“KOUYA, I want to go visit him!” Azusa exclaimed. She sat up in bed, frowning to show her discontent.
Three days had passed since she woke up. During those three days, she was rarely allowed out of her room. Ichi or Kouya were always present in the room with her, and Ichi consistently followed her into the bathroom when she showered or used the toilet.
Naturally, as long as she was in her room, she could freely walk around, but Azusa still felt a tremendous sense of being shut in against her will.
Their overly protective behavior made her suspicious; especially when all they told her was that she had passed out from a case of anemia. She continued to ask what the real reason was, but she typically got the same answer back.
“We want you to wait a little longer,” was what everyone told her.
Her missing memories of the time she passed out created her current predicament. She had a vague idea something bad had happened, and being the energetic girl she was, being confined without anyone telling her why was unbearable.
On the third day of her confinement, she finally decided to take drastic measures.
Kouya sighed at her explosion of dissatisfaction, closed the book he was reading, and directed an exasperated look her way.
“Visit who? No one took a more serious injury than you.”
“Youta, obviously! I am as lively as can be! You, Ichi, Subaru, and everyone else are just over worrying about me!” Azusa posed with both fists in front of her to show off her healthiness, only to be met with an icy gaze.
“I told you before that Youta is fine. We’re safeguarding him here just in case. You don’t have to visit him. If you want to that badly, it doesn’t have to be today, but can wait for another day, right?”
“And when will that another day come, huh? I totally understand you guys are doing this out of worry for me! But this situation is insanely bothersome to bear when I don’t even know the reason for it! Either tell me why or allow me to move freely within the mansion! I am going to die from boredom!” Azusa fell prostrate on her comforter, covering her face as if she were trying to persuade him with a sob story this time. Kouya winced.
“Isn’t this the same as when you guys had me confined as a prisoner? It’s not like I want to go outside the mansion, and I will immediately return to my room once I see Youta, so...can’t I?” she pleaded, lifting her face slightly from the comforter to peak at Kouya. His brow was furrowed, his expression a mix of conflicted emotions rather than annoyance.
After a small pause, he hoarsely squeezed out, “…You can’t.”
“Kouya.”
“Deal with it.”
“……” She glared at him with pouting lips. He turned his face away to escape her gaze. He refused to budge. She sighed as her shoulders dropped dejectedly.
“…Fine then. In that case, will you chat with me to deter my boredom?”
“I can do that much for you. What’s up?”
“My memories are all jumbled up, so can you start by telling me what happened on the day Youta fell to F rank? After I had lunch with Tsukiharu—”
The chair Kouya sat on scraped the floor as he jumped to his feet. He swiftly headed to the door to leave.
“Kouya, where are you going?”
“…I’m going to change shifts with Ichi. I just remembered urgent business.”
“What? Out of the blue?”
“Why, indeed? Perhaps there’s something he doesn’t want you to remember, Azusa.”
Azusa looked up at the sudden voice that belonged to neither her nor Kouya. She turned her head in search of the visitor to find a familiar face sitting on the windowsill.
“Tsukiharu!”
“You’re here?” Kouya snarled, countering the joy in Azusa’s voice. Tsukiharu jumped into Azusa’s room with his usual aloof smirk.
“What a warm welcome, Akaoni. It’s been a while, huh, Azusa. You doing okay?”
“Yup. How about you, Tsukiharu?”
“I’ve been well, of course. I only just moved into this mansion. Shiro’s betrayal became as evident as can be, so I couldn’t stick around my old hiding place. But knowing I can see you every day now is the greatest happiness for me,” Tsukiharu smiled sweetly. Azusa grinned broadly back at him. Kouya’s face soured beside them.
“How did you get into this room, Tsukiharu? We have a barrier around the entire room—”
“I smashed through it, obviously! You had a fairly tough one up, so it was a pain to break! I had to circle around to the window to find the weakest spot…” Tsukiharu answered like it was only natural he should break the barrier. Kouya put a hand to his head.
“Why are you always so—”
“No worries. I’ll properly put up an even stronger barrier! I want to protect Azusa too…” Tsukiharu said, all smiles from beginning to end. Perplexed, Azusa cocked her head at him.
“Protect me? And what’s this about a barrier—”
“Oh, about that—”
“Tsukiharu,” Kouya raised his voice, warning him not to say more.
“Fine, fine,” Tsukiharu reluctantly assented. “Well, I’ll tell you once we gather more information. Anyway, I came here to see you today! I thought you might be bored sick about now.”
“You’re amazing, Tsukiharu! Right on the mark!”
Kouya’s brow seemed to cave in with bitterness over Azusa’s apparent happiness. Tsukiharu triumphantly puffed out his chest and smirked at the unhappy Kouya.
“Although I say that, I can’t let you out of this room, and my opinion holds the same as that blockhead there for wanting you to stay inside, so I probably can’t grant your wish… Instead, I brought you a great present,” Tsukiharu said and opened the door. Azusa was startled by who stood on the other side.