What dragged Satoru out of his deep sleep was a gnawing hunger and a throat so dry it hurt.
He had not even changed his clothes. The moment he reached home, he had fallen face-first onto the bed and passed out within seconds. Dizziness still clouded his head, and dried sweat had glued his dirty clothes to his skin.
Somewhere beyond the bedroom, he heard movement in the kitchen.
Then came the smell of food.
Satoru forced himself upright and stared blearily toward the doorway. A girl in an apron emerged carrying a steaming plate with both hands, her steps unusually careful.
Short black hair.
Glasses.
His mind searched for the memory. The moment its gears began turning again, a faint pain pulsed through his skull, as though rust had settled into the mechanism while he slept.
"Shi... no?"
The girl looked over and smiled.
"You're finally awake. You slept for an entire day and night. How do you feel? Does anything hurt?"
Before he could answer, she continued.
"It's noon, and lunch is ready. Can you make it to the bathroom and clean yourself up?"
Satoru sat on the edge of the bed, still staring at her blankly.
Shino's concern deepened.
"Maybe I should bring you a towel."
"I can do it myself."
He covered his face with both hands and rubbed hard. The broken connections in his head seemed to rejoin, and oil slowly reached the rusted gears. His eyes finally regained some focus.
Satoru staggered into the bathroom, turned on the tap, and splashed cold water over his face.
Shino followed as far as the doorway.
"Do you want a shower? I can get the bath running. I thought about changing your clothes earlier, but I was worried about what you'd think when you woke up..."
"You already made lunch, didn't you? Let's eat first. I'm starving."
Satoru managed a small smile and headed for the kitchen. His throat was painfully dry, and he reached for a can of beer in the refrigerator.
Shino stopped him with a glare.
"You are not using beer as mouthwash the second you wake up."
She folded her arms.
"I made soup."
"Too rich... Beer goes down easier."
"There's lemonade. It's cold too."
Her tone made it clear that negotiations were over.
Satoru shuffled meekly to the table.
"Mapo tofu?"
He looked at the familiar dish.
"Are you sure about this? You learned to make it for someone you liked. I don't think I'm the right person to eat it."
Shino gave him a flat look.
"He fell into a filthy drainage ditch yesterday and drowned."
"What? That's awful..."
Satoru immediately regretted bringing it up. Still, Shino did not look remotely heartbroken.
Hadn't she said that boy was someone she admired?
He accepted the bowl and chopsticks and took several hungry bites.
Only then did something occur to him.
Satoru looked up sharply.
"Shino, why are you in my apartment?!"
"I kept calling you the day before yesterday, but you never answered. I got worried, so I came over."
She removed her apron and sat across from him.
"I found the spare key under the loose floor tile beneath the mat, let myself in, and found you sleeping like the dead. I thought you had a fever, so I took your temperature."
Satoru froze.
"Wait. How did you know there was a key under the loose tile beneath the mat?"
"That's none of your business."
This was absolutely his business. It concerned the security of his home and everything he owned.
His cheek twitched, but another question came first.
"Where did you sleep last night?"
"On the couch," Shino replied as though it were obvious. "Also, your water heater is acting up. I spent more than ten minutes fighting with it."
"Oh, that. It's been temperamental for a while, but it still works, so I never..."
"Stop talking and eat. Then take a shower. I can smell you from here."
She pointed toward the bedroom.
"I'll set out clean clothes, and I'll wash what you're wearing with the rest."
"Thanks. My clothes are in the closet..."
Even Satoru could not keep the embarrassment from his voice.
"T-shirts on the third shelf and pajama pants folded beneath the second one, right?"
Shino answered without hesitation.
Satoru stopped moving.
A chill ran down his back.
Just how thoroughly had she searched the apartment while he was unconscious?
Only then did he notice that the entire place had changed. The trash bags in the corner were gone. So were the cigarette butts in the ashtray and the beer cans scattered across the floor. It no longer looked like the home of a single salaryman living alone.
Words caught in his throat.
"Th-thanks."
Shino's expression softened into a gentle smile.
"It's nothing. Keep eating. A teacher should sample the results of his student's practice."
Satoru was not used to being cared for like this, but his exhausted body had no interest in resisting. He lowered his head and ate.
Shino barely touched her own food.
She simply watched him in silence.
By the time some strength had returned to his limbs, the meal was over. They cleared the table, and Satoru walked her to the door.
Once he was alone, he sat on the couch and lit a cigarette.
Remembering that Shino had used the same couch as a bed made him strangely uneasy.
He had been unbelievably careless.
Thank goodness it had been Shino. If a thief had found that key, he would have been in serious trouble.
Satoru sighed, slapped his knees, and stood.
He opened the refrigerator in search of one of his prized imported beers.
Every can was gone.
The shelves were filled with lemonade instead.
"Lemonade... Lemonade it is."
He returned to the couch in defeat. Slowly, his thoughts settled back into place.
Yuuki was with Nagashima-san now.
It had been Satoru's first time meeting the man. When he heard what had happened, Nagashima had stared in disbelief, taken Yuuki into his arms, and broken down sobbing.
He had already been preparing to leave Japan. Until that moment, he had expected to make the journey alone.
The friend waiting for him overseas was also a doctor, apparently one with military connections and a broad network. With that support and Nagashima's own ability, Yuuki would have everything she needed to build a happy life.
She was an ordinary girl now, free of the vortex that had consumed so much of her life.
That was enough.
Let her begin again in a new home.
Satoru exhaled a thin stream of smoke.
...
(The following scene is a hidden thread with no bearing on the main story. Consider it one final Easter egg.)
...
A man stood before the mouth of a deep cave. His gaze was calm, and a robe as dark as night hung around him. The silence was absolute, as though the entire world had bowed before him.
He stepped forward.
Grass and stones shifted away from his path as if alive, or perhaps they were merely driven back by the weight of his presence.
At the deepest point of the cave, he lifted the sheathed katana from his back and slowly planted it upright in the solid earth.
"The young Marine swordsman caught in that psychic backlash only had to draw the blade to earn its acknowledgment. Now you intend for this young man to wield it in earnest?"
An ethereal woman's voice drifted through the cave.
"How merciful. You could end this pointless calamity yourself with ease."
"People like him exist everywhere," the man replied softly. "Perhaps I see something of who I once was."
His hand rested on the sword.
"Besides, his name brings back memories. Doesn't it do the same for you?"
The man looked into the darkness ahead.
"I made him a promise long ago. I said I would wait one lifetime, until the day he died, before reclaiming the cursed blade."
"I belong only to you. Past, present, future, eternity. That has never changed."
"Of course. From the moment we met, fate had already bound us together. It will remain so until even the last twilight has passed."
He ran his fingers over the hilt, his expression touched by nostalgia.
"For now, stay here."
"Enma."
The man stepped back and departed without a sound.