The next day naoki awoke to the relaxing aroma of coffee.
She hummed in a minimum, almost a whisper. A familiar tune he recognized.
Naoki watched from the bed as kotoko happily cooked.
The sight brought a warm feeling inside. This was something he would be happy to wake up to each morning.
That night, kotoko insisted that he slept on the bed while she slept on the couch.
There was no point in arguing with her knowing how stubborn she was.
Besides, he knew his place. It was already too much that she had to take him in for the night, so he had no right to complain on how she wanted things to be done.
"Oh, i didn't notice you were awake"
"Sorry, you just looked so happy i didn't want to disrupt you" he got up and resisted the urge to hug her. In that moment, he thought he was dreaming.
Kotoko hurried to the cupboard to grab a mug as naoki started to crack the eggs by the bowls.
"Let me do the cooking, it's the least i can do to thank you"
"No that's okay… you did the same for me back then" she was referring to the incident years ago when yuki got sick and they stayed in his apartment.
The memory made him feel nostalgic….'now the tables have turned' he finally realized.
The next day, both kotoko and naoki were working similar hours.
She continued on her regular routine and naoki did with his as well.
Kotoko was then called by the head nurse and was instructed to go to a specific room to meet her new patient.
According to the head nurse, this was a 'special request'
And that she needed to be in her best behaviour because the patient specifically wanted kotoko as her nurse starting today, since she will be admitted to the hospital for a possible surgery.
She skipped happily, proud that someone finally was seeing how much effort she put into her work, she smiled to herself but then bumps into someone and lands on the floor.
"Kotoko?"
"Eh? Irie-kun? What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you that, i'm here to check my patient"
"Huh?"
"Kotoko-chan ! over here!" the little girl waved.
"Nami-chan? You're my patient?
Naoki eyes her , questioning why she did not know who she was attending to.
"Didn't you look at the report?"
"Oh, i forgot, i was so happy someone requested for me, i came here as soon as i can"
Kotoko hurriedly examined the papers on her clipboard.
"I wanted you to be my nurse kotoko-chan! I know staying in the hospital can get boring so i hope we can get along!"
"Nami-chan your so cute! Don't worry, irie-kun and i will do everything in our power to help you! Your lucky he's your doctor! He's like superman !"
"Superman?" nami asked
"Yeah! He has an IQ of 200! When we were in highschool, he was always the #1 on the top 100 list, he even managed a company for while without going to business school, you know the game tennis warrior? irie-kun made that!"
"Oy, you talk too much" naoki scolded her
"Really? Thats amazing!"
"Yeah! So don't worry nami-chan! You're in good hands ! FIGHTOU!" kotoko encouraged the patient as she threw fist in the air.
Nami smiled like she never did in weeks, naoki observed how such a small encouragement from kotoko was enough to fire her up. He knew instantly that having her as nami's nurse was a great decision.
Everyday he got up from bed with a smile on his face.
He looked into the mirror while he brushed his teeth, the bed hair was visually bothering him.
Still having the brush in his mouth, he fiddled with his hair a little, moving strands of it on the side for a more 'well put together look'
After brushing his teeth, he glanced at his reflection once again and kissed his teeth.
Naoki ruffled his hair back to messy
'No, i look desperate, i should just keep it this way… she fell for the young naoki, when i wasn't that self conscious about myself, yeah. This should do'
Satisfied with his natural self, he went downstairs to have breakfast.
Yuki and his mother were both sitting on the dining table at their usual places.
"Ohayo"
The two looked up. He was usually grumpy during mornings and most of the time remained silent whenever he came for breakfast. It was always their mother or yuki who would greet him 'good morning' first.
"O-ohayo onii-chan, you look like you've been in a good mood lately"
"Ive been getting good sleep" he explained, just so she doesn't get any ideas
"Mhmmm… maybe some good dreams too, given the fact that you and kotoko-chan have been hanging out alot more"
"I work with her, she's handling one of my patients" naoki was putting up his defences. If he was ever going to win kotoko back, he wanted it to be out of his own efforts, not because of his mother's persistence
"I see, whatever you say naoki" she giggled.
He stopped reading his newspaper, embarrassed that yuki could hear this whole conversation, he got up and grabbed a toast and started to head to the door.
"Your not staying for breakfast?"
Naoki felt his pocket vibrate, he checked the text
The instant he read her name, his mood changed from irritated to happy again.
'I'll be buying nami-chan a gift for her birthday, do you want to come?"
Naoki remembered he had a shift today that was about to start in exactly an hour and 30 minutes, he then gets an idea and looks for a number, ignoring his mother's question
"Hello funatsu? Your off today right?"
"Good, switch with me. Take my shift today, something came up and you still owe me one from that time i covered for you… yes it starts at 9AM but it's an easy surgery… okay thank you"
He puts the phone away and starts walking towards the stairs when his mother quickly runs and stands between him and the stairs, her hands were spread out as she physically tried to block him from going up his room
"Why are you skipping work? Where are you going? That's so not like you naoki" she demanded to peeked his head, trying to listen to what his brother would say
"I have a date, now move"
"DATE!?" the two yelled out with surprised look on their faces
"If you dare follow me… i won't walk her home anymore. Im serious"
Noriko screamed on top of her lungs as she jumped for joy, she was on cloud nine. As she celebrated, naoki walked passed her as he rolled his eyes. There was no point in hiding his true feelings, slowly… he was learning to fearlessly make his intentions clear.
Something he was extremely poor at , something that made him feel vulnerable.
'If it's her, i guess it's fine' he smiled to himself.