Today of all days, his eyelids felt heavy. His eyes moved slowly as they swept across the ceiling. Ruite dragged himself out of bed and stared blankly into the air. Even in that brief moment of getting up from the bed, his body felt heavy, as if weights were attached to it. The heaviness did not disappear even after he washed.
Was fatigue piling up because he had gone out yesterday and then, without even resting, watched Dylan and Lea train at the training ground? Well, after the exams ended, he had been called here and there because of that incident, so he had not exactly rested properly.
Apparently, his accumulated fatigue had not been properly resolved, so his body was dragging. Even so, he could not skip a meal. Ruite went down to the first floor and entered the dining hall. As he naturally swept his gaze over the inside, he saw Dylan raising a hand in the distance.
It seemed Dylan had come down early and already secured a seat. After eating together for all three years, they now had an unspoken rule that whoever arrived first would claim seats. Ruite nodded toward Dylan to mean that he would go over there later.
Just then, his head spun once more, and before he knew it, his body tilted forward. Because of that, his head bumped lightly against the shoulder of the person in front of him, and at that moment, he felt the shoulder he had touched flinch.
“Ah…….”
He was about to apologize, but the gaze he felt from above was unusual. By coincidence, the person standing in front of him was Chester. With an indifferent face, he looked back and forth between Ruite and the place where their shoulders had touched.
“I told you not to touch me.”
It had been his forehead, not his hand. And it had not been on purpose, but because a headache had suddenly come over him. Still, he did not think there was any need to explain all that in detail.
“Yeah, sorry.”
Chester coldly turned away and did not look back even once until he had received all his food.
After Ruite received his own food as well, he headed to the seat where Dylan was.
“Ruite.”
“Yeah?”
He wondered if this was another attempt to call him over and steal his food, but he felt Dylan staring intently at his face.
“Your face is so burdensome I feel like I’m going to get indigestion, so don’t look at me like that.”
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“Out of nowhere?”
Ruite tilted his head as he tore off a large piece of bread and put it in his mouth.
“No, how should I put it…….”
Dylan set down even the utensils he was holding and slowly scanned Ruite’s face. Just when Ruite was starting to truly feel like he might get indigestion, Dylan opened his mouth.
“Something looks different from usual, but I don’t know what it is…… Should I say you look kind of languid?”
“Hm, I’m just a little tired.”
He had already felt this morning that his physical condition was slightly uncomfortable. But it was not as though he had specific symptoms like catching a cold and coughing, or shivering with a rising fever. Aside from his body feeling heavy and the occasional headache.
“I’m absolutely going to sleep properly today.”
“Yeah. Now that you say that, you do look tired.”
Fortunately, morning lectures would only continue until today. So he finished the rest of his meal, firmly resolving that for the remaining time, he would become one with his bed so completely that he would not know even if someone carried him away.
He went up to the dormitory, finished getting ready for class, and headed to the classroom again today. But in the hallway on the floor where the classroom was, he saw a familiar back.
“Rona.”
Ruite, recognizing Rona from behind, abruptly went to her side and stood beside her.
“Ah, you startled me…… Ruite.”
“Good morning.”
“Mm-hm.”
Rona’s voice still had no energy. After that incident, thanks to Professor Harold gently tending to the student’s heart, it did not seem to have remained as a trauma in particular, but the problem was that whenever she saw him, she became this dispirited.
Normally, she had the personality to greet him primly. Even now, Rona was silently fiddling with a transparent bottle. Inside it, he could see seeds whose name he did not know.
“You’re going to plant those in the classroom vines again?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I want to try a little experiment.”
“I think Professor Harold will catch you again…… Last time, it didn’t even last a day.”
“That was because that plant looked way too conspicuous.”
Rona’s voice rose slightly.
“Oh, are you confident this time?”
“Of course! I can probably guarantee he won’t notice for a week.”
Then Rona began chattering about what species the seeds she would secretly plant were. Of course, the contents did not really enter his ears this time either, but still, Rona, now excitedly explaining, looked no different from usual.
“Ah…… Hm, I got carried away and talked too much.”
Only then did Rona come back to her senses and clear her throat with an awkward cough. Rona was surely trapped in guilt over having put him in danger during the exam. But that had literally been an accident, and since no one had been hurt, there was no trouble in saying the ending had been happy enough.
However, he knew that no matter how much the person involved comforted her and said he was fine, the lump of guilt she held inside herself would not easily dissolve.
“It’s fine. Well, I still don’t really understand what you’re saying, though.”
“Or maybe you just weren’t listening properly?”
At the familiar rebuke, Ruite raised the corners of his mouth.
“I’ll cheer you on so Professor Harold doesn’t notice for about ten days.”
Ruite lightly stroked Rona’s head. If they just kept going on like this as usual, Rona’s lump would gradually disappear too.
“Thanks. But Ruite…… Did you not sleep today?”
“Right? I’m especially tired today. There aren’t many lectures anyway, so I’ll endure it.”
“Are you going to doze off in lecture again like that?”
Ruite scratched his cheek with a guilty expression. The possibility was probably very high, but even so, he intended to try enduring without dozing off now. Hadn’t Chester told him yesterday that he sprawled out asleep during every lecture anyway?
“Fine, I’ll cheer you on so you don’t doze off.”
Several hours after hearing Rona’s words of encouragement, Ruite was fiercely battling sleep, making his resolve look ridiculous.
But somehow, it was a little different from his usual drowsiness. Rather than sleep pouring over him because the lecture content was boring, it was closer to his body sagging limply. His breathing was strangely a little short, and he was even hot.
“Ah.”
Ruite, who had dozed off again, opened his eyes wide and rubbed his heavy eyes hard. Fortunately, it seemed the professor, who was lecturing passionately, had not caught him.
By the way, he did not really understand the lecture content the professor was talking about. Now that he looked, the professor was explaining something different from the page of the textbook he had open. He had missed the progress because he was dozing.
“Chester.”
Ruite tilted his body slightly to the side and whispered quietly.
“What section are we on now?”
“…….”
But Chester gave him no answer. Had he spoken too quietly, so Chester had not heard him? Left with no choice, he had to steal a look at Chester’s textbook with his eyes.
After that, he dozed off several more times, but luckily, the lecture ended without the professor catching him. As soon as the professor disappeared, Ruite sighed deeply and collapsed onto the desk. Now, if he endured just one more lecture, he could return to the dormitory.
By the way, could he endure it? Somehow, it felt like his condition was getting worse.
Just then, Chester, who had been preparing the textbook for the next lecture, glanced at Ruite, who was lying face-down. Then, as if he had decided something, he headed to the professors’ office.
“Professor.”
“Oh, Chester. Is something the matter?”
Harold welcomed Chester, who had come to see him suddenly.
“There is something I’d like to discuss with you for a moment.”
“Really? Then shall we go to the consultation room?”
Taking Chester, who nodded, Harold headed to the consultation room right beside it. And as soon as they sat down in the chairs, Harold’s expression was dyed with bewilderment at the words Chester spat out.
“You want me to change your seatmate?”
“Yes.”
“No, why all of a sudden? Hasn’t it been quite a while since you changed?”
It was not as though Chester was asking to change right after they had drawn seatmates; he was asking to change when they should already have adjusted well enough, so Harold could not help showing his confusion.
“He makes me uncomfortable.”
“Ruite does?”
When Chester nodded, Harold naturally thought of Ruite. As the professor in charge, he knew well enough that the child did not exactly have the sort of personality that made anyone uncomfortable. Of course, whatever the reason, he had no intention of allowing a once-decided seatmate to be changed until the next drawing.
“In exactly what way?”
Still, Harold could not hold back his curiosity and asked. He wanted to know what on earth Ruite had done for Chester to come personally and ask to have his seatmate changed like this.
“…….”
Chester fell silent. At the professor’s question of what made him uncomfortable, he could not readily open his mouth. Because even he himself did not know how he should explain this discomfort. He simply disliked the situation of feeling this emotion itself. He thought it would get better if he put some distance between himself and Ruite.
“Hmm, first, I understand what you’re asking, but……”
Harold trailed off and checked the time.
“As you know, changing seatmates midway isn’t allowed. For now, the next lecture is about to start, so go to the classroom. Let’s talk again next time.”
“Yes.”
He already knew that seatmates could not be changed for personal reasons. But he did not want to keep living with this suffocating feeling inside the classroom.
Having left the consultation room without much result, Chester pressed down on his stiff eyes and went up to the floor where the classroom was. But he felt an unusual atmosphere from the class. The closer he got, the louder the murmuring voices from inside grew.
The moment he opened the back door and entered, the first thing he saw was that his classmates had all gathered at the back of the classroom.
“Wh-what do we do? Someone call a professor!”
“Ruite! Are you okay?”
“It looks like he’s completely lost consciousness……!”
At the unusual atmosphere and the name Ruite, Chester reflexively pushed his way into the group. There, surrounded by their classmates, Ruite had collapsed. Breathing looked quite difficult for him, and cold sweat was pouring from his forehead like rain.
“This won’t do. Everyone, I’ll just carry him to the treatment room. Someone please call Professor Harold.”
“Ah, okay!”
Colin reached a hand toward the collapsed Ruite. The moment his unhesitating hand was about to wrap around Ruite’s shoulder, Chester struck Colin’s hand away as if stopping him.
“Chester? What’s wrong? Right now, we have to hurry and take Ruite to the infirmary……”
“……It should be me, not you.”