Tears Over Breakfast
Three days had already passed since I'd started freeloading at Sato Kenji's house.
In that time, Kenji had changed my bandages twice, prepared meals seven times, and called my name a whopping 138 times.
But I still wasn't used to the mornings in this house.
"Hikaru. You awake?"
My shoulders twitched faintly at the voice from beyond the door. That made 139 times. Having my name called still felt so strange.
"Y-yeah. I'm up."
"Mind if I come in?"
I quickly checked the mirror on the wall at Kenji's words. I peeled a strand of hair from my lips and straightened my clothes.
One last look in the mirror. Okay, good enough.
"Come in."
"Then, pardon the intrusion."
Kenji opened the door and stepped inside. Unlike before when the room felt utterly lifeless, now it was filling up with little traces of my presence.
A medicine packet and water glass sat on the bedside table. Spare clothes Kenji had bought last time hung neatly over the chair back.
A tank top and dolphin pants... or something like that. They were comfortable, anyway. Especially since both were black.
Kenji glanced around the room once before naturally approaching the bed.
"How's the pain? Hurt at all overnight?"
I straightened my back without thinking.
"I'm fine. No issues moving."
"No issues, huh. You grabbed your side just trying to get out of bed yesterday."
"That was... just a moment of carelessness."
"Carelessness from a patient means extra work for the doctor. But that was yesterday. You should be okay walking around a bit today."
With familiar motions, Kenji slipped his hand under my armpit to support me. My shoulders tensed slightly at the closeness of his body heat.
"Ngh..."
It tickled in a strange, unfamiliar way, but staying still was best to avoid aggravating the wound. I reminded myself of that and let him help me.
Once my feet touched the floor, Kenji withdrew his arm.
"Drank enough water?"
"Yeah. Went to the bathroom because of it at dawn."
"Good. Can't be helped, though. Straining too hard in there could stress the stitches. I'll adjust your meals and meds, so just drink plenty to avoid constipation."
"D-don't just blurt out something so embarrassing!"
"Hey now. Normally, I'd have to press on your abdomen and check how hard you're straining. That's the safest way, but you want me to do that?"
"Wh-what? Watch me? No way, absolutely not!"
I felt my face burning. Just imagining it made me shudder with shame.
Kenji chuckled and waved it off.
"Kidding, kidding. I'd never. Unless things got really serious, but if it was that bad, you'd be in a hospital bed, not here."
His playful tone made my lips pout.
Kenji sometimes said mischievous things like that. It felt oddly weird. No one had ever teased me before.
Then his demeanor turned deadly serious in an instant.
"But if anything feels off with your body, tell me right away. Holding it in until the wound reopens is way worse. Got it, Hikaru?"
"...Got it."
Light and teasing when joking, but utterly earnest with important words. That was why I trusted Kenji.
We slowly made our way to the living room and sat in chairs. On the table sat porridge with finely shredded salmon, soft steamed eggs, and miso soup with tofu.
How long had it taken to prepare this? I'd just woken up, but he'd risen much earlier to cook. Thinking about it made me feel embarrassed.
He sat across from me and said,
"No spicy stuff yet. But you need protein, so I made this. What do you think? Like it?"
Kenji looked at me expectantly. I gripped the spoon and stared down at the table for a moment. There was breakfast laid out just for me.
"..."
Something welled up inside me.
No. This isn't right. I don't deserve your expectations. Preparing something this thoughtful without even bragging about it...
In my clan, food was just fuel to keep the body moving. We never savored flavors. Eat the set amount at the set time, then prep for the next training or mission.
But this table was different.
"Hikaru...?"
The salmon porridge shredded fine, the steamed eggs perfectly soft for spooning, the miso soup steaming gently. All prepared for my ease.
It took three days for me to realize it.
"Why the sudden tears? Something hurt?"
Panicked, Kenji fumbled for tissues and gently wiped my eyes. I sniffed once and shook my head.
I didn't resist his touch as I picked up the spoon. It sank into the steamed eggs, scooping a jiggly bit.
Cautiously into my mouth. The soft texture wrapped my tongue pleasantly. I smiled brightly and said,
"It's delicious."
It really was.
"Sleep well, Hikaru."
"Yeah. You too."
I closed Hikaru's door and stepped out. It felt good seeing her warm up to me a bit over the past few days.
She's smiling more, talking more.
Now she even initiated conversations sometimes. But did I know much about her? Not really. I hadn't dared ask, worried it'd make her wary.
No rush.
It hadn't even been a week. In the original story, she vanished after a month and a half. Plenty of time left.
I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Opening Hikaru's heart was one thing, but doctor work was exhausting too.
"Whew. Time to head back to reality."
Adding the day I met her, it'd been four days in this manga world. Even if I didn't have many friends, vanishing for days might draw attention.
"System."
Ero Manga Avid Reader
Level: 0
You can change the unsatisfying endings of ero mangas you dislike.
Entered Manga: One Day, I Picked Up a Ninja
Tutorial in progress.
Exit? Progress will be saved.
I nodded.
"Exiting."
My vision went black, and I was back in my own room. System windows scrolled up one after another.
Tutorial rewards issued.
Calculating rewards...
Oh right, they said there'd be rewards for finishing the tutorial. I'd forgotten while stuck in the manga for days.
"Wonder what the reward is."
Typical awakening abilities give swordsmen strength, swordsmanship, or swords themselves. Mages get mana or new spells.
But mine's Ero Manga Avid Reader... No clue what it'll be.
As I waited, more system windows appeared.
Bond / Relationship: Hikaru
Tutorial reward: Randomly acquire one of Hikaru's abilities.
Congratulations. Acquired skill: Stealth.
"...!"
I shot up from my seat. A skill as tutorial reward? I wanted to check it immediately, but the windows kept coming.
Level increased.
Level increased.
Level increased.
Abilities partially updated due to level up.
Hikaru's Bond / Relationship has reached 34%.
Stealth effects adjusted based on Bond / Relationship.
"Bond / Relationship?"
If it was like affection, 34% seemed too low. Probably some composite metric.
Ero Manga Avid Reader
Level: 3
You can change the unsatisfying endings of ero mangas you dislike.
Reach 50% Bond / Relationship with a character to share skills.
Reach 100% Bond / Relationship with a character to summon to reality.
Held Skills: Stealth (34%)
Summonable Characters: 0
"Wait, summon to reality?"
This was huge.
Hikaru was incredibly strong in the story. Raised as a kunoichi from childhood with brutal training. Tons of combat experience.
In this world of gates, monsters, and hunters, she'd be massive firepower.
Her world had no magic beasts or hunters, but the system would probably balance it.
For balance's sake. If I summoned a demon lord heroine at full power, it'd be broken. System wouldn't allow that.
Anyway, that's for later. Priority was changing Hikaru's fate.
Even if we hit 100% and I could summon her, if she didn't want it, I wouldn't use her as a tool.
What's the point of saving her from being a clan tool just to treat her like one myself?
"Anyway, the date today..."
I pulled out my phone and checked.
"...Huh?"
February 13th. The day I got my ability. Time was almost exactly when I entered the manga.
I'd spent four days there.
"No way... time doesn't pass in reality?"