Not Today, But Tomorrow
"Haaah..."
Quite some time had passed since the department store attack, and I was back to the ordinary rhythm of looking after our heroes.
Batori was the same as she'd always been—steadily getting better, little by little. As for Saran... some fairly serious conversations had come up, but there weren't any real problems. And Baek Eun-hwa, I believed, was finally about to start improving in earnest.
The long and short of it was that everyone was making progress, bit by bit. That alone was enough to fill me with a quiet happiness as I met with them and threw myself into the work.
"Are you sleepy?"
"A little...? We did meet pretty late tonight compared to usual, so I guess I am a bit... drowsy."
"Sorry for making you come by on my schedule."
"Heh. You don't need to apologize for that."
And so, just like always, I had come to see my fox. Ten o'clock at night—later than usual. I'd arrived at Baek Eun-hwa's place, still yawning, and settled in comfortably at her side.
Her schedule was still quite packed, but putting off our counseling sessions because of that was the last thing I wanted. This was a regular appointment day, and meeting regularly was what mattered. That was why I'd come tonight even at this hour.
"You were busy again today, weren't you, Eun-hwa?"
"I just got home late. The schedule itself wasn't that packed."
"But you kept getting called out in between, didn't you? Just looking at today's news... hmm, you deployed seven times?"
"None of them were difficult."
All week long, right through Friday, Baek Eun-hwa had been running herself ragged. I wanted to help her—which was why I was here in her home, sitting comfortably, holding her hand and restoring her in my own small way.
"Still, you were busy all week. Wouldn't it be better to recover some of that stamina?"
"...Well."
For Baek Eun-hwa, whose fox energy was essentially the same thing as her stamina, contact like this had an effect no different from actual recovery. I knew that, which was why I was doing it. Better this than anything else.
Unlike Saran or Batori, her ability had a direct and powerful impact on her physical stamina. I couldn't think of a better method. There were more intimate forms of physical contact, of course... but nothing was quite as ordinary, or as easy, as holding hands. Right?
So there I sat, holding the white fox's hand and chatting about this and that.
"By the way, autumn's almost here."
"It is."
"I first met you in the summer, Eun-hwa. It's a little strange to think it's already autumn."
About two months had gone by. I never would have guessed I'd end up spending time like this, holding Baek Eun-hwa's hand... but it was helping, and that was what mattered. Besides, once autumn arrived, it would be even nicer for picking a place Saran wanted to go out to. Yeah. That sounded good. Autumn was much better for getting around than summer.
For all sorts of reasons, I preferred autumn. This world's summers weren't unbearably hot... but still, I'd take the fifties and sixties over the upper seventies and eighties any day. That nice, crisp kind of weather.
Anyway... once autumn came, how could I spend more time with the people I was responsible for? Turning that over slowly in my mind naturally brought all kinds of things I could do bubbling to the surface.
"I'm glad I've been able to spend time with you like this and actually be of help."
"...Is that so."
"Yes. I'd like to be even more helpful going forward, too."
"I appreciate it."
"Heh. I'm happy you feel that way. If you'd found my help annoying instead of welcome, I really would have been heartbroken."
It had been the same when I'd talked to Saran about it. In the end, being useful was incredibly important to me. It was my job. It was the whole reason I was doing any of this.
"By the way, Eun-hwa—is it because you're a fox-type mutant? Your hands always feel so warm when I hold them like this."
"...Do they? I've never thought your hands were cold."
"Heh, maybe so. But every time I hold them, they feel incredibly warm to me."
I said it while still holding her hand. Her temperature really was on the warm side. It wasn't a fever—Baek Eun-hwa's body was just naturally quite warm. Not dramatically so, but there was no denying she ran warm.
"...Is that so."
Well, our fox didn't seem to think much of it either way.
And so, holding Baek Eun-hwa's hand, I slowly restored the stamina that A-Class hero Baekyeou had burned through over the course of the week.
I'd even started bringing one of my own sleep shirts from home to wear here—that was how familiar Baek Eun-hwa's place had become. I'd been spending time at her house practically from the start, and since Friday was her assigned day, it was convenient for stretching into the weekend as well. Meeting Friday night and then sleeping over wasn't difficult at all.
"Eun-hwa, what are you planning to do tomorrow?"
"Hmm..."
"Are you just going to rest at home again?"
"I imagine so. I've had a full schedule all week. Adding more on top of that would just... be exhausting in its own way."
Baek Eun-hwa had the most punishing schedule of anyone I worked with, so I had no choice but to help her as much as I could. And I already had a proven method for replenishing her fox energy. Holding her hand like this was the natural thing to do.
"Hmm..."
"What is it now?"
"What if we just stayed like this all day tomorrow?"
"...Excuse me?"
Normally, the time I spent with Baek Eun-hwa ran from night through morning. If we had somewhere to go together, we'd spend Saturday afternoon as well. But I didn't have anything else to do, and she'd just said she didn't have anything planned either. So I decided to float the idea.
"...What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what I said. Tomorrow, all day—just like this, together. How about it?"
"...What... does that even mean...? Why all day...?"
"Well, if I keep holding your hand like this, your fox energy—your stamina—recovers so much faster, doesn't it? Less tired, less worn out. I thought that sounded like a good thing."
"..."
I figured stamina had to come first. Baek Eun-hwa was constantly burning through hers just doing hero work, wasn't she? Filling up her fox energy over the weekend would clearly be better. That was the thought that led me to bring it up.
"How about we just sit on the bed or the couch tomorrow, nice and easy, and watch TV together?"
"..."
"I'll keep holding your hand the whole time."
"Th-that's..."
"Your stamina would be so much better, and I think it'd make next week's schedule easier to get through, too."
Back when I'd first met Baek Eun-hwa and borrowed a week of her time, trying to spend a day watching movies and dramas hadn't gone as well as I'd hoped. But this time, the reason from the start was her stamina recovery. We'd just be holding hands all day, comfortably restoring her fox energy while hanging out at home. I was sure it would be a huge help to her.
She hadn't answered yet, but probably...
"...Fine. Let's do that."
"Heh. Shall we?"
I'd fully expected the fox to give me that answer. Compared to before, the range of things Baek Eun-hwa would go along with had gotten considerably more generous, for any number of reasons.
"I'm pretty used to spending time at home by now. Take it easy tomorrow. I'll take care of everything... every last little thing."
"...Alright. Let's just go to sleep already."
"Ah, shall we? It has gotten pretty late."
Spending time with Baek Eun-hwa, the clock had crept toward eleven. I was just going through an ordinary day's routine, but she'd come home after another genuinely exhausting day. Of course she had to be worn out. Even I was pretty wiped after a regular workday, so... yeah. That tracked.
Talking with me like this was helpful for her, that much was true—but what had to come first was Baek Eun-hwa herself. If she was saying she was tired, that she was worn out, then me pestering her with more conversation was the real problem. So I smiled and nodded at her words.
"Heh. Sleep well tonight, Eun-hwa."
"...You too, Counselor."
And with that, we wrapped up the day. What mattered wasn't today, after all—it was tomorrow. The thought of spending the entire day at home with Baek Eun-hwa, with my silly fox, helping her out... I could feel my mood starting to lift.