A Feverish Misunderstanding
"Rain. Rain. Rain."
"Jeff...!"
"Oh. Right."
I shook my head and answered at the sound of Rain's voice right beside me. I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings, lost in the depths of my own thoughts.
"Where did Shine go?"
I mumbled at Rain's question. Shine. Right, Shine. She was currently collapsed on our bed with a massive bump on her head.
After being dragged out of the bathroom by Amy, Shine had been put into the toy house, only to be carried out limp in Amy's arms. Amy had told me: if Shine ever did anything weird or taught me weird things again, I had to tell her immediately.
If so, was what Shine taught me actually weird? Did she really teach me something strange?
Amy said it was wrong. That it wasn't right. Which meant Shine had been teaching me things that weren't right.
But Shine's words were always right. There was no way she would ever do anything to harm me, so she had to be teaching me correct things. At least, that was what I had thought until just a moment ago.
"Shine... got scolded by Amy, so she's lying on the bed in our room."
Rain covered her mouth with both hands at my words. Then, she began to gingerly touch her own head.
"Well, Jin. It seems we've said all we need to, so we'll be heading back now."
Amy, who had been quietly listening to Jin, cut him off and stood up. I blankly looked around. It was Jin's office, a place I had been to once before. Because I had been so deep in thought, I hadn't even realized we had arrived.
"What's the rush? Not all of my friends have arrived yet. We have plenty of time, so can't you wait a bit?"
Jin said, looking around at the empty seats. Allen was sitting next to him, and there were two more empty chairs beside him. However, the people who were supposed to sit in them were nowhere to be seen.
"I think I need to give the kids some discipline."
"Discipline?"
"Yes."
At Amy's words, Jin's gaze shifted to Rain and me. Feeling his stare, Rain grimaced hard and snapped at him.
"Not me!"
"Ah, sorry."
Jin apologized readily. "Amy, if it's discipline you're worried about, how about sending the kids to school?"
"School?"
"Yes. School. Their missing person reports have been cleared, and they've been registered under your family registry, right?"
Jin said, looking at my left hand. His gaze was fixed precisely on the Silver Lion Ring on my finger. At his stare, I raised my hand slightly to hide the silver lion.
"School?"
"Yes, Amy. For children to grow up properly, they need to learn how to live with peers. Wouldn't school be perfect for that?"
Amy nodded, stroking her chin at Jin's words. Seeing this, I reached out and grabbed her hand.
"I... I don't want to. If I go to school, I'll have to be away from you, Amy."
I knew what school was. A place for learning. A place to build knowledge. But it was also a place where I would have to be separated from Amy for a long time. I didn't want to go to a place like that. If I needed knowledge, I could just read books. If something was too difficult, I could ask Amy. It wasn't like Amy was the only adult around, either. There was Victor, and... and... there was Rain, too. If Shine ever tried to teach me something weird again, I could just ask Amy first. If I did that, there was no need for school.
I squeezed Amy's hand tightly, my face crumpled in a pout. Looking down at me, Amy let out a soft chuckle and scooped me up into her arms. My field of vision suddenly soared, and the people around us were now looking up at me. I buried my face in Amy's chest to escape their gazes.
"You don't want to go to school, Jeff?"
"No."
"But you always said you wanted to go outside."
"That... that meant I wanted to go out with you, Amy."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
At my answer, Amy chuckled softly and gently stroked my back.
"Jeff is such a scaredy-cat."
An unfamiliar voice began to tease me. It was a boy's refreshing, playful voice. I turned my head just a fraction to glare at Allen. Meeting my gaze, Allen grinned brightly, his golden eyes sparkling.
"Wasn't there a school inside here as well?"
"Well, yes, but..."
Jin gave an awkward laugh at Amy's question. Amy seemed to understand the meaning behind his laugh and nodded blankly.
"You couldn't look after them all, could you?"
"Yeah..."
Jin nodded weakly.
"Alright. I'll think about it."
"Think it over carefully. Taking care of children all by yourself is incredibly hard."
Amy nodded silently. No matter how long we waited, Jin's friends never showed up. In the end, we didn't get to see the people he called his friends that day. According to Allen, they had apparently gotten lost in the forest.
On the way back to our room with Amy and Rain, Rain glanced nervously at Amy before asking me in a whisper:
"Um... why did Shine get scolded?"
"Ah... Shine got scolded because she taught me something weird."
"Something weird?"
I nodded and briefly explained what had happened in our room earlier. As she listened, Rain's face turned bright red, and she shook her head frantically.
"U-uh... I see."
"Rain. Is what Amy said true? Is it really true that family members shouldn't go to the bathroom together?"
I asked Rain once more. Amy was an adult, and Rain was an adult too. Rain gave an awkward laugh at my question.
"Well... you can go to the bathroom together, but usually, you don't watch each other."
"Really? Then is everything in the books wrong?"
"Books...?"
"Yeah. Shine said so. She said she learned it from a book she borrowed from you."
Rain gasped in shock and quickly glanced at Amy. Fortunately, Amy was focused on her phone screen and didn't seem to hear our conversation.
"You didn't tell Amy you borrowed my book, did you?"
"No, I didn't. I don't think Shine did either."
"You don't think so?"
"Yeah... actually, I'm not sure. Shine was dragged into the toy house when she got scolded."
Rain began to break out in a cold sweat at my answer. Her pale, terrified face looked so pitiful. I gently touched her cheek and asked:
"Rain, does it hurt somewhere?"
"Ugh... I think my head's starting to hurt."
"Your head hurts? Do you have a fever?"
I placed my hand on her forehead. Rain's skin was soft and squishy. It felt really nice to the touch. As my fingers brushed above her eyebrows, Rain's eyes fluttered. For some reason, it looked incredibly funny, and I let out a giggle.
"Hehehe."
At my giggle, Rain's face flushed a deep crimson. Her face changed colors so fast she looked like a traffic light.
"You really do have a fever."
Just as she said, I could feel a faint heat radiating from her forehead. Just to be sure, I grabbed Rain's shoulders and pressed my forehead against hers. As our faces drew close, Rain's eyes began to shake wildly. Her blue eyes sparkled beautifully.
"Rain, you're burning up."
Rain's forehead was incredibly hot. When I pulled my forehead away, Rain began to stumble. Startled, I quickly supported her. Her small, light body was easy for me to hold up.
"Amy! Rain is sick!"
I called out urgently. Amy hurriedly turned her head at my shout.
"Rain?"
Her gaze landed on Rain. Rain's eyes were spinning, and her flushed skin showed no signs of returning to normal. I hugged Rain tight and nodded.
"She's so warm."
Rain's body was incredibly warm. She felt so soft and cozy, like a warm plushie; hugging her tight made me feel like I could drift right off to sleep. But right now, Rain was a patient. Amy stepped closer and placed her hand on Rain's forehead.
"You're right. Rain, did you catch a cold? You've been perfectly fine lately, why all of a sudden?"
Rain couldn't even answer Amy's question, only mumbling incoherently. She seemed to be in a state of utter confusion. Amy slid her hands under Rain's armpits and lifted her up. Dangled in Amy's arms, Rain's short legs swung slowly.
"We should take her to Rabin. She's completely out of it. If you're sick, you should say so."
We, who had been heading back to our room, ended up heading to Rabin's clinic instead. Unfortunately, Rabin's clinic was empty. He had probably gone to the restroom. Amy laid Rain down on a plush bed. Rain was breathing heavily. When I sat a bit further away to watch her, her skin soon returned to its normal color.
"Amy, will Rain be okay?"
"She'll probably be fine. She gets like this sometimes when it's just the two of us."
"With you, Amy?"
"Yeah. She's physically strong, but they say her temperature spikes out of nowhere occasionally."
"Isn't that serious?"
"She claims it's a side effect of her ability..."
Amy trailed off. Her gaze shifted toward the clinic door. Just then, the firmly shut door swung wide open, and Rabin appeared. However, Rabin looked unusually haggard.
"Well, looks like we can head back now."
Amy stood up as she spoke. Startled by her words, I asked:
"What? Are we leaving Rain here alone?"
"She's tough. Once Rabin gives her some medicine, she'll be up in no time."
"But..."
"Jeff, aren't you worried about Shine waiting for you all alone in the room?"
"Ah."
I jumped up from my seat at Amy's words. The image of Shine, limp with a giant bump on her head, flickered before my eyes. By now, she should have definitely woken up. Even so, my feet wouldn't move. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head.
"I'll go after I see Rain wake up."
Amy smiled softly at my words and patted my head.
"You're a good girl, Jeff."
Amy explained Rain's symptoms to Rabin and headed back to the room first. I sat on the edge of Rain's bed, quietly staring at her face.
"Jeff."
"Yes?"
"Give her this medicine when she wakes up."
Rabin handed me a small pill and a cup of water.
"Where are you going, Rabin?"
"Just to the bathroom for a moment..."
Rabin answered with a pale face. As I nodded blankly, he hurriedly rushed out of the clinic. Would this single pill really make her better? I set the pill and the water cup on the small side table and lay down next to Rain. Leaving a friend alone was out of the question. I tightly held Rain's small hand. It felt burning hot, as if it were on fire.