One poor girl in a single room, on Wednesday afternoon, stuck in hospital because she (according to the paperwork) got hit by a car while attempting to rescue a cat a few days before. She got off lightly, but she's still going to need at least a few days to recover.
So right now, she's awake, playing a Mario game on her 3DS while in her hospital bed. She seems to at least somewhat enjoy herself doing that, but it's somewhat clear that she's not happy, it's merely compensating for the misery of being stuck in hospital.
Once again Madoka is making the rounds as a volunteer at Mitakihara General. Between school and her new powers as a Puella Magi she isn't volunteering quite as much as she used to but she's still around enough to be easily recognizable in her pastel pink scrubs that go so well with her natural haircolor. That said Mitakihara General is simply enormous and which part she's helping at changes from day to day.
It just so happens that today she's working on the same floor the poor girl who got hit by a car is on and after attending to several other patients she makes it to the room the girl is in. A big part of her job is trying to help keep people happy and upbeat, so even though the last person she was helping was a bit difficult she has a warm and friendly smile on her face as she approaches the door to Hoshi's hospital room.
There's a knock on the door a moment or two before she pushes it open, long enough to give anyone who wants privacy to warn her, stepping inside, "Hi, I'm Madoka Kaname and I'm acting as a hospital volunteer today. Is there anything I can get you or help you with to make things a little easier for you?" When she sees the patient in the hospital bed is a an elementary aged girl her expression softens a bit more.
Hoshi looks up from her game when she hears the knock, "Come in" She mentions right away, and then there is Madoka, the very presence of someone relatively close to her age seems to do wonders for her mood. "I'm Hoshi Kogane, and... uh, I dunno." She sighs, looking out at the window, "But it's nice to meet you, Kaname-san."
She closes her 3DS to be polite, and a five-pointed yellow star appears above the girl's head, a sad lonely frown on its little face. Hoshi glances towards the star, then meekly smiles towards Madoka, "Do you do this a lot, Kaname-san?"
Madoka takes a quick peek at Hoshi's chart as she walks over. She's done this enough to be able to read them rather quickly, even in doctor style chickenscratch. Hit by a car, but not too badly? Ouch! "It's nice to meet you too, Kogane-san." With a small smile she adds, "You can call me Madoka, if you like."
She wonders a little if the girl would rather spend time with her Nintendo games, though the way she perked up a bit on entry and the fact she closed it down convinces her otherwise. "Two or three times a week, usually," the pink-haired girl replies, blinking a bit as the star pops into existence above the patients head. She wonders if she's just seeing things for a moment until she notices her looking up at it.
Madoka fumbles her words a bit, "T-the hospital has rules on how much minors are allowed to volunteer, especially when school is in session." After a moment she walks over and takes a seat next to Hoshi's bed, seeming to decide that a bit of company is probably what she needs most. It often is for people stuck alone in the hospital.
It seems Hoshi is cheered up by Madoka sitting down next to her, and another star pops into existence, right next to Madoka's face, wearing yellow scrubs and a nurse hat. "How old do you need to be to volunteer for that?" Hoshi asks the first question on her mind, seeming eager to have something, anything, to talk about. "It's very nice of you to do that."
She hasn't quite realized Madoka can see her stars, but then she isn't bringing them up anyway. "I hope it isn't causing you any trouble to do this?" Her inflections are markedly upper class.
It makes Madoka happy to see that deciding to spend some time with the girl is cause to cheer her up. She jumps a bit when the star pops up right next to her face, and looks right at it. Then she suppresses a giggle before answering the question, "Hm, I'm not sure. Twelve was old enough when I started in America. I'm fourteen and they didn't have any problems with my age when I asked, other than to tell me how often I could come in." For a long time she really was in the hospital as often as they'd let her be.
"Thank you!" she replies brightly when she's given the compliment. "To be honest with you a lot of the reason I do this is for myself. I've always enjoyed helping others, and who needs more help than people who are sick or injured?" Her head gives a quick shake, tossing her pigtails against her cheeks, "It isn't any trouble at all. It's really nice being able to see people get better and recover, and if I can make their stays easier or go by a little quicker it's all worth it."
Madoka's speech patterns are pretty average; her parents certainly have money but she wasn't raised to be a high class miss. That's Hitomi, in her friend circle!
Now that jump, Hoshi notices that, and she starts to look a little more curious. "Are you seeing stars, Kaname-san?" A question innocent enough that it can be easily justified as being about something else in case Madoka doesn't get it. "I understand what you mean. I'm happiest when I know I'm helping other people be happy."
"So you've been to America? What's it like, there? My dad goes there a lot, but he never takes me with him." She sounds like she thinks that's totally unfair, "He says I'd just be bored, but I want to see."
Is she seeing stars? "Eheheh," she laughs a bit nervously before reaching up to try and pat the scrubs wearing star next to her face, "I am. Do you think I should be in a hospital bed too?" she asks a bit playfully. Her embarrassment fades when Hoshi says she's happiest helping people, "Then you and I are a lot alike! You could ask one of the nurses if you're old enough to volunteer here if you think you'd enjoy it. Mostly it's about keeping people company and getting them ice and water and other simple things like that, and I don't think they'd ask you to deal with any of the difficult patients."
Madoka puts a hand over her mouth and giggles as she looks at Hoshi, imagining her showing up to patients hospital rooms wearing pink volunteer scrubs of her own. "I'm sure many people would be very happy to have you helping them, whether it's here or somewhere else."
More slight numerousness at the mention of America. "It was, well... lonely? Living there is a lot different than going on a vacation, though. Maybe your dad doesn't have much time for sightseeing when he goes?" She smiles, "One of my teachers in America suggested I start volunteering though; over there hospital volunteers are called 'candy stripers'," she says the words in English, "because the first girls to do it wore outfits with candycane patterns."
"No, but now I'm curious why you can see them." Hoshi seems to be aware that the stars are something special, and isn't really too intent on hiding that they mark her as special, apparently; but she changes tack to hospital volunteering, "I'd have to ask my dad, though. I don't think he'd say no, but I don't want to do this kind of thing behind his back." She hasn't mentioned her mom yet.
"He probably doesn't, he doesn't have much time when he's home either." Hoshi sounds just a slight bit too jaded about that, like she wishes he had more but doesn't expect it to ever change. "Now I want candy..."
"I've been able to see things that are magical ever since I moved back from America," Madoka replies honestly but without giving away too many details. She's not too worried about mentioning magic so casually either, since it's only the two of them and obviously the star buddies are. "That's true, you'd have to get your parents to sign off. If they're anything like mine they'd be proud of you that you wanted to do something so kind to help other people." She doesn't want to push the girl too hard since it really is a lot of work.
Madoka nods a little when she notes her father doesn't have much time for her, "It sounds like he works hard to make sure you're well taken care of." It's a wild guess of course, but she likes to look for the upsides of things and put a positive spin on them if she can. Hoshi wants candy? "Hm! That might be something I can help you with. What kind of candy would you like? I can see if we have any." She giggles a little and leans in conspiratorially, "Having something sweet can make things a lot easier, and just a few pieces won't be a problem."
"He does, and makes sure to take some time to do something with me as often as he can, but..." Hoshi sighs again, and looks out of the window, one star appears in front of the window, holding a telescope and looking up. "Some of my friends get to spend a lot of time with their dad and their mom."
Then the promise of candy finally breaks her out of that particular mood, "I like lots of kinds of candy, why don't you surprise me?" She suggests, trying to deflect the actual decision making to Madoka, admitting that right after, "I can never choose..."
Madoka offers a sympathetic smile to Hoshi as she looks out the window. "I'm sorry you don't get to spend as much time with him as you like." Yes, she picked up the fact that mom, if in the picture at all, is not the one Hoshi worries about spending time with. "It must be hard for you."
She peeks curiously to the star holding a telescope and wonders about it for a moment, only to get up when the young patient seems very interested in whatever candy she can produce. "Okay! I'll be right back, in that case." She walks over to the door, looking back before stepping out, "It's all so good, isn't it?" With a giggle she steps out of the room and lets the door close behind her.
A few minutes later the door opens up after another knock and Madoka steps back inside, walking over and shifting the rolling tray table a bit so it's easily within Hoshi's reach before setting down several wrapped pieces of hard candy; a hot cinnamon one, a root beer barrel, a peppermint, and a soft caramel chew. "Be careful not to let that one get stuck in your teeth or the nurses will get upset with me," she warns.
Then, a moment later, she produces with her other hand a yellow star shaped lollypop on a white stick, also wrapped in clear plastic. "Something told me you wouldn't want to pass this one up," Madoka says cheerfully while holding out to the younger girl.
"He does important work, I know it's selfish of me to want more time with him." Hoshi sounds like she genuinely believes that's true, that it is selfish of her. "It is all so good." She agrees on the treats, one more star popping into existence, this one sucking on a lollipop, following Madoka as she leaves to collect candy.
When Madoka returns with both candy and star, Hoshi looks the haul. "All that, for me?" She reaches for the star lollipop first, it is indeed appealing to her, she unwraps the plastic and sticks it in her mouth, savoring the taste. "I take good care of my teeth, don't worry."
Madoka pauses before she leaves to give a small shake of her head, "It isn't selfish to want to be around the people you love and care about. It sounds to me like maybe you should try being a little more selfish about it."
When she returns she giggles at the idea of five pieces of candy being a huge number. "All for you," she affirms with a nod before sitting back down at her previous spot beside Hoshi's hospital bed. "That's good, I'll rest easier knowing I won't have to worry about angry nurses yelling at me for giving patients any cavities." On the subject of the amount of candy she notes, "You can save some for later if you want. No one is going to take it away from you if you already have it."
It'd take a rather cold hearted doctor to take candy from an injured child unless it was somehow directly harmful to their specific circumstances.
Hoshi places the other candy in her lap, ready to savour later. "I have my friends, most of the time, but they're busy with school and clubs a lot. I would be too if I wasn't here." She sighs, a little. "At least I'm not stuck at home while dad is away..." Apparently this is better than that alternative.
"You know, I didn't get hit by a car..." She admits, a little softly. She glances at her stars a bit, hoping that tells Madoka enough that she doesn't have to get in any kind of awkward explanations.
Madoka's head tilts a little at the mention of being stuck at home. She makes a soft, "Hm?" but otherwise doesn't pry.
So it wasn't a car? The possibility did enter her mind but she tries to be delicate about magical matters, especially when things like secret identities can put people in danger. "Did you get hurt while fighting? A lot of my friends have ended up here at some point or another."
Suddenly embarrassed she reaches up and rubs the back of her head, "Actually, I did too. I was stupid and tried fighting something I shouldn't have before I even had any way to defend myself." Shaking off her own silliness she smiles a bit brighter, "Since you have magic you'll probably be out of her rather quickly. Just about everyone I know who has magic heals faster than everyone who doesn't. I bet you'll be playing with your friends again and going to clubs in no time."
"I did." Hoshi doesn't go into details, perhaps deliberately so, instead focusing on what she thinks is the important bit, "I'm kind of new at this. I have a friend who has been doing it for a lot longer, she told me we heal quickly, yeah." She smiles at that idea, comforted by the added datapoint that she'll be out here soon.
"If it was one of my friends who was hurt, I'd help. I can't like set bones or anything, but I can do a little bit of healing if things have gotten rough; doesn't work as well on myself." She shrugs, and looks right at Madoka, "Thank you for visiting, Kaname-san. Having someone to talk to helps."
Madoka smiles to the girl, "Want to know a secret? I am too. I have a lot of friends who have been using magic a long time, but I only started being able to help them directly myself two weeks ago. It sounds like we have a lot in common after all."
When Hoshi mentions being able to heal people other than herself the hospital volunteer brightens, "Oh! That must be wonderful, to take people's pain away like that." She taps her chin a little, "I know there's even one nice lady who works on her own as a magical doctor."
When the girl looks at her Madoka meets her gaze with soft pink eyes, "You're welcome, Kogane-san! I'm always happy to talk." She closes her eyes while smiling and adds, "When I'm on duty it's also a part of my job. One of the most important ones!"
Hoshi smiles, "I used to have fantasies about being a magical girl with some of my friends, but I didn't expect to actually become one until a month ago. These guys have been hanging around since." She looks at the stars that surround them, "Most people can't see them, which is kinda nice, they'd be hard to explain."
She hears about the magical doctor, "I don't think I could be a magical doctor, maybe a magical nurse, but I can't do much more than first aid, really. Magical first aid is still pretty nice, but if you can't fix broken bones that's not enough, right?"
"Hehe, me too. I hope you're able to enjoy it," Madoka offers, leaning forward a little in her seat. "I think it's wonderful to be able to protect the things we care about, don't you? It is hard having to fight, and getting hurt... but just thinking that that pain is much less than what was prevented helps me a whole lot." She turns her gaze to the stars and giggles a little, "They're cute. They would be hard to explain, though. Especially to parents!"
Madoka then smiles softly to Hoshi and shakes her head, "Maybe it's not enough to be a doctor yourself, but I'm sure you're a big help. I've even been able to help out a little, just from what I've learned here. You can do a lot of good with a pocket first aid kit!"
Or with a large medical kit full of stolen hospital supplies, but Madoka isn't about to tell that to an elementary school girl.
"I am, when I'm not getting hurt like this." Hoshi looks around and admits, "In our fantasies we never ended up being stuck in hospital. At least I don't think we did." She doesn't seem to upset about getting hurt as that she just doesn't like being stuck in hospital, and to be fair, who does?
"I'll try to put together a first aid kit in case someone gets hurt and I'm around, that's a good idea." She beams, clearly cheered up by the prospect. "Thank you for helping me figure out how else I can help, Kaname-san."
Madoka smiles, "Fantasies don't usually include the worst parts of anything. But let me tell you a secret, they don't always include the best parts, either!" She giggles a little bit, and even blushes for a moment before calming down. "Most people don't like being in a hospital. The ones who do are usually getting healthy after being sick or hurt a long time, or are there because someone is having a baby." At the mention of this she holds her hands together and twists a little in her chair, "The days when I get to volunteer in the Maternity ward are always the best. They're all so cute!"
Seeing Hoshi smile so brightly lights up Madoka's face as well, "You're welcome, Kogane-san." After a moment she leans in a little closer and says, "I bet you help all your friends a lot just by being yourself. You seem like you're a very sweet and caring girl and everybody could use someone like that in their lives."
"You're probably right, we can never imagine what we can't expect, and sometimes the unexpected is the best thing." She moves around the lollipop in her mouth a little, looking out of the window again, "Do you like astronomy?" She asks, suddenly curious about what else they may have in common.
She doesn't mention the babies at all, though the face she made when they came up was telling: she doesn't like them. "I do my best to make sure my friends are doing well, some of them need more help than others, but I try to help them all."
"Exactly! You're very smart, Kogane-san," Madoka replies happily when the girl picks up her meaning right away. Then Hoshi looks out the window and mentions astronomy and the pink haired girl looks embarrassed, "You mean like... the planets and the stars and where they are in the sky? I... don't really know anything about that. The night sky is really pretty when you get away from the city though."
There's a bit of surprise when Hoshi makes her face at the mention of babies. Whoops! Okay, moving on. "That makes you a very good friend. They're very lucky to have you. I don't know where I'd be without all of my friends, or my family. Probably very unhappy and sad."
"Yeah. I'm part of Astronomy club, and every weekend if my dad isn't abroad we go look at the stars and planets together. It's the best." Hoshi sounds like that's generally the highlight of her week, so excited is she about it, "I could tell you all about it if you want to know, but most people don't."
"I try to make sure my friends are happy, because if I'm happy and they're not I'd feel really guilty." Hoshi explains, leaning back in her bed and looking at the ceiling, "And so I try to make them happy so everyone is happy, and that makes me happier."
"That does sound like fun," Madoka agrees. It's pretty clear by this point just how important Hoshi's father is to her. She makes a mental note to hug her own father later tonight to being there for her all the time. "You could tell me some of the beginners stuff if you'd like," she offers, giving the girl the chance to talk about her favorite subject if she likes while hopefully not giving the impression Madoka will be able to follow much beyond the basics. Especially without the stars themselves visible.
She has to keep from making an, 'Aww!' sound as the younger girl talks about keeping her friends as happy as she is, not wanting to sound too patronizing. It is rather adorable, though. "Isn't that the best?" she says instead. "You get to be happy that your friend is happy, and even a bit more because you know you're the one who cheered them up."
"I wouldn't know where to begin, really. That's the biggest problem, I've been doing this for so long I don't really remember what I can expect people to know." Hoshi admits her biggest problem with sharing her passion, "But uh... like you know how the moon circles around the earth and the planets circle around the sun? Some of the other planets have moons that circle around them too, and with a good telescope you can see some of them."
She then nods, cheerfully, "Yeah, and because everyone is happy there's more happiness in the world, and then maybe they'll spread their happiness, too."
Madoka suppresses another giggle as Hoshi admits that she isn't sure where to begin, only to start by explaining something simple enough that Madoka can understand. It's something she technically already knows, but not much at all beyond just that, that some of the other planets have moons too. "I've never seen anything like that through a telescope before, that must be really amazing to see something so far away." She gives a little tilt of her head and asks, "Do you have a favorite moon, from the other planets?"
On the subject of making other people happy she is quick to agree, "Yes! Wouldn't it be a wonderful, happy world if everyone did the same thing? If everyone tried to make the people around them happy there'd be so many reasons to smile."
Hoshi stifles a yawn, as she thinks about that question. "I think Charon, it's the moon of the dwarf planet Pluto. I've never actually seen it on anything but pictures, but I like that even something so far out doesn't have to be alone." And then she can no longer stifle her yawn, and curls up a bit. "I think I'm going to take a nap, Kaname-san. Thanks for visiting."
"So even Pluto has a friend to dance around the Sun with? That does have a certain beauty to it." Seeing Hoshi yawning Madoka knows what to expect, getting up from her chair. "You're welcome. Have a nice nap, Kogane-san. It was nice meeting you." She walks quietly over to the door and slips out, giving the kind girl and her stars one last look before shutting the door.
"She seems very nice," Madoka says to herself while going to see who she's to visit next, "I hope she heals up quickly; maybe she'll even get to spend this weekend with her father."