. "Because I happen to really like you too."

Nico is sure she has never been so glad to finally kiss someone.