You’ve Got A Thing For Married Men

Kahoru entered her apartment and switched on the lights. Her room was a small one-bedroom apartment. She placed her groceries in the pantry and fridge, then began to boil water in a small saucepan. She ripped opened a packet of instant noodles and as the water began to bubble, she placed the noodles in, along with it's flavouring powder and seasoning oil. The aroma of beef broth filled the room, Kahoru placed some sliced beef that was leftover from her previous meal into the boiling broth, she finely diced some spring onions and also threw it in as a finishing touch to her late night meal.

After a few minutes, the noodles were cooked to perfection. Kahoru poured the noodles into a bowl and sat down. She had a beer on the side, just how she liked it. "Thank you for the meal." She quietly uttered. She picked up the noodles with her chopsticks and gently blew on them to cool them down. She slurped down the noodles until she was finished with her meal.

After finishing her dinner, Kahoru cleaned the dishes and went to get her bath ready. After showering, she soaked in the bath for half an hour pondering about her day. Keiichi, the man she had tried to avoid all these years, had shown up at the place where she worked.

She knew she was going to see him again in the future, not only him but also Risa. What bad luck she had so far. Her father and Uncle, Handa Daichi; Risa's father, did not get along well together, they often clashed with each other. If they saw each other at family gatherings, a table would be flipped.

It was all because Makoto was an illegitimate child of the family. Risa had grown up believing that Makoto's family was power-hungry for her Grandfather's position and that her family was far superior.

However, Makoto did not care in the slightest and instead of becoming a businessman like his half-siblings, he decided to become a doctor, slowly building himself up from a small clinic to having many well known hospitals around the world. They became one of the most influential families in Japan. After having children, he taught his children to be kind and compassionate to others.

The Handa family held a grudge against the Yukimura family. When Risa found out Kahoru went to one of the most prestigious schools in Japan, She decided to attend the school just to be able to put Kahoru in her place. Whatever Risa wanted was given to her, she was raised spoiled and she got anything she wanted. Risa took everything from Kahoru and was extremely satisfied by it.

The water in the bath as became lukewarm. Kahoru came to the sudden realization that she had been lost in her thoughts for too long and quickly grabbed a towel to dry herself off. After her bath, Kahoru headed to her bed. She was very tired and immediately knocked out when she hit the pillow.

...

It had been a week since meeting Keiichi and Risa, Kahoru was checking the blood results for Ms Hasegawa. She was accompanied by Nurse Takeda and unsurprisingly Keiichi and Risa. There was an awkward silence as Kahoru was concentrating on reading the vitals.

"Ms Hasegawa, the results of your blood test are fine and everything else is also good to go. You will be able to be discharged from the hospital today. I have prescribed some medication. Please follow the instructions I have written for you on when you need to take them." Kahoru stated as she handed out the blood test results and a prescription. "The pharmacy is on the ground level, you should be able to purchase them there. Please do come in for regular check-ups."

"Grandmother, you're able to come to our wedding ceremony now." Risa beamed with pride. "Keiichi, I will help grandmother up, and you can pay for the hospital bill."

"Okay. I will meet you downstairs." Keiichi replied.

"Please follow me, I will take you to the front desk." Kahoru started to walk off as Keiichi quickly followed behind her.

As the two silently walked down the halls, Keiichi had broken the silence," Excuse me, doctor?"

"Yes, Mr Hasegawa?" Kahoru awkwardly responded. Her heart was ready to leap out of her chest.

"Is your last name Yukimura?"

"Why do you ask?" Kahoru thought that Keiichi had recognised her, her heart was beating faster and faster.

"I just wanted to know if you were related to the CEO in any way."

"Yes, I am."

"I see. You know, I've encountered a Yukimura once. She was quite... Interesting."

"Ah, I see. The last name is quite common."

"That's right, but the one I met was a little weird. She was obsessed with me for five years. She must of been crazy."

Kahoru wanted to punch him in the face but held back with all her might, he badmouthed her right in front of her. "Why was he suddenly talking about the old Kahoru?" Kahoru thought to herself. Her eyes twitched. She began to strut a little faster to get this over and done with, so she can head to her next patient as Keiichi tried desperately to catch up with her. "Please wait!" They both soon arrived at the reception desk.

"Here is the reception desk. You will be able to pay here."

"Thank you. I'd like to ask you-"

Kahoru immediately interrupted Keiichi. "I am sorry, but I must go."

As she was about to head off, A woman yelled out her name, "Doctor Yukimura!"

"Yes?" Three voices simultaneously called back. They all paused and looked at each other. On one side was Kenjiro and on the other was Nana.

"Nurse Yukimura, You didn't have to yell back," Kahoru replied while avoiding eye contact with Nana in embarrassment.

"Oh, you're right," Nana chuckled. "I'm not a doctor! Besides that, I have to go and pick up Ren and Yuka, So I will see you later."

"Ah, okay. See you later."

Nana headed into the nurses' office to clock out and head home for the day. Kenjiro came up to Kahoru, trying to hold back his laughter.

"H-hi Dr Yukimura." He giggled.

"Hi...brother."

The nurse that had called out her name apologised. "I am so sorry, I was looking for the CEO."

"It's okay," Kahoru replied.

"Haa... I guess it's my turn to go," Kenjiro patted Kahoru's back. "Good work today."

"Yes, good work today."

Kenjiro headed off with the nurse, leaving Kahoru and Keiichi back together. Keiichi had just finished paying and bowed to Kahoru. "Dr Yukimura, Thank you for taking care of my Grandmother. She has told me many great things about you."

"You're welcome. That's good to hear"

"Yes. She recommended you to us."

"Ah, I see."

"By the way, I'd like to treat you to dinner sometime, a token of appreciation for my grandmother."

Kahoru stared at him in disbelief. "From the conversation I heard earlier, you are about to get married. I do not want to start any misunderstandings. So, no need."

"I see. Here is my business card. Please contact me anytime if you change your mind."

"Thank you."

Kahoru and Keiichi bowed and went their separate ways. Kahoru walked back to her office. As she walked through the hallways, She was suddenly grabbed by the arm and dragged into an empty ward. She quickly realised the person that dragged her in was Reika.

"N-nurse Ayuzawa?"

"Dr Yukimura, don't tell me you have a thing for married men?" Reika squinted her eyes at Kahoru and gave her a smug look. Kahoru was stunned. She then pulled Reika's cheeks.

"OW! Stop it, doctor, you're going to pull my cheeks off!"

"Don't talk nonsense like that ever again. The atmosphere suddenly became cold. Kahoru stared daggers into Reika's poor soul.

"Y-yes Doctor!" Reika immediately shrunk. "I-I have some duties t-to take care off. See you l-later!" She then turned around and quickly fled from the ward.

The ward became silent. Kahoru thought to herself. "A thing for married men? Was Reika crazy? Besides, he was not married yet." She slapped both her cheeks and headed back to the office. Kahoru checked her schedule and there was a surgery scheduled for her in thirty minutes.

She headed down to the office and towards the operating theater. She changed into her scrubs, washed her hands and put on gloves. She walked into the operating theater to begin the surgery.

...

After the successful surgery, Kahoru clocked out as it was time for her to head home. At home, Kahoru did her usual routine, She cooked dinner and took a bath before bed. Kahoru went to lay down on her bed, She was not tired at all. Today's event kept popping up in her mind, especially Keiichi who was the main issue. "Why did he ask me to go and have dinner with him?" she began to question. She kept having thoughts about him throughout the night.

Her phone began to ring which caused her to snapped out of her daydream and she quickly picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Kaho, are you free tomorrow?"

Kahoru recognised the caller's voice, "Oh father, I am free... Is anything happening tomorrow?"

"Ah, yes. Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow?"

"Of course. State the location and time."

"Yashihodou restaurant at six in the evening."

"Okay, I'll see you then, father. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Kahoru hung up as she turned to her side. She still had the thoughts of Keiichi embedded in her mind. She grabbed her head and tugged at her hair. She felt as if she was going crazy. She contemplated if she still had feelings for Keiichi. "Why is this happening to me?" She groaned. After what Keiichi and Risa had done to her, Kahoru would be crazy to still have lingering feelings. Perhaps it was starting to become hatred.

During their relationship, they had not done anything with each other at all. Kahoru thought it was strange as everybody her age who were in a relationship had already had their first time, maybe he wanted to wait until they got married. Little did she know, he had gone behind her back and slept with many girls including Risa. He had many opportunities as he was very popular in high school. He only dated Kahoru for the fun of it. She was extremely foolish.

Kahoru had been so deeply in love with Keiichi during the years she was supposedly dating him. She was naive and gullible that she would do anything for him to the point that she was willing to even die for him, but seeing him getting engaged to Risa had scarred her heart. After her ordeal, Kahoru's feelings for Keiichi became numb, or so she thought. Her love for him still lingered, but it was mostly overtaken by hatred and anger. She knew it was completely her fault for still loving him, but love is blind, she was not able to see that he was doing something so terrible to her during those years.

A voice suddenly appeared and echoed in her head. "You need to be strong and move forward."

"Huh?" Kahoru sat up and stared blankly at the wall in front of her.

"That man. I wonder what he is up to right now." Kahoru's thoughts quickly moved onto the mysterious man that helped her those years ago. She did not remember what he looked like, but the kindness he had showed her.

"I hope I can meet him again someday so I can return the favour." She sighed to herself and slowly laid back down on her bed.

"Hiro, you are my hero. If you're really a young master, you must be rich. You could be a famous person. Maybe I'll be able to see you on T.V." she thought to herself.

Kahoru's thoughts had wandered off. It was a continuous loop about Keiichi and Risa, and Hiro.

That night Kahoru tossed and turned, as she tried to sleep but her thoughts kept her up at night.