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Kirigiri strode ahead of him purposefully, boots clacking against the floor of the third floor hallway. Makoto had to wonder a bit at the school’s design; he was no architect, much less the Ultimate Architect, but he couldn’t seen to find any reason for it to be laid out like it was. It made going to the physics lab such a lengthy ordeal.
“Kiri, uh, wait a second.” Makoto had to stop and lean against the wall, panting. To her credit, she did stop, though she didn’t take any steps back to join him. He didn’t have to look to know that she had her eyebrow raised at him expectantly, and he reached up to scratch his head nervously. He was no athlete, but he usually had better stamina than this. He supposed he had skipped breakfast so he could meet up with Kirigiri in time to go investigating together, but it shouldn’t have made him that weak, right?
“If you’re not feeling well, I can go on my own,” she said. Kirigiri’s tone was sharp and businesslike as always, and it made what was probably an attempt to be considerate sound almost accusatory.
Makoto winced. “No, I’m fine!” To prove it, he pushed off of the wall and took two steps toward her—before collapsing on the ground. The last thing he heard was Kiri calling his name with an uncharacteristic note of concern in her voice.
The next thing Makoto knew, he was opening his eyes to the now-familiar sight of his dorm room’s ceiling. “Wha…?”
“You fainted.” The sound of someone else in his room was enough to send him into a panic, thinking about what had happened to Leon and Chihiro—but it was just Kirigiri. He sighed and fell back onto his pillow. In hindsight, he supposed that if someone wanted to kill him, they’d have done so before he woke up. “I took the liberty of taking your key from your pocket and carrying you here. I hope you don’t mind.”
She’d… carried him? That was both embarrassing and kind of flattering. Before he could think more about it, she was pushing a glass full of something blue and foamy into his hands. “Ogami made this for you. She said it helps restore energy.”
Makoto took a cautious sip of the… smoothie?… and then made a face. It certainly tasted like the sort of thing Asahina and Ogami would drink for energy, which was to say, it didn’t taste good at all. “Kiri, I’m sorry…” he started.
She gave him a nonplussed look. “Well, I didn’t think you fainted on purpose,” she deadpanned. “But you should take better care of yourself. We can’t investigate when you’re unconscious.”
“Yeah…” He frowned, taking another regrettable sip of Ogami’s drink. He didn’t want to put her hard work to waste, even if it did taste sort of like a dose of cough medicine that had gone bad. A realization made him look back up at Kirigiri. “Wait, why aren’t you out investigating now?”
The question seemed to take Kirigiri back as well. Her gaze slid away from his uncomfortably, and her cheeks seemed to redden a bit. “I did want to make sure nothing serious was wrong with you.” Then, almost as if she was justifying it to herself, “It would look bad for me if you came down with a mysterious disease while alone with me.”
“Haha, yeah…” he chuckled, then immediately grimaced at himself for finding the humor in such a comment. He’d been in this school too long. “Anyways, I’m okay. I just… should have had more to eat this morning, is all. Thanks for looking after me.”
“Don’t mention it.” And judging by the slight red tint still on her cheeks, she meant that.