Chapter 05.5: “The Unreachable Resonance Contained in Five-Times Miso”
The only sound echoing through the kitchen of the student cafeteria late at night was the heavy bubbling of thick foam bursting.
“…Three times? No‚ that’s not enough. Four times… Ah‚ whatever‚ at this point it’s five times!”
Thud.
Without hesitation‚ I tossed a heaping lump of red miso piled onto my wooden spatula straight into the gigantic stockpot.
The liquid‚ dyed such a dark brown it looked like something boiling in the cauldron of hell‚ gurgled ominously as steam rose from it. When I scooped some up with the ladle‚ it was no longer something you could call soup—more like a “high-viscosity black hole.”
I’m not tasting it. If I did‚ the cells on my tongue would die.
But to physically reboot that idiot’s brain right now‚ it needs this much violent salt and heat (calories).
“This isn’t just soup. It’s a salty ‘chain’ to keep him tied to reality.”
A few hours ago—the face Aria made right after being told Iris had only ninety days left to live.
Just remembering it squeezes the back of my chest like a rag being wrung out.
It felt like he was about to fall into the abyss of magic—like he was being sucked into a bottomless hole I can’t even see.
“Magic.” I’ll probably never understand what that is.
The physical tapping beat of “ton-ton” that Aria marks with his fingertips‚ and what Kotone calls the “echo of magic (Golden Resonance)”—I can’t see them‚ and I can’t hear them.
The only things I know are that if you cut your finger with a knife‚ red blood comes out and it hurts‚ and that if you’re hungry‚ humans can’t move.
(…It’s unfair.)
My hand scraping the bottom of the pot suddenly stopped.
Iris’s golden light had completely stolen Aria’s heart. If it were to save her‚ that soft-hearted idiot would swing his baton even if it shaved away his own life.
I can’t walk that abyss with Aria. But even a childhood friend (me) who can’t use magic still has things she can do. My weapons are just a ladle‚ a sewing needle‚ and this stupidly energetic body of mine—but still.
“…Hmph. Fine by me.”
I slapped my cheeks with both hands and began stirring the black hole again with brute force.
If what they have is beautiful‚ mysterious “magic‚” then all I can fight with is this muddy‚ salty “physical mass.”
Magic light doesn’t fill your stomach. The thing that stitches a person at the edge of despair back into reality is always soup so hot it burns your mouth—and warm clothes.
“Just wait‚ Aria. No matter how deep you sink into the darkness‚ I’ll drag you back to the surface by the stomach with this five-times miso soup…!”
The bubbling pot sounded as if it were backing up my crude prayer‚ forcefully breaking the silence of the midnight kitchen.
“…The ventilation fan is screaming‚ Linne.”
A voice suddenly came from behind me‚ making my shoulders jump.
When I turned around‚ Kotone was standing at the kitchen entrance. There were faint shadows of exhaustion under her eyes behind her silver-rimmed glasses‚ but her gaze was sharply locked onto the stockpot in my hands as if it were some unknown biological weapon.
“Kotone. Midnight snack? Sorry‚ but this pot is Aria-only. You’re not getting any.”
“I don’t want it. I just came to make some black coffee to wake myself up. …That said.”
Kotone walked over briskly and peered into the “high-viscosity black hole” inside the pot.
Then she deployed her trademark inorganic hologram monitor in midair.
“Judging from the viscosity by sight and the irritating odor rising from it… you’ve added five times the standard amount of red miso. Linne‚ I’ll say this clearly. That salt concentration is lethal. Before Aria’s despair kills him‚ his kidneys will.”
“He won’t die! That idiot’s pointlessly tough!”
I snapped my wooden spatula toward Kotone as I declared it.
“And besides‚ it takes something this extreme to blow despair away! Right now he doesn’t even realize he’s at the bottom of icy water. So I have to make him understand ‘this is reality’ with heat that slams straight into his brain and saltiness that’s practically violent!”
Perhaps overwhelmed by my momentum‚ Kotone let out a small breath and pushed up the bridge of her glasses with her finger.
“…Your calculator can’t measure the ‘heat’ of this soup.”
“Yes‚ you’re right. According to my logic‚ the optimal solution would be giving him calorie bars and oral rehydration solution.”
Kotone shrugged in exasperation‚ but the eyes behind her silver-rimmed glasses were not mocking me at all.
“But… the abyss of magic is absolute zero. The moment you touch it‚ it steals your body heat.”
Kotone quietly erased the floating monitor and raised the corner of her mouth slightly at me.
“Perhaps what he needs right now isn’t perfectly calculated nutrients‚ but ‘temperature’ that punches his organs directly. …Fine. I’ll leave the physical reboot to that ‘dark matter.’”
“Don’t call it dark matter. It’s five-times miso made with love.”
“Fufu. Then I’ll return to my battlefield. To dig through the ‘trash bin’ of 0.03% probability so those kids can come back alive.”
Holding a mug of black coffee in one hand‚ Kotone waved lightly and left the kitchen.
Left behind‚ I faced the pot again.
“…I’m counting on you‚ Kotone.”
She’ll somehow handle the theory of magic.
Then all I have to do is finish my own job.
I turned off the heat and poured the thick finished soup into a thermos.
Alright. Time to go capture that idiot.
Carrying the thermos‚ I left the kitchen and found a familiar shape curled up on a sofa in the dim lounge.
Aria.
Like a machine whose power had been cut‚ he stared into the void without moving at all.
“…If you sleep here‚ you’ll catch a cold.”
No response. I sighed and roughly grabbed his arm.
“Hey‚ stand up. …Your body’s freezing.”
His wrist was as cold as ice‚ with almost no sign of life. On top of that‚ the cuffs of the jacket he always wore were worn to shreds‚ and even the hem had holes burned into it as if by magic.
“Come on‚ get up. We’re going to the analysis room where Iris is. It’s warm there‚ and I can fix your clothes. …And you want to be near her‚ don’t you?”
“…Lin…ne…?”
Aria looked at me with unfocused eyes as I half dragged him away.
When we opened the heavy door to the analysis room‚ the sound of furious typing from Kotone clinging to the monitors echoed inside.
And on the bed at the back of the room‚ Iris slept quietly‚ bathed in a faint golden glow.
I sat him on a stool beside the bed and grabbed the collar of his jacket without discussion.
“Take it off. Wearing rags like this makes your heart look poor too.”
With no strength to resist‚ Aria simply raised his arms.
As I pulled the jacket off‚ my fingertips slid from the back of his neck down to his collarbone.
Under the cool skin was the rugged bone structure unique to a boy.
(…!)
His defenseless warmth‚ along with the faint smell of sweat and dust brushing my nose‚ made my heart jump.
Even if we’re childhood friends‚ facing a boy in just his shirt at this distance would normally be enough to make anyone self-conscious.
But I didn’t have the luxury of being embarrassed. It felt like he was drifting too far away.
I sat closer so our knees almost touched‚ opened my sewing kit‚ and threaded a needle.
Stitch. Stitch. Only the sound of cloth being sewn echoed through the quiet room.
Leaning forward in concentration‚ my breath slipped over the exposed skin of Aria’s neck.
“…hn.”
At that vivid warmth‚ Aria—who had looked like a ghost—jerked slightly‚ and his unfocused eyes shifted faintly toward me.
(…That’s right. You’re here.)
Not in some cold bottomless hole.
You’re right here in the middle of this muddy reality—next to machines where Iris sleeps‚ but still smelling of soap and fabric softener.
One stitch. Another stitch.
Each time I sewed the torn cuff together‚ I poured my will into it.
Come back. Don’t go. Wake up.
I’ll stitch you to this world with this thread.
“…Done.”
When I bit off the thread and looked up‚ Aria had fallen asleep like mud‚ leaning back in the chair.
I gently draped the freshly repaired jacket over his shoulders.
His sleeping face looked like a completely exhausted lost child.
I placed the thermos containing the “dark matter (five-times miso soup)” on the desk and slowly stood up.
The chain to bind Aria is ready.
Next—it's my turn to convey my resolve.
I turned toward the beautiful golden girl sleeping quietly on the bed.
The sound of Kotone’s typing and the faint hum of analysis machines surrounded the bed.
Within those inorganic noises‚ she slept.
Iris.
Even though they had just met‚ she stole Aria’s heart in an instant—a girl like the sun.
She was beautiful.
Even I‚ who doesn’t understand magic at all‚ could see that her light was divine—so fragile it felt like it would shatter if touched.
“…It’s unfair‚ Iris.”
The words slipped out in a voice so small it surprised even me.
Right now Aria is trying to fight while letting his life spill away like sand from an hourglass‚ all to protect this light.
And I—who can’t sing beside him or even read the same sheet music—am always the one left behind.
Iris’s face looked less like she was sleeping and more like a doll frozen in time.
That beauty pulls Aria beyond the sky—into the abyss of magic I could never reach.
“You’re the sun‚ aren’t you? Bright‚ beautiful… attracting everyone‚ and in the end standing so high you could burn them all away.”
I clenched the fingers that had touched Aria’s neck earlier.
My fingers aren’t transparent like Iris’s light.
They’re just fingers colored by ordinary life—with knife scars‚ pen calluses‚ and the smell of miso soaked into them.
“But no matter how bright the sun is‚ humans can’t live up in the sky. …Without ground beneath their feet‚ they lose their way and fall into darkness.”
I declared quietly—so as not to wake Aria‚ but clearly enough to reach Iris’s ear.
“I’ll take care of Aria. If you’re going to take him into the sky‚ then I’ll become the ‘ground’ he can always come back to. Muddy‚ salty‚ warm… a place you could never create. I’ll protect it.”
As if reacting to my words‚ Iris’s resonance scattered a tiny particle of light once.
Whether it was her reply or just a fluctuation of magic‚ I couldn’t tell.
But inside my chest‚ what remained wasn’t the murky jealousy from before—
It was a sharper‚ hotter resolve‚ heavy like steel.
“Alright… it’s about time for this ‘chain’ to do its job.”
I picked up the thermos from the desk.
The contents should have cooled to the perfect temperature by now. A special drug meant to drag Aria back from this insane world to this side by force.
—Time to go retrieve the sleeping lost child.
With that resolve‚ I turned sharply to shake Aria awake.
Aria sat on the stool‚ his body slumped against the backrest.
His face was still pale‚ his breathing shallow.
Standing in front of him‚ I grabbed both his shoulders and shook him hard.
“Wake up‚ Aria! How long are you going to sleep‚ you idiot?!”
“…n… Lin…ne…?”
Dragged back to reality by force‚ Aria slowly lifted his heavy eyelids.
Before he could say anything‚ I used the thermos lid as a cup and poured the thick black liquid into it.
The violent smell of miso rising from it and the steam that burned the throat instantly filled the cold air of the analysis room.
“Just drink this.”
“…What is this… it’s really… black…”
“Five-times miso soup made with love. …Come on‚ hurry!”
Half forcibly‚ I pressed the cup to his mouth.
Before he could refuse‚ Aria swallowed a mouthful of the “drug.”
“—!!!”
At that moment‚ Aria’s eyes flew wide open.
The chair rattled violently‚ and his throat trembled in shock.
“Guh—! Cough…! It’s s-salty…! And hot… what is this… it’s burning my throat…!”
“Of course it is. I’m waking your organs up from the inside—along with the despair trying to freeze you.”
Tears forming in his eyes‚ Aria kept drinking the “salty chain” as my hand urged him on.
With each sip‚ a faint redness returned to his fingertips‚ and warmth—the warmth of a living human—began to return to his once ice-cold skin.
“…Haa… haa… That’s cruel‚ Linne. This doesn’t feel like soup… it’s like you made me drink melted rock salt…”
“Stop complaining. …But you look a little better now.”
I snatched the empty cup away and snorted in satisfaction.
Aria was still coughing‚ but the eyes looking back at me were no longer filled with the void from before. Clear life had returned to them.
“Hey‚ Aria. If you want to save Iris‚ then save her. Swing that baton like you’re ready to die.”
Looking straight at him‚ I delivered the final stab.
“But don’t forget. No matter how high you fly into the sky‚ I’ll keep this chain called ‘five-times miso’ wrapped tightly around your feet. …So don’t think you can escape.”
Aria stared at me in stunned silence‚ then rubbed his throat as if calming the sting and let out a small but genuine wry smile.
“…Yeah‚ I get it. With a chain this salty tying me down‚ I don’t think I could go anywhere.”
Hearing those words‚ I finally felt relief from the bottom of my heart.
The night outside was still deep and dark‚ but inside this analysis room‚ the smell of miso and the body heat of one boy were clearly pushing back the cold of magic.
“Now hurry up and get ready once you finish drinking. …For those ninety days with Iris‚ I’ll be watching from the ground until the very end!”
My throat still stings. That wasn’t soup. It was “physical construction work” on my stomach.
But it’s also true that with that one blow‚ the absolute-zero cold that had been ruling inside me fled somewhere.
Linne can’t even use magic‚ so why is she so strong—like a chain that binds me to the ground?
…Next time‚ please make the concentration a little kinder on my organs.
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