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Ding-dong.
Ding-dong.
The long, clear chi of the doorbell rang out.
Chouko lay weakly wrapped in her blanket. Hearing soone at the door, she forced open her lead-heavy eyelids and glanced toward the bedroom door, left slightly ajar.
Being alone in a silent room with a high fever made her recall a ti from childhood when she had once been sick like this.
If it were Harutaki back then, he would definitely have found a way to stay by her side, right? Unlike Onii who had been stopped by the building guard once and imdiately gave up and left.
How embarrassing… she mocked herself inwardly. Her head felt foggy, and this uncomfortable sensation was almost identical to the feeling from when she drank that glass of sleeping-pill juice before.
Originally, she had only intended to use a cold, or general discomfort, as an excuse to buy herself ti. Instead, she had slipped up badly and landed herself in this state.
Even though she had finally called her mother again for the first ti in a long while, aside from New Year’s greetings, her mother had only asked briefly about her condition, told her to rest at ho, and said she would co to Tokyo in a few days to take her back to Kyoto.
No more options left…
Ding-dong.
“…?”
Who is it, seriously… how annoying…?!
Of course, she had fantasized that the person ringing the doorbell might be Harutaki. But just like last ti, reality was cold and unforgiving.
Harutaki did not know her exact floor or apartnt number, and she had never written her na on the mailbox downstairs.
So if it wasn’t Harutaki, who else would co looking for her at this hour?
Thinking that, she couldn’t help but let out a silent, self-deprecating laugh. Maybe it was just that annoying NHK salesman again.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang once more. Finally unable to endure it, Chouko crawled out from under the blanket. After shivering violently, she staggered forward, supporting herself against the wall as she made her way to the entryway.
Halfway through reaching for the door, she froze.
She rembered Harutaki’s warning about staying safe.
After one painful lesson, even with her head burning hot from the fever, she had not forgotten.
This is…
Pressing her face to the peephole, Chouko saw a figure she could hardly believe.
Had her fever finally cooked her brain?
Maybe the doorbell never rang at all. Maybe she was still lying in bed, and this was nothing more than a dream born from missing soone too much.
Like the matchstick girl in a fairy tale, seeing her grandmother just before freezing to death.
Was she about to die too?
Her thoughts drifted hazily, sticky and sluggish like mochi being pounded again and again in a mortar.
Why wasn’t it her parents or her great-grandmother?
Why wasn’t it Onii?
Why was it Harutaki?
Ding-dong.
The piercing chi beside her ear shattered her unease completely.
This was real.
Click.
She pressed down the handle and, summoning all her strength, pushed the door open.
“Huh…?”
Harutaki had just been about to greet her with a cheerful “Hi” and a surprise, when the girl suddenly threw herself into his arms.
Feeling the soft, springy pressure against his chest, along with the scorching heat radiating from her body, his mind went blank.
Isn’t this a little too enthusiastic?
It would have been one thing if he had co alone, but Nogami was standing right next to him.
“Hey! How long are you planning to hold her like that?! Hurry up and put Chouko back in bed!”
Snapped back to reality by Nogami’s flustered scolding, Harutaki finally noticed sothing was wrong with the girl in his arms.
“Shihou, are you okay?”
“Ehehe…”
Oh no. Her brain’s already fried.
As he handed the grocery bags to Nogami and carried Chouko inside in his arms, he couldn’t help thinking that this silly, dazed version of her was actually even cuter than usual.
Though he had never been to Chouko’s apartnt before, the place was small. Past the entryway was the living room, and the open door beside it was, unsurprisingly, the bedroom.
During the walk, however, Harutaki’s gaze couldn’t help being pulled downward by gravity. He didn’t know why himself, but Nogami, walking beside him, saw everything clearly.
Smack.
A sharp slap landed on his back.
“Hoshikawa, where do you think you’re looking?!”
“At the groceries you’re holding.”
“What’s there to look at in groceries?”
Nogami shot him an annoyed glare.
“Really big rice… uh, really white eggs…”
“Drop dead, you filthy perverted lust dog. Seriously, you’re the worst. Taking advantage of a girl when she’s defenseless.”
As she spoke, she reached out and pulled Chouko’s open pajama collar together, fastening the buttons neatly.
“Izumi’s here too…”
“Of course I am. You’re sick, so as your friend, I had to co visit. Sae and Minako wanted to co too, but I was worried too many people would disturb your rest, so I told them to go ahead with their club activities and ca with Hoshikawa instead.”
“Mm… th-thank you…”
Chouko’s pale lips trembled slightly as she whispered her thanks.
Even if she got sick again, she still had friends who would co and stay with her.
And yet…
Why?
Why did she only find this now?
Just as a happy, wonderful life had begun, it was about to end because of her own foolish actions.
“Guh… ugh… thank you… Izumi…”
She weakly stretched out her arms, trying to hug the girl sitting by the bed. It was Nogami’s first ti dealing with sothing like this. Seeing Chouko suddenly burst into tears, she panicked, then hurriedly hugged her back after Harutaki nudged her shoulder.
So even the ever-poised and dignified young lady of the Shihou family could show such a fragile, endearing side…
Recalling how her mother used to comfort her as a child, Nogami gently stroked Chouko’s smooth black hair, thinking so.
And at the sa ti, Chouko thought, held tightly by her friend, that even the arrogant, domineering, cold Nogami family young lady could be this gentle and caring.
The room no longer felt cold.
“Cough, cough. It’s just a normal cold, right? You two are practically turning this into a tearful farewell drama. Boo-hoo, I’m so moved I might cry.”
“Pfft… Hoshikawa, could you at least read the room a little?”
Chouko laughed through her tears, her hoarse voice complaining about his lack of tact.
Still, she thought, that was exactly why he was Harutaki.
Thunk.
Nogami was far more straightforward. She drove a fist into his stomach. Even though it didn’t actually hurt that much, he still bared his teeth and crouched down to properly show remorse.
“Idiot. At least pick the right mont before telling your stupid jokes.”
“Hah… yeah, yeah, got it…”
After taking a deep breath, he stepped closer again and looked at Chouko’s flushed face.
“Did you take your temperature?”
“L-last night… it was thirty-seven…”
aning she hadn’t checked today.
Judging by her appearance, this was definitely more than a mild fever. He guessed she probably hadn’t taken any cold dicine either.
“Did you take any ds?”
“We… we don’t have fever reducers or cold dicine at ho…”
Chouko muttered softly.
Ever since that childhood incident, she hated taking strange-tasting dicine alone. At ho, she only kept ointnts for bruises and sprains. Besides, she had only caught a cold once in her mory, so she had never built a habit of stocking dicine.
“Honestly… Is there a pharmacy nearby?”
Harutaki sighed, asking for directions while pulling out his phone to check the map.
“A pharmacy… go four turns… third intersection… there’s one…”
Her slurred directions roughly matched what he saw on the map.
He then turned to Nogami, asking her to look after Chouko for the mont.
“I’ll go buy dicine. I’m leaving Shihou with you.”
“Huh, wait… I’ve never done this kind of thing before… I don’t know how to take care of soone…”
Nogami wanted to put on a brave face in front of him, but Chouko was her friend. She knew this wasn’t the ti to be stubborn.
“Have her drink so warm water. I an it. Get her a cup. She clearly hasn’t had much all day. Then fold a towel, soak it in cool water, wring it out, and put it on her forehead.”
With that, he turned and ran out the door.
Physical cooling might not do much, but at tis like this, doing sothing was better than doing nothing, as long as it didn’t make things worse.
Bang.
The door closed.
The small apartnt was left with only two people.
One was a weak, helpless sick young lady.
The other was a spoiled young lady who had absolutely no idea how to care for soone.
W-what was I supposed to do again?
Nogami frantically recalled his instructions, raising both hands and holding up her index fingers.
She shook her left hand and nodded.
Right. One is warm water.
Then she shook her right hand and nodded again.
Right. A damp towel. Soak it in cool water, wring it out, put it on Chouko’s forehead. Yes, that’s it.
“Hoo…”
Taking a deep breath, she went to the kitchen to boil water. After pouring it into Chouko’s cup and letting it cool, she found a clean towel in the bathroom and ran it under water adjusted to the right temperature.
When she finally placed the wrung-out towel on Chouko’s forehead, she let out a long sigh of relief, wiping imaginary sweat from the back of her hand.
If Harutaki ever got sick, she could take care of him like this too.
Hmph. At that point, he would surely be so grateful he’d want to devote himself to her for life.
After all, it would be her, Nogami Izumi, taking care of him.
…
Harutaki was out now.
With only her, Chouko, and Izumi in the room, this was the perfect chance to talk about little secrets ant only for girls.
Using Sato as a cautionary tale, she knew that once an opportunity passed, it might never co again.
Feeling the cool dampness on her forehead, Chouko lightly bit her lip and finally called out to her friend.
“Izumi…”
“D-did the towel get warm?”
“No… it’s nice. It’s just… there’s sothing I want to tell you…”
Friends should be treated with sincerity.
She recalled that night she had shared a bed with Harutaki.
It had been the latest she had stayed up in years.
And the happiest night too.
If it’s you, Izumi, she thought.
It should be okay.
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