Katawa Shoujo - Akira Satou Route

Act 3-4 Kicking Off

A mixture of uncertainty and anxiety flows through my mind as my hand hovers above the silver handle. Before me is a closed door, the signs adorning its wooden surface usually symbolizing aid for someone with a condition like mine.

Today, however, it’s a harbinger of judgment. The weight of a month’s worth of disregard already bears down on me, and I have no doubts that it’s about to be doubled.

'Head Nurse' the brass plate on the door reads.

I can't even begin to imagine the magnitude of the lecture I'll receive upon stepping through this doorway. He knows I haven't been running, he knows my social situation here isn't in the smoothest of positions; hell, I'll bet he'd even know if I wasn't eating healthy.

With reluctance, I raise my hand to the door and rap my knuckles against the glossy surface.

“Come in.” that familiar voice chimes, the sound of a chair rolling across the tile floor indicating that I’ll be the object of his utmost attention here in a few seconds.

I turn the doorknob and take a meager step inside, electing to close the door behind me as check-ups generally involve me having to take my shirt off.

“Good morning, Hisao. I take it you got my message?” the nurse greets from behind his desk, his energetic smile just as bright as usual despite being so early in the day.

I think it would have been rather difficult to miss. It’s every guy’s dream to be woken up by a cute girl, but not when she’s slamming her fist against your door at six in the morning.

At first I thought she had shown up to take a running partner for herself by force, considering that she was already clad in a gym uniform coupled with a pair of steel prosthesis.

‘Nurse says he wants to see you.’ she had commented after handing me a small post-it note. After that it led into a small back-and-forth about school, what I've been up to, and a lively "well just remember that I'll be waiting if you ever want to get out to the track with me!"

Other than that, nothing. I can't help but think that she only said that much out of obligation, to try and keep a tie to someone who could have at one point been a friend.

I suppose I can’t blame her. I pretty much dropped off the face of the earth after my first week here, and it doesn’t help that I avoided saying ‘hi’ the few times I walked by her in the hallways. There's no point lingering on it though; anything I could say about the matter is just ‘shoulda woulda coulda' at this point.

Especially since there’s more pressing matters at hand.

I glance up at the nurse and offer up a reassuring smile, more for myself than him.

“Yeah, Emi dropped it off this morning.” I reply.

“Glad to hear that. I take it you know why you’re here?”

Because the only precautions I’ve been taking in ensuring that I don’t drop dead are keeping up with my medication, and being lazy whenever it comes to physical activity?

“Just a checkup?”

“For the most part, yes. Most students keep up with their visits on their own, but it seems like you’ve been avoiding me, for some reason.” Nurse replies with a cheeky grin, amused by his own joke.

“I’ve been doing fine, really. There’s been a lot going on, so I’ve had to cut back on a few things.” I reply, content to let a little white lie slip.

He wags his finger back and forth in disapproval before responding with “come on, Hisao. There's nursing staff here around the clock. Twenty-four-seven: that's what we tell everyone who walks through those gates. Even our busiest students find time to stop by."