"..."
Kirishima Ai opened her mouth, then hesitated, a little embarrassed to speak.
But then she remembered what Teacher Haihara had said earlier...
"...It's probably a little way down the road to the right after you leave."
"Then rest for a while. I'll go out and buy some medicine."
Haihara reached out again and touched Kirishima Ai's forehead. It felt even hotter than before.
She asked, but there wasn't a thermometer in the house, either.
She really had no idea how this girl had managed to live alone for so long.
After that, Haihara took the key and went out to buy medicine and a thermometer.
After taking Kirishima Ai's temperature for about five minutes, Haihara pulled out the thermometer and examined it closely.
Thirty-eight point five degrees.
It was a little worse than she'd expected. At the very least, Kirishima Ai probably wouldn't be able to go to school tomorrow.
Kirishima Ai was lying on the bedding now. Her normally fair face was flushed an unnatural red, and she looked fragile and pitiful.
Haihara poured a glass of water and watched Kirishima Ai obediently take the fever reducer.
But after that, she didn't seem to have anything else to do.
She really wanted to go home, but she couldn't leave a sick person alone.
She checked the small refrigerator in Kirishima Ai's home. There were ingredients inside, but they were a jumbled assortment and not particularly suitable for someone who was ill.
After a while, Kirishima Ai, half-conscious, heard a bubbling sound, as if something was being boiled. Then she smelled something delicious.
The room, which had been a little chilly, also grew slightly warmer.
She lifted her head and saw Haihara cooking in the kitchen, wearing only a white shirt.
Calling it a kitchen was a bit of a stretch. It was in the same room, taking up less than four square meters.
Not long afterward, Haihara turned off the heat, took out a bowl, served up what she'd made, and slowly walked over to Kirishima Ai.
Kirishima Ai glanced at it. It was plain rice porridge.
Haihara had added pickled plums, which she'd originally planned to use for rice balls.
Holding the steaming bowl of porridge, Haihara scooped up a spoonful and gently blew on it. Once it stopped steaming, she brought it to Kirishima Ai's lips.
Kirishima Ai looked a little confused.
"Ah."
Haihara said it coolly.
As if she were coaxing a child.
Kirishima Ai obediently opened her mouth, and Haihara fed her a spoonful of porridge.
It was still quite hot.
She burned her tongue, but it was bearable.
Plain porridge, of course, didn't taste like much. There was a faint sour and salty flavor from the pickled plum, and it certainly wasn't delicious.
But she didn't have much of an appetite anyway, so it made little difference.
"Is it hot?"
"A little."
Haihara showed no expression as she scooped up another spoonful, this time blowing on it for longer.
Perhaps because they were so close, Kirishima Ai could still smell Haihara's grown-up perfume, even though her sense of taste wasn't working well.
After a while, Haihara offered her another spoonful.
This time, it wasn't so hot.
After finishing a bowl of porridge, Kirishima Ai felt a little warmth in her stomach.
She'd barely eaten anything at lunchtime, either.
"What about you, teacher?"
"I'll eat in a little while."
Kirishima Ai tilted her head and spoke in a voice as faint as a mosquito's:
"I mean, tonight..."
"I'll stay with you."
Teacher Haihara's voice was still as even as ever. Kirishima Ai couldn't tell what she was feeling, or whether she was angry or happy.
"What about your family, teacher?"
"I'll just let them know."
Her only family at home was that little idol, anyway.
"Oh..."
In other words...
The two of them would be spending the night together in this tiny rental apartment.
Before, she probably never would have imagined things turning out like this: being cared for by Teacher Haihara, and even staying under the same roof.
And in such a tiny room, too.
Haihara looked around.
"Do you usually live here alone?"
"Yeah."
She'd lived by herself like this for two or three years. The apartment was close to the middle school she'd attended, but getting to high school meant riding her bicycle.
"Where are your parents?"
It was hard to imagine what kind of parents wouldn't come pick her up in weather like this.
"My dad works out of town."
Her parents had divorced. Her father paid for her tuition and living expenses, and she worked part-time to earn money, too. She had no idea what her mother was doing.
Ever since the monster incident when she was little, which had led to her younger sister getting hurt, her parents' relationship had grown worse and worse.
Eventually they divorced. She lived with her father now, while Hina lived with their mother.
"I heard you have a younger sister."
"Yeah."
"Are you close?"
"...Pretty close."
Though something had happened recently that left her feeling a little down.
Kirishima Ai's mood darkened again.
Seeing that Kirishima Ai looked tired, Haihara decided not to keep talking. She stroked Kirishima Ai's cheek and said calmly:
"It's all right. Get some rest."
"Teacher, um... There's hot water at my place."
Kirishima Ai explained how to heat water for a bath and where to find an unused towel.
After that, she grew a little drowsy and slowly drifted off on the bedding.
The next time she woke, Kirishima Ai vaguely heard the sound of a shower. She came to groggily, her mind still hazy and muddled.
Her head still hurt after she woke up. She was probably still running a fever. She needed to use the bathroom, so she slowly crawled off the bedding.
After a while, the water stopped. She didn't think much of the sound she'd heard; she was probably hallucinating because of the fever.
Thinking this, she reached the bathroom door and quickly opened it.
She suddenly noticed that the light was still on.
A little more alert now, Kirishima Ai felt as if she'd overlooked something.
"Sorry, I'm still using the bathroom."
A cool voice suddenly came from beside Kirishima Ai.
She turned her gaze and saw a beautiful, somewhat aloof woman standing there, wearing nothing but black lace-trimmed underwear as she dried her wet hair with a towel.
The rest of her fair skin and graceful figure were completely exposed.
Kirishima Ai awkwardly turned her face away, and her pale cheeks instantly flushed red.
"Teacher... I'm sorry, I..."
"What is it?"
Haihara looked at her in confusion as she began putting on her clothes, one piece at a time.
"...It's nothing."
Kirishima Ai's face turned bright red, as if steam were rising from her head. She didn't know if it was because of the fever or something else. She immediately shut the door, leaving Haihara alone in the bathroom.
Haihara didn't react much. She just thought the girl's fever hadn't gone down yet.
She wasn't the sort of person who was obsessive about cleanliness, but in summer, she still needed to bathe every day.
Besides, while she was staying at Kirishima Ai's place today, she didn't seem to have any clean clothes to change into.
After getting dressed, she walked out of the bathroom.
When she came out, she saw Kirishima Ai sitting there for some reason as if she'd been made to stand at attention.
Haihara went over and touched the girl's forehead again.
"Mm... Your fever seems to have gone down a little."
Then why had her face been so red just now?
Teacher's Virtue UP
That night, a new bedroll was laid out in the Kirishima home. The apartment was small to begin with, so the two of them were practically sleeping side by side.
Since there wasn't a second pillow, they folded up a winter quilt and used it instead.
It was surprisingly comfortable.
Usually, Haihara didn't go to bed until around eleven or twelve, but since Kirishima Ai was sick, they turned off the lights a little after nine that night.
The cramped room grew dim at once, lit only by the streetlamp outside the window, which wasn't very bright.
Before bed, Haihara took Kirishima Ai's temperature one last time.
To her surprise, it had already dropped below thirty-eight degrees.
Perhaps that was because the other girl was a magical girl, with a stronger constitution than ordinary people.
As far as Haihara could remember, magical girls rarely came down with fevers while in their ordinary state.
Usually, they only lost the protection of their magic and became as vulnerable as ordinary people when they were feeling extremely low.
So perhaps something had happened lately to make this girl feel awful?
Haihara looked at Kirishima Ai and saw that she was still awake, blinking at her.
Ever since accidentally barging into the bathroom earlier, the girl had barely said a word.
She was probably embarrassed.
"...Teacher."
Kirishima Ai suddenly called out to Haihara.
Before you continue