When his shift handover ended and he walked out of the hospital entrance, the sunlight was a little dazzling.
He returned to his apartment building.
Climbed up to the third floor.
When he reached the door of Room 302 and was about to take out his key, his hand stopped.
Hanging from the doorknob was an exquisite paper bag.
Printed on the bag was the logo of a well-known dessert shop in Maebashi City, and the opening was tied with a pretty bow of blue ribbon.
Kiryu Kazusuke took down the paper bag.
Inside was a box of cookies that looked expensive at a glance, along with two cans of energy drinks.
Beneath the cookie box was a neatly folded note.
【Dr. Kiryu:】
【If you don’t mind, please accept these sweets.】
【P.S. Although I’m only an ordinary employee at city hall, if you ever have any questions regarding administrative procedures, you can come to me anytime.】
【Your neighbor: Saionji Mina】
Only a few brief lines.
The handwriting was graceful and delicate, utterly unlike the inner monologue of someone who wanted to smash the world to pieces.
Kiryu Kazusuke put the note into his pocket, opened the door, and entered.
In a society where bureaucracy ran rampant, having an acquaintance at city hall could indeed spare him quite a lot of trouble lining up and filling out forms.
……
Over the next few days, life became dull and monotonous.
Councilman Okawara’s son survived the most dangerous forty-eight hours in the ICU and was out of danger, allowing both the First Surgery Department and the Second Surgery Department to breathe a sigh of relief.
The councilman’s secretary came by to deliver some desserts and left a business card for those who had participated in the operation, saying that further thanks would be given after the councilman’s son was discharged.
Kiryu Kazusuke casually stuffed the business card into his wallet.
For a big shot like that, it was merely a courtesy. Being given a business card did not mean he would repay a drop of kindness with a gushing spring.
Even if there was repayment, it would be to thank the chief surgeon, or the professor and hospital director.
It had little to do with him.
Kiryu Kazusuke still spent every day rushing between the wards and the treatment room.
Changing dressings, removing stitches, writing medical records, running errands to buy coffee for senior doctors, and serving as a human retractor stand at the operating table.
This was the ecological niche of a resident.
Although his stunning performance had caused a subtle shift in his position within the department office, senior residents like Takigawa Takuhei had become much more polite to him and would even occasionally take the initiative to share some miscellaneous chores.
But that did not change the essence of him being cheap labor.
Busy days always passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, it was Friday, December 23.
This day was the birthday of the current Emperor Akihito, as well as a statutory national holiday, so apart from the emergency department and inpatient wards, outpatient services at the hospital were basically suspended.
But for Kiryu Kazusuke, this day was no different from usual.
In fact, because it was a holiday, there were even more drunks using it as an excuse to come to the emergency department.
Ten o’clock in the morning, First Surgery Department office.
“Excuse me.”
While Kiryu Kazusuke was organizing discharge medical records, a timid voice came from the doorway.
He looked up.
Mrs. Suzuki was holding two beautifully packaged gift boxes. “Um… we came to thank Dr. Imagawa and Dr. Kiryu.”
Her husband’s postoperative recovery was going exceptionally well, and he could already complete the discharge procedures today and return home to recuperate.
So they had come over first to express their gratitude.
Associate Professor Mizutani, who was reading the newspaper at his desk, merely raised his head, gave a slight nod, and then paid them no further attention.
The family members of ordinary patients were not worth wasting too much time on.
Just then, Imagawa Ori walked in from outside.
She had just gotten out of surgery and was still holding a bottle of mineral water.
“Dr. Imagawa!”
Seeing the person herself, Mrs. Suzuki immediately went up to her and bowed deeply.
“You’ve truly gone to so much trouble for us during this period!”
“My husband’s hand was saved entirely thanks to your superb medical skills!”
“This is just a small token of our appreciation. They’re specialty sweets from our hometown. Please be sure to accept them.”
As she spoke, she handed over the slightly larger gift box.
“You’re too kind, Suzuki-san. This is what we ought to do.”
Imagawa Ori stopped and glanced at the gift box. It was a very traditional Japanese confectionery gift box, with the words “With Thanks” printed on the wrapping paper.
She did not refuse either, and reached out to accept it.
Then Mrs. Suzuki handed the other, slightly smaller gift box to Kiryu Kazusuke.
Kiryu Kazusuke also accepted it and thanked her.
After seeing the mother and daughter off.
Only a few doctors on duty remained in the department office.
Imagawa Ori walked over to her desk and set the gift box in her hands flat on it.
Her movements were quick and very practiced.
Her fingers groped along the bottom of the box, then she directly tore open the wrapping paper and lifted the lid.
Inside, two neat rows of exquisite wagashi were arranged.
Inside were neatly arranged wagashi.
But Imagawa Ori did not touch the sweets. Instead, she directly lifted out the entire plastic tray holding the confections.
Using this, she inspected the bottom of the box.
Completely empty.
There was only a piece of corrugated cardboard lining the bottom.
No envelope, no ten-thousand-yen bills, no beloved Yukichi Fukuzawa.
“Tsk.”
Imagawa Ori curled her lip.
For a specialist of her level, receiving several hundred thousand yen as a “thank-you gift” after performing a complicated operation was the norm.
She had originally thought that even if there weren’t several hundred thousand, there would at least be thirty or fifty thousand as a gesture.
They really were poor people after all.
She placed the tray back into the box, put the lid on, and pushed it straight in Kiryu Kazusuke’s direction.
“Take it and divide it up.”
After saying that, Imagawa Ori sat back in her chair and began writing medical records.
Kiryu Kazusuke held the two gift boxes and did not say anything. It was not as though this was his first day knowing Dr. Imagawa.
“Tanaka-senpai, Suzuki-san brought some sweets.”
Kiryu Kazusuke placed the box on the communal table and called out to Tanaka Kenji, who was still miserably working overtime.
“Oh! Great! I was just getting hungry!”
Tanaka Kenji poked his head out from behind his computer screen and let out a cheer.
After the bursting of the economic bubble, for an ordinary family, a box of sweets worth several thousand yen was already a very substantial thank-you gift.
……
Night fell.
The lights in the hospital corridors came on.
Tonight, Kiryu Kazusuke did not have to go to the emergency department, but he still had to be on duty in the department, responsible for handling any sudden situations in the wards.
In the blink of an eye, it was late at night.
Or rather, it was already the early hours of December 24.
Kiryu Kazusuke glanced at his watch.
12:05 a.m.
He stood up and took a small cake from his bag, one he had bought at a convenience store near the hospital.
It was the very cheap kind: a sponge cake base, with a layer of not-quite-genuine vegetable cream spread on top, decorated with a single canned cherry.
Even with tax, the thing was only three hundred yen.
It was not that he could not afford something more expensive; it was simply unnecessary.
Even if he spent the enormous sum of several thousand yen, Imagawa Ori most likely would not appreciate it anyway. He only intended to go through the motions and be done with it.
After all, the world-line branch did not say that Imagawa Ori absolutely had to accept it.
He walked out of the department office, passed through the corridor, and arrived at the door of the specialists’ on-call rest room.
Imagawa Ori was also on duty tonight.
She was a specialist. Although she did not need to stand guard in the ward all night like Kiryu Kazusuke, she still had to remain on standby in the dedicated rest room inside the hospital.
Knock, knock—
Kiryu Kazusuke raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Several seconds passed before there was movement from inside.
After the door opened.
Imagawa Ori was wearing a dark gray turtleneck sweater, with a pair of loose sweatpants underneath, and she was still holding a thick original German book in her hand.
But all Kiryu Kazusuke sensed was low pressure.
After Imagawa Ori made out who it was.
“If this isn’t an emergency like a patient about to die or the hospital catching fire, I’m going to twist your head off and kick it like a ball.”
“All right, you can speak now.”
“What is it?”
Kiryu Kazusuke smiled and raised the cake in his hand.
“Happy birthday, Dr. Imagawa.”