"What is this feeling? I'm so calm and happy. It's like I'm reliving one of the most precious moments from my childhood," Ryūta thought, though he couldn't quite place it.
He didn't recall ever cooking with anyone, aside from his caretaker, but that had never been this pleasant. Eventually, he gave up trying to make sense of it and let himself be carried by the moment, which floated away just seconds later.
"Ow!" Sanae cried out, snapping him back to reality.
"What's wrong? Did you cut yourself?" he asked, turning toward her.
"No, I'm fine!" she replied quickly, but her trembling voice did little to convince him. He was by her side in an instant.
"Are you sure? Let me see."
"I said I'm fine. See?" she repeated, holding up both hands. There was no visible wound on either of them. But on the counter where Sanae had been working, a few drops of blood stood out in stark red—just like on the pajamas Ryūta had lent her. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
"I told you, I didn't cut myself..." she insisted.
"Then what are these stains?" Ryūta pressed, and once again, she began to stumble over her words.
"Uh… I mean… maybe the blood dripped from the fish?" she offered hesitantly, but Ryūta quickly dismissed the idea.
"I bought cleaned fish, and it was never anywhere near this counter."
"Then maybe… maybe it was a nosebleed?"
Ryūta didn't even dignify that with a response. He just kept staring at her, hoping she'd come clean on her own. But his plan didn't work. Instead, he began to worry that his suspicion was scaring her. After all, they hadn't actually found any injuries, and although it seemed unlikely, maybe the blood had come from the fish after all.
Trying to ease the tension, he resorted to light teasing.
"Maybe you've got some kind of hidden ability that heals your wounds instantly?" he joked, but that, too, backfired. Sanae took it dead seriously.
"Sa-Sanae?" he said, startled.
Sanae suddenly looked like a completely different person, trembling in fear as she began to back away.
"Come on, I was just kidding…" Ryūta said gently, taking a cautious step toward her.
"Don't come any closer!" she pleaded, eyes brimming with tears. He froze in place.
"Okay, I stopped! Just please, don't run away! I don't know what I said wrong, but I want to talk about it!"
But Sanae clearly had other plans. Without hesitation, she bolted for the front door.
"Damn it! If she runs out into the street like this, something bad is bound to happen! Best case, I'll have to explain everything to random passersby, but she could actually get hurt! I have to stop her somehow!" Ryūta assessed the situation quickly.
With a few large strides, he caught up to her and grabbed her hand.
"Let go of me!" she cried, struggling against him. That's when Ryūta realized he'd gone too far, and that this might be his last chance to stop his fleeing guest.
He bet everything on this one move, pulled her gently toward him and wrapped her in a firm, yet careful embrace. Sanae calmed almost instantly.
"I'm sorry! I messed up! Please forgive me," Ryūta said sincerely, and this time, he was forgiven. The girl collapsed into his arms and broke down in sobs.
"Thank goodness... I never imagined a harmless joke would cause her to panic like that. Could it be that I accidentally hit the nail on the head? That she really does have some kind of ability, one that healed her cut almost instantly? Whatever the case, I think it's best not to push the issue for now. Yeah... there's only one thing I really need to be sure of right now."
Minutes passed before Sanae finally stopped crying. Even then, it wasn't entirely clear whether she had truly come to terms with what had happened, or if it was simply the exhaustion from all the stress that had silenced her. One thing, however, was obvious, that she had found a sense of calm in Ryūta's arms. Aware of this, Ryūta spoke softly:
"Sanae… do you trust me?"
"Yes…" she replied, her eyes closed as she pressed herself even closer to him, reinforcing her answer without words.
"Then I won't ask any more questions. But in return, if anything ever comes up, if you're in trouble or need help, I want you to tell me."
"Why?" she asked, looking up at him with tear-streaked eyes."
"So I can help you. I want you to know you can count on me."
"But we barely know each other. Why do you care so much about me?" she asked, clearly confused.
Ryūta smiled, and without hesitation, replied:
"That's exactly why. If you knew me, you'd know I don't need a reason."
"Are you sure about that? I can be unbelievably hopeless sometimes!"
"I've dealt with worse," Ryūta said with a smile, trying to reassure her. But a few moments later, his own eyes welled up with tears.
The fish they had forgotten during all the chaos was now burning in the pan, and thick black smoke had filled the kitchen.
"Okay, maybe not…" Ryūta amended with a chuckle, and this time even Sanae smiled.
"I really am a walking disaster, huh? I'm so sorry! I'll pay for everything tomorrow!"
"Oh, it might still be edible. But first, go put on a clean top. You get to choose this time," he said as he helped her up.
Sanae nodded quietly and headed toward the bedroom. Meanwhile, Ryūta rushed to clean up the kitchen. He pulled the pan off the heat, opened the windows to air out the smoke, wiped down the counters, and tried to salvage what he could of the charred fish.
A few minutes later, Sanae returned wearing a simple white T-shirt she had picked out, and they finally sat down to eat, if it could still be called dinner.
"Well, it wasn't that bad. All I need now is a hot shower," Ryūta sighed in relief.
"Go ahead," Sanae encouraged him, then added, "I'll do the dishes while you're in there."
"No need. I'll take care of them later," he replied, but she lowered her eyes.
"Please... At least let me make it up to you a little. I ruined your evening again."
Though Ryūta didn't really need the help, he didn't want to deny her the chance to ease her guilt. So he relented.
"Alright. I accept your offer."
As he stepped into the bathroom and undressed, he was just about to get into the shower when a damp, reddish stain at the bottom of the tub caught his eye.
"This... isn't blood, right?" Ryūta wondered to himself as he touched the stain with his index finger and brought it to his nose. "No, it's dye. That's right, Sanae dyes her hair. And now that I think about it, it did look a bit more vibrant today than yesterday. Must not be very permanent," he concluded with a shrug. After rinsing the tub, he resumed his evening routine.
By the time he returned to his room, Sanae was already fast asleep. Again. So Ryūta didn't take long to settle in either. He rolled out his futon and lay down. Though his mind was still buzzing with thoughts, sleep overtook him quickly.
He didn't get to sleep for long, though. Just a few hours later, a soft whisper pulled him from his rest.
"Kagayaki-kun... Kagayaki-kun! Are you awake?"
"Mafuyu!" he gasped, startled by the familiar voice. But as soon as he realized his mistake, he rubbed his eyes and mumbled groggily, "Sanae... What's wrong? Why aren't you asleep?"
"I heard something outside," she said anxiously. That was enough to get Ryūta on his feet and heading toward the window.
Next to the house was a narrow alley, and in it stood a rusty dumpster. By climbing onto it, someone could easily reach the bedroom window, so Sanae had every reason to be concerned.
Moonlight lit up the whole area, so if anything or anyone had been there, it would've been visible. At least, that's what Ryūta believed as he leaned out the window, resting his arms on the sill.
"I don't see anything unusual…" he said, just about to pull back when he suddenly heard a noise. "That came from the dumpster… Wah!" he yelped, recoiling so fast he fell backward onto the floor, startling Sanae, who flattened herself against the wall.
A black cat had landed on the windowsill. It stared at the terrified pair for a moment, then rubbed its nose with a paw and vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
"Just a cat…" Ryūta announced the obvious, and Sanae finally exhaled in relief.
"I'm so sorry I woke you up!" she said apologetically.
But Ryūta only smiled and gestured for her to come closer.
Sanae wasn't sure what to expect, but she sat down beside him. To her surprise, he gazed directly into her eyes.
"Wh-What is it?" she asked, clearly flustered.
"So they really are red…" Ryūta murmured in awe.
Sanae immediately looked away and slid half a meter away from him, covering her face with both hands.
"I took out my contact lenses before bed out of habit! Yet I was always so careful to make sure no one ever found out!" she said, clearly embarrassed.
Ryūta, meanwhile, didn't understand why it mattered so much.
"Why did you try to hide it?" he asked.
"Because it's not natural. Just like my hair color. Though… I guess you already figured that out too," she said, her voice growing quiet with shame.
"Yeah… Some of the dye from your hair must've washed out and stained the bottom of the tub," Ryūta said, eyes lowered, though he didn't quite know why he felt guilty.
"Oh well, what can you do? I's my fault anyway," Sanae said, trying to comfort them both, but when she realized it only worked on herself, she brightened and grinned playfully. "If it bothers you that much, then show me your right eye and we'll call it even!"
"My right eye?" Ryūta's head snapped up, and Sanae's enthusiasm faltered.
"I'm sorry! You don't have to if you don't want to! I just got a little carried away, that's all…" she said quickly, but it wasn't necessary. Ryūta didn't seem to mind.
"Well, it's not like I'm hiding it or anything…" he replied, brushing aside the lock of hair that usually covered it.
"Whoa… It's beautiful!" Sanae said in awe, staring at his dazzling light-blue right eye.
"You think so? I've never thought it was anything special, but I'm glad you–" he started, but didn't get to finish. Sanae suddenly leaned in, nearly pressing her face to his.
"How is your left eye brown and your right one blue? Did you inherit it? Was one of your parents a foreigner? What's the name of it again? Hetero… hetero… I have it right on the tip of my tongue… Oh! Heterobromia!"
"It's heterochromia, and calm down," Ryūta corrected, prompting her to respect his personal space and slide back to her seat.
"But if you're not hiding it, why do you cover it with your hair?" she asked, puzzled.
"Well… I don't really understand it myself, but my eyes aren't in sync. If I use them both at the same time, I see double. It gets pretty distracting and tiring after a while."
"That's a shame…" Sanae said, her mood dimming a bit.
"Well, now you know your eyes aren't the only 'unnatural' ones. So maybe you'll appreciate them more from now on!" Ryūta said proudly, but once again, it didn't quite get the reaction he expected.
"Kagayaki-kun, just because something isn't natural doesn't mean it's bad!" Sanae scolded him with a playful pout, speaking so casually, as if their earlier conversation had never happened.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I was trying to say… But now, thanks to her sudden turnaround, I'm the one who looks shallow. Well played…" Ryūta thought, until Sanae broke his train of thought.
"By the way, who's Mafuyu?"
"Mafuyu?" Ryūta blinked in surprise at the question.
"Mhm. You were saying her name in your sleep."
"Mafuyu? Hmm… I wonder who that could be," he said, feigning ignorance. But the uncontainable curiosity written all over Sanae's face made it clear that dodging the question was pointless. He sighed and finally gave in.
"Last night, when you asked why I care so much about you, I said I didn't need a reason. And that's true, but actually I have one. Mafuyu is a girl who's been appearing in my dreams every night lately. She has long, snow-white hair and aside from that one detail, she looks exactly like you."