Disease plagued this magical land of Ha’suru. The sole institution to combat this was Ha’suru National Hospital, or otherwise known as HNH. This medical institution engineered for the war against all affliction. Thus! It became the fertile soil for medical professionals.

But none of that mattered. The fiercest competition took center stage. And that competition personified the daily lives of HNH’s top two interns. They always clashed. They always bickered. And today was definitely no exception. The top spot was always on the line no matter what the situation!

After Duty: HNH Intern Committee lounge

His index finger tapped the table. Gradually, longer. Gradually, faster. Then he finally snapped. “So, what exactly are you complaining about?”

There wasn’t an ounce of comprehension in his voice. This man was Kaiba Quivers. President of the HNH Intern Committee. He always loaded arrows on his quiver. Smart. Hard working. Athletic. Good-looking. Kind. Those were always at his disposal. Any gawker would be scared just by the sheer amount of arrows coming their way. But! With that power came its price. He was the most intimidating intern in all of HNH. Still, admiration was given by his peers even if he was from sector 4. His potential was limitless. To become the best medical scientist was not just a pipe dream. I want it more than anything!

“You’re not even listening to what I’m saying!” She glued her hands to her hips. Her face crumpled. This woman was Alexa Fuse. She didn't like it when her name was mispronounced; so, read carefully. Fuse was not pronounced like it was in a bomb fuse; it’s Fu-say. Vice-President of the HNH Intern Committee. Her strengths always readied and loaded. Genius. Prolific. Analytical. Graceful. Beautiful. They were her bullets. And she herself was the gun. In those special circumstances, she would cock herself and obliterate everything in her path. Sector 1’s finest intern. And as such! It was only natural she wanted to be the best medical scientist in HNH. Despite her small stature, she towered above every other intern around her; well, except for the man in front of her. And I hate it.

Kaiba continued his incessant tapping. “What are you talking about? I’m hearing everything you say!”

“Hearing and understanding are two different things.” Alexa smiled. “What did I say then?”

He winced. The girl in front of her was seemingly too perfect. She looked down on everybody and surely, she was also looking down on me.

Kaiba’s thoughts, Alexa’s words. This was the beginning of yet another one of their routine clashes. Their back and forth reached bounds no man could ever imagine.

“The pens in our laboratory are not up to par with your ink standards. And that may affect the overall efficiency in recording in the logbooks.” He repeated Alexa word for word. His tapping seemingly grew louder.

Her ears tensed by the constant percussion strikes on the table. Why was he doing such an annoying thing? She slammed her hands on the table. “So you did hear me! Then why do you look so annoyed!”

The tapping transformed. Kaiba imagined his finger landing on an otherworldly tambourine. It was the thumps of tropical trees and waves crashing on the white sand. Alexa Fuse danced to this newly funky beat. A coconut bikini copper her bosom and hid all the parts left to imagination. The flower necklace she wore begot paradise. At least here she would just shut up and dance. It was obvious that the girl in front of her was mad. But Kaiba could not quite understand why. He massaged his temples. What was it that Alexa wanted to say? Was this a metaphor for something else in her life? She could be simply repressing her own thoughts and projected them onto the poor pens of this establishment. No sane person would go so far for just some measly pens. His tapping incrementally got weaker, his island of imagination leaving with it. He was diving down this deep rabbit hole. His tapping would soon fade into white noise.

“I don’t understand.” There was absolutely no emotion in his words.

Alexa’s face was sapped of all color. One could easily mistake her for a ghost that refused to leave for the afterlife. What the hell was wrong with this man? Alexa’s request was so simple. Kaiba really only needed to approve of it and be done with it. But no! That was not how Kaiba Quivers operated. Why must he frustrate me everytime.

“Huh? What don’t you understand?” Alexa resisted the scrunch that was about to consume her face yet again.

Her long flowing black hair remained pretty and kept. It was in stark contrast to the growing frustration that assaulted her face. She would normally tie her hair up into a bun; but duty already ended. It all the more showcased that this should have been just a lax discourse.

“Everything. I don’t understand everything. About the pens. About you.” Kaiba’s face, at this point, could easily be substituted for a talking wooden plank.

Alexa tensed up. Her shoulders, tight and taut. It was almost like she was embarrassed. About me? This is about the pens, and the pens alone! The conversation started to spiral out of control and so was her thoughts. She remembered the pens in the lab. They were so big and unwieldy. Kaiba’s voice ringed in her ears and she began to imagine how the situation would play out. This was the truth: ‘My hands are too small for the pens, that is why I want to replace them.’ She simply said it. And Kaiba’s reply would be: ‘Small hands?’ Kaiba laughed. ‘Are you a little munchkin? Or a dawdling penguin?” His words in an alternate timeline echoed in her mind. A voice, loud and proud. But what was worse was his face that twisted and distorted into a villainous smirk. No. No. No! That was the only logical conclusion she could come up with. It was never going to happen. A man from sector 4 could never best Alexa Fuse!

It was a long silence. Kaiba received no answer. Despite his waning patience for the situation, he decided to wait a little bit longer. But it never came. All that was in front of him was a girl that strained her face so much she must have been constipated.

“So. What’s really the problem?” He raised his chin. His question left unanswered. And he would pick up the trail. I am getting close. Her face, her actions, her refusal to answer the real hard hitting questions. Alexa Fuse was nervous! It was at that moment that a light bulb appeared on top of Kaiba’s head. Ding! It lit up. Just one more push.

Alexa’s eyes became two black holes created to consume her own feelings. She did not anticipate such a question! Their problem was about just the pens. Nothing more. Nothing less. Kaiba was pushing her hard. Everything was so crystal clear! If he was going to challenge her own resolve, then she must be decisive in what she must do. I must win. This was not a duel for only pen supremacy but a war being waged for the whole of medical science.

“You know, you might be understating the effects that pens have on the overall workflow in HNH labs. In every section, pens are being used. And in every section, they are hampered by the obviously low ink standards. Sure we are transitioning to a more computerized approach. But that doesn’t mean we have to compromise the ability of HNH’s output while we are! That is to say, there will always be a productive advantage to higher quality pens!” Alexa pointed to the sky. To the hopes and dreams of the children below. She felt an intense gaze directed at her. I got him.

“Pens will never be antiquated. They are the staples of society as we know it. No one can deny it. Without pens, we will not be able to express our own ideas. Without pens, we might as well go back to the dark ages of Ha’suru! Not only does it increase our proficiency in writing, it also means less errors. And with fewer errors, it means that we use less paper to fill in for the mistakes!” She lifted her perfectly kept skirt by the hem. It was a graceful bow to the end of her spiel.

That little speech ended with Kaiba’s standing ovation. What a farce. If there was anything that could stop his tapping, it would be exactly those words. Was it that hard living in Sector 1? Sector 1 was where the richest of the rich lived in Ha’suru and yet despite all that luxuries, the girl in front of her could only speak about pens. Her problems were so deep that she needed to repress them this much. The mind began to meander. He lifted his legs and crossed it over the other.

His hands locked together. And the cherry on top was the villainous crimson that glowed in his eyes. “That does not concern us. The savings we would accrue in that scenario would be next to meaningless anyway. And the transition to a more computerized approach will only take a few months at best. Are we really losing that much for those months if we have subpar pens? And subpar only to your standards?”

Igad! A word that Alexa had no inkling of its meaning, but that of which projected loudly in her thoughts. Kaiba rejected her idea so bluntly! Her dreams torn asunder as the new pens vanished from betwixt her fingers. I almost had it! With slumped shoulders, it looked like she would be admitting defeat. But! She grit her teeth. I am not going down like this! This is what most people call the second wind; breaking through the walls of her own weakness. Her eyes burned with the repeating mantra of ‘I must destroy him’. It was the motivation she needed to pursue this desire. She had to win at all costs.

“My father once told me! If you want to climb a mountain, you have to first build it. We can never reach the top with an attitude that all actions are meaningless! Each step we take is deliberate and meaningful,” she said with an odd nostalgia.

“Build mountains?” Kaiba was lost.

“Yes! Build mountains! Not in the literal sense. You see, there are many mountains in Ha’suru. If you attempt to climb one of those mountains before you are ready, you are sure to meet your death. Father once told me that you have to build up the mountain in your heart and conquer it! Then and only then can you conquer the mountains of Ha’suru.” Alexa gleamed in pride of her parent’s teachings.

Her words flooded in Kaiba’s ears like the gentle waves off the shore. It was once home to the beating of his tambourine. Now, there was only the flock of seagulls and their shrill cries. A horizon filled with only azure till the eye could see. The tortoises and milkfish swam underneath him. Alexa Fuse just taught him how to make a boat. And it led him here. Stranded. On a boat. In the middle of the ocean. He looked up to this sky of the world he concocted. There’s a certain story about a man and fish he remembered fondly. I am supposed to be taught how to fish! Not how to make a goddamn boat! There was indeed a mountain in his heart. A growling stomach. Either way, he would meet his own death in the vastness of this blue monster.

“So, you’re telling me that all actions aren’t meaningless. Just like the action of building a mountain in your heart might seem absurd at first. But because you did that you were able to conquer that mountain?” Kaiba raised his eyebrows. His tapping resumed its vigor.

“Yes! All actions, no matter how meaningless they may seem, add up to the person you’ve become. And that person you’ve become paves the way towards your goal–” Alexa nodded to herself. “–Just like changing the pens in our laboratory! It might seem meaningless. But the chain reaction it can cause should definitely not be overlooked! HNH should strive to become the best hospital it can be! No excuses.”

Kaiba’s tapping was nearing its peak. “Okay. Then give me a seemingly meaningless action in this room right now that actually has meaning.”

I have seen through her ruse! This was not about the pens. The minute Alexa brought up her father, he knew it. There were some things in life that took hold in a person’s heart and it would only manifest itself in times of dire circumstance. It was finally time for detective Kaiba to make an appearance.

“Huh? But I just gave you–” Alexa felt the challenge his eyes gave her. He was basically telling her that her entire story did not make sense. Her integrity was tested. I will not back down. A smirk accompanied those thoughts.

“Okay!” She slapped her cheeks. “You! Kaiba Quivers! You have been tapping intermittently this whole conversation. Have you noticed?”

Kaiba raised his chin. “Of course I have. It’s nothing. Just a habit.”

There was a twinkle in her eye. “Well you are wrong! I’ve wondered this entire time. But that tapping has a pattern. Sometimes it gets weaker. At other times it gets stronger.”

Kaiba was frozen. His heart stopped beating. The realization struck him. Her words were like the cold air of a freezer, numbing him of all senses. With clenched fists and a twitch that grew uncontrollable, he knew. This is bad.

“The meaning to your taps is simple. Depending on how the conversation is going, your taps get louder. You don’t like where the conversation is going? It gets even louder. You get impatient? It gets louder. You only stop tapping when I am not talking!” Alexa was smug, her face had ‘I proved you wrong’ written all over it.

“And in the grander scheme of things, it means that you are impatient and yet you don’t even realize that it affects your decision making!” Her words sounded with finality. If there was ever an apt time for a boxing bell to ring, it would be right now! It was the knockout punch she needed to win.

Kaiba lost all his bravado. Impossible. He knew he was an impatient person, but he didn’t know that it was so great that it manifested into a visual and audible tic! He thought back to his childhood. Tap. Tap. Tap. That was all he heard. On every single memory he could remember there was tapping. Preposterous! He was in shock at the fact that someone other than him could have figured this out. No weakness must be shown. And it was uncovered by his rival for the top spot at the HNH leaderboards no less. There was a clairvoyant vision that entered his eyes. Perhaps the trauma was simply too much for him to take. Or perhaps he was simply imagining a time where he could admit weakness. A time where being weak was possibly okay. His words went a little like this: ‘You– you’re right. It is a cue for my impatience. Thank you for making me realize that. I will make sure to be better.’ To which Alexa replied with: ‘The little puppy is wrong? How adorable.’ The imaginary Alexa was terrifying. A devilish smug. A face slightly tilted off axis and eyes charged with murder of Kaiba Quivers. She would never let down this moment. He would forever be shamed. NEVER! If he was going down, he was going down fighting!

And the one person who would allow such a capability was his alter ego. Yes! The great detective Kaiba finally arose from his subconscious. This detective pieced it all together. His thoughts percolated this whole time. The dots that weren’t supposed to be connected were now connected! My logic is impenetrable. Only victory was in his mind, no other option existed. This was the mindset one had to take in order to bring down Alexa Fuse a peg.

“You must have had a sad childhood. Alexa, I’m sorry,” detective Kaiba looked away slowly.

Alexa looked at him aimlessly. She did not understand those words. If her story was nonsensical then she could only wonder what that statement was. His face pitied her. The nerve of this man! Alexa Fuse was from sector 1 and Kaiba Quivers was from sector 4. No matter how she looked at it, I should be the one pitying him!

Detective Kaiba brushed his bangs up. His fine black hair simply swayed on his command. This maneuver was unique to only detective Kaiba; it showed his perfect control and dominance of the situation.

“You’re father was an impatient man,” His eyes looked down. “You were only trying your best climbing that mountain that day. But the mountain in your heart was full of pain and suffering. Still, your father had many expectations for you. Or perhaps the wrong expectations for you. You were just a child!”

He shifted his gaze to his side. It added more drama to his words. “You’re father couldn’t fathom how incapable you were. He afforded you no time to learn and yet he expected so much. And then–”

Detective Kaiba interrupted himself. His gaze now solely locked into Alexa’s eyes. Arms slowly raised. He cocked them back so far out that his entire torso twisted to meet the demand. With a force of a freight train, his arm came crashing off its rails. His whole body corkscrewed all in one motion. The power transferring optimally to the very end fibers of his palms. It looked like a shot putter preparing for a mighty throw.

Alexa, wide-eyed, stood frozen in place. The only thing she could see was Kaiba’s hands blazing towards her. The clock’s hands on the wall slowly halted. Yet! She couldn’t even lift a finger. One thing was moving at its normal pace. It was a fly she perceived to be in the path of the swing. For a split second, she thought that fly would be creamed along with her. But alas, it gracefully evaded the murderous swipe. I am not capable of such agility. Her vision enhanced as she neared death. The suspense, tension and pressure all mixed and led to the closing of those same eyes. She would rather wait in darkness and brace for the impact. Either way she was paralyzed. Only the pain awaited.

She mustered only a whimper.

A sudden gush of wind rippled through her cheeks. It was supposed to be a stinging pain that would leave a red stain on her face for days. Instead, her supple cheeks only felt the forceful caress of the aftershock. She finally opened her eyes. She was greeted by an almost teary eyed Kaiba. His bead-like eyes soothed her in a way. I did not need soothing!

Kaiba placed his hand, that was mere millimeters away from slapping her, on her shoulder. “And then your father did that to you. But only it was ten times stronger and it left you with a rather conspicuous divide in the color of your cheeks.”

For a moment, you could see Alexa blush, but that slowly disappeared as soon as Kaiba’s words started to make sense. His eyes were so resolute, Alexa could not help but be enamored. But this was a grave misunderstanding. Something that must be clarified!

“I am sorry your father did that to you.” Kaiba nodded to his own self-serving agreement.

Alexa’s eyes started to twitch. “My Father never–”

“Shhh.” Kaiba locked up her lips. “It’s okay. We don’t have to talk about it. I will sign off on your push for better pens.”

Alexa Fuse finally got what she wanted! Those were the words that she wanted to hear from Kaiba. It was a simple plan of discourse. But how did they end up like this? She wanted to correct this misunderstanding but his eyes looked so melancholic. Kaiba wasn’t entirely wrong anyway. The pens were finally getting replaced. And that’s all that matters. It did not matter what some guy from sector 4 thought. She slowly rationalized the situation. How could I tell Kaiba the truth when he looked at her that way?

The silence told Kaiba all that he wanted. Alexa’s expressions were just as he anticipated. She fell for my trap, hook line and sinker! It was such a blatant shot in the dark, directly pulled out of his butt cheeks. But! It was in the execution of it that mattered the most. That is where Detective Kaiba excelled. A popping sensation manifested in his eardrums. It was detective Kaiba’s cue to leave. With the detective gone and adrenaline from his victory fading, he was left to wonder: Why did I think Alexa had repressed feelings again?

Alexa sighed. It was a sigh of relief. This is for the best. She watched Kaiba sign the forms she had prepared. Her secretly small hands would never be revealed. The pens in the laboratory would finally be conquerable. All in exchange for the misperception that her father slapped her silly as a child. Sorry, father. Alexa Fuse had to win. She stared blankly at the signed papers. In the end, the top interns of HNH got what they wanted. Sort of.

Sector 1: Fuse Mansion

The night gave the perfect time for relaxation after a hard day’s work. Alexa Fuse, by her bedside, sipped her favorite decaf. This woman had plans to sleep tonight! She reveled in her victory. With each sip of her delectable concoction, she thought of the brand new pens in the lab.

“Ah choo!” Alexa scrunched her nose up and down.

That could have been just a sneeze. Or it could be Alexa’s own brand of having an epiphany. It could even be cute. In reality, it was probably allergic rhinitis.

She gently placed the coffee on her side table, picked up the signed papers once again. Alone in her gigantic room filled with frivolous and adorable furnishings, she could think more analytically. This was her domain after all.

She bore holes in the papers. Then serendipity struck. I could have just brought my own pens. Her face, unchanged. But growing staler than a moldy piece of styrofoam. Deadpanned. She looked out the window, to some far-off distance. A place she could not see. I don’t want to go there. She returned to her bedside. Casually taking another sip of decaf. Her thoughts, blank for the rest of the night. Her victory would mean nothing if she kept thinking that.