ICYM Ch 24

Episode 24

Judging by their tone, it seemed like the argument would drag on, but unexpectedly, the conversation ended rather quickly.

For someone he just called Baby, isn’t he surprisingly cool about this?

Did he decide it was better to just leave the kid alone because he’s being ridiculously sensitive?

Sure, he’s still young, but he’s not a preschooler. If I were his older brother, I’d have smacked him for throwing a fit over food.

But thinking it had ended there was a big mistake on my part.

From far away, I heard a commotion growing louder. I wondered for a second just how big this house had to be for the noise to be coming from that far off. But the murmur of voices soon stopped right in front of the room.

“Apologize right now!”

“W-what if he doesn’t forgive me?”

The older brother shouted sharply at someone.

Who did he bring with him?

An apology? Out of nowhere?

Wasn’t Hayden sad because he felt stupid or something? That’s what I thought, but from the way things sounded outside, it was as if someone had wronged him and that’s what upset him.

Before the other person even had time to apologize, the brother flared up again, as if he were genuinely upset.

“The kid’s so upset he won’t even eat.”

“He’s not eating?! Baby!”

“…Dad, why are you here?!”

I was momentarily at a loss for words. So he didn’t just leave—he went to get Dad?

Still, having received a few texts from him before, the dad actually felt more familiar than the brother.

Hayden was starting to calm down, but now that Dad and his brother both showed up and started worrying, he looked like he was about to cry again as he sniffled loudly.

Maybe he had his ear to the door, but Dad immediately started making a fuss.

“You’re not crying, are you? Not getting into the high school you wanted isn’t the end of the world, you know.”

“Exactly. You can just take over the family business instead.”

The two of them scrambled to comfort him. But it clearly wasn’t helping, because Hayden suddenly lifted his head and snapped back with sharp defiance.

“Ugh, no! Why would I take over the family business?! I’m in middle school!”

“So what?”

“…Then what about you, brother?”

“I’ll assist Baby, of course.”

His brother’s casual reply left Hayden so dumbfounded he let out a hollow laugh.

“…Ha.”

“I’m serious.”

What kind of nonsense are you spewing at a middle schooler?

I don’t think this so-called older brother is in his right mind either.

Whatever the family business was, it didn’t exactly look like it had a bright future if they were thinking of handing it off to a middle schooler.

Taking advantage of a brief silence, their dad finally started earnestly trying to comfort Hayden.  

“Dad only didn’t do anything because you said you wanted to handle it on your own. It’s not that I couldn’t do anything.”  

“……”

“If laying down some turf is all it takes, there are truckloads of schools that would accept you.”

Someone in the potato squad mentioned something about someone who got into school this year because his family laid down turf.

…Wait, was that me?

While I was stunned by the realization, Hayden lifted his head slightly.

“Even the schools that require an entrance exam?”

Sensing the slight improvement in Hayden’s mood, his dad immediately responded in a strong, reassuring voice.

“Of course!”

His older brother, who had been quietly listening, suddenly spoke with a panicked voice.

“But schools that are far away are still a no! Just thinking about not seeing Baby’s face every day… Big bro feels like crying right this second.”

“…That’s true.”

Far from stopping him, Dad quietly agreed, saying he felt the same way.

But Hayden, who had quickly regained his composure, spoke as if he didn’t care whether the two of them cried or clung to his pant leg.

“I’m going to live in the dorms.”

“…What?”

It was as if lightning had struck a clear sky. The chaos beyond the door erupted once more.

Bang! Bang!

“Let’s just open the door and talk, okay?”

“Yeah, let’s eat and calm down first, then think it over again.”

Even as they knocked on the door, Hayden refused to open it. Instead, he shouted out in a strong, determined voice, “Even if I can’t get into high school on my own… I’m not coming home until I get into the university I want by my own effort.”

“Hayden? How could you… How can you be so heartless?”

“For the next two years, don’t even think about coming to see me, either of you.”

“…What? That’s ridiculous. You don’t really mean that, do you?”

“I do. I know you’re already planning to visit often even if I said I wouldn’t come home.”

“But…!”

Both Dad and his brother raised their voices at once, clearly desperate to change Hayden’s mind after his sudden declaration.

“I’ve made up my mind.”

But Hayden was resolute.

No matter what they said, he made it clear the new conviction he had just formed would not be shaken, effectively ending the conversation.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the first thing to greet me was a white ceiling.

I blinked a few times, my eyes dry and blurry, until my vision slowly began to focus.

As my mind started to clear, a pain I’d forgotten about came rushing back, snapping me fully awake.

“Ugh…”

A groan escaped me. My head throbbed, and chills ran through my whole body. I pulled the blanket up and hugged my arms around myself as I glanced around.

When I wrapped my arms around myself, I felt something awkwardly tugging. Looking down, I saw an IV needle inserted into my wrist.

Where am I? A hospital?

Curtains were drawn around me, making it hard to tell right away.

Swish.

Someone drew the curtain aside, possibly hearing me from outside.

“You’re awake?”

I didn’t recognize the person, but judging by the small space, the white coat, and the glasses, it didn’t take long to figure out I was in the infirmary, and the person speaking to me was the school nurse.

“Yes…”

“Just a moment.”

The nurse pulled the curtain closed again, poked only their head out, and gave a quick dismissal to a student outside.

“He seems fine now, so you can go.”

Through the curtain, I saw the shadow of someone nodding.

Once the student had left, the nurse opened the curtain again to confirm I was awake, then dragged a chair from outside over to my bedside and sat down.

“Your name… it’s Hayden Verratti, right?”

“Yes.”

The nurse picked up a chart from the table next to the bed, sighed deeply, and circled something with a pen.

“Your designation is… listed as Beta, right?”

“Yes.”

At my calm reply, the nurse furrowed their brows and scratched their forehead with the tip of the pen.

It seemed this situation was rare, and they clearly found it troublesome.

“But the symptoms you’re showing now aren’t the kind that appears during manifestation… Did you falsify your designation when you enrolled?”

It was a question they already knew the answer to, so I had no intention of lying.

“…Yes.”

“Oh dear.”

At my answer, the nurse touched their forehead, as if hearing it was more upsetting than they’d expected, even if they had already suspected it.  

“Hiding your designation from other students, that I can understand to some extent… but you know you’re supposed to inform the school, right?”

“Yes.”

“You do understand this isn’t something I can handle on my own, right? I didn’t send you to the hospital because it didn’t seem like a full-blown episode.”

The nurse added that sending me there would’ve blown things way out of proportion. It seemed they had spent quite a while deliberating what to do while I was unconscious.

“Thank you.”

“If you’d come to just a little later, you’d already be in the hospital.”

“…How long has it been?”

“About an hour.”

I bowed my head again in gratitude, feeling that the nurse had gone out of their way to look after me. But the nurse, perhaps thinking I was asking for even more leniency, spoke with a troubled expression.

“But now that it’s been discovered, I have a duty to report it to the school.”

“…I understand.”

At my answer, the nurse let out a deep sigh.

“If this puts you in a really difficult position, I can try to give you some leeway, but… Oh, look at me. I’ve gotten the order all wrong. Let’s check that you’re actually okay first.”

No, really, it’s fine if you report it. I had already prepared myself for at least that much.

But that didn’t mean I wanted them to go around broadcasting it to everyone.

“Have you experienced this kind of thing before?”

“…Not that I can remember.”

“Has anything changed since you got here?”

“I’ve been taking suppressants more regularly, I guess?”

“How often were you taking them?”

“Every few days.”

I didn’t want any signs of pheromones leaking out. That kind of attention was the last thing I needed.

At my answer, the nurse’s expression scrunched like a crumpled sheet of paper.

“What?”

“…Because my cycle’s irregular.”

“So you take them every week? That stuff’s way too strong for that.”

When the nurse looked aghast, I quickly offered an explanation.

“I took them like this before too, and I was fine.”

Maybe it was because I’d seen fragments of Hayden’s memories from before I took over his body when I collapsed earlier, I now knew some things I hadn’t personally experienced.

For instance, even before I transmigrated, this body had been taking suppressants more often than average.

“You weren’t fine. It wasn’t because it was okay. It was building up in your system. You’re supposed to release that stuff regularly. That’s what’s natural.”

“…Yes.”

“And your environment now is probably a lot different than before, too.”

“I thought I’d be okay since I couldn’t really sense any pheromones around me either.”

“There’s no way you’ll be okay like this forever.”

“…I understand.”

Despite my cooperative answers, the nurse sighed again, clearly frustrated.

“Anyway, get some proper rest. Before you leave, book a follow-up appointment.”

The nurse said they’d monitor my condition after I rested for about an hour, and then stood up.

“Yes. Um, excuse me…”

“Hmm?”

I didn’t want to bother the nurse further, but there was something I had to ask.

“Could you tell me who it was that brought me here?”