Nurse Tachibana looked at Kurokawa's pouting face with a mix of exhaustion and resignation. Over the years, she had learned exactly how toxic Kurokawa's personality was. She was the quintessential bully—subservient to those above her and cruel to those beneath. One moment she could be chatting and acting like a sweet, attentive colleague, but the second your back was turned, her true colors bled through. She was the type of person who could never admit to a fault because, in her own mind, she was never wrong.
Maybe I've become this cold because of people like her, Tachibana thought. Unreasonable bosses, incompetent juniors... it was all such a headache.
"What is it, Nurse Tachibana?" Kurokawa asked cautiously, noticing the senior nurse's deep frown. She knew Tachibana held weight with their superiors; getting on her bad side could mean a docked performance bonus.
"Nothing. Just don't let it happen again," Tachibana replied flatly. Deep down, she loathed the three men in this ward, which made it easier to overlook Kurokawa's rough treatment of them.
"If you think I'm doing a bad job, you can do it yourself next time, or at least guide me," Kurokawa muttered defensively. Tachibana didn't bother responding to the deflection. Her focus was on finding out who had put these men in the hospital.
As they passed Hayato's bed, Tachibana stopped. "I'm taking the gag off now. If you scream, it goes right back on. Understood?"
Hayato, appearing unusually dazed, nodded slowly. She peeled off the tape and removed the cloth. He remained silent. Satisfied, the nurses left for the station. Tachibana immediately pulled up the ward's surveillance feed, unmuting the audio, waiting for them to talk.
Kurokawa, bored by the silence, pulled out her phone and opened Share, a popular social media app. "Hahaha! This celebrity is hilarious! Following!" she chirped. Then she scowled at a different post. "Ew, a subway pervert? Disgusting gropers! Why are men such trash? Like, can you even imagine?"
Tachibana, usually a wall of ice, found her attention drifting to Kurokawa's screen. She saw a blur of scenery, food, music, and comedy clips. It looked... relaxing.
"Nurse Tachibana? What are you doing?" Kurokawa asked, noticing the stare.
A faint blush crept onto Tachibana's pale cheeks. "What is that app? Why is there so much variety?"
Kurokawa's eyes widened. The Ice Queen was actually curious about something trendy? "Hehe, it's a new app developed by the Seihua Group. It's huge with the younger crowd. Don't tell me you didn't know?~" Her voice carried a mocking edge, suggesting Tachibana was an old-fashioned relic.
"I didn't. I'm usually too busy working to waste time," Tachibana retorted coldly. Kurokawa's face turned several shades of red and purple before she went back to her scrolling, her jerky thumb movements betraying her annoyance.
Tachibana pulled out her own phone and hit 'Download.' She decided that scrolling through videos might be a good way to decompress after a long shift.
Meanwhile, in the ward, Hayato was grappling with the reality that his "manhood" was gone. He felt a void where his future used to be. For a man whose entire life revolved around sexual conquest and "breaking" women, being a eunuch was a fate worse than death.
"Who did this?! Even a fisherman knocks the fish out before gutting it!" he hissed to himself. "I'll find you. I'll tear you apart. I'll eat you alive!"
On the monitor, Tachibana watched him. He was venting, but as long as he wasn't thrashing and disturbing the floor below, she let him go. Better to let the poison out than have him die of a literal burst of rage.
"Ugh... so loud..." a groggy voice groaned.
"What the hell?! Where am I? Why am I tied up?!" Suguru Shika woke up, his eyes snapping open as he felt the restrictive nylon ropes. Panic set in instantly.