Chapter Summary: Every story has a holiday. A lifetime experience of bonding and strengthening relationships through travelling in a far, unfamiliar place. It's all fun and games, but not until inevitable events take place, and painful truths are found.
. . . . . . . . . . .
AN APPLE A DAY – Chapter 20: The Patch House, Part 1
"WOOHOOO! Hellooo, Aomori! The snowiest place on Earth!" Boisterous cheering courtesy of Horohoro echoed throughout the secluded area as he stretched his limbs after alighting the official bus of Shimane Medical Foundation with his colleagues. "Chief! We got at least one free day after our medical missions, right? Please tell me 'yes'. I brought my snowboard with me and I—"
"I told you many times, Dr. Faust isn't here. And it's Springtime now, so good luck finding snow thick enough for snowboarding, dummy." Usui Pirika muttered facts as she casually strolled past her brother, dragging her luggage on a driveway paved with gravel. "Ugh! How did I have such an idiot brother?"
Beside Pirika, Kurobe Tamiko—whose name Horo Horo finally came to know after calling her 'the-cute-black-haired-girl-from-the-club' so many times— giggled timidly at her friend's brother's antics as she followed her, carrying their medical equipment that were contained in large toolboxes. "I think he's adorable, to be honest."
Pirika threw her a look of disbelief.
Horohoro froze upon seeing Tamiko walked past him and it wasn't because of Aomori's cold breeze. He'd gone brain dead the moment he was graced by her presence and her gentle eyes, and demure attitude. All the more when he heard her call him cute.
He wanted to approach her, but Tamiko continued on her merry way whilst chatting with his sister as they sauntered to the venue.
"Oi, how long are you planning to stand there like an idiot?" Ren went past Horohoro while casually drinking his morning milk. He was walking rather awkwardly silent next to Jeanne who also looked wary.
"Why you—" Horo was ready to retaliate but changed his mind when he felt the negative energy brewing from the two.
"Move, dummy. You're blocking the way." The invisible ice that surrounded HorHoro doubled when he heard Anna's voice coming from behind. It clearly wasn't his day to start.
The junior doctor craned his neck nervously, expecting to see a displeased Anna, which was quite normal in the morning, only to notice something quite the opposite.
Of all the things Doctor Usui would expect, a blushing—almost bashful, Anna zooming past him was probably at the bottom of the list. At first, Horohoro couldn't believe his eyes but in a split-second, Yoh followed in with a big, proud, smirk on his face and with energy so elated, he didn't look one bit exhausted from carrying four bulky weekender bags in his arms.
That's when Horohoro realised that Yoh was carrying Anna's bags and his, and by the looks of it, Anna may have tried to protest against Yoh doing that, but he must've insisted. Hence, Anna was trying to cover-up the butterflies in her stomach with feigned annoyance.
A memory of a scene that happened inside the bus flashed in Horohoro's mind and it made him smirk.
They just finished their 15-hour travel from Izumo to Aomori, but he knows this trip will just keep on getting better.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"What do you mean you don't believe me? First of all, did you see how they sat so comfortably next to each other in the bus? I mean, look at them. Something is definitely going on with those two." Horohoro spoke in a hushed tone as he carefully looked from left to right just to confirm that there weren't anyone else hearing their conversation. Tamao stood curiously next to him as he slowly drew out his phone from his pocket to show her his most priced evidence.
They've just finished unloading their belongings and equipment at the front yard of their destination and so they decided it was a good catch-up time while waiting on the others to finish.
If Tamao's scandalised gasp wasn't a dead giveaway about how shocking the photograph was, then nothing else would've made sense in the world.
"Shush! Keep it down. Someone might hear us!" Horohoro whispered frantically, starting to get scared for his life.
The image was a candid photo featuring Yoh and Anna at the back most seat of the bus, with Anna sleeping soundly like an angel while leaning her head on her companion's shoulder, and Yoh, listening to music from his orange headphones with a winner's smile on his face. Both were oblivious to the world around them.
It was a smart move from them, if Horohoro was going to be honest. No one would've noticed their suspicious interactions unless one would look behind their seats.
Horohoro didn't want to show the photo around because that would definitely shorten his life if a certain blonde ever found out about it, but what was a desperate man to do to prove his point to his skeptic friend? For weeks, he's been telling their closest friends about the peculiar change in energy between Yoh and Anna which he just couldn't point his finger on.
However, Horo was almost sure that the chance Yoh and Anna may get back together had just tripled since they met again since the incident at the club.
And if that happens, he will be one of the happiest people for them.
"Oh my God, I can't believe this. It's like a magic switch suddenly got switched on between those two once more." Tamao covered her mouth from shock.
"Ne, Horohoro, you know you'll be dead the moment Anna sees that, right?" Tamao teased.
"See what, exactly?" Anna's voice suddenly popped out of nowhere.
The gossiping duo got petrified.
"Hey guys, what's up?" It was Yoh who followed, not having a single clue about being the talk of the town. The other members of their medical mission group lined up behind them.
Horohoro felt cold sweat sliding down his spine as he carefully turned his head to confirm a certain heathen's presence who was about to end his existence on Earth. He was lucky he was able to pocket his phone back on time, but he still wasn't sure if Anna already saw something or not, so he was debating as to whether he'd accept his fate straight away or he'd dare beg Anna for forgiveness, or his last meal.
"Good morning. Welcome to 'The Patch House', shamans!" Everyone turned their heads at the sound of an enthusiastic greeting from a middle-aged woman dressed in a dirty white sleeveless top and a printed long brown skirt. She had a long black hair with some tribal tattoos on her arms—her style reminiscent of Native North Americans.
No one dared to make a comment about the woman's odd way of greeting so only the whistling of the wind and rustling of leaves became audible. She stood by the double door entrance of a traditional two-storey building as she giggled at the perplexed reactions of the newcomers.
"Why? Are you not doctors? Healers? Therapists? Then all of you, my friends, have the right to be called shamans."
Everybody let out the breaths they were holding and chuckled in agreement at the lady's unusual attempt at a metaphor.
"I'm sorry, I should've introduced myself first. My name is Lilirara, and I'm the inn keeper who shall welcome you to The Patch House, a home for orphaned angels— Anna-chan? Anna-chan is that really you?"
All eyes turned to Anna who, in turn, had an annoyed expression for having all the attention brought to her feet. Sensing everyone's foreboding curiosity, she finally acknowledged Lilirara. "Hello to you to, auntie."
Loud gasps came from Anna's colleagues after hearing her acknowledge the older woman, except for Yoh who had a genuine smile plastered on his face.
"Oh, Anna-chan, what a surprise!" Lilirara lunged at Anna and pulled the blonde into a hug, leaving the younger woman utterly surprised. "And oh my goodness! Yoh-kun is also here! Come here, you!" Lilirara caught Yoh off-guard by including him into a now 'group hug', with Yoh being flustered, and Anna being suspicious as to how Lilirara knew Yoh.
Although the two were caught in their own little awkward moment, there was no telling how much their colleagues were drowning in confusion while watching them from the background.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"I suppose this is your stop, right?"
Yoh had to second-guess if his words remained inside his head or if he'd actually said them because he didn't get any response at all. He opened his mouth to call Anna's attention but decided to remain quiet after noticing her seemingly lost in her own little world.
He watched as Anna's footsteps threaded softly around the room they've just entered.
There was nothing extraordinary about it. In fact, everything seemed old—ancient, even, but well preserved at the same time; including the wooden floors that creaked with every move, and the dark antique furniture that were painted in a similar hue.
The overall space was small and there was a miniscule window that barely had any view outside, except for a lone Sakura tree that stood next to a couple of red paper windmills that were struck onto the currently grassy soil in the property's backyard. They were quite lucky to catch the tree still bearing some of its white and pink blooms now that it was the month of May, but that scenery would have been a little depressing every winter, Yoh thought.
Yoh gently lowered Anna's bag to the floor, which he had previously slung over his shoulder. He watched a dazed Anna walk over to the other side of the room.
There were several peculiar dolls and figurines propped on top of a wooden chest of drawers. Some of them were modelled after geishas that wore handcrafted doll Kimonos, and some were stuffed animals that were already lacklustre, probably due to their age.
Anna caressed one of the dolls with the back of her fingers. It appeared to be a small Dogū figurine made from clay, and it interestingly pulled a nostalgic smile on the blonde. This action made Yoh deduce something, but before he could ask, he heard Anna's mellow voice.
"This was my room."
Yoh's vision strayed from Anna's hand to her face that was now displaying a small smile, but with eyes that danced with fifteen different emotions just by blurting out that one tiny personal detail.
"Hmm, I figured."
Shoving his hands in his pants, Yoh crossed the room in three strides and stopped just in front of Anna, carefully watching her every move.
From the very start, Yoh knew that his ex-fiancée was fostered by the Fausts but grew up in an orphanage somewhere in Aomori prior to that. He was elated once he finally found out which orphanage it was after Anna mentioned it to him once when they were still together. Plus, it was easy to figure it out due to the fact that out of the seven that existed in the region, the place stood in a land that belonged to his family and was previously ran by his grandmother, Asakura Kino, herself. After that, he did everything in his power to secretly keep the place running despite his grandfather's initiative to sell it and even after Anna's and Hao's disappearance.
Keeping his memories in check, Yoh went back to observing to the special woman who remained motionless before him.
He wanted to hug Anna so bad—kiss her, if given the chance; but he thought it wasn't best to overload her senses while she was ruled over by a roller coaster of emotions right at that very moment.
"Has it always been this way?" Yoh murmured, looking around, as an attempt to neutralise the mood. "Your room?"
Anna followed Yoh's line of vision and simply nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."
Her eyes wandered once again, and her vision settled on a sheep stuffed animal nestled on the single bed which probably belonged to the orphan who was currently occupying the room. She pointed at it. "Except that. Oh, and there used to be two beds here. My sister and I used to share this room." Sudden melancholy occupied her expression.
"You mean, Asanoha-san?"
Anna's eyes went wide as saucers. "So you do know—"
Yoh shrugged casually. "I don't know her. Not really, no. I'd love to know more about her, and on why you'd go as far as lying about your relationship with her the first time I asked. But…" His hands got a hold of Anna's and he looked at her straight in the eye, "only when you're ready to tell me, of course."
Too stunned to speak, Anna could only leave her mouth ajar. There were hundreds of questions racing in her mind— such as why Yoh doesn't seem to remember her sister, or was he was just bluffing and testing her— but none of those actually escaped her mouth.
Something wasn't right being with him. Everything wasn't right.
She acted on reflex and pulled her hand away. "Yoh, there's still a lot of things that we need to talk about."
A creaking sound interrupted as if someone has entered the room and both Yoh and Anna turned towards the door only to find a little girl of African American descent. She has beautiful short, curly, hair that was dark as the midnight. Her skin contrasted the yellow-orange dress and headband that she wore. Even though the girl was biting her lower lip, and peeping halfway by the entrance, her big puppy onyx eyes displayed amusement and curiosity.
"Papa?" The girl whispered upon seeing Yoh.
It was Yoh's turn to have his eyes bulging out of their sockets. "Wha— Who? Me?"
The little girl blink several times before approaching the ex-couple, then pouted her lips after getting a good look at Yoh. "You're not my papa. My papa's more handsome!"
Yoh chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. The girl then looked at Anna and her eyes literally sparkled! "Pretty! Are you going to be my mama?"
It took a few seconds for Anna to process everything that the child was saying, but the way she interpreted it, she assumed that the girl was asking if she will be her assigned guardian who will basically eat, play, and sleep with the kid, as Lilirara explained to them; being part of the medical mission and social services program that they were providing for the next five days.
Flashing a gentle smile, Anna crouched to maintain eye-level contact with their little host.
"Yes, I'll be your mama for the next few days. My name is Anna. What's yours?"
The girl's smile grew wider, and her pupils dilated with glee. "I'm Opacho. I'll introduce you to my papa soon!"
. . . . . . . . . . .
"So, I'm assuming you've all met your partner kids and settled your belongings in their rooms?" Lilirara started as she sat on the end of a long table.
All of the guests gathered for lunch mumbled an affirmative response. The children who lived there were already having lunch at the main dining hall as supervised by the orphanage's staff.
From the far side of the table, Horo Horo tried to stealthily pinch a fried chicken piece in front of him thinking he was doing a great job at hiding his actions, only for his sister to quietly swatted his hand away to which he yelped a hushed "ow!"
Horo Horo tried to reason out that he couldn't resist his hunger anymore. Tamiko whispered that it was quite understandable, given the wide selection of scrumptious food in front of them including different types of sashimi, tempura, sushi, curried tonkotsu and some warm bowls of rice and miso soup.
Pirika gestured with her eyes to indicate that the head mistress of the house started saying graces, therefore it was rude for anyone to start eating.
Ren, who was sitting next to his blue-haired friend, noticed this and rolled his eyes to reproach him. He was challenged by a raised brow from Horo in return. Tao felt a kick on the side of his shin, and he automatically assumed who it was, but before he could clap back at Horo Horo, or worse, before they could embarrass themselves in front of their colleagues with their immature display, Lilirara finished her prayer and invited everybody to eat.
Reaching for a piece of tuna, Anna accidentally bumped against Ren's chopsticks as they both reached at the same time. Both had their eyes locked for a split-second as if they were communicating some top-secret mission with each other, before curtly bowing their heads in apology. Ren gestured for Anna to go proceed picking her food.
From the corner of her eye, Jeanne noticed even the slightest interactions between Ren and Anna, so she decided to place some fish into Ren's bowl from hers. All three of them avoided any form of contact after that.
Meanwhile, Yoh was quite oblivious to the things around him as he was already happily stuffing his mouth with curry udon. Everyone went on with their own world in groups, eating and chatting merrily, when he noticed Anna eyeing the fresh boiled prawns.
Yoh knew it was one of Anna's favorites but she always hated peeling them herself, so what was a man like him to do in that situation? He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt up to his elbows, took some prawns, and peeled them with his bare hands.
Soon enough, he's peeled about fifteen pieces and without thinking about it, he placed two peeled prawns on Anna's bowl, just like how he was used to casually doing when they were dating—but would look suspicious as hell now that they weren't— and he noticed his mistake when the room went unusually quiet.
It didn't take long until Yoh noticed all his colleagues watching him in astonishment—Horo Horo, and even Ren, with their bulging eyes and stuffed mouths, Tamao with a hand on face to prevent herself from gasping out loud. All the other men had complete respect brimming in their eyes, and the women blushing wildly at a gesture that wasn't even done to them.
However, the 'most shocked' award went to Anna, who apart from blushing madly, began vigorously coughing, as she possibly aspirated on a piece of tofu, or worse, embarrassment.
Anna started tapping her chest with her fist, and her other palm was shielding her mouth from everyone's view, triggering Yoh's critical thinking that made him jump onto his feet. He was ready to give her a back blow but was luckily stopped when he saw Anna waving her hand to signal that she was fine, as she gradually composed herself by clearing her throat.
"I… aspirated on the rice, I guess." It wasn't in Anna's nature to reason out, but she felt like it was the thing she needed the most at that time.
Everyone felt relieved after seeing her stable.
"Yeah, you still got some here." Without upheaval, Yoh once again rushed to his actions and reached for Anna's face only to wipe a few grains of rice that were stuck to her lower lip. The process would have been an innocent act of chivalry, but it looked torturously sensual to the other people in the room.
Yoh remained uncaring for the world around him, and Anna's blood pooled onto her cheeks.
Everyone had their mouths hanging as the events unfolded before them. To their friends, those two weren't the type of couple that blatantly engaged in public display of affection, but it's mostly the small things they do that makes them romantic in the eyes of others.
It's as if they weren't intentionally flirting, but they kind of were.
By the end of the spectacle, their juniors and co-staff, who weren't included their group of friends— meaning, the ones who weren't immune to Yoh and Anna's ordinary interactions— were already on the floor with their mouths foaming. In fact, some of them were already suspecting the two having some sort of secret relationship without knowing about their past.
Feeling the weight of everybody's gaze, Yoh, for the love of God, finally realised the holocaust that he'd caused; and in one swift movement, he began serving some of the peeled prawns to his colleagues, too.
"There. Shrimp for everybody. Yay!" His actions may have fooled some of them, but his friends could see right through his frantic state.
Finally calming down, Horo Horo watched his friend in deep thought, while devouring a giant onigiri. "Man, I need a girlfriend."
Ren arched a brow but seemed to agree with Horo Horo's comment.
. . . . . . . . . . .
The executives meeting hall inside Shimane Medical Foundation was usually lively before conferences commenced, full of chit-chattering members of the board and other VIPs who were invited to join.
Some of the conversations were sensible and useful for actual business, most were for the purpose of socialising or gauging one's silent competitor's ranking in the world of the powerful and rich.
The murmurs and echoes died down as Oyamada Mansumi, escorted by his nephew, Kamogawa Yosuke, entered the room in a nonchalant fashion despite being late for the business conference. Following close behind was Manta who was trying his best not to be a nervous wreck.
"Quite arrogant for a late-comer, aren't we, Oyamada-san." Tao En commented without filter.
"Undeniably so, Tao-san. But please be advised that I only acknowledge comments about me from people who matter, and that doesn't include you." Mansumi retorted like a savage dressed in a designer suit.
Yosuke couldn't help but to emit a playful chuckle due to his seniors' banter and some judgemental eyes landed on him for showing such disrespect. The teenager kept his calm composure with a taunting smirk on his face.
Conceited, yes, but he was aware that in the elite society, he was an untouchable kid with his relatives on his side, much like a few lucky others.
He glanced at the Asakuras from across the room and his mischievous smirk grew wider as his thoughts ran wild.
Not for long.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Whew! That was exhausting!" A male nurse commented after retiring to a chair and taking a swing at a bottled water. A few others groaned.
It was nearly six in the evening of the second day of their medical mission when they finished administering routine immunisations for a total of a hundred and thirty children. The other half of their group attended dental procedures and mini surgeries. It was starting to get dark but none of the staff wanted to move a single limb anymore.
Horo Horo joined in and sat under their temporary medical tent after grabbing some food and drinks from an ice chest. "Man, now that I think about it, this day was even crazier than the average action that we get from the E.D."
For some reason, it was an understatement.
If one was to choose between a chaotic environment with overflowing medical emergencies and a house occupied by more than a hundred simultaneously bawling kids of all ages, then that person may need to be insane to choose one in the first place.
A mobile phone started ringing to the tune of a song by Bob Love.
"Oh! That's my phone! All good!" A half-awake Doctor Asakura stood up abruptly from his seat.
"Judging by that ringtone? We all know it's yours." Ren muttered under his breath while sipping his fourth serving of milk for the day.
"Yes, Doctor Faust! To what do we owe this pleasure of hearing from you?" Yoh beamed over his phone. "Yes, we're all good! Oh? Yes. Okay. One sec!" Flipping his phone around, he briefly showed his screen to everyone to reveal Johann Faust, who was rather looking equally tired. And while Yoh's colleagues were pretty flat out, they still managed to great the esteemed doctor.
Yoh then handed the phone to Anna, implying that Doctor wanted to speak with her.
"Yes, boss?" Anna greeted her foster father mundanely as she continued to tidy up some of the medical supplies.
"Aww, look at our Anna-chan, grumpier than ever. Caffeine in the blood stream must be running low."
The blonde female groaned and glared at the screen in return. She always hated it when Faust treated her like a little girl just to tease her, but she couldn't do anything about it. The man was already immune to her cold persona.
Faust chuckled behind the line. "I was just checking on how you all went with the missions today. Especially the immunisations that was assigned to you."
Yoh smiled as he continued holding his phone up for Anna. He knew Faust just wanted to check on his daughter after working hours, but knowing Anna, she prefers to avoid all sorts of mushy efforts from her foster parents despite appreciating their efforts deep down. Therefore, asking about work was one of the sure ways to keep the conversation going with her.
Anna narrowed her eyes at Yoh after seeing his reaction from behind the camera but chose to ignore it. The brunette was nonchalantly indulging himself on a random piece of cake he found from their stash of snacks. She even heard him mumbling somewhere between the lines of "mmhmm!" and "this is good!" as he tasted the sweet treat.
It took Anna longer to take away her eyes off of Yoh before she returned her attention to Faust. "Hmm. It went well. All the kids' vaccines got updated, including the orphanage staff."
"That's great news! And how about our own staff?"
Anna paused her task and turned to the person talking through the screen, brows knitted. "Yeah, what about them?"
"I remember telling Doctor Asakura that if the team finishes on time, then you may squeeze-in updating our team's vaccinations records, too."
All eyes fell on Yoh.
"Oh!" The person in question retracted his phone to face Faust once again after licking a smeared icing on his finger as he finished devouring his snack. He thought he heard Anna scoff from the background, but he ignored her. "Regarding that, looks like everyone included in this team are up to date with their vacc's… except for me. I need a D.T.P. booster." Yoh flashed a toothy smile reassuring the situation was no big deal.
Faust nodded in satisfaction. "Alright. I'm sure Anna can sort that out. Oh, looks like they're calling us back into this boring meeting again. I'll leave it to you all, then. Goodbye, everyone."
Everyone passively waved back and bid their farewell.
Pocketing his device, Yoh dragged one of the stools and sat in front of Anna while offering his arm. The female doctor could only blink several times at the sudden suggestion that her colleague-slash-ex-fiancé made.
Yoh took Anna's puzzled reaction as a sign of acceptance but threw one more look at his arm and realised he couldn't roll up his sleeves past his upper arms because his long-sleeved shirt was 'slim-fit', and well, he had pretty big 'guns'.
"Oh, sorry. One moment please."
In a blink of an eye, Yoh raised a hand to grab his shirt from his upper back then pulled it all the way over his head, revealing his well-formed physique.
Some females nearby had to clasp their mouths tight to prevent their scandalised gasps from being heard.
"Doctor Kyouyama, please do the honours." Yoh blinked at his ex as he subtly flexed his left arm, indicating that he was ready to receive the vaccine.
Anna inadvertently glanced at Yoh's arm and didn't fail to mentally appreciate Yoh's body. He definitely grew from being the 'cute guy' to becoming the 'total stud package'.
In turn, Anna mouthed a silent "What… the hell… are you doing?" to Yoh, the evident pinking of her cheeks never went unnoticed.
Yoh only replied with a shrug. He definitely knew what he was doing.
Anna turned her back in defeat against the brunette with an annoyed huff to retrieve the pre-filled syringe vaccine, an alcohol swab, a tiny, round, Band-aid, then placed the items in a kidney dish. After sitting next to Yoh, she started rubbing her hands with sanitizer then donned gloves, all while staring defiantly into her ex-fiancée's eyes and doing the step-by-step process painfully slow on purpose.
The lady doctor smoothed her fingers lightly onto the tip of her patient's shoulders down to his mid-upper arm, never breaking eye contact. It was a necessary move to feel the correct site for injecting into the deltoid muscle.
Despite his poised display earlier in their mind game, Anna's actions proved that Yoh's confidence wasn't as iron-clad as he made it seem when he suddenly felt nervous for having Anna that close.
He unconsciously gulped as her light perfume that hinted notes of Honeysuckle and Freesia hit his senses. His world seemed to cease when her movements played in slow motion, not noticing his dumbfounded stare as she injects his arm with the vaccine.
Was that the main reason why the kids Anna vaccinated earlier didn't seem too hysterical afterwards? Was it because she literally looked like an angel while doing it?
No one whispered the answer to his questions, yet he was sure with one thing.
He is truly, madly, and deeply in love with Anna, and he would do everything—anything in this lifetime to make her his, again.
Next thing Yoh knew, Anna was waving her hand against his face with a bewildered look. She told him she'd called him a couple of times already, but he remained stunned like a bumbling idiot.
He heard her chuckle. "Seriously? I didn't know you were that scared of needles, Yoh."
Scared?
I'd accept a hundred needles if that meant Anna would be the one to give them all.
"I wasn't. I was just— I didn't feel one bit from it, that's all." Yoh displayed a genuine smile, still partially blown away from Anna's energy.
On the other hand, while Yoh and Anna have once again asserted their main character energies, the people around them stood frozen just by watching their mini teledrama scene.
"Tz! Move, pussy! There's a line here."
Everyone turned their heads at the voice's source, and what— or rather, who they saw, made their eyes widen in shock, including Tamao who dropped a water bottle in response.
The other Shimane Medical employees started murmuring to each other.
"WAAAHHH! What are you doing here!?"
At this point, almost all members of the team have gathered at the medical tent to grab some snacks, and Horo Horo's shriek caught the majority's attention.
"Are you really going to make a scene and embarrass yourself in front of your crush?" Only Asakura Hao could throw in a threat and look bored while doing it.
Horo Horo became petrified as he carefully side glanced without moving his head, only to spot a curious Pirika and her friend, Tamiko, watching the scene not far from them. Therefore, he decided to yield and mutter a timid "I'm sorry," before slowly sidestepping and disappearing into the crowd.
"Asakura, are you seriously following us? Haven't you got better things to do than acting like a guard dog all the time?" Ren chose his words wisely in an attempt to hide some personal matters that only a few of the people present know about, but Hao perfectly understood that he was pertaining to him and his habit of following Anna around.
Tao wanted to comment on the 'crush' part involving Horo Horo but addressing Hao's uninvited presence in the site during their medical missions, garnered more urgent attention.
Yoh stood up from his chair and wore his shirt back while Anna exhaled as she massaged the bridge of her nose. She, too, was shocked about Hao suddenly appearing at the scene, but she didn't have enough energy to question the universe right now. All she knew was that there's an impending headache that's about to come down.
"My, my, why such hostility, Ren? Didn't you hear what Doctor Faust said? Ensure your team and our staffare well vaccinated. I'm just here to get my flu shot done." Hao simply said, not looking at anyone straight in their eyes on purpose. Instead, he grabbed a chair near Anna and lounged in it, crossing his legs.
Anna rolled her eyes for the nth time. She knew his friend was just trying to get into everybody's nerves for fun as it was one of his favorite forms of entertainment, but she was exasperated at him for picking the wrong timing for showing up. Plus, she was still mad at him for keeping secrets from her, with the knowledge of Yoh's accident six years ago, as an example.
And what's up with him claiming the orphanage's staff as 'his'?
No way! Does that mean he—? Anna's anger doubled in an instant after a thought crossed her mind. Hao's biggest mistake was to let her administer an injection on him because she will make sure it'll hurt.
The older Asakura twin watched everybody's perplexed faces in delight as he revealed partial truths. "Oh, does this mean my little brother didn't tell you all?"
All eyes flew to Yoh, who silently took a bite of another cake slice to try diverting his attention away from the scene but failing miserably. He seemed unbothered on the outside, but on the inside, he was starting to get pissed at his brother for ruining his chance to tell his friends, especially Anna, regarding what Hao is about to reveal to them now.
Yoh wasn't worried about the other details, but he was concerned about how it would make Anna feel.
"Allow me to enlighten you guys." Hao grabbed an unopened can of soda on the table adjacent to him, and in a single move using his right hand, his middle finger flicked the can open. He took a big gulp at the fizzy drink and groaned in pleasure. "You see, many years ago, our lovely grandma Kino planned to sell this land including the orphanage, The Patch House, but due to my irresistible charms, and the presence of the Asakura's 'favorite grandson'…" Hao quickly side glanced at Yoh and everyone understood who he was referring to, "we finally convinced her to sell it to us."
The information simply left everyone's mouths hanging.
"Hence, making Yoh and I, technically, a part of the orphanage's 'staff' as co-owners." Without any ado, Hao tied his long brown hair into a high ponytail then removed his shirt the same way Yoh did, just to provoke his twin. "Ne, Anna?"
Anna felt as if she was rooted to the ground. She heard everything that Hao said, but her mind was still trying to process that fact that the twins bought the orphanage. The same place that housed her during her formative years. The very place she grew up in.
Hao knew it was one of Anna's plans to claim the land and the property one day, and it was one of the reasons she was working terribly hard, but when where they planning to tell her?
Did they buy it because they genuinely wanted to help the children in need there? Or did they do that for some other ulterior motive?
They knew she always hated that kind of treatment, so how long were they going behind her back doing things to help her indirectly without letting her know first?
One question after the other, Anna's mind were filled with overwhelming thoughts. She was slowly devising a plan on how to confront the twins when a deafening scream came from one of their colleagues.
"Doctor Asakura!"
"Oh my God, Yoh-nii! What happened?" Tamao came rushing to Yoh who was sprawled on the ground, unconscious.
"I don't know! One second, he was munching on that almond cream cake, then the next thing I knew, he's collapsed!" A distraught junior nurse explained.
Hao and Anna's faces paled after hearing the nurse's explanation.
"Did you say 'almond!?" the two yelled in unison.
In one swift moment, fear enveloped Anna's senses. She knows Yoh gets an anaphylactic reaction with almonds and within their group of friends, only she and Hao seemed to know that fact.
As if sharing the burden, it became harder to breathe for Anna as she realised the possible outcome of that situation.
Her mind went blank, and her initial reaction was to grab Yoh and hold him in her arms to assess his condition, but Ren and Tamao were already on their knees doing that; so she ran for their suppliesto check for the appropriate counteracting medications that they could've brought with them. She tried hard for her emotions to not get the better of her, but the tears blurring her eyes were making it quite difficult to focus.
It was when a random person grabbed an Epipen from the same cart Anna was searching in and after crossing the space between them, injected it straight into Yoh's outer thigh.
"Tsk, tsk. When will you ever learn, idiot."
It was a female's voice. One that was unfamiliar.
The scenery played slowly from Anna's point of view, and the next thing she saw was in fact, not a 'thing', but a person. A tall, attractive, lady with shoulder length light brown hair and a celebrity smile.
A queasy feeling instantly struck Anna's spine.
. . . . . . . . . . .
A/N: Eyyy! It's the BIG 2-0! To be honest, I didn't envision myself being able to reach this far in this story, but here we are! Pretty big crazy events, right? Wait 'til you see the 'part two' of this chapter. I originally planned to drop all the bombs in this part, but I figured we might reach 30 pages/ 12 thousand words if I don't split it, so, yeah. I'll just update again in a week or so for that second part as a treat. This marks the milestone of covering at least 50% of the plot, so from here on, you can expect a series of truth bombs being dropped here and there in the following chapters.
It would really mean so much if you'd leave me a comment this time. It doesn't matter if you're an old or a new reader, or if English is your first language or not. If you are still here up to this point, putting up with my crazy ideas and kinks, then I would like to appreciate you. Hope you survive this whole journey; but most of all, thank you for the bottom of my heart! 3
Also, shout out to my dear friend, FruitSmell. I've finally included the scene you've requested for this fic after we saw that viral video on social media that gave birth to the idea of smexy Doctor Yoh (and his twin) getting jabbed by Doctor Anna on his hard and strong…
Medical Terminologies/ Abbreviations:
Back Blow – An updated type of choking-prevention manoeuvre that create a strong vibration and pressure in the airway, which is often enough to dislodge the blockage. As it names suggest, it is done by giving firm blows on a specific point on a person's back to initiate the lifesaving first aid.
Aspirate - accidental breathing in of food or fluid into the lungs, which may or may not trigger a cough reflex.
E.D. – Emergency Department
DTP – A vaccine used to protect against three types of infection namely: Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (whooping cough). This is mainly given to kids at an early age, but boosters are available for adults usually every 5 years, especially for people who have high risks of exposure to Tetanus.
Kidney dish - a shallow basin with a kidney-shaped base and sloping walls used in medical and surgical wards to contain medical materials, receive soiled dressings, and other medical waste.
Deltoid - a large triangular-shaped muscle that lies over the glenohumeral joint and which gives the shoulder its rounded contour.
Anaphylactic (Anaphylaxis) - a serious, potentially fatal allergic reaction and medical emergency that is rapid in onset and requires immediate medical attention regardless of the use of emergency medication on site. It typically causes more than one of the following: an itchy rash, throat closing due to swelling that can obstruct or stop breathing; severe tongue swelling that can also interfere with or stop breathing; shortness of breath, vomiting, light-headedness, loss of consciousness, low blood pressure, and medical shock.
Epipen – an auto-injector containing a neurotransmitter/ hormone called Epinephrine/ Adrenaline, that are used to treat allergic emergencies such as anaphylaxis.