[Dr Faust is beginning his morning rounds.]
As the floor announcement sounded.
Faust approached the patient's bedside and greeted them.
A doctor accompanying the team stood at the other end of the hospital bed, holding a document at arm's length, while another doctor read aloud from the records.
"The scheduled surgery is tomorrow at 10 am for ureteroscopic lithotripsy to remove kidney stones."
"Abdominal condition is normal with no signs of hydronephrosis. Blood tests are normal, but the patient showed cold symptoms last night. We're considering postponing the surgery."
Faust nodded upon hearing this, then addressed the middle-aged man on the bed:
"Please lift your shirt to expose your abdomen."
Once the patient complied and lay back down, Faust turned to Luo Shu:
"Dr Luo, examine the throat for any upper respiratory infection caused by tonsillitis."
Masked Luo Shu silently squeezed through the crowd towards the bed. Taking a cotton swab handed by Utaha, he briefly inspected the patient's open mouth before lightly touching the patient's shoulder.
Absorbing the cold with misfortune, Luo Shu stood up, passing the swab to Utaha for disposal before offering his assessment:
"Tonsils appear normal, no signs of upper respiratory infection."
Meanwhile, Faust, having examined the abdomen, added:
"Good. In that case, we'll proceed with the original surgical schedule without delay. With luck, discharge could be as early as the day after tomorrow."
The patient sighed in relief: "Thank goodness!!"
"Please rest well and keep warm."
After these instructions, Faust glanced at Luo Shu before leading the medical team out of the ward.
That patient only seemed energetic because of painkillers. In reality, the abdominal cramps from kidney stones persisted, though within tolerable limits.
Just then, Luo Shu received a message from Kisara.
Reading it, he noticed Utaha's wary gaze and smirked, stepping back to pat Kisara's bottom discreetly:
"Behave. We're working!"
Blushing, Kisara defensively placed her hands behind her back, first glaring at Luo Shu before turning a triumphant look towards Utaha.
Their silent exchange sparked visible tension.
Luo Shu ignored their rivalry - soon rendered irrelevant as Faust entered a standard six-bed ward.
The endless round of trivial consultations had begun.
...
At a hospital vending machine in the lobby, Kisara crouched to retrieve three bottles before hurrying to Luo Shu.
"Here, Shu-kun, your water."
"Thanks."
Accepting the bottle, Luo Shu complained:
"17 targets, but nearly 130 patients to interview."
"Though absorbing active kidney stones, facial neuritis, and even that poor lad's unfortunate groin injury yielded decent gains, honestly, doctoring is ridiculously tedious."
He added wryly:
"By the end, Faust could barely muster complete sentences."
"After rounds, he just gave brief instructions before rushing off to the operating theatre."
"I always feel like those dark circles under his eyes are from exhaustion."
Beside her, Utaha weakly took the water Kisara handed over. After thanking her, she grumbled:
"Isn't it exhausting? Morning rounds from 8 am until noon without even a sip of water."
Utaha took a drink at this point, then complained:
"By the end, even the accompanying doctors were exhausted, panting over there, forcing me to pretend as well."
Kisara, standing nearby, exclaimed in surprise: "Eh? You were pretending to be tired just now?"
"I was pretending to be tired, while the other doctors were pretending not to be tired, secretly hoping Director Faust would notice their endurance."
"Why would Director Faust notice them?" Kisara looked puzzled now.
Utaha couldn't help rolling her eyes, too lazy to explain, and changed the subject:
"Do you know what those accompanying doctors were really thinking?"
"What were they thinking?" Kisara asked curiously.
Luo Shu, leaning against a support pillar nearby, also looked over with interest.
"They were wondering which hospital director's son Luo Shu is, to make the notoriously unapproachable Director Faust keep asking for his help during examinations, giving him hands-on opportunities."
At this point, Utaha couldn't help chuckling as she turned to Luo Shu:
"Your earlier request for us to wear masks was absolutely necessary."
"This way, even if I'm secretly laughing behind my mask, no one can tell."
Clearly, Utaha had been amusing herself by peeking into the other doctors' thoughts while Luo Shu worked.
"Hospital director's son... tch." Luo Shu clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Those doctors really have too much psychological drama."
Kisara blinked, not quite understanding why those human doctors would think Luo Shu was some director's son, especially since he'd never mentioned such a background.
Despite having memories given by Luo Shu, Kisara still seemed like an unripe fruit when it came to human social dynamics.
"Speaking of which, what about lunch?" Utaha glanced at Kisara deliberately. "Since we're not far from Akihabara, how about trying a maid café?"
As she said this, Utaha smirked inwardly.
She knew perfectly well that the maid café near their base in Akihabara employed actual Succubi.
Compared to the demon Kisara, Succubi were clearly more specialised in seducing men.
If Kisara was always guarding against her, then she'd just bring a Succubus into play—let's see how you handle that!
"A maid café..." Luo Shu immediately thought of the same establishment.
It wouldn't be far if they drove.
Meanwhile, Kisara—who understood what maid cafés entailed—imagined Luo Shu surrounded by maids potentially taking liberties with him. Her eyes widened as she shook her head repeatedly, offering a tactful refusal:
"Last night before bed, I prepared some boxed lunches and left them in the car. If we go to a maid café now, wouldn't that food go to waste?"
As she spoke, Kisara stole a glance at Luo Shu.
Sure enough, hearing about potential food waste made Luo Shu frown:
"...In that case, we should probably find somewhere to eat the lunches."
'Plan successful...'
A faint smile appeared on Kisara's face.
'I stayed up late making five boxed lunches after learning you'd be at the hospital this morning. Didn't see that coming, did you, vixen?'
Kisara glanced at Utaha's delicate, unworked fingers and allowed herself a small smile.
Just then, Utaha suddenly exclaimed in surprise:
"Kisara, did you make bento?"
Utaha said this, then deliberately hesitated before continuing:
"Though it might be a bit presumptuous, I still want to ask—do you have any extra bento?"
"Of course not—" Kisara was about to say no when she abruptly stopped herself, stealing a glance at Luo Shu.
'That was close... Luo Shu knows I always prepare two extra bento boxes. If I said there weren't any now, wouldn't I be falling right into this vixen's trap?'
'Trying to make me lie and lose points in Luo Shu's eyes—what a cunning fox!'
Kisara's gaze at Utaha seemed to spit fire.
In response, Utaha wore an expression of smug confidence.
Seeing Utaha's mocking look, Kisara gritted her teeth:
"Since I always prepare extra bento, there's still a portion for the vixen—no, for Utaha."
Kisara took a deep breath here, her eyes empty as she stared at Utaha:
"But since there's quite a lot, would Utaha-san mind accompanying me to the underground car park to fetch it?"
"Gladly!" Utaha replied with a smile, tightening the cap of her water bottle before handing it to Luo Shu. "Wait here for us. We'll be right back."
Already sensing the tension between the two, Luo Shu immediately said, "You two—no fighting, understood?"
Utaha tilted her head and smiled:
"Does Luo Shu-kun really think his charm is so great that I'd need to fight Kisara over it?"
"Are you that confident?"
Seeing Utaha's wicked grin, Luo Shu's mouth twitched. He waved his hand dismissively:
"Fine, forget I said anything. Just come back soon."
"Good." Utaha turned to Kisara. "Shall we go, then?"
Kisara glared at Utaha, then snorted and turned to leave.
"Those two..."
With that, he unscrewed the bottle cap and took a long gulp of water.
Just then, the elevator doors opened, and two figures stepped out.
Their conversation drifted over:
"A medical-grade full-dive machine using virtual reality technology? Doctor Kurahashi, can this machine really cure my illness?"