The crowd headed off to class as the teacher wrapped up questioning. The guy guilty of shoulder slamming Toshi was found because of Ruri’s amazing memory. When he heard what happened he looked utterly horrified. He said he was merely in a hurry and it was an accident. He never intended to hurt anyone. To Toshi, it seemed like he did it on purpose, but simply never expected it to lead to this sort of outcome and was thus regretting his actions. He repeatedly begged Toshi for his forgiveness and expressed a desire to make it up to him.

In the end, Toshi and Meiko were sent off to the nurses office.

They sat there, waiting for the nurse to examine them and return them to class. As he took Meiko behind the curtain, Toshi spoke up, “I just realized I didn’t thank you yet.” The nurse spoke to Meiko and she took off her shirt, tossing it over the curtain. From where Toshi was standing, he got an excellent silhouette of Meiko’s form. She was in a word, Lithe. Her shadow was thin, sleek, and very feminine by Toshi’s standards. She wasn’t that large chested, an aggressive B-cup at best, but the rest of her body had a perfect hourglass shape. Toshi’s brain couldn’t help but lock up as he stared at the outline before him.

Meiko spoke very softly, “Do not worry about it. It was an honor to protect the brother of my best friend.” The nurse made ‘tsk-ing’ sounds as he looked Meiko over, “You are going to have some bad bruises on your back, I’m afraid.” Toshi snapped out of it, “She’s injured?” Meiko replied, “You want to see?”

She stepped out, not wearing a shirt, and having undone her bra. She was, fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, turned away from Toshi so she could show off her back. You could see two large blotches forming on her shoulders where she took the brunt of the impact. Toshi, however, was focused on the side boob he could see as she flexed her back for him, “It feels sore, but I’ve had worse.”

Toshi almost stepped closer to touch her, but she withdrew behind the curtain to finish the examination. Toshi found himself feeling all tangled up inside with his emotions. He was feeling like he hated the idea of dating anyone but Naora. On the other hand he was feeling very grateful that this girl had saved his life. He also was feeling really weird by the fact he was attracted to her. She wasn't his normal type. Then again, Naora wasn't either, technically.

This was the more unexpected feeling of the three. Maybe it was the femininity of her athletic body. Maybe it was her appearance that made her look on the nerdy side of things. Maybe it was her soft spoken nature that made her seem more submissive than she actually was. Maybe it was the adrenaline rush of almost dying. Maybe it was all these factors combined. Regardless of the reason, Toshi wanted to bang her brains out.

He rubbed his eyes as he tried to sort this all out. She stepped out, dressed this time, and the nurse called Toshi back. Toshi nodded and walked past Meiko, taking off his shirt as he stepped behind the curtain, “Actually, my knee is killing me.” The nurse nodded, “Show me.” So Toshi took off and tossed his pants over the curtain stand next to his shirt.  He hopped up on the table. The nurse kneeled to check out Toshi’s knee, “Err… sprained it, I think. You twisted it in an unnatural direction, it seems. Frankly you should be a lot worse.” He stood up, “Wait here. I’ll get a brace.” He walked off to the supply room.

Toshi flexed his knee a bit, then hopped off the table to stretch. His back was sore, so he interlaced his fingers and raised his hands over his head. He then tilted all the way to one side, then all the way to the other. He lifted one knee to his chest and held it. He was about to do it to the other when he heard a soft gasp and a mild clanking sound from the other side of the curtain.

“Meiko?” Toshi went to the edge of the curtain and leaned out to look around it, “Are you okay?”

—

Meiko had been standing there, watching the silhouette of Toshi as he stretched and bent his body in interesting directions. Meiko had been inching around to try and see more by peeking through the crack in the curtain stand where they join together. In doing so, she bumped into a tray with examination equipment on it and haphazardly fumbled with it.

Her face was already quite flushed when a Toshi wearing nothing but tighty whities half stepped around the edge of the curtain. She could see his hip with part of his underwear visible, and half his naked chest. Seeing this, she went from flushed cheeks, to crimson red, and finally a fascinating shade of dark purple.

She couldn’t drag her eyes off him, even as her mind was screaming at her, ~THIS IS YOUR BEST FRIEND’S BROTHER!!!~ Even as she started to feel dizzy from her shifting blood pressure, she couldn’t help but notice the expression of Toshi’s face. It was a look of worry. He was clearly concerned for her and wasn’t embarrassed in the least that he was practically naked. His expression indicated it didn’t even register. He was putting her well being first. She marveled at how completely innocent this boy was, even as she started to have a nose bleed.

Toshi noticed the color of her face and the sudden nose bleed, “NURSE! Something is wrong with Meiko!”

He stepped out to rush to her side.

That is when she passed out.

—

She came to a few minutes later. Toshi had apparently been told, or thought of putting his clothes back on. The nurse had, with Toshi’s help, moved her to a cot they had in the back. The nurse was about to call for an ambulance to have Meiko’s head examined, but she waved it off. After some disagreement, she asked Toshi to step into the other room.

She then explained that she made a noise, Toshi stepped out to investigate. She fainted from… seeing… HIM. The nurse nodded, “Ah. I was wondering… You know what, never mind. Let’s just forget about this, okay?” He started to whisper, “We all know he’s a little… off.” Meiko nodded.

They called Toshi back in and the nurse said everything was fine. It was a pre-existing condition. Nothing to worry about. Otherwise, they were fine and eventually sent back to class.

As they stepped out into the hall together, Toshi paused then tapped her shoulder, “Hey.” She stopped and turned back, trying not to look right at him. She was embarrassed enough at having ogled her best friend’s brother, “Yes?” Toshi scratched the back of his neck, “That all could have ended really badly. You… were amazing. I am very grateful. Thank you for saving my life.” He looked around, “Uh… My sister wanted me to go on a date with you. I admit I was blowing it off. I needed time to sort myself out.” He looked anywhere but at her, “She thought we might make a good pair. How about not this friday, but the next?” He looked at her, “I’ll take you out. I feel like I should treat.”

She looked boggled at the fact the hot boy was asking HER out, “Uh… okay.”

Toshi smiled rather broadly, “Cool. It’s a date.”

She nodded, “Its a date.” She stood there, staring at him, then abruptly turned on her heel and rushed off. Her heart was pounding a thousand times a second and she couldn’t think straight.

As Toshi watched Meiko run off, his expression darkened, ~I know I felt a burst of serendipity at that moment.~ He looked down at his shoe, ~That wasn’t an accident. But what’s even stranger…~ He looked up at Meiko as she disappeared around a corner.

~I think she was supposed to save me.~