(Serina Mikage POV)
Hurried footsteps approached from down the hallway.
He wasn't merely walking. The heavy thud of shoes driving hard against the floor came straight toward the infirmary.
Koharu shifted slightly on her futon and turned toward the entrance. Anna rose halfway out of her chair, and the conversation between Rio and the others trailed off. Even before seeing who it was, the frantic pace of the footsteps made his panic unmistakable.
The sound grew louder while we exchanged glances, stopping abruptly right outside the door.
It didn't open right away. There was a brief pause, as if he were catching his breath and making sure it was all right to enter. Then came a knock, incongruously timid compared to the desperate rush that had brought him here.
"Excuse me."
Standing beyond the opened door was a tall boy.
Short black hair clung to his sweat-dampened forehead, soaking down to the collar of his school uniform. His shoulders heaved as he fought to steady his breath. His left hand had a white-knuckled grip on his bag, while his right arm hung limply at his side, his fingertips stiffening with every ragged inhalation.
He must have run all the way from the school gates without slowing down once. He hadn't even had the leisure to wipe the sweat trickling down his cheek.
Even so, he didn't fling the door wide or shout Koharu's name. Pausing at the entrance, he checked who was inside, trying to quiet his labored breathing as much as he could.
"Onii-chan."
Koharu called out from the bed.
His gaze snapped straight to her.
His furrowed brow tightened with pain, his left hand gripping the bag's handle even harder. For a second, I thought he would sprint straight to her side.
Instead, noticing us in the room, he held his ground. Shifting aside so as not to block the open doorway, he asked the nurse between ragged breaths, "Is it all right if I come in?"
"Yes. You're Koharu Aiba's older brother, right?"
"Yes. Is Koharu..."
His voice wavered slightly at the end.
"She briefly lost consciousness, but she's completely lucid now. A lack of sleep and food, combined with the heat and exhaustion, brought on a bout of anemia. She had a slight fever, but her blood pressure has settled."
He didn't interrupt once, watching the nurse intently as if refusing to miss a single syllable. His expression had hardened the moment he heard she had lost consciousness, but at the news that she was lucid, he finally let out a quiet breath.
"Is it all right to talk to her?"
"As long as you don't keep her too long. Just make sure she doesn't sit up."
"Understood. Thank you very much."
There must have been a dozen other things he wanted to ask, yet he held back. Taking the nurse's words to heart, he looked over at Koharu once more.
"Thank goodness..."
The voice that slipped past his lips was terribly raspy.
It wasn't a voice ruined by smoke.
I knew it was just strained from running until he was out of breath. Even so, the moment that resonance reached my ears, my heart skipped a beat.
It wasn't that a specific memory came to mind. Nor was it close enough for me to say for certain that I recognized it. It was just that the sound felt like a single drop falling deep into my chest, sending out persistent ripples that refused to fade.
I didn't even understand why it caught my attention.
Maybe I was just startled by how worried he sounded. Or maybe my body was simply on edge from having a boy suddenly rush in out of breath.
"I've also contacted your mother," the nurse added. "She's on her way, so please let Koharu rest until she gets here."
"Yes, ma'am."
He stepped toward Koharu's bed.
Right before he crossed in front of me, my body tensed by instinct.
A boy was getting close.
The mere thought sent my feet searching for an escape. A wall stood behind me, and Kotoha was right beside me. If I backed away, I'd end up bumping into her.
Yet before I could retreat, he stopped.
Taking a single step back, he took a wide path around the other side of the bed. He left plenty of distance between us, keeping the path to the door completely clear.
As frantic as he had been, he showed no haste in those few cautious steps.
He didn't make a show of being considerate, nor did he treat my wariness like an annoyance. He simply gave me the space I needed not to feel cornered, as if he had understood from the very start.
My chest loosened, just a little.
The tension of wanting to flee still lingered in my muscles. Even so, the moment I saw the distance he maintained, I knew I didn't need to back away any further.
I realized there were boys like this, too.
Someone who didn't force his way in, didn't demand explanations, and always left an exit open.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the memory of being touched over and over amidst the blinding smoke threatened to surface, leaving my heart unsettled.
That person had always waited, too.
He had spoken before reaching out, stopped the second I flinched, and never made a move to touch me until I gave a nod. Even when every second mattered, he had never ignored my terror or tried to force me into his arms.
—They're so similar.
Just as the thought began to take hold, Koharu's voice pulled me back to reality.
"I'm fine now. It was just a little dizziness."
Koharu started to push herself up.
His face instantly tightened.
"Don't get up. You have a fever, so stay lying down."
"But Onii-chan, you came all the way here..."
"That doesn't mean you need to get up. I'm staying right here until Mom comes. There's no rush."
His voice was gentle.
His furrowed brow and ragged breathing made his distress painfully clear. Even so, not a trace of that panic bled into how he spoke to his sister.
Waiting until Koharu settled her head back onto the pillow, he walked around to the side of the bed and set his bag down by the chair with his left hand. Using that same hand, he adjusted her pillow and smoothed the edge of the futon. Keeping his right arm pinned at his side, he leaned in slightly to check her face.
"How are you feeling?"
"Just a bit sluggish. It doesn't hurt anymore."
"No headache? Nausea?"
"I'm okay."
With every answer Koharu gave, the strain on his face eased by fractions. Still unable to relax completely, he quietly watched the color in her cheeks and the rhythm of her breathing.
Though he must have been suffering from the sprint, he didn't say a word about it. Wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his left hand, he deliberately slowed his breathing so Koharu wouldn't worry.
Watching him, the stiffness in my own body gradually dissolved.
"Onii-chan."
Koharu glanced our way.
"When I fell, Anna caught me. Mikage-senpai and the others came over too, and they went to get the nurse."
He turned to Anna, who was standing near the bed.
"Sawamura, thank you. You supported Koharu, right?"
"I was just with her. Mikage-senpai and the others were the ones who stepped in and called the nurse."
"Because you were there, Koharu didn't have to go through it alone. Thank you."
Anna looked like she wanted to protest, but in the end, she simply offered a small bow.
Koharu's brother didn't press further. Waiting until Anna looked comfortable, he turned his eyes toward us.
The moment our gazes met, my heart leaped into my throat.
A boy was looking right at me. Normally, my reflex would have been to look away instantly.
Yet right now, before I could flee, his face held my attention.
Beneath his sweat-soaked fringe were surprisingly neat, handsome features, though there was nothing flashy about him. Even while catching his breath, he maintained his distance so as not to startle us, never rushing us to speak.
Had I seen him somewhere before?
We went to the same school, so we might have passed each other in the halls. But no matter how hard I thought, I couldn't remember when or where.
Realizing I was staring as if trying to inspect him, heat flared in my ears from sheer embarrassment.
He didn't take a single step closer.
"Thank you very much for helping my sister. I'm Koharu's older brother."
Looking at his bowed head, I couldn't find my voice right away.
I already knew who he was. Still, with him introducing himself so politely, I felt obligated to give a proper reply.
"I'm Mikage."
As I gave my name, the other three bowed quietly alongside me.
Without letting his eyes wander rudely across the group, Koharu's brother bowed deeply once more.
"Truly, thank you all so much."
"It wasn't just me. Everyone helped, and I wasn't the one who ran to get the nurse."
Uncomfortable with receiving the credit alone, I gestured toward the other three and Anna.
He gave a small nod. Having finished his formal greeting, his tone softened naturally.
"Even so, you stepped in for Koharu's sake, didn't you?"
His eyes locked straight onto mine.
He wasn't judging me or sizing me up. His gaze was filled with nothing but pure, unadulterated gratitude. Because that was so obvious, I couldn't find a single reason to look away.
Unable to break eye contact, my heart only beat faster.
"...Mikage-san, everyone, thank you."
It was the first time I had ever heard my name in his voice.
It wasn't the same voice.
The voice I had heard in the fire was completely different from the one in front of me now. Having only that memory to go on, I had no way to truly compare them.
I knew that, yet the way he said my name echoed stubbornly in my ears.
Mikage.
My own family name, fresh from his lips, sank deep into my chest as if it were something profoundly precious.
"...Yeah."
He had only repeated his thanks, yet I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eye anymore.
Casting my gaze down, I noticed the bag sitting beside the bed. His right arm stayed tight against his side, his elbow pinned to keep his shoulder from moving.
Koharu's brother was injured, too.
I had heard he had been hospitalized after an accident. It had happened around the same time as the mall fire, and his injury was still bad enough that he had to protect his right shoulder.
His height and short black hair matched the silhouette I remembered.
Even the way he approached people was identical.
Keeping his distance so I wouldn't be scared, leaving me room to choose. Even trapped in that blaze, that person had never forced anything on me. He had always called out before reaching for me, waiting patiently until I nodded.
Still, it wouldn't be impossible for someone like that to just happen to go to the same school.
It wasn't as if there were only one considerate boy in the whole world. And a shoulder injury didn't necessarily mean a burn. Just because the timing of his accident was close didn't prove he had been in that fire.
It might not be him.
Yet every time I tried to convince myself of that, the careful distance he had kept and the sound of him speaking my name echoed in the back of my mind.
Turning back to Koharu, he took a seat on the chair beside the bed. He pulled it forward slightly so he could see her face, shifting his bag to his left. Having noticed it once, the deliberate way he kept his right shoulder completely still stood out glaringly.
Not wanting him to catch me staring, I turned toward Kotoha and the others. But the moment he slipped from the edge of my vision, my thoughts immediately drifted right back to him.
Just to be sure, I quietly glanced over one more time.
He was listening to Koharu. Without interrupting, he gave brief nods every now and then, watching carefully to make sure she wasn't forcing a smile. His profile held the exact same quiet gentleness he had shown us moments before.
I should just write it off as a coincidence.
If I did that, I could surely find some other explanation for this restless thumping in my chest.
Yet even as I piled excuse upon excuse, my heart refused to let my eyes wander away from him.