Nurse Office Visits

As my eyes open I'm immediately blinded by the bright lights above me.

Where am I? What's going on?

I find myself laying in a bed in a grey colored room. I look around and see medical equipment all around the room.

If I had to guess, I'm probably in the nurse's office, aren't I? It's on the first floor of the school. But why am I here?

Then I remember the blonde haired girl and the green haired girl in the music room.

Oh right! I was trying to protect that blonde girl, wasn't I? And the green girl hit me with her weapon.

I look at my arms and see that they are wrapped up in bandages. I try to move them and a sharp pain shoots through my body.

"I-I won't d-do that, John!! Y-You might break your s-stitches!", I hear at shaky voice say.

I sit up and see it's coming from Mikan, who has a worried look in her face.

"Oh hey, it's Mikan right? The Ultimate Nurse from the garden?", I ask with a smile.

Her face reddens, "Y-You a-actually remembered s-someone like m-me?"

"Well, how could I forgot such a cute girl like you? I'm guessing you're the one that patched me up?", I ask.

"Y-Yes, K-Kiyotaka and M-Mondo brought you h-here", Mikan explains.

Taka and Mondo? How did they find me?

As soon as I ask myself that, the doors to the nurse's office fly open and Taka comes marching in.

"John! I didn't think you'd be up already! You need to rest more!!", Taka yells with a shocked expression.

I chuckle, "Don't worry, Taka. I'm totally fine. Okay, more like 90% find but it's better than I was before".

"I was worried me and Mondo had arrived too late. It's a good thing Natsumi found us while we were heading back to the detention room. You could have been in big trouble", Taka releases a sigh of relief.

"Man, I really owe you one! But, that Natsumi girl was the one I saved right? Is she okay?!", I ask with a worried look on my face.

"S-She's fine. She h-had a few s-scratches on her, b-but nothing m-major", Mikan explains.

"John, I may have been wrong about you. If you were the ruling breaking punk I had thought you were, you wouldn't have saved Natsumi. I still don't approve of all your rule breaking, but perhaps there's more to you than just that", Taka smirks, "So how about the two of us start over with a clean slate?"

"I think I'd like that", I smile.

Maybe I was wrong about Taka? Perhaps this is the start of a new friendship?

"I will still be giving you a detention for attempting to ditch detention though", Taka says as he leaves the room.

Guess somethings never change, huh?

As soon as Taka leaves, two more people run into the room. Makoto and Sayaka.

"See, I told you we had nothing to worry about, Sayaka. Mondo said only his arms were injured", Makoto laughs.

"Well excuse me for being worried about my friend!", Sayaka walks over to my bed and smiles at me, "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Feeling a lot better now than I was before. Sorry for making you guys worry", I smile back.

"All that matters is that you are okay!", Makoto says.

Sayaka whispers into my ear, "I guess we'll have to spend the night together some other time, huh?".

My face reddens while Sayaka starts giggling. She gives me a quick peck in the cheek, causing Makoto to laugh.

"Hey, Mikan, has that Natsumi girl even come in to check on {first_nams}?", Sayaka asks.

"The o-only p-people who have been here b-besides us are T-Taka, Mondo, K-Kyoko and Headmaster K-Kirigiri", Mikan says, "N-Natsumi has been here o-once".

Wait, Kyoko came to check on me? Maybe she was actually worried? Or she may have come with her dad, but considering their last conversation, I doubt it.

"Geez! He got injured trying to save her, right? The least she could do is check on him!", Sayaka growls while Makoto tries to calm her down.

"It's not in Natsumi's nature to worry about others", we hear a voice from the entrance of the room say.

We all look at the entrance and see Mahiru standing there will looking toward the floor.

"S-So it was true? John was injured by Sato", Mahiru says while still not looking at me, ".....It's all my fault"

Sato? I remember hearing Hiyoko mention her when we were all at the garden. It sounded like she was apart of their friend group. Was that girl the same one that attacked me?

"Hey, Sayaka, Makoto, do you guys think you could give us some privacy? Mahiru looks like she has something she needs to talk to me about", I explain to my two friends.

"Well, alright, we'll see you tomorrow {first_nams}. Make sure you get lots of rest", Makoto says.

Sayaka gives me a peck on the lips, "See ya John!"

She and Makoto quickly exit, leaving only me, Mahiru and Mikan.

"Um, p-perhaps I-I should leave t-too?", Mikan asks.

"No, it's fine Mikan.....you can stay", Mahiru says as she steps closer to the bed.

"How bad is it?", she asks me.

I smile at her, "Not too bad! I should be good as new soon, right Doc?"

"W-Well it w-will take some time for y-you to completely h-heal, but I think you'll h-have a quick recovery", Mikan says with a smile.

"See, nothing to worry about, Mahiru! I'm fine, really!", I chuckle.

"But still, you're only in this situation because of me....", Mahiru says with a sad look in her eyes.

"What do you mean?", I ask.

"The whole reason Sato attacked Natsumi was because she was bullying me. Natsumi had been bullying me since before we came to Hope's Peak. Sato was trying to get Natsumi to stop, but she took things too far", Mahiru explains, "If you hadn't shown up when you did, Sato might have killed her".

What? Mahiru was being bullied by the girl I saved? And that Sato girl, the attacker, was just trying to defend Mahiru? Why did she have to take things that far? Why did she have to try to kill Natsumi? But before I answer any of those questions, I need to comfort Mahiru first.

"Mahiru, it's not your fault. You never asked Sato to attack Natsumi. My injures were a result of Sato's and Natsumi's actions. What matters now is the fact that Natsumi is alive and I'm okay. You shouldn't beat yourself up about all this. In the end, Sato is responsible for her actions, not you", I say trying to comfort her.

"I-I know, bu-", before age can finish I cut her off.

"Mahiru, stop, for my sake. Everyone is okay. So, it's just focus on that", I smile at her.

"Y-You're right. What matters now is the fact that you're okay. I'm really sorry that you had to get caught up in the middle of all this", Mahiru bows.

"It's fine! I'm glad I was able to help Natsumi!", I chuckle, "but, can I ask you something?"

"Hm?", Mahiru looks confused.

"Can you show me a few of your photos? I wanna see pictures taken by the Ultimate Photographer!", I smile widely.

Mahiru laughs, "Of course you can! All you need to do is ask!", she then takes a seat in the bed.

That seemed to cheer her up. I wanna ask her more about Sato and Natsumi, but nows not the time. What matters rights now, is Mahiru.

Me and Mahiru spend a few minutes just sitting on the bed, looking through her photos and talking. Most of her photos are of her classmates, smiling widely while staring into the camera.

"Wow, theses are amazing, Mahiru!", I exclaim.

Mahiru glares at me, "That's not a real compliment you know? Things like "amazing" and "awesome" are such half assed compliments".

"In that case, I feel like theses photos really make me appreciate what's right in front of me, all my friends being happy. Just seeing your classmates look so happy to be with each other, spreads this joyful feeling throughout my whole entire body. It makes me forget about all of my problems", I smile at her, "You truly are the Ultimate Photographer, aren't you?"

Mahiru's cheeks redden, "T-That was a real compliment, all right. I guess.....I'll show you my pictures more often".

"I-I'm really s-sorry to interrupt, but John n-needs to get some r-rest", Mikan says.

"Oh it's okay, Mikan. I've stayed for a while anyway. But, it was nice to spend time with you, John. Maybe when you recover we could, you know.....", Mahiru looks away with bright red cheeks.

"I would love that!", I smile brightly.

"A-Anyway I'll see you tomorrow", Mahiru waves goodbye before she exits.

"I-I'll be leaving t-too, John. But, I'll b-be back before 8:00 to g-give you your b-breakfast", Mikan says.

"Thanks for everything, Mikan! I really appreciate it!", I reply.

"Y-You're welcome!", Mikan smile as she leaves.

This has been some crazy day. I still want to know more about Sato and Natsumi, but I shouldn't ask Mahiru about it anymore. Maybe I should ask a certain detective about them. Kyoko came to see me while I was asleep so maybe she'll come by again tomorrow. Anyway, I should definitely head to bed. I'm gonna need as much rest as I can get.

I lay my head down on my pillow and quickly fall asleep.