Visiting Sick Mom Sakayanagi

By the time they left the library, night had fully fallen. The evening breeze swept along the corridor tiles, carrying the chill of nightfall and rustling softly at their clothes.

Kiryu Yume slowed his pace and walked alongside Kamuro Masumi for a while before turning his head.

"Mom Kamuro."

Kamuro Masumi did not answer. Her gaze remained fixed straight ahead, the tip of her shoe absently grinding over a faint line in the floor tile.

"What floor does Mom Sakayanagi live on?"

"The girls' floor. Boys aren't allowed up there."

They walked a few steps in silence. The corridor lights cast two short shadows beneath their feet, slowly trailing behind them.

Kiryu Yume spoke again, with the stubborn persistence of a cat that had fixed on its nest.

"Take me up there."

"She has a fever all by herself and didn't even eat dinner. If I don't go check on her, I won't be able to sleep tonight. Can you really bear to see me dozing off in class tomorrow and getting called out by Teacher Mashima to stand as punishment?"

"...What does you being punished have to do with me?" Her words were tough, but her fingers quietly tightened around her bag strap.

"Then onegai, watashi..."

"Fine, fine. I really can't stand you."

The two walked to the end of the corridor and turned up the stairs. At the entrance to the girls' floor, Kamuro Masumi paused and glanced sideways down the empty hallway. The corridor light flickered across her jawline. Only after confirming that no one was around did she lift her chin, signaling for him to follow.

Stopping before the room at the very end, she did not knock. She pressed her fingertips against the door and gave it a gentle push. The hinges made no sound as the door silently opened.

"Keep it down when you go in."

Kiryu Yume slipped inside sideways. Kamuro Masumi followed, closing the door behind her. The lock clicked softly back into place, light as a sigh.

The room's main light was off. Only a small lamp on the bedside table was lit, its glow dim, yellow, and soft. The warm light barely covered the edge of the bed and half the pillow, while the rest of the room lay steeped in mild shadows.

Sakayanagi Arisu leaned against the headboard, wrapped in a thin blanket and holding a half-open book.

Hearing them enter, she closed the book and looked up. A faint trace of surprise appeared in her eyes when she saw them, then quickly became her usual composed expression, as though she had expected him to come—just not this soon.

"You came."

Her voice was less than half as loud as usual, as though softened by a layer of mist, carrying a barely noticeable nasal tone.

She still wore a smile, but it only rested on the surface and never reached her eyes. The color had drained completely from her face, and her lips were pale as well, making her seem noticeably thinner than usual. Even her shoulders drooped slightly.

Kiryu Yume walked to the bedside and crouched down, bringing his gaze level with hers. He first glanced at the bedside table: half a cup of cold water, a box of opened fever medicine with only one pill missing, and a book lying face-down. The three items sat there quietly, carrying the desolate air of someone left uncared for.

Something sank softly in his chest. He turned back and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead.

She was burning up, yet her skin was covered in a thin layer of cold sweat, cool and damp against his hand. He stayed still for two seconds, his fingers unconsciously curling as if he wanted to grasp some of that scorching heat.

Sakayanagi Arisu did not pull away. Only after he finished checking her temperature and withdrew his hand did she softly say,

"...Your hand is colder than I am."

Kiryu Yume did not argue, because it was true.

He drew his hand back and lightly rubbed it against his pant leg. After a pause, he cupped it before his mouth and breathed into it, rubbing it repeatedly until it warmed before placing it against her forehead again.

This time, the back of his hand was warm, resting steadily against her temple.

Sakayanagi Arisu's eyelashes trembled faintly, and the corner of her lips curved almost imperceptibly.

"This time, I warmed it up before checking."

She did not respond. She only lowered her eyes quietly, looking at the person crouched beside the bed.

She reached out and gently placed her fingertips on top of his head, slowly rubbing along the direction of his hair. Her fingertips brushed over the soft swirl of his hair, carrying the faintly cool temperature of her illness.

Kiryu Yume did not dodge. Instead, he tilted his head slightly, following the force of her fingers as he leaned a little to the side, like a cat unconsciously nudging toward warmth after being petted. The motion was tiny, light as a breeze. He probably had not even noticed it himself.

Sakayanagi Arisu's fingers paused in his hair for an instant.

She did not immediately draw them back. Her fingertips slowly slid down past his temple, brushed over his brow bone, and stopped on his cheek. Her finger pad rested against his warm skin, slightly damp with a thin sheen of sweat, and gently stroked once.

Kiryu Yume did not move away. He raised his eyes and looked at her. The warm yellow light fell into his eyes, glimmering faintly.

Then he turned his head slightly. His lips brushed her fingertips first, and then he extended his tongue and lightly licked the finger pad resting against his cheek.

Soft, a little cool, with the faint taste of medicine.

Sakayanagi Arisu's fingers suddenly trembled.

She did not pull them away. Lowering her gaze at him, an indescribable emotion surfaced in her eyes—part surprise, part as though something had softly touched her heart.

"...The little cat has learned bad habits."

She withdrew her hand, lightly rubbing her fingertips against the edge of the thin blanket as though trying to preserve some lingering sensation. The soft warmth of his tongue still remained on her fingertips.

Then she lowered her eyes. In the shadows beyond the lamp's reach, the tips of her ears quietly turned a faint pink.

The air fell silent for several seconds, with only the subtle hum of the bedside lamp's current remaining.

"...You haven't had dinner, right?" Kiryu Yume spoke first, keeping his voice low. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly, as if he were suppressing a heart that was pounding wildly.

"I wasn't really hungry." She lightly shook her head, fatigue in the corners of her eyes. Even her breathing seemed feather-light as she spoke.

He picked up the box of fever medicine and checked the dosage instructions under the light. He removed one pill and set it beside the coaster, then picked up the cold water. After pausing, he turned and went into the bathroom, poured it out, washed the cup, and returned with a cup of warm water, setting it securely on the bedside table.

"Take the medicine first. I'll go downstairs and buy some porridge."

Without waiting for Sakayanagi Arisu's response, he braced himself against the bed and prepared to stand.

"...I'll go buy it." Kamuro Masumi's voice came from beside the door, flat and without inflection.

Kiryu Yume turned to look at her. Kamuro Masumi straightened up and lowered her arms from in front of her chest. Her face remained expressionless, but her gaze rested on Sakayanagi Arisu's pale profile. After half a second, she quickly shifted it away to the wall.

"You stay here and watch her. I'll be fine," he said.

Kamuro Masumi did not reply. She opened the door and walked out, deliberately closing it gently enough not to make a sound. That counted as agreement.

When he returned, he carried a convenience store bag that swayed lightly at his side. Inside were a bowl of plain porridge, a bottle of sports drink, and a pack of wet towels.

When he entered, he found Kamuro Masumi sitting in the chair beside the bed, holding the cup of warm water he had just poured, her fingers wrapped around its side.

Kiryu Yume set the sports drink on the bedside table, opened the porridge and poured it into a bowl to cool. He tore open the wet towel package, carefully folded one into a rectangle, then bent down and gently laid it over Sakayanagi Arisu's forehead.

The towel was pleasantly cool, just enough to suppress her burning heat.

Sakayanagi Arisu closed her eyes, her long lashes casting a small shadow beneath them.

After a little while, Sakayanagi Arisu opened her eyes and found him still holding that position, his fingertips near the towel's edge and his gaze fixed unwaveringly on her face.

"...You can sit on the bed."

"I am sitting." He curved his lips into a smile, withdrew his hand, picked up the bowl of porridge, and gently stirred it with a spoon to let out the heat.

The porcelain spoon tapped against the bowl with soft, fragmented clinks that sounded especially clear in the quiet room.

Sakayanagi Arisu watched him for a while.

Then she reached out. Rather than taking the bowl, she grasped the wrist of the hand holding it.

Her fingertips gently clasped his wrist bone. The slim, hard bone pressed against her finger pads, and with a slight tug, she drew his hand a little closer. Lowering her head, she drank a spoonful of porridge from his hand.

Kiryu Yume's hand suddenly stiffened.

The warmth of her fingertips lingered on his wrist bone, soft and light, like a feather drifting down upon it. He could even smell the faint, cool fragrance around her, mingled with medicine, drifting in with her breath and curling around the tip of his nose, making his heart skip a beat.

She lifted her head, looking as composed as ever, as though she had merely done something completely ordinary.

"Hot."

"...I already let it cool," Kiryu Yume said, lowering his head to look at the porridge as though genuinely checking its temperature. Only he knew that his voice was softer than before, while his fingers had tightened slightly and the bowl had nearly slipped from his grip.

"Even after cooling, it's still hot."

She released his wrist and lightly patted the back of his hand, as though soothing a cat with raised fur, signaling for him to put down the bowl.

Sakayanagi Arisu took the bowl again and slowly drank by herself, one mouthful at a time, at the temperature he had cooled it to.

The steam from the porridge rose around her, finally bringing a faint flush to her cheeks.

After she had finished more than half the bowl, Kiryu Yume sat beside her and waited, occasionally reaching up to adjust the wet towel when it was about to slide off her forehead.

Each time he raised his hand, Sakayanagi Arisu's spoon paused for half a beat. Her eyelashes lowered slightly, as though she instinctively waited for his hand to settle before continuing.

Kamuro Masumi stood beside the desk on the other side of the room. She neither sat down nor spoke.

She sorted the books Sakayanagi Arisu had scattered over the desk into page order, her fingertips brushing along their edges. Then she took the cup of cooled water to pour it out, washed the cup clean, and placed it upside down on the drying rack.

Throughout it all, she kept her back to the two of them. The line of her neck was drawn taut and straight, as though she were deliberately avoiding something.

The streetlights outside shone in, casting a small patch of light at the tips of her shoes. She stood at the boundary of light and shadow, never once turning around.

Kiryu Yume glanced at her, but could only see the tense outline of her profile, as though she had merely done those things in passing.

After Sakayanagi Arisu finished the porridge, she set the empty bowl back on the bedside table. Kiryu Yume took it and put it aside, then touched her forehead with the back of his hand again. Her burning temperature had gone down a little, and only then did his furrowed brow ease slightly.

"The medicine?"

"I haven't taken it yet."

"Take it now."

Sakayanagi Arisu looked at him. There was a trace of fresh amusement in her gaze, as though she found it a little interesting that he was speaking to her in such a commanding tone.

She did not argue. She swallowed the fever medicine with warm water, then leaned back against the headboard again. The weariness between her brows deepened, and even sitting upright seemed to take effort.

The light was dim, yellow, and soft. The room remained quiet for a long while, filled only with shallow breathing and the indistinct hum of distant streetlights outside the window.

After resting for a while, her breathing grew steadier. Only then did she open her eyes again and look at Kiryu Yume. She lightly changed the subject as though merely asking in passing, yet it carried her usual careful consideration.

"Earlier, I asked you to observe the different classes. Did you find any opponents worth paying attention to?"