Toriko, you’re in there, right...? Please, be there, I prayed as I reached out—and rang the doorbell.
No response.
It’s Thursday. Toriko doesn’t have class today, so she should be home in the morning unless she has other plans.
I tried again, pressing the button longer this time. Just as it occurred to me to call her phone and test to see if I could hear it ring inside, a voice came from the speaker.
“Hello.”
It was a low, disgruntled voice, but unmistakably Toriko’s.
“Toriko! It’s me!” I said, snapping at the chance.
“Huh? Sorawo?” The voice on the other side of the intercom rose with sudden surprise.
“Yes!”
“Wha? Huh? Why? No way. Huh? It hasn’t been a week yet, you know that?”
“You never said I couldn’t come.”
“Well, no. I didn’t, but... Why?”
“Because I haven’t heard from you and I got worried.”
“I told you I wouldn’t contact you...”
Her confused voice took on a suspicious tone.
“Is this really Sorawo?”
“Sure is. You can come see for yourself, can’t you?”
“If you’re phony, I’m shooting you, okay?”
“Yikes. This is a residential area, okay?”
I heard the slight shuffling of feet on the other side of the door, getting closer. Brushing back my rain-mussed hair lightly, I looked back at Toriko who was probably on the other side of the peephole. There was a gap of several seconds, then the sound of the lock, and the door handle began to turn.
Toriko’s face emerged, a look of surprise and confusion plastered to it. “It really is Sorawo...”
“In the flesh. Not that I blame you for doubting me.”
Toriko looked me up and down, her eyes seeming to lick me all over. Then she looked back up again. “You’re sopping wet. What happened?”
“It rained,” I answered. Toriko poked her head out a bit, looking outside.
“I didn’t realize it was coming down so hard.”
“Did you just get up?”
“Yeah...”
“Sorry for waking you. I tried calling.”
“I have you set to blocked.”
“Why?”
“Because I’d answer otherwise... I told you I wasn’t going to contact you, so I felt like I had to stick to that.”
As she rubbed her still sleepy face, Toriko was being more vague than usual.
“Were you worried about me? Sorry to make you come all this way. I’m fine.”
“Well, there’s more to it than that...” I said, albeit hesitantly. “You asked me how I feel about you, right?”
“Huh...? Yeah.”
“I thought I’d give you my response.”
Toriko’s eyes shot open. It looked like that woke her up real fast. “Huh? Wh-Why?”
“What do you mean, why...? You asked, didn’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but... Huh? But it hasn’t been a week yet...”
“There should be no harm if I want to answer you a little early, right?”
“Well, yeah, but hold on... Just give me a second. I’m not ready for this,” Toriko said with still just her head sticking out of the door.
“What’s with the half-hearted posture?”
“Well, y’know, I’ve been holding this thing the whole time.”
I heard her lay down something heavy. I wanted to poke fun at her, saying, “You seriously answered the door with a gun in your hands?” But I’d probably have done the same.
I was satisfied with that answer, but Toriko made no move to open the door. She just left her head poking out of the gap, and she seemed to be fidgeting. Getting more and more suspicious, I asked, “What? Would it be bad if I came in? Are you not wearing clothes or something?”
“I’m dressed! There’s no way I’d come to the door in the nude.”
“Well, you’re not opening the door for me, are you?”
Honestly, with Toriko, I wouldn’t have ruled out the possibility. She was sleeping in her birthday suit at the hotel in Okinawa, after all.
“You are Toriko, right? And you exist from the neck down too? You’re not just some disembodied head?”
“Where’d that horrifying idea come from?”
“Hey, I have every right to be scared. I’m feeling pretty uneasy after multiple attacks by something from the Otherside that was trying to look like you.”
“Huh?! Were you okay?”
“I’m fine, but I won’t feel right until you let me see you.”
“Whaa... Oh, fine.”
Reluctantly, Toriko opened the door wide. Though she lacked her usual pizzazz in her current getup of sandals, a tank top, and short shorts, she was definitely Toriko. I let out an involuntary sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness you’re okay. Nothing strange happened on your end?”
“Uh, probably not.”
“It was just me, then, huh? Okay, so back to what I was saying... Achoo!” I sneezed in the middle of what I was saying. “Sorry, could you let me in? I’m all cold from the rain.”
“Let you into my place?!”
“Y-Yeah...?”
I was confused. This seemed to shake her up more than I’d expected.
“What? Is it a problem?” I asked.
“No... Not exactly.”
“Is someone visiting, maybe?”
“No, nobody’s here.”
I looked at Toriko’s feet. The entrance hall was full of footwear—stylish sandals, colorful sneakers, trekking shoes caked with dried mud, and thick-heeled long boots. I recognized many of them, but there were others I’d never seen her wear before. It wouldn’t have been that odd if one of those pairs belonged to someone else.
“So, uh, did I come at a bad time, after all?”
“Huh?! Not at all... No, that’s not true at all.”
“Well, why aren’t you letting me in, then?”
“Why do you want to be let in?”
I hadn’t expected to be asked that. I was speechless. Maybe Toriko had just blurted that out, because she tried to soften it by saying, “Um, y’know, my room’s, uh, not really the kind of place you let people into.”
“Huh... Is it a hoarder house?”
“No! It’s just... Augh, what do I do...?” Toriko covered her face with both hands as I looked on, bewildered.
“Okay, listen,” she finally said.
“Mm-hm.”
“I’m glad you came. And that you worried about me. And that you ran all the way here in the rain. And that you want to answer my question. Really glad.” Toriko’s eyes wandered as she talked. “To tell you the truth, seeing you looking so cold and wet, I want to let you inside real quick, and give you a nice, warm bath. But...”
“But?”
“I’ve...never let anyone into my home before.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah? What about Satsuki?”
“No...”
“Ah-hah! Is that right? Hmm.”
“...You’re happy about that?” she asked with upturned eyes. I thought about it a little.
“If I look it, then maybe I am.”
“What’s with that?” Toriko laughed, brushing her hair back. “I didn’t think you’d come...but you did...”
The half-smile on Toriko’s face made it seem she was torn between feeling happy and confused. There was something airy about it, like she didn’t have her feet on the ground. Seeing Toriko act in a way I didn’t usually see from her, I got anxious again.
“Hey, I’m not going to insist on barging in on you. If you’re really against it, I’ll head home for today. I already know you’re safe and all. Let’s just meet up again somewhere outside.”
I wasn’t the sort that liked to let people into her house either, so I could understand how Toriko felt. For me, my house was my territory. I think it would have been painful for me to let anyone in there for an extended period of time, even if it was Toriko. She must be the same way, so—
“...It’s okay.”
“Huh?”
“It’s okay. Come in.”
Toriko looked like she’d found the resolve to do something, so I got scared. “H-Hey, don’t force yourself.”
“Nah. You worked up the courage to come here. I’ve got to steel myself too.”
Steel herself for what...?
“Come in. I want you to learn about me too,” Toriko said, her eyes fixed on me as I stood there, confused.