First Aid
Ryuzaki glanced at his smartphone.
Then he stepped into the multi-complex shopping mall.
Alice carefully followed him inside.
The first place he stopped was the pet supplies section.
"W-we don't have any money in this shop! Really! Business is so bad we don't have a single coin!"
"Do you have cat litter in a reasonable size?"
"…Ah. You're a customer."
Ryuzaki, naturally mistaken for a robber.
"Pfft."
Alice turned her head and let out a small laugh.
Well, she could understand the clerk's reaction.
The Academy City was a place where vast sums of money changed hands, and so all sorts of vicious crimes were common.
And most of the people who committed those crimes went around with tattoos on their bodies.
Even a tiny tattoo on one arm was enough to make someone tremble — and right now, both of his arms were covered in massive dragon tattoos, so of course…
…Come to think of it. If I get caught, isn't this going to be a disaster?
Once that realization hit her, she suddenly found her own behavior rather courageous.
Wasn't she digging her own grave right now?
A vague fear crept over her. If she were found out… she might actually get buried for this.
While Alice swallowed hard, Ryuzaki followed the clerk's guidance and looked over the products. And then… he just left without buying anything?
What?
He bowed his head to the clerk and walked out of the pet supplies section.
And the place he headed next was… another pet supplies corner?
"I'm calling the police."
"I'm not that kind of person."
Having shut down the misunderstanding even faster this time, Ryuzaki asked the clerk for help and once again glanced over the products she pointed out.
…Don't tell me he's going around comparing prices?
Looking like he was about to rob the place, yet being thrifty about it?
It was something any ordinary person would do. But for him to do it felt somehow…
Really out of character.
A sense of dissonance crawled over her like ants.
Ryuzaki's shopping continued after that, and Alice found herself tilting her head more and more.
…What is this?
A huge question bloomed in Alice's mind.
Why…
Why… why was he so ordinary?
"One small takoyaki, please."
"Um… you'll pay first, right? I'm sorry, but we don't do tabs…"
"I'm not going to dine and dash."
Don't go to the free sample counter and open your eyes wide like it tastes that good. Don't casually study from a textbook while waiting in line for street food. Don't look refreshed while drinking from a vending machine. Why won't you just go into that academy where the secret to studying is supposedly hidden?
Ugh… it's so hot.
Here she was, diligently trailing him through this steam-bath heat, and Ryuzaki was literally playing the part of an ordinary civilian.
No — was that even acting? If that was acting, he should have become an actor instead of studying.
I don't think he's noticed me.
He did glance around now and then, but—
"…Hic!"
In that instant, Ryuzaki's gaze swung her way. Alice, startled like a little bird, jammed her hat down over her face.
…D-did he see me?
"…Eek! I'm sorry!"
"Huh? No. I'm the one who should apologize."
A female student whose eyes had met Ryuzaki's as he looked around trembled violently and hurriedly bowed her head.
Fortunately, it seemed Alice hadn't been spotted. She breathed a sigh of relief and glared at Ryuzaki again.
After politely apologizing to the frightened girl, Ryuzaki set off once more. Watching how casually he carried himself, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
What if Ryuzaki was actually innocent? What if he had raised his grades with nothing but textbooks — no dishonest methods, no special tricks? If everything so far had been her own misunderstanding, then all of his normal-person behavior would make perfect sense.
"…Get a grip."
It was the heat making her think nonsense. Focus. Concentrate.
Number one with nothing but textbooks? That defied common sense. Even she herself wasn't sure she could pull that off.
Alice shook her head firmly and steeled herself. Sweat that had gathered on her cheeks trickled down.
…I'm getting a little thirsty.
She felt a fair amount of thirst, but if she looked away even for a moment, she'd lose Ryuzaki and his long stride. Just hold on a little longer.
And so Alice kept following him.
Maybe she should have exercised more regularly? She'd only been walking, yet her breathing was already harsh and ragged.
How much time passed after that?
Just as a nameless nausea and dizziness began to rise faintly within her, her eyes flew wide open.
Ryuzaki looked around, then headed down a deserted alley.
Ah. Finally, she might find something.
Alice's lips twitched weakly into a grin. She gave him a little distance, then tailed him into the alley.
And the moment she rounded the corner—
—Thud!
"……!"
In the blink of an eye, she lost the use of both arms. Instantly subdued, she was shoved hard against the wall.
In the split second her heart plummeted at a sensation she had never felt in her life—
"…Hey. What the hell are you doing?"
Ryuzaki asked in a low, sunken voice, looking down at her with a chilling gaze she had never seen from him before.
Ah.
She'd messed up.
I lured the tail into the alley and subdued them in an instant. My body really was in good shape — everything moved exactly the way I wanted it to.
"…Hey. What the hell are you doing?"
All that remained was to check their face. With my free hand, I pulled off the mask covering their face and asked in a cold voice.
The bare face revealed when the mask came off.
A face I knew.
"…Alice?"
What was she doing here? She'd definitely said she was going to tutoring.
Questions flooded my mind —
"Ah…"
—when Alice, staring at me with spinning eyes, let out a groan, then burst into tears and mumbled,
"……Save… me…"
"Why would I kill you?"
I hurriedly let go of her wrists.
"…You're not mad?"
"Mad or not, I'm mostly just confused."
"Ah… that's a relief."
Alice collapsed right there onto the ground. I thought maybe the tension had left her body, but her condition looked a little too off for that.
Her eyes are unfocused, her skin's paler than usual. She's drenched in sweat, and her breathing is shallow and fast.
This… don't tell me.
"Ryuzaki-kun… water…?"
The completely slurred pronunciation and the way she kept asking for water settled it.
She had dehydration and heat exhaustion at the same time.
The main cause…
Was obviously following me around all day in that leather jacket that looked sweltering just to look at.
I wanted to ask why she'd been tailing me all day, but this wasn't the time for questions.
I'd learned it in health class in my previous life.
Heat exhaustion and heatstroke were only a paper-thin difference apart.
If I left her like this, it would almost certainly progress into heatstroke before long.
"Alice. I'm calling an ambulance. Just hang on until—"
"…No."
Half-dead as she was, Alice weakly grabbed the hand that had been reaching for my phone and mumbled,
"Ambulance… ambulance… even if I die, no."
"Don't call one?"
"Don't call it…"
I had no choice but to put my phone back in my pocket. When the person herself was this desperately against it, forcing the issue felt wrong too.
"This is driving me crazy. Wait just a second."
I carefully peeled her limp hand off mine and headed for a nearby convenience store.
For heat exhaustion, you rest them in the shade and replenish fluids and electrolytes.
You have to replace the electrolytes lost through sweat as quickly as possible.
At least, that was what I'd been taught.
"Can you drink this?"
Alice reached for the drink. But she didn't even have the strength to grip it properly — it slipped right out of her hand.
"…Ugh, cold."
The chilled drink soaked her already damp shirt all over again.
I had no choice but to tip the bottle myself and let her drink a little at a time. Her throat bobbed faintly.
After somehow getting some of the drink into her, I checked her condition. But there was still no sign of improvement.
She really must have worn herself out completely.
What were you doing to end up like this?
A sigh escaped me on its own.
If I left her like this, she'd only get worse.
I couldn't call an ambulance either, so there was nothing I could…
…Actually, there was one thing.
Thinking about it, there was a way.
Without hesitation, I hoisted Alice onto my back. A damp, hot sensation pressed through my clothes.
Lighter than I expected.
My head… is spinning.
My stomach… is sick.
The world whirled in front of her eyes, gradually losing focus.
What… was I doing again?
In a pain she had never experienced before, Alice couldn't even thrash. With no strength left in her body, thrashing was impossible anyway.
The faint thought rose that she might actually die like this.
That was when it happened.
A sensation of her body gently rising. Then a warm heat enveloping her.
If she hadn't been this hot and soaked in sweat, it would have felt nice for sure.
—…lighter than I… expected.
She thought she heard someone muttering, but she had no room to care. If she relaxed her concentration even a little, she felt like she would throw up right then and there.
As she desperately held on, a cool breeze began to blow from somewhere. Just as she started to feel like she might live, a soft, cushiony sensation wrapped around her whole body.
Her already pushed-to-the-limit mind declared surrender on the spot, and her consciousness slowly sank into darkness.
And then — how much time passed?
At some point, a warm, ticklish sensation stirred against her chest.
"Mm…?"
Alice slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was an ornate ceiling.
…Hmm.
Something seemed wrong here.
She lowered her trembling gaze, and a cat was kneading on top of her chest, purring.
It was the same cat someone had taken home yesterday.
…Who had taken it again?
"Ah."
In that instant, every memory connected.
One of the 5 Geniuses of Tsukuyomi Academy City, the campus celebrity Hiragi Alice, had opened her eyes for the first time in her life on a boy her own age's bed.
"…Huh?"