Internship

The next day, Izumi went to his stationed hospital and continued his internship.

"Welcome back, Shirogane-kun! We are looking forward to working with you again!" said the doctor. "Likewise sensei! Please take good care of me!" responded Izumi. "By the way Shirogane-kun, how are you? I heard that you've been dealing with something recently. You just came woke up from comatose, are you sure you can do this?" asked the doctor. "Yes sensei. I admit they got me depressed to the point that I wished I never woke up," said Izumi as he looked on the floor. "But I have no time reminiscing those awful events. I am here for my internship. I have a lot to catch up on," he added as he smiled. "That's good to hear then. Let's go to work now," said the doctor.

During his internship, Izumi had an alternating eight-hour shift from day to night and night to day. He was focused on his work for the sake of his academic performance. Even though he is focused, Izumi always thinks about Mitsuru and Satoshi. He is visibly conflicted and is grateful that he didn't return to their dorm yet. Most of the time, Izumi makes monologues and plans his actions to handle the two.

"When did I start liking Satoshi? Was it because I was mesmerized by his handsome face? Was it because he also fell to me? Or was it because of the continuous teasing of our classmates back then?" Izumi often daydreams when he is on break or eating his food. "I never believed in superstitions, but it turns out that some of them are true... Especially that red thread thingy," thought Izumi as he looks his right pinky finger. "Why Mitsuru? Why him, of all people? Why my childhood best friend? I don't know if he is an idiot or brave for confessing his feelings to me despite knowing that Satoshi and I are dating. Well, Satoshi said that he didn't date Mitsuru back then. It was Satoru who did it. AND I HATE HIS GUTS! I CAN'T ACCEPT THE FACT THAT I HAD SEX WITH HIM! HE IS THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF SATOSHI!" thought Izumi as he clenched his fist.

"I can't believe people sometimes. They could do questionable things just to achieve their objectives. I am just a poor unfortunate soul who tasted the bitter flavor of these wrongdoings and so my friends... So did Mitsuru. Argh! I should've not acted like that back then! I am so embarrassed with myself!" though Izumi shook his head while taking the blood pressure of his patient. "I couldn't bear myself to show in front of Haruki and Mitsuru. I need to reform. The question is, does Mitsuru feels the same? Does he still like me? After all this time he hid his feelings. I could give him a chance but If I do that, it would be cheating. I already have Satoshi. This is so frustrating..." though Izumi as he delivers the result to the doctor. "Sensei, here are the vital signs of patient #301," said Izumi as he handed the results.

"Hmmm," the doctor analyzed the vital signs and said something that Izumi himself caught off guard. "Impressive, Shirogane-kun! I can't believe that these data are accurate even though you always seem to be out of this world!" said the doctor as he laughed. "Was I that obvious, sensei?!" asked the mortified Izumi as his eyes dilated and his cheeks turned red. "Oh no. I am dreadfully sorry, sensei!" said Izumi as he bowed his head. "Raise your head. I know, I know. You don't have to be stiff!" said the doctor while he laughed. "Kidding aside, this patient has bradycardia again. His pulse rate is 46. Did the pacemaker fail again?" wondered the doctor. "Well, I should check this out. You can take a break, Shirogane-kun," said the doctor. "Thank you, Sensei!" responded Izumi. He sat down and began his monologue again.

"Thinking about those two is making me exhausted! Argh! Why is life so complicated?! Life is hard. Hard like a dick. I hate and at the same time, I love it. Sometimes, I also wish to burrow my face between the boobs of a girl. Should I ask Megumi a favor? Never mind," thought Izumi as he slightly laughed. "How should I act in front of them? Lovey-dovey with the boyfriend and as a sibling to the other despite he has feelings for me? I don't have two hearts! I don't even wish for it! But..." Izumi ruffled his hair and was forced to stare at nothingness as a specific thought crossed his mind. "What does Satoshi feel right now? He was locked up for a long time. He didn't forget me. Why do I feel like something's going to happen soon? It's unbearable and heavy. Knowing him, he is the type of person who never lives in guilt. That's why he never tries to harm or hurt anyone. What if he is feeling guilty because of what Satoru did?" thought the anxious Izumi.

Izumi continued to work until his shift came to an end. After that, he left the hospital. Something happened right before his eyes when he was already far away from the hospital. A little boy was hit by a truck, injured his head. Izumi immediately called the hospital's emergency number and ran towards the boy. Many people surrounded the boy, and Izumi introduced himself.

"I am Shirogane Izumi, a nurse intern, and I saw what happened. I humbly ask everyone to stand back to give the victim proper ventilation and for me to check his vital signs. I already called an ambulance so please bear with me," said Izumi as he approached the boy.

He then kneeled in front of the boy and placed his right and index finger on the left carotid pulse, located at the bottom of the patient's upper jaw. At the same time, he put his face near the victim's nose while looking at his chest.

"1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, 1005, 1006, 1007, 1008, 1009, 1010" counted Izumi. "He has a positive pulse and negative breathing. I can't feel any breath or a movement on his chest. Luckily, his heart is beating. I can't perform a cardiopulmonary resuscitation recklessly as his head is bleeding. I should administer a rescue breathing," thought Izumi. The people were watching what he was doing and recognized his name and face.

"Isn't that the son of Akihiko?"

"Yeah, I wonder what he is doing? Well, he said he already called the ambulance."

Murmurs from the crowd dominated the atmosphere, but Izumi was so focused on what he was doing and could barely hear what the people said. Then, he tilted the victim's head, allowing the airway to be fully open. He opened the victim's mouth, and Izumi didn't hesitate to put his mouth to the boy. He then gave air to the victim.

"The air went through. I should keep this up, 1, 1001, 1, 1002, 1, 1003, 1, 1004, 1, 1005…" Izumi counted as he alternatingly gave air and counts. As he counted 1010, he felt that the victim's breathing returned.

"His breathing came back; I should reassess him," thought Izumi. He then repeated the steps he did before giving air to the victim. Again, he placed his right and index finger on the left carotid pulse. At the same time, he placed his face near the victim's nose while looking at his chest. "1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, 1005, 1006, 1007, 1008, 1009, 1010" counted Izumi.

"He has a positive pulse and breathing," he thought. Then he gently put his right hand under the victim's shoulder, and his left hand on its hips as the victim was still unconscious. He then pulled the victim facing him while supporting his head. He stretched the outer knee and bent it. He placed the right hand of the victim under his head. He also checked other injuries of the victim. But the head is gravely and the only one injured. Luckily, the ambulance arrived, and the patient was transferred to the stretcher. After that, the people left, and Izumi's co-workers commended him.

"That was a close call, Shirogane!" said the nurse. "Well, I never thought I could use my Red Cross training, senpai," responded Izumi with a chuckle. "I saw people taking videos of you. Well, it will be soon that you'll appear on the television again," said the nurse as he pats Izumi's shoulder. "I just did what I had to do senpai. I don't care if they'll upload it or not. Well, it can't be avoided since I am directly related to an actor," said Izumi with disgust visible on his face. "You really hate those kinds of people, huh?" asked the nurse. "Very much, senpai," said Izumi. The two then laughed while they rode in the ambulance. The truck driver paid all the expenses of the victim and was not put to prison. He explained that it was all an accident since the boy suddenly ran off the road while the lights were still red. Meanwhile, the victim's parents thanked Izumi for saving their son's life. He continued his duty one week before the graduation of the fourth years and the closing of the school year.

After his internship ended, Izumi was shocked when he saw Mitsuru waiting for him outside the hospital. "What are you doing here, Mikkun?" asked Izumi as he approached Mitsuru. "Well, you said that you're going back to the dorm today, right? So, I came to fetch you," said Mitsuru as he could not look directly at Izumi's eyes. "Well, I did say that. So, Megumi and Yuuji will stay at the house huh?" asked Izumi. "Yeah," responded Mitsuru. Izumi then placed his arms around Mitsuru's shoulder and jumped. "Well then, Let's go!!" yelled Izumi. "W-wait! Stop acting like a child!" said the mortified Mitsuru. "Who cares? It's been a while when the three of us hang out!" said Izumi gleefully as he smiled at Mitsuru genuinely.

As soon as they arrived at the dorm, Izumi barged into their room. "I'M BACK!!" said Izumi. "Ugh, Did somehow Mikkun's awfully cheerful personality infected you, Ikkun?" said Haruki as he lowered down his headphone. "Well, kind of. You know I'm like this when we're alone," said Izumi as he smirked. "There you go again with your two-faced persona," said Haruki as he got the plates and prepared their dining table.

Meanwhile, Mitsuru dropped their food on the table and brought the cherry soda cans out. "There are only cherry sodas? You didn't buy some beer, Mikkun?" asked the curious Haruki. "Well, Ikkun doesn't like beer, and neither you, why do you ask?" asked Mitsuru. "Nothing really," said Haruki. "Well, it's a good thing that he didn't buy beer. What if we all got drunk and someone with high libido lunges at me?!" asked Izumi as he hugged himself, pretending to shiver while looking at Mitsuru with disgust. "I can see you there bastard!" said Mitsuru as he sat in front of the table. "Stop those and let us eat," said Haruki. "ITADAKIMASU!" said the three.

The trio enjoyed their meal as they talked about their past and how their friendship began. Then Izumi bought up an embarrassing topic. "So..." said Izumi as he lunged at Mitsuru, bringing their faces close to each other. With this, Mitsuru panicked while Haruki stayed where he was, watching the intense atmosphere between the two. He finds this amusing, and so, he just watched there while taking a sip from his cherry soda. "What were you thinking that time, confessing to me out of the blue, knowing that I have a boyfriend, hmm?" asked Izumi seductively while caressing his hair. "W-w-w-w-what are you doing, Ikkun?!" exclaimed Mitsuru as he blushes. "HELP ME, HARUKI!!" shouted Mitsuru as he looked at Haruki. "I can't hear anythiing~," said Haruki as he continued to drink his soda peacefully.

"Stop whining and answer my question, Mikkun. Be a man of your words," said Izumi as he brought his face closer to Mitsuru. "Are you insane? That was before! Stop teasing me!" whined Mitsuru. Izumi noticed that the red thread appeared again, and it is now untangled and surrounds them. This caused Izumi to withdraw from what he was doing. "Ugh, never mind. I was just looking for fun," said Izumi as his face became visibly irked. Mitsuru was worried that he might do something again that changed Izumi's mood. "A-are you okay, Ikkun?" asked Mitsuru as he reached Izumi's shoulder. "Nothing. I just remembered something. Let's just fix all of these messes and head to bed," said Izumi as he proceeded to fix the table. Haruki was drowned in silence and watched Izumi fall into turmoil due to his conflicting feelings. He then helped Izumi fix the table.

Meanwhile, Mitsuru went to fix their beds. After cleaning the mess and making their dorm spotless clean, they went to sleep without uttering a word. Midnight strikes, and Izumi still cannot sleep. Seeing Mitsuru sleeping soundly, he went to wake Haruki to talk about something. He was surprised that Haruki was still not sleeping and turned to him while saying, "I was looking forward to this, my brother. What shall we talk about, hmm?" with a sympathetic voice accompanied with a reassuring smile. But behind Izumi's knowledge... Haruki knows that there is already a calm ambiance before a strong and devastating storm begins to slaughter their peaceful lives.