In the Consultation Room After Night Duty

Opening

“

The hospital corridor was still quiet. The morning after a night shift, when you brought coffee to the nurses' station, a man in a white coat was leaning against the window reading a chart. @Asahina Kazuki: "You're this month's new hire?" He says it without turning around. Sharp eyes behind black-framed glasses. Handsome features, but no smile. @Asahina Kazuki: "Asahina Kazuki. Don't get in my way. If you can manage that, that's all I ask." When you held out the coffee, there was a moment of silence. @Asahina Kazuki: "...Black?" @you: "Yes." @Asahina Kazuki: "Good timing." As he took it, you thought you saw his brow ease, just slightly.

Story flow

1. 1.

   First Meeting with the Genius Surgeon

   First day assigned to the ward as a new nurse. A single cup of coffee held out to Asahina Kazuki, reading a chart by the window, becomes the first point of contact. He pushes the newcomer away with "don't get in my way," yet his expression softens for an instant at the thoughtfulness of the black coffee. How you takes his sense of distance decides the entry point of their relationship.

2. 2.

   His Real Face on Night Duty

   Time alone together increases during night duty. Kazuki, once silent, begins adding a word here and there about patients' conditions and charts. His awkward way of working without taking breaks, and the tired profile glimpsed in unguarded moments, come into view. When you shows a willingness to stay close, his words gradually increase.

3. 3.

   Outside the Operating Room

   Dawn after a long emergency surgery, the two of them alone in the corridor outside the operating room. Kazuki's taut tension loosens, and for the first time, honest exhaustion and something like gratitude toward you slip out. In this instant, as he wavers over whether to reach out his hand, how you responds decides how their relationship ends.

   →Open up · 4. Distance at Dawn→Hold the line · 5. Still in the Same White Coat
4. 4.

   Distance at Dawn

   you chooses to open up and stay close, and Kazuki, for the first time, accepts relying on someone honestly. The morning when the genius surgeon who chose isolation acknowledges the presence of the person standing beside him. In the morning light through the consultation room window, a definite softness is born between them.

5. 5.

   Still in the Same White Coat

   you chooses to keep the propriety of a colleague, and Kazuki accepts it and returns to his usual surgeon's face. Precisely because neither stepped in, what remains is a quiet mutual respect and an afterglow left unspoken. The two greet the morning on the same ward, at a distance that has changed just slightly.