146. Tell Me Your Wish (1)
146. Tell Me Your Wish (1)
"Yohan, are you okay?"
My body felt heavy.
"Yohan~ wake up!"
I was dizzy.
"Stop shaking my head."
"You're awake?"
The reason my body felt heavy turned out to be that Millia was straddling my stomach, grabbing me by the collar and shaking me.
Wasn't that a little too aggressive just to wake someone up?
"Yeah. So move."
At my words, Millia obediently climbed off me. I stretched my stiff body after sleeping on the floor. My back still felt slightly sore, but at least no fatigue remained.
"But Yohan, why were you sleeping here?"
"You don't remember what happened yesterday?"
"Uh... I was asleep?"
"In my room, I mean."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Had she mistaken my room for hers? No, the rooms looked far too different for that.
My room was a bleak, lifeless space apart from the table and the armor in the corner. Millia's room, by contrast, had bright pink wallpaper befitting a young woman's room. Unless she was colorblind, there was no way she could have confused them.
Yet Millia genuinely looked as though she had no idea, so I could not tell whether she was lying or had truly mistaken the rooms.
"So that's why it smelled so nice..."
"What?"
"Nothing! Yeah! Yohan! I need to wash up, so will you leave?"
At the clear order to leave, I got to my feet. Birds were chirping and sunlight was falling across the bed, so it was about time I prepared for the day. I opened the door and poked my head into the quiet hallway.
...Coming out of Millia's room made for a strange sight.
It gave off the vibe that I'd just finished doing something with her. There was no need to invite unnecessary misunderstandings. Though even if I was caught, who would actually think that?
"Yohan? What are you doing?"
"Checking if anyone's there."
"Why?"
"It'd be troublesome if I got caught."
"Is that sooo?"
I turned to look at Millia. She was watching me with a sly, knowing expression. What was she thinking? I couldn't search her mind, so there was no way to know, but I felt an inexplicable sense of danger.
"...Then I'll see you at mealtime."
"Yohan?!"
I swiftly opened the door and dashed out into the hallway. Fortunately, no one was there...
"...Yohan?"
"Good morning, Elisa."
I remembered that Millia's and Elisa's rooms were close. I awkwardly met Elisa's eyes and seriously pondered how to explain this, but I couldn't come up with a good answer. In the first place, what could I do besides play dumb?
"Th, there, Mi, Millia's r, room..."
Ah. Seeing Elisa's face turn as red as a tomato, I realized she had completely misunderstood. I placed a hand on her shoulder and shook my head.
"You're misunderstanding something. I just brought Millia back because she was sleeping in my room."
"I-Is that so...?"
She didn't look as though she believed me at all.
Still, I had to keep Elisa's mouth shut somehow. Misunderstandings bred more misunderstandings, and if I let Elisa go like this, there was a high chance both Millia and I would suffer for it. Not that Elisa was the type to go around spreading rumors, but...
"Elisa. Don't you trust me?"
I stared intently at Elisa. Perhaps my gaze was too much for her, because Elisa's eyes, which had been wandering through the air, suddenly collided with mine. I could faintly read the emotions in Elisa's pupils.
Embarrassment, surprise, sadness, disappointment.
My Insight, which had reached A Rank, caught a multitude of emotions in an instant. I opened my mouth again.
"I'm sorry. I got too worked up."
"N-no..."
I took my hand from Elisa's shoulder. No matter how I considered it, the scene looked bad. My damn appearance could make merely speaking to a female student look like intimidation. When I removed my hand, Elisa hesitated and fidgeted with her fingers.
"Y-Yohan, you're a m-man too... s-so I understand..."
"I didn't do anything."
I really didn't.
"Y, you don't have to l, lie..."
This was maddening.
"Do I look like the kind of person who would do that with Millia?"
"Uh... e-even if you wouldn't, M-Millia might... I-I could also..."
I didn't think Millia would try anything like that with me. I doubted she even possessed that kind of knowledge. No matter how I looked at it, she resembled nothing more than a puppy clinging to me for attention.
"It's not what you're thinking, so don't worry about it. I just happened to get caught by her and slept on the floor."
Only then did Elisa seem to realize that she had misunderstood. She apologized in a voice that almost disappeared.
"I-I'm sorry..."
"You have nothing to apologize for. I acted in a way that invited misunderstanding. Let's leave the matter here."
Talking any further would only tangle the story up more. I turned around and headed to my room. I was already running late, so if I didn't hurry and get ready, I wouldn't be able to have a proper meal.
"Y-Yohan, if you truly c-can't hold back... uh... Never mind! Goodbye!"
Elisa's voice was unusually loud for her, so I looked back. Elisa was moving away from me with cat-like swiftness.
"...I'm already tired."
---------------
'Idiot! Stupid! Half-wit!'
"Elisa? Is something the matter?"
"N, nothing at all!"
Martina Raymond watched Elisa's profile as she failed to fill even half her notebook. Elisa had swept her hair neatly to the side as usual, and her face was normally as pale as the moon, but today it was flushed red.
Anyone could tell from her expression that something had happened. Martina smiled gently. Some students called it a motherly smile, while others described it as a sign Martina was about to meddle in someone else's affairs.
To the point where her classmates could distinguish between the two, Martina was a student who held great influence over the first-years in the Magic Department.
Even more so because there were students who had become couples thanks to her help.
Martina slowly observed Elisa's complexion and carefully put forward a likely guess.
"Could it be... that time of the month?"
"N-no..."
"Or is there somewhere you're not feeling well?"
'It did not look as though she was sick...'
"I, it's not that either..."
Martina calmly considered Elisa's condition. It was neither that time of the month nor an illness. She examined Elisa's face once more with gentle eyes.
Upon closer inspection, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Martina stared blankly at her face for a moment, lost in thought.
'That sense of déjà vu...'
Ah.
She recalled an incident from her first year.
"...Could it be... love...?"
"N, n, n, n, n, no!"
'It was.'
Martina smiled warmly as she watched Elisa cry out in surprise.
For girls their age, other people's love lives were fascinating. The other students who had been listening to Martina and Elisa naturally pricked up their ears.
A love story was irresistible gossip. First came the dramatic transformation of the gloomy female student who had haunted the corner of the lecture hall like a ghost, and now came romantic advice. It was impossible not to be interested.
"Elisa, if it would not be too intrusive... would you like to confide in me?"
"B-but..."
Elisa's eyes wandered without finding a focus. Martina's suggestion had flustered her badly. For someone unused to speaking with others, discussing her worries was far too difficult. Entering a dungeon and blasting a monster with Second-Class Magic would have been easier.
Martina waited for Elisa to speak. To help her feel comfortable, she looked around at the students listening to the unexpected romantic discussion. Those who met Martina's eyes either coughed and looked away or turned aside with sheepish smiles.
"If it's difficult to talk here, how about we go somewhere quiet to talk?"
"Th, there's no n, need for you to..."
"I'm asking because I'm worried. Aren't we in the same group? I can't simply watch you fret alone, Elisa. Please tell me what is troubling you. I may not look it, but I helped create a couple during the first semester."
At the word 'couple,' Elisa's eyes strayed. Martina didn't miss that tiny signal, like a predator spotting its prey.
'Who could the man be who has stolen Elisa's heart?'
"T, talking about it here is, a, a little..."
At Martina's answer, disappointed sounds rose from throughout the lecture hall.
They had almost received the chance to watch an exciting romantic-advice session in person, but Martina's suggestion had taken it away. Martina had no intention of turning Elisa into a spectacle, so she packed her textbook and notebook into her bag and stood.
"Come, Elisa. Follow me. I know a wonderful place."
"Y-yes..."
Elisa quietly rose from her seat and followed behind her like a duckling following its mother.
While desperately trying to ignore the countless gazes piercing her back.