[♥]

The muffin vanished quickly. It wasn't as if she was especially hungry--she wasn't, even less so than usual--eating was just something to do instead of stewing in her own anger.

She sighed and leaned her head against the seat. It felt oddly cool. Or was her forehead warmer than usual? It didn't matter. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"...Excuse me."

Soma looked up. A vaguely familiar girl was sliding into the seat next to her--no name came to mind, but she'd definitely seen her around the institute at some point or another.

Come to think of it, she didn't look all that well, either.

"Don't worry about it," said Soma. Then, a little more abruptly than she'd really intended, "Are you feeling all right?"