A Cold Welcome

Snowflakes melted against Yoichi's cheeks. His eyes moved from left to right with every step he took on the sidewalk. People wearing coats and beanies walked in front of him, but they were far enough ahead to keep themselves safe from him.

Despite waking up fifteen minutes late because of the cold, he reached the campus' gate on time. He waited for the wave of students to walk through. Meanwhile, he looked behind him to make sure no one approached from behind.

Once the coast cleared, he resumed his walk through the center of the gate, an arch that split the sidewalk's cement from the garden's stone path.

Unlike everyone else, he didn't ignore the guards.

"Good morning," he smiled at the guard to his right. "Hope you had a great holiday."

"Thank you. Welcome back to class."

Yoichi snapped his head forward. He had gotten too close to two guys walking past the fountain, but he stopped himself before he pushed them away. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth.

People strolled the corridors of the main building to his left, to his right, and in front. Most chatted with others through smiles, while a few others walked alone with frowns or no expression. He wished he could approach them, but doing so would've put them in danger. Going to campus was already a hazard.

He couldn't risk standing in the middle of a garden for long. Once the two guys got far enough, he continued walking past the fountain. He couldn't help but smile at the growing leaves sticking out of the lifeless branches of the bushes and trees to his sides.

Crossing a corridor was dangerous for the people around him, yet he did so without issue and walked into the lecture room.

Two familiar faces welcomed him. They stepped back the moment their eyes met his. He approached them from a safe distance and smiled.

"Morning. How were your holidays?"

Ayako, the girl on the right, answered, "Good. Traveled with friends and family."

"I got up to date with the lectures," the guy on the left, Shin'ichi, added. "You?"

Yoichi scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously.

"Well, I kinda did the same as I always do."

"Forgot about the assignments and streamed until five in the morning?"

"Huh? You watched me?"

"Don't react like it's a secret. You tell everyone about your channel."

Ayako added, "And we've already told you we watch you from time to time."

Yoichi's eyes widened. "But using your holiday time…. Thank you—"

"Someone's waiting to get in, by the way."

He snapped his head around to see a girl staring at him from the door.

"Ah, sorry! Let's catch up during lunch," he said to Ayako and Shin'ichi before hurrying deeper into the room.

He walked up the long and wide steps, careful not to get near anybody even though half of the lengthy desks were empty.

He moved to the left to get farther away from the girl sitting on his right. Her best friend would usually be sitting next to her, but she was sitting alone.

"Good to see you, Okamoto," he said to her.

She smiled back, "Good to see you too—"

Her body suddenly got pushed sideways, throwing her chair off balance along with her. The back of her head hit the armrest of the chair beside her, bending her neck forward before hitting the ceramic floor.

Yoichi had just extended his arm when the unnerving clack reached his ears.

"Okamoto! Are you okay?"

She lay on the floor. Although her long brown hair covered most of her face, it didn't cover her closed eyes.

"Help!" screamed Yoichi. "Okamoto fell off her chair!"

The few people sitting at the desks glanced at him with furrowed eyebrows, yet remained still. By the time he looked at Ayako and Shin'ichi, they had almost arrived where he was.

"What's going on?" asked Ayako.

"I… I pushed her!"

They looked down at her. Shin'ichi tried to approach her but got pushed back.

"Step back," he said to Yoichi.

He did so immediately.

Shin'ichi moved Okamoto's chair out of the way and kneeled next to her. After a moment of silence, he spoke again.

"Ayako, call an ambulance."

"On it."

Shin'ichi raised his head and shouted, "Someone tell the doctor."

"I'll go," the guy closest to the door replied before sprinting out of the room.

Another girl approached Shin'ichi and asked, "Is she okay?"

More and more people gathered around Okamoto. Yoichi couldn't do anything but move farther away from the crowd to avoid another accident.

Was he truly at fault? He swore he was far enough from her. Even if that was the case, his mutated disease wasn't strong enough to push someone off a chair unless he was too close.

His classmates wouldn't stop gazing at him until they all jolted. They stared down at where Okamoto was, blocking his sight.

"Don't move," Shin'ichi said calmly.

The room fell silent, allowing Yoichi to hear Okamoto's raspy voice.

"Where am I? What's going on?"

"In the lecture room. You fell and hit your head."

"Really? How did that happen?"

"Don't worry about it. Try to move as little as possible; the doctor's on her way."

"Okay."

The campus' doctor stepped into the room seconds later holding a neck brace. The crowd moved aside to make space for her to kneel next to Okamoto.

"How are you feeling?" she asked while unfastening the neck brace.

"My head hurts… and I'm a little dizzy."

"That's alright. I'm going to wrap this brace around your neck to prevent further injuries, okay? Please help me lift her head a little. Keep the neck straight."

Ayako and Shin'ichi crouched down. Although the crowd and the desks didn't let Yoichi see what was going on, they didn't take long to stand back up.

"Are you sure there isn't anything else bothering you?" the doctor questioned.

"My legs are moving, right?"

Yoichi's eyes widened.

The doctor replied, "Focus on breathing deeply and steadily. An ambulance will be here shortly."

Okamoto asked, "Is it that bad?"

"I can't do a proper diagnosis here, but you're with us and you're talking normally, those are great signs. The specialists at the hospital will be able to diagnose everything properly with their instruments."

Silence encompassed the room again. Only the distant sirens disturbed it. They grew louder and louder until they stopped abruptly.

A minute had to pass before two paramedics walked into the room, one of them pushing a stretcher. He unstrapped the spine board from it while the other paramedic approached Okamoto to check up on her.

The crowd stepped back when the paramedics were ready to lift Okamoto onto the board. They did so swiftly and without issue, carrying her down the steps carefully. Once the board was locked back onto the stretcher, the paramedics pushed it out of the room with Okamoto.

A few people followed them, including the doctor, but most turned around to gaze at Yoichi. He was terrified about what had happened to Okamoto. Not knowing what the rest of his classmates were thinking intensified the dread.

"What happened, Yoichi?" Ayako questioned with a worried frown.

He wanted to scream it wasn't his fault, but it was. He wanted to run behind Okamoto and see that she was fine, but he couldn't. He didn't know why it happened. Was he supposed to stay still and defenseless?

"Mr. Ishige," a deep voice called.

The principal stood at the door.

Yoichi replied, "Yes?"

"Come to my office, please."

He walked away.

Yoichi could smell what was coming.

He took a step at a time, allowing his classmates to move away from the path. They were used to his mutated disease, but they had to move further back as the usual distance might've not been enough.

He felt their gazes all over his back until he left the lecture room. He needed to be careful while walking through the corridor as far away from the inner walls as possible. Many people were aware of his mutation even outside the campus, but not everyone.

He knocked on the door of the principal's office.

"Come in," the principal answered.

Yoichi opened the door and closed it again after stepping in. He walked halfway to the desk and stopped in the middle of the room.

The principal's elbows rested on the desk while his fingers fidgeted beneath his chin.

"It was an accident," said Yoichi.

"I believe you, but that's not the issue. What happened cannot be compared to any of the previous accidents your disease has caused. Weren't you used to it?"

"I… was. I don't know what's going on. I didn't notice anything different at home or on the way here. It's like it suddenly became stronger, but that's never happened before. It's only been intensifying gradually until now."

"And that's a risk for everyone on the campus. A huge one."

Yoichi's eyes lowered and his shoulders dropped.

"I agree. So, are you going to expel me?"

"That's the last thing I'd want to do, but people won't be happy when they hear about the situation. I'll have to ask you to refrain from coming to the campus. Since we don't offer online lectures, it'll take a while to come to an arrangement with your professors, but it should be possible."

Yoichi knew he could feel relieved about continuing his studies. However, removing the only fun part from them sounded like hell. He didn't have a choice anyway.

"I understand. Thank you. Please keep me updated on Okamoto's state."

"We will."

Yoichi turned around when someone knocked on the door.

The principal said, "Please step aside at least two meters; Mr. Ishige is heading out."

"It's me," a woman replied.

Yoichi recognized her voice instantly.

"Come in," the principal said.

She opened the door and stepped inside with her arm extended in front of her. She stopped as soon as the invisible forcefield around Yoichi pushed her hand back.

"There's no significant difference in size nor strength," she muttered.

"Do you need something, Mrs. Kawahara?"

"I heard about what happened and your chat. I have a proposition."

The principal sighed.

"Mrs. Kawahara, I know you and your mother discovered the CTCT disease, but it took years for our institution to clear its name after your last experiment related to it. You took even longer to recover the trust of the scientific community. You still struggle with it three decades later. I'm sorry, but continuing to observe Mr. Ishige's condition is all we can afford."

After a moment of silence, she bent her knees to place them on the floor and bowed until her forehead touched the ceramic.

"Sir, I know I'm in no position to ask for this. I know I might've been one of the people responsible for these mutations to exist. I can't promise something bad won't happen again, but I can promise it'll benefit the entire world."

Yoichi and the principal furrowed their eyebrows at her.

"How so?" the principal wondered.

"Whether it is a positive or a negative outcome, I'm certain it'll be a great step forward to find the cure to many of the mutations and the disease in general."

"Why is that?"

She stopped bowing but remained kneeling.

"Because I found someone with a similar mutation to Yoichi's. However, it has the opposite effect."

"Opposite?" Yoichi asked. "You mean…?"

"Instead of pushing people away, her mutation pulls them toward her like a magnet."

Yoichi and the principal remained silent, so she bowed again.

"I'm in no position to ask for this, but it's only a matter of time before another institution picks up on the situation and snatches the opportunity away from us. I've also been registering data about Yoichi's condition since he was a baby, meaning we have a significant lead.

"Our institution will be praised for generations if we find the cure, while it'll only take a few years to clear its name if something goes wrong. And I don't mean to brag about it, but I've been on a streak of positive results ever since I was removed from the research."

Yoichi stared at her. He had never seen her implore for a favor in the eighteen years he had known her, let alone bow on her knees. On the other hand, bragging about her achievements was common for her.

"Please stand up," the principal asked.

She complied.

The principal took a deep breath before saying, "I'll prepare the required documents."

Her eyes and lips widened.

"But you will keep this experiment under the utmost secrecy until it is time to publish the results. That means the budget will be tight and you'll need to convince your colleagues on your own, including Mr. Ishige and the other person with the disease."

"I'm well aware of that. Yoichi?"

He stared at her and she stared at him. He couldn't remember a moment this serious between them. She was never an expressive person, showing a slight smirk at most. This time, her stare was… softer.

"You said the experiment can go wrong," he said.

"Any experiment has to be done expecting it to go wrong."

"How wrong?"

"That's impossible to predict when the subjects are living beings, but your safety will be the priority. And no matter what happens, I promise the findings will be crucial."

She usually would be confident about her findings, meaning there was room for the conclusion to be different from what she expected.

A promise was certain.

She added, "This is the first time an opportunity like this has come into our hands. I want the disease to be gone once and for all whether I'm the one to find the cure or not."

Yoichi couldn't believe his ears. He never thought he'd hear those words from her.

He lowered his chin.

"People have been struggling with the disease for decades. I'm sure most of them have had it rougher than me even if they didn't have a mutation. Okamoto doesn't even have the disease and she's on the way to the hospital because of me. The least I can do is not waste the opportunity to help millions even if that means doing things I dislike."

She smirked. "In other words, you're in."

"Yes, I'll do whatever is necessary."

"Thank you. I will contact the doctor in Mexico right away."

"Mexico?"