(Kazama’s POV)
It’s Thursday. I’m supposed to be in school right now. But instead, I’m standing in my living room, holding a thermometer in one hand and a cup of barely-warm miso soup in the other.
My little sister’s curled up on the couch like a wilted caterpillar under a blanket. She sniffles pitifully and says, “This tastes weird.”
“It’s soup. You like soup.”
“It tastes like stress.”
Fair.
She’s sick.
And when Mom called this morning in a panic saying she couldn’t get off work, I did the responsible thing.
I called in sick too.
Did I also kind of want to avoid Mr. Hanada’s math pop quizzes?
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Yes.
But mostly, it’s the sister thing.
It’s quiet. Too quiet.
I’m used to the background noise of classmates yelling, chairs dragging, teachers scolding, Aika teasing me every five minutes…
Wait.
Aika.
I glance at my phone.
No messages.
Not that I expected any.
But still.
I grab my phone and type:
“I didn’t die. Just home today.”
I stare at it for a second, then delete it.
Too weird. She’s not my friend-friend. Just… seatmate-friend. Project-friend.
Maybe.
My phone buzzes.
I nearly drop it.
Aika:
“Did math finally finish you off?”
I blink.
How did she know?
Me:
“Close. My sister’s sick. I stayed home to take care of her. Math is next on the hit list though.”
Aika:
“That’s kind of sweet. Unexpected. I thought you’d pretend to be sick just to escape Hanada-sensei.”
Me:
“That was Plan B.”
She sends a laughing emoji.
Then:
“Want me to send you the notes?”
My chest does a thing I don’t have the vocabulary for.
Me:
“Would you? That’d be lifesaving.”
Aika:
“Only if you promise not to draw soup all over them.”
Me:
“No promises.”
My sister groans. “Are you texting your girlfriend?”
I freeze. “She’s not—! We’re just… doing a group project!”
She gives me the most smug, feverish smirk I’ve ever seen. “You’re so obvious, it hurts.”
I throw a pillow at her.
She’s still smirking.
To be continued…
