[Thursday 8 AM]The sound of my phone ringing woke me up. After I"m able to extricate myself out from under Chinatsu, who amazingly isn"t bothered by my phone or me moving, I pick it up to answer it.
"H-h.e.l.lo?"
"May I speak to Sora Kobayashi please."
"Speaking. How may I help you?"
"Ah. Good, I"m Hina Yamamoto, Dr. Sato"s nurse. Would you mind dropping by the hospital for a few minutes today? We were told you started your period and we would like to run a couple of tests. I promise it won"t take up too much of your day."
"Umm… Sure, I guess. I"ll have to talk to my Mother first though."
"Anytime today is fine. We appreciate your coming in. Oh, yes, please be sure to bring a new tampon or sanitary napkin, you will need it. Please call me when you know what time you can come and I"ll meet you at the front desk so you don"t have to wait. Sound good?"
Why in the world am I going to need a new tampon? I would have more with me anyway as a just in case, but still.
"Uh, yes, that would be fine. I"ll call you back as soon as I know what time I can be there."
"Thank you Ms. Kobayashi. Talk to you soon then. Goodbye."
"Bye."
I sigh and shake my head. Really? Does it never stop? Are they planning on announcing it on the evening news next? Ugh! Whatever, there isn"t much use in fretting over what"s already been done.
"What"s going on Sornee?"
"Nothing much. I need to go see Dr. Sato today is all."
"Huh? Why?"
"Why else? I started my period and they want to run some tests. I suppose they want to make sure everything is normal." I tell her as I roll over, stand up and stretch. Aww man. I really don"t wanna do this today.
"Okay. let me get dressed, I"ll go with you," she tells me which makes me smile. I turn around and pull her up to me so I can hug her.
"One of the many reasons I love you little sister. Thank you. Oh, I need to tell Mama and wake up Honoka. So much for a lazy day, huh?"
After I give her one last squeeze, I head to Honoka"s room. Tapping on her door a couple of times, I hear, "Come in." Opening the door, I stick my head in to see Honoka sitting up reading.
"Good morning Honoka."
"Morning Sora, what"s up?"
"Dr. Sato"s nurse called me. He wants me to come in for some tests today."
"Okay, I"ll get dressed. Let me know when you are ready to go."
"Thank you Honoka."
Closing her door I head downstairs to look for Mama. When I look in the kitchen where I expect to find her, she isn"t there. I hear water running in the bathroom. Heading that way, I tap on the door.
"Mama?" After I call out, I open the door. She turns to look at me. "Mama, Dr. Sato"s nurse called me this morning. He wants to run some tests today."
"Okay. Let me get dressed."
"Honoka can go with us since you have other things to do."
"Alright, are you sure you don"t want me to go?"
"I"m sure, we should be fine with Honoka. Anyway, I remember you said you had to go shopping this morning. If there is any problem I"ll call you."
"Okay sweetheart. Call me if it"s going to end up taking a long time though."
"I will Mama."
I give her a hug, then head back upstairs to change clothes and call Ms. Yamamoto while shaking my head. Being stabbed, poked, and prodded wasn"t exactly on my list of things to do today.
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[NTI Medical Center 9:30 AM]
When the three of us reach the reception desk,
"Sora Kobayashi to see Dr. Sato. Actually, his nurse, Ms. Yamamoto, is supposed to meet us here."
"I"m right here Ms. Kobayashi. If you would follow me please."
She leads us to the elevator and once we are all in she pushes the b.u.t.ton for fifth floor. When we arrive she leads us into an exam room. She heads to a cabinet and removes a biohazard marked plastic bag. Coming back to me, she hands me the bag.
"Ms. Kobayashi, please, use that room to change into a gown. Also remove your tampon or sanitary napkin and place it in the bag. Don"t replace it just yet, the doctor ordered a pelvic exam."
"Alright. Be right back."
Okay, I can already see just how much fun this day is going to be.
I head into the room she pointed out when talking to me. I expected something like this and wore a simple halter top and skirt. Easy on, easy off. I remove my skirt, top, bra, and panties. Folding them as I do so and placing them on the shelf. I slip on and snap the gown closed. Finally, I take out my tampon, drop it in the bag, and seal it. Opening the door, I head back into the exam room and see the nurse with a female doctor. I hand the bag to the nurse.
"Ms.Kobayashi, I"m Dr. Kita, if you would take a seat, I need to take a couple of vials of blood and then we can do your exam."
I sigh and sit down. d.a.m.n, I really hate needles. Chinatsu steps between the doctor and me. I close my eyes, lean my head against her stomach while she strokes my hair, and hold my arm out. A moment later, I feel the p.r.i.c.k of a needle.
"Okay. All done."
When I raise my head I see the doctor hand the nurse the three vials of my blood, then reach in to her pocket to pull out a bandaid.
"Thanks Dr. Kita, but I don"t need that. Thanks Chinatsu."
Chinatsu smiles and nods at me.
"Alright Ms. Kobayashi, if you would lay back, put your feet in the stirrups and stay as relaxed as you can."
I nod and do as she asks me. Now, I"m going to save you from a graphic description of this, but for you guys out there who say it"s not a big deal. Imagine if someone sticks a cold metal object in you, cranks it open so they can look inside you, and after that sticks a couple of fingers inside you to feel around. If your imagination fails you, well, let"s leave it at it"s not exactly comfortable. Thankfully, it doesn"t take a long time.
"Okay Ms. Kobayashi, I"m finished. You can go get dressed now. Dr. Sato should be in to see you before too long."
"Alright, thank you."
I stand up and go back into the room to get dressed again. Once I dressed, amongst other things, I go sit down between Honoka and Chinatsu.
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[Kon~][Kon~]
I must have dozed off because the knock on the door startled me. I would love to know how I ended up laying down with my head in Chinatsu"s lap and my legs across Honoka"s. I suppose it doesn"t really matter since neither of them look upset about it. I sit up and glance at my watch. 11:45. What? Why in h.e.l.l did it take him almost two hours to come see me?
"Good morning ladies. Ms. Kobayashi, how are you today?"
"I"m fine, thank you."
"I"m sorry it took so long for me to get here. I was waiting on the blood test results. Other than being slightly anemic you are perfectly fine. When Dr. Kita examined you she found no abnormalities either. One issue though. Your nanites are also in your menstrual blood. I know you"re still a virgin, but I have to recommend you refrain from s.e.xual intercourse or any activity where you could get blood on someone while you are menstruating because of the nanites. We have no idea if your blood coming into contact with someone can infect them."
"Excuse me Dr. Sato, I"m sorry to interrupt you, but when Sornee first started her period I helped her and some of her blood got on me." Chinatsu tells the doctor, whose eyes widen slightly.
"When did this happen?"
"Yesterday morning."
"Excuse me a second." He walks over to the phone, dials a number and when they answer, "Hina, would you get a blood collection kit with three 5ml vials and come back up here. …Thank you."
"I"m sorry Ms. Kobayashi, but we need to take some blood to see if you have been infected. Have you been feeling odd or anything out of the ordinary?"
Chinatsu shakes her head and says, "No. Well, I have been a little hungrier than usual yesterday and today, but I"m fine other than that."
"Is it possible? Hmm… Well, let"s wait for your blood test results before we create any worries for ourselves."
"Umm, doctor, what if I get cut or something like that. Can someone get infected that way?" I ask the doctor because he specifically mentioned my menstrual blood.
"Ms. Kobayashi, the density of the nanites is a lot higher in your menstrual blood for some reason. Roughly ten times higher than what we took from your vein. I have no idea why this is so. You could potentially infect someone from a cut, but the likeliest scenario there would be if it got into an open wound of theirs."
"What happens if someone is infected then?"
"I"m sorry, I wish I knew the answer to that. I don"t consider it very likely though. As quickly as you should heal from a cut or puncture there should be very little blood."
"Okay. How long until we know if my sister is infected?"
I"m really worried about this. What if they do the same thing to her that they did to me. I know how painful it was when they made the second round of changes in me and I d.a.m.n sure don"t want to see that happen to her. Another thing is I need to call Mama to tell her we won"t be home in time for lunch, but do I tell her that Chinatsu might have been infected with my nanites? Honestly, I haven"t a clue what to do. I don"t want her to worry if it"s nothing.
"Once I draw the blood, I"ll walk it down myself to make sure it gets top priority. So, probably less than an hour."
Alright, I know what I"ll do.
"Okay, thank you doctor. Excuse me, I need to call our Dad."
The nurse comes in as I pull out my phone to call Dad. Watching this makes my skin crawl, but I watch as they take Chinatsu"s blood, pull out the needle and the hole heals almost immediately.
"I"m so sorry Chinatsu."
"Why? I"m fine, so what if I have nanites in me. It doesn"t necessarily mean the same things will happen to me. Does it doctor?"
"I wish I had an answer for you Ms. Kobayashi. It"s clear you"re infected with them, but until we reverse engineer them we have no idea what these are supposed to do. Anyway, I"ll return as soon as I can. Please, be a little more patient."
"Of course doctor." Chinatsu says calmly. I have no idea why she is so calm about this either. I think most people would be freaking out right now. Regardless, I have to call Dad and tell him.
Unlocking my phone, I call Dad, who picks up two rings later.
"Hey sweetheart. It"s unusual for you to call me. Is something wrong?"
"Yes Dad, there is. They called me this morning to come in for some tests. Well, it"s a long story, but the gist of it is Chinatsu is infected with my nanites."
"Are they certain of this?"
"Absolutely. They took some blood from her and the wound healed almost instantly when they removed the needle from her arm. I"ve no idea how to tell Mama about this."
"Don"t worry about that. I will take care of it sweetheart. How is your sister taking the news?"
"She"s calm. Do you want to talk to her?"
"Sure."
I hand my phone to Chinatsu.
"Hi Dad. …...Yes, I"m fine. …...No. …...Really Dad, it doesn"t bother me at all. …...Okay, see you tonight. …I love you too."
She ends the call, hands me my phone and looks at me.
"Sornee, it really is okay. I feel perfectly fine. I think if they were going to do something to me, they would have by now. Remember when you drank them? It didn"t take very long for them to affect you. It"s already been more than twenty-four hours for me. We will just have to wait to see what they are up to."
Ninety minutes later, the doctor knocks on the door and comes in to sit down across from us.
"Well Ms. Kobayashi, you are definitely infected with them. We already knew that, but this just confirms it. Right now, there is little else we can do except wait for the results from more detailed tests. If these are the same nanites at the very least we can expect you live a much longer life, just like your sister. Same thing with getting sick or injured. I"ll ask you to follow the same rule as your sister and not have s.e.x when you are menstruating. I need you to come in with your sister every Sat.u.r.day for tests and checkups. If you start feeling odd or notice something, please call or come in. Other than that, carry on as you normally would. I appreciate everyone coming in today. Do you have any questions for me?"
"Uh, doctor, what do you mean if? They would have had to come from me. It"s not as if my little sister could come in contact with them elsewhere."
"Ms. Kobayashi, I think you misunderstood what I was saying. Nanites are amazing little machines. Yours could be programmed to adapt to the new host when they infect someone else. If that is the case, then we might not see the same effects. We will just have to wait for the tests to come back. Any other questions I can answer for you?"
We shake our head no. My only other question at the moment, he couldn"t answer. How is Mama going to react to this? I suppose we will find out when we get home.