A few weeks later the roommates did indeed return to Mr. Aihara's restaurant for a celebration. "Both of us made it!" Kotoko crowed to her father when they entered.
"What? You passed?!" His face beamed as he spun her around in a circle, placing nearby tables in imminent danger.
"What's the ruckus? Hey, Kotoko's here!" Kinnosuke rushed from the kitchen area only to skid to a halt when Nishigaki turned to face him. "You!" he spat.
"Yes, me." He grinned at him. "How's the dishwashing business?"
"Why—you—I'm an apprentice chef, you stuck-up bastard!"
"Don't worry. I didn't mean it as an insult. After all, dishwashing is a noble profession since we want to protect the environment. Oof!"
Kotoko's elbow impacted his rib cage. "Stop goading him," she ordered sternly.
"Where's the respect for my profession?" he complained.
"Okay. Stop goading him, Doctor."
"Oh!" Mr. Aihara pointed at Nishigaki. "She said both of you! Congratulations!" He shook his hand excitedly.
"Thank you."
"So, how soon can I get a consultation? Every so often this shoulder…" He rotated his arm slowly.
Nishigaki laughed. "I'll be supervised for two more years, but after that, I'll only charge you the family rate."
"Ha ha!" He slapped his knee. "Family rate!" Kinnosuke let out an outraged huff and stomped back to the kitchen. Mr. Aihara gestured that direction with a thumb. "Actually, my worst pain is a little lower."
"Otosan!" Kotoko scolded him. "Kin-chan is very loyal to you!"
"Yes, but he's not the brightest bulb in the package."
"Well, neither am I," she pointed out as she sat down.
"Don't say that in class," Nishigaki warned her. "Competition in the field is brutal."
"Oh?" She looked at him quizzically. "I would have thought they'd want to cooperate. You know, since they'll be working together to get people healthy."
"I meant competition for the doctors' attention." He poked her nose. "There are some of them who view the profession as an opportunity to catch themselves a doctor for a husband. They won't hesitate to accentuate any weaknesses they perceive in others to put themselves forward."
"Well, if they're after a doctor, you're the one in most danger," she taunted.
"I know," he agreed. "But luckily that kind are in the minority. At any rate," he winked at her, "unless she is absolutely irresistible, I'll confine myself to 'flirtation only' with the hospital employees."
"See. You can teach an old dog new tricks."
"Hey! Just because I have a few years on you is no reason to call me old. And you're limited to one drink tonight, you lush!" He reached across the table and tousled her hair.
Odawara and his boss watched the pair from behind the counter. "Think they'll make a match of it?"
Mr. Aihara shook his head. "Not from what I've seen so far. Of course, when I first met him I was worried about something worse, but they seem to be just friends." He sighed. "Too bad. It would be nice to have a doctor for a son-in-law."
Kinnosuke, brows meeting above his nose, broke in, "And what's wrong with having a chef for a son-in-law?"
Odawara turned and shoved him back to the kitchen. "Nothing, except that she wouldn't have you on a silver platter! Gold either, I bet!"
Kotoko rushed out of her bedroom holding up two outfits. "Which one do you think is better?" she asked anxiously.
Nishigaki rubbed his eyes and looked up from his patient notes. "Why are you trying to impress them the first day? Besides, as the year progresses, they'll eventually see all your clothes."
She lowered the hangers. "I know you're right," she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, "but this is the first time that I'm meeting these students who spent last year together. I don't want to look like some dumb bunny."
"Don't worry," he assured her. "Anyone who can pass that test isn't unintelligent. You'll just be a little older than most of them."
"And they'll know that I couldn't make up my mind for a long time."
"Stop finding things to fret about," he chided her. "I didn't act that way, and here I am, in my third week of work with no neuroses in sight."
"Yes, but you went straight to medical school," she argued.
"Big deal. There are lots of reasons your education could have been delayed. Don't let it—or them—get to you."
As she had feared, dead silence greeted her entrance into the first class of the day. She forced a smile as she waved. "Good morning!"
The majority of the people glanced at her then went back to their previous conversations. One sweet-faced student rose and approached her. "Are you new?" When Kotoko nodded, she went on. "I heard from someone that we were getting a transfer student. What department are you transferring from?"
"Ah, the literature department."
The girl led her to an empty seat. "You can sit here with me, if you like."
What an adorable person! Kotoko thought.
"I'm Ogura Tomoko. Nice to meet you."
Kotoko bobbed her head. "It's nice to meet you too. My name is Aihara Kotoko."
"You must want to be a nurse pretty badly if you're transferring after beginning in another department."
"Ah, yes," Kotoko agreed, face flushing. "It took me a while to discover what I wanted to do in life."
She patted her hand. "There's nothing wrong with that. What was the literature department like?"
Kotoko looked around. "Probably much the same as this. Although," she noted, "you seem to have a lot more women." She relaxed when she saw that most of them were average-looking like her, but there were a few pretty ones and her eyes stopped at one beauty. "My goodness, she is absolutely stunning!" she exclaimed aloud.
Tomoko followed her gaze. "Oh, but that's—"
"I bet all the male patients will fall in love with her," she predicted, then thought, This one might be the 'irresistible' one for Yuichi. I wonder if I should warn him?
"But, Kotoko-san," Tomoko attempted to speak again, "that person is—"
"Here comes the teacher!" hissed a girl from across the room. All the conversations ceased and the students rose and bowed.
The professor addressed them from the podium. "Now that you are in second year, your lessons will focus on actual practice and training. You must still keep up with your book work, but this year you will be learning the skills to prepare you for your field."
Just like Yuichi and Rin-san said! Kotoko thought.
"Starting this semester, I am going to divide you into groups of five, and your training exercises will be conducted with the other members of your group. These study groups will be consistent for all of your classes, so you should become well acquainted with each other. I hope you will all cooperate and help your fellow students out in your endeavors." She began listing the names for each group. Kotoko was happy that Tomoko's name was also called for Group Two.
"Kotoko-san! The rest of our group's over there."
Kotoko followed her to the others. There was a very pretty girl with sharp eyes, the gorgeous woman whom she had noticed earlier, and a person with hair falling below the shoulders. She realized the last one was male when he turned to regard her critically. "Oh! You're a man!"
He sniffed. "Men can become nurses, too. Didn't you even know that? What a scrub."
"Hey!" she protested. "I knew that! Why, Ri—, I mean, Jinguji-san told me what school would be like and even loaned me his first-year textbooks!"
"How did you meet the famous Jinguji-sempai, Little Miss Noob?" the pretty girl leaned close. "Especially since you were in the literature department." She narrowed her eyes. "Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing you around much. Were you held back or something?"
The man's lip curled as he attacked the questioner. "What are you saying?! Nursing is a job that has people's lives at stake. No idiot stupid enough to be held back would be transferring here!"
Eek! This one was intense! And I hope he never catches a glimpse of my past grades. "No, I'm a late transfer, so I'm a little bit older than you guys. That's probably why we never crossed paths." Kotoko grinned awkwardly. "I hope that won't be a problem."
"Calm down, Keita," Tomoko chided him. "I already told Kotoko-chan that finding your calling later in life is nothing to be ashamed of."
Kotoko's eyes narrowed. She was only two years older than this crew—no need to make her sound like a senior citizen!
Before she could say anything, the pretty one attacked again. "So, tell us the real story. Is there a dude you like in med school or something?" When Kotoko merely blinked at her, she smiled and said, "I'm Shinagawa Marina. My dream is to eventually marry a doctor and ride the gravy train for life."
That set off the male student once more. Luckily Kotoko was not the target, so she sat back and enjoyed the show. "Marina! Will you get rid of that ugly attitude already?! Don't sully this saintly profession with your base motives!"
"Oh, Keita, who cares? I like rich, smart men—what's wrong with that? I want to insure my future kids have good genes. Not everyone is a zealot for nursing like you."
"What did you say?!"
"Pay them no mind," Tomoko advised Kotoko. "They're always like that. Oh, that passionate guy there is Kamogari Keita."
Upon hearing his name, he turned and with a clenched fist declared, "My goal is to become the best male nurse in all of Japan. The word 'compromise' does not exist in my vocabulary." His voice rose. "I will give my all to heal and tend to the sick!"
"How very…noble of you," Kotoko croaked out.
"Hey," another voice was heard, "since you're such a close friend of Jinguji-sempai, have you ever met his good friend Nishigaki-sempai—ooh, we should say 'sensei' now, shouldn't we?"
Kotoko narrowed her eyes. This was the extraordinary beauty from before, but, "Your voice!" she exclaimed. "It's so deep and gravelly."
"How rude!" she snapped back.
"But you're such a beautiful lady—why is your voice like a man's?"
Holding her hand to her face, she preened. "Me, beautiful? You think so? My name is Kikyou Motoki. You can just call me Moto-chan. As for what you mentioned, I am a woman mistakenly born into a male's body." She speared Kotoko with a glare. "Do you have a problem with that?"
She waved her hands. "Not a bit. It takes all kinds."
"Aw, you're so sweet." She dreamily closed her eyes. "I've always wanted to be 'the angel in white'. In fact, it wouldn't be far off to say that I chose the nurse's path simply because I so adore those little hats they wear. In all of Japan, I will be the best-looking woman in a nurse's cap."
Kotoko looked around the little group. "Well, Tomoko-chan and Marina-san—can I call you that?—might give you a little competition."
"What did you say?! Anyway, back to my original question—you don't have anything to do with Nishigaki-sensei who just graduated medical school, right?"
"Dr. Nishigaki…?"
"If you know Nurse Jinguji, then surely he's talked about Nishigaki-sensei. After all, they acted as each other's wingman when they were underclassmen, or so the stories say."
"Sounds about right," Kotoko muttered.
"What was that? Never mind." She shook her head, curls bouncing. "Listen, sister, he is the tops in looks and brains from the med school for the past ten years at least. Of course, we thought we had another one last year, but he just disappeared after a few months."
"Irie-kun," Kotoko breathed.
"Oh, so you had heard of him! Anyway, he's gone, so Dr. Nishigaki is our idol!"
"Um…"
"Motoki is a total Nishigaki fan," Tomoko informed her with a smile. "She even created a fan club for him."
"That's right!" Motoki winked. "I'm the president."
"I'm a member too," spoke Marina. "After all, there's no one here that meets my criteria better than him. Plus, we're going to be training over in Tonan Hospital, where Dr. Nishi-dreamy is interning."
"Marina!" Motoki went on the the attack. "Is that how you view Nishigaki-sempai? You shallow, little—why, we're enemies now!"
"What?" she retorted. "Under all those frills you still have a man's plumbing. You need to abandon your hopeless love."
"What did you say?" Other groups had begun to cast glances at the contretemps.
Keita banged his head against the cabinet behind him. "Ugh, you two are always 'Nishi this' and 'Nishi that'. Your motives are all shallow and frivolous. What are you becoming nurses for?"
"But isn't Dr. Nishigaki a major playboy?" All eyes snapped to Kotoko. "Uh," she began playing with the ends of her hair, "that's just what I heard. Jinguji-san may have mentioned that much."
After a moment of silence, Motoki grabbed her by the shoulders. "Yes, yes, it's true! You are very well informed! But," she released her and patted her hair, "that's not to say that the right woman won't be able to change his mind. He just has to meet her."
"Well," Marina sniffed, "it's not going to be you. I can guarantee that!"
"And here they go again," Keita groused. He turned to the quietest member of the group. "At least you're not that crazy, Tomoko-chan."
"Oh, but I think he's the most handsome too," she said.
"Ugh!"
"Say, Koto-chan," Motoki turned to her, speaking quite familiarly already, "we'll take a little detour into the hospital after classes. If we're lucky, I can point out Dr. Studly to you. But no poaching!" She waved a finger in her face. "That fine ass belongs to me!"
"In your dreams," disputed Marina.
"Guys, can we please discuss nursing for a change?" pled Keita.
"Oh, that lab coat looks like it was made just for him!"
"Anything he puts over that physique of his would look good!"
"Not that I'd mind seeing him in less clothing!"
A step behind the swooning trio (Keita having declined to accompany them on the field trip), Kotoko tried to stifle laughter. Nishigaki smiled obliviously as he took notes while the senior physician spoke to a group of interns. I just hope he doesn't glance my way and blow my cover, she thought.
Danger, however, approached from another direction. "Aihara-san?"
Kotoko spun around to see Funatsu, a clipboard in hand. "Eek!" The weird one, she thought.
"What are you doing here? Oh," he winked at the sight in front of the nursing students and leaned over to whisper, "I'm here to deliver some scheduling information to that doctor. While I'm at it, should I send over Nish—"
Kotoko clamped a hand over his mouth. "Ha ha," she managed when her group members turned.
Marina pounced. "What?! Kotoko, you're acquainted with Funatsu-san too?!"
Motoki was not far behind. "He's now the top student in medical school! Wow, girl, you sure get around!"
"Mmph pmph!" Funatsu tried to speak but Kotoko's hands stayed put.
"Yes, we know each other a little." She rolled her eyes wildly at him. "Mutual friend and all, right, Funatsu-san? Well! Sorry to rush off! Let's go, ladies! It looks like your quarry has vanished." Sure enough, the group of doctors had proceeded down the hall and were out of sight.
"So how was your first day of nursing classes? I bet it was just like I predicted, nothing to worry about!"
Kotoko stared solemnly at her roommate. "Let me just say that you need to stay a little more aware of your surroundings."
"Huh?"
"My study group includes the president of the Dr. Nishigaki Fan Club."
He grinned. "A fan club? Really? Well, not that I don't deserve one. What are the members like?"
"Your decision not to date nursing students was definitely the correct one. I just hope I can keep our living arrangements under their radar or I'll be in danger of jealous attacks."
A/N: Since Kotoko has entered nursing school a year ahead of canon, so have the rest of the gang.