Work and Heat

POV: Ikeda Akihiko

With her quivering lips, she murmured, "Monster…"

"What happened? What do you mean by that?" I asked with my eyes, which quickly averts earlier, strongly staring at her.

She's shaking, trembling up to her limbs like a puppy lost her way home. Her gasping mouth falls open, creating a hole that a large rat can enter. We've been staring for many seconds until the seriousness vanished, and she became steadily calm.

"Ahh… Sorry… It's just a prank!" She said and giggled while scratching her head with her eyes closed. Her reaction seemed too realistic that even I nearly panicked.

When I look at her smiling, I can somehow feel the safety and comfort I need to protect. For whatever reason everyone might have, I think she doesn't deserve to be here.

But I wonder why my clothing has a hole in the chest. Did I scratch this while I'm washing? Or maybe I might have hit a branch earlier. This seems to be no big deal. If it's real that she saw a monster, I should have been dead by now.

"Okay! Let's continue our journey. Can you still walk?" I asked as I stand up.

"Slightly," she nodded. "But I'll try to walk as far as I can."

"It's the plains from this point forward. I can see a small cabin from afar. Maybe it'll take us twenty minutes until we reach it."

"Twenty minutes!? Really?" She asked with a highly pitched tone.

"Then how about this? After you got tired of walking, I will carry you on my back. Deal?"

She shows me a flustered face. "W… Why would you suggest that!? What's happening to you, Ikeda? Are you planning on harassing me again? I haven't forgiven you completely yet."

"W… What!? That's not my intention…" Why wouldn't I think of that? Of course, she wouldn't trust me after I did an inevitable sin.

"Hmph," she averted her head away with crossed arms. "Don't worry about me. I can walk for long."

I can't tell if she's angry with me or if she's just shy. I have read some of these girls in some manga. Is this what they call 'tsundere'? She's completely showing me the signs, just this time like I unlocked a secret door to her personality.

"Are you really sure? I'm not saying that we're only walking for twenty minutes straight."

"This is no fun joke, Ikeda. Do you really want to carry me that bad? I can already smell that malicious aura from you."

"I told you it's not that!"

We started walking after some continuation of our insults, but it didn't take that long. I know that Saori won't handle this long journey without getting fatigued, but with this heat covering us, we're going to be toasted first.

In five minutes, Saori's heavy eyelids drooped and her tongue lying out of her mouth. She's holding her exhaustion, but from her swaying walk from side to side, like a walking pendulum, it's too obvious that she's already exhausted.

Anytime soon, she's passed out without me knowing. I should avoid any further delays. We temporarily stopped, and I sit on the ground, showing her my back.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a speech that trails off.

"Come on now. I don't have any bad or malicious intentions. We need to find the supplies as soon as possible."

We were stalled as I got a silent reply. After seconds, she did what I told her to. As she put her body in me, I can clearly feel her front. It's not that I'm a lucky guy who, at the same time, saw and feel a pretty girl's femininity.

I started trembling just before I stand up. My face is completely red from a tomato's perspective. Even if I wanted to stop, I can't control it.

"Remember this, I'll forgive you just this once," she whispered.

By that time, goosebumps shivered my body. That is why I started walking to gradually reduce the tension I have. "Then you should have trained your stamina for these runs. Where are you at the time of your PE class?"

"At ten minutes, I'm with the class. And after that, I'm already at the clinic."

"You're that w… unfit?"

"What's that stop? Are you going to say that I'm 'weak'?"

"Ye… No! What I mean is physical!"

"It's already a birth sickness. I don't have any time for checking up on my health. I'm studying and working at the same time, and I have a grandmother to take care of."

"I didn't think that you're really flexible in time. How are you managing that with such small stamina?"

"My work doesn't require stamina. The schedule they give me is completely flexible. I can do my quota for a day just by taking the free time of recess or lunch."

"Is that contractual work?"

"You're quite knowledgeable in this, aren't you?"

"Not much. I just have a fond idea from a colleague. How are you eating your food during breaks?"

"Who said that I can't eat while working? When you do that, you can completely focus on work while consuming calories."

"You're too much scientific. Aren't you at the top of the class or something?" I asked.

"I thought you're observing me from the past?"

"Then you really are?"

"I'm not. I shouldn't have been bullied if I am."

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

"No, it's alright. Getting dumped with water while using the bathroom, getting my bag and the things inside wet, and making a funny call-out against me, I"m already used to it. Are you?"

"When involving my family, I can't."

"Then you're much weaker than I am."

"What!? You're saying that I'm weaker than you? Who's this person who collapses down to the ground every thirty minutes?"

"Can you just call someone not by long titles but by their name?"

I giggled after she made such a joke. "But maybe you are right. I'm just a weak person who can't think straight when my family is in danger."

"Kindness isn't just a weakness, but it can be a strength as well. It's just that you don't need to be negative at all times when you don't know what will happen next. Oh, speaking of what will happen, we're already here."

We already reached our destination, a cabin with a roof made of leaves and walls made of shaved logs. The size can be compared to a condominium. "Is that really it? Why does it look so big from afar?"

"Can you please put me down first?" She demanded. I sat down and she released her arms from me. Finally, I've been able to get free from this nervousness clutch. I should prepare for this next wave.

"What now? Are you thinking of some leads?" I asked.

"I'm hungry," she replied while rubbing her stomach. I thought that she was living her life as a princess because her stamina is too short, but she was just the most simplistic woman one might know.

"I'm going to check inside. Are you going to wait here?"

"Let me join you."

She follows me as I approach the door to the cabin. We've been reaching our first achievement in the second game. As we open the door, we became confused on what we've seen, and whether we will rejoice or regret it.

Inside is a full blank room with a single open crater, nearly going to be emptied, but marks of cabbage cuts and cheese are in there. Beside it is a girl, a student from Nishigawa, who we've witnessed taking the last bite of her burger.

As we saw her face, a mountain of saliva was pulled down from our throat. I and Saori are both fumbling and grimacing as we tilt our heads to the side. We both said the same thing that should have been the default response.

"Mayumi?"

She looks at us while continuing her full-mouth swallow.

"What?"

She really is Mayumi. She talks when her mouth is full.