Short Sharp Shock/Transcript

NARRATOR: "Just around the corner of the hallway something hits me in the chest with the force of a runaway train."

HISAO: "Ouch..."

NARRATOR: "Opening my eyes, I see a pair of saucer-like green eyes looking up at me. They belong to the perpetrator, a short girl who bumped into me and has now fallen down onto the hallway floor. She wears a PE uniform and a very worried frown. The former strikes me as a rather strange thing to have on during a lunch break. ...More striking than that, though, is that she doesn't have legs. Or she does, but they are not flesh and bone. Her pale and very much flesh-and-bone thighs end in shins and feet made of some black metallic or plastic-like material. They look disturbingly artificial and unnatural. It almost makes me forget that my chest is hurting. The girl winces a little, rubs her nose and jumps up."

EMI: "Aw man... Hey, are you all right? I'm sorry about that, really! I wasn't looking where I was going, and you just came out of nowhere. Sorry... Sorry!"

NARRATOR: "She's looking really apologetic, in the hurt puppy way of looking apologetic. I quickly forget about being angry or anything, since hurt puppies are my weak spot."

HISAO: "It's okay. Don't worry about it... ouch..."

NARRATOR: "I say that, but there's a stinging pain growing in my chest, and I know that this is about the biggest possible danger for my condition. Don't overexert yourself, don't forget your medication and most of all, don't get hit in the chest. I try to rub my solar plexus to chase the pain away, holding my breath in an attempt to hear my heartbeat. It seems normal..."

EMI: "Hey, should I get a nurse?"

NARRATOR: "The worried, high-pitched voice of the girl snaps me out of it. I stare at her for a few seconds dumbfounded, until I realize that I probably looked worse off than I really was, doubled over myself and looking all tense. Damn, I'm overly worried about my heart."

HISAO: "Err... no need, I'm fine."

NARRATOR: "Managing to say something in response, I pull myself upright, feeling my sore ribs one last time, and take a deep breath. She just knocked the wind out of me. Big time. But it's nothing more than that."

EMI: "You sure you're okay? I hit you pretty hard."

HISAO: "It's okay. I said I was fine, and nothing's broken. No harm done."

EMI: "That's good! I was—"

Next Scene: Detour Ahead (if Shizune's interest score is ten or greater)
or
It Builds Character (if Shizune's interest score is less than ten)