Tokyo, 1994, starting with medical training

Chapter 50 Negotiating Conditions

Imagawa Ori's brows furrowed into the shape of the Chinese character "川" as she struggled with a pile of German documents.

The professor gave us a one-month deadline.

It looks very long.

But for her, who also has to juggle clinical work, surgery, on-call duties, and her "side hustle," there simply isn't enough time.

Most importantly, she got stuck.

Understanding how to reconstruct ligament tension using Kirschner wires is one thing, but writing it into a logically rigorous academic paper using academic language and biomechanical principles is quite another.

The trash can was already overflowing with the scrap paper she had written.

Just as I was worrying, a shadow suddenly loomed over me.

"What do you want to do?"

Imagawa Ori looked up and saw that the person who came was Kiryu Kazusuke, her eyes filled with hostility.

"I'm busy, I don't have time to listen to your nonsense."

Normally, she would have fired this resident doctor long ago.

But she was so tired. She had been drinking with Sachiko Nakamori until the early hours of the morning last night, and now she didn't even have the energy to curse.

"Dr. Imagawa."

Kiryu Kazusuke was not intimidated by her cold face. Instead, he pulled over a chair and sat down directly opposite her.

This attitude of being on equal footing made Imagawa Ori pause for a moment.

Trainee doctors are usually standing in front of senior doctors unless they are allowed to sit down.

This guy is getting more and more unruly.

If she doesn't give him a reasonable explanation, or if he doesn't come to apologize and obediently do his job...

She wouldn't mind letting this medical trainee know what workplace bullying is.

Kiryu Kazusuke glanced at the books on her desk: "You seem to be having some trouble with that paper about Suzuki Shinya's surgery?"

Imagawa Ori scoffed, "What's it to you?"

Kiryu Kazusuke waved the documents in his hand: "Really none of my business? You don't need my help?"

Imagawa Ori raised her chin slightly: "What is this?"

As she spoke, she subconsciously leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.

This is a common defensive posture for humans.

Kazusuke Kiryu handed the documents forward: "A summary of Shinya Suzuki's surgery, and some personal thoughts on the theory of ligament tension reconstruction."

Imagawa Ori subconsciously licked her lips.

Although it only has three pages at a glance, and doesn't even have a cover, it was just stapled together.

But it doesn't matter.

The key point is the large title on the cover: "Microscopic Stress Release and Articular Surface Remodeling: A Clinical Report on Multi-Spot Kirschner Wire Tension Array Technology"

But it was a theory that she had constructed countless times in her mind, yet she could never form a closed loop!

Imagawa Ori had no doubt about Kiryu Kazusuke's abilities.

His absolute control over anatomical structures, as demonstrated on Shinya Suzuki's operating table, was by no means a matter of luck.

If he can do it, he can naturally write it.

"Give me."

Imagawa Ori extended her hand quickly, almost hastily.

Once she gets this, she can finish her assignment with the professor sooner and escape this damn thesis hell.

However, Kiryu Kazusuke gently twisted his wrist.

Imagawa Ori missed her target, her body leaning slightly forward as she lost her balance due to the excessive force.

"What do you mean? Are you messing with me?"

She looked up, her face darkening.

Kazusuke Kiryu held the document up a little higher, keeping it within her reach yet out of her grasp.

"Dr. Imagawa, I've said it before, I don't accept unequal exploitation."

"You want this?"

"Can."

"But I have a few conditions."

He stopped talking at this point, a smile appearing on his face.

Imagawa Ori leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.

She is a pragmatic person.

Since the other party wants to negotiate, then let's negotiate.

Tell me about it, let me hear it first.

She crossed her legs, resuming the proper posture befitting a senior doctor.

"Do you want money or credit?"

"If it's about authorship, I can try to talk to the professor and get you promoted from third author to second author, but that's difficult because that fat guy Mizutani will definitely try to get involved."

"If it's money, 100,000... no, 50,000, that's the limit."

Imagawa Ori laid out the unpleasant truth upfront.

"That won't do." Kiryu Kazusuke refused decisively. "My first condition is that I want to be credited as a co-author, exclusively."

In the current Japanese medical community, the first authorship is absolutely a single-authorship system, and there is no such thing as a co-first author.

He only provides the theoretical framework; the actual work, such as literature review, data organization, chart creation, and even the final revisions, is the hard work that Imagawa Orihiko has to do.

Therefore, Kiryu Kazusuke never intended to take the first author's role, and Imagawa Ori would never agree to it either.

Getting a second author isn't a bad deal.

Imagawa Ori said coldly, "Impossible."

The corresponding author is a professor.

Without Nishimura Sumika's name, even if Imagawa Ori wrote the paper, the magazine editor would just glance at it and throw it in the trash.

Submit for review?

That was because of the professor.

The second author is often the person who "did nothing, but had to be credited because of their high position," such as Mizutani Mitsuma.

As for the other positions, they are dispensable.

"Then there's nothing to talk about."

Kiryu Kazusuke gently shook his head, showing no intention of backing down.

Having someone else's name attached to your work is somewhat useful, but not particularly useful.

Why did he bring it up?

The reason is simple: I can choose not to receive it, but I cannot refuse to give it.

Imagawa Ori's slender eyebrows furrowed slightly, creating a faint crease: "If I don't give Assistant Professor Mizutani a title, it will be difficult for me to explain."

"That's your problem." Kiryu Kazuki's smile remained unchanged.

Imagawa Ori stared at him for a while.

To be honest, she didn't want to give Mizutani Mitsuma his name on her account either. That fatso had always tried to steal her VIP patients.

"Alright, I'll persuade Professor Nishimura." Imagawa Ori nodded through gritted teeth, then added, "But if Professor Mizutani causes you trouble, you'll have to deal with it yourself."

"No problem." Kiryu Kazusuke had no objection to this.

Then, he held up two fingers: "The second condition."

"For the next three months, I will be on the operating table for any surgery you are performing, whenever I am available."

"And when I want to be your first assistant, you can't refuse."

Imagawa Ori was somewhat surprised to hear this request.

However, it's not entirely incomprehensible.

Most medical trainees spend the whole year doing simple tasks like hooking and stitching, and if they're lucky, they might get to do a basic appendectomy or debridement.

The assistant wants to undergo major surgery?

Having ability alone isn't enough; you also have to wait in line and accumulate seniority.

Three months means that for the next quarter, all the medical students, including Takikawa Takuhei, will have to make way for him, a medical student.

This will make both of them the target of criticism within the medical department.

Have you considered the consequences?

Imagawa Ori narrowed her eyes and looked at him.

In university hospitals, the most important thing is "harmony," whether it's about making money through harmony or blending in with the world.

She was a specialist doctor, so even if the doctors below her had objections, they could only put up with it.

But Kiryu Kazusuke is different.

It wouldn't be too easy for someone to target him.

"Dr. Imagawa just needs to agree."

Kiryu Kazusuke had certainly considered the consequences; the senior doctors at the medical center would definitely be dissatisfied.

But so what?

As long as we don't give them a chance to cause trouble, isn't that enough?

"No, three months is too long." Imagawa Ori shook her head again. "I'll give you one month. During this time, I will try my best to arrange for you to perform on stage."

"If you encounter an extremely complex surgery, or if a professor is present, you will still have to step down to the position of second assistant."

She was trying to bargain.

Since you can't completely refuse, you can reduce your own risk by limiting the other party's profit margin.

"Dr. Imagawa, this isn't a vegetable market."

But Kiryu Kazusuke seemed completely unmoved by reason; otherwise, how could it be called exploitation?

Imagawa Ori was furious.

Does this guy think he can control her with just a few pages of paper in his hand?

It really is.

If she can publish this theory of "ligament tension reconstruction," her position in the academic world will be solidified, and she might even have the opportunity to work at a major hospital in Tokyo...

There are more wealthy people there.

and……

She recalled Shinya Suzuki's perfect wrist repositioning.

On the operating table, the feeling of two people being of one mind and working together seamlessly is truly a pleasure.

Kazusuke Kiryu is a smart man. After demonstrating his amazing Kirschner wire technique last time, he did not show any arrogance or complacency and remained true to his duty.

He'll go on stage if the doctor gives him a chance, but it doesn't matter if they don't.

This kind of reliable and capable medical trainee is indeed easy to use.

"Can."

After weighing the pros and cons, Imagawa Ori squeezed out those two words through gritted teeth.

Then, she changed the subject—

"but!"

"I also have a condition: if you make a mistake on the operating table, even just once, whether you can become a first assistant again depends on my mood."

"This is my bottom line."

Patients are not lab rats, and the operating table is not a practice field.

(End of this chapter)