Chapter 3: Romcom × Sick Day

Monday, the following week...

After the deserted island incident two weeks ago and the Yulia incident last week, I was starting to worry that second semester was actually going to kill me. I felt safest while I was actually at school. I still hated studying, but with exams right around the corner, I had to suck it up... Wait a minute. I’m managing to get by right now, but what am I going to do about entrance exams in the future? How am I going to keep saving heroines and get into university at the same time?

“This really is gonna kill me...”

I fell flat across my desk when I realized what trouble I was in for. I was supposed to be the hero, but I was going to end up being the one that needed saving. Maybe I could just clone myself...

“I wish there was one more of me...”

“Shall I bring one over from a parallel world?”

“That feels like an invitation to get tangled in another story,” I replied lethargically to R’s indifferent suggestion.

“Haaahh...”

“What’s wrong, Rekka? That was an awfully long sigh,” Satsuki asked worriedly from the seat next to mine.

“Nothing... I was just worrying about the future.”

“I’m not sure why... But the barbeque is this weekend. If you’re feeling anxious, why don’t you try focusing on looking forward to that instead?”

“Oh, you’re right. I totally forgot about that.”

The barbeque was something I looked forward to every year. Remembering it lifted my spirits a little.

“What was that? What were you talking about?”

That was when Iris chimed in from the seat on my other side.

“Oh, the barbeque this weekend—”

“It’s nothing!”

Just as I started to answer her, Satsuki slapped her hand over my mouth to silence me. Iris pouted.

“What’s with that? Tell me what you were talking about!”

“I said it was nothing! Absolutely nothing!”

“I heard something about a barbeque! Are you going with Rekka? When?”

“None of your business!”

“Tell me!”

Satsuki and Iris immediately started bickering, though I wasn’t sure why Satsuki was trying to hide it. If Iris was free that day, we should invite her along. But just as I was thinking that...

“What a dumb face... You really must be an absolute simpleton,” R jeered in her typical curt and unwarranted fashion.

“Hmph! I get it! You’re trying to sneak out behind my back! Not so fast, Satsuki!”

“I don’t want to hear that from you of all people, Iris!”

In the split second I wasn’t paying attention, their conversation had gone off the rails, and they were now arguing about something totally different. I wished they would work it out, but I also wished they’d stop yanking on my arms...

“You there. Why are you two pulling on Rekka like that? Let me join in, too.”

“Please give me a break...”

Eventually, the noise lured Rosalind over, complicating the situation even more. Satsuki and Iris had me by either arm, and she was now tugging on my shirt as my classmates stared at me both longingly and resentfully. I had no idea what to do... I was just about ready to give up altogether when the classroom door suddenly rattled open.

“Is Rekka Namidare here?” an upperclassman asked from the doorway.

“That’s me. What can I do for you?” I responded, unable to raise my hand or wave since both my arms were occupied.

“...What are you doing?”

The upperclassman took one look at me getting pulled from side to side by three different girls and immediately adopted a dubious expression. I guess anyone would feel that way about seeing someone in this kind of fray.

“You’re as much of a problem child as the rumors say.”

“Er, ahem... So, uh, was there anything you needed?”

She had no idea how much what she’d just muttered hurt me, but I tried to keep a straight face as I continued the conversation.

She shook her head in resignation and said, “The president is calling you. Could you come to the student council room?”

▽

If President Momone was calling, I had no choice but to go. Breaking free from Satsuki and the others, I made my way from the classroom to the student council room. But I was definitely only going because President Momone had called and I had to. Totally.

“Hm? Why do you look so relieved?” President Momone asked when I entered, one eyebrow raised.

“No reason,” I replied with a wave of my hand.

“He was surrounded by three girls and grinning like a maniac.”

I’d tried to brush it off, but the upperclassman who’d escorted me here—the VP of the student council—dropped the bomb. And hey, I wasn’t grinning!

“Hahh... I see you’re still up to your usual antics, problem child.”

“President, should we get the disciplinary committee to keep an eye on him?”

“Hey!”

President Momone laughed, but the VP looked dead serious. I hadn’t expected her to have such an exaggerated reaction to witnessing a single scene like that... Maybe it was because President Momone was feeding her lies about me? This sucks.

“You look pretty sour there, Rekka. You know lots of people would kill to be in this position, right? Check yourself.”

R, everybody! Here to make things sting worse!

Just moments ago, I was thinking about how school was my last refuge... What is this sense of utter disenfranchisement? What did I have left? The bathroom at my house? Is that the only place people would leave me alone?

“Hm? What’s with that faraway look in your eye?”

“No... It’s nothing...”

Unable to admit that I was having trouble coming to grips with reality, I buried my face in my hands and lied.

“Well, whatever.” President Momone readily ignored my plebeian student troubles and got straight to the point. “Are you free today?”

“Huh? Well, I guess, but...”

“Good. Then stop by Midori’s house on your way home.”

“Wha?”

It felt like the conversation had progressed several stages in the blink of an eye.

“Wh-Why? What do you want me to go to Tokiwa’s house for?”

“Apparently she’s caught a seasonally late summer cold,” President Momone explained.

“Yeah? Well, it does still kind of feel like summer.”

“That girl keeps the air conditioner running nonstop. I’ve told her countless times to set the timer when she goes to sleep, but... Anyway, that’s not the important part.”

With an exasperated sigh, President Momone waved her hand as if to sweep her grievances aside for the moment.

“Both of Midori’s parents work full-time, so they get home late. Normally I’d go take care of her myself, but as you can see...” President Momone indicated her desk, which was decorated with a mountain of papers. “The cultural festival is next month, and I’ll be busy with preparations for the foreseeable future. I won’t be going home until late this evening myself.”

“Whoa, that’s quite a stack you’ve got there. Does the festival really take all that paperwork?”

“Well, there’s a lot involved... But to get back to the topic at hand, I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now, but I want you to go and look after Midori in my stead.”

“Yeah, I figured that’s where this was going, but... Why me?”

Firstly, I was a guy. Secondly, we weren’t even in the same grade. Lastly, Tokiwa was home alone, and her parents would be late. I couldn’t help feeling there were more appropriate candidates than me...

“You’re a member of the light literature club, aren’t you? You should gratefully accept the opportunity to go visit your sick club president.”

“Th-That’s not the issue...”

“And you still owe me, remember?”

“Ugh...”

That, I couldn’t argue with. I’d had to rely on President Momone to handle the conflict between Yulia and Ai the other day. And that wasn’t the first favor she’d done me, either. So, knowing I was in her debt, I sighed and nodded reluctantly.

“Understood... I’d be happy to go.”

“You should have just said so from the beginning,” President Momone said smugly before cracking a grin. “Oh, that’s right. Let me tell you something that’ll get your blood going a little.”

“What?”

“Midori’s three times more sensual when she’s down with a cold.”

I nearly fell straight to the floor.

▽

President Momone gave me Tokiwa’s address, and I made my way there after school.

“So, uh... What are you guys doing here, Satsuki? Tsumiki?”

They had somehow heard that I was going to Tokiwa’s house to look after her and decided to tag along.

“I can’t let you be alone with Tokiwa.”

“Yeah! Who knows what you might do to her in her compromised state?”

“Wow...”

I thought I was going to cry. They trusted me so little...

It turned out Iris and Rosalind had also heard I was going to Tokiwa’s, but they had other things to do that afternoon... Nevertheless, it didn’t stop them from saying similar hurtful things before we all left school.

My shoulders slumped as I pressed the doorbell to Tokiwa’s house listlessly. Maybe it was broken? I couldn’t hear anything from inside.

“Well, President Momone said she’d let her know we were coming, so I guess we can just go in?”

I used the key I’d gotten from President Momone to unlock the front door.

“Hello? Anyone home? We came to visit you, Tokiwa!” I called from the front entrance, but there was no reply. “Is she asleep...? I guess we should be quiet then.”

We took off our shoes and did our best to keep the noise to a minimum. President Momone had told me Tokiwa’s room was on the second floor, but I figured we should stop in the kitchen first to drop off the ingredients we’d brought for porridge. Wait...

Whap... Whap...

Uh, what was that? It sounded like wet footsteps...

“Hm?”

“Huh?”

Satsuki and Tsumiki noticed it too, and the three of us stood there listening carefully. The footsteps seemed to be coming from down the hall? I turned to look... and saw a shuffling shadow creeping towards us with long, wet hair dripping behind it.

“KYAAAAAH!”

The second Satsuki saw it, she let out a high-pitched scream and turned to bolt, banging her forehead against the half-open front door.

“...!”

Tsumiki went pale and stiff. It seemed she was frozen with terror.

While it did look like something straight out of a horror movie, I’d been through this before. I knew it was probably...

“Tokiwa?”

“...”

Her voice was too soft to hear, but I could see her nodding. I knew it had to be her underneath all that hair. It was so long that it covered her almost completely. Only her toes were visible.

“What are you doing? Your hair’s sopping wet.”

After realizing it was Tokiwa and regaining her composure, Satsuki was back to her normal self. Truth be told, this wasn’t the first time she’d mistaken Tokiwa with her hair down for a ghost.

“...”

Tokiwa was saying something, but her voice was still too quiet to hear.

“Come again?”

“...”

I tilted my head slightly, and Tokiwa seemed to hesitate for a moment before darting down the hallway towards us at a good clip. Her long hair swayed as she ran, exposing a glimpse of bare skin underneath.

“Wait, Tokiwa, are you naked right now?!”

Had she been in the shower?! That would explain why her hair was wet, I guess... But wait! Why was she coming at me?!

“Tokiwa! Don’t you dare hug Rekka in that state!”

“Nice save, Satsuki!”

Satsuki jumped in front of Tokiwa at the last second, successfully averting what would have been a disaster. I praised my childhood friend with a thumbs-up.

Whenever people couldn’t understand Tokiwa, she would cling to them so she could whisper directly into their ear... Her hugging me with clothes on was bad enough. I could only imagine how much worse it would be naked.

“As for you, mister, you should be looking the other way!”

“Hey—bwuh!”

I’d taken a moment to breathe a sigh of relief after avoiding that potential catastrophe, but it was a mistake. Tsumiki slapped me with all her might, turning my head a perfect 180 degrees.

“Otomo and I will help Tokiwa get dressed, so you wait here!”

“Yes, ma’am...” I held a hand against my stinging cheek and responded pathetically.

“Too bad for you, Rekka. You were so close,” R jabbed.

▽

Apparently, Tokiwa heard we were coming over and decided to take a shower to wash off all the feverish sweat on her from being in bed all day. But she’d forgotten to bring clothes to change into when she was done. After drying herself off some, she was going from the bathroom to her room to get them, aaand... That’s when we showed up, of course.

For the record, her long hair had been (thankfully?) covering the view, but she was at least wearing underwear. On the one hand, it was a relief. And on the other, it was still pretty...

“It’s important to dry yourself properly, especially if you have a cold.”

“...”

Tokiwa gave a meek nod from where she lay on the futon. I knew she had a penchant for being absent-minded, so it wasn’t like this was totally out of character. I couldn’t help the small sigh of resignation that escaped my lips.

“So, why are you two curled up in the corner? Satsuki? Tsumiki?”

“They were huge...”

“And so soft...”

They sat facing each other, hugging their knees to their chests and muttering. Had something happened when they were drying Tokiwa off?

“Ack...” Tokiwa coughed weakly.

“Jeez, this is all because you acted without thinking.”

I dunked a washcloth in the basin and wrung it out before laying it over her burning forehead. Tokiwa lifted herself up to whisper in my ear...

“Thank you.”

“I, uh, yeah... You’re welcome.”

“...”

Tokiwa smiled gently and carefully laid her head back down on the pillow so as not to disturb the washcloth. Because of her fever, her face was flushed... While it hurt my pride to admit President Momone was right, she did look more sensual than usual.

“Goodness me... The ‘oh, take care of me’ event is pretty standard romcom fair, but I had no idea you’d be so weak to it, Rekka.”

“...!”

R was as deadpan as ever, but I could swear she was grinning beneath it all. I quickly glanced around the room, trying to find any excuse for a conversation to change the subject and hide my embarrassment.

“You sure have a lot of books, huh?”

The walls of Tokiwa’s room were lined with bookshelves packed with manga, novels, and thick reference books. There were even more stacked high on the floor. It was clear just how much she loved books and reading. She must really want to become an author...

Perhaps the fact she’d always been sickly contributed to that. Maybe she’d spent her childhood reading in bed rather than outside playing. But... did she read a lot because she wanted to become an author, or did she want to become an author because she read a lot? I guess the order didn’t really matter. Both aspects had played a big part in making Tokiwa who she was today. As I was reflecting on all that, Satsuki and Tsumiki finally emerged from their gloom and came over to us.

“Are you hungry, Tokiwa? If you are, we can make porridge for you. Would you like that?” Satsuki asked, and Tokiwa nodded her head once. “Then we’ll go make you some right now. We’ll just borrow your kitchen for a bit.”

“It’s gonna knock your socks off, so just you wait!”

At that, Satsuki and Tsumiki left the room and went downstairs together.

“I don’t think they’ll take too long. Oh, would you like something to drink in the meantime?”

Tokiwa nodded, so I handed her the vitamin-packed sports drink I’d picked up on the way... and managed to spill some of it.

“I’m sorry. Here, let me wipe—!”

Urk! Some of it had splashed right on her neckline!

“U-Um, Tokiwa...”

“...?”

I desperately tried to communicate without words, but Tokiwa just tilted her head and waited for me to take care of it. I reached out hesitantly and wiped the sports drink off her collarbone, careful not to go any lower than that.

Whew... What was I doing while Satsuki and Tsumiki weren’t around? Man... If they’d been here, they could’ve done it for me or helped her change her shirt.

“Hm...?”

Huh? Belatedly, I realized something felt off. Like I had forgotten something extremely important...

▽

About ten minutes later...

“Sorry for the wait. Here’s your porridge.”

Satsuki came in carrying a tray with bowls of porridge and a salt shaker on it. The white gruel was standard homemade porridge, but I gotta say, it looked pretty good.

“Eep!”

“...”

Tokiwa hugged Satsuki and whispered something to her. Probably a word of thanks.

“Can you eat it yourself? If you don’t think you can manage, I’ll feed you.”

“...”

“All right, leave it to me. Sit back a little and open wide.”

At Satsuki’s request, Tokiwa scooted back in her futon and opened her mouth.

“Here, let me cool it off for you.”

After blowing on the hot porridge, Satsuki moved the china spoon to Tokiwa’s waiting mouth. It really did look good, and seeing Tokiwa eat it only made it look tastier. But...

“Tsumiki... what is this?” I pointed to the bowl in front of me and asked.

“...It’s porridge,” Tsumiki, the person responsible for making my portion, replied sulkily.

Porridge, huh? Well, she had said she was going to the kitchen to make porridge, so that was probably what she at least intended it to be. At first, at least.

However, no one in the world would have guessed what was in my bowl was porridge. In fact, if it had been served to me without context, I would have just assumed it was toxic sludge and called a hazmat team... Okay, maybe that was going a little too far. But the short of it was that my porridge looked more like poison.

Ah, so that’s what I’d forgotten... Why hadn’t I stopped Tsumiki when she said she was going to make porridge? She’d left the room with Satsuki, so naturally, it hadn’t even crossed my mind. But I’d dug my own grave now. What was I going to do with this... this goop she’d served me?

“J-Just eat up already!”

“Are... Are you sure this is my portion?”

“Even I wouldn’t make Tokiwa eat that. N-Now, go on! If you can’t eat it yourself, I’ll feed it to you!”

That was practically what Satsuki had just said to Tokiwa... So why did it feel like a threat coming from Tsumiki? And why did I have to eat her cooking in the first place? I mean, I guess she did go to the trouble of making it, and it would be a waste just to throw it out... Oh, well, here goes nothing.

“I’ll try it...”

I prepared myself and picked up the spoon... Oh, God, it was thick. I scooped a spoonful of the sludge that was still bubbling like a swamp and lifted it to my mouth, an oddly gooey string trailing behind it.

“...Hom!”

I figured it would be better to get it over with and shoved the whole spoonful in my mouth all at once.

“Hrk! Urgh!”

I couldn’t do a spit take in a room full of books, but damn if I didn’t want to! I desperately clamped both hands over my mouth and tried not to spew what I’d just forced myself to swallow. I hadn’t had something this bad in a while. But what was with the strangely medicinal taste...? Had she tried to make something healthy? The taste of ginger was overwhelming... I couldn’t even identify all the other spices.

You’d think someone would’ve had to try to make food this wretched. Tsumiki’s desire to make something good was sincere... The results were just bad. If you fed something like this to a sick person, it might just kill them. The only reason I was still standing was because I’d had the pleasure of trying Tsumiki’s failed cooking multiple times before.

“Tsumiki...”

“What?”

“I acknowledge your efforts... But please just stick to salt for seasoning.”

“...Okay...” Tsumiki’s shoulders slumped as she nodded.

There were plenty of different ways you could season porridge, but she would need to master the basics before getting creative. People’s lives were at stake here.

Tokiwa eventually finished eating Satsuki’s porridge, and I somehow managed to suffer through eating Tsumiki’s. I then helped take care of the dishes.

“All right... 37.2 degrees. Has your fever gone down a little?” Satsuki asked as she looked at the thermometer.

Tokiwa nodded. She seemed to be getting better bit by bit. Dare I say we were succeeding at the nursing mission President Momone had assigned me?

“It’ll still be a while before your parents get home...” Satsuki said as she eyed the clock on the wall.

Tokiwa had already showered, we’d helped her get dressed, gotten her a wet washcloth for her forehead, made her porridge... We’d quickly burned through the standard taking-care-of-someone activities.

“What’ll you do? If you’re bored, you two can go home.”

“NO!”

“NEVER!”

“Wow...”

Not “I’m still fine for time” or “I’ll stay a little longer,” but “NO” and “NEVER”... Man, they really were gonna make me cry today. They didn’t trust me at all.

“Then what do you guys wanna do? Even if we’re bored, we can’t just ditch Tokiwa... So how do you wanna kill time here?”

Since we couldn’t make much noise with Tokiwa trying to rest, our options were limited.

“I have the perfect idea. Let’s do our homework in the living room downstairs.”

“Boo...”

I naturally let out a groan of resistance at Satsuki’s suggestion, and she shot me some wicked side-eye.

“Rekka, you’re really racking up unexcused absences at school, so you at the very least need to do your homework. If you don’t, you’ll never make it to the next grade. We’re not in middle school anymore.”

“Ugh...”

She really hit it on the nose there. And I definitely didn’t want to repeat a grade... Man, high school is tough.

“But, hey, aren’t you in the same boat regarding unexcused absences, Satsuki? One way or another, you always end up getting caught up in my—er...”

I was about to say “stories,” but caught myself at the last second when I realized Tokiwa was in the room. That was close.

“Uh, anyway... I just have to do my homework, right?” I asked.

“Yes,” Satsuki replied.

“Then I’ll review for tomorrow’s classes, too,” said Tsumiki.

She was in a different class from us and hadn’t been assigned any homework for the day, so she was just going to study. It was probably just an excuse to hang out with us a bit longer, but I could respect that she was willing to study of her own free will. I could never do that. My head would hurt too much.

“Ah, but if we go to the living room downstairs, Tokiwa won’t be able to call for us if she needs anything.”

Her voice was so quiet that she needed to really be in someone’s personal space for them to even hear her. She’d gone downstairs to take a shower earlier, but we couldn’t have her going back and forth every time she needed something.

“You’re right. What should we do...?”

Satsuki had overlooked that point, too, and pensively put a hand to her cheek.

“Tokiwa, if it wouldn’t disturb you, could we study at the little table here in your room?”

If we were nearby, we could help her with anything she needed.

“...ah.”

That was probably an affirmative sound just now. I could barely hear her say anything, but based on the way her lips moved, I think she said, “Yeah.”

“Thanks. We’ll set up here, then.”

After clearing away the mountains of manga that had been left out on the table, the three of us spread out our worksheets and textbooks. We’d gotten together to study like this over summer break, but that was mostly at the library. Doing it at Tokiwa’s house felt a little strange. But man, summer break sure was fun. I’d been skeptical, but the light literature club’s summer camp was pretty great. Playing baseball was loads of fun, and that curry was really good...

“Rekka, what are you spacing out for?”

“Whoops. My bad.”

I was daydreaming before I even knew it, but Satsuki caught me, and I got back to my homework in a hurry. Today’s subject was... math. Ugh, just looking at it made my head spin.

“Um, Satsuki, about this part here...”

“I taught you that the other day, Rekka.”

“Huh? Really...?”

“Good grief.”

Despite her exasperation, Satsuki carefully pointed to the formula in the textbook and taught me how to solve it anyway.

“Make sure you remember it this time.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

There was no guarantee, but I still had to say that. Okay, now for the next problem... Urrrgh...

“So, Satsuki, about this one...”

“Honestly...”

Satsuki furrowed her brow and leaned over the table once again to show me how to solve it. She was great to have around as a friend. I’ve been relying on her for help with homework for as long as I can remember... Hm?

“...”

What? Why was Tsumiki staring at me like that? Was it because she didn’t have any homework to do? It was pretty hard to concentrate on studying without a specific task.

“What’s wrong, Tsumiki?”

“N-Nothing...”

I tried asking what was up, but she only looked away and mumbled.

“If you say so... Hey, Satsuki, what formula do I use for this graph question?”

“You should try figuring it out for yourself, Rekka. Let’s see. This one’s...”

“Hmph...”

Tsumiki huffed with a bored look on her face and began clicking her ballpoint pen furiously. Was she that bored? She seemed a little irritated for some reason..

Meanwhile, Tokiwa watched our antics with a sleepy gaze from her futon, still coughing every now and then.

▽

Despite getting distracted by the manga in Tokiwa’s room halfway and accordingly being scolded by Satsuki, I somehow managed to finish my worksheet by six o’clock.

“It’s time for me to go home...” said Satsuki, looking up at the clock.

“Me too,” echoed Tsumiki.

“Then we can wrap things up here. President Momone said this was as late as we had to stay, anyway.”

According to her, Tokiwa’s parents usually came home around 7:00, but she said we could all leave by 6:00 to make it home in time for dinner. She said she’d be done with her student council work by 6:30 too, and that she’d be stopping by after that to check on Tokiwa herself, so we figured she would be all right on her own for at least a little while and started to quietly pack up our stuff. As I was putting my worksheets and pencils into my bag, my eyes wandered over to the futon where Tokiwa was sleeping soundly.

“...”

She seemed peaceful enough. Her breathing was calm and regular, and when I put a hand to her forehead, it felt like her fever had gone down quite a bit. Yeah, surely she’d be all right.

“Tokiwa, we’re going to head off now,” I whispered.

I knew she was asleep, but it still seemed rude to leave without saying anything... Except when I tried to get up, I realized I wasn’t going anywhere.

“Huh?”

“...”

I looked down to see that Tokiwa had reached a hand out from under the covers and grabbed my sleeve.

“What’s wrong, Rekka?” Satsuki turned back and asked.

“Nothing, Tokiwa’s just grabbed my sleeve in her sleep...” I replied in a troubled voice, seeking help.

“Can’t you detach her?” Tsumiki asked. She then approached to get a closer look, and tugged at both Tokiwa’s hand and my sleeve. “Huh... She’s stronger than I expected. It’ll be hard to get you loose without waking her up.”

“What should we do? I’d feel bad waking her after she finally got to sleep...”

We all looked at each other, slightly lost for an answer.

“All right... You two go on without me. I’ll just stay here until she lets go.”

“You’re just saying that so you can do things to Tokiwa once we’ve left...”

“No! I would never! President Momone will be here soon anyway. She would literally kill me if I did anything funny.”

Both girls shot me dubious looks, but it seemed the threat of President Momone was enough to convince them. They reluctantly picked up their bags again.

“All right, we’re going now... I really, really won’t forgive you if you do anything weird, you got it?”

“I already said I wouldn’t.”

“If you do, I’ll make you try a hundred of my latest recipes. I’ll feed you until your stomach bursts. Capisce?”

“...”

The fact that I was a hundred percent sure that was possible with her cooking made the thought that much scarier. But after beating their incessant warnings into my head, Satsuki and Tsumiki finally left. I was as fed up as I was hurt.

“Haaahh... They must really not trust me at all...”

I’d been stabbed over and over by their cold words. It left me feeling empty and drained.

“That you can’t even process why they come at you like that is what makes you so useless, you know...”

“What do you mean?”

“Any more hints would be too obvious.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

If she was going to be so cryptic, I don’t really know where she got off calling it a hint in the first place. Granted, it was R’s typical MO to avoid saying what was really important, so go figure. After that, I started browsing Tokiwa’s manga to pass the time... Oh?

“...ka.”

“Tokiwa?”

At some point, Tokiwa had opened her eyes and sat up, resting her chin over my shoulder.

“When did you wake up? If you’re feeling better now, I should be heading home...”

Harissa had probably finished making dinner by now, and I didn’t want to keep her waiting... is what I wanted to say, but...

“Who were you talking to?”

That single question made my entire body go stiff and my mind go blank.

“U-Uhhh... What are you talking about?”

I tried to play dumb at first, but she wrapped her arms around me from behind and squeezed my neck.

“Don’t be silly. I heard you.”

“Er, no, I don’t think so...”

It wasn’t painful by any means, but she was pressing her chest up against my back this way... Since she clung to me so often, I could tell that the thin fabric of her pajamas made them about 1.5 times more impactful than normal, too!

But more importantly, what was I going to do? This would make the second time that Tokiwa had overheard me talking to R. I had just assumed she was still asleep and had let my guard down, so this was really all on me, but... How was I going to get out of this a second time?

“Um... I actually have a habit of talking to myself when I’m alone.”

“But it sounded like a conversation.”

“Ah, well... I mean... I guess you could say I have an imaginary friend?”

Damn it! Why did I have to humiliate myself like this?! I had no idea fabricating secrets about yourself could be so embarrassing...

“You really are mysterious, Rekka.”

Great. Now she thinks I’m some kind of oddball.

“A-Ahaha...”

“?”

Tokiwa probably hadn’t meant anything bad by it, but I couldn’t help the dry laugh that escaped my lips.

“Ugh...”

“You all right?”

“Mm... I’m just all sweaty again,” Tokiwa said as she turned off the heat in the room. “...It’s still hot.”

“Um, wouldn’t you be less hot if you let go of me?”

It would be a great help to me too, considering it would get a whole mountain range of temptation off my back...

“But you won’t hear me if I do that.”

However, my hopes were dashed as Tokiwa shook her head and gave another pesky cough.

“So hot...”

Tokiwa wiped the sweat from her forehead with her hand before rubbing her fingers against the futon.

“Hey, Rekka.”

“Yes?”

“Can I take off my pajamas?”

“O-O-Of course not! Obviously not!”

My life would be in danger if Satsuki and the other girls found out. And that would be if I survived the wrath of President Momone.

“Then will you wipe me off?”

Tokiwa removed her chin from my shoulder and turned her back to me, lifting up the hem of her shirt.

“Erm...”

The glimpse I caught of porcelain skin under her pajamas instinctively made me flustered. The flow of conversation had made it seem like a compromise, but this in itself was a pretty high hurdle for me to clear...

“Mm...”

But Tokiwa was unexpectedly forceful. She put a towel in my hands and then sat there, patiently waiting until I complied.

“P-Pardon my reach?”

Giving in, I dipped the towel in the basin and wrung it out before pressing it to Tokiwa’s back and sliding it up her shirt.

“...!”

I could feel her warmth on the back of my hands from the shirt she was wearing, and I could feel her smooth, supple skin through the towel. I was basically stuck sitting there staring at the nape of her neck whether I liked it or not, too... I caught myself unwittingly gulping.

President Momone was a liar! This wasn’t just three times more sensual than usual! I already knew Tokiwa was overly trusting and unguarded, but to ask a guy to wipe her back when it was just the two of us alone in her room... It was just too much.

Squeak, squeak...

But my thoughts were interrupted when I heard an odd squeaking sound. I looked and realized Tokiwa was writing something on the small whiteboard hanging on her wall. She must use it regularly for novel ideas or something, because she wrote fluently on it with an accustomed hand... then held it up over her shoulder to show me what she’d written.

Come to think of it, Rekka, do you have a girl you like?

“Bwuh?!”

Wh-What was she asking all of a sudden?! And why at a time like this?!

“Oh, my, could it be that she pretended to grab you in her sleep to get you to stay just so she could ask you that?” R said with amusement.

I had no idea if that was just wild conjecture or not. Considering R was an advanced life-form from the future, maybe it was possible she had some way of telling if people were really asleep or not?

“Erm...”

As I struggled to come up with a coherent reply, Tokiwa wiped away her first sentence with the eraser at the end of her pen and scribbled out a new one.

It’s for reference for the story I’m writing right now.

Reference... for her story? Oh, yeah, Tokiwa was in the middle of writing a high school romcom, wasn’t she? I recalled her mentioning something about using me as a model for the main character. So that was it, then. She just needed help coming up with something for her story. Whew. That didn’t change how difficult the question was, but it at least made it a little easier to answer.

“I don’t think I’ll be much help with that... I haven’t decided on anyone in particular I like right now.”

“...ah.”

This time she didn’t write anything down, but instead muttered something and nodded her head. It seemed to be some kind of acknowledgment.

Just then, I could hear someone coming up the stairs. It was probably President Momone, who’d come to switch out with me after finishing up her student council work.

“Hey, Midori. Problem child.”

President Momone casually waved a hand as she entered the room... before stopping cold and looking at me suspiciously.

“Problem child, why do you have your hands up Midori’s pajamas?”

“Huh? Waaah!”

Yeah, I was busted. Wait, no, I was innocent!

“Th-This isn’t what it looks like! Tokiwa just asked me to wipe the sweat off her back for her! There’s absolutely nothing dirty going on...!”

I immediately yanked my hands out of her pajamas and waved the towel in a desperate appeal to President Momone.

“Hmm...”

President Momone nodded disinterestedly and grabbed the towel from me, approaching Tokiwa.

“How are you feeling? Uh-huh... Well, you seem more energetic than I expected... Did something good happen?”

As they smoothly communicated with a near-telepathic level of mutual understanding, President Momone briskly straightened out Tokiwa’s futon and prepared a fresh towel for her. As expected of childhood friends, their bond was really something else. Tokiwa would be fine if I left her in President Momone’s hands.

“Then... I’ll be headed home now. Harissa’s waiting for me.”

“Right. Thanks for today.”

“Now we’re even, right?”

“You still owe me two more favors.”

Tch, she still remembered that... Well, I’m sure I’ll end up repaying her properly someday. It certainly wasn’t like she was about to let me off the hook, that was for sure.

“Well, I’ll see you guys at school. Get well soon, Tokiwa.”

“...”

Tokiwa feebly stuck her hand out from under the covers and waved, mouthing the words, “See you for club.”

“Thanks for having me over.”

I gave a small bow as I left, and when I turned to close the door behind me...

“I see. So, there isn’t anyone, huh?”

I thought I heard someone muttering inside. But it definitely didn’t sound like President Momone or R, and I don’t mutter like that to my knowledge, which left...

“Tokiwa?”

But at this distance and with a door between us, I shouldn’t have been able to hear her... Moreover, why did whoever it was sound so happy? Puzzled by all this, I put both it and Tokiwa’s house behind me as I left.