July 8, 2019

"Yoshiko-oneechan," Yousuke told her sister as they attempted to talk things out from the day before. "You're overreacting! Even mom thinks you are!"

Yoshiko was about to yell a response, but caught herself and took a deep breath in, not wanting to explode at her brother. "Yousuke-kun, I'm doing my best to remain calm, trust me. Look, you're too young to be doing this. You need to slow down. Hanamaru-chan was wrong to take advantage of you like this."

"I'm gonna stop you right there," Yousuke interrupted her, a rare occurrence for him to do so. "Onee-chan, I was not taken advantage of. I've had feelings for her since I met her two years ago. Hell, if anything, I held back on telling her or anyone because I knew back then I was too young for her. Now, though, I'm grown enough to make some of my own decisions, and I decided to tell her, and she reciprocated. I know you're concerned as my older sister. I would be, too. You have to understand, though, that you can't prevent us from seeing each other." As Yoshiko pauses to gather her thoughts, Yousuke added, "And another thing, me and my girlfriend will move however fast the two of us feel comfortable going. You don't get a say as to what we do when we're alone. I don't think you or Sakurachi-san would appreciate it if I began to comment on your own sexual activity."

"Please don't bring her into this," Yoshiko sternly warned her brother. "Don't do it." Yousuke could tell she was hurt by the comment, and respected her wishes.

"Right," he replied. "Anyway, the point is, you can't control what we do. Only we can. Also, another thing, Watanabe-san lost her virginity only a year after I did, if that. You never complained or showed concern about that when she told you guys."

"She...," Yoshiko began, but cut herself off. "Well, it... That was..." She began to realize that if she was angry at her brother for his activities, she was being a hypocrite in regards to You. "A year can make a lot of difference, okay?!"

Yousuke finally had enough. He stood up from his chair and calmly addressed her sister, intending to not give any further attention to her. "Stop making excuses, onee-chan. I love Hanamaru with all of my heart, and she will tell you the exact same thing. She means the world to me, as Riko does to you, and you need to accept that. Despite what she has thought of herself, there is no girl- No... There is no woman more beautiful than her in my eyes. Even if you bar us from being together, we will gladly disregard you and keep close. I'm sorry, but if I have to disobey my older sister, I will. If you don't believe me, talk to her yourself." He then turned to the door of the apartment. "Hanamaru-chan, come in!"

Hanamaru then stepped into the apartment after letting herself in. As she walked towards the siblings, Yoshiko stared in shock. "You... You heard everything?!"

"I did," she replied as she stood by her boyfriend and held his hand. "He is absolutely right about everything he said. Yoshiko-chan, I haven't been this happy in such a long, long time, zura. Please, give us your blessing, and let us be together in peace. I don't want to lose you as a friend, Yoshiko-chan. You and Ruby-chan are my closest friends, zura." Tears began to stream down her face around this time. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you two, or if I lost Yousuke-kun. He may be a bit younger than me, but that doesn't matter, zura!" She then turned and gave him a kiss in front of Yoshiko, further stunning her. Once the rather long kiss was done, she turned back to her and finished with, "I love your brother, and nothing you can do will ever change that."

Yoshiko paused, thinking to herself after the two had given their final statements. As the seconds ticked by, she began to realize they were right, she could not stop them from seeing each other. Her own parents had given the approval for their relationship, as did Hanamaru's grandmother. "Damn it... I..." She herself then stood up from the table. "I need a moment to myself. I'm sorry." She then slowly walked to her room and closed the doe behind her.

"Yoshiko-oneechan?" Yousuke was concerned deeply about her sister now instead of being mad at her.

...

"Ambulance 151 to Numazu General Hospital Medical Control," a paid firefighter-paramedic radioed to the hospital as You and her cousin Tsuki took care of an unconscious diabetic patient at his house. Tsuki has been visiting You at the firehouse, and rode along with them when they got the call.

"Go ahead," a doctor replied.

As soon as they all recognized the doctor's voice, all of them groaned. Tsuki even verbally lambasted him with, "Not this fucker, come on!" This doctor was infamous for not often letting paramedics administer medicines in the field, preferring to let the hospital do all the work, due to his mistrust of them.

"This is Ambulance 151 of the Numazu City Fire Department," the paid firefighter replied to him. "I have a 60-year-old unconscious diabetic. He is on oxygen therapy with an NPA in. His vitals are as follows: A blood pressure of 150 over 100, a heart rate of 60, a breathing rate of 16, and a blood glucose of 16. We have him on a cardiac monitor and are transmitting the information to you as we speak. Do you wish for me to administer dextrose through an IV, as he cannot swallow at this time, and at what dosages?"

You commented as they waited for a response, "He better say yes."

"Negative," the doctor replied, earning a curse from Tsuki. "Begin rapid transport to the hospital so they can administer the proper medications."

"Are you fucking serious?!" Tsuki was angry at the doctor. "This patient is going to literally die if we don't given him something now!"

"Doctor," the paid firefighters replied over the radio. "I would highly advise you to change your mind. This patient is unstable and his vitals continue to get worse. I would highly recommend you give us permission to administer dextrose at 10%, up to 25 grams or 250 millimeters, through an IV." He made sure to exactly state what he was supposed to give in an attempt to change the doctor's mind.

Even so, the doctor was not having it. "Still negative. Begin transport now. Those are your orders." He was clearly becoming annoyed by his tone of voice over he radio.

"Please," the paid firefighters pleaded with the doctor by this point, desperation in his voice. "This patient cannot wait any longer, and I fear that if we do not administer any dextrose, he could die in the back of our ambul-"

Suddenly, a very pissed off Tsuki grabbed the radio from his hands, shocking him. She kept the radio keyed up as she sternly told the doctor, "To hell with orders." She then turned the radio off and set it down. "Fuck that guy. You know how to do it yourself, right? Now, let's do it."

Amazed at the tenacity she had, he blinked his eyes and replied to her, "Okay then... Yeah, let's do it." He then popped open the ALS kit and pulled out the necessary supplies to set up an IV. "Tsuki-kun, you can stick him. You're a paramedic student, after all."

"Don't mind if I do," she cheerfully replied, feeling energetic after telling the doctor off over the radio. "You-chan, be a good third man and get the stretcher set up. Me and your partner here will take care of the ALS stuff."

You, still in utter shock, replied, "Right... Right..." As she stood up to get the stretcher ready, she said to herself, "Holy shit, Tsuki..." She then thought to herself as she quickly unfolded the sheets of the stretcher and lowered it, "I gotta feeling we're all gonna be in major trouble when this is over, but Tsuki-chan was right. Japan is far too limiting for its firefighters who are paramedics. If we were in any other first-world country, we wouldn't have had to call a doctor and get permission to do any of this, so why in Japan?"

None of them knew it yet, but by Tsuki telling off the doctor, they had set into motion events that would change the fire service and EMS in Japan forever, and would shape their lives permanently.