Volume 1, Chapter 14: Aren't You Two a Little Too Close?
At 5:40 p.m. the next day, just as the last batch of discount bread went up on the shelves, Tanaka Makoto stood at the staff corridor door and announced something Shuichi found deeply uninteresting.
"Staff dinner tonight."
He was still holding an inventory sheet, and he said it less like an invitation and more like a shift notice.
A young clerk sorting shopping baskets nearby looked up first.
"Manager's treat?"
"In your dreams."
"Then why are we doing it?"
"The store's closed twice in the past few days, and the day before yesterday the whole district nearly got wiped out. Today things are finally back to normal, so we're all having a meal together."
The young clerk thought about it.
"So it is the manager's treat?"
Tanaka Makoto rolled up the inventory sheet and whacked him on the head with it.
"We're splitting the bill."
"Then I'm not going."
"Get lost."
Everyone around them burst out laughing.
Shuichi stood at the other end of the aisle, silently pushed a bag of chips farther back, and pretended he hadn't heard.
For him, events like this were usually unnecessary.
Work ended.
Go home.
Eat.
Play games.
Sleep.
A perfectly complete routine.
But before he could find a good moment to slip away, Yusei was already poking his head over from two aisles away.
"Shuichi, you're coming tonight, right?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Sleepy."
"It's only six."
"Sleepy in advance."
Yusei walked over, still carrying a freshly opened case of bottled tea. "It's just dinner, it's not like we're asking you to stay out all night."
"I can eat at home."
"I'm not cooking today."
Shuichi looked up.
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to the dinner."
"Then I'll eat instant noodles."
"Don't you still have those boxed lunches Asakawa gave you in your fridge?"
"Ate them."
"When?"
"This afternoon."
"Didn't you eat lunch at noon?"
"I get hungry in the afternoon."
Yusei stared at him for a while, clearly with a lot he wanted to say, but in the end held it in.
"Anyway, you're coming."
"No."
"Manager Tanaka says the new yakiniku place nearby gives employees twenty percent off."
The hand pushing the chips stopped.
Yusei caught it immediately.
"And the manager says he's paying for drinks."
Shuichi was silent for two seconds.
"What time?"
"Seven."
"Send me the address."
Yusei grinned.
"Knew it."
"I'm doing it for the manager."
"You're doing it for the twenty percent."
"Same thing."
While the two of them were talking, Asakawa Mio was passing by.
She had mostly recovered today. The wound in her abdomen hadn't fully closed yet, but at least nothing looked off from the outside; she wore her supermarket uniform neatly as always, her long black hair tied back, a stack of freshly printed price tags in her hand.
Yusei asked her in passing.
"Asakawa, are you coming tonight?"
Mio had already started to walk on.
"No."
The answer came out naturally.
"I have something tonight—"
She stopped halfway, when she saw Shuichi already holding his phone, scrolling through the address Yusei had just sent him.
Mio paused.
"You're going?"
Shuichi looked up.
"Twenty percent off."
"..."
Mio looked at him for two seconds, then at Yusei.
"What time?"
Yusei blinked.
"Seven."
"Then I'll come too."
With that, she kept walking.
Yusei stood where he was.
Shuichi lowered his head and saved the address.
Neither of them thought anything of it.
But a young female clerk who happened to be passing slowed down a little, looked back at Mio's retreating figure, and then at Shuichi.
"Didn't Asakawa just say she wasn't going?"
Shuichi: "Mm."
"And the second you're going, she's going."
Shuichi thought about it.
"Maybe she likes twenty percent off too."
The clerk: "..."
Yusei couldn't help laughing out loud.
"You've really got the nerve to explain it like that."
Shuichi looked at him.
"How else?"
"Nothing."
Yusei walked off with the case.
Only, as he passed Shuichi, he tucked back in the name badge that had flipped out over Shuichi's collar when he bent down.
He did it so naturally it was as if nothing had happened.
Shuichi didn't even look down.
He was obviously long used to it.
The clerk watched the whole thing from beside them.
Her expression suddenly turned even more subtle.
Shuichi noticed.
"What?"
"...Nothing."
"Oh."
He had no interest in asking either.
As the clerk turned to go, she couldn't help looking back once more.
How to put it.
Something about Asakawa's side was definitely a little odd.
But these two guys...
Didn't seem all that normal either.
***
At 7:15 p.m., the group took over two large tables at the back of the yakiniku restaurant.
The place had only just opened, and the decor was still new. Wooden partitions divided the tables into semi-open booths, the exhaust ducts overhead hummed low, meat sizzled and spat grease the moment it hit the grill, and the air was full of the mingled smells of sauce, charcoal, and grilled meat.
Shuichi sat at the very back.
The reason was very simple.
It made it harder for anyone to make him get up.
Yusei sat to his left.
Asakawa Mio had originally sat across from them, but when the next table suddenly added two more people, she shifted over and ended up right in front of Shuichi, a little to his right.
Tanaka Makoto sat at the head.
Even though he'd said they were splitting the bill, he still ordered everyone a round of drinks.
"No work talk tonight."
He raised his glass. "Anyone who talks to me about the schedule works overtime tomorrow."
Someone asked:
"What about talking about pay?"
"You're free to leave right now."
"..."
Everyone laughed again.
Shuichi was drinking oolong tea.
Yusei had originally wanted to order a beer, but considering the recent changes in his body and not knowing whether alcohol might have some strange effect, he switched to a non-alcoholic drink in the end.
Mio, on the other hand, actually ordered a glass of low-alcohol fruit wine.
Shuichi was a little surprised when he saw it.
"You drink?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Didn't figure you would."
Mio picked up the glass and took a sip.
"I'm an adult."
"I know."
"Then that's that."
Shuichi looked at her.
"Is it sweet?"
Mio paused.
"It's all right."
"Let me have a sip."
The moment the words were out.
The table went quiet for a split second.
Shuichi himself didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
Mio, though, looked at her glass.
Where her lips had just touched the rim, there was still a little moisture.
"You don't have your own?"
"Mine isn't sweet."
"..."
Mio looked at the hand he held out.
In the end she handed the glass over anyway, only she deliberately turned it half a rotation first so the other side of the rim faced him.
Shuichi didn't notice that little movement at all.
He took a sip.
And frowned.
"So sweet."
Mio took the glass back.
"You're the one who wanted to try it."
"Everything you like is so sweet."
"I didn't ask you to drink it."
A clerk across the table overheard and asked in passing.
"Do you two usually eat dessert together?"
Mio's hand paused.
Shuichi had already answered, very naturally.
"Sometimes."
"Do you live close?"
"No."
Mio said.
"Then how do you end up together sometimes?"
"We run into each other at the convenience store."
"At midnight."
Shuichi added.
Mio immediately looked at him.
"Why did you have to add that?"
"It's a fact."
"Nobody would know if you didn't say it."
"Now they know."
"..."
Shuichi lowered his head and picked up some meat.
Mio held back for a few seconds.
And still didn't hit him.
Yusei, sitting beside them, watched the two of them trade lines and suddenly had a very subtle feeling.
It wasn't that he was unhappy.
It was just, when had "running into each other at the convenience store at midnight" become a regular thing between these two?
Why didn't he know about it?
"You two go there a lot lately?"
Yusei asked.
Mio looked up.
"No."
Shuichi thought about it.
"Twice."
Mio: "One and a half."
"How is there half a time?"
"The second time I was just passing by."
"You bought pudding."
"..."
Yusei looked at the two of them.
He suddenly felt he'd asked a question he shouldn't have.
In the end, all he could do was pick up a piece of freshly grilled beef and put it on Shuichi's plate.
"Eat your food."
Shuichi glanced down at it.
"It's burnt."
"Eat it or don't."
"The edge is burnt."
"Then give it back."
Yusei reached out with his chopsticks.
Shuichi immediately snatched it up.
"Never mind."
Mio sat to the side and watched.
She suddenly kind of wanted to laugh.
She had already noticed that these two got along extremely well, but after sitting at the same table and watching them for a while, the feeling was even more obvious.
Shuichi knew which side Yusei liked to put down first when he grilled, and knew he didn't eat overly fatty pork belly.
Yusei knew Shuichi didn't like carrots and didn't dip his meat in too much sauce, and would hand over the teapot before his cup ran dry without being asked.
Neither of them ever said thank you.
Neither of them even seemed to think any of it needed noticing.
As natural as breathing.
Mio watched for a while.
She suddenly felt that when she used to think Yusei "fussed over Shuichi too much," she might not have had it quite right.
Some things were no longer fussing.
They were habit.
The young female clerk was sitting at this table too.
Picking up some meat, she suddenly asked with a smile:
"Can I ask a question?"
Shuichi looked up.
"Ask."
"How long have you two known each other?"
Yusei thought about it.
"Over two years?"
"Not that long, but close."
Shuichi said.
"Just neighbors?"
"Mm."
"Really?"
Shuichi found that odd.
"What else?"
The clerk looked at Yusei.
Then at Shuichi.
And finally smiled a rather meaningful smile.
"Nothing."
Shuichi didn't get it at all.
Yusei, though, seemed to vaguely catch on.
"What's with that look?"
"What look?"
"A look that's asking to get punched."
"I just think..."
The clerk drew out her words.
"Aren't you two a little too close?"
Yusei: "?"
Shuichi: "?"
The identical blank looks on both their faces only made her want to laugh more.
Mio sat to the side, lowered her head, and took a sip of fruit wine.
For some reason, she caught on a little too.
She held out for two seconds.
And still couldn't hold it in.
"True."
Yusei immediately turned his head.
"What's true?"
Mio thought about it.
"When he wanted to drink my drink just now, he asked first."
She pointed at Shuichi.
"But when he takes your stuff, he never seems to ask."
Yusei looked at Shuichi.
Shuichi looked back at him.
On the table sat a can of sugar-free soda Yusei had just opened.
Shuichi reached over and took it.
Took a sip.
Put it back.
All in one smooth motion.
"..."
Mio fell silent.
The clerk nearly collapsed onto the table laughing.
A vein twitched at Yusei's temple.
"Can't you order your own?"
"Just one sip."
"If you want some, you can say so."
"I'm saying it now."
"What's the point of saying it after you've already drunk it?"
"Thanks."
"..."
Shuichi finally wanted to laugh a little.
Yusei looked at the face he was making and wasn't really angry either; he just reached out and pushed down on the back of Shuichi's head.
"Eat."
Shuichi got pushed down a little.
"Let go."
"You be quiet first."
"You messed up my hair."
"It was already messed up."
"You're responsible."
"How am I responsible?"
Shuichi raised a hand and pointed at the top of his head.
"Fix it."
Yusei actually did smooth back the hair he'd just flattened, a couple of strokes.
And only then did he realize the surroundings had suddenly gone quiet.
His hand stopped.
Shuichi looked up too.
Several people at the table were looking at them.
Mio's hand holding her glass had frozen in midair too.
"..."
Yusei slowly pulled his hand back.
"What are you looking at?"
The clerk lowered her head.
"Nothing."
Her shoulders were shaking hard.
Tanaka Makoto called over from the next table:
"What are you laughing about over there?"
"Nothing, Manager!"
"If it's nothing, eat!"
Shuichi had no idea what had been so funny.
He lowered his head and touched his hair.
"Still messy."
Yusei lowered his voice.
"Shut up."
"Oh."
Mio turned her face the other way.
She could no longer keep the corners of her mouth down at all.
These two...
Really did have something going on.
Of course.
It was probably just that they were too close.
Yeah.
Definitely.
***
The dinner went on until after nine.
Shuichi was starting to get sleepy.
That wasn't an excuse.
The exhaustion left over from transforming two days ago hadn't completely gone away; it was just less noticeable during the day, pressed down by work and the noise around him. After sitting for a long time, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
He propped up his chin and listened to the people around him talk.
The conversation drifted from work to games, and then from games to the Girl Hero Observatory lately.
Someone even pulled up the "Blue Lance" page specially to show everyone.
Mio sat not far away, her face showing no change at all.
It was just that she was noticeably drinking her fruit wine more slowly.
"She's already fourth."
Someone said in surprise.
"Wasn't she sixth yesterday?"
"The Mother Hive incident got way too much attention."
"She's third on the combat suit ranking too."
Mio lowered her head and picked up some food.
"I think the old version looked nice too."
Another female clerk said.
"The new version's prettier, though. The waist part looks especially good."
"I like the boots."
"The legs are the main point."
Mio's chopsticks paused for an instant.
Sitting beside her, Shuichi felt his sleepiness lift a little.
He did rather enjoy watching this kind of scene.
Yusei noticed the corner of his mouth.
"You're smiling again."
"No, I'm not."
"You've smiled a lot today."
"Good mood."
"Why?"
Shuichi glanced at Mio.
"The yakiniku's good."
Mio immediately realized he was actually watching the show.
The toe of her shoe gave him a not-too-hard kick under the table.
Shuichi looked down.
"What?"
Mio's face was blank.
"Accident."
"Oh."
Shuichi didn't make a fuss about it either.
Another ten-plus minutes passed.
He finally stood up.
"I'm heading out first."
Yusei glanced at the time.
"Now?"
"Sleepy."
This time nobody doubted it.
Because Shuichi's face was practically written with "I need to sleep."
The young female clerk asked:
"This early? We were about to go for a second round."
"Not going."
"Not even karaoke?"
"No."
"So boring."
Shuichi picked up his jacket.
"Thanks."
He took it completely as a compliment.
He said goodbye to Tanaka Makoto and got ready to leave.
But he had barely taken two steps when Mio picked up her bag too.
"I'm heading back as well."
The people nearby were taken aback.
"Asakawa, you're leaving too?"
"Mm."
"Didn't you say you still had trains after ten?"
"I have things to do tomorrow."
"Oh."
A co-worker asked in passing:
"So are you two going together?"
Mio was about to say no.
But Shuichi had already pushed open the booth's door.
"You coming or not?"
She paused.
"Coming."
After the two of them left one after the other, the table was silent for two seconds.
The young female clerk slowly turned her head.
And looked at Yusei.
Yusei: "?"
"You're not going?"
"Why would I go?"
"To see her home?"
"Asakawa's not a kid."
After saying it, he suddenly felt the line sounded very familiar.
It was exactly what Shuichi had said a few days ago.
The young female clerk stared at him for two seconds.
"You're really not worried at all."
Yusei was even more baffled.
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing."
She lowered her head and drank her drink.
Funny how she'd never noticed before how interesting the relationship between these three was.
***
At some point, it had started raining outside the restaurant.
Not a downpour, but very dense.
The street shone wet under the streetlights, and passing cars kicked up fine sprays of water along the curb.
Shuichi stood under the eaves.
Looking at the rain.
Mio stood beside him.
Looking at the rain too.
Neither of them had brought an umbrella.
"..."
Shuichi asked.
"You didn't check the weather forecast?"
Mio turned her head.
"Did you?"
"No."
"Then why are you asking?"
"Figured you'd be the type to check."
"I forgot today."
Shuichi thought.
"Run for it?"
Mio looked at him.
"You?"
"Mm."
"Do you not know how white your face was yesterday?"
Shuichi went silent.
Here we go again.
"I'm better now."
"Catching a cold would be a hassle too."
"I won't."
"You say that every time."
As the two of them were talking.
The restaurant door opened again behind them.
Yusei came out holding two umbrellas.
"Knew it."
Shuichi looked back.
"How do you have two?"
"The manager had spares in his car."
Yusei shoved one of them straight into Shuichi's arms.
"Take it."
Shuichi looked down.
"What about you?"
Yusei raised the other one.
"I've got this."
"Then what about Asakawa?"
"She'll share mine."
He said it very naturally.
But Mio froze slightly.
Shuichi looked at the two umbrellas.
Then at the two of them.
"Oh."
Yusei was thrown by that one syllable.
"What's that 'oh' for?"
"Nothing."
Shuichi opened his umbrella.
"I'm off."
Mio asked:
"You're not waiting for us?"
"Sleepy."
With that, he walked out into the rain.
Yusei watched his back.
"This guy's always in such a hurry to sleep."
"He really isn't in great shape today."
Mio said.
Yusei's movements paused.
"You noticed too?"
"A little."
"I thought he was just being his usual self."
Mio looked at the figure walking away in the rain.
"He's quieter than usual."
Yusei watched for a while too.
He didn't say anything.
He only looked away once Shuichi had crossed the street.
Then he opened his umbrella.
"Let's go."
"Mm."
The umbrella wasn't small.
But with two grown adults walking under it, the distance between them naturally got pressed a lot closer.
Yusei was nearly twenty centimeters taller than Mio, so of course he was the one holding the umbrella.
At first there was still a little space between them, but as they passed the first intersection, a car drove by and Mio instinctively stepped inward to avoid it, her shoulder lightly bumping Yusei's arm.
Both of them paused for an instant.
Very briefly.
Neither said anything.
They kept walking.
The rain fell on the umbrella in a fine, unbroken patter.
After a few dozen meters, Mio suddenly realized there was almost no rain on her side.
She looked up at the umbrella.
The handle was clearly tilted toward her.
Then she looked at Yusei.
His right shoulder was already wet through in a patch.
"Yusei."
"Hm?"
"The umbrella."
"What about it?"
"It's crooked."
Yusei glanced up.
"Oh."
He straightened it toward the middle.
Mio didn't say anything.
They kept walking.
Another intersection passed.
She looked over again.
The umbrella had tilted back.
Yusei didn't seem to have noticed at all.
The wet patch on his right shoulder had grown darker.
Mio slowed her steps a little.
"Are you doing this on purpose?"
Yusei blinked.
"Doing what?"
"The umbrella."
"..."
Only then did he notice his own shoulder.
"Habit."
"What habit?"
Yusei thought about it.
"When I used to walk with Shuichi, he'd get sick easily if he got rained on, so I'd just..."
As he got that far.
Mio suddenly went quiet.
Shuichi again.
Yusei seemed to realize he'd said something a little strange too.
"No, I mean his health is bad."
"I know."
Mio nodded.
Then reached out.
And took hold of the umbrella handle below his hand.
Yusei looked down.
"What are you doing?"
"Toward the middle."
She pulled the umbrella a little straighter.
Because of that, the distance between them naturally closed a little more.
Mio let go.
"I don't get sick that easily."
Yusei looked at her.
A few seconds later, he smiled.
"Okay."
This time the umbrella didn't tilt her way quite so obviously.
But when they passed puddles, he still walked on the outside first.
When someone came toward them, he'd still instinctively guide Mio a little closer to his side.
These were all very small things.
So small that unless you were walking right beside him the whole time, you probably wouldn't notice at all.
Mio didn't say anything.
Only, when they reached the next streetlight, she suddenly felt that tonight's rain wasn't so annoying after all.
***
Up ahead.
Shuichi was walking alone under his umbrella.
Actually, he wasn't walking fast.
The streetlights stretched his shadow long, and the rain cut it into something a little blurry.
When he got near the convenience store, he stopped for a moment.
The sign for the second plain pudding at half price was still stuck to the glass.
Shuichi stood outside and looked at it for two seconds.
He didn't go in.
He still had some at home.
He kept walking.
His phone suddenly buzzed.
It was Yusei.
【Where are you?】
Shuichi glanced around.
【Convenience store.】
【Buying instant noodles again?】
【No.】
【Don't get rained on.】
Shuichi looked up at the intact umbrella over his head.
【Does the umbrella you gave me leak?】
The reply took a moment.
【I mean hold on to it properly.】
The corner of Shuichi's mouth moved slightly.
【Got it.】
Sent.
He put his phone away.
And kept walking.
The rain kept falling.
When he reached the apartment entrance, Shuichi closed his umbrella, and was just about to go in when he suddenly remembered Mio hadn't brought an umbrella either.
Yusei had one.
That was fine, then.
He didn't keep thinking about it.
Went upstairs.
Opened the door.
It was still just him inside.
Shuichi changed his shoes and leaned the wet umbrella against the entryway, took two steps, then stopped again.
For some reason, he suddenly looked back.
Water was still dripping from the umbrella's edge.
Drip.
Drip.
He stood there for a few seconds.
Then picked up the umbrella and took it into the bathroom.
So the floor wouldn't get wet.
That was all.
Ten minutes later.
Two sets of footsteps came from outside the door.
One familiar.
The other no longer really unfamiliar either.
Shuichi sat on the sofa, his phone screen lit, though he wasn't looking at it.
Through the wall, he could hear Yusei open his door.
Then Mio seemed to say something.
Her voice was very soft.
He couldn't make it out.
Yusei laughed.
Then the door closed.
Only then did Shuichi lower his head.
The Girl Hero Observatory had just pushed a new update.
【The abnormal core from the Linjiang City Mother Hive Incident has been transferred to a specialized research institution; follow-up test results have not yet been released.】
He glanced at it.
He didn't open it.
He didn't feel like dealing with it today.
Shuichi tossed his phone aside.
And sank all the way into the sofa.
He closed his eyes.
Tonight, at least, had just been some yakiniku.
And some rain.
No monsters.
No one bleeding.
That was nice.
As for when those two next door had gotten so close...
Shuichi thought about it for a while.
Then couldn't be bothered to think about it anymore.
It had only been a few days anyway.