Chapter 2

"Do you like waffles? Yeah we like waffle-" Kyoko raised an eye brow at Ruth's choice for a cellphone ringtone. Ruth stares at the caller ID and sighs. "Hello, Dr Shamal."

Dr Shamal? Kyoko crushed the used paper cup which had contained her hot chocolate. Isn't that the infamous womanizer doctor in the hospital? How did he get Ruth's phone number?

"Yes Kyoko and I are still at tea. Oh, ok I see. Right then, thanks for the heads up. We'll head back now." Ruth blinked with a strange expression on her face. "You know, that was the first time he actually called for work related chat."

"What else does he call for?"

"To ask what colour underwear I'm wearing."

"What?!"

"Oh yeah, he said the three ambulances are going to be back any minute. They're probably taking blood samples as we speak. Dr Shamal mentioned that we should have four emergency O negative blood units* on standby ASAP. There is also a chance he'll activate the Massive Blood Transfusion Protocol." Ruth stood up and tossed all the rubbish into a nearby rubbish bin. "Stop cringing and let's roll Kyoko."

"Uurrrggh…"

A tall man with a white coat and looked like he hasn't shaved for a few days walked down brightly lit hospital hallways until he reached the emergency department. He skillfully weaved between the patients, nurses, house officers and the odd registrars until reaching a door with a police officer standing next to it. Flashing his hospital ID, the doctor nodded courteously at the uniformed man. The officer gestured of him to go through the door.

"Well this is an unpleasant surprise Hayato Gokudera." Dr Shamal drawled as he picked up and flipped through the silver haired man's patient notes. Gokudera himself was lying down on a bed, with a hand to the back of his head, as if he's trying to test how bad his concussion was. "Blunt force trauma to the back of the head. I'll take it it's the concussion that's making you not so talkative. Usually you're much more vocal than this."

"Shut up you old pervert!" The young man made it to a half sitting position before giving a groan when he started seeing the surrounding spin, he quickly slumped back and tried to cover his eyes in attempt to stop feeling sick.

"That's more like it. Now give me a quick idea what happened. That police officer is still outside waiting for answers you know?"

"God damn it! It wasn't supposed to turn out like this! We went to TALK things over like the Tenth requested. They fuckin-!"

"Keep talking loud like that and the whole world will know what happened." Dr Shamal replied sharply. He started taking Gokudera's blood sample in tubes with various cap colours, feeling satisfied when Gokudera winced as the needle left his arm. "You should be grateful; I had a quick look as you guys came in. No casualty in the family."

"That's because…the Tenth had a bad feeling and called in Reborn at the last minute…"

Dr Shamal looked up from a form he was writing out, Reborn is in town? Well, things just got interesting.

"I'm going to have to keep a few of you back for some scans, that head of yours worries me in more ways than one," the doctor stood up and looked out the window to see more police cars turning up. "I suggest your story of last night's events consists of lots and lots of alcohol and partying. I'll go check up on the others and make some phone calls."

Kyoko just finished preparing 8 units of emergency O negative blood, she knows Dr Shamal only asked for four but in cases like this it's always better to be safe than sorry. She spotted Ruth receiving a stash of specimens from the transport chute linked to the hospital wards.

"Want a hand with labeling and registering those?" Kyoko made her way to the specimen registration computer table. "I'll scan the hospital forms and register them ok?"

"What I'd do without you?" Ruth flashed a smile and began to hand over the forms.

"Hmmm, yes, my friend Hana used to say that a lot to me when we were in high school."

"Yeah? You guys still keep in touch?"

"We have occasional catch-ups, but since we both work full time now it's rather hard to find mutual free time." Kyoko gave a curse when one wrinkled form got itself jammed in the scanner. Come to think of it Hana and Haru are the only friends in high school that I've kept in touch with; man I'm such a loner. I bet I'm the most reclusive kid in the history of that high school. Kyoko tore out the jammed paper in irritation and slammed the cover back none too gently. I'm the COMPLETE opposite of that guy in high school. They dubbed him the 'School Prince', Kyoko had to stifle a laugh at that, yeah the nick name was corny as hell but the guy was HOT! His signature hair style consists of his medium length brown hair fashioned into messy spikes, maybe he was going for a badass gangster look but because at the time he wasn't so tall, in the end the effect seemed half-hearted at best. The guy's facial features are definitely worth envying over. He looks a bit more refined than the average rough looking boy, the big eyes and slightly longer than normal eyelashes were what made him look girlish, but the hard jaw line and the look of confidence in his eyes firmly puts him in the male gender territory. For some reason he's always so cheerful, down to earth and friendly to everyone despite how everyone already adored him, so it didn't seem like he's a snob either…

"Errm, are you ok over there Kyoko?" Ruth was standing behind Kyoko's chair, peering down at the forms being registered. "I don't hear any typing…"

"You made me reminiscence about my high school years. You know, the most exciting part of my life which I'm not getting back," Kyoko removed one completed form after another as her fingers danced over the keyboard. "Now I can't seem to get that boy I had a crush on out of my head!" The last part was an attempted joke and Kyoko flicked another form over to the completed pile. Last form left.

"Hmmm…Tsunayoshi Sawada," Ruth murmured. Kyoko whipped her head back to stare at her colleague in shock, since when did Ruth start reading minds? She earned herself a surprised look in return. "…What? I was reading the name on that form."

Eh?!

* Emergency O negative blood units = Blood type O and Rh D negative units, considered to be generally compatible with majority of the population. There is still a slim chance of the patient having a very bad reaction to it though (it is not miracle blood after all) so the doctor in charge must make the decision of using it or not. It's only really used in emergencies (hence the name) like when if the patient is bleeding a river and needs blood or dies in the next minute or so.