---

---

***

But this time, it was with a vase of blooming crimson spider lilies, just above her forehead, struck by someone else's hand.
I hit the floor again with my crutch, hit it, hit it hard.

"Damn it, how could they do something like that?"

Only I'm allowed to bully Mayu.

"...Just kidding, though."

Mii-kun is the one who *doesn't* bully Maa-chan, after all.

Well, if I ever happen to run into the culprit one day, maybe I'll just get angry enough to pull the Code of Hammurabi out of my pocket.

As if to kick me while I was down in this state, the sliding door opened, and along with a gust of air cold enough for single digits, a smiling visitor forced me to receive them.

"Kyaa~! It's Mii-kun~!"

A laughing voice so wonderfully shameless it seemed fit for a magic flute accompanied by a fife and drum corps.

I couldn't help but blurt out a frank reply, "Jero-chan, long time no see!"

"If you don't like anyone other than Maa-chan calling you Mii-kun, perhaps you should try showing it on your face a little more, hmm?"

"Your advice is much appreciated, but I make sure to raise my right hand properly if it hurts."

Kamiyashiro Natsuki-san strode purposefully towards me. Her hair was down, and she wore a long-sleeved cut-and-sew top, a plaid skirt, and an overly long scarf. She guarded her neck so much it made me wonder if I might get strangled by accident at any moment. This person's apparent age doesn't match her actual age, so most outfits end up looking appropriate on her.

She slid smoothly into the seat beside me.

"You're not wearing your striped shirt today."
"That's my battle armor."
"I see."

Who was she battling that day, I wonder. The prison guards?

Natsuki-san's face was close. Her lips were glossy, and her skin didn't look dry.

"Are you here for a pre-admission check-up?"
"Sorry to disappoint your expectations. I just came to see you, Mii-san."

Being told something like that by someone who looks like a beautiful older sister... maybe it's my loss that I can't just be straightforwardly happy about it. But I figured, with Natsuki-san, that was fine.

"It seems like some sort of trouble has occurred now that I've come by. Someone disappearing, Mayu-chan being attacked..."
"Yeah. Oh, and I've also been graced by Natsuki-san's 'get-well' visit."
"My, my, for you to treat it as a problem concerning *me*, Mii-san, that's such an honor I feel like Koibi might interrogate me about it on a dark street at night."

Natsuki-san picked up the TV remote. She turned it on and set the channel to NHK. The afternoon broadcast of the serial TV novel was just starting. Apparently, you could watch the TV in a private room without buying a card.

"You're wonderful entertainment, Mii-san. Truly a gem I'd want to bring along if I were living on a deserted island."

*Do you even understand the condition of 'deserted island'? If that's the case, I'd bring Mayu or something.*

Still, I'd vaguely felt it, but she really does treat me like a toy, doesn't she?
Though it's hard to tell the difference between playing *with* me and playing *around* with me.

"Well then, I don't know if this will meet those expectations, but allow me to tell a short story."

As I began my line, Natsuki-san's eyes slid towards me, fixing me with their gaze. Because her eyes are narrow slits, that change is extremely hard to catch. *Even the people on TV are telling you they never thought you were the type to think such things.*

"This is a story about a friend of mine."
"Mii-san, you had friends?"
"I jumped the gun, he's still just an acquaintance. We'll become bosom buddies through a movie-version adventure."
"Ah, I see. That makes sense," Natsuki-san replied.
"Answer me quickly!" a wife on the TV scolded her cheating husband.

After a beat, I spun my hypothetical tale.

"This acquaintance of mine, a guy, you see. He currently has a girlfriend he's seriously dating. Then, one day, out of the blue, his ex-girlfriend, who he hadn't even seen for about a year, showed up at his place."
"How much bleeding was involved?"
"You're getting ahead of yourself, it didn't turn into a knife-wielding bloodbath scene. The ex just made some small talk and left quite easily, but you know, my acquaintance is naturally bothered by it. So, Natsuki-san, what do you make of the ex-girlfriend's actions?"
"I see it as an indirect demand for alimony."
"My acquaintance didn't cause any pregnancy scares."

*Damn it, this woman is the type who tolerates shameless conversations from a mouth acting independently. Just like my acquaintance.*

Natsuki-san put a hand to her chin, striking a detective-like pose. "You home-wrecker!" The classic line burst from the TV as the wife lunged at the mistress, and my eyes reacted to that.

"Joking aside, I first deduced that this acquaintance of yours is a big liar and a bit of a screwball."
"A screwball, you say?" Someone floated up from my memories. But that's irrelevant right now.
"And, the ex-girlfriend is trying to get back together with this screwball, right? 'Home-wrecker'... You didn't just want to use that because she yelled it just now, did you?"

"Or perhaps, they never clearly broke up in the first place, and one party hasn't consented." Natsuki-san stated her opinion while looking directly at the 'acquaintance'. The 'acquaintance' scratched his cheek.

"Either way, the life of your screwball acquaintance is hanging by a thread, isn't it?"
"No, my acquaintance likes-likes-very-likes his current girlfriend, so there shouldn't be a problem, supposedly."
"Mosquitoes don't consider the human relationships of the person whose blood they suck. And besides, there aren't many people who feel guilty about swatting away a persistent mosquito buzzing around them, wouldn't you agree?"

Natsuki-san's analogy was precise. Spoken from a cool, emotionless perspective, it was truly precise.

Her eyes asked if I was finished, so I announced, "One more thing."

"This is a vague question, but..."
"You yourself are quite vague, Mii-san."

*Nobody asked for that fact.*

"......Do you think there's value and meaning in memories you can't recall?"
"Are you talking about Mayu-chan?"

Natsuki-san skipped the thinking process and stated it outright. I denied it somehow.

"No. For example, few people clearly remember the meal they ate or the events that happened on November 7th when they were five years old. But those memories aren't lost, they're just sleeping. Even if it's a fatally deep slumber, like they wouldn't wake up even if a bomb dropped nearby. Even so, I wonder if those memories have meaning or value."

Without breaking her detective pose, Natsuki-san's expression became slightly perplexed.

"Is there...? Actions might be enriching... but memories degrade, get altered... It's difficult, isn't it?"
"You don't have to think about it so seriously, it was just a passing thought."
"I, for one, am more interested in the process that led you, Mii-san, to think about such things."
"Actually—"
"Well, it's about time for me to leave."

My explanation was snapped more easily than mechanical pencil lead. But my spirit is about as replaceable as mechanical pencil lead, so I wasn't going to get depressed over something like that.

"You're leaving already?"

I didn't try to detain Natsuki-san, who had been here less than ten minutes, but I at least called out to her. With the wife's cheers of "Get out!" directed at the mistress echoing from the TV behind me.

"I'd like to offer my humble assistance in the investigation of the patient who went missing."

Natsuki-san spoke like a detective embarking on investigative cooperation.

"Besides, it would probably cause trouble if I were here when Mayu-chan gets back."

An expression where the danger index outweighed the inconvenience factor, and I agreed with that assessment.

Then Natsuki-san, as if channeling a certain famous detective, prefaced another question with, "And one more thing."

"Regarding this incident, Mii-san, do you understand why Mayu-chan was hurt?"

I finally understood that she had visited primarily just to ask that one thing. Call this a late-blooming cherry blossom lie.

"......... In such a tragic incident, why my wife... She was the kind of girl who'd kill bugs without using insecticide......"
"Exactly," Natsuki-san replied cheerfully, in a manner that suggested she didn't really think so at all.

Then she immediately stood up and briskly headed for the entrance.

After hesitating for the duration of a few breaths, I called out to her back, "Natsuki-san."
"Yes?" A soft smile turned back to me.

"Mayu... she must have done something."
"Oh my, you state it so definitively."
"She's beautiful, hospitalized, and a beauty – with those three factors combined, who could optimistically think there's no room for an incident to intervene?"
"Thank you very much."

My passionate assertion was cut off by thanks directed at nothing in particular. Natsuki-san smiled, her gaze as cold as the wife's glare tormenting her husband on the CRT screen.

"So, please cooperate if anything happens. Mainly to protect the national treasure that is Mayu."
"Understood. Before that, Mii-san, please study Japanese and then get deported. Well then, next time I'll visit when Mayu-chan seems likely to be asleep."

*Though it might not be for personal reasons.*

She spun a cool-sounding line, and immediately after, tacked on the social pleasantry, "Take care," as if an afterthought.

Natsuki-san stepped out into the hallway, and the sliding door slowly closed.

Blaming it on the resulting air pressure, I flopped backward. *Thump.*

A chandelier-like, ornate light fixture graced the ceiling.

Gazing at it, I wrinkled my brow further, wondering how to ventilate the swirling haze in my mind.

Maybe I'm searching for the action I ought to take.

On the TV I looked up at, the tofu shop owner had been kicked out of the house by his wife and was now being confronted by his mistress.

Somehow, I couldn't suppress the twisting of my cheeks.

*Pata pata.* The sound effect of slippers moving quickly.

It stopped in front of the room, replaced by the aggressive sound of the door being slid sideways forcefully, crashing into its innermost track.

Mayu entered, bandages wrapped tightly right up to her forehead, reminiscent of a turban.

The moment she recognized me, Mayu's sullen face instantly became simple and clear.

"Mi-i-i ku-u-un!"

Because she leaped forward with large strides, her right slipper flew off her toes, arriving at my location one step ahead of her. It passed over my head, hit the curtain, and fell onto the bed with a soft *plop*. Immediately after, the main body flew at me. Ramming headfirst into my torso. *Hey, hey, hey.*

But Mayu flashed me a smile utterly unrelated to agony.

"Maa-chan, you know, the police were mean to me and I'm heartbroken."

She even added her own *uru uru* (watery eyes) sound effect as she reported the authorities' misdeeds. *Though they're supposed to be on your side this time...*

"There, there."

She implicitly requested her hair be stroked, so I comforted her, careful not to touch the bandages.

"And, you know, I got hospitalized again."
"...... You know, that's not a good thing at all. Don't say it with a huge smile."
"Geez, Mii-kun, you're so shy. Even though you cry when Maa-chan isn't around."

She patted my shoulder rather strongly. I didn't really have the energy to deny it emphatically.

Pushed down by Mayu, we ended up lying on the bed together. Mayu rested her chin on my left shoulder, pressing down as if excavating.

"Maa-chan, did you do anything unusual recently? Or did anything happen?"
"Umm.... Mmmh, Chuu~." *Gyuu~.* "Juu~."

I pinched her cheek, making a vertical cod-roe shape.
*Beautiful girls really maintain a minimum standard no matter how distorted they get. I'm impressed.*

Mayu still relentlessly demanded kisses, so I pinched my own cheeks to match the standard and awkwardly pressed our lips together. ........Hmm, there's a sense of accomplishment, but no thrill.

There was no allure, but when we separated, Mayu's spirits were soaring without interruption.

"I want our wedding season to be spring~"
"Spring, huh. Maa-chan, you seem like you'd fall asleep during the ceremony."

Perhaps taking my comment as a joke, Mayu formed a laughing face like a bundle of happiness.

The process of that expression is fake, but the result is unmistakably real.

But no. This isn't the time for heartwarming moments, nor for compiling the guest list for the ceremony. It's not the time to feel lonely thinking the number of attendees will surely be minuscule. It's a lie, even if no one tells me so.

I pushed Mayu's shoulder, separating us until our noses weren't quite touching. Mistaking this as a prelude to a kiss, she softly closed her eyelids. I decided to correct her misunderstanding by prying her eyelids open from the outside. We continued the conversation like that.

"Is your injury okay?"
"Totally fine. But because Mii-kun is worrying, it's not okay."

Her Japanese is incorrigible. What dialect is that?

"Did you tell the police who hit you or anything?"
"Nope. I don't know."

She denied it flatly, without any sign of pretense, just strange denial. Afterwards, she started writhing from the dryness of her eyes, so I released her eyelids. Mayu covered the upper part of her face with both hands and joked, "I'm gonna cry."

The wound Mayu received is slightly above her forehead. Therefore, the probability is high that she was attacked from the front.

It's normal to assume she saw the attacker, but...

"You don't know... What about the place where you were hit?"
"Um, here."

She answered uncertainly, as if her memory was hazy.

"Did someone come?"
"Mmm, yeah."
"Yeah, yeah, I see. So, who was it?"

Mayu furrowed her brow, letting out a troubled groan, "Muuu~."
"I met them but.... Uuuuh, I don't know, uuh... I don't know them."

After a period of confusion, Mayu uttered another inexplicable denial.

It didn't seem like she was lying or trying to cover something up.
.........With Mayu, maybe it's possible.

I temporarily dropped the inquiry about this matter and returned to the initial line of questioning.

"So, I asked at the beginning, but has anything strange happened recently?"
"Strange...? Chuu~."
"Hey, after we finish talking."

I placed my index finger on Mayu's forehead, making her wait. Mayu retorted with a simple "Stingy," and finally began to look back through her memories. But she agonized, "Ununununu."

"I don't really remember much from each day. Amnesia, maybe?"

*I thought to myself, 'If it were anyone but Mayu, I might tell them to gracefully get in their grave.'*

"Oh, speaking of which, Mii-kun was eating bean-jam bun so deliciously. Even though you hate sweet things."

*Ah, that was someone else. Or perhaps, I am someone else.*
I found myself wondering what kind of face she'd make if I said that, imagining it like it was someone else's problem.

"Anything else?"
"Mmm, well, Mii-kun—"
"Isn't there anything besides me?"
"Nope! Maa-chan's every day is only Mii-kun!"

She declared this, raising a clenched fist. I wish she'd use lines like that in slightly more peaceful situations.

"Ah, but this might be a little strange."

As if a tiny lightbulb lit up in Mayu's brain, her clenched fist started waving around vigorously.

"What is it?"
"I found a dead body."

My eyeballs felt like they swelled up, crying out in a scream and sharp pain.
My tongue dried out right down to the root.
Just repeating those three short syllables required an immense strain on my nerves.

"A dead... body?"

My voice came out hoarse and worn from the process of leaving my mouth as I sought confirmation.

"Yep, that was definitely dead."

Maa-chan stated something outrageous as if it were nothing, with a triumphant look on her face.
*I feel like I'm going to die too.*

"A dead body... A dead body, huh. Yeah, that's strange."
"Really?"
"Really."

"So, when did you see it?"
"A few days ago."
".........Where did you see it?"
"The hospital."

.........Aah, calm down. The word 'panic' isn't in my dictionary. Because it's a Kanji dictionary.

This is a medical facility. Meaning it should be equipped with a room called a morgue, where dead bodies can be legally stored. Is it possible that a lost Maa-chan was led there by a doggy policeman or a bear in the forest...? No, probably not. If someone had died within the last few days, at least one rumor would be circulating in this small hospital.
Besides, if it were the morgue, it wouldn't mean anything. For Mayu's head to be injured, there wouldn't be a connection unless it was a crime... "Hm? A few days ago, a dead body..."

No dead body incident has been reported as a crime. But, for a different reason, the police were present at this hospital. Even now, they're working away inside the hospital – maybe not like a great wheel, but at least like the back wheel of a tricycle. The purpose of the police officers. The job Natsuki-san is doing, pedaling away while ignoring the brakes.

"The missing person case?"
"Nya?"

Could it be? It's not confirmed, but...

Missing person case = X. Murder case = O?
Is the body hidden somewhere in the hospital?
And Mayu found it, so she's being targeted?

"Maa-chan, can you tell me about the body?"
"No."
"Why?"
"I don't wanna talk about Mii-kun and some other girl."

*Girl? Ah, so the body was a girl. In that case, the possibility that it was Nagase Itsuki's roommate is strong. Unless there's another missing person.*

Mayu puffed out her cheeks. *Seriously? Is even a complete stranger's corpse a target for your jealousy?*
Or perhaps, she doesn't fully distinguish between the living and the dead.

"Heeey, that stuff doesn't matter. Kiss me, then let's get married."

She wrapped her arms around my neck, making unreasonable demands. For now, just to get by, I decided to fulfill the easier one. ......Setting that aside, she witnessed a dead body and didn't report it to the police.
Doesn't that... make her the culprit?

"Hey, why did you find a body like that anyway?"
"I suddenly smelled blood."

Mayu delivered a suspenseful line with a cheerful smile. I couldn't entirely dismiss it as a joke. She didn't seem to be hiding anything either. Maybe she really did just somehow sense the smell of malice, unconsciously went to the corpse's 'home' that day, and witnessed the body that was there.
"Just kiddiiing~"

Mayu said abruptly, while I was letting my brain work and neglecting my other organs.
"...What's 'Just kiddiiing~'?"
"Actually, Maa-chan witnessed the guy carrying the dead body piggyback, bam!"

She announced triumphantly, the end of her sentence rising in pitch. My mood, as I listened respectfully, plummeted in inverse proportion.

".........Uh-huh, and then?"
"Maa-chan chased after him!"
"Next time, don't do things like that, okay? It's dangerous."
"Okay!"

A truly energetic and worrying reply. "And then, after that?"
"Maa-chan looked for the body after he disappeared! Hospital body discovery!"

*Tadaa~n!* Mayu spread her arms as if to glide through the air, inserting her own sound effect.

"Did you see the guy's face or anything?"
Mayu's hands dropped, and she shook her head sideways exaggeratedly.

"It was dark, so I couldn't tell. But his body was big, so maybe a man?"
"Hmm, and then?"
"Maa-chan went home! Good night!"

She concluded thusly, conveniently using those words to rest her head on my lap as I sat on the bed, turning side to side.

......Needless to say, I am convinced, without any basis, that *this* Mayu is not the culprit, but how the police will perceive it is another matter entirely. Not reporting it immediately could likely become the seed that makes the flower of suspicion bloom magnificently. On top of that, I hate to say it, but this girl's mental state is a flower garden so vibrant it would astound even Japan, proud of its four distinct seasons, coloring the air poisonously with pollen.

There are certainly not a few people who would attack such elements, deeming them fatal.

In that case, reporting this matter to the police becomes the last resort.
Any other means rely solely on my own efforts.

......I just want to live normally.
"Why does it always turn out like this?"
"It's because Mii-kun and Maa-chan are hopelessly tangled up by the red string of fate."

Mayu's words, apart from her own intention, struck me as strangely apt.

".........Why do you only get interested in things like that?"
"Hmm? I don't really get it, but I bet Mii-kun is jealous!"

Mayu, for whom that creepy *nyufufu* laugh suits so well. Aiming for further effect, I pulled both her cheeks.
"Migiii~"

Whoa, they stretch and stretch. This too is an expression with character.

.........It's as if this girl has mutual feelings with people's 'malice,' like kidnapping and dead bodies.
Attracting, and being attracted.
And I, connected by the red string Mayu speaks of, get dragged along too.

.........I'd greatly welcome it if that red were colored by tomatoes or something, though.

Ah, well. It's trivial, perhaps.

For my own sake, I'll help Mayu again. From this current situation, Maa-chan.

The dead body, the vase, Nagase Tooru, and one more thing.
How much of this is an important 'incident' for me?

I decided to start by figuring that out.

"Maa-chan, you know, you're a beautiful girl no matter what face you make."
"Shugiii~"

She was delighted.
For now, Mayu is interesting.

**Chapter 2: For Me to Be Me**

*Only I should be allowed to call him Mii-kun.*
*I don't even let Mom call him that.*
*Mii-kun's new friend, the one he made recently, called him that with a big smile.*
*Why does that girl get to call him Mii-kun?*
*Why doesn't Mii-kun deny it?*
*Why are they holding hands?*
*Why is that girl at Mii-kun's house?*
*Why does that girl smile at me?*
*Mii-kun, why do you smile when you talk to me?*

***

Nagase Tooru was beside me.
It was during the second term of my first year of high school, when we changed seats.

*'Nice to meet you, XX-chan.'*

Back then, Nagase didn't have the 'ssu' attached to the end of her sentences yet.

Being called by my name as if it were being mocked, my frontal lobe unusually felt like kindling had been added.

*'Likewise, Tooru-kun.'*

Having it thrown back at her, Nagase directed blatant disgust towards me.
We both hated our own names.

This incident was the trigger that changed our relationship from tasteless and odorless to hostile.

Nagase claimed to the homeroom teacher it was due to her eyesight or something, swapped seats with the person in the very front row, and moved away from me.

During class, even when looking at the blackboard writings, I made every effort not to let the back of Nagase's head enter my field of vision.

In this case, I'm not sure what emotion was at the root of it, but Nagase, who made the sarcastic comment first, was more in the wrong. However, regardless of the ratio, I could have apologized first.

But I didn't have any active reason to restore my relationship with Nagase back to being mere classmates who occupied the corner of my vision, so I never took that step.

However, around the end of September, our relationship took another turn.

I was chosen as the male member for the latter-term beautification committee (I had been in the first term too), and the female member decided upon was Nagase.

We both just felt weary, maintaining our stances of ignoring each other.

***

Hypothetically, if Misono Mayu possessed a mind and body capable of living simply by getting healthy amounts of sleep.
A destiny likely awaited me where contact and conversation with anyone other than her would be eliminated.
Mii-kun would end up living facing only Maa-chan.
There is no room for doubt that this is the ultimate happiness achievable for her and me. My training has not yet been completed enough to reach that realm. If possible, I'd rather not.

The woman I, at such a delicate age, was sneaking away to visit before dinner, stealing glances from *her*, was Nagase Itsuki.

My ward is in the East Wing, while Itsuki's is in the West Wing, completely opposite. It requires passing through four corridors and demands going up and down stairs twice. Moving on one leg, I was made painfully aware of how easy normal bipedal walking is. Well, even so, it's an improvement compared to a week ago. The first three days after starting to use crutches were beyond just falling down seven times and getting up eight. Now I'm mostly used to them and don't lose my balance significantly anymore. Though I have developed calluses on the palms of my hands.

Also, along the way, I passed one police officer. The kind of person rushing about for the missing person case, the one used as gossip fodder when there's nothing else to talk about in the hospital. Actually, Natsuki-san is here too, but right now she's staying by Mayu's side as she sleeps in her private room. Leaving Mayu alone is currently highly undesirable. Because of the assault incident and other various matters. Therefore, when I requested backup, she surprisingly agreed quite readily. Even if Mayu wakes up, Natsuki-san will probably manage somehow. If worse comes to worst, she'll probably just call her 'Maa-chan' to smooth things over.

After climbing the second staircase in the West Wing, i.e., the women's wing, the restrooms were on the left, and patient rooms were on the right. I had no plans to embark on a grand adventure in the restroom, so I uninterestingly turned right.

It was my first time visiting Itsuki's room. When I opened the door, the room was, naturally, occupied only by women; three out of the four beds in the room were filled.

While giving a nod to the old woman watching TV in the near bed, I moved two or three steps towards the center of the room. Then, Itsuki, who had been gazing out the window from the far bed, her left arm currently broken, turned around and noticed me. As soon as I raised my left hand saying, "Yo," Itsuki got off the bed and approached in a light run without even putting on slippers. She still had that carefree, wrinkle-free face.

More like a four-year-old than a fourth-grader. Somewhere, there's a resemblance to Mayu.

"Ooh, if it isn't Raw Tooru!"

Her movements are nimble, yet her speech is lisping and slow. .....Oh?
Normally, she's the type of kid who'd give me a body check as a greeting, using light violence to hide her embarrassment. But today, she's just bobbing her body up and down, not laying a hand on me. Ah well, it's not like getting hit is a hobby I've elevated to an art form.

"Raw? What, you think there's a 'developed copy' Tooru around?"
"It'd be easy if you just asked a photo shop-ssu."

*So I can be duplicated more easily than Perman or Son Goku.*

Itsuki shifted her weight onto her left foot, lifted her right foot, and peeked as if checking behind me.
"Huh? Where's Nee-chan?"
"Hm? We didn't come together or anything."
"Hoh~, coming to see me alone, what a commendable Tooru. But you're late-ssu. I said I'd come see you too, and it's already been three weeks-ssu."
"Three weeks ago, you couldn't move yet, right?"
"Hmm? So, does that mean you can move starting today~?"
"No, since last week."
"Lazy Tooru."

Of course, I didn't utter the mad ravings that would only be perceived as dangerous when directed at an elementary schooler, lines sweeter or smellier than "My supervision from my girlfriend has been strict, you know. But if I don't see your face at least once, making my life happy becomes even stricter."

"High school students are busy with various things, you know."

*Like shoplifting at the store, or searching for porn mags in the woods, or kidnapping elementary schoolers (these are merely examples).*

"Reaaally? Nee-chan says she's bored every day-ssu. Me, I go to girls' soccer, and the dojo, and softball, so I'm busier than Nee-chan, y'know-ssu."

Itsuki imitated her sister's verbal tic, creating a carefree atmosphere. I personally have arbitrarily assessed and predicted that this child has a personality unsuited for competitive activities like ball games or martial arts. However, she seems likely to stick with her lessons for a long time.

Still, she might be busier than not just her sister, but me too. My holidays are... well, no need to reflect on them. They're the kind of modest holidays where if I recorded them on video and watched them objectively later, I'd feel enough shame to probably spurt blood from my nose.

Following Itsuki's lead, I was invited towards the bed. The cheerful Itsuki was humming a tune one beat off tempo. For some reason, I seem to have been registered as quite a favorite. Maybe she's just excited by the arrival of someone to relieve her boredom, since she has no one else to play with.

Just like before, Itsuki settled onto the bed. I borrowed the chair beside it, leaned my crutches against the wall, and sat with my back to the window. The sunlight hitting my back felt different from the warmth of the room's heating, tepidly warm.