Meet the Scared, Stuttering, Super-Sugar Sweet, SHSL Nurse!

Tsumiki Mikan was no stranger to fear. Heart-pounding terror pretty much invited itself into her mind one day and never left, filling her days with flinching at mundane things and screeching. It was like a roommate at this point. A very rude, very cruel roommate who loved to fill her bed with spiders and replace her cereal with nausea-inducing anxiety. If it weren't an extended metaphor, Mikan would have kicked Fear out a long time ago.

(Or tried to, anyways. The nurse wasn't known for her courage, and for good reason. Asking favours was far above her capabilities, let alone something as nerve-wracking as the most-definitely-on-the-far-end-of-the-rudeness-and-courage-scale action of demanding someone leave her home- er, mind.)

But in all her years of having Fear as a mental roommate, Mikan never had a time where her heart faltered in the line of duty. She lived for saving others, she trained and studied until she was at the point of needing medical attention herself. She honestly would be happier and more comfortable in a hospital room than her own wedding.

There was a certain rush in saving someone's life, something empowering, something in knowing that she was the one thing keeping her patients alive that gave Mikan a burst of pure energy and joy. They depended on her. They needed her and that alone made Mikan's heart soar and lips quirk into a smile. Mikan thrived on that euphoria, that feeling that, for days and weeks at a time, completely overthrew her fears. Like an angel descending from the heavens to save poor, helpless souls from the brink of death, if she was allowed to think of herself that highly.

('T-that was thinking too much of m-myself, wasn't it?! I'm sorry, I w-went out of line! Please, punish me a-as you wish! F-feed me worms i-if you want! Anything at all!')

Unfortunately for Mikan, there was an exception to everything.

As she continued her march down familiar hallways, her heartbeat completely overwhelmed every other sound. Mikan's hands shook, her grip on the box she had brought slippery from sweat. Her stomach seemed to be tying itself into knots, twisting and turning until Mikan was sure that she might have contacted some sort of flu. Fear must have been feeling extra sadistic today.

But still, Mikan kept moving forward, her body on autopilot until she reached her destination.

A wooden door, identical to nearly every other door in the hallway. The only particularly outstanding feature was the nameplate, stating the room's number and the occupant's name in simple black text.

'Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko'

Mikan gulped.

Her legs chose the absolute worst time to turn into useless lumps of jello, Mikan stumbling over her own feet and crashing into the door. She could hear the patient inside startling, screaming a loud 'WHO THE FUCK'S THERE?!' at the door. The contents of her box split all over the floor, forcing Mikan to gather them all up before entering.

A tense silence weighed down on her every second she wasted picking up the cargo of the box, the heart-pounding intensity of the situation not helped by the fact that she knew that he was listening, he could hear her every move, he knew she was there, there was no running now-

Mikan placed the lid on top of the box, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before opening the door.

'Oh god I'm going to die get me out of here this is bad this is bad-'

Alright, no to gathering her thoughts, forever and always. No more worrying from now until some very very faraway point in the foreseeable future.

If she hesitated any longer, she was going to panic and flee the scene. Mikan wasn't going to run, she had to be confident! She had to be strong! She had to search, deep inside her soul, look in the farthest depths and lowest lows, and find whatever courage she could scrounge up, and open that door-

"How long are you going to stand out there with your eyes closed like a dumbass?"

The box fell to the ground for the second time in fifteen minutes.

Mikan was also fairly certain that she yelped, but there was some room for doubt. Probably.

Okay, there wasn't, but who could blame her?

The short, baby-cheeked, one-eyed boy with a broken arm staring at her from the doorway? He could ruin her life in a moment or even kill her if she did anything to displease him.

Because Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko was the heir to the biggest Yakuza family in all of Japan.

Naturally, Mikan did not react well to one of the most dangerous people she had ever met suddenly slamming the door open and actually speaking to her. There was no way she could form coherent sentences around someone so intimidating, so she settled for picking up the contents of the box before saying anything.

Mikan dropped to her knees, the task of picking things up off the ground and placing them in a box made so much harder by her fingers deciding to go rigid at random times and making her drop whatever was in her hands at the time.

The Yakuza heir watched her fumble around, unsure what to do. He honestly didn't expect that reaction.

Finally, finally, Mikan managed to get the contents of the box back in order. Jumping up as quick as a bunny on caffeine, Mikan stood ramrod straight, posture stiff and awkward as she avoided meeting her patient's eyes.

"I-I'm sorry f-for disturbing y-you, I-I'll ju-just l-l-leave this here, o-okay?!" Mikan shoved the box into the young Yakuza heir's arms, running off.

"Wait, what the fuck are you...?" Kuzuryuu trailed off upon realizing that the nurse was already out of sight and most likely out of earshot.

Shutting the door, Fuyuhiko opened the box, setting the lid down on his bed as he went through the contents of the package.

It was a bunch of Yakuza films, blank DVDs with names written on them in permanent marker. A folded note had descriptions of each film's plot written down in small, narrow letters.

"What the hell...?"

Fun fact: I actually started writing this fic long before DR3 aired. There are some references to the anime, but most of them were actually unintentional.

Happy birthday to Fuyuhiko!

I hope you have a fun time reading this story, and have a nice day/night/whatever!