The Case of Takafumi Yokozawa Vol. 2

Chapter 4

“Ah—choo!”

He’d hardly gotten a wink of sleep last night and had woken up early this morning as well; unable to go back to sleep and with nothing else to do, he’d made his way into the office.

Wanting to get a bit of work done before everyone else arrived, he made his arrangements and sat down before his computer—but his concentration was shot today, due in large part to the headache that had been attacking him intermittently since around dawn. He also felt a bit feverish, and the stomachache was still with him as well.

He knew fully well that these were all symptoms of a cold—he’d probably ruined his health when he’d gotten soaked in the downpour from the previous evening. Everything had been just fine from the run from Kirishima’s apartment to the station and from there all the way to his own station; at that point, the storm hadn’t quite reached where he was yet. The clouds had looked menacing, to be sure, but deeming it not enough to merit buying an umbrella, he’d started for his apartment.

He’d realized the decision had been a mistake about when he’d made half the journey home; the rain had suddenly escalated into heavy drops and then in a flash changed to a downpour of upturned-bucket proportions. With horrible timing, he’d already passed up the last convenience store. No other stores were still open, and even if he’d opted to wait out the storm, there was no telling when it would stop. Having no other choice, he’d charged home while soaking wet, looking like a drowned rat by the time he reached his building.

This was probably because of how chilled he’d let himself get back then. He’d hopped right into a warm shower, but in hindsight he probably should’ve opted for a soak in a tub.

Just in case, he’d taken some non-drowsy cold medicine earlier, but at this point he couldn’t tell if it was working or not.

“…Maybe I’ll have some coffee.” He knew it wasn’t good to try and ward this cold off using caffeine, but he couldn’t help himself. Coffee probably wasn’t the best idea with his stomach in the painful state it was already, but he needed something to flip that switch within him and get him started. Though while he preferred his coffee black, he at least allowed a bit of milk to cut it this morning.

When he returned to his desk with the lidded paper cup in his hand, Henmi had just arrived at the office. “Good morning, Yokozawa-san!”

“Yeah, mornin’.”

He knew Henmi had been out drinking with co-workers the previous evening, but he didn’t show an ounce of fatigue, and his complexion was decent. Begrudging Henmi’s youth and vitality, he settled the coffee cup on his desk.

“That was quite the storm last night, huh! I left home that morning with my clothes still out drying on the line—it was horrible! If I’d known it would start raining then, I would’ve headed straight home and not gone out drinking.”

“Yeah…that’s nice…” Yokozawa let the banal chatter flow in one ear and out the other, and at his half-hearted reply, he was swiftly reminded of the gravity of the damage done.

“It’s not ‘nice’ at all! Now I have to wash my clothes all over again!”