Oliver sat himself on the waiting area of the hospital. There was a line of people waiting for their names to be called by the physician.

The first thing that he looked for after overcoming his fear of riding cabs again was a hospital where he could have his injuries examined. Since he was able to walk inside the hospital, he was sure that he wouldn't be advised to be confined.

He hated hospitals after all – the stench of disinfectants, the blinding white sceneries, the sickening sound of heart monitors…the awful food…

"Shibuya-san?" the nurse called as she approached with a clipboard in hand.

Oliver slowly stood up to minimize the painful sting he was feeling in his limbs while he moved.

The nurse smiled at him – the usual smile that he got from any female or homosexual nurse he came across with.

"Dr. Matsuzaki will see you now," she said. "Please follow me."

Oliver made the most graceful strides he could muster with his pained legs. He could feel eyes all over him. Perhaps wearing the grey newsboy cap and vest was a bad idea.

It felt chilly outside and he was too pained and lazy to pull out his black coat from his luggage so he instead pulled out the easiest cover he could use over his black collard and buttoned polo shirt.

And he remembered that he had to thank Mai for saving his newsboy cap. He thought he had lost it in the car crash.

He went in to a room where a red-haired woman in a white coat read something on a clip board.

"Dr. Matsuzaki," the nurse said. "This is Shibuya-san."

The woman looked at him and smirked. "Well hello there hottie," he said. "I'm Ayako Matsuzaki – your attending physician. And what kind of harm was inflicted to your precious physique?

Oliver glared at her and sat on the bed. "I didn't know they allowed sexual harassments in this hospital," he said.

Ayako glared back at him. "Excuse me," she exclaimed. "I'm a doctor and I am strictly professional when it comes to my work."

"I see. I'm just not used to speaking with a doctor who uses the word 'hottie' to refer to their patients, and the phrase 'precious physique' to their patients' body."

Ayako scowled. "You're quite a jerk aren't you?"

"Ah so knowing your rights against sexual harassment is a ground to becoming a 'jerk,'" Oliver said smirking. "I've never heard that before. I guess you're more of a teacher than a doctor, aren't you?"

"Why you…"

"I guess I went to the wrong room," Oliver said standing up and walking to the door. "I was looking forward to having a medical consultation with a physician, not a paedophile."

"Paedophile," Ayako exclaimed. "How old do you think am I?"

"Surely not any younger than me," he said as he took a step in the hallway.

"You pompous jerk," Ayako said glaring holes at the young man. "Go ahead. You won't find any other available physicians with how you act."

"I won't mind," he replied smirking at the woman. "I heard there are a lot of hospitals in town. This path here leads to the main office of this hospital, right? I'll just leave a suggestion to this hospital about doctors harassing their patients."

Ayako's face flushed with embarrassment. "No one will listen to you."

"Then you shouldn't warn me like that now, correct?"

Ayako huffed in anger and took a deep breath. "Fine..! Close that door and tell me what's wrong, Shibuya-san."

"How would I be sure that you won't pounce me?" Oliver said, his eyes flaring with slyness beneath his mask of innocence.

"Leave the door open then," she muttered. "I see in the nurse's report that your legs are in pain. I need to examine them without your black pants hiding them. I don't have x-ray vision after all."

Oliver walked back in. "Dressing room..?"

"That door," she said pointing to a small door in the room. "There's a hospital gown there."

Oliver walked to the door and went in to change.

Ayako gritted her teeth as she read the notes on her clipboard about what her patient was feeling.

Mai watched her classmates play volley ball. She was lucky that their group was in charge of officiating the game instead of playing for that day.

She was on the scoring board, tallying the scores.

Her classmates also seemed to notice her groggy state. Even their PE teacher asked her if she was okay with going out to participate in the activity.

She didn't like being confined to the clinic again. She had worried her friends and burdened her teachers with having to check her condition all the time.

So she smiled and went to the court with them. The class insisted that she stand by the score board instead of standing on the lines so she didn't work her self out that much.

She didn't like the special treatment but she had to admit that she liked being there. At least she could sit and slightly relieve her body of the tension it received from consecutive days of work.

"Well common pain killers would be fine," Ayako said, eyeing the bruised legs Oliver had. "Take a tablet of Mefenamic Acid every six hours since it's still swollen. It will also relieve you of the pain."

Oliver nodded as he looked at the bluish purple marks on his legs.

"I'm actually amazed at how your wounds are healing," Ayako said smiling at him. "Whoever treated you knew what he or she was doing. The wound on your head is healing quite well and the medicines you've been taking are correct – even the dosages."

Oliver hid his surprise behind a blank expression.

"I'm also surprised at how you got these injuries," Ayako said smirking as she wrote on the record with the name 'Shibuya Kazuya.' "But seeing your expression, I'd say you wouldn't want to talk about it even with the police."

"It was an accident that had been resolved already," Oliver said.

Ayako nodded. "If you say so," she said signing on the record that was on her clip board. "You can go change now. If you feel anything else in your body after taking the medicine, just ask for me or set up an appointment so we can check it out."

She then handed him a note with the medicine and dosages for his injuries. It also had her name and contact number.

"Just call that number to set up an appointment," Ayako said. She then looked at him with a smirk on her face. "I have to admit you're not that difficult for a patient. You're a jerk but you're not that bad," she said shrugging her shoulders. "You can go change now."

Oliver nodded and walked to the changing room. "You're quite tolerable yourself for a paedophile."

"What..!"

Oliver walked out of the room before Ayako could scold him.

Mai sat in her desk smiling at the stories her friends were sharing around her.

The topic for that day's break period was the specific gestures that differentiated their teachers from one another. There was that teacher who couldn't help but use his middle finger when pointing at students for emphasis in his lectures; a teacher whose eye lids closed for three seconds every five seconds of lecturing; a teacher who always looked groggy for some reason; and more.

Mai was enjoying their exaggerated imitations of the teachers as they made their talk similar to a guessing game.

Her friends advised her to take a nap but she figured it would cause her to fall asleep more after the break was done. So she listened to their chat hoping it would take her mind off of sleeping.

The noise didn't help much but she did enjoy it.

Mai sighed silently as she took a glimpse at the scenery outside the window.

The young man seemed better than the first time she saw him so she thought perhaps he would be able to move around more. And by move around, judging by the length of the stick that seemed to stick up from his behind, that would most likely include a trip outside her house.

Mai smiled sadly.

Maybe he would even try to visit a hotel and move out. Then she would have the house to her self again.

Mai looked back at her friends as they laughed. For some reason, even with the cold treatment that Naru was giving her, she couldn't find a reason to develop an aversion towards him.

Wait…Naru..? Oh right…she hasn't asked him about his name – if it was in deed the 'Kazuya Shibuya' written on the luggage. And since he was so narcissistic, she labelled him 'Naru.'

She will hate Naru – yes. But her definition of 'hate' wasn't the same as an average person's. She might dream of torturing him for his behaviour but not want it to happen to him in reality.

She figured it was because she believed that deep inside he was a kind person – that he won't mean her harm. And she had to admit that she admired him, not just because he was undoubtedly gorgeous but also because he seemed strong.

She had always wanted to be strong. But she usually ended up bothering people – making them worry, making them spare her some time and even money…

She was very grateful to people. In fact she was too grateful that she didn't want them to be burdened with her.

Mai looked down at her hands. He was her guest and yet she couldn't attend to him. She rarely even spoke to him.

He was wounded and yet she didn't attend to his wounds that much after his first night in the house. She was always too busy for him.

She wanted to be more hospitable to him. She believed that he needed to be cared for since he didn't seem to know anyone else in the country.

But she also had to work. One more year and she would graduate. And hopefully she would get a job in Europe with a help from her friend.

She would fulfil her parent's dreams.

Mai looked up at her friends again and acted as if she had been listening from the start of their conversations.

There were so many things running through her mind – all of it waiting to be sorted out. At that moment however she wanted to relax a little while she could.


Oliver read the signs as he walked down the street. It was almost lunch and despite his head telling him to just eat lunch somewhere, his stinging legs led him to the way back to Mai's hole.

He sighed as he walked with his head bowed and lips unconsciously in a pout.

The hole was so crammed up and ugly, it didn't fit to be called a 'house' or an 'apartment.' And yet there he was making his way through the small crowd walking to and fro on the street.

He had passed several restaurants. He took a slight glimpse at all of them through its windows and menus. And though he firmly felt his wallet inside his pocket, he couldn't seem to find enough strength to at least buy anything to eat.

He ignored the stares he received from girls and women that he passed.

He liked his looks. There were a lot of perks to it but it also had a lot of drawbacks. And the stare was one of them.

He chose to ignore it and instead focused on memorizing the places that he had passed and the path that he took to get to them. At first he planned on saving a reservation in a hotel but after realizing one thing that he didn't realize before he rode the airplane days ago, he decided to just stay in the 'hole' for a few more days and just think about it again after his bruises were completely healed.

He was still in town when he noticed children and teenagers walking with their uniforms on.

That of course meant that Mai would be on her way for lunch.

His legs unconsciously sped up his pace despite the stings it gave him.

Mai was running in the alley.

It was past lunch time again. She was undoubtedly dishonouring her countrymen with her sense of time.

Upon turning to face her apartment however she saw the young man in front of her door – opening the door with the spare key that she left.

"Oh hey," she breathlessly greeted as she walked towards him.

He looked back at her while he twisted the door knob.

She smiled at him and noticed a small paper bag in his hand. She recalled what it was. "Oh you went to the hospital," she said smiling brightly. The young man opened the door and waited for her to go in before he took a step into the house.

She sighed in relief. "I was worried about not taking you to a doctor immediately. I was actually planning on taking you there tomorrow," she said as she headed straight to the kitchen and began to fill the plates with the meal she bought for her guest. "So how was it? What did the doctor say?" she asked – looking at him and waiting for a reply.

"I'm fine," he said as he sat down near the small table.

Mai nodded, understanding that he wouldn't say anything more. "I'm sorry I couldn't take you there earlier," she apologetically said as she began to fix her self a cup of tea. "I have school," she continued shyly. "Would you like some tea?"

"I know," he said. "Yes."

She smirked. "So did the doctor say how long before you could fully recover?"

"Why do you like to know?"

She froze. It came out wrong, didn't it? "Hey," she shyly said. "It's not like I'm kicking you out or anything. I just want to know so... I'd know." She had her back on him – unable to think of what he would look like if she faced him.

He didn't reply.

She sighed and shyly turned to look at him. His handsome face was free of any trace of emotion.

"You're my guest and yet I… I haven't been treating you well so I guess I want to make it up to you," she said.

Was she crazy? She seemed to be spending more for food because of him. And though her accommodations never even dared to match a hotel or apartment accommodation, he had to admit it was tolerable if not good enough.

"And I also want to help you if ever you need to move out to a hotel and stuff," she said – still trying hard not to blush at what she was saying.

Oliver sighed. She sounded like she was hooking him up into something.

"Don't worry, I won't knock on your hotel room door or whatever after you leave," she quickly said. "I'll just…help you carry your things in a cab and stuff."

Oliver stood up and took the small TV from the shelf and placed in on top of the table. He turned it on and adjusted the antenna to slightly clear up the picture on the screen.

"I'll be good in a week," he said.

Mai smiled and served the food.