Summary: They say the medical field is where most of the modern-day heroes are found. For Asakura Yoh, walking around dressed in a white gown or a scrub suit was the goal from the start. The hospital is where he spent half of his life strengthening friendships, making memories, gaining love then losing it. Now that he has come back to his hometown, he may realise that it was all just the beginning.
Pairings: YohxAnna (and eventually more from different characters)
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AN APPLE A DAY – Chapter 1: Where It All Started
'Screeeeccchhh!'
Bright skies and cool spring breeze dominated the outdoors.
It would have been a peaceful morning if not for the deafening tire squeal which resonated within the main streets of Izumo Central Business District. Multiple skid marks were noted on the road.
"Shit," a male voice cursed as he leaned forward, touching his forehead on the steering wheel of his car. He shut his eyes in frustration.
This was the last thing he needed today. He was only a few blocks away from his destination and he definitely could not afford to start his career with a grand entrance for being late.
Truth is, he doesn't mind starting things with a bang, but not this kind.
He tried to beat the red lights but missed it in a split-second, so the brakes had to be hit hard. The car behind him definitely had to adjust and there were only a couple of centimetres apart left between his rear bumper and the other's front.
The sound of a car door being slammed shut echoed and he let out an exasperated sigh as he made a quick glance on his left side mirror.
Great.
An infuriated person exited the car behind him, angrily stomping to towards his direction.
But just his luck, it was a female driver.
He heard some loud knocking on his heavily tinted car window as she approached his driver's side. Her long blonde hair flowed past her breasts and were tied into 2 sections in low ponytails.
"Excuse me? Has anyone told you that you're a danger to your surroundings? What were you thinking suddenly stopping like that!?"
It was lucky there were no other vehicles on the road, some curious by-standers at the streets witnessed the commotion.
"Hellooo?" more incessant knocking followed.
He did not understand what the big deal was since his little mischief did not result in a collision anyway.
A few seconds passed when he decided to lower his car window to slowly reveal himself.
Sunrays started to shine on his handsome face, his brown hair swayed as the wind swooped in his vehicle. He was sporting dark black aviators, and the side-view of his angled jaw coupled with a playful smirk were enough to melt just about anything on the surface of the Earth.
"Hi!" he asked as he beamed a charming toothy smile.
"I, uhh—" the woman turned into all shades of red upon encountering his irresistible aura.
He scanned her physique from top to bottom while he waited for her to continue.
'An aggressive blonde. Great,' he thought, remembering both fond and not-so-fond memories he associated with the hair colour.
"Alright, lady, listen," he replied confidently while grabbing a pen and sticky-note from his car compartment. He bit the tip of the pen to pull off the cap and started to scribble on the notes. "Sorry I can't talk for too long right now, but you can always reach me later, 'mkay?" he continued, still biting on the pen cover in his mouth. He took the object away from his lips and handed her the note, flashing a deadly smile.
The woman just absentmindedly reached for the note and nodded with her lips partly opened.
"Great! See yah!" and with that, the engine of his car roared as he sped through the road.
The woman was left standing in the middle of the road clutching a note in her hands with a mobile number written on it.
Her shock was inevitable. She was sure she has seen that face before.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Thank goodness for the vast VIP parking space that he did not have to hurry further. He might have some luck left in him for today after all.
The sound of car engine being turned off vibrated as he stepped out of his modified white ZL1 Camaro. A prominent insignia was attached beside his number plate—the Caduceus, marked with the initials: MD.
There were some noticeable luxury cars parked in the area and he would have enjoyed surveying them for longer if not for the time constraints. Looks like most of the big bosses will be present inside.
Good thing he did not to forget to button his white polo before entering the premises, though. He rolled-up his long sleeves neatly until they can no longer get past his noticeable biceps. His trousers clung to his waist perfectly, his towering height completed his manly presence. He was never one for dressing-up formally for these types of occasions. Heck, he even refused to wear a tie right now.
Rays of sunlight continued to dance in his vision as he looked up towards the massive complex of buildings in front of him. A group of giant letters at the top of the empire read: Shimane Medical Foundation.
A wave of nostalgia washed upon him as he stared at the landscape with a sad smile. He only wished it felt entirely good to be back.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Footsteps died down as he reached for the elevator just on time. He stuck his arms in to prevent the doors from closing completely.
"Sorry," he smiled sheepishly as he squeezed himself inside. The other people flashed him a curious look and some females giggled.
Although his headphones were over his ears, he maintained the music volume to minimal. He could still hear the occupants of the elevator gossip amongst themselves.
"Did you hear? They said a fine young man will start operating as an assistant chairperson soon," one started.
"Really? Where did you get that information?" another one chirped.
"Well, it was a hot topic amongst the departments recently."
"There are speculations that the chairman's health is not in the most optimum condition so they will need to train someone ASAP to replace him."
"Huh? But I thought the vice-chairman's already been grooming his grandson for years for that? Same goes for the other board members' heirs."
"Damn, these rich families really know how to maintain power, don't they?"
"Yeah."
"Also, we are getting a new surgeon. Heard he's young but is such a prodigy. He studied abroad and was able to become a surgeon at such a young age."
The brunette smiled secretly upon hearing that.
"Wow. Do such youngsters really exist? Or maybe he just got a good recommendation via under the table. You know, power play."
He wanted to strangle the one who said it.
"Oh! And have you seen the new senior resident in the emergency department? Duuude!"
"Wait, what? Why?"
"Rumour has it that she looks like a goddess but she's totally a fox!"
Damn. He would definitely keep that in mind.
The elevator sounded a loud 'ding', signalling his stop. He noticed how everyone seemed to get off the same floor heading towards the same destination. It was a staff meeting with all the departments anyway.
Things will only get more interesting from here.
Everybody else moved to enter the room on the right at the end of the corridor. However, he turned left to enter an adjacent room for his next stop. He removed his aviators as he slowly turned the door open, eyes scanned the room, and found two familiar faces who acknowledged him.
"YOH!" the one with short blonde hair, piped. He had noticeable shorter-than-average height for his age, but he always had this well-kept, scholarly appearance.
"Hey, Manta!" He beamed his wide smile.
The other one with jet dark purple hair and intimidating golden eyes flashed a smug smirk, "I can't believe you were almost late as usual, you dufus!"
"Missed you, too, Ren," the brunette chuckled, tapping his companion's shoulder.
"Oh my God! Look at you! Looks like America finally did rub-off on you," mused Manta.
"Huh? Whaddya mean?" Yoh replied cheekily attempting to make it sound slang as possible.
"Tss, show off. You two should save your smooches for later. We're about to start," Ren interjected.
As if on cue, three of them heard the sound of feedback from the microphone and the spokesperson requesting for the attendees to take a seat from the adjacent conference hall.
They entered the backstage through the connecting door.
Sounds of murmurs died down as everyone settled into their respective seats inside the expansive hall that could probably house up to 500 people. It is where the hospital officials always held annual meetings, and it normally included the entirety of the company's departments and its representatives, from the health sector to general services to administrations. Every staff were welcome to join provided that it did not clash with their shift schedules.
"Piri, do you think that's them?" a male spoke towards his companion, discreetly pointing at the two gentlemen who were sitting at the corner of the stage.
"Don't know. Can't see their faces clearly from here," replied the female.
"Anyway, feels like we're getting big news today."
Both speakers returned their attention towards the front stage.
Manta stood up and positioned himself at the podium and started his speech "Good morning, ladies and gents. Thank you all for coming to attend our annual big team meeting. On behalf of the administration and board of directors, we welcome you to today's agenda."
. . . . . . . . . . .
The announcements concluded with three major key points— 1. The appointment of a new assistant chairman who will be working behind the scenes, anonymous from the public until his debut, 2. Newly hired resident doctors assigned to work in the emergency and paediatrics department, and 3. The arrival of doctors Tao Ren and Asakura Yoh who will also be joining the hospital's cardio and pedia team.
The audience produced rounds of applauses throughout the presentation.
"Horo, you were right, it is them!" his sister cheered while clapping her hands and hitting his arm at the same time.
"Yeah, come on, let's meet them outside," replied the male, as they stood-up to make way to the conference halls' exit.
All the employees proceeded to exit the auditorium as the meeting ended.
Meanwhile somewhere within the crowd, two personalities snorted at the scene before them.
"Hm, the Asakuras are making their moves, eh?" one of the two, and man in his sixties, commented with a mischievous smirk.
"Come on, uncle, let them have their fun for now. Who knows, this might be their last moments of glory," murmured a younger male voice from the shadows.
They were both staring at a certain family sitting at the front rows, full of contempt.
Things shall start to get interesting.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Hey, Yoh!" A boisterous howl was heard from across the hospital's hotel-like lobby.
The brunette turned his head towards the source of noise. He was planning to make a few stops in his new workplace before heading to the cafeteria for late lunch.
"HoroHoro?"
"Dude! You look so different but also so similar the last time we saw each other. I almost did not recognize you. So, Pediatric Surgeon and soon to be big boss now, huh?" joked the blue-haired man, elbowing Yoh with twitching brows to tease him further. He was dressed in almost casual clothes beneath a white laboratory coat. A silver name plate attached to his chest read: Horokeu Usui, Medical Intern.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? This is still me," Yoh chuckled. He then noticed Horo's attire and continued with wide eyes, "Whoah! You finally decided to pursue medicine!"
"Hah! Yeah! See that? See that? Well, it's such a rollercoaster ride, but I have finally started. So don't be so cocky, I might catch-up to you sooner that you think," Horo bragged whilst holding out his name badge attached to his coat.
"Hm? What is this, a circus? I didn't know a prestigious hospital like ours accepted idiots like you to train as a doctor," Ren teased as he approached them from behind.
"What did you say?" Horo retorted.
"I said, what's an amateur like you doing in here?"
"Don't get cocky, Tao. If you only knew how I almost laughed my ass out seeing you and your daddy's proud moment on stage earlier. Aww, so adorable," mocked Horo in return.
"What did you say!?" the two proceeded to tackle each other like a pair of teenage boys.
Yoh looked at them amusedly. Some things never change.
He then shifted his gaze towards HoroHoro's companion.
"Oh, hey, Pirika. Nice seeing you again," he smiled at her.
The woman with mid length blue hair, clad in a light blue scrub suit, blushed. She could only mutter back a simple "hi," before avoiding his gaze. She hurriedly approached her brother and grabbed his ear to stop his rowdy interaction with Tao.
"Nii-chan, stop this nonsense right now! I'm going to start work. I'll see you later," and with that, she stomped out of the scene.
All three blinked and eyes followed Pirika's retreating figure until she disappeared.
"What was that about?" Yoh questioned with a wondering look.
"Tch, really? You're that clueless?" replied Ren, with a snicker.
"Don't mind my sister. You know she can be crazy. Come on, let's catch-up at the cafeteria before I start my shift," egged Horo who was still holding his sore ear.
. . . . . . . . . . .
The emergency department was undeniably busy as usual.
A multitude of patients of all ages were sitting at the waiting area while they were being triaged according to their medical concerns.
There were several nurses roaming around in a swift manner to attend patients' needs, doctors doing their rounds, and some allied members of the healthcare team who were joining the tasks.
It was quite chaotic but the people who worked there were kind of used to the environment, so they always deemed it as pretty normal.
All was well until a group of nine men clad in uniformed grey hoodies and joggers entered through the double glass doors. They looked like members of a gang. They were holding several weapons such as brass knuckles, steel pipes and baseball bats.
"Somebody bring us the in-charge doctor!" The skinny one with shoulder-length purple hair exclaimed. He was holding another man who appeared to be injured as there was blood stains oozing on his right chest, from his dirty white suit. The wounded man, who appeared to be in his early thirties, was half awake and was leaning his left arm around his companion's shoulders for support.
Everyone in the emergency department stopped to look at the group.
"Why the hell are you all just staring? We said call the fucking doctor, now!" shouted the bald one while hitting a glass panel with his crowbar, shattering the glass into pieces.
The occupants of the room started to panic, screams and gasps were heard. Some children started crying due to the ruckus.
From a distance, a distinctive female started to walk across the room to approach the group of intruders. She lifted both her arms to grab her long and silky blonde hair and tied it into a messy high ponytail as she strode. She was wearing a plain loose white blouse, tucked in a black slitted tulip skirt. Its hem rested just above her knees with a tight fit that hugged her curves. She wore a long white lab coat on top of her outfit with a sliver name plate attached on the upper left chest that read: 'senior resident'. A black stethoscope hanged loosely around her neck.
All eyes followed her movements as she continued to cross the area, the clicking sounds of her blood red pointed pumps vibrated at the floor's surface, then stopped when she reached her destination in front of the intruding group.
"Huuuh? Are you the in-charge doctor?" asked one of the gang members while he slowly approached her, maintaining minimal personal space as he leered down at her.
"I am a doctor. Tell me what you want," replied the blonde, not with a single sign of fear from her countenance.
The guy who was supporting the injured man laughed, "do you take us as a fool, woman? We asked for the in-charge, not for a cute little secretary. You should just go back home and do you boyfriend's laundry!"
All the other gang members blurted out a mocking laughter at their assistant leader's misogyny.
The blonde maintained her dignified stare and just snorted, "tch, bunch of pussies."
The laughter died down at her comment.
"What did you just say?" The assistant leader raised his brow and approached her, dragging the injured man with him.
She continued her passive stare and did not move a single muscle.
"You brazen bitch! How dare you—"
"Stop it, blue chateau," murmured the injured man. His head was still hanging down facing the floor as he clung on to his companion.
"But, boss Ryu—"
"Hehehe. Can't you see…" the man with a pompadour hairstyle, who is now named as the 'boss' of the group, slowly withdrew his arm from his henchman's shoulders and staggered towards the blonde.
"…the pretty lady doctor obviously wants to treat me badly…" he proceeded to close the gap between him and the woman, towering over her. "...I should not disappoint her," his lips pouted as he approached further, ready to steal a clumsy smooch.
A loud SLAP echoed throughout the room.
The pompadour man had his eyes wide opened as he tried to process the quick turn of events. He felt an undeniable sting on his right cheek as he realised that the woman has just slapped him hard using her left hand.
He regained some consciousness and raised his left hand to retaliate, "Why you-!"
The blonde was ready to counter the attack when she suddenly saw a hand swiftly reached out from her righthand back, which grabbed the gang leader's wrist, effectively stopping his assault.
All the events suddenly played in slow motion as she whipped her head to see her saviour's face who was towering behind her.
Everything surrounding them seemed to stop as she saw a familiar face.
"Yoh?" she asked in utter shock.
A couple of seconds passed until the brunette casted his gaze on her with a small smile.
"Hello, Anna."
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A/N: Hiyaaa! So, what can I say? New year, new fic? xD This is one of my works in progress—a DOCTORS AU. It took me all the convincing powers I could get from everyone else before finally publishing it because as usual for me, I already have the ending and epilogue (and some scenes) planned in my ever 'wanderlust-filled' head, I have such an interesting plot in my mind, and I am sure this will be my first work that may exceed 10 chapters, but I was not 100% sure I could keep up with regular updates due to, well, life and adulting. Though here I am, braving all my worries and reservations, and today, I finally said: to bloody hell with it all, I am posting this shit to force myself to get more creative this year! Teehee! xD
So, here you are, my lovely peeps! The Mankin gang in white gowns, scrubs and suits!
It would really mean a lot if you guys let me know what you think this time. Show me sum luv! ;3
