“Wow, you really got roughed up this time.”
My friend, Katsuragi Nao said, her face frowned with concern as she wrapped a bandage around my arm.
We were in the high school infirmary. After cleaning up everything at home that morning, I had sprinted through the school gates just before the bell, somehow made it through the morning classes despite my aching arm, and rushed here the moment lunch break began.
Nao had been waiting for me. She was in a different class but served as a health committee member, giving her free access to the infirmary. We’d been friends since middle school, and she knew about my family situation. She was someone I was deeply grateful for.
“I know it’s not really my place to interfere with someone else’s family stuff,” she said quietly, “but seriously, don’t you think you should tell someone? Like, an actual adult or maybe the child welfare center or something? It’s getting worse than it was in middle school.”
Nao had been treating my injuries since our middle school days. Her sincere eyes fixed on me, while I sighed, staring at the arm now wrapped in white gauze.
“I’d like to,” I admitted, “but I can’t. Karen is an oni’s bride. No one would believe that a family like that could have problems.”
“You mean they’d cover it up? Would the onis really go that far?"
“They would.”
When I graduated from middle school, I had actually run to a child welfare center once. At first, the staff member was kind and concerned. But the moment she heard my name, her face turned pale and she made a phone call somewhere.
A few minutes later, an oni from the Domeki family came to fetch me. He wore glasses and looked very intelligent. He told me he served Loki, Karen’s fiancé. With a refined smile that was somehow both beautiful and terrifying, he said to me—
“Please, do refrain from causing any unnecessary harm to Lord Loki’s bride.”
Nao slammed her fist onto the infirmary bed. “Onis are seriously the worst! Just a bunch of worthless trash pretending to be superior! You live for centuries, and that’s what you do with your time? How about doing something useful for once?”
Her outburst echoed in the quiet room. Among all the people in the world who feared and revered onis, Nao was probably the only high school girl who could insult them like that.
“Miharu,” Nao uttered, using my name softly this time, “if things ever get really bad, come to my place, okay? It’s small, but I can manage with one more person. Don’t worry about being a burden.”
After finishing the bandaging, she leaned close to study my face. I turned my gaze aside, her brightness almost blinding, and forced a faint smile.
“I’ll be fine. My body’s tough. Besides, I can’t trouble you like that. I already decided that I’ll move out after I graduate high school. Just one more year and a bit. I can make it till then.”
It is currently March of my second year of high school. Graduation was finally in sight. I had promised myself I’d go to college outside the prefecture with a scholarship. I’d earn my living through part-time jobs, get a job after graduation, and never return home again. That was my perfect life plan.
Nao placed her hand on my shoulder. I could feel it trembling, so I gently laid my hand over hers.
“Nao?”
“Promise me,” she said softly. “Let’s definitely graduate together. Even if we end up at different universities, I’ll come visit you. Let me stay over in your place. Then, when we start working, let’s meet a few times a year, go on trips, vent about work to each other, and grow old together like that, okay?”
Her hand on my shoulder tightened. It hurt a little, but somehow, it didn’t feel unpleasant.
“I promise,” I said. “We’ll go through life together, Nao. You’ll stay over at my place, we’ll drink together, and when things get hard, we’ll comfort each other. Absolutely.”
A smile came to my face, one that never appeared at home. My eyes stung, but I tilted my head up and sniffled a little so she wouldn’t worry. Nao smiled back and pulled me into a hug.
Her body was warm… so very warm.
