The old, phantasmal story that had happened eighty years ago had a sudden feeling of immediacy, as if it had drawn closer to our reality.
Tohko wore a tense expression.
Ryuto laughed offhandedly.
“That’s all I can tell ya for now. If anythin’ else develops, I’ll hear through my cell. And now, my throat’s all dried out so could I bug you for a refill on my tea, Tohko?”
The mood eased at his carefree cheerfulness, and Tohko’s face, too, curved into a smile.
“Okay. As thanks for all the hard work you’ve done, I’ll bring you something sweet with your tea, too.”
“Cool. You can take your time, don’t worry.”
Tohko left the room and her footsteps grew gradually quieter.
Suddenly Ryuto leaned in toward me.
“Konoha! You and Tohko were in the same room this morning, weren’cha? You were both in pj’s, and Tohko was all mussed up from bein’ asleep. What was that? Were you together all last night? You made any progress?”
I leaned away from him. Had he asked Tohko for tea just so he could ask me this? The skin around my ears burned with embarrassment.
“Tohko said she was afraid of ghosts and forced her way into my room, that’s all. I swear, it’s nothing.”
“Whaaat? You serious?”
Ryuto’s face turned openly disappointed and his voice rose in criticism.
“Argh. I woulda been way cooler with it if you and Tohko had just done it. I thought maybe that’s what you were gonna tell me, but that’s just sad. What’re you doin’?”
“Why are you attacking me when nothing happened?”
“Gah. You coulda been a little bolder since Tohko’s upset an’ all.”
I warily asked, “Tohko’s upset?”
Ryuto looked at me with incredibly sexy, mysterious eyes.
“Course she’s upset. Despite the way she acts, she’s a sensitive high school girl. She gets upset about everything, from little stuff to big stuff. Can’t you figure it out, Konoha?”
The sad look I’d seen at dawn came abruptly into my mind and my chest ached, as if it was being squeezed tightly.
Seeing me rendered speechless, Ryuto smiled even more meaningfully.
“I mean, when she’s like that, if you could just write her supersweet stories, I’d appreciate it. Ever since her summer cram courses ended, she’s been at home whining that she wants to eat your snacks.”
Was that true?
The world was full of sweet stories Tohko would love without me having to write them.
“Oh yeah! I’ll teach you the words that cheer Tohko up when she’s depressed.”
I hesitated, but he brought his lips close to my ear and whispered three words as if they were a magic spell.
“Hey! I can’t write something with those prompts. That’s so embarrassing. Does that really cheer Tohko up?”
“It’s more effective than an energy drink. The ingredients work. So I guess the rest is up to the skill of the cook,” he said smugly, and then his eyes turned suddenly sedate. “You’ll be fine, Konoha. You’re Tohko’s author.”
A dark shadow fell over my heart. He’d told me that I was Tohko’s author again.
But I had zero desire to be that. It wasn’t anything about Tohko, it was just the author part that I never, ever wanted to…
My fingers became as cold as ice and my mood slumped further and further. Just as I felt as if I was sinking into a swamp of memories, the door opened.
But it wasn’t Tohko standing there, it was Maki. And she didn’t look happy.
“So it was you,” she said in a hard voice, turning a sharp, prickly look on Ryuto.
“I’d heard a moron trying to look like a big man was all over some blonde like a rutting dog in front of my house at the crack of dawn and that he wanted to stay here, and it looks like my foreboding was right.”
I was surprised by her sudden harsh words.
I had picked up on the fact that Maki didn’t think fondly of Ryuto from the distaste in her voice and the way she looked when she spoke his name. She hadn’t cared for Ryuto ever since Amemiya was still alive and dating him.
Maki had venomously told me after the fact that because Ryuto had involved me in Amemiya’s problems at the time, it had thrown off her plans.
So I knew that Maki wouldn’t celebrate Ryuto’s arrival. But she wouldn’t normally have bared her emotions to quite this extent.
Leaving aside the way she made nasty comments with a smile, of course…
“You shouldn’t keep looking at people like they’re cockroaches, Princess.”
Ryuto’s face tightened, as well.
Maki hated Ryuto, and he bore her a grudge in return.
Well, there was no avoiding that since she had held him captive at a hospital and made him disappear from the world. Plus, after everything that happened, he probably hadn’t gotten any apology from Maki whatsoever.
Ryuto kicked back his chair and stood up, then walked toward Maki. I gulped reflexively and clenched my hands into sweating fists.
The two of them glared at each other as if they were the worst of enemies. When he was right in front of Maki, Ryuto lifted only his lips into a smile, as if to show her how relaxed he felt.
“Well, I’ll be relyin’ on your hospitality for a couple days. So thanks.”
“No way. Get out of here now.”
“I don’t have anywhere to stay.”
“That’s not my problem.”
Their wrestling gazes were getting more and more heated, and the air was crackling with tension.
“Maki! Ryuto investigated what happened eighty years ago for us! Besides, Tohko is the one who told him to come.”
“So what?”
Even dropping Tohko’s name didn’t change Maki’s attitude. If anything, her eyes grew even harder.