[Naoki Aiba POV]
Even after the front door closed, Mikage's arm remained wrapped around my waist.
The sound of the rain, which should have felt more distant than when we were walking outside, sounded heavier instead within the silent house. It beat against the roof, streamed down the windows, and continued to pour beyond the shut door.
Droplets falling from our soaked uniforms formed small stains on the entryway floor.
I took my left arm off Mikage's shoulder and braced a hand against the wall.
As if checking that I could stand on my own two feet, Mikage looked back and forth between my face and my footing. Without pulling away immediately, she merely eased the strength in the arm supporting my waist, bit by bit.
"I'm fine."
The voice that left my mouth was raspy—far more than I had thought.
Even so, Mikage finally let go.
The warmth that had constantly touched me while we walked through the rain vanished. Left without that support, my waist suddenly felt terribly unsteady.
I shifted my feet to take off my shoes.
My feet slipped inside my wet socks, and my balance gave way slightly.
Immediately, Mikage's hands reached out.
This time, rather than catching my waist, she supported my left arm.
Without saying a word, I rested a bit of my weight against her hands. Lifting one foot at a time, I somehow managed to step up into the hallway.
Mikage took off her shoes as well, but stopped just short of the raised entryway step. Looking down at the drops falling from her uniform and her wet socks, she knitted her brows apologetically.
"I'll get the floor wet."
I raised my left hand to stop Mikage as she tried to pull a handkerchief from her bag.
"Before that, you should dry yourself off."
"But—"
"There are towels in the bathroom. I'll go get them."
When I tried to pull my back away from the wall, Mikage placed her hand on my left arm.
"Aiba-kun, wait there. I'll go get them."
After looking between the wet floor and my face, Mikage took off her socks and set them neatly on top of her shoes.
"Where's the bathroom?"
"...Sorry. Go to the end of the hallway and turn right."
"Don't worry about it."
Leaving behind only that quiet murmur, she turned the corner leading to the bathroom.
I rested my back against the wall.
Even though the core of my body burned hot, my wet shirt clung to my skin, leaving the surface freezing. Every time I exhaled, the back of my throat scraped raw.
Before long, Mikage returned, cradling a stack of towels in both arms.
She handed me one, and I pressed it against my hair with my left hand.
However, each time I shifted the heavy, damp towel, my right shoulder moved with it, sending a dull throb deep beneath my skin.
Mikage seemed to notice immediately that I had caught my breath.
Taking the towel from my hand, she draped it over my wet hair as it was.
"I can at least do this much myself."
Mikage didn't answer.
Through the towel, she gently pressed down on my hair. Rather than rubbing hard, she repeatedly shifted the position of her hands to let the fabric soak up the moisture.
Right beside me lingered the scent of rain-soaked hair and her uniform.
Hands smaller than mine were tending to my head.
Even though I knew she was merely taking care of me, it was impossible not to be keenly aware of our proximity.
Mikage's movements paused.
Her eyes, peeking out from the edge of the towel, were directed at my right shoulder.
There was no way the injury could be seen through the uniform. Even so, I understood the meaning behind that gaze.
I had sensed since last night that Mikage had almost completely arrived at the truth—that I was the one who had been in the fire. At school, she had seen me protecting my right shoulder many times, and today I had barely used my right arm at all. It was no longer something I could hide.
Still, I didn't know how certain she felt about it, or what she intended to say to me.
Mikage asked nothing. When she finished drying my hair, she pressed another towel into my left hand.
Taking just one from the remaining pile, she pressed it against her own damp hair.
"Mikage-san, you'll catch a cold too if you stay wet like that."
Mikage cast her eyes down toward her uniform.
"There should be some of Mom's tracksuits in the bathroom cabinet. I'll explain it to her later, so please borrow one for now."
"Is it... really okay if I borrow it?"
"Given the circumstances, Mom won't mind at all."
To reassure Mikage, who was still hesitating, I softened the corners of my mouth just a fraction.
After gazing at my face, Mikage looked down at her wet sleeves. Eventually, the tension eased slightly from her rigid shoulders.
"...Okay. I'll borrow it."
"Yeah."
"Aiba-kun, make sure you change properly too."
Nodding at her words, I headed toward my room.
Mikage returned to the bathroom.
Our footsteps parted midway down the hall.
◇◇◇
The moment I entered my room and shut the door, the heaviness in my body abruptly intensified.
Outside, the rain continued to pour. With countless streaks streaming down the windowpane, even the gray light filtering into the room seemed to waver.
I pulled a dry shirt and sweatpants out of the closet.
As for the wet blazer, I pulled my left arm out of the sleeve first and slid it downward while keeping my right arm close to my torso. Although it took a bit of time, I managed to take it off on my own.
Removing my necktie, I hooked my fingers onto the shirt's buttons.
The water-soaked fabric clung stubborn to my skin.
I slipped my left arm out of the sleeve.
The moment I tried to ease the fabric off my right shoulder, it caught on the protective dressing beneath it, tugging hard.
"Ngh...!"
A sharp pain shot deep beneath my skin.
Relaxing my posture softened it slightly. However, the wet shirt was stuck fast to the dressing covering my right shoulder and refused to peel away easily.
I twisted my torso, trying to slip it off without raising my right arm.
A severe spasm seized everything from my shoulder down to my upper arm.
My vision wavered slightly.
Giving up on doing it while standing, I sank down onto the edge of the bed.
I closed my eyes until the pain subsided.
Even during that brief respite, a chill seeped in from the wet fabric. The more impatient I grew, the less strength I had in my fingertips, and I couldn't peel it away cleanly with only my left hand.
Footsteps approached from the hallway and stopped outside the door.
"Aiba-kun."
Trying to answer, my throat caught.
"...I'm fine."
The moment it left my mouth, I knew it didn't sound convincing in the slightest.
Even so, Mikage didn't open the door uninvited.
"...Can I come in?"
My wet shirt was off my left arm, but it remained firmly caught on my right shoulder.
The desire to hide it still lingered. But if I continued on my own like this, I would end up tearing the protective dressing away with it by force.
It was quiet beyond the door.
Without rushing me, Mikage waited for me to answer.
"...Mikage-san."
"Yeah."
The reply came immediately.
I could have insisted once more that I could do it myself.
Yet, I slowly let the strength drain from the left hand gripping the wet shirt.
"...I don't think I can get it off by myself."
The moment I spoke, something wound tight inside me—separate from the pain in my right shoulder—slackened slightly.
"Yeah. Got it."
Mikage's voice was softer than before.
"I'm coming in."
The door opened quietly.
Mikage had changed into Mom's dark navy tracksuit.
Even though it was clothing I was used to seeing, simply having a different person wearing it made it unrecognizable for an instant. Having dried her wet hair with a towel, its color had returned to a brighter shade.
Seeing me sitting on the bed with my shirt half-off, her steps halted. Her gaze wavered for a single moment, and a faint blush touched her cheeks.
Even so, she didn't leave the room.
Kneeling before me, she looked at the fabric stuck to my right shoulder.
"Here?"
"...Yeah."
Mikage reached out.
Without touching right away, she checked the remaining gap between the shirt and the protective dressing.
"...Don't move your right arm, okay?"
She didn't ask if it was hard to move.
Mikage had known that for a while.
Pinching the wet shirt away from the dressing, Mikage lifted the fabric little by little. Every time it tugged, an ache flared deep in my shoulder, but it was far lighter than when I had tried to move it alone.
Mikage's face was right next to mine.
I could see the subtle flutter of her lowered eyelashes, and the way her lips were slightly pressed together. Her damp hair fell against her cheek, the tips almost brushing against my chest.
The harder I tried not to dwell on it, the more acutely I felt our proximity.
The shirt slowly parted from my right shoulder.
Widening the right sleeve so the fabric wouldn't touch the dressing, Mikage gradually guided it down my arm. Once it cleared my wrist without me having to raise my arm, the heavy, waterlogged shirt finally detached from my body.
Mikage folded the shirt inward and held it in her left hand.
From beneath it, the white protective dressing was laid bare.
It covered my right shoulder and extended down to my upper arm. Because it had been touching the wet shirt, part of the outer layer had absorbed moisture and turned gray.
Mikage's hands stopped.
"..."
"It's wet, but I have spares, so don't worry."
Gazing at the wet dressing, Mikage didn't move right away.
Only the fingertips holding the wet shirt slightly tightened their grip on the cloth.
Then, her downcast gaze slowly rose to meet mine.
"...Can I change it for you?"
I couldn't answer immediately.
Hesitation still remained over letting her see the wound I had hidden beneath the dressing. Even so, I felt no reluctance in entrusting it to Mikage's hands.
Touching neither the wound nor my body, Mikage waited for me to decide for myself.
Amidst the fire, Mikage had entrusted her body to me.
This time, I was about to entrust my injured right shoulder to Mikage.
"Then... could I ask you to?"
"Yeah."
Carrying the wet shirt, Mikage stepped back out to the bathroom.
The sound of running water drifted from down the hall. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I waited for the water to stop.
Before long, Mikage returned to the room.
"The spares are in the top drawer of that desk."
Mikage cast her eyes toward the desk. After thoroughly drying her washed hands, she retrieved a new protective dressing and tape from the drawer, arranging them beside the bed. Then, kneeling to my right, she reached for the tape securing the old dressing.
"...I'm going to peel it off."
"Yeah."
Only after confirming my reply did Mikage hook her fingers onto the edge of the tape. Pressing down on the surrounding skin so as not to pull it, she began peeling it away little by little.
Mikage's fingers were exceptionally careful.
Pausing repeatedly along the way, Mikage looked up at my face. Even when I told her I was fine, she didn't immediately proceed. Only when my breathing evened out and the tension left my shoulder did she hook her fingers onto the edge of the tape once more.
The final piece of tape came free.
Supporting the dressing with both hands, Mikage quietly peeled it away from my right shoulder, taking care not to rub against the wound. As the white cloth, soaked with rain and sweat, pulled away, the skin concealed beneath it was exposed to the cool air of the dim room.
An irregular burn scar spread from my right shoulder to my upper arm.
The redness had faded compared to before. Even so, the mottled discoloration and the distorted outline—looking as though it had been traced by flames—did nothing to hide the severity of the wound suffered that day.
Mikage's breath hitched.
Her slightly widened eyes moved slowly from my right shoulder down to my upper arm. Watching her gaze at the wound as if she had forgotten how to breathe, that moment came rushing back to me in turn.
The sound of groaning metal overhead.
The instant I turned my right shoulder toward the flames to shield Mikage on my back from the collapsing ceiling.
By the time I registered the heat, my shirt had already scorched. To Mikage, who had caught the burning smell and asked me repeatedly if I was hurt, I had insisted it was nothing.
Mikage's hand slowly rose.
However, her fingertips stopped just short of touching the wound. Leaving a gap so slight it would vanish with a single twitch, her hand hovered, trembling as though it had lost its way.
"...That's where you protected me back then."
Her voice was faintly raspy, the final words breaking down into little more than a whisper.
There was no questioning tone to her voice.
—I no longer denied it.
Without looking up at my face, Mikage's gaze remained fixed on the raw scar.
"Even though you had a wound like this... you said it was nothing."
She swallowed her breath.
"You kept telling me you were fine."
There was no accusation in her voice. Only, as she stared at the scar, her words trembled faintly.
I had no intention of stubbornly insisting it was nothing now. But I also didn't want to phrase it in a way that would make Mikage shoulder the burden of that pain.
"...Back then, I was desperate. I didn't have the luxury of thinking about pain."
Mikage's eyes, which had been fixed on the scar, turned slowly toward me.
"Because back then... I was far more terrified of letting go of you, Mikage-san."
No sound came from Mikage's parted lips.
After blinking hard, Mikage lowered her eyes to my right shoulder again. Quietly withdrawing the hand hovering near the wound, she picked up the new protective dressing.
Without asking anything, I relaxed my right shoulder so it would be easier for her to work.
The white cloth was gently placed over the wound. Her fingertips checking the placement were cautious, and her touch was surprisingly soft.
The fingers that had clung desperately to my shirt amidst the fire were now moving to protect my wound.
With each strip of tape applied, the burn mark was concealed once more beneath the white cloth. Even after securing the final edge, Mikage's fingers didn't pull away immediately.
"...It's done. Try not to move it as much as you can."
Keeping her hand lightly resting over the dressing, she spoke in a quiet murmur.
"Yeah."
The wound was no longer visible.
Even so, it didn't feel as though we had simply returned to the silence from before.
Taking the dry shirt, Mikage knelt in front of my right arm. Widening the sleeve opening with both hands, she slowly guided my arm through while keeping it lowered so it wouldn't catch on the dressing.
"Does it hurt?"
"I'm fine."
This time, Mikage accepted those words in silence.
The fabric was pulled up to my shoulder without disturbing the wound. Guided around my back, I slipped my left arm through the other side, and she helped me until the front edges were brought together.
I fastened the buttons myself.
Without interfering, Mikage waited right beside me as my fingers fastened them one by one.
The moment I finished the last button, what little strength remained deep in my body abruptly vanished. Placing my left hand on the bed, I let out a shallow breath, letting my head hang low.
This time, I didn't claim I was fine.
"...Sorry. Is it okay if I lie down for a bit?"
"Yeah."
Mikage quickly smoothed the pillow and pulled back the duvet. With her hand supporting my back so as not to strain my right shoulder, I rested my weight against her.
When my head hit the pillow, the dim ceiling filled my vision.
◇◇◇
Mikage left the room once and returned with a glass of water and a thermometer.
My temperature was 38.2 degrees. It wasn't high enough to keep me from walking on my own. Even so, it was a number that made it impossible to brush off my heavy limbs and chills as merely the result of getting soaked in the rain.
Drinking the water while Mikage supported my back, I rested my head on the pillow once more. Setting the glass on the desk, Mikage sat down beside the bed.
Even though she was right beside me, looking up at the ceiling kept her expressions out of view.
Right now, that was a relief.
Ever since she saw the scar on my right shoulder, there were words that had remained stuck in the back of my throat. Even knowing I had to address it, I felt that if I looked Mikage in the eye, I wouldn't be able to say them.
"Mikage-san, you... already figured it out, didn't you?"
There was no need to explain what I was talking about.
Mikage didn't ask me to clarify.
Only the sound of rain beating against the window filled the space between us.
"...Yeah."
The voice that returned after a long silence was small, but it carried clearly through the sound of the storm.
"I see."
Staring at the ceiling, I slowly exhaled.
"Since when?"
There was no immediate reply.
Beside the bed, I heard the faint sound of Mikage inhaling.
"...It just added up, piece by piece. The injury on your right shoulder, the time you were in the hospital, your voice when talking to Koharu... the way you choose your words, too."
Mikage paused. After an interval, as though she were listening intently to the rain, she continued quietly.
"But that wasn't all."
At the edge of my vision, Mikage rested her hands on her lap.
"It was the distance you always leave for me, Aiba-kun."
Not understanding what she meant, I shifted my gaze slightly.
"If I get scared, you don't push closer uninvited. If I freeze up, you don't rush me for an answer. Whether I want to pull away or stay right where I am... you always leave room for me to choose for myself."
I hadn't consciously intended to do that.
I simply hadn't wanted to frighten Mikage. I hadn't wanted to be the kind of person who forced myself on someone based purely on my own feelings when they were pulling away.
To me, that was all it was.
"Because you were like that on that day, too."
Mikage's voice drew slightly closer.
"You didn't dismiss my fear. You didn't arbitrarily decide how I felt by telling me everything was fine. You just said you'd tell me as many times as it took until I felt safe, that you would never leave me alone... that's what you told me."
The smoke-choked corridor, and the hands that had grabbed my sleeve pleading, "Don't leave me behind," came rushing back. Even now, I remembered the burning heat of her tears soaking against my neck as I carried her.
"That's why I knew even before I saw the scar."
Mikage spoke without a trace of doubt.
"What I saw today wasn't the answer. I only saw for the first time... just how much pain you were in back then, Aiba-kun."
Beneath the dressing, a dull heat flared deep within my right shoulder.
Mikage hadn't realized I was the person from the fire just because she saw the scar. Today, for the first time, she had witnessed with her own eyes the pain I had been hiding ever since that day.
"Thank you for the letter. I read it."
Mikage's hands shifted slightly on her lap.
"...It reached you?"
"Yeah. I read it yesterday."
"All of it?"
"Yeah, every word."
I sensed Mikage lowering her head.
I recalled the words penned on that stationery.
To you, who did not leave me alone that day.
Without knowing my name, my face, or even where I was, Mikage had still written a letter addressed to that unforgettable voice and promise.
"I'm sorry for keeping it a secret until now that I was the one from back then."
I spoke toward the sound of the rain.
"I meant to tell you. But I felt that if you knew, you wouldn't be able to decide how close you wanted to be based on your own feelings."
Without interjecting, Mikage waited for the rest.
"Like feeling you had to see me because we made a promise, or that you had to stay close even if you didn't want to just because I saved you."
The more I gave voice to them, the more the anxieties I had bottled up inside my chest took solid shape.
"I thought the person you wanted to meet was the me from that day. Honestly, I wasn't confident... that you would accept the me at school the same way—"
"—That's not true."
Mikage's voice cut me off.
It wasn't a loud voice.
Yet there was no hesitation in her denial.
"At first, I just wanted to meet the person from that day and properly thank him. I wanted to know his name, I wanted to see with my own eyes how his injury had healed, and I wanted to ask if he remembered our promise."
Mikage admitted it honestly.
"But after getting to know you, Aiba-kun, it stopped being just about that."
With the soft rustle of clothing, Mikage's hand came to rest on the duvet. It was just a short distance from my left hand.
"I wasn't looking at you because you reminded me of the person who saved me."
Mikage continued, as if confirming the truths in her heart one by one.
"Because I was looking at you, I realized that the person from that day was you, Aiba-kun."
The fingers resting on the duvet shifted just a fraction closer to mine.
"It's not that someone came to save me, and that person just happened to be you."
Mikage took a steady breath.
"I think you came to save me because it was you, Aiba-kun."
My breath caught.
"Even though you had managed to escape outside, you realized I wasn't with my friends and came back for me. You carried me when I couldn't walk, and every time I cried that I was scared, you kept talking to me over and over."
Mikage's fingertips brushed against my left hand.
She didn't grip it right away.
As if confirming our warmth from that single point of contact, Mikage closed the distance between us only by the amount she chose herself.
"Even when you got burned, you didn't let go of my hand. You stayed with me until I was safely back with my friends."
Mikage's fingers quietly overlapped mine.
"Because it was you, Aiba-kun, you couldn't leave me behind when I was terrified. I understand that now."
Amidst the fire, Mikage had asked me.
Why did you come back? she had said.
Back then, I had answered that it was because her friends were waiting outside. That I had come to return her to them.
That wasn't a lie.
Yet, I hadn't been able to put the full reason into words.
Knowing there was someone left behind, I simply couldn't walk away from that place.
Because I had seen her laughing with the three of them just moments before, I noticed that only Mikage was missing from the group. She wasn't among the evacuees outside, and the moment I realized she was still trapped inside the building, going back was the only choice I could make.
"Because it was you, Aiba-kun, you didn't leave me alone."
A gentle pressure tightened in her overlapping fingers.
"Because it was you, I—"
Her words trailed off.
Staring at the ceiling, I waited for the rest.
I couldn't rush her. I couldn't presume to guess her meaning.
I would wait until Mikage found the words herself.
Eventually, the fingers that had merely been resting against mine moved, quietly curling around my left hand.
"This time, I was the one... who didn't want to leave you alone, Aiba-kun."
The tension that had wound tight in the depths of my chest unraveled without a sound.
"I'm not here because you saved me. It's not because we made a promise, nor is it because I have to repay a debt."
Mikage's voice wavered no longer.
"I'm here because I couldn't bear the thought of leaving you alone and going home."
Mikage picked up the anxieties I had been unable to voice, dismantling them one by one with her own words.
"You always waited so that I could choose for myself, didn't you, Aiba-kun?"
"...Yeah."
"That's why coming this far today, and staying by your side right now, is something I chose for myself."
When I closed my eyes, it felt as though the heaviness weighing down my chest was draining away along with the fever in my body.
Mikage didn't view the me from the fire and the me at school as two different people.
Knowing that both were the exact same person, she was here right now.
That alone was more than enough.
The moment I exhaled in profound relief, a cough welled up from the back of my throat. It racked my chest repeatedly, and I put strength into my left arm, trying to push myself up.
Mikage reached out instantly.
Careful to avoid my right shoulder, she wrapped an arm around my back and supported my upper body. With every cough, the strength drained from deep within me, and the weight I leaned against Mikage's arm grew heavier.
Eventually, the coughing subsided, and I somehow managed to steady my ragged breath.
"...Sorry."
I tried to ease back onto the bed, but the strength wouldn't return to my left arm.
My balance tilted forward.
Mikage didn't push me away.
Tightening the arm around my back, she pulled my collapsing body straight into her embrace.
My forehead came to rest against Mikage's chest through the dark navy tracksuit.
For an instant, my breath stopped.
The warmth radiating through the soft fabric, and the heartbeat drumming right beside my ear. It was closer than the sound of the rain, beating slightly faster than my own pulse.
The moment I registered our proximity, a heavy thud echoed deep in my chest.
I knew I should pull away. Even so, Mikage kept her arm securely wrapped around my back. Supporting my weight with one arm while avoiding my right shoulder, she gently rested her other hand against the back of my head.
It wasn't forceful enough to trap me against her. It held only the strength necessary to bear my weight.
Yet right now, it was an embrace that told me I didn't have to pull away.
"Aiba-kun."
From above me, Mikage's voice drifted down.
"...Yeah."
When I answered with my forehead still resting against her chest, the arm around my back tightened just a fraction.
"Thank you."
This time, I didn't have to wonder what those words were meant for.
"Thank you for coming to save me."
Mikage's voice trembled right beside my ear.
"Thank you for finding me, and bringing me back to my friends..."
"Thank you... for letting me see my family again."
The hand at my back lightly bunched my shirt, holding me close so as not to let go.
"Back then, for not leaving me alone... thank you so, so much."
The words penned on that stationery had finally reached their destination—not some nameless stranger in the fire, but me, right here in front of her.
Like the warmth passing between us where we touched, that truth quietly spread through the depths of my chest.
The corners of my mouth softened naturally.
I made no effort to suppress a smile. But at the same time, I couldn't hold back the sudden sting welling up behind my eyes.
Tears spilled from the corners of my eyes, quietly soaking into the dark navy tracksuit.
I didn't know if Mikage noticed. The arm around my back asked nothing, only tightening by the faintest measure.
"...I'm just glad... you're safe, Mikage-san."
The words that had lived in my chest all this time finally found a voice.
"I'm so glad I made it in time."
"Yeah."
Along with Mikage's reply, the arm around my back trembled softly.
I closed my eyes.
Beside my ear, Mikage's heart continued to beat.
Once.
And once more.
Listening to that steady rhythm, the last lingering tension slowly ebbed from my body.
The words I had given Mikage over and over on that day were now returning to me as her arms and her warmth.
Don't worry.
I won't leave you alone.
There was no longer any need to ask for proof.
The sound of the rain and the ache in my right shoulder gradually faded into the distance.
All that remained until the very end was Mikage's heartbeat and the warmth of the arm wrapped around my back.
Trusting in that warmth, I sank peacefully into sleep.