A/N: read the full note at the end of the chapter for more info, since I don't want to bloat the story before it even starts.

Hope everyone enjoys, sorry this took so long.

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Maki remained quiet as she obediently followed her mother down the sterile white halls of the hospital that she would someday work in, keeping her much smaller hand in her mothers.

She had been told that her parents had a very important job for her that would help them out immensely, and the little girl was very eager to do anything to assist at the hospital. She might not have been very old, but knew that helping people was a meaningful profession, which was why her Mama and Papa owned and funded their families hospital.

Unfortunately visiting the hospital also came with it's share of annoyances to the young girl, and Maki had caught no end of doctors and nurses giving her odd looks and compliments just because she was the Nishikino heiress, when she just wanted to be recognized for being a good doctor when she was older.

Hearing her Mama clear her throat brought Maki's attention back to the situation and she looked up at the very pretty woman with the same violet eyes as her daughter attentively, her eagerness to be a good girl making the older doctor smile.

"Now darling, what your Papa and I are planning to have you do might seem a little daunting at first, but we're sure that it's something only you can do, and will support our work" Maki's Mama explained slowly, but brought a smile to the young girl's face.

The auburn-haired girl's eyes caught sight of her Papa exiting a patient's room as the duo approached, and a small smile appeared on his face as he noticed the two most important women in his life as he peeled off the rubber gloves that he had been wearing. Maki did her best to stand straighter in her Father's presence and not fidget with her skirt or play with her hair as a nervous habit.

"I just managed to get her to calm down after finishing her physical, since she's very excited at the idea of making a new friend" he explained to his wife and daughter with a bemused sigh, making Maki's eyebrows lift in curiosity.

Maki's Mother released her hand and turned to face her daughter with a bright smile, kneeling down so that she could better look into her daughter's eyes and speak to her. She didn't have to worry, as the moment her hand was released Maki was fully paying attention to her Mama's movements.

"There's a girl whose been coming to our hospital for a while that is very sick, but there's nothing we can really do to make her better. Instead we have to try and keep her from hurting herself further, yet she's incredibly excitable and cheerful, if not a bit forgetful" Maki hung off of every one of her Mama's words, becoming more interested by the second as she heard about this mysterious patient.

"We would like you to try and become her friend and help keep an eye on her so that she doesn't overdo it. Both your father and I know that it's a job only you can do Honey, and we have absolute faith in our little doctor prodigy" her Mama explained, bringing a warm heat to Maki's cheeks, as well as a small sense of pride that her parents trusted her so much.

"It might be a little unnerving getting to know her at first dear" her father chimed in, not looking at his daughter as he scanned a sheet of paper on the clipboard which had been placed in the patients medical form slot.

"Be patient with her and try not to let her just drag you around honey, she's quite the handful" her mother continued for her husband, offering a small smile to her only daughter, which Maki returned eagerly.

Her Father idly reached out to open the door for his daughter, and her Mama gently guided her towards the door. Though a small amount of trepidation was bubbling in her stomach as the moment of truth approached, Maki straightened her back and tried to look brave in front of her parents as she put one foot in front of the other and stepped through the doorway.

Once the door was closed again Mr. Nishikino released a tired sigh as he put the clipboard back into the slot and turned to face his wife with a small frown, only making the woman's smile widen in return.

"How do I let you talk me into these kinds of things?" The doctor asked rhetorically as his wife approached with a mischievous smile on her face. She didn't immediately reply to her husband as her eyes strayed back to the door momentarily where her daughter was busy .

"It's the perfect way to solve both of our problems and help Maki make some new friends Dear" Mrs. Nishikino informed her husband knowingly with that same smug smile on her face that the man had come to dread.

"I still think that you three are meddling too much in your daughters lives" the doctor commented, referring to his wife's childhood friends who were equally playful and somewhat annoying despite having grown up and had their own children.

His wife simply giggled at his commentary while moving her hands behind her back and smiling up at him "Maki can help keep her out of trouble in ways that we adults certainly can't" she pointed out to her husband.

"Not to mention that Kaguya, Mito and I were already friends at their age" Mrs. Nishikino added on brightly, only bringing a groan out of her husbands mouth at the reminder of the two other women his wife was friends with.

Groaning aloud and bringing up a hand to cover his face Mr. Nishikino knew better then to try and continue debating this topic with his wife as he turned away from the woman "I'll leave it in your capable hands then" he muttered in dismissal of the antics of the terrible trio, and began to walk away back towards the nurses station so that he could deal with a less stressful patient.

His wife followed with a melodic laugh and a comment about him being a "coward" as she made plans to collect her extra set of scrubs stashed in the locker room and put in a few hours at the hospital. A small plan in the back of her mind was to check up on the girls in a bit and see what kind of trouble they had gotten into.

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Maki hadn't been sure of what to expect when she entered the room and heard one of her parents shut the door behind her, but first noticed just how pristine the white room looked without many personal effects inside. A small vase with several multicoloured flowers in white, pink and orange sat on the table beside the patient's bed, along with a manga that Maki didn't recognize.

Sitting on the bed quietly to Maki's surprise given what her parents had told her was a tiny girl with bright orange hair and a luminous smile as her bright blue eyes turned to investigate her new visitor, which only grew brighter as their eyes met and her smile widened.

The auburn hadn't expected the girl to jump from the bed and invade Maki's personal space so quickly with how her parents made the girl's situation sound, and she had to resist flinching back from the girl. Only a brief thought in the back of her mind that she wasn't a scaredy-cat made her stand her ground, along with a reminder that this girl couldn't really be dangerous.

"Are you Doctor Nishikino's daughter?" She asked in a high and friendly voice, though then she continued before Maki could reply "You're just as pretty as she is!"

She was sure that her face was bright red at the compliment even though there was a small amount of resentment because she was being referred to as her parents daughter, and somehow managed to choke out a greeting despite the nerves bubbling in her chest "I'm Maki."

Reaching out to take the taller auburn's hands in her own tiny and pale ones the girl was still smiling as she offered her own introduction "I'm Honoka!" She chirped happily to the girl, almost looking ready to begin jumping with excitement.

Maki wasn't given much time to look at Honoka, but noted that instead of the hospital gown she was wearing a long white and orange dress along with a pair of velcro shoes which seemed amusing to Maki. Before she could notice anything else about the girl or the room that she had been in, Maki was brought back to attention by Honoka asking a question completely out of the blue "want to be friends?"

The girl's lack of a speed other then go was already tiring Maki out a bit, but her mind locked on the question of having a friend since she didn't have many of her own other then rich kids she'd met at several events her parents brought her to that she didn't like very much. She didn't dislike the idea of having a true friend like Honoka and it would help with the job her parents had given her, so she managed a shy smile and replied "yes please" quietly.

She had almost thought that Honoka hadn't heard her reply but was once again startled when Honoka did begin to jump in place and laugh without releasing Maki's hands, chanting about new friends eagerly.

A very brief lull passed between the two girls as Honoka recovered from her little explosion of joy, allowing Maki to note that the girls breathing seemed to be slightly laboured to her curiosity, but that question was shelved when Honoka started to speak again "hey, do you want to go and search the hospital for monsters together?"

While the concept of there being monsters in her parents hospital sounded silly to Maki she was more eager to spend time together with her new friend, and the thought of the pair getting into trouble with her parents was just an afterthought in the back of her mind so she offered a small nod to her new friend along with a shy smile.

Maki almost released a cry when Honoka rushed past her towards the door without releasing one of her hands and quickly pulled it open, dragging Maki along to her distress. Despite this she couldn't bring herself to complain to Honoka about letting go since the hand holding the smaller girls was tingling warmly and she couldn't seem to stop smiling as Honoka talked a mile a minute about her baby sister, though most of the information went in one ear and out the other.

Both girls were lightly scolded by Maki's Mama when they were caught in an older patients room looking under his bed for monsters to his amusement, but neither six-year old took the scolding to heart since Mrs. Nishikino was smiling as she told the two to try not to bother the Hospital's patients.

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A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter took so long and was only about four pages, since I actually had the core concept finished the night after I published the first chapter, but just couldn't get around to writing the hard copy until now. A combination of video games and an inability to sit down and write can be a glorious procrastination method.

Thank you all for being patient and following along so far and all of the reviews that you've written. It's very heart-warming to hear from you guys about the story.

Just adding this in at the end, I have a list of my gaming info like usernames and such on my profile and I'm more then happy to join up to play multiplayer games when or if I'm online. I've mostly been playing on Steam recently and have been getting the hang of Civ 5, so send along a message if you'd like. I'm a bit lacking in the friends department and would love to play with you guys.

Until next time love you everyone!