January 31st, the tail end of the month.
After a light rain, the air carried a damp scent. With a heavy guitar case slung over his back, Ritsu had just finished a mission. The target had successfully repaid the money, so things wrapped up quickly today.
He unloaded his gear into the trunk and drove toward Beika Town, a route he had to take to get back to the lab.
Passing by a 24-hour convenience store, he realized he wouldn't make it back in time for lunch anyway. So he pulled over and decided to grab something simple.
"Welcome."
The store's heating was a bit too strong. Ritsu opened up his black trench coat, revealing a gray crewneck sweater underneath. Walking to the refrigerated section, he didn't hesitate, grabbing a pork cutlet sandwich and a bottle of Calpis.
Thinking it might not be enough, he also picked up two skewers of salted grilled chicken.
"That'll be 618 yen. Here's your change, 382 yen. Thank you, and please come again!"
Leaning against his car with the plastic bag in hand, Ritsu ate his simple lunch. It was Tuesday, students who had just finished winter break didn't have time to leave campus, as they were busy preparing for final exams.
A white Nissan sedan slowly passed by. Ritsu glanced at the license plate out of habit and immediately recognized it as Akemi's car. He knew because he had helped arrange that plate; the number sequence was Shiho's birthday.
Seeing her driving seriously, Ritsu couldn't help but smile faintly. He recalled the time he had taught her how to park, she was supposed to back into the first space but somehow ended up in the second one instead, yet happily declared it a success on the first try.
He actually envied Akemi's personality, always optimistic no matter what. Maybe that was why she had such a gentle, angelic nature.
He crumpled up the sandwich wrapper and tossed it into the convenience store trash can a few steps away. Suddenly, the sharp sound of brakes screeching cut through the air.
Ritsu looked up and his expression changed instantly.
The car that had slammed on the brakes was Akemi's. On the crosswalk in front of her lay a long-haired man, roughly Ritsu's height.
Realizing something terrible had happened, Akemi hurriedly got out of the car and was about to help the man up when Ritsu shouted, "Don't touch him, I'll check his injuries first!"
"Toru? What are you doing here?"
After nearly two years together, Akemi's way of addressing Nanase Toru had grown more familiar, from the polite "Nanase-kun," to "Toru-kun," and now simply "Toru."
"Just passing by. Go open the back door."
"Okay!"
In Akemi's eyes, Nanase was a near-perfect man. Even though he was part of the organization, she somehow couldn't bring herself to dislike him. Perhaps because he treated her sister well and was nothing like Gin and the others.
Her earlier panic quickly subsided upon seeing him.
Ritsu crouched down to assess the long-haired man's injuries. Akemi hadn't been driving fast, so the injuries weren't severe. However, since his head had hit the ground, a mild concussion was likely unavoidable.
Carefully supporting the man's head, Ritsu lifted him into his arms and placed him in the back seat. Then he moved to the driver's seat and said, "Akemi, sit beside him and keep his head stable. We don't want any secondary injury."
"Okay… Toru, he'll be alright, right?"
"He should be fine. Once we get him to the hospital, he'll probably regain consciousness within an hour. He's in good physical shape, definitely someone who exercises regularly," Ritsu reassured her. He could feel the man's solid muscles when carrying him.
He drove to the nearest hospital, Nishi-Beika Hospital. After parking, Ritsu rushed into the emergency department and spoke to a nurse in a white uniform.
"Hello, could we get a stretcher? There's an unconscious traffic accident victim."
Hearing it was a car accident, the nurse acted quickly, bringing a stretcher and escorting the man into the emergency room.
Fortunately, the head injury wasn't serious. After a series of examinations, no major issues were found. The wounds were disinfected and bandaged. However, due to the mild concussion, he wouldn't wake up immediately.
"Toru, thank you so much for today… Have you eaten lunch? Let me go buy you something," Akemi said apologetically. She didn't have enough money on her, so Ritsu had even covered the medical and hospital fees.
"No need. We're friends." Ritsu waved it off as he stepped out of the room. "I'll call your sister. I'll head back to the lab after he wakes up and I still need to go retrieve my car."
"Sorry for the trouble."
Walking out of the hospital with his phone, Ritsu dialed the lab's landline while looking for a taxi to take him back to where he had parked earlier.
The call was quickly answered, and Shiho's impatient voice came through. "What's your excuse this time? Car maintenance? Flat tire? You dump all the experiments on me every time… Maybe I should just take your salary too."
Ritsu scratched his cheek. What could he do? His boss had instructed him to slow down the development of APTX-4869, so naturally, he skipped work whenever possible.
"No, it's not that. Your sister was in a car accident, I'm—"
"What?! How is she?! Is her life in danger?!"
'Seriously, can't you let me finish first?'
Still, he understood her concern. Ritsu cut in, "Not like that. She accidentally hit a man while driving. He's fine, just a mild concussion and some minor bruises. No fractures."
"…Oh. I see."
"So, Miyano-san, can I take the day off?"
"Take care of my sister. She'll blame herself over this."
"Got it. I'm hanging up now."
"…Thanks."
As expected, she only showed honesty when it came to her sister.
After hailing a taxi and returning to the previous location, Ritsu discovered something infuriating, two high school girls were sitting on the hood of his car, taking photos.
His face instantly darkened.
To car enthusiasts, their car is basically their "wife."
"Done taking pictures? Then get lost."
The sudden voice startled the girls. Turning around, they saw Ritsu's dark expression but unexpectedly, instead of leaving… they stayed.
"Hey mister, can I get your LINE?"
"Or your email address!"
"…If you don't leave, I'll consider it intentional contact if you get hit."
He got into the car, watching the two girls leave with pouting faces. Ritsu began to question his life choices.
'Does my face not look intimidating enough? Do I really have to threaten people to make them leave?'
He adjusted the rearview mirror, rubbing his clean-shaven chin.
'Should I try growing a beard?'
…On second thought, that sounded like too much trouble.
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