The sun today was especially fierce—gone was the gentle warmth of the past few days. In its place blazed a relentless, scorching sun, beating down on every inch of the earth.
Even those poor souls hoping to hide in the shade of trees or buildings found no escape from the all-encompassing waves of heat. In this kind of weather, even the breezes that usually offered relief had turned traitorous, swirling around and delivering the heat straight to everyone's doorstep.
Just last night, there hadn't been the slightest sign of a coming heatwave. Standing by the window with a cup of cold tea, Kyo had felt perfectly cool and refreshed.
So she hadn't even bothered to turn on the little fan by her bed, or skip the light blanket. She just fell asleep as usual.
Which was why, at dawn, Kyo was jolted awake by the sudden spike in temperature overnight. That treacherous little blanket had left her sweating all over, her pajamas drenched and even the bedsheets soaked through.
That was one reason Kyo was up so early this morning.
After being rudely awakened by the heat, she stripped the bedsheets and tossed them in a heap on top of the washing machine by the bathroom, pulled out a spare sheet and laid it on the bed for later—planning to set it up properly when she got home before sleep.
Then she hopped straight in the shower, rinsed off the sweat with cold water, changed into her school uniform, gave a quick greeting to her older sister (who was still peacefully snoring under the fan), and headed out without waiting to see if her sister had even heard.
Sure, the heat had woken her up, but a big part of it was just that she'd insisted on keeping the blanket on. Morning wasn't exactly cool, but it was still tolerable—she didn't start sweating again right away.
But once she got to school, the heat was obvious: sweat beading on her brow, the temperature clearly higher. Kyo was extremely glad she hadn't lazed around at home—if she had, she'd be way worse off by now.
But what Kyo never expected was…
"Why… why did the classroom's AC have to break today of all days…"
Kyo was completely wilted, her forehead pressed to the edge of her desk, arms dangling uselessly at her sides. Every so often, sweat would trickle down her arms, reaching her fingertips before dripping to the floor.
On normal days, students might complain about being in the classroom, but in summer, the classroom was usually the one place no one wanted to leave—all thanks to the AC, which most schools kept running as a sanctuary from the heat.
It was practically a running joke among students—stories about schools that still didn't have AC, or classrooms where the unit had died, turning them into human steamers, each kid steamed into a little dumpling.
Today, it was Class B's turn to be the butt of that joke.
"Kyo, are you alright?"
Sakiko watched her with concern; Kyo looked like a fish washed up on shore, not even enough energy left to flop.
"Not really," Kyo replied weakly, forcing herself to sit up and pull a huge water bottle from her bag. She gulped it down in one go, regaining a bit of spirit.
She grabbed at the little vest of her school uniform, thinking about taking it off—lots of the girls had already done just that.
But Kyo's sweat levels were in a league of their own.
She barely got her vest halfway off, revealing the white shirt underneath, before the problem was obvious.
It was like she'd been hiding a lake under her clothes. If everyone else's shirts, damp with sweat, were merely a little see-through—like gauze—Kyo's was as clear as glass; you could basically see everything.
"Stop!" Sakiko quickly grabbed the half-removed vest from behind. "Kyo, you really shouldn't just take your clothes off like that."
"Eh? But a bunch of girls are just in their shirts." Kyo grumbled, glancing around the classroom at the other girls, a not-so-subtle hint.
"But…" Sakiko hesitated, then her face flushed as she blurted it out, "Kyo, when you're only wearing your shirt, it's really like you're not wearing anything at all! Even if we're all girls here, it's just too much!"
"Ugh."
Hearing that, Kyo seemed to lose her last bit of strength, letting go of her vest and slumping back over her desk.
First time I've ever hated my own body for this…
"So how did you get through hot days like this before?" Sakiko asked.
"I never had to deal with the AC breaking before," Kyo muttered, eyes closed, trying to conserve every bit of energy, her small mouth barely moving as she spoke to Sakiko in a low voice.
To hear her clearly, Sakiko had to lean in closer, feeling the uncomfortable sweat sticking to her own seat as she shifted.
"I do have some backup plans… but today's heat came out of nowhere. This morning, I thought I could just count on the AC to survive the day…"
"I feel like I'm melting…"
Sakiko felt genuinely sorry for Kyo. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"If you could refill my water bottle at the drinking fountain, that'd be great… Drinking more water is the only thing that helps."
And then you'll just sweat even more, won't you… Sakiko worried that, at this rate, Kyo would flood her whole section of the classroom by the end of the day.
She got up and took Kyo's water bottle from her bag, heading off to the hallway to fill it up.
When she came back, she found two or three classmates gathered around Kyo's desk, each with a different kind of drink—boxed, canned, or bottled—lined up like offerings in front of Kyo's wilted little head. Just looking at them made Kyo's tired eyes light up.
The girls standing around Kyo were chatting and laughing, even reaching out to pat her cheeks or smooth her hair.
Sakiko raised an eyebrow and walked up in silence.
"Ah, Sakiko's back. We'll head back to our seats then, Kyo," one of the girls said, exchanging glances—eyes sparkling with a bit of gossip and curiosity.
"Thanks for the drinks, you all really saved me."
"No problem! You've always helped us out before, Kyo."
They gave Sakiko a quick greeting and then returned to their seats.
"You're pretty popular, huh?" Sakiko slipped the water bottle back into Kyo's bag.
"Hehe, aren't I?"
Kyo looked almost proud.