Hey, do you remember me? I still exist!
Sorry guys, I kinda put down the game for a while, and didn't have much motivation to finish the chapter, but here it is! I've gotten into the fanfiction mood again!
"I…" the girl in front of Hiro stammered, "don't think so…"
Hiro slowly pulled himself up from the ground. "I must have been mistaken. Please forgive me," he apologized.
"But still, I hit you with a door!" the stranger protested. "Surely you can't pass something like that so lightly!"
"It was a mistake. There's no reason to attempt to alter what's already occurred."
The girl sighed. "Alright then, if you insist," she agreed. She then smiled and held out her hand. "That aside, my name's Erin!"
Hiro courteously took Erin's hand and shook it. "My name is Hiro. I'm pleased to meet you." He took a moment to observe the young lady in front of him. She was dressed Konohanian, though he had never met her in the village before. She had the slightly tired expression and messy hair that must have been the result of Ina waking her up earlier than she was accustomed, something that was common in new villagers here. She seemed about his age, and her eyes shone with a friendly demeanor. Erin looked strangely familiar to him; it felt as if he should know her from somewhere, but he dismissed these thoughts for later. "I am studying to be a doctor under Dr. Ayame. I trust I'll be seeing you around," he finished.
"A doctor?" Erin repeated. "Wonderful! That's exactly what I need!"
Hiro started. "Are you hurt?! You should have said something before that you were-"
Erin giggled, which irritated the apprentice. He was about to scold her for taking her health so lightly when she responded, "It's just a scraped knee. I don't think I'll suffer a horrible death from it, but I'm not entirely sure how clean the road was."
Hiro took a deep breath to calm himself down. "I see. Forgive me if I seemed aggravated. Come with me and I'll give your injury some attention."
He led Erin into the clinic and motioned for her to sit down on one of the white-sheeted beds reserved for patients. The doctor-to-be opened a cabinet behind the front desk and searched for the materials necessary for the situation.
Erin hummed a little tune to herself and played with her fingers while Hiro made the preparations. She looked quite cheerful, Hiro concluded, and her vocabulary suggested that she was intelligent as well. He decided that she would make a nice acquaintance, or maybe even a friend.
After finally locating the cotton balls, Hiro brought the equipment to Erin and began to work on her scrape. "I haven't seen you around before," he began, hoping to strike up a conversation. "You're new to this village, I presume?"
"Mm," Erin mumbled to inform him that he had been correct. "I just arrived yesterday."
"That explains it then."
"Explains what?"
"Why your backside is covered in dirt."
Erin flushed at the comment. "I-I'm not the best at pulling turnips out of the ground yet…" she admitted.
Hiro laughed. "Practice makes perfect, and I assume you didn't exactly practice turnip harvesting before you came here."
"No, I used to live in a city suburb," Erin answered.
"In what area? I traveled a bit a few years ago; I may have stopped there."
This may answer why I feel I should know her, Hiro thought. Now he was questioning her not only to get to know her, but also to settle his feelings of near-recognition.
"North of here, past that large forest and over the river," Erin promptly described. "It's a couple miles away from that large city on the island."
"Ah, I believe I know the town you are speaking of," Hiro said thoughtfully. "I didn't stay in the town itself, but I did stay in one to the west of it. It's bordered by the same forest you mentioned."
"Oh!" Erin exclaimed. "Then you must have been in the town where my college was!"
Hiro looked up. The farmer didn't look old enough to have graduated from college yet. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-two."
"You've finished your college education?" Hiro asked, finding it hard to believe.
"No. I haven't started it yet."
"What! How can you call it your college if you haven't attended it yet?"
"It was going to be my college," Erin explained. "Because of financial troubles, I wasn't able to apply for a college until this year. And then I still had to travel there on Uma"
"That must have been a pesterance," Hiro sympathized.
"Trust me, it's a joy when you ride 1500 miles on a pony to a college that's burnt to the ground when you arrive," said Erin sarcastically.
"Burnt to the ground?! I'm sorry to hear that!"
Erin waved her hand in a gesture that indicated that there was nothing else to say on the matter. "What's done is done. I wandered for a while before I crashed on the mountain… and that brings us to the present!"
"Well then," Hiro replied, pleased with the information he had gathered. "That's quite the adventure for such a short period of time."
Erin nodded.
Hiro concluded his work with a bandaid. If I do know her from somewhere, he thought with relief, it can't be from somewhere misfortunate.
Erin examined the job Hiro did. "That's a lot prettier to look at than a dirty scrape!" she declared. "Thanks, Hiro!"
"Oh, it was no problem at all!" Hiro responded automatically. "After all, it is my job."
"I'd pay you, but my current wealth is literally nothing," Erin apologized. "Should I write you an I.O.U. or something?"
Hiro shook his head, "You don't need to pay me for my services. Besides, with an injury as small as that… consider it a friend's assistance, rather than a doctor's."
"O-Oh… well, thank you very much, Hiro!"
From the front of the clinic, a door could be heard opening, and soon after it closed again. Then, a young woman—older than Erin or Hiro, but still generally young—walked up to them. That woman was his mentor, Doctor Ayame. She had short black hair and small but friendly eyes, and her white coat dropped down almost to the bottom of her traditional violet skirt. She was carrying shopping bags, suggesting that she had just returned from the general store.
"And who do we have here?" she spoke. Her voice was friendly too. "You're a new face!"
Hiro's attention turned to his mentor and he introduced their newest mentor. "This is Erin. She moved into town a couple days ago."
Ayame's face studied Erin for a moment, before she spoke again. "Erin is your name? I'm Ayame. I'm the doctor in this town. Come see me if you need me." Giggling a bit, she added, "But it seems Hiro's patched you up quite well this time!"
This made the young apprentice's face turn a slight pink. He knew Ayame and her habit of teasing him. She took up any opportunity she could to taunt him, especially about girls. Her usual subject was Nori, but Hiro really couldn't see how they could make a good couple. Both of them were so carful; it would be rather boring. Ayame insisted that they would be cute together, though. "Doctor, do you really have to-"
"Our Hiro here is a sweetheart, isn't he? Always eager to be grown up and to help people out~! If you're looking for a boyfriend, then he's definitely in the market!"
"D-Doctor-"
"I think I'd be willing to give you his hand in marriage. You seem like a kind young lady. I'll be expecting lots of grandkids, ok?"
"Doctor!" Hiro exclaimed, his face bright red now. "I'm not 'in the market' or anything like that! I'm very much satisfied with patiently waiting!"
The doctor laughed again. "See? Isn't he a sweetheart?"
Erin, understanding the situation she and Ayame were putting the poor boy in, stood up. "Well, if my leg is better now, I'll be taking my leave." She quickly headed for the door and turned back to smile at them. "It was nice to meet you two!"
As the door shut behind her, the two doctors were left in silence for a moment.
"Aw, you scared her away, Hiro!"
What had he gotten himself into?