[Naoki Aiba POV]
The school nurse checked Koharu's pulse and complexion once more, reiterating that she should stay lying down until our mother arrived.
She had regained consciousness and was answering questions normally. Even so, the face resting against the pillow still lacked color, and framed by the white sheets, she seemed terribly smaller than usual.
"For now, it's not severe enough to call an ambulance. However, since she did lose consciousness once, you shouldn't let her go home alone today. When her ride arrives, I'll explain how she should rest at home."
"Understood."
"Aiba-san, if you start feeling unwell again, speak up immediately. Just because your brother is here doesn't mean you have to force yourself to stay awake."
"Okay."
After answering, Koharu looked at me as if trying to reassure me.
She probably wanted to show me she was fine. But I could tell it was a forced smile. I felt that if I nodded back now, she would just keep pretending everything was okay.
With that thought in mind, I couldn't say anything in return.
I had received the message while waiting for Koharu and Sawamura in front of the school gates.
Seeing the brief text reading I'm in the infirmary on my phone, I had called immediately. Through that exchange, I learned that she had collapsed and lost consciousness for a short while.
I barely remembered the path I took sprinting from the gates to the infirmary.
I had dodged students lingering in the hallways and gripped the handrails with my left hand on the stairs. I remembered a sharp pain shooting through my right shoulder. Even so, that was no reason to slow down, and I didn't even try to catch my breath until the infirmary door came into view.
Even now, knowing she was safe, just recalling the words on my phone screen made the depths of my chest run cold.
Ever since this morning, I had noticed things were off.
She had barely touched her breakfast, and when she stood up, she braced herself against the chair. I told her multiple times to rest right there, but Koharu insisted on going to school, citing assignments she had to hand in and promising she would go to the infirmary if she felt worse.
Lately, she had been showing signs of fatigue around the house, too. Stopping in the middle of folding laundry, or leaving dinner unfinished. Whenever I asked, she would just laugh it off, claiming she was only sleepy or lacked an appetite.
Looking back, maybe all of those were parts of the same continuing issue.
Should I have stopped her, no matter what?
However, the fact remained that this morning, Koharu was walking on her own two feet and holding normal conversations. Unable to force her to stay home against her will, I had made her promise to walk back with Sawamura and to speak up without holding back if anything felt even slightly wrong.
It wasn't that I had overlooked the warning signs. Even so, I had tried to believe the "I'm fine" that Koharu kept repeating.
Maybe I had just wanted to believe it.
Thinking that she could make it through the day without me by her side was supposed to be for Koharu's sake. That was the judgment I thought I made, but now I couldn't shake the nagging suspicion that I had simply convinced myself of it for my own convenience.
"Koharu, you absolutely cannot push yourself today, okay?"
Sawamura, who was sitting beside the bed, leaned forward to drive the point home.
"I know."
"I can't trust your 'I know' right now."
"Don't say the same thing as my brother."
"The problem is with you, Koharu, for making people say the exact same thing."
Sawamura's tone was sharper than usual. Even so, an undeniable anxiety remained in her eyes as she looked at her friend.
She had supported Koharu by herself when she collapsed, protecting her head from hitting the ground. I had heard that while calling for help, she hadn't left her side until other students arrived.
"Sawamura, thank you so much. Really."
"It wasn't just me. The upperclassmen nearby came over right away."
Sawamura turned her gaze toward Mikage and the others.
One had knelt beside Koharu to check her condition, one had sprinted to fetch the nurse, and another had directed the students gathering in the hallway to clear a path. It seemed each of them had quickly assessed what was needed and taken action.
Mikage had been among them.
"You really saved us. Thank you very much."
When I bowed my head once more, Mikage's friends quietly returned the courtesy. Only Mikage answered with a slight delay. "Yeah."
Our eyes met.
There was confusion in the gaze she fixed on me. But it looked somewhat different from the wariness she had shown when I first burst into the room.
I couldn't tell what had changed.
So as not to burden her by staring, I shifted my attention back to Koharu first.
Koharu probably felt guilty for dragging Sawamura into this. Every time she tried to apologize, Sawamura brushed the words aside.
"I can't trust that answer right now either," I added.
"Not you too, Onii-chan..."
"You kept quiet today until you literally collapsed. If you want us to trust you, rest first."
Koharu looked ready to argue back, but under the combined weight of the nurse's and Sawamura's gazes, she gave in and let her cheek sink into the pillow.
"...I will. I'll rest."
"Good. Message me tomorrow. Morning or night, whenever is fine."
Sawamura's expression finally softened a fraction.
"Okay."
"I'll believe you this time."
Having secured that promise, Sawamura picked up her bag from beside the chair.
Mikage and the others also moved toward the door to leave.
I pulled my chair in close to the bed to clear the aisle, adjusting my position to maintain a respectful distance from Mikage's group and keep the path to the exit open.
As Mikage walked past, her pace slowed slightly.
For a second, I wondered if I was still standing too close. But she didn't seem to be trying to pull away from me. While keeping her face pointed forward, only her eyes flicked in my direction. Rather than avoiding me, it felt like she was trying to confirm something.
Maybe I had frightened her when I rushed in.
If a breathless guy suddenly barged into the room, anyone would be on guard, not just Mikage. On top of that, I already knew she had a strong aversion to boys, both from school rumors and from that day in the fire.
And yet, when our eyes met earlier, Mikage hadn't looked away immediately.
Was she worried about Koharu, or was she trying to tell me something? I considered speaking up.
However, if she had no real business with me, calling out to her would only be a burden. Even if she had something on her mind, I didn't want to corner her into speaking.
Leaving her the space to stop on her own accord if she wished, I simply kept the path open in silence.
"Excuse us."
Mikage's friend bowed to the school nurse, and the other two followed suit.
At the threshold, Mikage looked back at Koharu one last time.
"Don't push yourself, okay?"
"Yes. Mikage-senpai, everyone, thank you so much."
"We're worried about you, too. So for now, focus on getting some proper rest rather than thanking us."
Reassured by the calm voice of Mikage's friend, Koharu gave a small nod. As the three friends and Mikage stepped out into the hallway, the door slid quietly shut.
With the crowd gone, a sudden sense of space returned to the infirmary.
The overlapping voices vanished, leaving only the ticking of the clock's second hand and the rustle of the nurse turning pages at her desk.
Staring at the closed door, I recalled Mikage's expression.
When I gave my thanks, I had only introduced myself as "Koharu's brother."
Even though she had offered her name, I hadn't even given my family name in return.
It wasn't an accident.
I had no intention of reconsidering my decision to keep my identity hidden here, in the room where Koharu had collapsed. If I revealed what happened during the fire under these circumstances, Mikage might prioritize her consideration for Koharu and me over her own doubts, leaving her unable to step back no matter how uncomfortable she felt.
That was the last thing I wanted.
I had no intention of using the fact that I had saved her to get close to her. How Mikage viewed me at school had to be something she could decide for herself, completely separate from that day.
Still, I couldn't know how she had interpreted the silence left by my failure to give a name.
To Mikage, it must have looked like I simply forgot to introduce myself because I was too worried about Koharu. For now, that was for the best.
"Onii-chan."
At the sound of my sister's voice, I turned my attention back to her.
"What is it?"
"Your right shoulder hurts, doesn't it?"
I almost denied it reflexively, but stopped myself.
Sprinting here had made me sweat, slightly shifting the protective dressing over my wound. It shouldn't have been noticeable over my uniform, but she had evidently caught on to the fact that I was barely moving my right arm.
"A little."
"It's not just a little. You haven't moved it once this whole time."
"I'll have Mom look at it when she gets here."
"When I messaged you, you were already at the school gates, weren't you?"
"...Yeah."
"Did you run all the way to the infirmary from there?"
"I just hurried a bit."
Koharu didn't answer right away.
As she cast her eyes down, strands of dark brown hair fell across her cheek. Her hands rested limply on the duvet, fingers tangled as if they had nowhere else to go.
"...Even though your shoulder isn't healed, you ran."
"I wanted to make sure you were safe as fast as I could."
Silence settled between us again.
A short distance away, the nurse was reviewing papers to hand over to Mom. The crisp sound of turning pages from beyond the curtain felt unnaturally loud.
"...It's because I collapsed, isn't it?"
Koharu's voice dropped even lower.
"Because I sent that text, you pushed yourself, Onii-chan."
"—No, that's not it."
The words left my mouth almost the instant she finished speaking.
"But if I'd just held it together, you wouldn't have had to run. If I'd handled the chores at home properly—"
"I know you were worried about me."
If I kept cutting in and denying everything, it would make her feel like all her efforts had been a mistake.
She had made breakfast, brought in the laundry, and even prepared dinner in place of Mom, who came home late. It wasn't because I asked her to. Even so, I knew she was doing it all to support me and our family.
I didn't want to dismiss those feelings as if they meant nothing.
"Your help was a lifesaver. Truly. But if you collapse because of it, how am I supposed to just be okay with that?"
"I just... didn't want you to push yourself, Onii-chan..."
"I know. I'm not blaming you for helping."
"Then what was I supposed to do? I thought I had to take care of the things you couldn't do."
"If there are things that can't get done, we can talk to Mom, talk together, and figure it out."
"But you always try to do everything yourself, Onii-chan."
I had no immediate defense for that.
Even with my right arm out of commission, I had tried to handle anything that could be managed with just my left hand. I never said a word until the pain became unbearable, and Koharu had stopped me more than once.
The reason she wouldn't take my word at face value wasn't that she was stubborn; it was because she had watched how I had been acting all along.
"You're right. Whenever I think I can manage, I try to handle it alone."
"See...?"
"So I'll fix that, too. When it hurts, I'll say it hurts. When I can't do something, I'll ask for help. I need you to do the same, Koharu."
"Can you do it first, then?"
"I will."
"Even just now, you didn't admit it hurt until I asked."
"That was... my bad."
Searching for an excuse, I came up completely empty.
The more I insisted I was fine, the more Koharu felt pressured to shoulder the burden in my place. If the result of that was her lying in this bed right now, then I had to change the way I hid things.
Even now, the instinct to not let people take away the things I could still manage remained. Part of me still worried that leaning on someone else would only add to their burden.
Yet by shouldering everything in silence, I was simply loading a different kind of weight onto my family. Even if her collapse couldn't be blamed entirely on chores, I couldn't pretend my own behavior had nothing to do with it.
"When Mom arrives, I'll have her check the wound properly. I won't lift a finger for the rest of the day."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"You won't do homework once we get home?"
"I won't. If I need to, I'll explain it to the teachers."
"What about the dishes?"
"I'll leave them to Mom today."
"I'm not doing them either."
"Of course not. You're staying in bed."
I thought my tone had finally returned to something resembling our usual banter, but Koharu didn't laugh.
"I really... don't want you to go back to the hospital, Onii-chan."
Her hands gripped the blanket tightly.
"I hate waiting without knowing anything like last time. You went out shopping and just didn't come back... When Mom told me you were in the hospital, I was so terrified..."
Her voice choked up, and Koharu bit her lip hard.
"Even when I got to see you, you just slept. No matter how many times I called your name, you wouldn't answer, and your right shoulder was wrapped in bandages. Even when they told me you'd wake up, I couldn't believe it until you actually opened your eyes."
Back then, I had been unconscious, completely unaware of what Mom and Koharu had gone through at the hospital.
After I woke up, Koharu had tried her hardest to act completely normal. When I noticed trace marks of tears and asked about them, she merely said she was tired, and whenever I apologized, she would change the subject with a pout.
Just because she had never voiced it didn't mean she could ever forget.
"You always put your own safety last... I was so scared that you'd say you were fine and then just disappear again."
The end of her sentence wavered.
Koharu knew the broad strokes of the fire from what Mom had told her. She knew that I had made it out once, only to go back inside to rescue someone trapped behind, suffering severe burns to my right shoulder in the process.
Yet to Koharu, who I had saved didn't matter.
Her brother had left the house, suffered terrible injuries, and been rushed to the hospital. He had lain in a bed without anyone knowing if he would ever wake up. That reality alone remained an enduring nightmare for her.
And despite that, even after being discharged, all I had thought about was hiding the state of my injury and putting on a brave face.
I thought I was keeping her from worrying.
In truth, by keeping her in the dark for so long, I had probably just allowed her anxiety to fester.
I pulled my chair right up to the edge of the bed.
Keeping my right arm still, I reached out with my left hand toward Koharu's head. As my fingers touched her soft, dark brown hair, she kept her face down and let out a stifled, shaky breath.
"Don't worry."
I waited for my voice to settle in before slowly stroking her hair.
"I'll have Mom check my shoulder. When it hurts, I'll say so. I'm right here, and I'm not going to disappear without a word. So please, stop blaming yourself."
"I still can't trust your 'I'm fine,' Onii-chan."
"Alright. Then I won't just brush it off by saying I'm fine."
"What will you do, then?"
"I'll let Mom look at it, and we'll call the hospital if needed. I'll tell you everything they say."
"Promise?"
"Yeah. I promise."
"...If you break it, I'm going to be really mad."
"I know."
Beneath my hand, the rigid tension slowly melted from Koharu's shoulders.
Without rushing her, I kept gently stroking her hair until she stopped crying.
Even sitting this close, close enough to reach out and touch her, I hadn't realized the depth of the anxiety Koharu had been carrying. I finally understood that hiding my wounds to reassure her was an idea born purely from my own selfish perspective.
What Koharu needed wasn't a brother who felt no pain.
She needed a brother who would admit when it hurt, let her know when he was coming home, and give her a reason to believe he would still be here tomorrow.
"Koharu."
"What?"
"I'm sorry for scaring you."
Koharu slowly lifted her face. Her tear-filled eyes looked straight up into mine from close range.
"I'm not asking you to apologize for going back to save someone."
"I know."
"Really?"
"I'm apologizing for keeping you in the dark."
After staring at me for a moment, Koharu gave a deliberate nod.
"Okay. Then I accept."
Sniffling softly, she wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand.
"I'm sorry, too."
"You don't need to apologize."
"Not for collapsing—for hiding how I felt. Even though I felt terrible all morning, I kept insisting I was fine."
"Don't do that again, okay?"
"Yeah."
"When you're not feeling well, tell Sawamura or a teacher. And don't forget to contact me, either."
"And when your shoulder hurts, you have to tell Mom or me, Onii-chan."
"Understood."
"Can I believe you this time?"
"Believe me."
The corners of Koharu's mouth curved upward ever so slightly.
Seeing that faint smile, the tension finally left my chest, allowing me to take a full breath.
A tentative knock sounded at the door right after.
"Excuse me."
The door slid open, and Mikage stepped back inside.
I was surprised to see her return after leaving, but looking at her face, a different sense of unease immediately took hold.
Her eyes were red.
Her cheeks still seemed flushed with heat. For someone who might have run down the hall, her breathing wasn't ragged at all, and she was still favoring her right leg in the exact same way as before.
She might have been crying.
Yet I couldn't be sure if it was my place to ask. For a girl who disliked boys, having a guy pry into her business could easily be stressful.
I rose from the chair, stepping aside so Mikage had space to speak with Koharu.
"Mikage-senpai?"
"There was just one thing... I forgot to say."
Mikage's voice wavered slightly.
Our eyes met.
Turning toward me, Mikage parted her lips as if to speak, but no sound came out. Eventually, her gaze drifted toward my right arm, lingering around my shoulder.
Maybe she had noticed I was favoring the injury because I had run over. Even if she hadn't seen the dressing itself, realizing that Koharu's brother was also hurt might make her feel guilty.
Even so, I started to say something, but stopped.
Asking if something was wrong would force her to answer. It was better to leave her an out until she chose to speak on her own.
I stayed where I was, waiting without stepping any closer.
Eventually, Mikage set her lips in a firm line and turned back toward Koharu.
"Koharu. Make sure you lean on your brother and head home safely today."
"B-but my brother is hurt too—"
"Relying on someone isn't burdening them."
Koharu fell silent.
Mikage didn't immediately follow up. Taking a breath as if steadying herself after what she had just said, she looked straight into Koharu's eyes.
"If you push yourself all alone, Koharu, it'll only make things painful for your brother. You're family, so worrying and being worried about is supposed to go both ways, right?"
Her words were remarkably straightforward.
For someone like me, who had always strived to prevent the person I saved from feeling a sense of debt, I couldn't twist those words to fit my own convenience. Mikage was talking about Koharu and our family.
And yet, her steady assertion that leaning on someone wasn't a burden resonated deep within my chest.
It didn't look like Mikage was tossing those words out lightly, either. Even with a boy like me standing right beside them, she was pushing through her discomfort to get the message across to Koharu. That tension was evident in the rigidity of her fingertips and the flush on her ears.
Koharu looked at Mikage in slight surprise, then glanced over at me.
I had no intention of choosing her response for her. I waited quietly until Koharu found her own words.
"...Okay."
As she offered that small answer, Mikage's expression softened just a fraction.
"That's all. See you later—for real this time."
"Mikage-senpai, thank you so much. Really."
"Just rest for now. Once you're feeling better, let's talk again."
Giving Koharu a small wave, Mikage turned back toward the door.
I watched her walk away, favoring her right leg. While part of me thought I shouldn't stop her, if I let her leave like this, I didn't know when I would get another chance to express my gratitude.
Right now, I could thank her purely for helping Koharu. It wouldn't carry any other complicated meaning.
"Mikage-san."
At my voice, her steps halted.
She didn't turn around right away.
Her shoulders trembled slightly, and the hand reaching for the door handle dropped to her side.
I waited where I was, without stepping closer.
Eventually, Mikage turned back toward me with deliberate slowness.
Her ears were burning red, and a fresh warmth seemed to rise around her eyes, which still looked as though she had been crying.
Being called out to by a guy had probably heightened her tension. Knowing her aversion, I shouldn't keep her any longer than necessary.
"Thank you so much for taking care of my sister."
Mikage didn't answer immediately, simply staring at me.
Her gaze didn't dart away; instead, it drifted slightly over my face as if searching for something. Then, our eyes locked squarely once more.
In the middle of that fire, Mikage hadn't seen my face. My voice had been warped by the smoke, too. I didn't think there was any clue that could connect the person she met at school to the one from that day.
Maybe she was still concerned about Koharu. Or perhaps she had noticed me favoring my right shoulder and was worried about the injury.
Even if she had something to say, asking her would only pressure her into answering. To give Mikage the space to speak if she wanted, I simply waited without closing the distance.
"...Yeah."
The reply that finally came was quiet.
Even so, it carried none of the harsh rejection she usually directed at boys.
Mikage began to turn back toward the door, only to pause one last time.
"Make sure Koharu gets plenty of rest."
"I will. Mom and I will take her home safely."
Hearing my reply, Mikage gave a small nod and slipped out of the infirmary for good.
Even after the door clicked shut, I couldn't look away immediately.
Mikage had come back specifically to tell Koharu that it was okay to rely on her family. The redness around her eyes was probably because she had been genuinely worried about Koharu.
And maybe she had picked up on my injury and felt concerned. Being called out to by a guy must have made her nervous, too.
"Onii-chan, what's wrong?"
Koharu's voice finally pulled my eyes away from the door.
"Nothing. It's nothing."
Even as I answered, the look on Mikage's face refused to leave my mind.
At the very least, she hadn't looked like she was trying to run away from me.
With that thought, the quiet fear that I had frightened her began to fade, just a little.