"Mm…"
A faint sound slipped out, breaking the heavy silence filling the room.
Mahiru felt like she'd just risen from the bottom of a deep ocean. She was weak, but no longer in the miserable state she'd been in before.
Her body wasn't soaked anymore—just heavy.
Her head was still foggy, but her vision wasn't blurred.
"Where… am I…?"
With some effort, Mahiru opened her eyes. She felt lost for a moment before her mind finally caught up.
She realized she was lying on her own bed, surrounded by the familiar scenery of her own room.
Her room. Her bed. No wonder nothing felt strange.
"…I'm home?"
The thought surfaced slowly. She sat up on instinct.
As she did, a towel slid off her forehead. Only then did she realize someone had placed it there.
Her clothes were different too. The drenched outfit she had been wearing was gone—replaced by her usual pajamas.
Her expression changed at once.
She remembered.
Even through her dizziness and weakness, she remembered collapsing at her doorstep—right in front of Leo.
And now she was back home, lying safely in her bed, wearing clean clothes…
There was no way she didn't start overthinking.
Mahiru immediately checked her body. Only after several tense seconds did she finally let out a small breath.
Thankfully, despite the weakness, there were no strange marks. No signs of anything out of line.
But she was definitely brought back home. And someone definitely changed her clothes. She knew she didn't do it herself.
Mahiru bit her lip and struggled out of bed.
Dragging her heavy feet, she opened her door and stepped into the living room of her apartment.
And there he was—the same person who'd been with her right before she collapsed.
"Oh, you're awake."
Leo was sitting on the sofa, legs crossed, casually playing on his phone. When Mahiru appeared, he only lifted his eyes, glanced at her, greeted her offhandedly, then went right back to his game.
He looked like he owned the place, which only made Mahiru even more irritated.
"…You brought me back?"
She finally spoke after a moment of silence.
"Who else could it be?" Leo answered without even raising his head, fingers still tapping away. "You fainted right in front of me. What was I supposed to do, hand you to the old man downstairs?"
"Oh, by the way, that old guy's pretty dedicated. When he saw me carrying you in, he really thought I was some creep trying to take advantage. Almost detained me right there. Took a while before he believed I was your senpai and that you were sick."
"Oh, and he gave me your room number. Your apartment key was in your bag."
He explained a lot—clearing up several questions she had—but he still didn't address the most important one in her mind.
"Then… my clothes…"
Mahiru finally asked, unable to hold it in anymore. Her voice trembled.
Leo lifted his eyes. Seeing her tense expression, he couldn't help but smile.
"I know you're worried, but asking won't change anything, right?" he said teasingly. "If I was the one who changed them, you can't go back in time and undo it. Worrying won't help."
"But if I wasn't the one, then obviously I wouldn't bring some random man to do it either. So you don't need to panic."
"So just pretend it never happened. Isn't that easier?"
His words gave her zero comfort.
If anything, her heart sank.
He said so much… yet every line sounded like he was implying he changed her clothes.
If another woman had done it, he could've just said so. Why dodge?
"You…"
Mahiru glared, anger flickering in her caramel eyes. Her hand instinctively grabbed the collar of her pajamas.
"What kind of reaction is that?" Leo sighed. "If I wanted to do something to you, why would I wait until now?"
Even if he said that, her mood didn't improve at all. In fact, it worsened.
She had gone out into the rain because she was upset. Because Leo kept sticking close, she never managed to stop at a safe point. Her body gave out, and she fainted right in front of him.
Now she'd been taken care of… but her clothes were changed, and she had no memory of who did it. How could she possibly feel okay?
And her body was weak—she was clearly running a fever. No wonder her emotions were all over the place.
Stacked together, the frustration, fear, embarrassment, and exhaustion weighed heavily on her. Her eyes even started to mist.
"Alright, don't look like you're about to cry. I was just teasing you." Leo finally put away his playful tone. "Relax. I didn't change your clothes. The old man downstairs asked a familiar neighbor to help."
"A kind lady in her forties from the floor below."
"Feel better now?"
Mahiru froze—then frowned softly.
"…Really?"
"Ask her yourself if you don't believe me." Leo rolled his eyes and pointed toward the kitchen. "All I did was use your kitchen. I made some porridge and heated some milk. If you're hungry, go eat."
"Oh, and check your temperature later. The lady downstairs measured it earlier while you were unconscious—thirty-nine point five. She even brought medicine from her place and fed it to you."
"You owe her a proper thank-you later."
Hearing that, Mahiru finally felt a bit better.
"I know that without you saying it."
She hesitated only briefly before heading toward the kitchen.
There really was a pot of warm porridge and a cup of hot milk.
Mahiru fell silent for a moment before picking them up and eating slowly.
Warm food spread through her body, melting the chill in her limbs and lifting some of the weakness weighing her down.
Once she finished, she returned to the living room with a steadier mood.
"Um…" Mahiru looked at Leo on the sofa. "Thank you for bringing me home, Eligos-senpai."
"No problem." Leo finally put down his phone and smiled at her flushed face. "It's partially my fault anyway. I went too far teasing you. If I hadn't kept following you, maybe you wouldn't have ended up like this."
"…So it was on purpose." Mahiru's last suspicion was confirmed. Her tone dipped again. "Why?"
"No particular reason," Leo said easily. "You just looked… off. So I followed to check."
"I told you I was fine," she said coldly. "Senpai is meddling."
"Then be grateful there are still meddlers in the world. Otherwise you wouldn't have made it home safely." Leo chuckled. "If today's meddler had been anything like those guys who approached you earlier, you would've lost something important. No question."
"…That's still your fault," Mahiru muttered, unwilling to back down. "If you hadn't appeared so suddenly, I was planning to go home before anything happened."
"You sure?" Leo glanced at her—like he could see right through her. "Do you really think the you back then was calm enough to stop at the right time and get home safely?"
Mahiru fell silent.
Her eyes lowered. Her caramel gaze dimmed again—just like earlier in the rain—lost and helpless.
Seeing her like that… no one could deny it tugged at the heart.
She was supposed to be a gentle, flawless angel. But with that near-teary expression on her face, that fragile, broken look—it could make anyone panic.
No one at school would ever imagine their angel looking like this.
The others didn't know the reason.
But Leo did.
Not because of memories from a past life.
Simply because he had always paid attention to her, always known her circumstances.
It made him sigh quietly.
"People call you girls 'high mountain flowers'—perfect in looks, talent, grades, even family background. But who would've thought that beneath all that shine, there's so much pain no one sees?"
His words made Mahiru look up at him.
Her eyes were wide—stunned.