Chapter 25 - Kotoko: Sloth Speed

After that dizzying congratulatory celebration the night of her capping ceremony, most of Kotoko's 10 day-long winter vacation consisted of mainly two things:

One, "dates" with Kin-chan at Aihara's / Aihara's vendor locations.

Okay, there was that one mortifying occurrence in which they went ice-skating. More accurately speaking, Kotoko slipping and falling half the time, while Kin-chan fretted and fussed over her, turning heads of all the other skaters. One almost called the paramedics, mistakenly thinking she was unconscious. She could not blame them. They were literal strangers to Kin-chan's dramatics. The atoning factor of their date, was the piping hot taiyaki they had at the station on the way home. On the second thought, another redeeming part was the bouts of laughter they shared before leaving the rink (partly out of embarrassment, but still, it felt good to ROFL -or in her case ROIL- till her belly split) *

And two, mentally preparing for her impending internship at Tonan University Hospital in her own room.

"Preparing", as in, spending every night, lying in bed, imagining scenarios of what her very first patient would be like.

Would they be an adorable child who only listens to me, because I quickly became their favorite Onee-chan? Or maybe a grumpy Ojii-san who sees me as her own granddaughter after warming up to my lovely nature? Perhaps a troubled teen whose athletic dreams got shattered due to an injury, whom I bring hope to again after a dramatic reprimand! *

So when she learned that her first case was Yoshida Toyo, an 80 year old female with neuralgia, she was quite determined.

Elderly women like me a lot! At least the ones who frequent Aihara's do. *

But this prickly, yet oddly deja-vu inducing grandma was the last thing she imagined working with for the next month or so.

"I don't bother remembering the names of trainees. I bet you cannot even change the bed sheets right."

Just recalling their initial meeting, from this earlier this morning, made her blood boil.

Sure she was new, but she had the proper training! I'll show her, I am more than qualified to be her nurse! Eh, the last time I felt this fired up was when I got rejected by Irie-kun… no wonder Toyo baa-chan felt familiar. *

Kotoko snapped out of her revelation at the sound of Moto-chan's distress regarding his gluttonous patient Shion, as she neared their lunch table. Marina shared the willowly man's sentiments with complaints of her own full-on anime Otaku patient. *

"What's up with you Kotoko?"

Keita asked as she placed her bento on the table and sat down lifelessly.

"Well, you see, my patient, Yoshida-san. She is unbelievable."

"What do you mean? She seems like a nice old lady."

The rest of her comrades replied curiously.

"Yea, she offered me and Akiko-chan cookies."

Keita adds nonchalantly.

"Yoshida-san used the nurse call button to summon me at least eight times this morning. It's only been four hours! The first was to massage her arms. The next was her legs. Then it was her shoulders, back, hips, hands, feet, and even her scalp! Eight separate calls, at the most random times. Ah and I had to brew tea for her in between some of those instances. So it was more like ten calls."

"Oh, Aihara-san, thank you for your help this morning. Yoshida-san is at it again."

"Huh?"

"Bullying the interns? I remember, in the past I would try to help them as much as possible, but everytime I intervened Yoshida-san would be like, 'No, not you!' Eventually, I just let her do as she pleases. Sorry you had to take all her nurse calls, Aihara-san."

One of her mentors said with a courteous smile, which Kotoko mirrored weakly.

"Hang in there, Aihara-san. I heard the last trainee lost her confidence and quit."

Another senior nurse remarked with a sorry giggle.

"Eh, she quit? I had no idea."

The third nurse chimed in, giving Kotoko a slight pitying look. She hardly had time to process her shock when commotion stirred in the staff cafeteria. These squeals and whispers meant only one thing: Irie Naoki was in the vicinity.

Please don't sit with us! Please don't associate with me!

Kotoko silently pleaded as her mentors gave them all (the trainees) a "don't even dream of calling dibs" warning regarding the popular medical intern.

"I heard you had a rough morning, Kotoko. You barely got here for a few hours and already worked up a name for yourself, although in ways complete different than my rise to fame around here. I should applaud you for it."

He sure cuts to the chase. Dang you genius-kun! Can't you read the room?

The girl internally wails, feeling the daggers of envy descended upon her from the neighboring table as Naoki casually sits across from her.

The damage is done, might as well dig into this bento. The only highlight of my day, thanks to Kin-chan. Wait, that's it! If my senpais know I have a boyfriend, then surely they will rescind their murderous attitudes towards me.

She first replied to Irie-kun, it would be rude not to; before launching into her plan of getting the jealous females off her back. Thankfully, Tomoko had the sense to back her up. Thanks Tomo-chan! I owe you one! She gave her quick witted friend a grateful grin. Her gratitude was quickly overtaken by fear of impending doom when the supposed (more like senseless) "genius" of IQ 200 blew her efforts out of the water with one request.

"Kotoko, keep tomorrow evening free. Your final exams are coming up soon right? I owe you a tutoring session."

Must he ruin my reputation this way? Irie-kun you social BAKA! No, I am the biggest baka of them all. I should have seen this coming. Why did we have to retort to our usual banter from home?! I got swept up in normalcy that I forgot where we were! *

She mentally curses, as Naoki leaves the canteen without a care, like he did not just invite a charging elephant into the room.

She did not even have a moment's notice before her infuriated mentors came at her with a series of questions.

"What was that?" "What is your relationship with him?" "Explain yourself, Aihara-san!"

She contemplated the best possible answer to their parade of demands, but no damage-leveraging response came to mind. Before she knew it, the trio were already in a state of utter shock due to Moto-chan's misleading remark.

"Irie-sama is her live-in tutor of sorts, it's a long story."

Motoki expressed the group's "Yes, we understand. We've been there." sentiments to the recovering mentors, recalling the day after their nutrition lecture semesters ago, when their class first learned of this peculiar combo's relationship.

By the time Kotoko did have a reasonable counter-claim, her mentors already served her a "guilty" sentence. Their gavel being the following reasons:

"Well, Aihara-san must be an exceptional nurse, being the great Irie-sensei's pupil and all."

"Agreed, I suppose our guidance would simply be unnecessary confusion for Aihara-san."

"Yes, they do say 'too many cooks can ruin the dish.' In that case, we can rest assured and leave Yoshida-san's care up to you, Aihara-san."

Then the three laughed haughty and carried on with their meal.

She looks to her friends for help, but the only support she got was pats on the back and a string of

"Good luck, Kotoko."

Her next few weeks were nothing but challenges from Yoshida-san, in the form of at least 50 nurse calls a day. All for the most random tasks, ranging from convenience store runs (for snacks that are not even sold anymore) to helping her turn on the TV (even though the remote was only an arm's length away);

on top of trying to figure out how things run in this hospital without any help from her unreasonably jealous "mentors".

On days she was lucky, Keita, Tomo-chan, Moto-chan and Marina would give her some small pointers here and there, but they were usually busy with patients of their own, which led her back to square one.

If that was not enough to wear down her spirits, Nurse Hosoi introduced her to a second patient, a newly admitted, five year old boy, Nozomi Daisuke-kun. She thought treating him would be one to give her some hope or at least a hand in restoring what she thought nursing would be like (much like his name's sake) but she was dead wrong.

Was my smile creepy? If not, why did this kid start bawling the moment I said hello?

Kotoko wonders after the head nurse ushered her out, giving her a separate task (in the radiology department, far from the boy's ward).

Making matters even more frustrating (as if it could get any worse), was her inability to write an acceptable nurse report. After turning in a Irie-kun-proof-read version (which also got rejected, preposterously enough) the fledgling nurse began to realize that it wasn't the actual content that needed revising at all. Rather, it was her name itself.

Her witty solution to that problem? Turning her report in anonymously.

She really did owe it to Head Nurse Hosoi for her cryptic message on a random morning as they were making her rounds.

"You know, Oprah once said: 'Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not.' That seems like a worthy trait. Right, Aihara-san?"

She got quite a laugh (she didn't laugh out loud, only secretly, in the locker room) the next day when a supervising nurse snarkily suggested she reference her own report (the very one she left her name off of) as the perfect example of what reports should look like, as she handed in a file in person.

That night, she called her girlfriends from high school, to share her experiences and for some insight by people outside her field.

Maybe they can offer a fresh perspective, like they always do.

Yet their response, although not untrue, wasn't what she needed (wanted) to hear.

"Kotoko, maybe you should reconsider this profession." (Satomi)

"Yea, you do have other options, you know? Like taking over Aihara's? You seemed pretty happy when you were a server." (Jinko)

"Not to mention, your eyes sparkled when you talk about your outings to the markets with Kin-chan."

"Speaking of Kin-chan, his plan of letting you rest easy for the rest of your lives is not a bad idea. I would love it if my man desired to provide for me in that way."

"But Jinko, you said you wanted to be the breadwinner in the future since Nagasaki-kun's finances go straight to his band. I guess he can afford to with his folks owning the biggest entertainment agency in town."

"Says the girl who is dating a future big shot lawyer, whose family is extremely well off! Enough about the two of us, Kotoko, there is nothing wrong with taking the easy road. Don't push yourself too hard!"

"Cheer up, Kotoko! I know, why don't we pay a visit to Aihara's to lift your spirits? Oji-san's cooking always works wonders."

"I suppose your suggestions are viable options. I'll think about it. I'm going to turn in for the night. Thanks, girls."

Brushing off her slight disappointment and giving Jinko and Satomi's advice active consideration, she sought out her one and only boyfriend, after her shift the next evening, to hear his input regarding her workplace dilemmas.

Maybe Kin-chan will be the support I need to power on through. He was the most excited one after learning I found nursing as a career.

"Kotoko, what's wrong? You hardly touched your food. Is it not good? Want me to make you something else?"

"It's not that Kin-chan, your cooking is yummy, as always. It's just that my internship is not going the way I thought it would. The patients and my mentors don't seem to get along with me."

Kotoko paused. For she considered sharing all the details with Kin-chan (starting from the very first day of her internship), but his immediate response stopped that thought-train of her's from running further.

"Why wouldn't they treat you well? Nurse Kotoko is like a fantasy come true! Want me to go prove them wrong? Or find you a different hospital? You can always quit and come here to do what you are best at, being the cheerful mascot of Aihara's!"

"Kin-chan. I know you are trying to cheer me up in your own way, and I thank you for it. But if someone says your cooking is bad, would you want me to go telling them otherwise?"

"Of course not! I'd want to show them myself. That I can make something they are bound to enjoy!"

"Exactly. I am the same. I want them to accept me for my own efforts, not because someone says I am great. I also don't want to back down just because I am facing some setbacks."

"Okay Kotoko. You can do it!"

"Thank you, Kin-chan."

"No problem. Like I told you in my confession, as your boyfriend, I will be your strongest supporter no matter what you choose! We got some watermelon today, want me to cut some up for you? You always cheer up when you eat something sweet."

"I would love that."

She wryly smiles when the young chef excitedly goes into the kitchen voicing out "I cheered Kotoko up!"

What did I expect to hear from Kin-chan anyway? He is doing the best he can. I should not be disappointed.

Kotoko tried, to hold on to the momentary energy from the star and heart shaped watermelon bites (carefully prepared by her sweet boyfriend) as fuel to keep going towards her almost realized goal of being a nurse who can heal matters of the heart as well as the body.

Yet she found the sugar-high was not enough - upon this disheartening conversation with a patient (who is not even directly under her care) the following afternoon:

"Akiko-chan, I am glad you are doing well with your physical therapy. Keita has been in high-spirits because of your rapid recovery!"

"Really? That makes me happy. Aihara-san, you seem to know Keita-san very well."

"He is a reliable nice guy, even if he looks grumpy most of the time, haha."

"I knew it. You two are…" The girl spoke so softly, Kotoko had to bend down.

"Sorry?"

"Nothing. I should get back to my room."

"I'll help you."

"It's okay Aihara-san, I got it."

"It's not a problem for me at all, I am heading in that direction anyway." She reached for the handles on the girl's wheelchair.

"NO NEED! Ah, sorry Aihara-san. Let me go alone, please."

The normally soft-spoken teen raised her voice instinctively, quickly wheeling away from the stunned Kotoko.

Akiko was embarrassed by her own uncharacteristic jealousy, brewed from a misconception that her crush and this cute nurse were an item. (A truth unknown to Kotoko, who took a hard blow from this unexpected backlash.)

The almost-nurse ran, stumbling up the steps, on the way to the only place in the hospital she knew would possibly help her feel less defeated by all the subtle, plus not-so-subtle "hate" she has been on the receiving end of for the past month and a half.

Even with this beautiful scenery of the entire city stretched out before her, Kotoko felt like she hit rock-bottom. She sighed deeply as she leaned on the railing of the building rooftop.

"Oh, my usual spot has been taken."

After discreetly wiping away her forming tears, she whisked around, startled at the familiar baritone voice. She did not expect to run into him, here, of all places.

"Irie-kun! On your break too?"

"I like to have my coffee here. High vantage points help me gain perspective. Anyway, you garnered quite the reputation for an intern from what I heard around the nurse station."

He gave her a good-natured teasing side-smile, while handing over a warm can of coffee, which she accepted with a small thank you.

"Not this again. Don't you have better things to do than discreetly hanging around our station, eavesdropping on nonsensical chatter, Irie-sensei?
Your idleness aside, I am beginning to think, 'I may not be cut out for nursing after all.
No one seems to like me, even when all I want to do is help them from the bottom of my heart.
Toyo baa-chan rejects me by pranking me. Just this morning, after you and Nishigaki-sensei left the room, she showed a complete 180 degree change in personality, offered me snacks with a super doting smile, said she would go get some tea, but then came back with Head Nurse Hosoi and went on to complain that I was the one who sent her to fetch her own drink!
The senior nurses refuse to teach me and nitpicks through my already revised nurse reports, which is partly your fault, by the way.
Nozomi-kun cries every time I go into his ward for my rounds. I still managed to take his blood pressure, but now, the other kids in his ward are scared of me too, because they think my "treatment" with the "evil pump thing" was what made Nozomi-kun cry.
Even Akiko-chan, whom Keita said was the sweetest girl ever, snapped at me today.
Perhaps I wasn't meant to be a nurse.
I seriously feel like a shark, who thinks it's a dolphin just because they have similar fins, not knowing why all the other dolphins are so averse to it."

She sighed again, slumped against the rails some more, her head hanging at an all-time low.

Maybe, it is time to take the easy way out, like Jinko and Satomi suggested. Kotoko began to spiral into a imaginary future again (one that did not seem hardly as bright the one in her last daydream) before Naoki's calm voice brought her back to reality.

"You are more like a sloth, rather than a shark."

Was his only comment after a long moment of silence, taking in the list of troubles Kotoko vented to him.

"Irie Naoki! I am pouring out my worries to you and your first response is calling me dumb and slow? I thought you had changed for the better since we became friends!"

At least he didn't tell me to quit. Like everyone else did. Then again, he was never the one to sugar coat his words, nor spoil me with an "easy" option.

Kotoko smiled to herself for assuming this stoic frenemy of hers would be the one to verbally comfort her of all people. But his next spiel really surprised her (in a pleasant way).

"You still misunderstand my words, Aihara Kotoko. I thought we were true friends.
Sloths are not dumb. I read about them in a national geographic article before. It says 'sloths are as smart as they need to be, in their own way.' They are three times faster in water than on land. They are also one of the only creatures who can hang on to a tree all-day, everyday. They are surprisingly strong too. They are slow to react, but only because they are extremely observant.
To me, Kotoko is a sloth: an incredibly strong, detailedly considerate, unrivaled tenacious creature, who can go through life swimmingly because of how she chooses to embrace the world, even as messed up as it is.
I can only say this because I have seen proof of this in the time I have known her.
She holds onto her tree branch of goals and belief in herself, even when everyone else tells her 'it's impossible'. Like the times when she vowed to rank in the top 100, decided to interview for a lifeguard, gained a tennis match victory all on her own, and successfully made it through to the capping ceremony after studying hard and repeatedly practicing clinical lab concepts for two years.
I am certain she will still cling on to this branch no matter what storms blow her way.
So don't go trying to disprove my brilliant theory - which I have been testing for the past five years - with your sad mopey attitude." *

Without waiting for her response (one she was too stunned to give anyway), Naoki starts to leave, but quickly returns.

"Almost forgot, here. There is always at least one patient who will never hate you. You might want to help her bandage up."

He takes her hand and lightly slaps something rectangular-ish and cold-to-the-touch onto her palm, before briefly eyeing her knees. Then makes his way back into the building, for real this time.

Once she was alone again, Kotoko got a good look at the blue tin in her hand and at her scratched up knee (which frankly, she didn't even notice up until then). The tears that have pent up from all the stress, discouragement, and some other fuzzy feeling, flowed freely, even if she was foolishly grinning at the same time.

I am crying only because the abrasion on my shin is starting to sting. Not because I am moved by Irie-kun's silly bandages. *

Kotoko tries to deceive her own heart, as the one thing she really wanted /needed to hear - or read - in this case, blurred due to more tears forming in her eyes.

"Get Better at Your Own Speed"

Irie-kun sure has a roundabout way of encouraging people. Maybe that's just how geniuses are. Maybe that's just how Irie-kun is, actually.

She giggles audibly, making her way back to her station with refreshingly renewed spirits, to treat the first patient who'd approve of her as a nurse - herself.

Everyone else will come around, I can do this!

**Footnotes**
Taiyaki (鯛焼き) - (literal translation: Baked Sea Bream) Japanese fish-shaped cake. It imitates the shape of the tai (sea bream), which it is named after. The most common filling is red bean paste that is made from sweetened azuki beans. Other common fillings may be custard, chocolate, cheese, or sweet potato.

ROFL - abbreviation for rolling on the floor laughing ROIL - rolling on the ice laughing

Ojii-san (お祖父さん) - How one address a grandfather or elderly man

Neuralgia - Pain caused by damaged or irritated nerves.

Otaku (おたく)- term for people with consuming interests (particularly in anime and manga).

baka（バカ）- Stupid or dummy.

Nozomi Daisuke (希実 大輔) - The kanji for Nozomi means "hopeful truth". And for Daisuke means "big help". (Which explains why Kotoko assumed this boy would give her hope or help her establish herself as a good nurse)

Baa-chan (ばあちゃん) - short for Obaa-chan (おばあちゃん), how one addresses their grandma or elderly woman

Sloth article - found on national geographic website titled "Sloths May Be Slow, but They're Not Stupid" by Jason Bittel

Sloth nurse bandages Naoki gifts to Kotoko - to see a pic of this, google image search "sloth nurse bandages"

I know the previous chapter was quite short, so I wanted to finish this adjoining chapter and update SSB back to back. I did not appreciate Irie's response to Kotoko's slump in the original INK, which inspired my rendition of that scene here. Also the sloth bandages are the real thing. (see footnotes above)
Happy reading!

KookieKuma