A white strawberry daifuku lay lazily on the bed, luxuriating in a rare, perfect stretch of idleness.
Doing absolutely nothing—without anyone barging in to disturb her—felt ridiculously good.
After lunch with 鲁道夫, 永恒流星 had stayed sprawled out on the mattress the entire time. She knew she was wasting time. She also knew she couldn't stop herself.
But then—footsteps in the hallway.
One ear, half-buried under her hair, flicked upright. She slowly turned her head toward the door, listening with the focus of a predator: Which door will they stop at?
The footsteps paused.
Meteor sighed, sat up, and took her cane. She limped to the door and opened it a crack.
"What is it?"
东海帝王 had her hand raised to knock—only to freeze when a sleepy, slightly bristled Meteor poked her head out.
"…Oh. It's you, Teio. Come in. Don't bother changing shoes. Haaah~"
She yawned behind her hand and shuffled back toward the bed.
"Sorry to intrude."
Teio stepped in, and immediately her eyes were pulled to two things that absolutely did not match the room: the aggressively futuristic wheelchair, and a safe that looked like it belonged in a bank vault.
And then the rest of the room hit her.
Meteor's side was almost painfully monochrome—like someone had forgotten to decorate. White blanket, white sheets, white everything. It reminded Teio of a hospital more than a dorm.
She sat stiffly on the chair by the desk and held out a neat stack of notes.
"Teacher asked me to bring you the notes. But… how did you know I was coming?"
Meteor took the notes with a casual flick and dropped them on the bed. At the same time, she tapped on her phone, quickly replying to a message from Rudolf—something about Teio visiting—then pointed at Teio's shoes.
"Heard your footsteps."
She finished placating Rudolf, then flipped through the notes. As expected: material she already knew. Still, the pages were arranged so carefully that the effort was obvious.
"Did you organize this, Teio?"
"N-no! Teacher gave it to me."
Teio waved her hands quickly, refusing credit. Then she watched Meteor flip through everything at a ridiculous speed and set it aside, and her expression shifted—she misread it as confusion.
"Can't understand it? Want Teio-sama to teach you?"
Meteor stared at her.
"…Or," she said, "I could already know all of it."
Teio went rigid.
If someone else said that—like 双涡轮—Teio would assume they were just too shy to ask for help.
But Meteor?
Meteor didn't bluff about this kind of thing.
And Meteor always acted like the teacher around Teio—except for those moments where she got mischievous and deliberately provoked her.
"…But you haven't been to class," Teio protested.
"So? This stuff only takes one look."
Meteor delivered the line with maximum arrogance, then casually flicked her hand as if knowledge was something she could just shake out of her sleeve.
Teio's eyes practically sparkled.
Her ears lifted. Her tail gave a tiny, hopeful swish.
Then her gaze drifted toward her backpack.
Today's homework… she still didn't fully get it.
But she also didn't want to burden Meteor.
Her mouth opened—then closed again.
Her ears bent slightly in the exact way they always did when she was struggling to ask for something.
Meteor watched that silent battle and, with a soft laugh, decided to rescue her.
"Want to do homework together? I've been stuck in this room all day. I'm dying of boredom."
"Yes!"
Teio's ears snapped upright, and her tail started swishing properly now.
Meteor smiled. She'd guessed it the moment she followed Teio's line of sight. The fact that Teio had wrestled with it so long without saying it out loud was… absurdly endearing.
That sentiment lasted exactly until the homework began.
"Teio. I've already explained three problems that are basically the same. Even if we brute-force it, you should be able to copy the method by now!"
"Ah… bah… ah… bah…"
Teio stared at the page with a vacant, bubbling expression—as if her brain had stopped responding and she'd reverted to a cute, broken toy.
Meteor slapped her palm to her own face.
Is my teaching that bad?
"…Maybe we should stop," Teio murmured, lowering her head. "I'll figure it out later. I don't want to keep bothering you."
Meteor didn't let her retreat.
She ruffled Teio's hair twice, then tapped the problem again with her finger.
"Nope. We're doing it again."
She couldn't bring herself to dislike Teio—couldn't even truly be annoyed at her. Instead, she took her revenge in the only acceptable way: aggressively kneading Teio's soft brown ears until Teio's cheeks turned faintly pink.
"Alright. From the top. Listen."
Two hours later—
"Oh my god. Finally. We're DONE!"
Meteor looked even more relieved than Teio. If she didn't have to maintain her "injured patient" act, she would've jumped up and tap-danced right there.
"Yeah…! Thank you, Meteor!"
Teio packed her completed homework away, then looked at Meteor—who was still laughing with her hands on her hips.
She inhaled twice, gathering courage.
"Meteor… during New Year, do you want to come with us to watch fireworks?"
Meteor's first impulse was to say yes.
But she latched onto one word.
Us.
Spica.
A group outing.
The thought cooled her answer before it could leave her mouth.
"…You guys go. I'm not really into crowded places."
She didn't want to be the outsider who changed the atmosphere. If everyone was close enough to be relaxed and loud, the moment she appeared, people would start tiptoeing around her injury, her chair, her "condition."
Better to stay in the dorm and watch TV than to become the awkward reason everyone stopped being themselves.
"…I see…"
Teio's shoulders sank.
Meteor immediately felt a sting of guilt and tried to patch it, her tone turning lighter.
"Hey, don't look that sad. When winter break comes, let's go to the amusement park again."
Her hand reached out—of course it did—and landed on Teio's head. Those ears were addictive. Soft, warm, and ridiculously satisfying to pet.
"Okay! And we can get that juice again! Even if it's… kinda expensive."
Teio squinted happily and scratched her cheek, clearly remembering the taste.
Meteor, however, looked genuinely confused.
"…What juice?"
Teio blinked.
"The juice we bought last time at the amusement park. When we went together."
"Oh—oh! Right. Yeah. That one was good."
Meteor laughed and tapped her own forehead like she'd finally recalled it.
But Teio didn't know why—
Why Meteor's smile, for just a moment, looked… strangely forced.