Visits from friends

After a night of restful sleep, I woke up feeling refreshed. Until I took a few steps, where the dizziness set in again. Still, compared to the previous day, I seemed to have recovered some. ‘So the prediction might turn out to be accurate.’ Well, it should be, as she was the one responsible for my current constitution.
Putting that aside, the first half of my day passed fairly similar to the previous one: Laying in bed, sleeping, and drinking and eating some. Fairly lazy, but not much I could have done. At some point, I checked for some messages on my phone. There had been a few get well wishes, to which I now submitted answers.
It may only have been a short time, but after starring at the small screen, I felt a headache flare up. ‘Concentrating on something like that for a longer period of time seems to be out of question for now.’

Around afternoon, I received visitors. And luckily, this time, I had been awake.
“Yo.” “What’s up.” “Pardon the intrusion.” The childhood friend trio appeared. “Please, have this gift basket.” Tanaka handed me an edible arrangement.
“Thank you, but that wouldn’t have been necessary. And thank you for visiting.”
“You are welcome.” After handing it to me, he took a step back. Seeing me scan the crowd, he told me. “Suzuki had planned to come along too, but had to abstained due to urgent business coming up.”
‘I guess it might be him talking with Suzune? Or something personal?’ “Ah, thank you for telling me.”
All the while, Sugimoto had been fidgeting around, but finally spoke up. “So, you fine dude?” Obviously, he was concerned, but tried to play it down.
“Pretty much, I guess? I have a fever, dizziness, little strength, and generally feel unwell, but it isn’t anything major. Sorry to worry you.”
“Sounds pretty major to me.” He let out.
Though, Ono now picked up where I had left off. “Yeah, worry us you did. Suddenly vanishing during the festival and all. Then one of the shrine priests arrives and tells us you are sick and will be brought home, excusing you to us.” He shared his worries while appearing to be venting. Sugimoto quickly joined him in on it, and the two became preoccupied between themselves for a moment.
Using that chance, Tanaka came closer, and asked me. “Is this related to you suddenly going off to the bath? If so, I am sorry I didn’t notice at the time.” From his apologetic tone and expression, I took that he really felt that way. Even if it had been that, there was no reason for him to feel responsible. But he still did, showing he truly cared about those around him.
To ease his worries, I mirrored his whisper in volume. “No, you are fine. It was something different, so please do not blame yourself.”
Taking a moment to look at me smile, he evaluate whether I was lying appease his conscience, or was telling the truth. Several seconds passed, and it looked like he accepted my reply. “Got it. Then, I will myself to let this matter go.”

When we finished out short exchange, it seemed the other two did as well. And their topic must have shifted a bit, as Sugimoto came to me with a new statement. “But seriously, you get along well with the girls. Are you secretly working on being popular or something?”
“Huh? How did you get there?” I was quite surprised by that take.
“Yesterday, we had planned to visit you. But Fujiwara had asked us to wait a day, as she was already planning to check in on you.” He leaned closer to me. “Seems awfully suspicious to me.”
“Uhm, well…” I could not think of an easy way to explain that one.
Surprisingly, Ono came to help me. “While it is interesting, we decided to postpone the questioning and spare you for now. But once you are back to school, you better prepare yourself.” With the smile he gave me, I knew he didn’t want to help me. He thought this way it would be more interesting. At least it gave me time to think something up.
“Alright.” I would accept my judgment when it was time.
As it wasn’t that time yet, we goofed around a bit. The others told me about what the others had done during last week, and how our homeroom teacher was late on Monday, nursing a hangover. I wished I could have seen that.

The easy atmosphere persisted even after they left for the day, wishing me well and saying goodbye. ‘Seems like the mental aspect is not to be underestimated when recovering from illness.’
Their care warmed my heart, letting me rest easy for the rest of the day.

***

On the third morning, going got easier. I still felt some of the effects, but it wasn’t as severe anymore. Talking with my parents, who were relieved to see me recover this quickly, we decided if I felt up for it, I could go to school again the next day. But it would only be decided on the day itself. And I had to call them immediately if I got worse.
After eating breakfast with them downstairs, I got up in bed again, to make sure I recovered throughly, or make it easier. By at this point, a thought popped up in my head. That I had no dreams right now. Sure, I could explain away the constant memory as there had been changes to the seal. But that didn’t explain why the impostor didn’t show up again. And that they appeared once more so shortly before Ayame came to me with the amulet seemed awfully suspicious. Still, there wasn’t anything I could do at the moment, aside trying to push that frustrating train of thought aside.

And soon enough, a distraction would show up for me. I had assumed if I got another visit, I would be in the afternoon like the previous two days. However, this day it was shortly past noon.
I happened to be looking in the direction of the door, I would have likely not noticed the visitor appearing. Wearing her customary shrine maiden clothes, Suzune entered without making a sound. After she closed the door, she looked at me. Despite me looking directly back at her, she didn’t freeze up in shock. ‘So it wasn’t to sneak in. Perhaps she simply walks that quietly. Or maybe she tried to show concern in case I was asleep?’
That last thought quickly vanished once she started speaking. “That’s sad.”
“What is?”
“You do not look pathetic at all.” ‘Well, thank you very much!’
Perhaps sensing my annoyed thoughts, Suzune’s expression changed from forlorn to sympathetic. “I am just joking around. I do not actually like to see others suffer, you know?”
I ignored the similarity in her words to those of someone else. “I didn’t think that is actually what you came here for. Not only would you be too lazy to move over here for just that,” “Hey!” “but I do not think that badly of you.”
I smiled at her, and she returned it. I was glad we could banter like that without hurting the other one. Still, she took that as a moment to advance the conversation. “Well, you are right in parts. I wouldn’t move over here just for that. And it is not laziness. My proper reason is to show up is to check in on you.”
“…I can’t imagine this being entirely a social visit.”
And my hunch proved to be correct. “It isn’t social. I am here to check up on your physical state. Now, stay still for a moment.” With that, she stood stock still, starring at me with wide open eyes. Shortly thereafter, they started to glow, and a cold shudder ran through me. I suppressed an urge to move and shake my shoulders.
A minute passed, and Suzune relaxed her posture. After closing her eyes, she glow had faded, and she was back to normal. “Okay, you seemed to be doing fine.”

Nodding to herself with satisfaction, I was left to guess what it meant. So, I asked her. “Mind explaining the patient what you just did?”
I had expected a snarky remark, but she told me a straight answer. “I checked if your magic is holding up. Explaining it all would be a drag, so here’s the short version: Meddling with the seal had caused the magical flow in your body to become disturbed, resulting in your current condition. I looked if it was going back to the previous condition, or if we have to intervene. But by my estimate, you might come out better than before. Another time I could explain you resistances and so on…”
Her explanation shared similarities with what Ayame had told me two days ago. The details differed, but there likely was a reason to it that I had yet to understand. Still, I picked up on the last bit. “That might explain why I could see Ayame in her kitsune form, like you with being a nekomata.” That comment had caught her attention. However, it had only been for a short moment before she let it fade away.

Instead, she opted to return to our normal interplay. “Oh, you must be so happy that you finally managed that. Are you sad that she is not here for you today?” A mischievous smile spread on her face.
Her taunt got a little rise out of me, as I felt color turn to my cheeks. “No, it’s just…” Trying to think of a good excuse, my thoughts scraped on a rather unpleasant assumption. But, the timing might be good, as I had one of the few people in front of me that could shed light on the situation. “I am a bit worried, since she had met with that black fox.”
Suzune’s forehead was in wrinkles for a moment, before she realized who I was talking about. To prevent an unnecessary comment, I added. “I know that she is does not act like that towards youkai and only dislikes humans, but still…”
“There is no need to worry about that. Seriously.” She regarded me with sympathy. “Sadly, I can’t go into details to that, you have to take my word for it.”
“Got it. I trust you.” ‘So no shot at getting some new info. Hey, at least I had tried.’

But that wasn’t the end of that point of conversation. With a quick nod, Suzune indicated to the amulet laying next to my pillow. “I guess no news regarding that interloper.”
There, I had to correct her. “Actually, there was something.” I told her about the brief encounter and suspicions.
Listening to me intently with a serious expression on her face, the shrine maiden gave me some reassurance at the end of it. “Don’t worry about it. While we would like to find out more about them, if they chose to leave, that is one problem less we have to take care of.”
One word caught my attention. “We? Who do you mean when you say we?”
Suzune clammed up, quickly turning around to avoid looking at me. ‘So, I can guess she and the black fox work together. And the true identity may not be a black fox at all, taking her previous thinking into account.’ At least it was reassuring to me. Knowing they work together makes it easier for me to trust that unknown person.

Having had enough of my pocking around, Suzune turned to me, announcing “Anyway, I checked up on you, that does it for my visit.” “Wait.” “…What?”
Obviously displeased with me interrupting her tactical withdrawal, she looked at me with disdain in her eyes. But there was one last question I had to ask about. “Yesterday, I was told Suzuki had private business. Could it be-”
I got no further, as a hand was thrust in front of my face, the open palm signaling for me to stop. Then, she elaborated in a very diplomatic manner. “I am thankful for pointing him out to use. But anything that goes on from this point I can not tell you. If you do want to know more, you have to ask him directly. And if he tells you he doesn’t want to answer, you have to respect his decision.” She glanced at me. “Part of the rules.”
“…But wouldn’t I have been more involved if I weren’t in bed right now?” I would have been tasked with helping to set up a meeting, after all.
“Yes. But, that wasn’t necessary anymore. And…” She thought of something to tell me, but stopped, staying silent.
I took it as my queue. “Got it, you can’t tell me anything. And I know you do not do it to annoy me, but because it is part of the rules we have to follow.”
“Thank you for your understanding.” With her proper going through these motions, I could now see her better working an official position. Especially more since the side I had previously seen most of was her lazing around, or annoying me. ‘I guess that just shows she trusts me.’

With that point out of the way, she resumed walking away. “As I said, you should be fine from now.” Then, in a quieter voice she added. “Still, make sure to stay healthy, okay?”
I swore I could see a blush rise to her ears. As it didn’t feel right to tease her about it, I answered sincerely. “Yes, got it. And thank you.” It really wasn’t a surprise to me anymore. She genuinely cared for those around her, even if she didn’t like to show it. So it tried to show more consideration to her, in hopes of keeping this relationship going. “I can at least see you to the door.”
“No you can’t.” The answer was immediate. I got a bit startled by it. Sensing my confusion, Suzune turned around, and explained. “I wasn’t let in. I let myself in.” ‘…Ah.’ “So if you suddenly escort me out, it might be bad. …Next time I will use the bell.”
Leaving these as her parting words, she soundless vanished into the hallway, letting the door seamlessly fall close.

That day I had no other visitors. Come evening, I went down to eat dinner. Talking with my parents, I realized they were more worried then they had let on, as was evident by the strong atmosphere of relief. Their happiness was infectious, and I felt nearly no bad side effects anymore.
Later, tucking myself in, I hoped for the best, and fell asleep.

***

The next morning, I got up, feeling very much better. It wasn’t a full recovery, but I felt good enough to head out. Having a talk once more, my parents allowed me to go to school. Albeit they once more reminded me of what to do when I felt worse. And I had to agree on my dad driving me. This time, I didn’t particularly mind it.

And so, my normal everyday life resumed. Or it would, after I were to weather the questioning that awaited me.