After resting for a while, I tried to sit up from the hospital bed. The movement naturally drew the attention of the others in the infirmary.
The head of the Emergency Medicine Club, Himuro Sena, stopped me with a tone that allowed no argument.
"Sensei, your corpse is still very weak. Please don't casually resurrect… I mean, don't move around. Although we specialize in surgery and normally don't handle this kind of condition, since it's you, I'll make an exception and prescribe appropriate medication."
Uh… medication to stop a corpse from resurrecting…?
I couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.
Seeing that I had regained consciousness, Fuuka and Juri hurried over, expressing both concern and guilt.
"Sensei, are you alright? Is your body okay?" Fuuka blamed herself. "It's all my fault. If I hadn't been so focused on showing off my cooking, wanting to show you everything I could do, and made so many dishes… I'm so sorry for causing you trouble…"
I shook my head. "It's fine. I know you meant well, Fuuka. It's mainly because I got greedy since it was so delicious. That's on me, so don't blame yourself."
Even so, she pressed her lips together, visibly moved. "Sensei is always so tolerant of me."
So that explained the bloating.
But the food poisoning…
"I thought Sensei just fell asleep halfway through from exhaustion," Juri said in confusion. "Why would it be poisoning?"
Fuuka looked at her junior as if wanting to say something but holding back. Then she gave me the slightest nod in response to my questioning glance.
Even Hifumi's poison resistance had been bypassed… even Nagisa's regenerative ability couldn't quickly recover from it…
Looking at Juri, who was still completely unaware, I felt a chill run down my spine.
What exactly had gone into that glass of juice? Or was it really the ingredients' fault? But Juri had only squeezed some oranges, right?
In any case, I take back what I said earlier.
In this strange land of Kivotos, the Pink Hair Law still applied quite reliably.
— To Yukino, whom I haven't seen for days due to SRT's strict regulations.
The Sargeant (Niko) of your squad might just be a smiling fox.
One day she might show up at your door under the pretense of delivering takeout, claiming to check in on her best friend, while actually trying to get a head start…
"The two of you from the School Lunch Club, Sensei needs rest right now. I'll take care of him, so please head back."
Sena suddenly spoke, her expression flat.
Fuuka and Juri exchanged reluctant glances. Though clearly unwilling to leave, they ultimately followed the doctor's instructions, saying they would come visit again once I felt better, and departed.
Now, only Sena and I remained in the infirmary.
Perhaps this had been her true objective all along.
While I was thinking that, she efficiently retrieved several boxes of medicine, took out a few capsules from each, poured a cup of warm water, and held it in one hand while bringing the capsules to my mouth with the other.
"Sensei, please open your mouth." She looked fully prepared to feed me.
It wasn't that I disliked it, but I wasn't used to it either. I made one last attempt at resistance. "I can handle something this minor myself…"
Sena's expression didn't change. She simply gazed at me with her golden eyes. "Please allow yourself to be under my care."
Her persistence made me feel that refusing further would make me the unreasonable one.
So I opened my mouth and tearfully accepted the humiliation of being fed.
"And afterward, please remember to set me as your emergency contact."
She added, "That way, if something similar happens again, I can come to your aid immediately."
If it were something like this time, I wouldn't even have time to react before blacking out.
Still, I agreed. Earning a faint smile and approving nod from Sena.
"A wise decision."
Yes, I had made a wise decision. Sena's steady, step-by-step plan to grow closer to me had finally succeeded.
Next, would she use this time while I lay in bed to chat and deepen our relationship further?
But nothing like that happened.
Sena simply told me to rest well, then stopped speaking altogether. She sat quietly beside the bed, eyes closed, as if in standby mode.
I narrowed my eyes. Heh. Interesting woman, you've caught my attention.
Secretly activating the ability I'd obtained from Aru called "Yoke-Free," which in practice usually ruined everything and was practically Aru's chaos incarnate, I asked:
"Sena, what are you doing right now?"
"I am on standby. Do you need something, Sensei?"
"No, I was just worried you might be bored…"
Due to my weakened condition, just a few sentences drained what little stamina I had left to sustain the ability.
But it seemed to have worked.
"I'm not. I'm used to waiting," the white-haired, golden-eyed girl replied calmly. Then, after a brief pause, "But you've reminded me of something."
Under my gaze nine parts wary, one part hopeful. She stood up.
And began checking and reorganizing the medicine cabinet.
After some thought, I decided to first rule out that it was my fault.
At that moment, Sena frowned slightly while examining the cabinet.
"…Is one of the spare alcohol bottles missing? Or is that just my imagination?"
I quickly closed my eyes, pretending ignorance. Soon enough, fatigue pulled me back into sleep.
When I awoke again, not much time had passed. Sena was nowhere to be seen, and my body had mostly recovered. If I focused carefully, there was still a faint discomfort in my stomach, but it was negligible.
…Seriously, how did Juri manage that?
If I hadn't already conquered Nagisa, I might've been bedridden all day. Just thinking about it was frightening.
After replying to a few Momotalk messages and glancing at the sky outside, I figured it was about time to visit the Prefect Team and report Haruna.
This was with Haruna's own consent. For someone with countless "heroic exploits" already on her record, this incident was hardly significant. And she claimed she felt guilty, saying she had desecrated fine ingredients and violated the path of gourmet perfection, and was willing to accept punishment.
Though I suspected she was mostly just playing along with me.
I let out a long breath and had just sat up when the infirmary door suddenly opened.
Besides Sena, there was another familiar girl wearing a pained expression.
"Hiss… hm?"
Noticing me as well, Shiromi Iori tilted her head in confusion.
"Sensei?"