The layout of this hospital reminded Qiluo of the medical clinic affiliated with the observatory in her original world.
However, the clinics in her original world treated patients using magic.
And they weren't nearly as large as this place.
As she was mentally comparing the differences and similarities between the hospitals of the two worlds, a shadow fell across her knees.
“Tian Gong-san, please follow me.”
Qiluo turned her head.
A young female doctor in a white lab coat stood before her.
Her long black hair was tied into a high ponytail, her facial features were sharp and clean, and her lab coat was ironed without a single wrinkle.
Qiluo's gaze lingered on her face for a moment; it bore a striking resemblance to Yuki's.
She only managed to catch the name “Kurokawa” on the nametag before the rest of it was obscured by the lapel of the lab coat.
Kurokawa.
The surname flashed through her mind, carrying with it the image of Yuki.
“And you are?” Qiluo stood up, holding the health checkup form in her hand.
“I am Rin Kurokawa. I'll be the doctor in charge of your checkup today.”
Rin Kurokawa substituted any further expression with a professional doctor's smile.
She turned and walked down the corridor, the hem of her lab coat swaying gently with her steps.
“Please follow me. The basic examination is in the booth next to the nurse's station, and then we'll head to the detection room for the mana residue scan.”
Qiluo followed behind her. The door signs on both sides of the corridor were labeled with various examination room names. A few doors were left ajar, revealing neatly arranged instruments inside.
Qiluo's gaze casually swept over the lapel of Rin Kurokawa's lab coat.
The nametag she hadn't fully seen in the waiting area was now perfectly illuminated by the corridor lights.
It was just as she thought.
Yuki had mentioned this name before; she said her older sister was named Rin Kurokawa.
Looking at her now, she truly did seem like a larger version of Yuki Kurokawa.
No, that wasn't quite right. Yuki Kurokawa's features were softer, her face still carrying a lingering sense of girlish youth.
Meanwhile, the person before her had sharper facial lines and a keener gaze.
But that aloof, unapproachable aura was practically poured from the same mold.
They truly were sisters.
Her gaze shifted away from the nametag, accidentally drifting down a few inches.
Rin Kurokawa was raising her hand to push open the door. The lab coat tightened slightly across her shoulders, outlining a body shape completely different from Yuki's.
Yuki still had the slender build of a young girl, whereas the person before her already possessed the mature silhouette of an adult woman.
The contrast was so stark that images of sleeping in Yuki's arms back when she was in her Star-trail form instantly flashed through Qiluo's mind.
During those nights, what she felt were the soft limbs and slender, undeveloped shoulders of a young girl.
Though soft, they were indeed quite flat.
But Rin Kurokawa clearly showed no trace of such youthfulness.
Stop, stop, thinking like this is too rude.
“The basic examination is here. Please, have a seat,” Rin Kurokawa said as she turned around, pointing to the examination chair in the booth.
Qiluo quickly tore her gaze away from her, ruthlessly snuffing out that rude comparison in her mind.
The room wasn't large. An examination chair sat in the center, flanked by a blood pressure monitor and several other testing devices Qiluo couldn't name.
Rin took a cuff out of the sterilization cabinet with practiced movements and gave a slight nod of her chin toward the examination chair.
Qiluo sat down in the examination chair.
The cushion of this chair was a bit thin; sitting on it for too long would probably be uncomfortable.
Resting her left arm on the armrest, she watched Rin Kurokawa wrap the cuff around her upper arm, adjusting the tightness and lightly pressing her finger against the inside of her arm to confirm the position.
“You'll need to roll your sleeve up a bit.”
Qiluo had no choice but to roll her school uniform shirt sleeve up two folds, revealing a portion of her wrist.
She noticed Rin Kurokawa's gaze linger on her wrist for a moment, likely spotting the small bruise she had accidentally gotten behind the cash register last night.
The cuff began to inflate, sending a sensation of pressure from the inside of her arm.
Rin Kurokawa stood by her side, her fingers pressed against the edge of the cuff to check the pressure, her expression focused.
Her posture was perfectly upright, and the collar of her lab coat was meticulously buttoned all the way to the top.
Qiluo shifted her gaze to the wall directly in front of her, where a faded diagram of the human anatomy was posted.
“Your blood pressure is normal.” Rin Kurokawa removed the cuff, turned around to jot down a few notes on her clipboard, and then took out a fresh thermometer.
Watching her write on the clipboard, Qiluo figured her handwriting must be very neat.
Hearing from Yuki that her sister was an honor student in medical school, it seemed to be true.
If placed in her original world, someone like her would probably be assigned to the observatory's precision instrument maintenance team, calibrating data against the star trails every day.
When the thermometer was handed over, Qiluo reached out to take it, her fingertips accidentally brushing against Rin's.
They were about the same temperature as her own—the kind that turned cool after staying in an air-conditioned room for too long.
In the quiet moment, she caught that faint smell of disinfectant again, mixed with a very subtle aroma of coffee.
She had probably been called out in the middle of drinking it in the lounge. Drinking coffee at this hour suggested her afternoon wasn't going to be an easy one.
The routine checkup went smoothly without any surprises.
She just had to do whatever Rin told her to. Qiluo had thought physical examinations in this world would be different.
She ended up quite disappointed.
“The basic examination is complete.”
Rin Kurokawa placed the clipboard on the corner of the desk and took a pair of disposable gloves from the sterilization cabinet.
“Next, please lie down on the examination table. I need to perform a palpation to check if there are any abnormalities in the lymph nodes around your neck and collarbone area. Residual mana fluctuations from Erosion Bodies can sometimes trigger a mild response in the lymphatic system.”
Her movements as she put on the gloves were crisp, the rubber edge snapping softly against her wrist.
“Just undoing the top button will do,” she said, lightly tugging at the edge of her glove.
Did that really happen?
I've been in contact with magic for so long and yet I never knew...
Oh well, let's just do as she says.
Qiluo lay down on the examination table, her back pressing against the cool examination pad.
The fluorescent tubes on the ceiling were filtered by frosted covers into a soft, milky white that wasn't harsh on the eyes.
She raised her hand to undo the top button of her school uniform shirt. As her fingertips brushed the edge of the button, she suddenly realized something.
When she left the house this morning, she wasn't wearing her usual crew-neck undershirt, but rather one with a slightly lower-cut V-neck.
She hadn't thought much of it when she first unbuttoned it, but now that she was lying down, the collar fell open wider than she had anticipated.
The skin beneath her collarbone was exposed to the cold air of the examination room.
Whatever, we're both girls. It shouldn't matter.
Rate on N.U.
