"Hey there!" Misao entered the room and checked her clipboard. "You're Iori-kun?"
The little boy stared at her with huge eyes, before turning his face into his mother's shoulder. Arai-san murmured. "It's alright. This onee-san will give you a pinch, and then, we'll go home."
"Yeah, it's like a shot. You've had those before." A small tube would do for his bloodwork, and she prepared a butterfly needle. "Nothing to be scared of."
But he had peeked at her and began to cry. Arai-san tried to shush him and looked to Misao. "Can you please do it quickly?"
"Oh, but if he's all tensed up, it'll make it worse." She winced; Iori had only heard 'worse' and was crying harder. "Um…ah! Wait one moment, please!"
Luckily, she had left her bag in the workspace on the floor above. She retrieved what she needed and raced back to the examination room, deliberately posing. "Look, what's this? It's a toy, just for you." Well, it had been a party favor, from the birthday of Omine's kid. There was an extra gift bag and she had been the next youngest, but she was twenty-three! Her pride had been wounded, so at least, she could get rid of the damn thing. She held the kaleidoscope to her eye, twisting the lens. "Whoa, such pretty colors! Red, blue, green. Lots of squares, and ooh, they've turned into diamonds now. Iori-kun, you've got to see."
He hiccupped, but he had quieted, showing interest. She let him grip the kaleidoscope, and Arai-san moved the lens for him. Misao took the opportunity to draw his blood, and although he yelped at the needle prick, the toy distracted him from crying again. Once she finished and applied the gauze to his vein, Arai-san tried to coax her son into returning the kaleidoscope.
"No, it's okay. He can keep it." She said, as she labeled the closed tube. "Feel better soon, Iori-kun!"
"I heard from Dr. Gensai, that the pediatric unit is calling you the Kaleidoscope Nurse." Kaoru teased, a week later in the workspace.
Misao turned up her nose. "It just shows that I'm popular. And I got my bonus early, so I could buy more."
"It's not really a bonus, if you spend it on the toys." Sagara pointed out.
"Aw, shut it!" He was being a killjoy, since Takani was working overtime.
"Still, it's good to cheer up the children." Himura spoke up. "If they laugh, they forget that they're in pain. That's why this one does clumsy things. Oro!" His pen flew out of his hand, and Kaoru picked it up.
"Are you sure it's just for show?" She playfully asked.
"Well, fairly sure. Thank you, Dr. Kamiya." His smile widened, as it always did around Kaoru. Maybe, Misao thought, she could talk him into the idea of a double date. Himura and Kaoru, herself and Aoshi-sama. Sagara could join too, if he managed to do more than banter with Takani.
Her cell phone abruptly vibrated, and she answered. "Hello?"
"Misao, it's me."
"Aoshi-sama? What do you need?"
"Do you have one of those kaleidoscopes?"
"Always." In fact, she had to reserve a drawer for them in her desk.
"I'm about to operate on a four-year-old who needs to be distracted. She's being belligerent, and the anesthesiologist is having trouble. Can you provide a distraction?" He provided the location.
"Okay, I'll take the stairs there!" She clenched her fist. "Tell her Kaleidoscope Nurse is on her way!"
"Mm." Then, he hung up.
"Why do you call him Aoshi-sama?" Sagara asked.
"It's an inside joke." She explained, as she pocketed two kaleidoscopes, just in case the patient didn't like one of them. "Jiiya always had a history documentary on the TV, and I liked pretending to be a ninja. I'd sneak into Aoshi-sama's house and pretend he was the lord I had to report to. Of course, I insisted on being Lady Kunoichi Misao, but he stopped, because he was embarrassed. Alright, I'm off!"
The nurses outfitted her, so she could enter the operating room. Aoshi-sama acknowledged her with a nod, before motioning to the patient, who was attempting to escape the anesthesiologist. "This is Akari."
"Akari-chan." She approached the little girl, and gazed into one of the kaleidoscopes. "Ah, I see very pretty colors in here." She launched into her usual speech, but the little girl flailed.
"Don't want it! No, no!"
"Huh?" Misao frowned. The toy usually satisfied patients…unless, it wasn't enough for this girl. She knelt close to the bed, to be on eye level with Akari. "Then, what do you want?"
She halted her frenzy. "Kagari!"
"Who's Kagari?"
"Kagari's her twin sister." The anesthesiologist said.
"Ah, so they're close." She looked around the room. "Well, what are you waiting for? Bring Kagari in!"
Aoshi-sama answered. "Kagari is in the lobby with their parents. We'll have to take precautions, because of potential exposure."
"How hard is it to disinfect one four-year-old kid? Otherwise, you might not be conducting a surgery at all." Her input wasn't appreciated by the other doctors, and an argument exploded. She felt she was being picked on, but Aoshi-sama turned to a nearby nurse.
"Prepare the twin sister, so she can enter."
Misao was delighted. Kagari had to be carried in, the scrubs were too big for her to walk in, and she was handed to Misao. "Come on, Kagari-chan, let's make your sister happy."
Then, she handed a kaleidoscope to each of them. "Now, tell each other what you see. And yeah, they're sterile, so don't get your scrubs in a twist." She added, for the benefit of the hovering surgeons.
"Lots of colors!" Kagari gasped, rotating the entire kaleidoscope. "Akari, look!"
Akari had calmed instantly, and the facemask was slipped onto her as she copied her twin. "Yeah. It's a rainbow inside."
"There you go. The two of you can have fun with the same toy, even if you're apart. Akari-chan, when you look through the kaleidoscope, Kagari-chan will be doing the same with hers. That way, the two of you are connected together."
"Together?" Kagari repeated. "Together with Akari!"
"Yup, that's right!" She glanced at Akari. The anesthesia was working, for the little girl closed her eyes. "Now, it's time for you to sleep, but remember what I said, okay?"
She and Kagari were escorted out, and when she called goodbye over her shoulder, Aoshi-sama might have smiled at her.
She didn't see him again until she was waiting for the bus. Aoshi-sama emerged from the lobby, and she waved to him. They boarded, and as the vehicle wove along the roads, she asked. "How did the surgery go?"
"It was successful. After waking up, the patient was also mollified by the toy, even without her sister present. Thank you, Misao." He paused. "I suppose I should reward you."
She took the leap. "Go on a date with me."
To her pleasant surprise, he spluttered. "A date? Why?"
"Because I'm single, and Jiiya said you were single too."
"He should mind his own business." He muttered.
She ignored that. "Well, it might be fun, because we can skip awkward introductions."
"Yes, because I've known you for years."
"So you'd say yes if I was a stranger?"
"Misao…" There was a warning note in his voice, and she backed off.
"Okay." Her face burned. He knew how she felt, ever since Jiiya drunkenly read out of her journal on her sixteenth birthday, but he had never indicated what he thought. Part of her had always, always hoped that he would. It seemed she didn't need to wonder any longer. The bus stopped a block away from her apartment, and she prepared to step off. "You can think of it as a joke, then."
"Misao."
"See you tomorrow."
However, he followed her out onto the sidewalk. "Do you remember Beshimi, Hyottoko, Han'nya, and Shikijo?"
"Of course. I wouldn't forget anyone from our neighborhood. But they're working in a hospital, back in Kyoto."
"That's true, and they still enjoy the theater. In fact, they sent two tickets, for a historical play next weekend." He looked at her. "I cannot date anyone right now due to work, so technically, it won't be what you want. However, would you like to go with me and meet them?"
She was dumbstruck, but she managed to nod. "Yes!"
He inclined his head. "Then, I will e-mail you the details. Good night."
"Good night." She replied, forcing herself to pick up her feet in the direction of her apartment. It may have been a dark evening, but to her, the world was in full color, as if a kaleidoscope lens was turning and turning.