“Wonder if that’s fixable. Ah. There’s still blood on them. Will that wash out? It’d be nice if they’d get better on their own, like my body... But clothes don’t normally heal, huh? Hrmm... Y’know, Yori and Riyo were pretty tough. And so was Haru. Must be nice. Being so strong, I mean. I wanna be strong... Or do I? I dunno. If Juntza and the others were here, I’m sure I’d think that it would be so useful to be strong. But Yori, Riyo, and Haru are all real tough. Ah... But maybe it’s better to be strong than to not be strong? If I were strong, then... I dunno. Oh, right. Yeah. I could avoid holding them back, I guess?”
Manato laid down in bed. The bedspread was soft, and the mattress underneath it supported him firmly. He had never imagined that anything could be so comfortable.
“Man, this is awesome.” Manato sighed and then laughed. “What’s the word for this again? Paradise? Heaven? Juntza talked about it. I think he said that when most people die, they go to hell, but some of us go to paradise or heaven instead, or something like that. Hell’s a terrible place, but paradise isn’t... How did we get onto that subject again...? Oh, yeah... It was when Juntza got injured, and it hurt so bad he couldn’t sleep...so Amu was clinging to him and rubbing his body all over. That’s when...even though he was in so much pain...he said, ‘Aw, yeah. This is paradise.’ Man, what does that even mean? Wish I could ask him. And then he talked about hell, heaven...and paradise...”
He continued to ramble to himself. “Oh, right... Then Juntza said, ‘Maybe I oughta make a kid with Amu.’ Like, what the heck? I laughed out loud. Then Juntza kinda flipped out on me... And I was like, why’s this guy so pissed? And I laughed even harder... ‘But, real talk, man, between Amu and Neika, which one do you want?’ Nah, seriously, I don’t even know... I mean, I’ve never thought about that kind of stuff, y’know? Kids, huh... Even if we did make kids, the parents always die first... I dunno if I wanna die before my kid... Hrmm... Yeah, uh, I don’t think I’d like that... I mean, it was good that mom and dad were together when they died and all, but... Yeah... Mom and dad would be so surprised... Grimgar, huh...”
At some point, he started drifting off to sleep.
“Huh...?”
When he awoke, the lights in the room had dimmed considerably and there was a blanket covering him. He couldn’t imagine that he’d done that for himself while half asleep. Besides, he had no idea where this blanket had even come from. The fluffy cloth that had been wrapped around his neck was lying in a heap not far away.
When he sat up, he noticed a plate on the table with a fork and knife. There was some stuff on the plate too. He could smell it faintly, and its scent told him it was probably food.
Manato moved the blanket aside and got out of bed. An orange and black jumpsuit, the same one he’d balled up before getting into the shower, was hanging over the back of the chair. Manato picked it up and spread it out to look at it.
“Huh! The torn spot’s been sewn together. And the blood’s been cleaned off too? That doesn’t just happen on its own. Somebody fixed it. But who?”
It was a mystery to him, but he decided to eat before pondering it. The plate was pretty big, and loaded with pickles, smoked meat, cooked beans, and purple and red objects that must have been dried veggies. It was a lot of food, and there were so many different kinds of it.
“Whoa... And I was just getting hungry too. Having food waiting for me without having to do anything is the best!”
Manato dropped the jumpsuit and sat in the chair.
“Hmm...”
As soon as he sat down, though, he picked the jumpsuit back up. Someone had gone to all the trouble of mending it for him. It wouldn’t be right to treat it poorly. He thought about putting it on, but he wanted to start eating right away too. Manato folded up the jumpsuit and wondered what he should do for a long moment before he set it on the floor. Then he sat in the chair and grabbed the fork.
“No way. The meat’s been sliced so it’s easier to eat.”
Manato started with the thin slices of smoked meat, shoving pieces of it into his mouth, chewing them, and swallowing them one after another.
“So... So... So good...! Nghh!”
He nearly choked. Looking down, he spotted something like a bottle filled with a liquid he assumed was water sitting next to the plate. He’d been so fixated on the food that he hadn’t even seen it. Manato uncapped the container and took a sip, gulping down the liquid inside.
“Water. Ahhhh! It’s water. Come to think of it, I was thirsty too. It’s a good thing I have this!”
He inhaled the entire meal in no time at all, and even licked the vinegar from the pickles off the plate.
“Whoa. I could still eat more... But I’m satisfied.” Manato gazed up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. “It’s a good life.”
He started to laugh. Not a loud laugh, though. Just a light chuckle.
“Beep, beep... Beep, beep...”
“Hm?” Manato opened his eyes and looked around the room.
“Beep, beep... Beep, beep...”
“What?”
“Beep, beep... Beep, beep...”
“A voice...? No.”
“Beep, beep... Beep, beep...”
“Hmmmm?” Manato got up from the chair and listened closely, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.
“Beep, beep... Beep, beep... Beep, beep... Beep, beep... Beep, beep... Beep, beep...”
“Hrmm...”
The sound was coming from somewhere in the ceiling, but he couldn’t be sure where.
“Beep, beep... Beep, beep... Beep, beep... Beep, beep... Beep, beep...”
Eventually, the odd sound was joined by another one—probably someone banging on a wall, the floor, or some other hard surface.
“Is it coming from the door?”
Manato walked over to the entrance and pressed his ear to the door. He definitely heard the sound there. It was faint, but the door vibrated slightly with each knock, knock.
The doors in this room, unlike the ones in the corridor, weren’t all that different from the doors in a house in Japan. This one had a handle and a thumbturn lock. Manato undid the lock, turned the handle, and opened the door.
“Oh.”
Yori was standing out in the corridor, and Riyo was there too, behind her.
“Were you knocking?” Manato asked, head tilted to the side. “You were, right? I heard a weird sound.”
Yori opened her mouth slightly. Her brow furrowed. Riyo was wide-eyed. Neither said anything. Where were the two of them even looking? Not at Manato’s face. It was lower than that.
“Oh!”
Manato tried to cover himself with both hands. But that wasn’t enough to conceal everything, so he turned around.
“I was still naked,” he said to himself, before adding, “Amu and Neika were always getting mad, telling me I shouldn’t show this thing to girls. Sorry. It slipped my mind.”
“But showing us your butt is fine?” Yori asked.
He tried to answer, but ended up turning halfway around to face her.
“Ah!” Manato yelped, hurriedly turning away from the two of them again. “I guess my butt’s no good either,” he said. “But it’s better than the front, right? I mean, I’ve only got one of these on my front side.”
“Try putting on some clothes,” Yori suggested.
“Right.”
Manato started to go and grab them, but Yori stopped him.
“The door! Close it!”
“Oh, right.”
When he reached for the door’s handle to close it, he ended up facing them once again.
Yori covered her eyes with one hand and let out a very pointed sigh. “Oh, come on!”
“Sorry,” Manato said, laughing a bit even though he probably shouldn’t have right after apologizing. He closed the door, got dressed, and then opened it again.
“Did you sleep well?” Yori asked, acting unfazed. Riyo was always expressionless, so it was hard to tell how she felt about what had just happened.
“I seem to have dozed off at some point. But how did you know that? Did you come into my room while I was asleep?”
“Haruhiro did. Yori and Riyo didn’t. It’s kind of a boy’s room and all... No, not kind of. It’s totally a boy’s room.”
“And you two are girls. I, uh, guess that’s a thing, huh? I shouldn’t wander around naked too much, right?”
“Generally, no... And it’s not just a matter of ‘too much.’ Unless you’re in a special relationship, you shouldn’t be letting people see you naked at all.”
“A special relationship? Oh! But I already let you two see me naked. Does that mean we’re already in a special relationship? Is that how it works?”
“No, it’s not.”
“Oh, it isn’t. Hrmm. This stuff’s complicated. So, if we were to have that kind of special relationship, then I would show you my naked body?”
“Um...maybe?”
“And what would you do after I showed you my body?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, do we show each other?”
“That’s, uh...not quite it...”
“Guys have a thingy between their legs, and girls don’t, right? Oh, and girls’ chests stick out. That’s so you can give the baby milk after you give birth, right? That’s how it works in animals, at least. Ohhh. Maybe men and women show themselves to each other because we’re different. Like, see, this is different. Is that what it’s all about?”
“Yori doesn’t know what to tell you.”
“You don’t know, Yori? Well, how about Riyo, then?”
“I—” Riyo only got that much out before freezing up. Her mouth hung open, and her face, no, her entire body had gone stiff.
Manato cocked his head to the side. “Hm? Is something wrong?”
“Don’t ask Riyo weird questions!” Yori suddenly shouted at him. “You got some sleep and you’re well rested, right? So let’s go!”
“Go?” Manato asked. “Wait, go where?”
“Outside!”
Yori seized him by the arm and started pulling him along.
“There’s no point in staying here forever. We’ve come all the way to Grimgar, and there’s all sorts of things we want to see!”