Chapter 13: Vol 1 Chapter 3

Mission 3

Right after running through the corridor and jumping through the doorway Yata grabbed the door and managed a sharp stop. He threw his bag on Hanayama’s desk, which was the first seat in the first row next to the corridor, and sat on the seat backwards. Yata was facing Fushimi’s desk which was the second in the row.

“Hey, Fushimi.”

Like usual Fushimi who was tampering with his PDA with a bored expression, glanced up, responded with only an “Ah” and returned Yata’s gaze. For Yata that kind of weak reaction was still dissatisfying but he pulled himself together and started a one-sided conversation about yesterday’s anime—-

That was the pattern Yata’s mornings in the last month had been following.

However today, halfway though June, Yata was sitting quietly at his own table, watching the empty seat three seats in front of him worryingly.

Fushimi sure is late today…

The looks of the former Yata-team, which was gathered at a desk near the window chatting idly, flickered at the edge of Yata’s view. Don’t mind it, don’t mind it, he warned himself and tried to not turn his eyes their way.

Isn’t Yata-kun alone today? Lately Yata-kun has been hanging out with Fushimi, right? Isn’t that just because they both don’t have any friends —- In reality their conversation wasn’t restricted to just that topic but their whispering voices reached his ears so that Yata could hear them.

The reason why I’m hanging out with Fushimi is not because we are loners! Fushimi is really amazing! Yata leaned back in his chair haughtily and dropped his legs on the desk with a thud. Unfortunately the teacher who entered the classroom in that moment saw him and yelled: “Yata! Don’t put your shoes on the desk!”

In the end, Fushimi didn’t come that day. Maybe he wasn’t feeling well. Yata wanted to inquire Fushimi’s state, but the truth was one month had passed since they started to hang out and Yata still knew neither Fushimi’s phone number nor mail address. “Let’s exchange addresses!” he had once said while pulling out his PDA, but Yata had been turned down.

“Eh, why?” quite hurt, Yata had asked for the reason.

“I don’t wanna enter somebody’s data.” ….had been the answer.

I don’t get that guy. He had come with them when they had chased the blimp and Yata hadn’t expected for Fushimi to turn him down like this.

The seasons had entered the rainy season. For three days it had been raining nonstop and coming to school by bicycle had slowly turned into a nasty thing, which was why Yata was temporarily using the bus to commute. If he was on his bike, he could drive it in high spirits despite being alone, but driving on the bus alone was something Yata did not like.

Yata could see how on the other side of the soggy corridor a group of girls from another class came in his direction so he stepped aside a bit and walked past them. The girls passed by him while talking in high pitched voices. Walking closely behind this group was a girl of small build, carrying a backpack with bunny ears growing out of it. It was Aya who walked with somewhat weary steps, but as soon as she noticed Yata she waved cheerfully. “Ah, Misaki-kun! Ya~hoo!”

The bunny ears on her back also quickly switched from miserable to energetic. As Aya ran up to Yata, she seemed to want to hug him again and as a reflex Yata took on a fighting pose.

“Mm? A counter attack?” Aya made a sharp stop about a meter in front of Yata and took on the same pose.

The facial expression she made right in front of him looked just like Fushimi’s in the dim light and Yata once again realized that those two were indeed related, so he tried to ask Aya.

“Hey, Fushimi’s absent today, do you maybe why? Has he maybe caught a cold?”

“There is, like, no way I’d know. Please do not ask me anything about Saruhiko.”

“O- okay.”

Yata’s shoulders dropped but Aya had an expression on her face as if she had just remembered something. “Now that I think about it, it’s already mid-June” she said and turned her eyes to the rainy scenery. “Which means that guy should come home soon.”

“’That guy’?”

“Father. Saruhiko’s. He’s a guy who comes home only about once a month.”

The way Aya talked about Fushimi’s father left no doubt that they really were related, but judging from her way of speaking she didn’t seem to respect him at all.

“I know that his mom is the head of some company, but what does Fushimi’s father do?”

Usually Yata wasn’t really interested in the profession of his friends’ parents, but how Aya talked about Fushimi’s parents, how she made them into joke material and sneered at them, had caught his interest already a while ago.

He only goes home once a month…..so they don’t live together or what?

“You mean work? He doesn’t really do anything? Aya’s mama always says that he’s, like, a good-for-nothing who only has a pretty face. Ah, papa and that guy are cousins, so mama isn’t related to him at all. And, like, the one mama totally hates is Saruhiko’s mother. Even though that woman is a beauty and competent, she only has a discerning eyesfor men but won’t be ruined anyway…..well, that’s jealousy talking. That’s only because mama, like, feels superior to Saruhiko’s mother. Although aside from marrying papa, mama has no good points whatsoever.”

Aya’s voice was poisonous and it felt like it was encroaching all the way up to Yata. He wondered if Fushimi’s environment while he had grown up hadn’t been so unique if he then maybe would not have turned into such a difficult person. Though it exceeded Yata’s comprehension how one could say rude things about relatives or have some kind of superiority complex.

Somehow…….that’s an awful family. Aya’s, too.

“Are you, like, worrying about Saruhiko, Misaki-kun?”

“Of course, we’re friends after all. It’s normal to worry. If there’s a way to go to Fushimi and talk with him, then I’d always……”

“Misaki-kun can somehow do anything, says Aya” her voice sounded awfully harsh.

“Oogai……?”

Yata was a bit bewildered, but Aya immediately returned to her usual self.

“Anyway, we should, like, do a mission challenge together again. This time Aya won’t let Saruhiko interrupt and Aya will clear the mission. Right, Misaki-kun—-”

The rest of what Aya said went in one ear and left the other.

That’s right, thought Yata. If there’s some kind of problem, you can depend on me!

He imagined that if he’d say something Fushimi’d be irritated and shove it away. “If you want gratitude, then ask somebody else.” – if Fushimi would say something like that again, Yata’d be really hurt, but…..

“Sorry, I just remembered I have something to do in the staff room.”

“Eh, Misaki-kun?”

Yata turned around and started running down the corridor. Unfortunately a teacher who passed by saw him and yelled: “Yata! Don’t run in the hall!”

†

“There has to be some print I need to bring over, right!?” - with this Yata argued the teacher into giving him Fushimi’s address. He took a copy of something that wasn’t really that urgent and got on a bus in a direction he had never been to before. Because he needed a “pretext” for himself, anything would have sufficed.

“What a big house….”

He looked up at the house from under his umbrella and felt intimidated for a moment. It looked like it had come out of a stylish movie from a foreign country, and the facade made out of red bricks of the western-style building had many windows with double doors facing to the front. The house was build in a way that it seemed to fall onto the cars on the main street with which it was connected. Yata stretched his body under the umbrella and tried to count the windows he could see on the front. He bend too much and raindrops fell on his face.

“Ah, okay. This is an apartment. There’s no way all of this is Fushimi’s house, right?”

There was an intercom next to the bronze-colored solid door and Yata tried pressing it, thinking that was how he could call the person in charge. Because there was a camera attached to it Yata made a serious face and waited, but there was no reaction.

“Is nobody home or what….”

Yata walked along the wall and impulsively peeked into a window in the first floor. The indoors was even darker than the outdoors with its bad weather and he couldn’t figure out what was inside at all, his face was the only thing reflected in the glass. He returned to the front door and when he tried to grab the pretty door knob which was sculpted like a drop…. it turned.

“Geh, I opened it.”

When he pulled the knob a gush of cool and wet air worse than the air outdoors poured out. While wondering what he should do now, Yata craned his neck and when had just slid his face through the door the PDA in his trouser pocket vibrated and scared him so much that he jumped. When he pulled back his head and looked at his PDA it was from Aya. The amount of girls’ contact information were extremely little in Yata’s PDA.

“Y- Yyyyyes Oogai? Wha- what’s up?”

“Misaki-kun, you went to Saruhiko’s place, right.”

“Y- yeah, how’d you know? I’m in front of the house right now…..”

He was surprised but because he was at a loss right now the phone call had come in at a perfect timing.

“Is this place an apartment?”

“No, it’s for just one family. If the door is, like, not locked then you can go in as you please.”

Yeah, I already opened it by accident.

“The door’s not locked…..that’s careless. You can tell that this is a rich household just by looking, and like this a burglar could just go for it.”

“One did enter once. It was when Saruhiko had been home alone. Since then if a thief would enter the house, instead of locking the door they just don’t place anything there that would be a great loss if it’d be stolen. They have a weird way of thinking there. Saruhiko’s room is in the second floor, the first one on the right. Aya, like, believes he’s in his room. He doesn’t eat anything the maid makes and always buys his food so if he maybe doesn’t have the strength to buy food he won’t eat anything at all, is what Aya thinks. This concludes the information from Aya. Today Aya has to accompany mama by grocery shopping no matter what, so Aya can’t come to you. Ca————n’t be helped, so Aya’s leaving it to Misaki-kun.”

Her tone was extremely snappy. Until now Yata had thought that Aya seemed to dislike Fushimi and that they had some kind of rivalry going on, but….hm? Yata cocked his head in puzzlement.

“Yes, yes, mama, I’m coming already. Well, mama’s being annoying so Aya’ll hang up now.”

“Ah, yeah, thanks.”

“When you’re done you can, like, leave right away. ‘Cause that guy’s depressing.”

After hanging up, Yata once again slid his face through the door and peered inside.

“Uhm, I’m coming in….he…..llo….”

Even though he had not spoken in a loud voice, the echo was much louder than expected and Yata got confused from the get-go. But there was no sign of anybody reacting and the house fell deadly silent. Yata folded his umbrella, leaned it next to the door and stepped inside. The entrance hall, which was build like an atrium had at its front a wide staircase that could be out of a royal palace. Unlike Yata’s home there was no place filled with kids’ shoes and the sandals of their parents, and he didn’t know where he should take off his shoes.

Is it okay to go in with shoes on…..this place was different from his own home in every aspect.

Even thought the door had not been locked it looked like nobody was home. If it would have been in a rural area okay, but they were right in the city. For Yata who had grown up in Shizume city which could not be called a safe area this was incredibly careless.

If a thief would enter anyway there are no valuable things to steal…..Yata didn’t think that was a good way to handle a possible break-in, but they sure had an other way of thinking here….

Yata kept standing open-mouthed in the entrance hall but while he lookied around nervously, he started to walk up the stairs. The first one on the right….Yata stood right in front of the door.

“Fushimi? Hey, you there?”

He knocked on the door reluctantly. Because there was no answer, Yata quietly tried to turn the door knob and this one also opened without effort. Honestly, what did they plan to do when a murderer or burglar would break in? The lights were turned off and the room lied in darkness. There was a window facing the main street in the back and through it dull light which had the color of the sky shortly before a downfall fell onto the Himuka middle school uniform hanging on the wall.

Yata turned his eyes to the bed where the blanket was bulged and formed in a triangular hill. A bluish light was flickering inside it.

“…..? Fushimi?”

Sniff, sniff. A snuffling noise was audible and the hill moved up and down. Yata got closer to the bed, lowered his head and peeked at the other side of the hill. Fushimi, who was curled up and covered in the blanket from his head on stared intently at a row of holographic displays and typed on a keyboard.

“Fu—-shi—-mi.”

Surprised, Yata had pulled out one of the earphones and spoke into Fushimi’s ear. Fushimi titled his head and turned to Yata. The blanket slipped down from his head and his face was revealed. The blue light was reflected on his pale skin and his glasses but his cheeks were clearly red.

“Yata. Why are you here?”

Fushimi had a genuinely puzzled expression and snuffled again.

“The teach forced me to bring you a print, so I came here. Did you not come to school because you’re sick?”

“Ah, not really. I’m just skipping ‘cause there’s something I wanted to finish.” said Fushimi and put the earphone back into his ear, returning to the displays. Without looking away from them, Fushimi fumbled a tissue from the tissue box and blew his nose. That he had to let his hands rest for a second seemed unfortunate and he began to hit the keyboard again.

“Uah! Are you a manga artist right before his deadline?!” yelled Yata and pulled out the earphones from both of Fushimi’s ears.

“The hell you’re just skipping! Don’t you have a normal cold?! You need to sleep quietly! The air’s kinda bad in this room, I’ll open the window for five minutes so cover yourself with the blanket.”

Yata trudged towards the window and threw it open. Because the wind wasn’t strong no raindrops were blown in. Cool air brushed his cheeks.

“There’s nobody here, but did you eat anything? Did you drink enough? Water or anything is okay, I’ll bring you some. The kitchen’s in the first floor?”

Yata looked around the room but could find neither food or drinks. What’s up with this, leaving somebody who’s sick home alone without having anything arranged for him.

“You sure are noisy for just one person…..”

Fushimi incorrigibly returning to the keyboard while uttering an ungrateful remark made Yata explode with anger.

“Hey! If I’d be your mom I’d be totally pissed! I’m asking you if you ate something!”

Yata took the earphones and PDA from Fushimi and threw it onto the table. The projected displays and keyboard disappeared midair and Fushimi clicked his tongue annoyed. “What are you doing. So annoying.”

Seriously, if he’d be Yata’s son, wouldn’t his cheekiness be totally annoying!?

“What was it you were so absorbed in doing anyway?”

“I was making a mailing app. I still need to recheck the details and debug it.”

“A mailing app? Aren’t there already plenty?”

“If you use one of those, then you’re data will be leaked. I told you before that «jungle» implants a spyware. There is a possibility that «jungle» exploits stuff like the content of your mails, personal information and everything you do with your PDA though the spyware. That’s why I thought about making an app coded by myself. If it’s only for two people to use it’s no big deal.”

Stuck at wondering that somebody could make apps and that apps were made by people, half of Fushimi’s explanation sounded like alien language to Yata and went over his head and he barely caught the last bit.

“For two people to use…..you mean, me and you?”

“You said that you wanted to exchange addresses, right, Yata. I haven’t entered any personal info that might be troublesome if it’d be seen by others in my PDA and I kept «jungle» even though it is a spyware because I didn’t care…..until now.”

While Fushimi mumbled this he drew the tissue box closer and blew his nose. So the reason why Fushimi had refused Yata’s request to exchange addresses was this, huh.

“If you don’t want it I won’t finish it though.”

“Huh? I didn’t say I don’t want it.”

Fushimi turned his head in which his nose had already become red away before he said such contrary thing to which Yata hurriedly objected. Fushimi glanced at him with half-closed eyes.

“You want it?”

“I- I want it, I want it. I really want it. It’s a hassle if I can’t contact you. But you can continue working on it after your cold’s cured.”

When Yata said that in a soft tone, Fushimi seemed somehow content with the answer.

“Did you eat something?”

When Yata brought his face closer to the pillow and asked, Fushimi shook his head as if talking was too exhausting.

“Do you think you can eat something? Ah, the maid made food for you, right? I’ll bring it to you.”

Fushimi frowned and shook his head stronger. Right, Aya had mentioned that Fushimi didn’t eat what the maid made.

“Okay then should I cook something? I might not look like it, but I have quite a culinary repertoire. I’ll make you everything you like. Though I can only make curry and fried rice.”

“Two meals aren’t ‘everything’.”

Even though he’s sick he’s still quick with retorts, huh.

“Ah, I can also make porridge. Probably. Do you have rice, eggs and flavoring? Okay, it’s decided. If it’s porridge you can eat it, right. I’ll borrow your kitchen. You sleep a bit. Ah, before that I’ll make you an ice bag.”

Unilaterally, Yata settled on the items and was about to leave the room, but because there was no response he turned around on the door to Fushimi, who wearily had his eyes closed and breathed shallowly. His condition seemed pretty bad.

“……I’ll leave the door open, so call me if there’s anything. I’ll come right away.”

Leaving the door open, Yata stepped into the hall.

Why is no adult in this house…..? Yata became angry once again. Leaving a kid who is this sick alone…..well, I’m already a middle school student and totally fine on my one and Fushimi is the same age but two, three months ago we had still been in elementary school.

“…..Ah, mom? I’m at the home from a guy from my class right now…..”

While worrying about the situation, Yata had pulled out his PDA on the stairs and had called his home.

“What? A friend from your class has a cold? Is his mother not home? She’s not…..just where did she go, leaving her child alone?”

“Dunno. Also, we’re already in middle school and no children anymore.”

“But middle school students are also children.”

“Anyway, he said he hadn’t eaten yet so I thought I’d make something for him. You know, the egg porridge you make when we’re sick. I could make that, right?”

“What if you make a fire while using their kitchen? Should I come over?”

“Huh? You don’t need to come specially for that. Also, you can’t bring Megumi with you.”

He could hear the crying of a baby on the other side. It was his little sister, Megumi.

“Just tell me how it’s done, I can do it!”

“But aren’t you all alone…..”

“Don’t say annoying things, I’ll do it just as you tell me.”

“Yata” he heard a weak voice call from the second floor.

“Hm, what’s wrong?”

Yata moved the PDA away from his mouth and looked up to the second floor, but there was nothing to hear anymore. He turned to his PDA once again.

“I’ll hang up now. Ah, I’ll probably be late today…..”

“Of course.” interrupted his mother him before he finished speaking. “Stay there until his mother comes back. If something happens, call me.”

“I got it already. How bothersome” replied Yata in a rebellious way, but he felt reassured and hung up.

He ran back upstairs and peeked into the room.

“Fushimi. What’s wrong?”

“I’m thirsty.” Was the request from within the blanket.

“Okay, what do you wanna drink?”

“Some mild grape juice. The one with zero percent fruit. Even better if it’s semi carbonated.”

“That’s a detailed request…..and ‘zero percent’, that’d be no fruit at all. Whatever. There’s a convenience store right here, right? I’ll run there real quick.”

“Change’s in the living room on the cupboard in the plate.”

“Got it.”

That the house was in the middle of the city was really convenient for shopping and a big help. When Yata started to jog down the stairs,

“Yata—”

was he called from upstairs again.

“Hm? Oh—”, looking back up to the second floor, he ran back again and glanced into the room.

“What’s it?”

“Get some ice cream, too.”

“Oh, you’re right. When you have a fever you’d like to eat some ice cream.”

“Some mild vanilla. The cheap kind.”

“Okay. D’you like mild stuff or what….”

After receiving the request Yata jogged back to the stairs, but

“……”

Something occurred to him and he stopped his feet and started to go back backwards without making any noise. He listened carefully, when

“Yata—-”

“Hah! I knew it! What else do you need?”

Yata had stuck his head through the door the moment he had been called. Looking like a baby turtle with only his head sticking out of the edge of the blanket, Fushimi froze in surprise with his mouth still open.

“I said I’d come when you’re calling, right? No matter how often you’ll test it. Are you doubting me or what” said Yata and threw his head back after letting out a deep sigh.

“I’ll hear you even when I’ll go to the store. If you want to test it out, then test it. I inherited the sharp ears from my mom. So, it’s okay….even without confirming it. Don’t worry and sleep.”

He softened his tone at the end. Yata was already remembering the conversation he had had with Fushimi on the rooftop, on the day they had chased the blimp. Yata didn’t really understand in this moment why Fushimi clung to such petty things. Having the family right at your side when you’re sick and asking for things a bit egoistically; Yata thought an experience like that was normal for everybody during their childhood, but for Fushimi it seemed to be something impossible to imagine. That a guy like Fushimi, who thought quickly and had a lot of extraordinary knowledge didn’t know anything about things that should be normal for a middle school student pained Yata somehow and made him want to cry.

“……..I just wanted you to close the window. It’s cold” grumbled Fushimi, snuffled and sluggishly pulled his head back into the blanket.

Astonished that Fushimi was not being honest, Yata walked up to the window. “Ah, yes. Sorry, I forgot about it.”

The air in the room was fresh again and the rain had subsided. Seemed like he could now go to the convenience store. When he looked back to the bed after closing the window, the breathing under the bulged blanket seemed a bit stifled, but he could hear how the breathing started to even out. If Fushimi was asleep then he might not have to hurry to buy the juice. Yata thought about making the ice bag first. He felt like Fushimi, despite knowing about computers and the internet and digits in detail might not know how to make an ice bag.

While Yata asked his mother for the instructions over the phone, which turned into an argument, he finished the preparations for the meal in the kitchen (though it’d be better to call it a galley; there was a huge refrigerator in there) and because Fushimi had not woken up yet, Yata put his head on the dining table and nodded off before he knew.

He woke up because of some fragrance. A nice smell…..a bit sweet, a bit spicy. It smelled too good, kind of tickling him…..

Somebody had brought his head down and was peering at him. When he closed his eyes for a moment his blurred sight sharpened slowly. There was a very handsome man’s face. Ah, that guy has a quiet face now but when he grows up he’ll be this handsome……After Yata had casually thought that while still half-asleep he rapidly blinked several times.

“What are you? Where’d you come from? An elementary school kid?”

“……wah!”

The chair made a crashing noise and when Yata jumped back the other man too bend back slightly. Without thinking Yata payed careful attention from next to the chair.

“Ah…….ah, um, I’m sorry for the intrusion, I’m from Fushimi’s…..Saruhiko, kun’s, class.”

“Saruhiko’s? A friend from school? Heh- I thought you were an elementary school kid.”

He was a person who spoke bluntly. Fushimi hadn’t managed an older brother, right? Was this his dad? Wow, he was young…. When Yata stared at him his gaze was returned with a grin. It wasn’t weird that in the first moment Yata had sleepily thought that it had been Fushimi as a grown up. Though the aura was different…..and he was not wearing any glasses, but the face was scarily similar and one could tell by only a glance that they were related.

His hair, which was just like Fushimi’s, was pushed back on one side and steadied with wax or something, on top of that he looked extremely good in his clothes and a sparkling awesomeness seemed to surround him. His ears were severally pierced. With his Henley shirt he wore silver accessory, black damage-styled jeans and pointy boots. This man was incredibly different from the type of “father” how Yata’s step-dad was one, an ordinary working man who was slowly approaching old age and getting a potbelly.

“Are you really Saruhiko’s age? I thought middle school kids were quite tall lately. Well, you’re just getting stated, huh. So? You’re friends with Saruhiko? What’s your name?”

“Ah, I’m Yata.”

“I asked your name so say it properly.”

“Yata……Misaki.”

“Misaki? Sure is a girly name. Amusing. They probably tease you at school, right? Kids are like that, they immediately make fun of stuff like that.”

“Uh, well…..”

His almost reflexive way of speaking made Yata’s face twitch. What a weirdly cheerful person. Yata thought that he was cheerful by nature himself, but even he couldn’t quite handle this. Despite looking just like Fushimi, their personalities were exact opposites.

“So, what’s my little monkey doing neglecting his friend like this? Hey, Saruhiko~?”

“Ah, Fushimi has a fever and is sleeping, you don’t need to wake him up” said Yata without restraining himself and hurriedly followed the man who had just left.

“Ah? In that case sleeping will just make it worse. When the blood falls to his feet, that’ll also make the fever drop, didn’t you know? Hey, come on out, Saruhiko~! There’s no way you can’t hear me! Don’t hide!”

I’ve never heard of this but….

The man said something incredibly random and while putting his hands together to form a trumpet, he walked around with a swift step.

“If you don’t come out I’ll put a mantis into your new friend’s mouth?”

Bam, made the door as it crashed into the wall in the second floor. Fushimi let it make a noise like a thunderclap and then came running down the stairs. He seemed to miss the last few steps and landed on the floor in a sitting position but he stood up right away, put on the glasses he had been holding in his hand and faced the man. He still wasn’t feeling better and his shoulders shook under the coarse breathing.

“Too easy! I smoked the monkey successfully out of its den!” said the man truly delighted and laughed.

Fushimi looked at Yata, who was standing at the side in honest confusion for a moment before he brought himself under control and returned his eyes to the man.

“Yata, leave” he said in a hoarse, low voice.

“Eh?” Yata was surprised at the sudden order, but for now put a good face on the matter. “Ah, the porridge’s done so eat it. It’s pretty good….”

“What? Your friend made you a meal, huh. How kind. Though I wonder if a kid can make something proper to eat.”

Fushimi approached Yata by stomping on the floor, ignored the man who continued to joke around and took Yata by his hand.

“I told you to leave.”

“Fushimi? Wait a mo—-”

Yata stumbled while Fushimi dragged him towards the door. He could feel the damp heat on his wrist as if a hot towel had been wrapped around it. The man who had been left behind called out in a light voice. “Saruhiko~ aren’t you being cruel, sending your kind friend away. Hey, let your friend sleep over. I bought fireworks so let’s have fun! Though they all got wet in the rain. I don’t think we can light up all of them, so how about we put one at a time on your friend’s head and try lightning it up, like russian roulette. If we’re not careful one might light up.”

“Shut up!!”

Fushimi had turned around in front of the door and yelled. Because Yata had been right next to him when he had yelled, he flinched without thinking.

“Gyahahaha, you got angry, you got angry!”

“I’ve been angry the whole time! Die!!”

Yata was pushed out the door by Fushimi. The latter also went outside and violently threw the door shut. The man had been bursting with laughter the whole time, but the heavy iron door cut off nearly all of the sound.

“Ah, my umbrella and bag….” when Yata noticed his belongings he had left behind and tried to go back, Fushimi blocked the door and covered the door knob with his hand.

“I’ll give them back to you in school.”

Fortunately the rain had already become a drizzle and he wouldn’t do his homework anyway so it’d be no problem if he didn’t have his back for the day.

“Ah, okay…. Well then, you’ll come again when you’re feeling better…?”

Fushimi nodded, barely leaning his back on the door. There were things Yata still didn’t quite understand, but Fushimi had come outside barefoot and that certainly wouldn’t help him cure his cold. His family had come back too so Yata’s job was done….though the father was kind of weird.

“Ah, eat the porridge. It came out pretty good. I tasted it so no worries. It turned into something edible.” He wasn’t sure if it was obvious, but he forced himself to speak cheerfully.

“Come to my place next time. Though there are the little ones so it might be a bit noisy. Mom told me to tell you that she’ll make dinner for us. D’you like curry? You like curry, right? Ah well, you must be getting cold so go back in. Get well soon!”

After Yata had said the things he wanted to say at once, he turned around with a light step. The night had come and the cars on the street in front of the house had increased. The light of the outdoor lamps caught the misty rain and turned it into sparkling rainbow-colored crosses.

“Yata.”

The muttered call made him stop.

“What is it, hurry up and go back in.”

“…..Today……for many things, ice cream, or something…”

After saying just that, Fushimi frowned and looked down on the ground.

Imitating his mother when she scolded the children, Yata put his hands on waist and said:

“In a moment like this you’d normally say ‘thank you’, right?”, though he immediately broke in a laugh. “You don’t need to thank me. Something like this is just normal at my place. Well then, see ya!”

†

[There was something like pineapples in the porridge, what was up with that.]

Three days later Fushimi’s self-made mailing app was done. The test mail was this one.

[Not ‘something like’, it was canned pineapples. When you’re sick at my place we specially make canned pineapples into the porridge. Also, when you have guests over you make pineapple into the curry, right?]

[No, usually not.]

[So what, pineapples are not high-class enough for you? How about melons? If it’s melons you won’t complain? Okay, when you come over the next time we’ll make melon in the curry for you.]

[I can assure you, the things that are normal at your place will never become normal at mine.]