5 | The mage carries a sloth
It wasn't exactly in the nature of Himiko Yumeno to be worried or concerned about much of anything, but the situation was undeniably bothersome. She was mostly neutral on the pianist – she'd always seemed like a nice enough girl but couldn't say she really cared for her one way or another. But then again, she also couldn't say that the situation wasn't at least a little upsetting to her.
She didn't like how the pianist had changed and become so oblivious, like a fish out of water. She wasn't usually one to worry over anything but the strange situation had been playing on her mind all day, and had made it hard for her to take naps as usual. Her mind was too busy turning everything over and over again in wonderment of what had happened.
It was mostly the disruption of her usual napping throughout the day that bothered her – but she couldn't deny she was rather concerned, and had kept one sleepy eye on the pianist through the day. The young mage thought it was a drag – everyone else in the class was probably already watching her like a hawk, so it wasn't as if her own vigilance would make much difference (or so she thought) – but she had taken it upon herself to watch out for the pianist in her own roundabout, lazy way.
It had been her who noticed the odd conversation between Kaede and Kokichi from a table over, catching snippets of Kokichi's blatant lies as she tried to let herself drift off – Angie and Tenko debating something a little to enthusiastically on either side of her, Tsumugi worrying over a small stain on her skirt across the table for them. She'd sent Angie and Tenko to check it out, complaining that she was too sleepy to go over there herself. That was half true – but she half just didn't want to get herself involved. Even if she was concerned, that wasn't really her battle to fight.
But still, the concern clung to the mage like a sloth, as lazy and unmoving as she was.
It was the end of the school day – it had ended a while ago – and most students were practicing their ultimate talents as they always did that day. Himiko herself was feeling entirely too distracted to practice her magic, and thus Tenko had dragged her along to her own martial arts practice, declaring that she needed the moral support.
Himiko had suggested that perhaps she should go watch over Kaede, since she too would be missing out on her Piano practice. Knowing the only other option left to watch Kaede, she was sure Tenko would relent and let her go, since Kaede would be left with a 'degenerate male' but it seemed this was not the case. Tenko's desire for Himiko's attention had won out over her concern for Kaede. Not that it should've been any great surprise to anyone.
Sat on a cushion, leaning against a wall in the back of the martial arts room at Hope's Peak, Himiko couldn't help but let her mind run over all the events that had lead up to now. It had only been a day's worth of issues and complications, but it was enough to prevent her from sleeping. She wasn't that bothered about watching Tenko spar with the white-haired girl who seemed double her size. She couldn't really focus on that.
It was admittedly a little worrying, knowing they'd left Kokichi alone with Kaede, back at the dorms they all shared. Especially after their encounter earlier, Himiko couldn't help but think that this was probably the worst case scenario, but he'd been the only one able to skip out on practicing his talent – how do you even practice being a supreme leader, anyway? Either way, she did not trust him to be in charge of Kaede's safety. Many times she had tried to convince herself that it was none of her business, but still the mage worried.
And it seemed Tenko was similarly distracted, barely able to concentrate on her sparring. Himiko watched with a degree of shock as Tenko was practically launched across the room, crashing and landing in a heap on a padded mat.
Tenko's opponent called for a break, and turned to the bench on the other side of the room. Tenko herself heaved up from the mat and plopped herself down in front of Himiko, hair a mess from the sparring, neat white martial arts uniform dishevelled.
"You look distracted." Himiko commented – of course, voice heavy with sleepiness, as it always was.
"And so do you, you didn't even fall asleep." Tenko pointed out, chest heaving as she caught her breath from the physical exertion.
"I know." Himiko nodded, bummed out by her lack of sleep – both now and throughout the day. She found she was awfully tired – when was the last time she got this little sleep? "I haven't been able to take a nap all day."
"You must be so tired." Tenko nodded sympathetically, and Himiko just sighed with another nod. She still hadn't decided if she enjoyed Tenko's endless fussing or not. "It's the Kaede situation, isn't it?"
Himiko didn't have to answer, they both knew that's what it was in the back of their minds, keeping them from focussing on anything – or, from sleeping.
"Don't you think it's a bad idea leaving Kokichi in charge?" Himiko blinked her sleepy eyes at Tenko, who seemed to pause and think for a moment, as if she had to kick her brain back into gear – fighting and fussing over Himiko came as easily as breathing, now it was time to switch her brain back into 'think mode'.
"Well, I think it's stupid to leave any degenerate male in charge!" She declared with her usual vigour – brow creasing into a frown merely from the thought of a male. "But what other choice do we have?"
"I know you want me here, but I think maybe I should have been left with her." If she had been left with Kaede, she'd have probably just gone to sleep on the couch beside the girl and called it good enough, but it was probably still better than whatever Kokichi might be getting up to as they spoke. The thought niggled at the mage. Tenko was silent for a moment.
"I hate to be apart from my Himiko, but I think you may be right." Tenko conceded with a nod. "Out of all of those degenerate males, I trust that slimy pig the least!"
"That's what I was thinking... almost anyone else would have been a better option... I don't like thinking about what he could be tricking her into doing." Himiko shook her head, red locks softly swooshing around her face. Really, she was concerned. If anything had happened to Kaede, it would lay heavy on her conscience, knowing she could've been there instead of him. Maybe she wouldn't have been good company for the dazed pianist, but she'd still be safe around her. Wasn't that more important? "Maybe I should go check."
Tenko said nothing for a while. She didn't like the thought of Himiko leaving her – let alone going to see him all by herself (since Kaede would be as good as chocolate teapot right about now), but she too did not trust what Kokichi might be getting up to.
"Okay. But you come right back here if there's any trouble at all, okay!?"
"Yeah. I will."
-
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro