Disclaimer: I don't own Mai-Hime/Otome…

Natsuki took a small pause before knocking lightly on the door.

"Shitsureshimasu," she stated quietly before she slid the door to the office open. [Excuse the intrusion]

"Oh ho, if it isn't Kuga-kun~?" A playful voice drifted to Natsuki's ears as the scrubs-clad red-haired woman winked at the bluenette with a grin as she entered.

Natsuki smiled and bowed politely. "Konnichiwa, Midori-sensei," she turned to nod at the dark-haired woman, "Youko-sensei."

[Konnichiwa = good afternoon]

"Ah, Natsuki," the dark-haired doctor adjusted her glasses as she skimmed through the patient file, "Aren't you still early? You just came from surgery too, didn't you? You alright?"

Natsuki smiled. "I'm feeling fine; I took a nap earlier in the common area."

Youko-sensei let out a resigned sigh as she set the patient file down. "Alright, but let me know if you need a break, okay?" She smiled warmly.

"Arigatougozaimasu," Natsuki bowed politely. [Thank you very much/I appreciate the concern]

"No fair~ I want Natsuki as my intern too~" Midori pouted, leaning back in her chair to stretch her arms. Youko cocked an eyebrow over her glasses.

"Isn't she already in a sense? Like shadowing you on your ER night shifts and such? Though technically she isn't an ER doctor like you," Youko casually rebuked as she gestured for Natsuki to come and sit at the table, sliding the patient file folder across the table.

"That hurts…" Midori laughed softly, rubbing her head sheepishly. "but, she'd make a first-rate ER doctor as well as eye specialist."

Natsuki smiled. "Arigatougozaimasu, Midori-sensei. Please allow me to shadow you again sometime."

Midori grinned. "Come anytime! I'll welcome you with open arms!"

Youko sighed as she removed her glasses from her face. "Well, if it's Midori-sensei then I'll allow it. But only because I think Natsuki can learn a lot from you and not end up being an errand-runner or being used."

"Yaay~! Arigatou, Youko!" Midori called out happily as she gave the dark-haired woman a hug.

"Hai~hai~. You're very welcome." Youko flatly stated as the other woman snuggled into her.

The beeping of a small phone from the pocket of Midori's blue-green scrubs broke the hug. Midori stood up immediately and promptly answered the phone, voice losing its previous playfulness.

"Hello this is Sugiura. What's the situation?"

She gave a small wave good-bye as she strode over to the door. "Alright, I understand. I'm on my way. Give me details as they come in."

"Itterashai" [Have a nice trip/Be safe as you go/etc. Said as a send-off] Youko called casually as the red-haired woman left the room, Natsuki, who had been reading through the patient file, paused to bow her head slightly.

"So," Youko rested her head on her hands, looking over at Natsuki. "What do you think?"

Natsuki hummed in thought as she flipped through the pages again. "So… there's nothing wrong with her eyes, retina, cornea, everything's fine… but she can't see?" Natsuki's brow furrowed as she re-scanned the files making sure she wasn't missing anything.

"And it doesn't seem to be any psychological issues with the patient herself." Youko smiled as she recognized what the medical student had been scanning for.

"Hmm….but I feel like….." Natsuki glared at the file as she set it upright on the table.

"…Like something is missing from this file?" Youko smiled as she finished the blunette's thought, leaning her head on her hands.

"Yeah…" Natsuki murmured in agreement, letting out a small sigh as she let the file folder fall flat onto the table softly. "She seemed pretty normal to me earlier…."

The older woman leaned up on her hands. "Ho~ so you've already met her?"

"Yeah…it seems like Kanzaki threw her slippers into the laundry bin in the common room when I went to go take a nap earlier so I carried her back to her room."

"What the gentleman our Natsuki-kun is~" Youko stated half-playfully, peering at Natsuki behind a half-closed eyelid.

"Thank you for the compliment, Youko-Sensei." Natsuki returned with a resigned sigh.

Youko chuckled as she stood up from her hair and pushed her chair in. "Well, all jokes aside, it's almost time to change Fujino-san's bandages and daily examination. You've had time to look at her file and it seems like you've already met her once. Any questions for me?"

"I guess there is one I'd like to ask before we go meet her." Natsuki started slowly as she pushed her chair in.

"What is it?"

"…Why me?"

"Sate ne~ …somo somo doushite watashi no tokoro ni tomatta koto shiteru?" [Who knows~…do you know the reason why you ended up at my place [studying/shadowing] with me?"

"Isn't it because I wrote down sensei's name on my list of doctors and you accepted me?"

The dark-haired doctor let out a small chuckle. "Well that's true too; I did really want you as my intern and I wasn't going to lose you to someone else, but there is another reason."

"It's the same reason why I only let you help Midori-sensei out from time to time and not many of the other doctors." Youko continued as she adjusted her glasses and white coat.

Natsuki thought in silence as she straightened her scrubs and checked to see if she was missing anything.

Youko paused slightly before she went through the door.

"…Futaridomo wa 'tokubestu' dakara kana?"

[Maybe because both of you are 'special' ? T/N tokubetsu translated loosely can also mean 'unique, different from the rest, etc']

Natsuki's eyes lit up in realization. "Wait, does that mean-?"

"Mireba wakaru...ne?" [T/N literally "If you see it you'll understand...okay?" More fluidly: You'll see when we get there, okay?]

Natsuki simply nodded as she briskly followed after the senior doctor.

A/N: Konnichiwa~, the second chapter is finally out! Wow that was a bit more challenging than I originally had thought, but here it is! I just realized that I haven't updated USN 4 for like over two months…wow….0.0…..I need to work on that …..and the other USN fanfics, some nanofate and other ones too….life has been dropping ridiculously large metal buckets on my head and it's taking me a while to pull myself together while the large bumps go away… but yeah.

Once again in another time zone so I'm now 2 hours ahead….sure stinks for having to be places at like 10AM local time when it's like 8AM where I usually am…. But anyways, hope you enjoyed your stay! As always, feel free to leave a comment/review!

Matta ne~

-YH