Shirakawa Natsu had just started a new project, and it wasn't long before Hashimoto Arina noticed.
"Oh? Are you working on a new story again?" Arina approached with a smile, dressed in her white doctor's coat, a patient register tucked under her arm. She walked over to the bed, leaned down, and glanced at the manuscript he was sketching. "This time it's not more battle scenes, is it?"
"This one's about youth and first love," Natsu replied, picking up a stack of manuscript pages and handing them to her. "If you'd like, you can read it, Sister Arina."
"Can I really?" Arina asked as she accepted the pages. "Even though I'm not in the industry, I always thought a mangaka's drafts were supposed to be kept strictly confidential."
"It's fine," Natsu said, setting his pen aside with a faint smile. "I don't plan on publishing this one. It's just a story for myself."
"That makes me even more curious."
She began to flip through the pages, only to freeze when her eyes landed on the heroine—who looked about eighty percent identical to her own junior-high self, except the chest was noticeably smaller.
Still, her smile quickly returned. She sat on the edge of the hospital bed and continued reading.
Natsu watched her out of the corner of his eye. Her expression shifted in subtle ways as the story developed, her smile rising and falling with the plot. She was clearly absorbed in it.
Her reaction was completely different from when she breezed through his usual action-packed manga.
After finishing the manuscript, Arina closed it and turned to him with a strange look.
"Sister Arina, why are you looking at me like that?" Natsu asked curiously.
"You're a genius, you know that?" She gave him another long look. "I honestly don't know how your brain works. Talking to you makes someone ordinary like me feel pressured."
Then, with a dramatic sigh, she clasped her hands together as if in prayer. "God, did you forget to give me any IQ when you made me?"
Her exaggerated antics made Natsu laugh aloud. His gaze slipped down to her chest, and he couldn't help but think that perhaps God had simply allocated her points elsewhere.
"I almost don't want to see the continuation," Arina said with a pout. "Such young, innocent love… it should be left at its most beautiful moment. If it turned tragic, I'd be heartbroken."
"There's no tragedy," Natsu assured her with a smile. "The hero and heroine will stay together forever. Happiness is the essence of love, after all."
Arina froze for a moment, then quickly reached out to ruffle his hair. "Really now, what are you pretending at?"
She stood and began straightening his bed.
Meanwhile, Natsu discreetly pulled out his phone and opened the mysterious app. Her favorability rating had risen from 76 to 78—just two points away from 80.
Not bad. This was only the first step. If he used this as a chance to spend more time with her, the number would climb further.
Still, he expected progress to slow. The higher the score, the harder each increase would be.
As Arina tidied up, she tossed a few wads of used tissues into the trash. That's when a small card on the bedside table caught her eye. On it, a woman in a skimpy nurse's outfit struck a rather indecent pose.
Arina paused, her gaze dropping briefly to the tissues she had just thrown away.
The air grew heavy with awkwardness.
The card had been left yesterday when Miyabi Aoi had jokingly tossed it onto his table. Natsu had forgotten all about it. Flustered, he blurted, "I… caught a cold last night."
"Then be sure to drink plenty of hot water," Arina replied smoothly, her expression unchanged. She tucked her long hair back behind her ear as she bent to finish organizing his things, ignoring the card entirely.
If she wasn't embarrassed, then he was the one left squirming. Natsu worried whether this blunder might undo the goodwill he had just worked so hard to earn.
But Arina only smiled as she clapped her hands lightly. "All done. Another happy day."
On her way out, she even poured him a full pot of hot water.
Natsu watched her retreating back, exhausted but curious. Pulling out his phone, he checked the app again.
This time, the favorability score read 82.
He rubbed his eyes, thinking he'd misread it, but no—the number really had jumped.
Why was it that hours of drawing had only raised her favorability by two points, yet after seeing that card, it suddenly went up by four?
A woman's heart was like a needle lost in the sea. He simply couldn't understand.
Still, 82 was a high score. If he confessed now, maybe she'd say yes.
But Natsu tapped his fingers lightly against the bed. No… he should wait for a better opportunity.
A week later, he was still using his manga as a way to talk more with Hashimoto Arina. Their conversations had expanded to touch on all sorts of aspects of daily life.
"So Sister Arina became a doctor because of your father's influence?" Natsu asked one sunny afternoon. He sat on a wooden chair by the lawn, soaking in the warmth of the day.
"Yes. I grew up in this hospital." She sat beside him, her gaze lingering on the building, her expression touched with layered emotions. "My father often worked late into the night on surgeries, so after school I'd wait for him in his office."
"That must have been tough." Natsu glanced at the hospital. The renovations had clearly been ongoing for many years.
"Not at all." Arina smiled warmly. "The nurses were all so kind. They'd share their bentos with me. I always felt lucky. Becoming a doctor was my dream—and now that dream has come true."
Natsu checked his phone again. After days of steady effort, her favorability had climbed to 93.
Originally, he'd planned to confess once it reached 90, but the right chance never came.
As they spoke, an elderly man pushed his wife in a wheelchair across the lawn. When the woman spotted Arina, her face lit up with joy. She had her husband push her closer.
"Doctor Arina, thank you so much for helping my wife," the old man said gratefully.
"Heehee, Grandma Tanaka, are you still feeling bloated?" Arina crouched down beside the old woman, holding her hand with a smile.
Watching her, Natsu couldn't help smiling too. He had witnessed this sort of scene many times lately.
Arina was adored in the hospital. She remembered every patient's name, their symptoms, their stories—everything.
When Natsu asked her how she managed it, she only said with a radiant expression, "Because of love, of course."
That answer made his chest ache. Maybe he should delay his confession again.
After all, this wasn't a game. A 93 favorability score wouldn't unlock "poses" in real life.
"What are you thinking so hard about?" Arina called out. "I've been talking to you, but you're spacing out. Come on, let's head back."
"Right, I'm fine," he answered with a smile. It was better to wait and find the right moment. Favorability wasn't everything.
After spending so much time with her, he'd come to see her more clearly: meticulous, gentle, strong.
Surely, being with such a woman would be happiness itself.
"Let's go." Arina naturally slipped her hand around his arm, slowing her pace to match his as they walked together.
The ward was on the second floor. As they climbed the stairs, they passed two nurses chatting.
"Did you hear? Dr. Tanaka's punishment finally came down. Suspended.""As expected. Going after a married patient—such a scandal. Even if he hadn't been suspended, he'd have been forced out sooner or later."
Natsu pressed his lips together. How coincidental. It was the same two nurses who had been gossiping in the corridor the week before, also about Dr. Tanaka.
Seeing Arina, the nurses straightened and greeted her politely. She returned the gesture with her usual smile, and the moment passed without issue.
Arina walked Natsu back to his bed, fussing over him with a few last words of caution before she left.
Over the next three days, Natsu completed his manga The Moonlight Is So Beautiful.
The finale depicted the hero and heroine marrying, having children, and standing together with their families for a group photo.
Just as Arina had said, the love portrayed was simple and pure.
Natsu gathered the completed manuscript and, despite his weakening body, carried it to Arina's office. His spirits were high, and that was enough to keep him going.
When he pushed open the door, he found her lying on her desk. She quickly sat up at the sound, wiping hastily at her eyes.
Natsu caught the glimmer of tears before she hid them with her hands. "Sorry, sorry. I just got a little sleepy at noon."
She rubbed her eyes and, when she lowered her hands again, her familiar bright smile was back. Spotting the manuscript in his arms, she leaned forward eagerly.
"Wow, is this the finale? Don't tell me it's anything less than a happy family ending. If it isn't, I refuse to accept it!"