C³ Vol 5 Prologue

The location was a hospital.

Hence, Haruaki was working in a white coat of course, busy dispensing "prescriptions."

"Doctor, we have an emergency patient! «Nutrient Pack» and «Yellow Medicine», one of each, stat!"

"Drats, there's really no time to rest, is there... Got it! Also, the «Milky-White Medicine» is ready!"

"Acknowledged, I will now deliver it for the patient to take. Please hang on and try your best, doctor!"

Rus.h.i.+ng into the dispensary, a nurse picked up the medicine Haruaki had prepared and hurried out of the room again.

Yes, a nurse. Hospitals could not function if there were no nurses. If anything, it would be more accurate to say that this hospital existed solely because of the nurses. Haruaki and the others were merely backstage crew for supporting them.

Haruaki looked up at the sound of footsteps. His view was dominated completely by nurses. There were standard nurses dressed in unadorned, pure white outfits, nurses wearing especially striking uniforms in pink, as well as—

Drum roll!

"Uh... Uh... «Crimson Blood Pack», two orders! No snacks!"

"Hey Fear-chan! You should call it 'medicine,' okay? Medicine!"

"Oh right. No medicine needed!"

Hasty footsteps rushed into the dispensary—The silver-haired girl, who had rushed into this cla.s.sroom, quickly corrected herself after being reprimanded by another nurse. That nurse (or rather, cla.s.smate) then giggled and said:

"Okay, then hand the prescription over to Yachi-kun. Oh yeah, you've been busy working all this time, right? If you're tired, go ahead and take a ten-minute break. I'll handle the outside for you."

"Hmm~ I'm not tired yet... But since you offered, I'll rest for a little while."

Holding the prescription in her hand, Fear approached as she wiped sweat off her brow. At this moment, her gaze carelessly met with Haruaki's.

"Hmm? Hey Haruaki! What are you s.p.a.cing out for!? Hurry and get to work!"

"...Yes yes yes. Two cups of tomato juice, is that right? I'll get right to it once this is done."

"They're «Crimson Blood Packs», okay!?"

After correcting Haruaki politely, Fear poured herself a cup from the water cooler prepared for staff and sat down on a nearby chair to gulp water down noisily. Finis.h.i.+ng it in one breath, she even burped loudly like a drunken old man. Despite claiming she was not tired just now, Fear was probably quite exhausted.

Before the cultural festival, Haruaki had been worrying to some extent, but Fear seemed to be working hard at her a.s.signed duties. Thinking "if there's a chance, I should have a look at how she's working outside" to himself, Haruaki busied himself with dispensing medicine while he surveyed the cla.s.sroom. Up until now, he was so busy that he did not even have time to pay attention to the surroundings.

The back of the cla.s.sroom had a corner that was segregated using a curtain of cloth. That was the s.p.a.ce reserved for the girls to change. The clothes-changing battle taking place earlier had ended already, so it was now quiet inside. The rest of the s.p.a.ce served as the break area / kitchen / boys' changing room. Portable stoves and cutting boards were set up on long tables. A fridge had been moved into the cla.s.sroom specifically. Boxes of various supplies such as paper cups. All this contributed to a scene that felt completely dissonant for a cla.s.sroom. Apart from Haruaki, there were also several boys dressed in white coats, busy dispensing the prescriptions they were responsible for.

(Wow~ Everyone is working hard... Then I can't slack off either. That said, it sure would be tough if I had to stay here dispensing medicine all day.)

Suddenly, Haruaki wondered when his s.h.i.+ft would end and looked up at the clock. In actual fact, this was not the Cla.s.s 3 homeroom where Haruaki and Fear belonged but the neighboring Cla.s.s 4 homeroom. In this sense, there was indeed a sense of dissonance although the placement of their clock turned out to be exactly the same as in Cla.s.s 3.

It was currently ten in the morning. An hour had already pa.s.sed since the shop (hospital?) opened for business. Time sure flies especially when I'm busy—Haruaki could not help but come up with this novel idea.

However, being busy was better than idling around, right?

s.h.i.+fting his gaze slightly lower from the clock, he read off the words on the blackboard, written in chalk using quite a few colors:

"United Nurses Cafe «Recovery Ward, Room 1314» finally opens for business! Provided all the doctors and nurses work hard in cooperation, the throne of number one sales should be easily in our grasp! Let us work together and provide the best treatment for the patients, YEAH~~! ~signed by Hakuto Taizou, Hospital Director~"

Indeed, being busy was better than idling around and Haruaki would rather today be a hectic day.

Because happening only once a year, today was—

The cultural festival.