Once I made it home, I put a cool cloth over my head and lay down in bed for a few hours. Slowly, my overheated brain began to cool and my thoughts started to return to normal. My body felt sluggish, so I checked my temperature to see I still had a slight fever.
"Ugh. What a waste of time."
It was already evening. I scowled out of the window at the crimson light of the sunset, lamenting just how inefficient the day had been. I had messages on LIME from Ozu, Mashiro, and Sumire to ask how I was doing. The truth was I was very far from okay, but they didn't really need to know, so I just told them I was doing okay.
There was a mountain of problems in front of me that I needed to tackle. The most efficient thing I could do was probably to make a hierarchy and pick where to start. I began to set my clunky brain into action again when I was rudely interrupted by my front door opening, without even a knock to accompany it.
I could hear Iroha's footsteps from the hallway. I readied myself to snap at her for breaking in like this, and to ask her just what her deal was at lunchtime. But after a while, I realized she wasn't coming to the bedroom. I strained my ears. There was the sound of running water, along with a rhythmic knocking.
"The hell is she doing?"
I went to the living room to find Iroha standing in the attached kitchen. "Oh, hi Senpai. Are you sure you should be up?" Iroha glanced at me,
wiping her hands on the apron she was wearing over her uniform.
There was a pot on top of the stove. It looked like she was making rice
porridge.
"Yeah, should be fine."
"Glad to hear it. Y'know, I was pretty worried when I heard you left in
the middle of the day." Iroha smiled at me gently.
I know what you're thinking, but Iroha can be nice sometimes. This kind
of "nice," though, seemed a little off. Not to mention her uniform was perfectly buttoned up, and she wasn't wearing her usual headphones. I instantly recognized what this was. She was in "Little Miss Perfect Honor Student" mode.
"You should take it easy if you need to. I'll let you know when the porridge is done, so just go ahead and lie down again if you want."
"Gnrgh." I made a strange noise as goosebumps crawled over my skin.
What was all this about? She knew she didn't need to keep up this act at my place, so what exactly was she planning?
"Don't worry, I'm not up to anything shady," Iroha said without turning around, as though she just read my mind.
I decided the best course of action would be to go back to my bedroom as I was told. I lay on my bed restlessly for a few minutes until Iroha came in, carrying the pot with her.
"Hopefully this won't be too hard to digest. Think you can handle it?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah." I tried to sit up, but Iroha stopped me.
"Don't push yourself. I'll feed it to you."
"No, that's okay. I'll eat it by myself."
"Please, I insist. It's a kouhai's job to take care of her senpai when he's
not feeling well, you know."
"Now you're just exaggerating."
"I am not. I can't remember the last time you left school early. You're
always saying that your body is a temple, right? And how that's how you stay healthy."
Yup. That was my philosophy.
"I think you overworked yourself without even realizing," Iroha continued.
"Yeah... Maybe you're right."
"Exactly. So please let me help you get better. You always do so much for me, so please let me do something for you for once."
"O-Okay." I nodded obediently.
It looked like she was going to keep this up. Iroha took the lid from the pot, filling the room with steam and the scent of stock. It was a simple dish
with few ingredients, but that just made it look all the more appetizing. On one side of the tray was a small plate of chopped spring onion. She had prepared enough so that I could have as much as I wanted.
Iroha scooped up a small spoonful of porridge, then began to blow on it. "Y-You don't have to go that far."
"Of course I do. We wouldn't want you burning your tongue." Iroha
moved the spoon towards me. "Okay, Senpai. Say 'aah.'"
God, this was so embarrassing.
"Oh, Senpai, don't make that face! There's nothing uncomfortable about
this. It's all part of nursing you back to good health!"
I started doubting whether the girl in front of me really was Kohinata
Iroha. Even as my stomach churned with embarrassment, I took the spoon into my mouth. The delicious porridge spread over my tongue. There wasn't much more taste than the mildly salty broth, but it was perfectly seasoned without being too strong or too weak. The temperature was perfect too, thanks to Iroha blowing on it. I could feel my body growing comfortably warm.
"It's good," I said.
"Glad to hear it." Iroha smiled, passing me another spoonful.
She gave me just the right amount of time to swallow what I had before
passing me some more. The very moment I thought about having a drink, she passed me some tea. The perfect way she took care of me put some of the experienced nurses and care workers I'd seen to shame.
I was so relaxed and comfortable that I was shocked when I realized I'd finished it all.
"Th-Thanks," I said.
"It's my pleasure. Oh, Senpai, you're dribbling." Iroha pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed gently at the corner of my lip.
"O-Oh. Whoops."
"Don't worry about it. You're just tired, and I don't mind cleaning it up for you like this."
I didn't know what else to say, so I said nothing at all.
"Can I do anything else for you? Nothing is too much."
"No, that's okay, thanks."
"All right. Well, I wouldn't want to get in your way, so I'll leave as soon
as I've finished washing up. Make sure you get some rest, okay?"
And with that, Iroha was gone. I listened to the sounds of her washing up
before she finally locked the door.
Peace. Quiet. And then...
"Just kiddin'! You really thought I'd just head off home, huh?!"
Actually, that didn't happen. From her arrival right up until her departure,
Iroha was perfectly civilized. She was gentle, considerate, and totally patient. It was like she was trying to show me that she could be the complete opposite of the annoying girl I always complained about.
I didn't really know what she was thinking, but she definitely didn't have me fooled. This was Iroha we were talking about. The most annoying, cheeky, in-your-face girl I ever had the displeasure of meeting. Putting on an air of kindness like this was just creepy. Even if she wasn't planning to jump through my window and start laughing at me because of how I reacted, I still couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Trying to work things out in my head was pointless, so I decided to go right to the source. I took out my phone and opened up LIME to send Iroha a message.
Aki: What was that all about? You know you can drop the whole perfect act when you're with me, right?
She read it almost immediately.
Iroha: I thought you liked girls who act like that? All prim and proper. So? You happy now? I was way more bearable then, right? I'm never gonna annoy you ever again, dum-dum!
I couldn't help but feel relieved that her message read like her usual annoying self, but I quickly realized something. She was doing the complete opposite of what Mashiro was doing.
Mashiro was being completely sweet to me on LIME, but cold and harsh in real life. Meanwhile, Iroha was being a total sweetheart in the real world, but a bitch online. An interesting observation, perhaps, but I was still nowhere near being able to figure out why they were both being like this.
When I was trying to figure out what a girl was thinking, I'd usually go to Iroha for advice, but of course I couldn't this time. That left two "girls" left who I could turn to. Murasaki Shikibu-sensei, and Otoi-san, the sound engineer who helped record Iroha's lines for us. I didn't have to tell you what was wrong with the first of those two, but even Otoi-san was a little, well, different from your average girl.
My smartphone began to vibrate, interrupting my thoughts. It was Ozu.
"Hey, Ozu. What's up?"
"I got this feeling in my gut like you were in trouble, so I thought I'd call. How're you feeling?"
"Oh, so you've developed psychic powers now."
It wouldn't surprise me after all the crazy stuff that happened today, but Ozu left out a laugh. "Not at all, my dude. I just made this device that monitors your heartbeat 24/7. Lets me know—or guess at least—what's going through your head most of the time."
"Uh... Not gonna lie, that sounds kinda creepy."
"Yeah, 'cause it's a joke. Can you imagine the profits I'd make if I really did create a device like that? I'd be living the high life."
"Don't joke around like that. Knowing you, you'd probably do it and make it look like a breeze."
"Anyway, truth is, Iroha just got back and shut herself in her room without even saying hi. Did something happen between you two?"
"Oh. I guess so, yeah." I was about to launch into a tirade of how frustrating she was being, but quickly stopped myself.
Even if he didn't acknowledge it himself, Ozu was pretty good at attracting chance encounters with beautiful girls. Maybe he'd be able to give me some advice. Thing is, I didn't want to tell him about Mashiro's confession.
Despite her shy nature, Mashiro had a real sense of pride. Not only that, but she showed extraordinary courage when she worked through her fears to walk a new path in life. Finally, I knew that exposing her true feelings wasn't something that came naturally to her.
With all that in mind, imagine what would happen if I told anyone that she confessed to me. She might actually crawl into a hole and die. Or, more realistically speaking, there was a real risk of her returning to her shut-in lifestyle; just when she managed to shake free from it too. How different would I be from her bullies if I caused something like that to happen?
Okay, now let's lose the holier-than-thou attitude. If Mashiro's confession really got out and her dad found out, I'd be toast.
I heard Ozu laugh again while I was still trying to work out what to say.
"I'm guessing there's something you can't tell me, since you're taking your sweet time."
"Y'know, it's really great to have a friend like you who can pick up on
stuff without needing it explained."
"It's 'cause I know you so well, or I'd like to think I do. Don't worry; if
you can't tell me, I'm not gonna make you. It does mean there's not much I can do to help, though. You gonna be okay working it out by yourself?"
"I'm gonna have to be. This is something I gotta work out alone."
Mashiro's confession and Iroha's bad mood. All of it was still a tangled mess in my brain, but there was one thing that talking to Ozu made me realize. This wasn't a problem I could shove onto anybody else. It was something I needed to solve by myself.
"Thanks, Ozu."
"Huh? I didn't do anything."
"You did. You called me at just the right time. You really are my rock,
y'know."
No matter how stormy my life got, Ozu was always there to give me a
resting place. He always seemed to get the timing right too, like he was pre- programmed to respond in my time of need. His presence really was reassuring, and I hoped he'd stick by me for the years to come. If not for my sake, then for his own.
Wait, I'm getting lost in those old memories again...
I quickly changed the subject.
"I wanna do something about Iroha, but I think I'll need your help with something."
"Sure. What is it?"
"D'you think you could help deal with Makigai Namako-sensei for me?" That was the third slice of problem cake on my plate. As the 05th Floor
Alliance's leader, I also needed to do something about the terrible scenarios he came up with. I was normally kind of wary of micromanaging too much, but in this case, something had to be done.
"Ah, right. Hmm."
"I was just about to let him know we rejected them. Not looking forward to it, though."
I'd never had to do it before, after all. Makigai Namako-sensei's work had never failed to move me. I read his debut series more times than I could count, and every time he sent me a new chapter for Koyagi, my heart pounded with excitement as I read. It wasn't just because he was a member of my team either. He really did have a remarkable talent.
That was why the thought of rejecting his scenarios pained me so much. But it had to be done. As his producer—no, as an ardent fan of his—I had to do it. I had to tell him that his weirdly fluffy, sugary-sweet story just didn't fit in the world we'd built.
I didn't know how to phrase it, though. If I told him it was "boring," he could just come back and tell me that was a matter of taste.
"...So I'd appreciate it if you could back me up," I concluded.
"Got it. If he starts arguing back, I'll chime in and say I agree with you." "That'd be great. I mean, he probably thinks it's good, or he wouldn't
have written it, so if I went in alone it'd just be his word against mine." "Right. You can count on me."
"Thanks a bunch. I'll message him now, in the group chat."
"I'll keep an eye out."
Now that both of us were on board, I hung up. Just where would I be without Ozu?
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