Tokiwa had already showered, we’d helped her get dressed, gotten her a wet washcloth for her forehead, made her porridge... We’d quickly burned through the standard taking-care-of-someone activities.
“What’ll you do? If you’re bored, you two can go home.”
“NO!”
“NEVER!”
“Wow...”
Not “I’m still fine for time” or “I’ll stay a little longer,” but “NO” and “NEVER”... Man, they really were gonna make me cry today. They didn’t trust me at all.
“Then what do you guys wanna do? Even if we’re bored, we can’t just ditch Tokiwa... So how do you wanna kill time here?”
Since we couldn’t make much noise with Tokiwa trying to rest, our options were limited.
“I have the perfect idea. Let’s do our homework in the living room downstairs.”
“Boo...”
I naturally let out a groan of resistance at Satsuki’s suggestion, and she shot me some wicked side-eye.
“Rekka, you’re really racking up unexcused absences at school, so you at the very least need to do your homework. If you don’t, you’ll never make it to the next grade. We’re not in middle school anymore.”
“Ugh...”
She really hit it on the nose there. And I definitely didn’t want to repeat a grade... Man, high school is tough.
“But, hey, aren’t you in the same boat regarding unexcused absences, Satsuki? One way or another, you always end up getting caught up in my—er...”
I was about to say “stories,” but caught myself at the last second when I realized Tokiwa was in the room. That was close.
“Uh, anyway... I just have to do my homework, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” Satsuki replied.
“Then I’ll review for tomorrow’s classes, too,” said Tsumiki.
She was in a different class from us and hadn’t been assigned any homework for the day, so she was just going to study. It was probably just an excuse to hang out with us a bit longer, but I could respect that she was willing to study of her own free will. I could never do that. My head would hurt too much.
“Ah, but if we go to the living room downstairs, Tokiwa won’t be able to call for us if she needs anything.”
Her voice was so quiet that she needed to really be in someone’s personal space for them to even hear her. She’d gone downstairs to take a shower earlier, but we couldn’t have her going back and forth every time she needed something.
“You’re right. What should we do...?”
Satsuki had overlooked that point, too, and pensively put a hand to her cheek.
“Tokiwa, if it wouldn’t disturb you, could we study at the little table here in your room?”
If we were nearby, we could help her with anything she needed.
“...ah.”
That was probably an affirmative sound just now. I could barely hear her say anything, but based on the way her lips moved, I think she said, “Yeah.”
“Thanks. We’ll set up here, then.”
After clearing away the mountains of manga that had been left out on the table, the three of us spread out our worksheets and textbooks. We’d gotten together to study like this over summer break, but that was mostly at the library. Doing it at Tokiwa’s house felt a little strange. But man, summer break sure was fun. I’d been skeptical, but the light literature club’s summer camp was pretty great. Playing baseball was loads of fun, and that curry was really good...
“Rekka, what are you spacing out for?”
“Whoops. My bad.”
I was daydreaming before I even knew it, but Satsuki caught me, and I got back to my homework in a hurry. Today’s subject was... math. Ugh, just looking at it made my head spin.
“Um, Satsuki, about this part here...”
“I taught you that the other day, Rekka.”
“Huh? Really...?”
“Good grief.”
Despite her exasperation, Satsuki carefully pointed to the formula in the textbook and taught me how to solve it anyway.
“Make sure you remember it this time.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
There was no guarantee, but I still had to say that. Okay, now for the next problem... Urrrgh...
“So, Satsuki, about this one...”
“Honestly...”
Satsuki furrowed her brow and leaned over the table once again to show me how to solve it. She was great to have around as a friend. I’ve been relying on her for help with homework for as long as I can remember... Hm?
“...”
What? Why was Tsumiki staring at me like that? Was it because she didn’t have any homework to do? It was pretty hard to concentrate on studying without a specific task.
“What’s wrong, Tsumiki?”
“N-Nothing...”
I tried asking what was up, but she only looked away and mumbled.
“If you say so... Hey, Satsuki, what formula do I use for this graph question?”
“You should try figuring it out for yourself, Rekka. Let’s see. This one’s...”
“Hmph...”
Tsumiki huffed with a bored look on her face and began clicking her ballpoint pen furiously. Was she that bored? She seemed a little irritated for some reason..
Meanwhile, Tokiwa watched our antics with a sleepy gaze from her futon, still coughing every now and then.
▽
Despite getting distracted by the manga in Tokiwa’s room halfway and accordingly being scolded by Satsuki, I somehow managed to finish my worksheet by six o’clock.
“It’s time for me to go home...” said Satsuki, looking up at the clock.
“Me too,” echoed Tsumiki.
“Then we can wrap things up here. President Momone said this was as late as we had to stay, anyway.”
According to her, Tokiwa’s parents usually came home around 7:00, but she said we could all leave by 6:00 to make it home in time for dinner. She said she’d be done with her student council work by 6:30 too, and that she’d be stopping by after that to check on Tokiwa herself, so we figured she would be all right on her own for at least a little while and started to quietly pack up our stuff. As I was putting my worksheets and pencils into my bag, my eyes wandered over to the futon where Tokiwa was sleeping soundly.
“...”
She seemed peaceful enough. Her breathing was calm and regular, and when I put a hand to her forehead, it felt like her fever had gone down quite a bit. Yeah, surely she’d be all right.
“Tokiwa, we’re going to head off now,” I whispered.
I knew she was asleep, but it still seemed rude to leave without saying anything... Except when I tried to get up, I realized I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Huh?”
“...”
I looked down to see that Tokiwa had reached a hand out from under the covers and grabbed my sleeve.
“What’s wrong, Rekka?” Satsuki turned back and asked.
“Nothing, Tokiwa’s just grabbed my sleeve in her sleep...” I replied in a troubled voice, seeking help.
“Can’t you detach her?” Tsumiki asked. She then approached to get a closer look, and tugged at both Tokiwa’s hand and my sleeve. “Huh... She’s stronger than I expected. It’ll be hard to get you loose without waking her up.”
“What should we do? I’d feel bad waking her after she finally got to sleep...”
We all looked at each other, slightly lost for an answer.
“All right... You two go on without me. I’ll just stay here until she lets go.”
“You’re just saying that so you can do things to Tokiwa once we’ve left...”
“No! I would never! President Momone will be here soon anyway. She would literally kill me if I did anything funny.”
Both girls shot me dubious looks, but it seemed the threat of President Momone was enough to convince them. They reluctantly picked up their bags again.
“All right, we’re going now... I really, really won’t forgive you if
you do anything weird, you got it?”
“I already said I wouldn’t.”
“If you do, I’ll make you try a hundred of my latest recipes. I’ll feed you until your stomach bursts. Capisce?”
“...”
The fact that I was a hundred percent sure that was possible with her cooking made the thought that much scarier. But after beating their incessant warnings into my head, Satsuki and Tsumiki finally left. I was as fed up as I was hurt.
“Haaahh... They must really not trust me at all...”
I’d been stabbed over and over by their cold words. It left me feeling empty and drained.
“That you can’t even process why they come at you like that is what makes you so useless, you know...”
“What do you mean?”
“Any more hints would be too obvious.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
If she was going to be so cryptic, I don’t really know where she got off calling it a hint in the first place. Granted, it was R’s typical MO to avoid saying what was really important, so go figure. After that, I started browsing Tokiwa’s manga to pass the time... Oh?
“...ka.”
“Tokiwa?”
At some point, Tokiwa had opened her eyes and sat up, resting her chin over my shoulder.
“When did you wake up? If you’re feeling better now, I should be heading home...”
Harissa had probably finished making dinner by now, and I didn’t want to keep her waiting... is what I wanted to say, but...
“Who were you talking to?”
That single question made my entire body go stiff and my mind go blank.
“U-Uhhh... What are you talking about?”
I tried to play dumb at first, but she wrapped her arms around me from behind and squeezed my neck.
“Don’t be silly. I heard you.”
“Er, no, I don’t think so...”
It wasn’t painful by any means, but she was pressing her chest up against my back this way... Since she clung to me so often, I could tell that the thin fabric of her pajamas made them about 1.5 times more impactful than normal, too!
But more importantly, what was I going to do? This would make the second time that Tokiwa had overheard me talking to R. I had just assumed she was still asleep and had let my guard down, so this was really all on me, but... How was I going to get out of this a second time?
“Um... I actually have a habit of talking to myself when I’m alone.”
“But it sounded like a conversation.”
“Ah, well... I mean... I guess you could say I have an imaginary friend?”
Damn it! Why did I have to humiliate myself like this?! I had no idea fabricating secrets about yourself could be so embarrassing...
“You really are mysterious, Rekka.”
Great. Now she thinks I’m some kind of oddball.
“A-Ahaha...”
“?”
Tokiwa probably hadn’t meant anything bad by it, but I couldn’t help the dry laugh that escaped my lips.
“Ugh...”
“You all right?”
“Mm... I’m just all sweaty again,” Tokiwa said as she turned off the heat in the room. “...It’s still hot.”
“Um, wouldn’t you be less hot if you let go of me?”
It would be a great help to me too, considering it would get a whole mountain range of temptation off my back...
“But you won’t hear me if I do that.”
However, my hopes were dashed as Tokiwa shook her head and gave another pesky cough.
“So hot...”
Tokiwa wiped the sweat from her forehead with her hand before rubbing her fingers against the futon.
“Hey, Rekka.”
“Yes?”
“Can I take off my pajamas?”
“O-O-Of course not! Obviously not!”
My life would be in danger if Satsuki and the other girls found out. And that would be if I survived the wrath of President Momone.
“Then will you wipe me off?”
Tokiwa removed her chin from my shoulder and turned her back to me, lifting up the hem of her shirt.
“Erm...”
The glimpse I caught of porcelain skin under her pajamas instinctively made me flustered. The flow of conversation had made it seem like a compromise, but this in itself was a pretty high hurdle for me to clear...
“Mm...”
But Tokiwa was unexpectedly forceful. She put a towel in my hands and then sat there, patiently waiting until I complied.
“P-Pardon my reach?”
Giving in, I dipped the towel in the basin and wrung it out before pressing it to Tokiwa’s back and sliding it up her shirt.
“...!”
I could feel her warmth on the back of my hands from the shirt she was wearing, and I could feel her smooth, supple skin through the towel. I was basically stuck sitting there staring at the nape of her neck whether I liked it or not, too... I caught myself unwittingly gulping.
President Momone was a liar! This wasn’t just three times more sensual than usual! I already knew Tokiwa was overly trusting and unguarded, but to ask a guy to wipe her back when it was just the two of us alone in her room... It was just too much.
Squeak, squeak...
But my thoughts were interrupted when I heard an odd squeaking sound. I looked and realized Tokiwa was writing something on the small whiteboard hanging on her wall. She must use it regularly for novel ideas or something, because she wrote fluently on it with an accustomed hand... then held it up over her shoulder to show me what she’d written.
Come to think of it, Rekka, do you have a girl you like?
“Bwuh?!”
Wh-What was she asking all of a sudden?! And why at a time like this?!
“Oh, my, could it be that she pretended to grab you in her sleep to get you to stay just so she could ask you that?” R said with amusement.
I had no idea if that was just wild conjecture or not. Considering R was an advanced life-form from the future, maybe it was possible she had some way of telling if people were really asleep or not?
“Erm...”
As I struggled to come up with a coherent reply, Tokiwa wiped away her first sentence with the eraser at the end of her pen and scribbled out a new one.
It’s for reference for the story I’m writing right now.
Reference... for her story? Oh, yeah, Tokiwa was in the middle of writing a high school romcom, wasn’t she? I recalled her mentioning something about using me as a model for the main character. So that was it, then. She just needed help coming up with something for her story. Whew. That didn’t change how difficult the question was, but it at least made it a little easier to answer.
“I don’t think I’ll be much help with that... I haven’t decided on anyone in particular I like right now.”
“...ah.”
This time she didn’t write anything down, but instead muttered something and nodded her head. It seemed to be some kind of acknowledgment.
Just then, I could hear someone coming up the stairs. It was probably President Momone, who’d come to switch out with me after finishing up her student council work.
“Hey, Midori. Problem child.”
President Momone casually waved a hand as she entered the room... before stopping cold and looking at me suspiciously.
“Problem child, why do you have your hands up Midori’s pajamas?”
“Huh? Waaah!”
Yeah, I was busted. Wait, no, I was innocent!
“Th-This isn’t what it looks like! Tokiwa just asked me to wipe the sweat off her back for her! There’s absolutely nothing dirty going on...!”
I immediately yanked my hands out of her pajamas and waved the towel in a desperate appeal to President Momone.
“Hmm...”
President Momone nodded disinterestedly and grabbed the towel from me, approaching Tokiwa.
“How are you feeling? Uh-huh... Well, you seem more energetic than I expected..
. Did something good happen?”
As they smoothly communicated with a near-telepathic level of mutual understanding, President Momone briskly straightened out Tokiwa’s futon and prepared a fresh towel for her. As expected of childhood friends, their bond was really something else. Tokiwa would be fine if I left her in President Momone’s hands.
“Then... I’ll be headed home now. Harissa’s waiting for me.”
“Right. Thanks for today.”
“Now we’re even, right?”
“You still owe me two more favors.”
Tch, she still remembered that... Well, I’m sure I’ll end up repaying her properly someday. It certainly wasn’t like she was about to let me off the hook, that was for sure.
“Well, I’ll see you guys at school. Get well soon, Tokiwa.”
“...”
Tokiwa feebly stuck her hand out from under the covers and waved, mouthing the words, “See you for club.”
“Thanks for having me over.”
I gave a small bow as I left, and when I turned to close the door behind me...
“I see. So, there isn’t anyone, huh?”
I thought I heard someone muttering inside. But it definitely didn’t sound like President Momone or R, and I don’t mutter like that to my knowledge, which left...
“Tokiwa?”
But at this distance and with a door between us, I shouldn’t have been able to hear her... Moreover, why did whoever it was sound so happy? Puzzled by all this, I put both it and Tokiwa’s house behind me as I left.
Time Traveler L’s Life on the Streets: Log 3
The heat of summer continued to linger, but on one unusually chilly day when it had been raining nonstop...
“Uuugh...”
A girl in a red kimono was sitting with her knees huddled to her chest underneath a particular bridge. Meet L, a time-traveling girl from the future.
She was wiggling her toes inside her tabi socks and rubbing her hands together to try and keep warm. As a Kiklim, an artificial life-form created by cutting-edge future technology, she could have raised her own body temperature if she’d wanted to. But that would consume what precious little battery she had left. After her connection to the future had been severed, she had to find alternative ways to resupply herself with energy and couldn’t afford to waste any of it carelessly.
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 11 Page 9