He has a little medical trouble

“Hey there… Maki…” Shuichi panted, already out of breath when he reached the brunette girl. “How’s it… going?”

“I’m fine. Today was productive, workwise, but not all that remarkable.” Maki looked Shuichi up and down, noticing the way his shoulders slumped and his chest heaved. “Are you feeling well? You look kind of sick.”

“Oh, don’t worry… I’m fine,” Shuichi insisted, though his voice was wheezing a little. “I just… had a really busy day today. You’re… not going to believe… what happened.”

“Well, If I believed you about meeting Pitch, I’ll probably believe just about anything at this point.” Maki sat down on the grass to start her stretches and patted the ground next to her. “Have a seat, and tell me all about it, I guess.”

Shuichi smiled and took his spot next to Maki and began to recount his day, from his tryst with Kirumi to his encounter with Angel and Usagi, all the while doing his best to limber-up his sore muscles. He made sure just to refer to Kirumi as his “coworker”, though, since he had promised to keep their relationship a secret.

“Wait, so you had sex with someone who’s basically a cult leader?” Maki asked as they both prepared for their first jog. “You do realize how dangerous those people can be, right?”

“I’m… aware of the stereotype, yes,” Shuichi replied, still panting. “But Angel… seemed different. She was genuinely kind… and caring. And she’s doing… a lot of good for people.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Maki replied with a subtle bitterness. “Whatever. As long as you don’t start trying to proselytize me, it doesn’t really matter to me what you think of her. So, are you ready to start jogging or what?”

“Yeah… let’s go.” Shuichi headed back to the main path around the park and began his light jog. He did his best to keep going as long as he could, but it didn’t take long for him to start feeling completely exhausted again. Not only that, but he could feel his head start to throb and the lamps that lit his path seemed to have strange halos around them whenever he looked at them. “Wait… hold on a second, Maki. I need… to take a break.”

“Really?” Maki looked at Shuichi with concern as she came to a stop with him. “But we’ve only been jogging two minutes. Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Don’t worry, I’m just… just…” Shuichi never finished his sentence. Instead, he collapsed onto the pavement in front of him with a soft thud.

“Shuichi!?” Maki immediately rushed to his side and began lightly slapping his face. “Shuichi! Are you okay? Answer me!” When he didn’t reply, Maki placed a finger to his wrist to take his pulse. “Dammit… your heart rate is way too fast… and you’re starting to turn green. That’s it, I’m calling an ambulance.”

“I’m afraid that won’t do much good,” a feminine voice suddenly cut in. “His problem isn’t something a normal hospital can treat.”

“Huh?” Maki turned in the direction of the voice and saw three women standing in front of her; a serious-looking girl with short black hair, a white shirt, and combat gloves on the left, a ditzy-looking girl with red hair in a grey shirt writing in a notebook on the right, and a woman with long blonde hair, a black shirt and a confident smile leading them with her chest puffed out in the center.

“Pandora?” Maki blinked in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know, just having some quality time with my family.” Pandora gestured to the two women beside her. “I don’t believe you’ve been formally introduced yet. Reol, meet my sisters; Geneva, the Ultimate Soldier, and Ryu, the Ultimate Analyst.”

“A pleasure to meet you.” Geneva gave Maki a short bow.

“Oh! It’s nice to meet you!” Ryu looked up from her notebook in surprise and bowed as well. “At least, I think we’re meeting for the first time… I’m sorry, my memory isn’t all that great.”

“Don’t worry, they’re both new,” Pandora assured her sister before turning back to Maki. “Say, is it true that you’re openly going by ‘The Ultimate Assassin’ now, Reol? And you haven’t come in to get a new outfit from me yet?” Pandora sniffled and stroked one of her pigtails. “Such a shame. I have an amazing idea for this hooded cape that-“

“Dammit, I don’t have time for this!” Maki interrupted in frustration. “I need to get this man to a hospital now!”

“Augh, didn’t you hear what I just said? A hospital isn’t going to be able to help.” Pandora rolled her eyes. “He’s got Kibofil poisoning.”

“Kibofil? You mean that arousal ****?” Maki asked in shock. “Are you sure that’s what’s wrong with him?”

“Let me take a look at him.” Ryu stepped forward with a worried expression on her face and flipped through her notebook. “Green skin, dilated pupils, fast heart rate, heavy breathing, loss of consciousness… yeah, he has all the symptoms. If he’s not treated, he’ll go into a full coma in an hour and likely be dead by midnight.”

“Yep! And since Kibofil is a relatively new ****, and an unapproved one too, there’s not a hospital in the world capable of reversing the overdose,” Pandora replied with the same tone of voice a child would use to share a fun fact about bugs. “Man, what a way to go… I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less from boner boy here, though.”

“There… there has to be something I can do, though!” Maki gripped Shuichi’s hand tightly as his head rested in her lap. “I don’t want to lose him too! Not yet!”

“Awwww, is little-miss-murderer about to cry? I’ve never seen such a sad sight in all my life!” Pandora gave an exaggerated sniffle. “Well, luckily for you, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this happen, so I always make sure to carry with me…” Pandora reached between her large breasts and pulled out a small glass vial. “… the antidote!”

“Antidote? You mean, you can save him!?” Maki gasped in shock. “… what’s the catch?”

“Catch? My dear woman, you insult me! Can’t someone help a dying man out of the kindness of her heart without suspicion?” Pandora dramatically placed her free hand on her chest. “Now, please, stand aside; this is going to be a very delicate procedure.”

Maki gave Shuichi’s hand one last squeeze before she carefully scooted away from his body. Pandora smiled and took a step forward, only for her to immediately trip over her own feet and drop the vial she was holding onto the ground, where it shattered and sent glass and clear fluid flying everywhere.

“Oops! My bad~” Pandora giggled as she stood back up. “I can be such a klutz sometimes!”

“Are you sure about that?” Ryu spoke up worriedly. “It looked a lot like you did that on purpose.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re just imagining things.” Pandora shrugged casually. “Accidents happen, after all.”

Maki looked down at the broken vial in stunned silence, unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to feel. All she could do was stare with her mouth wide open. Then, all at once, she felt it; a red-hot rage burning from the bottom of her heart, consuming her very soul from the inside out.

“You little-!” With inhuman speed, Maki unsheathed her hidden combat knife and rushed towards Pandora, who just smiled at her and didn’t even bother to try running away. The blade never connected with its target, though, instead being blocked by an even bigger knife at the last second with a loud clang.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” said Geneva, her voice cool and calm even though she was holding a serrated blade directly in front of her sibling’s face. “Please, step away from my sister.”

“Do you want to die?” Maki’s eyes were glowing dark red as she spoke, and it was clear what she said wasn’t a slip of the tongue this time.

“W-wait, what are you doing!?” Ryu gasped in shock and hid behind her notebook. “P-please, don’t fight! W-whatever has you upset, I’m sure we can talk this out!”

“Hey, don’t stop on my account! It’s been a little while since I got to see my little sis go all rough-and-tumble~” Pandora spoke up.

Ryu, clearly horrified, stepped back and opened her notebook but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to write anything down. “This… this has nothing to do with me,” the red-haired girl muttered repeatedly to herself as she wandered off into the park. “This has nothing to do with me, this has nothing to do with me…”

Maki didn’t pay Ryu any mind, however, as her eyes were locked with Geneva’s as they continued to press their knives together. It was quickly becoming clear to Maki that she wouldn’t be able to overpower her opponent, so she leaped backward to try using her throwing knives instead. The dark-haired girl didn’t even blink as she expertly deflected them out of the air, even managing to knock out the ones aimed at Pandora with minimal effort. Growing ****, Maki attempted to dash behind Geneva, but the soldier saw this coming and managed to trip her with a quick sweep of the legs. Maki let out a grunt of pain as he landed flat on her back and, before she could recover, she felt Geneva’s boot press down lightly onto her throat.

“Make one more move, and you’re dead,” Geneva told Maki in a matter-of-fact tone of voice as she kept her foot ready to stomp down.

“Aww, it looks like you lose my little sweet!” Pandora walked over to Maki and teasingly poked the trapped woman’s cheek. “Such a shame! Here I was hoping my sis had finally found someone to match her skills, but she didn’t even break a sweat.”

“Fuck you!” Maki spat from underneath Geneva’s foot. “Shuichi is going to die… all because of you!”

“Hey, don’t blame me! It’s not my fault your boyfriend took to many boner pills. Besides, it’s not like it’s too late for him. After all…” Pandora smirked and revealed a vial of medicine identical to the one that had just shattered. “That wasn’t the only antidote~’

Maki’s eyes widened in shock. “You… had a second vial on you this whole time!?”

“Yep! If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s to always keep a spare! That’s why I have two sisters!” Pandora replied. “Although, now that I’ve had more time to think about it, I’m not sure I even want to save Shuichi. I better way the pros and cons of this before I do anything drastic.”

To Maki’s horror, Pandora began to balance the vial by one of its corners on her finger. “On the one hand, he is pretty fun to mess with. But on the other, this town has more than enough schlubs to play with…” Pandora used her free hand to start spinning the vial on her finger. “But then again, none of the others make me feel the same way he does… but if I lose him, the despair I’d feel would be oh-so-sweet!” Pandora reached into her pockets and pulled out two colorful balls which she juggled alongside the antidote. “Of course, that would just be a temporary high… but what is life if not a long string of-“

“I think you should save him,” Geneva suddenly interrupted.

“Excuse me?” Pandora was caught so off-guard that she nearly dropped the vial for real. “You think I should save his life?”

“Yes,” Geneva replied, her voice still cold and her foot still on Maki’s throat. “He hasn’t done anything to us and letting him die would almost assuredly cause problems that would follow us for a long time. Not to mention, I’d rather not see how Ryu would react to the sight of a corpse.”

“Grr…” Pandora growled and gripped the medicine vial tightly. “Of course, I’m going to save him, you dumbass! You know I’d never let someone I know actually kick the can! I was just having fun!” Pandora crossed her arms and began to pout. “And now you’ve ruined my whole bit.”

“I’m sorry, dear sister. I just… wanted to make sure you weren’t being serious,” Geneva replied.

“Hey, wait a minute… you’ve never spoken up whenever I’ve done something like this before. Could it be…” Pandora looked curiously at her sister’s face and, after a moment, Geneva’s stoic expression finally cracked when her eyes darted away from Pandora’s. “Oh my god! I was right! You… like Shuichi, don’t you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Geneva replied forcefully. “I barely even know the man. We talked for less than five minutes.”

“You can’t lie to me, sis! I can see it in your eyes!” Pandora giggled to herself. “Geneva’s got a crush, Geneva’s got a crush, Geneva’s got a crush!”

“I do not!” the Ultimate Soldier insisted, though she was blushing bright red now.

“Yes, you do!” “No, I don’t!” “Yes, you do!” “No, I don’t!” “Yes, you do!” “No, I don’t!”

“Yes, you do~” Pandora said extra-teasingly as she began to poke her fingers into Geneva’s sides.

“Q-quit it, sis! Y-you know I’m ticklish!” Geneva stuttered, doing her best to avoid breaking out into laughter.

“H-hold on a second!” Maki grunted, still trapped beneath Geneva’s boot. “Could you please… save Shuichi now? He’s running out of time.”

“Oh, right, I almost forgot.” Pandora took out a needle from another one of her pockets and carefully filled it with the antidote. “Here you go, sis; I’ll let you do the honors~”

Geneva nodded silently and finally removed her foot from Maki’s neck. The ex-assassin sat up and rubbed her throat as she watched Geneva inject the antidote into Shuichi’s arm. The green color of his skin dissipated almost instantly, and his breathing became regular after a few moments. Then, after about a minute, his eyes finally blinked open.

“What’s… going on?” Shuichi asked as his vision cleared. “Eh?! Pandora? Geneva? What are you doing here? And why am I on the ground!? And, Maki, are… are you crying?”

“You… idiot.” Before Shuichi could react, Maki threw herself at him with tears in her eyes and kissed him as hard as she could. Her lips felt hot with passion as they pressed against his, almost as if they were filled with every ounce of her affection for him. It was so powerful that Shuichi felt like he would have been knocked off his feet if he was still standing, and yet it was still so gentle that it calmed him in a way he had never quite felt before. The kiss only grew more intense with time, with Maki’s arms wrapping and Shuichi’s chest and hugging him tightly while their chests pressed so hard together that their hearts could feel each other’s beat. And the whole time, Geneva and Pandora looked on, each respectively wearing an indifferent and an amused expression.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again, Shuichi,” Maki said when the kiss finally broke. “I can’t believe you were that sick and you barely noticed. You could have gotten yourself killed.”

“Killed!? What!?” Shuichi gasped. “What do you mean by that?”

“She means that you had an overdose on Kibofil – that green Ultimate Pharmacist pill – and if it wasn’t for the intervention of my little sister here, you’d totally be fucking at the great big bordello in the sky!” Pandora explained, gesturing grandly to Geneva.

“Seriously?” Shuichi put a hand to his chest in shock. “You… saved my life?”

“It was nothing, really,” Geneva insisted. “All I did was inject my sister’s antidote.”

“Wow… I almost died.” Shuichi swallowed before turning to look the soldier in the eye. “Thank you, Geneva, Pandora. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… I owe you both quite a lot.”

Maki shot the sisters a harsh glare but didn’t say anything, instead focusing on helping Shuichi get back to his feet. At the same time, Ryu wandered absent-mindedly through the park back towards them.

“Oh! Hello, sisters! I was looking everywhere for you!” Ryu called out as she ran over to Pandora and Geneva. “I’m so sorry; I must have wandered off again, or forgot what I was doing, and my memory notebook wasn’t any help for some reason.”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t miss that much,” Pandora replied casually.

“Uh… I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’ve met before,” Shuichi said, leaning on Maki’s shoulder. “May I ask who you are?”

“Oh, my bad!” Pandora playfully smacked her forehead. “Shuichi, this is my sister, Ryu. Ryu, this is Shuichi, our sister’s boyfriend.”

“Wha!?” Geneva and Shuichi both gasped at the same time.

“Her boyfriend? Oh, that’s so wonderful!” Ryu opened her notebook and began writing furiously. “I’m so glad she finally found someone for her! It says in my notes that she’s always had trouble finding a special someone. Please, do your best to take care of her, okay?” She then walked over to Shuichi and gingerly shook his hand with an almost infectious smile on her face.

“I’ll, uh… try my best?” Shuichi replied, too stunned to refute Pandora’s accusation.

“He’s not my boyfriend…” Geneva said under her breath, though Ryu did not act like she heard her.

“Ahem.” Maki loudly cleared her throat. “Could we please get back to the topic at hand? Mainly, Shuichi’s health. That Kibofil overdose he had isn’t going to leave any permanent damage, is it?”

“Well, if it’s his first overdose then the antidote should have fixed everything just fine but, even if I look great in glasses, I’m no doctor,” Pandora replied, donning a pair of spectacles to demonstrate. “The only way to know for sure is to take him where the pills came from; The Ultimate Pharmacy in the red light district.”

“Alright, I know that place. I’ll take him there right now.” Maki began to walk Shuichi towards the park exit, but he resisted.

“I-it’s okay, Maki,” Shuichi grunted. “I think I’m fine now. You don’t need to worry about m-“

Maki silenced Shuichi with a finger to his lips.

“We are going to the pharmacy and we are going to make sure you’re healthy,” Maki declared firmly. “End of discussion.”

“Yes; and I’m going as well.” Geneva stepped forward to help Shuichi stand too. “It would be… disappointing if you didn’t make it there safely.”

Maki shot Geneva another glare, but the soldier didn’t flinch. “Fine. We’ll go there in Shuichi’s car; you drive, and I’ll make sure he’s okay in the back seat.”

“Okay, see you later, sis!” Pandora waved her sister goodbye. “Call us if you need anything, and remember; you saved him, so you’re responsible for him now. So, take good care of him I won’t let you get a new boy!”

“Good luck, Mr. Shuichi!” Ryu waved happily alongside Pandora. “You seem like a nice person, so I hope you turn out okay! I can’t wait to have you visit us!”

“I, uh, look forward to that too!” Shuichi said awkwardly as he was walked to his convertible. There, he handed Geneva his keys before getting into the back seat. Maki got in next to him and immediately hugged herself to his body, resting her head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat. In truth, Shuichi was feeling fine by the time he reached his car, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell Maki. Instead, he just laid back in his seat and enjoyed the feeling of her warmth as Geneva started his car and drove off through the glittering night.