Although Shizuka had only missed a single day of school, she was welcomed back by her schoolmates and teachers with great fanfare and even more gifts. With people focusing even more on Shizuka than usual, anticipation for the play reached new heights.
In the next few days, rehearsals progressed smoothly. By this point all of the set pieces and props were almost all assembled and the costumes were near completion.
While the drama club had lent their class some costumes that they weren't using, some costumes needed to be adjusted and a few new ones needed to be made so it fell into the hands of Kiri and Hayato to design and tailor the remaining costumes. This outcome was inevitable since only Kiri and Hayato had both knowledge of fashion design and expertise sewing, as one's family ran a tailor shop while the other's family owned a small clothing store. With their combined skills the two managed to be highly efficient, despite their constant bickering.
Because Madoka's fairy godmother costume was one of the one's that needed to be made from scratch, half a week before Shizuka had been hospitalized, his measurements had been taken by Hayato.
Shizuka almost choked on laughter when she found out that Madoka's actual waist size was actually comparable to a girl's. She teased him by saying, "If you weren't 182 cm tall, with your face and measurements, you'd definitely look like an aloof goddess."
Evidently peeved by her reaction, Madoka had not so secretly reduced the amount of meat whilst doubling the amount of vegetables in her bentos for a week.
Even though his actions was petty then, I'd prefer that over this...
Shizuka leaned forward and propped her elbow on her desk and turned to the person now seated next to her. "Why exactly are we in this seating arrangement again?"
"Because we had a seat reassignment yesterday,"reminded Madoka kindly. "Did you forget?"
"No, I meant why are you in the seat right next to me?"
"A fateful coincidence?"
Shizuka raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because I talked to Arisa-chan yesterday and she said you offered to switch seats with her after we did the draw."
"Right, coincidentally, I happened to overhear Hattori-san worrying over the fact that she had gotten a seat at the back of the classroom since she has poor vision, so I offered to switch with her."
"How kind of you," Shizuka intoned sardonically. "It's funny how Arisa-chan never seemed to have vision problems before huh?"
Madoka smiled innocently. "These things can sneak up on you. You should take care too, Shizuka."
Shizuka stared at him for a while before planting her face on her desk in frustration. In a muffled voice she asked, "Don't you think you're being a bit too overprotective lately?"
"What do you mean?"
Shizuka turned to face him. "Ever since I was hospitalized, you've really been on edge. I understand that you're worried but sometimes I think you're overreacting. Like yesterday for example."
"Yesterday?"
Recalling the memory Shizuka's face grew red. "You know...when you p-princess carried me to the infirmary."
A trace of anger flashed in Madoka's eyes as he recalled the day before. "Your hands and arms had been cut by glass particles and they were bleeding."
"My hands and arms were scraped but I was still capable of walking!" protested Shizuka. "In any case, it wasn't that big of a deal."
She sighed after a moment. "I feel bad for those underclassmen though, the look you gave them afterwards should only be reserved for murderers and other heinous criminals, not kids who accidentally broke a window whilst playing baseball. If Takagi-sensei hadn't happen to come by that one shorter kid would've likely cried."
Madoka's eyes hardened. "If they had been mindful of their surroundings and keeping their strength in check while they were messing around the incident would've never occurred in the first place."
"You were still kind of harsh though. I'm sure they didn't mean to cause any real harm. Besides, they were just first-years."
"Exactly, because they're younger, we, as seniors, have a duty to be strict on them and correct them on their wrongdoings. Yesterday, it was just a broken window but maybe in the future, when they become adults, it'll be something more severe like a hit and run. Who can tell? Whether the intent to harm is present or not, carelessness can be deadly. Regardless of whether it's homicide or manslaughter, death is still death after all."
Faced with Madoka's steadfast tone that didn't seem to allow for any refutation, Shizuka swallowed her remaining arguments.
"Your phone is going off," said Madoka quietly after a while.
"Ah, you're right." Shizuka pulled out her phone from her pocket.
Mika: [Hey, I need to talk to you about something urgent. Is it okay if Fuu-lchan and I come see you at lunch? We'll meet you on the rooftop?]
Shizuka: [Sure, but what kind of talk did you want to have? ◑.◑ Should Madoka be there? ]
Mika: [It's best if Madoka-kun is present as well. It's hard to explain via texts so I'll go into detail later.]
Shizuka: [Okay...( ⚆ _ ⚆ )]
Noticing Shizuka's strange expression as she tucked her phone away Madoka asked, "Did something happen? Who was that just now?"
"It was Mii-chan. She said she needs to talk to us at lunch...She was being really cryptic so now I'm a bit freaked out."
Madoka placed a hand on Shizuka's head and patted her. "Don't worry, no matter what it is, I'll be with you."
"Mn."
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
After the lunch period started, Shizuka waited in the stairwell for Madoka who had been called over by Mana-sensei.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of a door being thrown open and indistinct voices coming from below her. Looking towards the lower floors Shizuka could see two figures in heated discussion.
Is that Aiko-chan and Ichinomiya Aoi? Are they arguing? That's kind of awkward. I should leave...
Yet, before Shizuka could discreetly retreat, she heard the sound of a door being slammed shut followed by shuffling and then finally silence.
I guess they left.
Shortly afterwards, Madoka arrived. "Sorry, did you wait long? I had to grab something from Nakamura-sensei after speaking to Mana-sensei so it ended up running a little long..."
"Nope, it was fine. Let's go." As they marched up the stairs she asked, "What did Mana-sensei want to talk to you about?"
"Ah, there's this essay competition coming up. Mana-sensei wanted to know if I'd like to represent the school."
Shizuka momentarily halted in her steps. Damnit, they asked him and not me! Damn this second place existence of mine!
"Did you agree?"
"I said I'd think about it."
"You have to think about it?"
"Exams are coming up. I don't know if I'd have time," answered Madoka as he unlocked the door to the rooftop. A breeze greeted them once the door was opened.
After the two settled down at their usual table Madoka asked, "So when are Mika-san and Fuyuki-san getting here?"
"Mii-chan texted me a bit before lunch saying to take our time since they'd be a bit late too."
"Hmm, alright. Should we start eating first?"
"I guess we can so we won't be distracted when it's time to talk later. "
Madoka nodded as he unraveled his specially made bento box of the day. As he lifted the lid of the box Shizuka could have sworn she saw light being emitted from it.
So blindingly extravagant!
"A temari sushi bento?! Is there a special occasion?"
"No occasion, I just wanted to switch it up once in a while." Madoka picked up a piece of sushi and held it up to Shizuka's mouth. "Say ahh."
....Is he trying to feed me?
"Uh...my arms are fine now..."
Madoka ignored her as he moved his chopsticks closer. "Open wide or the food will fall."
Reluctantly, Shizuka opened her mouth and allowed herself to be fed.
When the sushi entered her mouth Shizuka instinctively closed her eyes to savour the taste. Semi Madoka the domestic goddess has done it yet again! This is probably the best temari sushi I've ever had in my life!
"How is it?" asked Madoka expectantly.
As Shizuka was chewing, she simply held two thumbs up and nodded her head quickly.
Madoka revealed a small relieved smile. "I was experimenting with different combinations this morning." He picked up another piece. "Try this one next."
Before Shizuka could react, another piece had been placed in her mouth.
Oh my god, it's so tasty I can't think straight!
When she had finished swallowing Shizuka took a sip of tea. "I've said it before and I'll say it again but this is not the level of some regular cooking enthusiast, this level of cooking expertise can really rival any professional chef's! It's a waste of your skills to not open a restaurant!"
Madoka quietly sighed. "It'd be better if it was freshly made but I did ask Nakamura-sensei to keep it in the infirmary fridge to keep it chilled."
He kept his bento in the infirmary?...I guess that's one of the perks of being a model student. You can ask teachers for random favours like that.
"Here, have some more."
Shizuka opened her mouth.
"I know we wanted this to happen by somehow seeing them feed each other is so annoying."
"Aw, but they're so cute together, Fuu-chan!"
"I didn't think Madoka-kun was the type who engaged in PDA though...It's a little startling..."
Shizuka's head whipped towards the door where Fuyuki, Mika, and Satoru had emerged from without her realizing. "Fuu-chan, Mii-chan, Satoru-kun..."
Fuyuki walked over to Shizuka and placed her own bento on the table. As she sat, she said, "Don't look so flustered to see us, Shii-chan. It's not like you didn't know we were coming."
"Y-Yeah but..." To be caught in that kind of position is so embarrassing!!!
Madoka looked at Shizuka whose cheeks were tinged pink and smiled as he put his chopsticks down. Then, he turned towards his friend. "I didn't know you'd be coming, Satoru."
"Ah, I called him," replied Mika as she and Satoru took a seat at the table. "I thought it'd be good to have another person here for this." From under her arm, Mika pulled out a file and placed it in the middle of the table.
Shizuka stared at the file. "What is this, Mi-chan?"
"Investigative notes." With a rarely seen grave expression on her face, Mika stated, "Someone's been targeting you, Shii-chan."
Madoka's expression became exceedingly frigid. "What do you mean by that, Mika-san?"
Mika took a deep breath. "Meaning that accident that happened last week, the one that nearly killed Shii-chan, I have reason to believe that it almost certainly was not an accident."