Bunkyo Ward. The University of Tokyo Hospital.
Tsushima Kagami slowly pried his eyelids open. A faint smell of disinfectant hit him immediately. He stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling with glassy, unfocused eyes.
"You're awake?"
A gentle feminine voice reached his ears. Only then did Kagami drag his vacant gaze away from the unfamiliar ceiling, turning his head toward the girl sitting beside him. His eyes gradually came into focus.
"Where... am I?"
"You're in a hospital room."
"Did my surgery go well, then?"
"Am I a girl now?"
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting."
"Kagami, are you actually conscious?"
Yukinoshita Shizuku, seated beside him, gave him a scolding little tap on the forehead with her finger.
Kagami laughed, trying to sit up as he asked.
"Weren't we at the yakiniku restaurant in Ginza? How did I end up in a hospital bed?"
Shizuku withdrew her hand and stood to help him sit up, stuffing a pillow behind his back for support before finally answering.
"Honestly. You spent nearly an hour crouched in the bathroom at that restaurant."
"Then you came back, took one sip of the drink someone handed you, and passed out on the spot. You don't remember any of that?"
Tsushima Kagami slowly pieced it back together.
It seemed that not long after eating the beef cheek sashimi, his stomach had started protesting violently. He'd sat down on the toilet and simply couldn't get back up.
By the time he finally made it back to the table, he felt completely drained — like he'd been wrung out from the inside. He'd desperately wanted to rehydrate, only to discover that someone had switched out the drinks for low-alcohol cider.
He had never touched alcohol in his life, had no taste for it, and absolutely no tolerance for it. He'd simply keeled over and passed out.
"So... does that mean I have alcohol poisoning?"
Kagami pressed his fingertips to his still-throbbing temples and looked at Shizuku.
"Nothing that dramatic."
"The doctor said it was just a case of gastroenteritis from your body reacting badly to the sashimi."
"Plus you have zero alcohol tolerance, so you went straight from one sip to unconscious."
"Honestly. If you can't eat something, just don't eat it."
"And now here you are, back in the hospital."
Tsushima Kagami listened to Shizuku explain and grumble in equal measure, then let out a helpless sigh.
"It was my first time trying it. How was I supposed to know it would end like this?"
That was when it occurred to him — he had a Constitution stat of 70. How had a bit of sashimi managed to do him this dirty?
Even the greatest warrior can fall to a kitchen knife, huh.
No matter how high your Constitution, apparently it can't save you from sashimi turning your guts into a waterfall.
And does Constitution not come with any alcohol resistance whatsoever?
Well. I guess even the young need to just pass out sometimes.
Then he thought about his Spirit stat — a mighty 90 — and how it had still done absolutely nothing against the Wandering Supervisor's Wandering Attacks, or that one incident of burning, unquenchable desire.
Tsushima Kagami suddenly broke into a resigned laugh.
This is what you get with a garbage system.
Don't you dare let me max everything to 100 only to find out you're still this useless!
He snapped back to reality — and found Yukinoshita Shizuku staring at him with the expression of someone watching a very unimpressive fish flopping on dry land.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what? I'm not looking at you like anything."
Shizuku immediately smoothed her expression back to its usual serene, unreadable blankness.
Incredible. She can switch faces without even blinking.
"Just — like this."
Kagami mimicked her expression from a moment ago.
"Pfft."
Shizuku suddenly covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes curving into crescents.
"See! You're even laughing about it!"
"I just never expected your alcohol tolerance to be so terrible."
"Not 'terrible.' Non-existent."
"What's wrong with a man who doesn't drink?"
Kagami said it without thinking — though he did recall that in Japan, social drinking culture ran deep. Whether it was workplace obligation or the post-graduation urge to finally cut loose, practically everyone drank. Women included.
There were even wives who considered it a mark of a useless husband if he came home early instead of staying out for round after round of drinks with his superiors.
"It's not that," Shizuku said with a small smile.
"I'm just thinking — how are you ever going to get through business dinners like this?"
Kagami answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Easy. I just won't go to them."
"There will be times you have no choice."
"You seem to know a lot about it," Kagami said. "Then you can go in my place."
"Me? Absolutely not. That sounds like a complete nightmare."
"Then I'll just invite them out for tea instead."
That settled it, as far as Kagami was concerned. He then remembered the others and turned to Shizuku.
"Right — have Sayuri and Ijichi-san and the others headed home already?"
Shizuku nodded.
"I sent them all on their way. Akane-senpai had her driver take everyone home one by one."
Kagami nodded, relieved.
"Then let's head back too. Sleeping here is awful."
"Are you sure you're alright?"
Shizuku asked again, her voice dipping with a trace of concern.
"The doctor said it's just gastroenteritis, didn't he? I'll pick up the prescription and take it at home."
Shizuku listened, then finally relented.
The two of them left the hospital together, spent the night at the apartment, and returned to Chiba Prefecture the following day.
With no manga deadlines and no novel work pressing down on him, Tsushima Kagami finally began to properly enjoy what remained of his summer break.
Some days he did a bit of housework here and there. Other days he tagged along with Mrs. Yukinoshita to her office — mainly because Shizuku insisted on dragging him with her, having discovered that her mother was significantly less harsh with her training when Kagami was present.
But for the most part, Tsushima Kagami lazed at home in the air conditioning, reading manga to his heart's content.
And just like that, in the blink of an eye, the blissful summer vacation was nearly over, and the new semester was almost upon them.
Today, Mrs. Yukinoshita had shown uncharacteristic mercy — perhaps aware that school was resuming soon — and had at last given Shizuku a day off.
A liberated Shizuku dressed herself in a pale water-blue yukata dotted with white plum blossoms. Her hair was swept up into a loose, full bun in the shape of a hydrangea, pinned through with a matching white plum blossom hairpin.
Tucked into the sash at her back was a round fan painted with goldfish. Along the front of her obi, a decorative cord clasped a small cluster of bell charms. On her feet: white tabi socks and zori sandals.
With every small, graceful step she took, the bells swayed and chimed softly with the summer night breeze, singing gently through the evening dark.
Her elegant figure drifted close and then apart as she walked alongside Tsushima Kagami, drawing envious glances from every passerby.
"Did you have fun today?"
Tsushima Kagami was carrying Shizuku's drawstring pouch for her. He turned to look at her as they walked side by side.
A summer festival had been held in the neighborhood near their home in Chiba today — probably the last one before summer vacation ended. Shizuku had, in a rare turn, invited Kagami to come along and browse the stalls with her.
In doing so, she had unlocked what could only be described as her yukata event CG.
It was a shame that Kagami still couldn't quite get comfortable wearing a jinbei, so he'd come as he always did — plain t-shirt and shorts.
The two of them had just arrived back at their front door.
Kagami handed the drawstring pouch back to Shizuku.
Beneath the warm amber glow of the streetlamp, tiny beads of perspiration glimmered at the nape of Shizuku's neck, pale skin flushed faintly with pink. She accepted the pouch, fished out her keys, and then looked up at Kagami with a quiet nod.
"Thank you for keeping me company tonight."
"You're too formal about it."
Kagami smiled faintly, then waited for Shizuku to unlock the door.
But Shizuku stood motionless at the entrance, key in hand, making no move to slip it into the lock.
A breeze drifted past. The moon, which had been hiding behind clouds all evening, slowly, shyly revealed itself at last — its full face glowing softly in the summer night sky.
Shizuku lifted her gaze to meet his.
"Um..."
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