Addiction

Kenma

"Kozume, Kenma? They're ready to see you now."

"Do you need me to go in with you, dear?"

"I'll be fine, mom."

I follow the nurse down the hallway. I'm skipping school for this. Well, the school was already informed, so I guess I'm not skipping, more just missing.

I'm not allowed to have my switch back here. Probably so they can keep my attention. They can even if I did have my switch, but they don't know that like Kuro does, so I guess I'm not surprised. I just wish I had it. I don't like hospitals, or clinics. Too many sick people. Makes me uneasy. Games help me to relax. They're also part of The reason I can't sleep at night. Last night I actually got to sleep rather fast with Kuro on call. He sounded like the day had been rough. Wonder how he's doing.

I think my hair dye is fading. I'll have to ask to get it fixed.

"The nurse will be in shortly." I nod  and sit where I'm supposed to. That's all I can do. There's really nothing to say to that.

The room is quiet aside from the small buzz that the lights make. They're so bright. It hurts my eyes. This check up bed isn't very comfortable but enough so that I could probably take a quick nap. The walls are white, and the floor just ever so slightly more of a cream color. There's a desk for the nurse and doctor to take notes, cabinets likely filled with medical supplies, and a chair next to the bed for any observing parents. Under one of the cabinets I can see a jar of suckers. Would they care if I took one?

I go to get up to take one, but I stop and rewind my actions when the nurse comes in. He's tall, like Kuroo, and slim.  He bares glasses in the shape of a half circle. If it weren't for the nurse uniform, and name tag that clearly says nurse, I'd think he was a doctor.  He gave off a demanding and respectable feeling to him. It was kind of overwhelming.

"Konnichiwa, Mr.Kozume. I'll be your nurse for the day. The name is Tsuchigomori." He gave a small, almost half assed, bow. I liked him. Most nurses went for a hand shake, or were super formal. I responded to his bow with my own small, almost half assed, nod. He still introduced himself which I don't get. I'm just going to forget his name anyway.

He didn't ask any stupid questions like the other nurses and doctors were prone to asking, like "how are you" or "how has school been going". He just started with what he knew he needed to do. He checked my eyes, ears, and even my joints. At some point, I noticed a photograph in his pocket.

I could see a bit of his head, he seemed more relaxed than he currently was. Next to him were two boys that looked identical to each other. Either third year of junior high kids or high school first years. I couldn't get a good look at the boys to really tell. I was curious now.

"Who are the two boys in your picture?" As I ask, he pulls it out and hands it to me to look at.

"They're my Godsons, Amane and Tsukasa. They're not much younger than you. "

Looking at the picture, I could tell there was something off about the relationship between the two brothers.  One had bandages up and down his arms, even with one on his face as he sat next to the nurse - see? Already forgot his name. Wasn't even worth telling it to me in the first place. - to his right. The other one seemed much more rowdy than his reserved twin, and yet,  he still seemed to have less injuries. There was also something about their eyes. The reserved one's were soft, but were almost like they were hiding something worse than the eyes of the other boy. His eyes weren't even looking directly at the camera, but at his brother, and still I felt as though he was staring into my soul. It freaked me out.

I gave the photo back to the nurse. "If I'm being honest, sir, the one on your left makes me feel like he's staring into my soul."

I'm expecting him to be a little angry but he chuckles, just a little. "Yeah, he does that." He places it back into his pocket and grabs what he needs and goes to the door. "Doctor Tepes will be with you shortly." He leaves the room and I can basically feel the pointed tooth grin on his face even as he's no longer in the room. I think if Kuro were here, he would have laughed at his joke as soon as the doctor walked in the door.

She was faster than he was. She entered basically as soon as the door shut. Unlike the nurse, I was much more used to her face and had heard her name enough times that I knew it. Krul Tepes, though I'm supposed to call her Doctor Tepes. She was small, like half the size of the nurse. I don't think she even reaches 5 feet tall and she doesn't have the same matured body look as the lady at the welcome desk. Everytime I see her I feel like I'm looking at a child and not a grown woman with a medical degree, an adopted son barely a year younger than me, and an ex husband. I met her son and ex once, and that was about a year ago. I don't remember their names. But I know her ex had a personality like Kuro, he was tall and obnoxious and almost always in his son's business who clearly would rather be anywhere else than the waiting room to get a check up at his mother's workplace.

When it came to greetings I also liked her. She would also bow but wasn't nearly as formal as I'd seen other doctors. She would still ask the generic questions, however, today she just got straight to her usual question. "How's your insomnia?" That's another thing I liked about her, she didn't treat my insomnia like it was a big deal and just treated it as a normal thing unlike my mother who would immediately search for psychological care. 

"I think better. My friend has been helping me get to sleep recently. I fell asleep around 11 and woke at 6:30 today." She nodded.

"Pleased to hear that, and how's it affected your sports recently? Take off your jacket, please." I take it off, she climbs onto the bed and sits behind me, putting her stethoscope to my back. "Big breath in," breathe in. "Big breath out," breathe out.  "Good job."

She gets down and gets a step stool to check my heart.

"My reactions have been a little delayed recently, and I lashed out on a couple of my teammates for no reason."

"Delayed reactions and irritability.." She mutters and then goes to her computer as she wraps her stethoscope around her neck, avoiding it getting caught on her pink hair. I never figured out if her hair was dyed or not.

"Has the melatonin been working?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

She proceeds to ask some more questions and does a few more things before it's time for her to leave. Before she can finish her goodbye another doctor comes in. He's as tall as the nurse but he's overall broader.

"My bad, I just need to borrow some cotton balls." He has a voice awfully similar to Daishou, interesting.

"Go on and grab some, Doctor Eusford." She sighs, clearly he doesn't like him. I don't either. Makes too many people  in a small room.

"Thanks, shorty."

"I hate you."

"Didn't you say that to your husband before you married him?"

"I also said that to my husband before I divorce him. Now, scram. " He grabs a sucker from the jar, unwraps it and puts it in his mouth as he puts his hands up, one filled with cotton balls and the other with the wrapper, in surrender as he leaves. She sighs. "I apologize for that. My coworkers are insufferable." I just nod and she smiles a little. "Tsuchigomori will be back to hand you information about your new prescription  and when it will be ready to pick up at your local pharmacy.  Keep getting that sleep." I nod again and she follows in her coworker's footsteps and leaves the room.

As she said, the nurse was back to give me the prescription information and then sent me back to my mom who was waiting for me in the waiting room. She put her phone in her bag and stood up. As we were leaving I noticed Doctor Tepes talking to the man I vaguely remember to be her ex. She wasn't happy to see him. I bet Kuro would love to listen to what they're saying, but I don't care too much.

My mother hands me my switch. "I told your school you'd be out all day. We'll call it a break from school." I smile. I love my mother, even if I don't say it often.  But I just said that to her yesterday, so we'll hold off on it for a while. That reminds me. It's been over a month since I last told Kuro that I appreciate his existence, I should do that.

I pull out my phone and prepare to turn it on, but it's dead. Oh, I forgot to charge it last night. Eh, I'll do it later. I place my phone in my pocket and continue on my way  with my mom. It's a good day. Cold, but good.

(A/N: First of all, holy shit, I'm alive. Second of all, I hope you enjoyed the surprise character visits.)