Of all types of hospitals to end up in, it ended up not even being one for humans. Kiki's holding Shirayuki's pet rat, a small little creature that nestles far too easily into Kiki's hair that hangs from her ponytail down to almost her shoulders. And she couldn't quite find a carrier back at Shirayuki's place or anything.

Instead she ends up with a rat in her hair, and eagerly scurrying across her shoulders and sometimes down her arms. It's a feeling she's not particularly used to. Four little paws leaving a light footfall sensation across her shoulders, like wide pokes on her back to back, or like cotton swabs being tapped towards her arms and shoulders, quickly, four at once.

It's surreal, and Kiki wonders for the millionth time how Shirayuki ended up with a rat as a pet. She would have speculated that it was a gift from Obi, like a practical joke of sorts that ended up more compassionate than that, but even that doesn't seem like the correct way things turned out.

And Shirayuki loved her pet rat far too much for it to have started as a play on a mad scientist and lab rats. And yet, Kiki can't quite imagine going to the pet store and picking out a rat. It's an odd sort of image in her head.

Though to be fair, Kiki's never stepped into a pet store either, and the only pet she's ever had were horses, way bigger than the average house pet. And way different in terms of how to care for them, not that her father didn't hire people skilled with taking care of horses to be by every day or hire on site vets or rather vets that do house calls.

So, this is new. She walks into the veterinary hospital, explains to the receptionist that this is technically her best friend's pet rat, not her own. She thinks the rat's on file, but might not be. Repeats the name as easily as if she's always known it, "Shii." It's a cute little name for a cute little rat, but Kiki still isn't sure how she ended up being the one taking the rat to the hospital anyway.

Shirayuki was bogged down with work, between her job and her classes, there wasn't much time for anything else, and she couldn't quite make it today to take her rat to the vet. Her rat wasn't eating right or at least she was barely eating. Shii wasn't doing as good as she usually was apparently, and Shirayuki was worried.

"The vet will see her in just a moment." The receptionist was all smiles, "You, two, can have a seat right over there."

So, Kiki did. "We're here." She whispered to Shii, the little rat during that weird teeth clacking thing, that Shirayuki says means she's happy. So, Kiki was sitting with a happy rat on her shoulders, that made a clacking noise, almost like rustling paper, but way louder and more tapping than it, a quick noise.

She guesses she could compare it to a cat's purr, but she's never been near a purring cat, and rats don't purr anyway. So, she's not sure that there is a proper comparison for this.

"You can come back now." The receptionist told her; it felt like it had barely been a couple minutes since she arrived, but in she went to a small room, and there with her was the vet. He was about her age and tall and muscular. He looked more like an athlete than her idea of a vet, but he was all smiles and was in a labcoat anyway.

"Can you set Shii down on the table?" He asked, and Kiki held up her hands and cupped them, and Shii slowly but surely after sniffing them, decided it was a safe place to go to. So, Kiki set her down on the table, though she seemed a bit less eager to go there; it was far too unfamiliar.

"What's the matter with her?" He asked, as he looked at the rat.

"She's not eating as much as normal." Kiki explained, "She's my friend's rat, and she noticed that she wasn't eating like normal."

And Shii sneezed and cleaned her face off after. Shirayuki had told her before that rats often sneezed, but they're such clean animals, see how she cleans her face right after?

It wasn't even a few minutes later, that the vet told her that Shii just had a cold, and prescribed some antibiotics for her to take. "She'll be better quickly." He told her with an easygoing grin.

And Kiki wondered why she was almost disappointed it hadn't taken long for him to discover what was the matter with Shii.

"Do you ever work with horses?" She asked instead.

"I have." Dr. Rouen answered, "Not often though." He shrugged, and Kiki figured she had an answer as to why she wanted him to check up on her family horses, and it wasn't because he was an exceptional vet, though she's pretty sure he is. Just, she felt the barest hint of a crush, of a possibility rise to the surface.

"Thank you." She told him with a smile, a small little closed thing. Perhaps she'll give the place a call if she needs anything back home, though she's half-convinced that she shouldn't just give into the crush, because what if it's pointless?

"See you around?" He asked, and when Kiki looked up into his brown eyes, she's pretty sure she saw a chance however small that things might just work out.

"Yes." Kiki told him, waved and hurried to return Shii to her rightful owner and finally let Shirayuki know what was the matter with her beloved pet.