Karin steps over to Miku, repeatedly trying to snap her out of whatever daze she's currently in. As these doomed attempts continue, Sensei stands off to the side, idly thinking about how things lead to this moment. He notes the irony in it all, how someone as obviously broken as Miku relies on someone as broken as him to help fix her, yet how impossible it is to glean the true nature of Miku's trauma due to the shields around her feelings she's put up.
As her attempts continue to fail, Karin concludes that Miku is suffering from extreme fatigue, and she asks Sensei to take her to the nurse's office so she can rest. Hearing this, Sensei begins to panic. His mind jumps to the worst-case scenario of Makoto finding out and learning all about the situation – This thought continues and he begins to fear the death of the life he's grown happy with, deciding he absolutely cannot risk it all. He counters Karin's suggestion by saying he'll bring Miku back to the dorms. At first, Karin questions his idea, but she decides to trust in his decision after some reassurance on his part, asking him to text her once Miku's safe back home.
Sensei walks up to Miku, lifting her into his arms. He tries to convince himself that this situation isn't his fault, pinning the blame on Io for enabling Miku, and reassuring himself that he is making the right decision. He leaves the pool behind, heading for the dorms. The memory of the trip is lost as he's far too caught up in his mind, and he arrives inside Room 3 before he realizes it. He quickly drops Miku into bed, covers her up, and congratulates himself. He goes to make his aforementioned call to Karin but struggles to remember who it is he's supposed to talk to, accidentally calling Ami in the process. Miku's voice slips out, and it eats away at the last bits of stability in Sensei's mind. He congratulates himself once again, deciding to call Ami again just so he can relay his success to her. Upon picking up, though, she quickly realizes he's not okay and tries to get his location. He hangs up.
At this point though, Miku has returned to consciousness and asks Sensei what happened to her. He explains, very bluntly, that she's an idiot who took too much of Io's "medication" and that he had to carry her home so that nobody would find out. Miku claims she didn't take any of Io's pills today, but she immediately doubts this herself, and Sensei firmly tells her she can't take anymore until she gets an actual prescription. She tries to play this situation off, noncommittally promising him she won't be as reckless again. She also thanks him for taking her home, something Sensei points out was the only option, as he'd snitch on himself if pressure was put on him which would've gotten Io into trouble, and make Makoto cut him off.
In Miku's delirious, half-awake state she assures him that, if Makoto were to drop him out of her life, she could fill the same role. Hearing this, Sensei tells Miku she's insane and refuses to even humor this idle thought. He goes to leave, telling her he can't even look at her when she's dealing with her issue in a way that the Miku he knows would never do. Miku points out he neither knows her true self nor what she's dealing with, just as she doesn't know him, and they don't need to know in order to spend time together. While he agrees with this, he points out how her way of avoiding confrontations will kill her – She notes that his will too, and that the only real difference between them is that no one can carry him home. She then asks him to leave before falling asleep.
Sensei takes his leave, thinking up a poem on the way home, only to immediately disown and forget it.
Miku Affection
