The Elite Medical Science Academy, shortened to EMSA, was a prestigious academy. Only the best and wealthiest sectors were allowed into this luxury. And at the top of this school was none other than Alexa Fuse. All as expected. It’s counterpart, Medical School for Dummies or MSD, was nothing short of nefarious. Home to the ‘brightest’ that lower sectors have to offer. For years, students from this school always came up short. They came to be known to produce inferior interns compared to EMSA. It was a segregation that personified the divide between sectors. But! At the top of this school today was the transferee, Kaiba Quivers. He shifted the balance. Forced everything to be evaluated more thoroughly. Perhaps he was an anomaly. And his rival was the true genius. But one thing was for sure, right now, Kaiba and Alexa stood at the precipice of the summit. Together.

Duty: HNH Lab

A man stood in front of the entrance of HNH lab. His undershirt loosely tucked, left pant leg slightly raised to reveal a sock that said ‘game time!’. Beside him was a woman who followed the very definition of prim and proper. Her pencil skirt squeezed her hips and thighs just right. 

The interns from the information section peeked and spoke in huddled, hushed tones. It was a very special time of the month. One that most interns dreaded, but two particular ones absolutely thrived in.

“Are you sure we should do this Minerva?” The man twiddled his fingers, his eyes darted.

Minerva sighed. “I don’t know about you, Mantou. I am the intern adviser of EMSA. You do know what that means right?”

“No, I don’t.” Mantou smiled anxiously.

Minerva rubbed her forehead. “Stop your dilly dallying. I don’t care what you do or don’t. It’s not my name on the line. It’s MSD’s anyway.”

Mantou and Minerva were an odd pairing to say the least. These two were the internship advisers for HNH. Every month they were assigned to check up on the interns' performance. Most months they just looked around, silently judging. For their presence meant that every move an intern made was monitored. But today, something was different. They would turn the whole of HNH labs upside down. 

Indeed, a special event took place. An idea hatched by Minerva to further test the performance of their interns. And to show that EMSA was truly the better school. They headed inside the lab. First things first. They needed to talk to the chief of the whole lab, Chief McRonald.

“What do you think of Reginald?” Minerva pointed to the intern in the information section.

“Hm? I think he is fine.”

“How bout Jobu?”

“He’s fine.”

“How bout Ryan?”

“He’s fine.”

“Don’t you have anything else to say about your interns?” Minerva glared.

“There’s really nothing to say about them.” Mantou looked at the profiles of his interns in his clipboard. “They all seem unremarkable.”

“So that’s the life of an adviser in MSD.” Minerva walked ahead of Mantou. 

They would soon reach the blood bank section. The usual crowd developed outside of it. It was a daily occurrence as long as Alexa Fuse worked there.

“What’s this commotion?” Mantou was anxious. He could only handle crowds no bigger than five. Though at that point that could barely be called a crowd anymore.

Minerva smirked. “That right there is the top intern in EMSA.”

“What? That’s Ms. Fuse?” Mantou asked.

“Do you not read the reports? You do know that EMSA and MSD can share their intern profiles with one another right?” Minerva reprimanded.

“I’m sorry!” Mantou lowered his head.

“Grow a spine Mantou. I wasn’t even shouting.” Minerva shook her head.

The two advisers move past the blood bank section. Alexa danced as graciously as she routinely did. She made love to the test tubes. Made babies with the blood bags. And waltz her way through a perfect crossmatch. Minerva and Alexa’s eyes meet. They both smile. A recognition of each other’s presence.

“Alexa Fuse is the top student in EMSA. She excelled at most things. She has some weaknesses in extraction but that can be fixed. Though there is one blemish in her file.” Minerva flipped through the pages of her clipboard. “She has a hard time working with other people. There could be many factors. Maybe she thinks everybody is below her. Or that no one has yet to show her otherwise. I’m not quite sure. Your guess is as good as mine Mantou.”

The two advisers continued to discuss as they went passed the sections of HNH lab. But it was more like Minerva gloating every single time. MSD had very few notable interns. In fact, it was built solely to segregate the good interns from the bad. And in that sense, the man they would encounter next, was the anomaly that irked Minerva the most.

There was no crowd that built around Kaiba Quivers. Well, that was the usual occurrence. No one would come and admire this man at work, especially at the Serology section. Today though, was a particularly busy day. And this man had to keep his concentration perfect. He did not want another demerit in this dreaded section. 

Minerva peeked into the serology section. “What do you have on Kaiba? I went to check his files, but MSD had none.”

“Ah yes, Kaiba told me to burn it,” Mantou blankly replied.

“And you did?”

“Yes, I burned it.”

“Why Are you following the whims of an intern!”

“Ah!” Mantou cowered in fear.

Minerva shook her head. “Just tell me what you know about him.”

“Kaiba Quivers is a transferee from the United States. Alaska to be exact. His grades are impeccable.” Mantou looked at Minerva.

“As if we’d accept an outsider like him into EMSA. Our school has standards,” Minerva snarked.

The two slowly walked by the serology section. Minerva kept her eyes on Mantou. And he simply glanced inside at his own intern. Transferees were a peculiar thing in Ha’suru. So peculiar, that Kaiba Quivers was the first transferee in nearly nine years!

Mantou continued, “He’s an intern that by grades and ability, should most definitely be in EMSA. Of course transferring in automatically placed him in sector 4 so he had no choice really. Still, he showed promise and an incredible work ethic. But through the year I have observed him, he has a few weaknesses. One notable one is that he easily gets distracted. By many things.”

“How come you know all these things, yet you burned his files?” Minerva asked.

“Kaiba told me to memorize it.”

“What!” Minerva shouted at him yet again.

Mantou put his hands to his temples, quivering. “Ah!”

“Why would he tell you to do that?” Minerva rubbed her forehead.

“He told me that I should know his weaknesses as his adviser. But only I could. So I could properly guide him.” Mantou reluctantly replied.

Minerva sighed. They continued to walk towards the section chief office. All the while she thought, Kaiba was a dangerous man. An intern currently tied with her top intern from EMSA. She couldn’t fathom that a man from MSD could be capable of such a thing. Transferee or not.

“Ms. Minerva. Mr. Mantou. It is a pleasure for you two to come visit us again.” A powerful voice greeted them.

He stood a towering six foot three, his moustache twirled to the sides. Eyebrows thick and boarly. Perfectly complemented by his receding hairline, and acne filled face. His presence in the hallway was intimidatingly large. The hallway was wide but his body took over at least half it!

Minerva bowed, dragging Mantou’s head with her. “It is a pleasure to see you chief McRonald.”

Chief McRonald squeezed his bicep as his other hand tightly coiled around his wrist. His lab coat, bursting at the seams in his max effort contraction of the gun show.

“We were just heading to your office sir,” Minerva informed him.

Mantou looked at chief McRonald. Why is he always flexing? The chief of HNH labs was truly a peculiar man. 

“I am presuming we are going to discuss ‘that’?” Chief McRonald raised an eyebrow.

“Yes sir,” Minerva said.

“There is no need to loiter in that discussion. I approve of it. Do what you must.” Chief McRonald raised his arms. His fist curled towards his head. MAXIMUM CONTRACTION.

“An emergency meeting came up, I am sorry I can’t stay and chat. But my duties as the chief of this lab comes first!” Chief McRonald passed them. His latissimus dorsi spread like an eagle's wings. ADMIRE THEM.

“Is the chief of HNH lab always this weird?” Mantou watched chief McRonald’s massive back grow smaller and smaller.

“Shut it Mantou! Chief McRonald graduated top of his class in EMSA. He can act anyway he wants!” Minerva glared.

“Ah!” Mantou huddled himself to a corner. 

“Alright let’s get to work.” Minerva walked off.

“Where are you going?” Mantou asked.

“To do my job. You should think about doing yours.”

Duty: Serology Section

Kaiba Quivers looked at the ELISA machine just as he always does. His eyes attentive, reacting to the faintest of sounds. The maintenance light did not glow. He was safe. For now.

“You’re improving Kaiba,” Elise said.

“Thank you ma’am.”

“That still hasn’t made up for your blunder last week.” 

Kaiba twitched. The section chief just wouldn’t let his mistake go. It was already a bane to his existence. A demerit on his resume. But she brought It up every goddamn minute!

“Here.” Elise set down a bunch of papers on the desk. “While you’re waiting for that batch to be done, record the results from last night’s duty.”

Kaiba looked at the stack of papers on the desk. If there was one thing he hated more than Alexa, It was doing clerical work. It was tedious, boring. And to top it all of, his writing was always insulted. It’s not my fault that I wrote that way!

“Make sure it’s legible.” Elise walked back to her office cubicle.

“Yes ma’am.” Kaiba strained his face.

“Once that batch is done, bring it to the blood bank section and get another batch. There’s rumors of a big company getting tested today. Be prepared,” Elise warned.

“Yes Ma’am.” Kaiba sighed.

With pen in hand, he started recording the result. This. That. It’s pure tedium. Pure monotony. I hate this section. It could rival even his hate for the clinical microscopy section. He jotted down quickly, in pure disregard to Elise’s instruction of eligibility.

A man in his periphery stood there for as long as his conversation with Elise. He would pay no mind to it, and just finish this work. His goal right now was to finish all of this before ELISA beeped. This paperwork would not greet him here after he visited blood bank. I will make sure of it. The stack of papers slowly dissipated. Even though Kaiba Quivers hated this type of work, he was disciplined. He would still finish it. Though the results varied.

Beep!

Kaiba’s eyes glanced up. ELISA was beeping intermittently. It was done. He stood up, tidied up the finished paperwork, took out the casings, and placed them one by one on a styrofoam tray. And finally, he took notice of the odd man outside.

“Hey Mantou, what are you doing?” Kaiba peeked out from the Serology section.

“What!” Mantou cowered in fear. Apparently it wasn’t just Minerva capable of doing that.

“I told you to stop doing that. How would your colleagues in EMSA come to respect you?” Kaiba walked out of the section carrying the try.

“I’m sorry.” Mantou squeezed his clipboard.

“Don’t say sorry. Be more assertive.” Kaiba started his trek towards the blood bank section.

“I’ll try.” Mantou started following Kaiba.

Kaiba chirped, “Don’t just try.”

“Okay.” Mantou looked down on his clipboard.

“Why are you following me?” Kaiba's footsteps were closely followed by Mantou’s. 

“I’m just observing.”

“You never observe.”

“I’m trying to do my job!” Mantou shouted in defense. His perspiration overflowed.

Kaiba was intrigued. Mantou never did his job properly. But today, he wrote religiously on that clipboard.  “If you say so.” 

Duty: Blood Bank Section

The blood bank section was insanely busy. A company’s hundred or so employees were up for routine blood typing and crossmatching today. And they donated blood to boot! Whether this was mere happenstance or an intended outcome, this section would be the busiest section in all of HNH labs’ morning.

Alexa noticed the prying eyes of a familiar face. She looked at her. And that person smiled at her. Minerva was back again. She would deal with the EMSA adviser later. There were more important things at hand.

“Why did you do that?” Alexa’s aggressive tone would put any man down to his knees.

She always found herself in this position. No matter what happened, when mistakes occurred, she always lashed out. She just expected so much from her co-interns. She always gave it her all. That much she expected in return.

“I’m sorry Ms. Fuse.” Marco timidly looked down. He couldn’t possibly look at Alexa after what he did.

“Kaiba Quivers, Serology Intern. Delivering your hourly batch of blood tubes. ” Kaiba’s words barged into the blood bank.

But no one paid him any attention. Though his job was as important as theirs. The results from serology made sure that the blood bags in this section were indeed disease free. It was understandable however as he glanced at the blood bags lined up on the desk. The line of people to the donor section. It was an unbelievably toxic day. I feel it. It was Alexa’s usual strong eyes that greeted him. But it wasn’t for him. Those eyes reserved for the intern by her. He decided to move on with his job. This was blood bank after all. And he was from serology. However! That doesn’t mean that he won’t shoot out a glare himself. This was a very familiar situation he passed through. Alexa looked down on an intern. And the intern couldn’t even look at her. Business as usual.

A peculiar tingle ran through Alexa’s very existence. It was Kaiba’s momentary response to her presence.  Now is not the time to acknowledge his presence. She had more important matters to attend to. 

“You better not make this same mistake again. This could cost a patient’s life next time!” Alexa’s words pierced the intern, Marco. “This is why I can’t trust the lower sectors with anything.”

Alexa Fuse was a woman that would do anything for the betterment of HNH. Her singular focus was what made her great. And what made her one of the top interns in HNH. But it was also what made her feared in a way that almost idolized it.

“I’m sorry.” Poor Marco looked dejected.

“Don’t say sorry to me, say sorry to the patients.” Alexa glued her hands to her hips.

“Okay. I will find them.”

“I didn’t mean literally!” Alexa rubbed her temples.

This was why Alexa garnered her reputation as the exquisite Alexa Fuse. She was flawless. And she demanded the same everything around her. She couldn’t let any faults slip by. If she held herself accountable at all times, then the same rang true for everyone else. 

Kaiba set the tray on the receiving desk. His legs carried him carefully towards Alexa and Marco. This was about the time he decided to make his presence fully known. He couldn’t possibly just ignore his rival. 

“Hey Alexa!” Kaiba shouted.

“What are you doing here?” Alexa asked.

Kaiba surveyed the situation. The scolding was over. Marco was already back to working. But Alexa’s scowl still plastered on her face.

“You done destroying another intern?” Kaiba quipped.

“I do no such thing,” Alexa replied.

“Doesn’t look like that to me.” Kaiba shrugged.

Alexa crumpled her face. Yes! It was the sheer shame that came from reprimanding another intern. Her rival would always point out the things that irked her so. Just shut up!  She could not control her own emotions at times of frustration. And it always reflected badly on her. Before she knew it, she was already feared. Kaiba’s words only served to remind her even more. I didn’t mean it like that! But technically she really did. But the words always came out wrong and she just couldn’t help it.

“Just get out of here.” Alexa demanded.

What am I doing? The more she felt frustrated, the more she showed contempt. All her frustration was seemingly released in a fury of retorts and demeaning words.

“I think you’re just letting out your frustrations because we couldn’t extract from Lucky Sanchez,” Kaiba said.

“Huh? So you’re not frustrated about that?” Alexa asked.

“Of course I am. But it is the duty of the top intern to learn to control those feelings and not allow them to flow into the next day.” Kaiba raised his chin.

 “This is simply about the tasks in blood bank, of which, you do not belong. You’re the one reading too much into it.” Alexa waved him off. “Now shoo, go back to serology.”

“The more you say no. The more I want to say yes,” Kaiba said.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Alexa squinted.

She knew that her words were harsh but they meant well. HNH’s success was always on her mind. It was the road to the dreams she seeked. Hearing his nonsensical statements only brought out the worst in her.

“I will pull myself out to the blood bank today.” Kaiba crossed his arms. “Who else will protect these interns from you?”

I do not want to go back to the serology section. There was still paperwork to be done. It appeared that he was done with those menial things. However! That is a ruse! He knew that Mantou was watching him, he knew he couldn't just leave the section without looking like he had finished the work assigned to him. So he pretended. Until ELISA beeped. Pretended that the work was finished! After seeing the blood bank toxic, this was the perfect situation. My great escape!

Am I really that scary? Alexa balled her fists. These interns do not need protecting. She never wanted to be scary, but why was that it always ended up like this. She tried her hardest. But her hardest bred intimidation. Whenever her expectations weren’t met, the furrows on her brows would intensify. Fine!

She furrowed her brows. “It’s not me that they need protecting from. It’s you!”

Kaiba squinted. “What are you talking about? I may be intimidating but you’re definitely scarier.”

“I’ll show you!” Alexa stomped her little feet all the way towards poor Marco.

It was as if Kaiba’s words were thunder. It struck her, in one in a millionth of a chance. Stunned. Crestfallen. But all that lasted for a mere moment. This petite woman just barely began!

“Marco,” Alexa’s face was red. It took all her courage and self control just to come up to him.

“Wha– what is it Ms. Alexa?” Marco looked from his seat.

“Do you even know how to crossmatch?” Alexa asked, the contempt in her tone slowly coming back.

“This is my third time ever doing it.” Marco averted his gaze.

Alexa sighed, looked around as if the words would be somewhere other than inside her. ”You want me to teach you?”

What is happening? Kaiba did not expect any of this. Alexa Fuse was a woman who took great pride in her excellence. Ever since he first laid eyes on her, she always looked down on everybody around her. At least that's what it looked like. He had to question that sentiment as Alexa offered up her help. Then a smirk overcame him. 

“You’re just doing this out of spite!” Kaiba pointed at her.

“No I am not! I am a great teacher! And I am not scary!” Alexa yelled back then turned to Marco with a smile. “Right Marco?”

“I am sorry Ms. Fuse. I already asked the section chief to help me,” Marco replied.

“Tell him I will be teaching you.” Alexa stood by her words. It took her so much courage just to offer her help. She wouldn’t let go so easily.

“You’re scary Ms. Alexa. Please humble yourself,” Marco replied.

“Wha–” Alexa’s face crumpled like a piece of paper in a garbage compactor. Utterly discernible from what it used to be.

And! It was for good reason. Her rival fed those words to Marco. It was so blatant. It was so obvious. Kaiba was whispering to Marco right in front of her! His mouth formed a gaping ring of surprise. It was as if he didn’t expect to get caught. And that truly irritated Alexa Fuse.

“Section chief Stan! Kaiba Quivers has been out-of-section for too long! Please give him a demerit.” She shouted.

Kaiba lurked in the darkness of his psyche. He waited for a chance to strike. And this is it! Section chief stan was toxic in his work. There was no way he would take notice of him. But if Alexa called out to him, then it would be fair game. He had to use this chance wisely.

He turned to the section chief. “Sir! I wish to help around the blood bank sir! Please pull me out!”

Alexa glared. “What!”

Stan moved the blood bags around. He was immersed in the bountiful work to be had. But two particularly noisy interns kept interrupting him. Kept shouting at him. He already had to teach an intern how to crossmatch. Now this.  “I already called Elise.”

“Pardon me sir?” Kaiba inquired.

“I know you won’t leave this place without a hassle. There’s too many things to do today.” Stan inspected the test tube’s reaction against the overhead light. “I called her as soon as you arrived and requested your pull out. I’m putting you in the donor section.”

Kaiba’s master plan was a success.  He expected he would have to work to be pulled out of the hell known as the Serology section. However, Alexa set foot into his trap perfectly. The plan in his head followed to a tee. Luck was on his side today.

He bowed. “Thank you sir!”

“Oh and before you go to donor, teach Intern Marco there how to crossmatch,” Stan ordered.

He cracked his knuckles. “It would be my pleasure sir.”

Alexa said, “He wouldn’t be able to understand what I would teach him anyway. One needs mediocrity to teach mediocre people.”

Kaiba neared her. Towered over her and said. “Hey, not everybody needs to be up to your standards.”

“They clearly need to be when they can’t perform up to par.” Alexa met his challenge.

Kaiba squinted. “Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Don’t judge a person for their weakness. Admire them for showing it. Especially because you already know that not everyone is as good as you.”

He walked back to Marco. He thought he understood Alexa a little bit more. Maybe I was wrong. The words he let go were a bit different from their usual clashes. Weakness was what made them who they were. And he couldn’t just let Alexa say all those things with him present.

Why couldn’t they just be more like me then? Alexa clenched her fists. Lips curled back into a shell of frustrations. This was the reason that annoyed her the most of her rival. She was always excellent. And she came to expect that excellence from others. If they couldn’t meet that, then they might as well drop out then and there. That was the nature of her determination. Go up to her standards or be treated like a pawn serving their queen. But Kaiba always made me question it. He was the king that slowly usurped her. It just reinforced one thing. I must not show weakness.

With Kaiba Quivers pulled out and teaching Marco, their output for the day increased. Alexa Fuse went back to work, desperately trying to steel her resolve. But! The day barely began and they already had such a conflict. There was more that had yet come. And the top two interns must be prepared. 

***

Minerva carefully observed the situation. What were they fighting about? Their emotions were evident in their faces. She scribbled furiously. The commotion around her slowly dissipated as more and more work needed to be done around the lab. 

Mantou was next to him, staring blankly at the blood bank interns. He watched Kaiba make his way to the receiving desk. To Alexa Fuse. And then to Marco. He nodded. Interesting.

“What are you doing here, Mantou?” Minerva asked.

“I’m observing Kaiba,” Mantou replied.

“Okay.” Minerva continued to observe with him. “Things are about to get even spicier, Mantou.”

“Why is that?”/

“Didn’t you read the action plan for today?” Minerva scoffed.

“No!” Mantou instinctively crouched as if an earthquake hit him.

Minerva sighed. “When ‘they’ arrive, toxicity will gain a whole new meaning.”