Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051597934651646/episodes/2912051597935453637
The next morning. Achi Hotaro sat down at his desk with his usual blank expression.
He glanced over at the seat next to him, but the flashy blonde who should have been there was gone.
Hirugami Seika was absent. The moment he processed that fact in his mind, a cheerful voice rang out.
“Hey there! What’s up, Hotaro? You’ve been staring at the empty seat next to you since this morning.”
The owner of that cheerful voice was his childhood friend, a female student named Shiojiri Misao.
With her short hair and lively features, she was an all-around athlete, worldly-wise for her age, and, to top it off, already had a boyfriend—a person made up of traits that were the complete opposite of Houtarou’s.
“Well… I just noticed thatHirugami san isn’t here.”
“Oh, that blonde gal? Looks like she’s taking the day off.”
Misao plopped down heavily in the seat in front of Houtarou and propped her chin on her hand.
Faced with her friendly demeanor, Houtarou asked matter-of-factly.
“What’s Hirugami like, from your perspective, Misao?”
“Hmm? Well, she’s super popular with the guys. On the flip side, the girls totally shun her, though.”
In a matter-of-fact tone, Misao voiced the malicious rumors rampant in the classroom.
“There’s a rumor that she’ll sleep with anyone. Among the girls, the prevailing opinion is that she’s just a dumb, empty-headed girl.”
“Hmm. What do you think, Misao?”
“I don’t really care. I’m only interested in my boyfriend. It’s none of my business who other people sleep with.”
Houtarou gave a small nod at Misao’s refreshingly indifferent reply.
Her straightforward personality—unfazed by the noise around her—made it easy for Houtarou to talk to her.
“Are you interested in me?”
“Well, yeah. We’re childhood friends with a long history, after all. If you get involved with some weird girl, I’ll just use it as a joke when I’m out on a date with my boyfriend.”
“Right. Then leave me alone.”
As Houtarou coldly turned his gaze out the window, Misao laughed, “Ahaha,” and returned to her seat.
For Houtarou, who was constantly at the mercy of his parents’ circumstances and had grown cynical about the world, school rumors were of no consequence.
However, the slightly lonely smile of the girl who had forced her way into his apartment yesterday and left him a homemade dinner was strangely stuck in his mind.
After school. Normally, he would have stopped by the convenience store to buy a bento, but Houtarou headed straight back to his apartment building.
He walked past the door to his own room and stopped in front of the one next door.
The reason Hirugami Seika was absent. Since she’d gotten soaked in the rain yesterday, nine times out of ten, she must have caught a cold.
He pressed the intercom button.
After a moment of silence, the door opened a crack, the chain still clinking in place.
“…Yeah?”
“Hey… what’s up?”
Seika poked her head through the door crack, her face bright red as she gasped for breath.
Her usual flawless “gal” makeup was gone; she was completely bare-faced.
Dressed in baggy pajamas, she flinched when she saw Houtarou’s face.
“Oh, Achi-kun…? It’s nothing… I just overslept a little. Hehe.”
Even though her eyes were glistening from a fever, she forced a smile to cover it up.
Houtarou let out a small sigh and shook his head quietly.
“Did you take your cold medicine?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah… I was just about to take it.”
“Did you eat anything?”
“…Not yet.”
Seeing her inability to lie, Houtarou gave her a resigned look.
Even though she brought it on herself, leaving the meddlesome girl who’d tried to look after him yesterday lying there sick felt like a terrible way to start the day.
“Open the door a bit. I’ll bring you the jelly drink I bought—it’s cold.”
“Eh, but…”
“Just do it.”
At Houtarou’s unyielding words, Seika obediently unhooked the chain.
Houtarou returned to his room briefly, grabbed the jelly drink and sports drink from the fridge, along with some fever-reducing painkillers, and stepped into Seika’s room.
Contrary to her flashy appearance, Seika’s room was a neat, homey space.
However, Seika herself, slumped on the bed, was quite weak from the fever.
Houtarou stood by the bed, quickly opened the jelly drink, and handed it to her.
“T-t-thank you…”
Seika’s hand trembled slightly as she took the jelly.
Deep down, she was on the verge of exploding with extreme embarrassment.
(I’m so lame. I look so pathetic right now. Ugh. Showing myself in such a mess to the person I like. And with no makeup on, too. Ugh.)
Watching her wrap herself tightly in the blanket and take a sip of the jelly as if writhing in agony, Houtarou calmly placed the water and medicine on the side table.
He had thought her face was red because of the fever, but apparently, that wasn’t the only reason.
“Once you finish drinking this, take the medicine and go to sleep. I’m going home.”
“Eh…”
“Let me know if anything happens.”
As Houtarou, having finished the necessary care, turned to leave without a second thought, Seika hurriedly looked up at him.
Her teary eyes stared straight at him, as if clinging to him.
“Why… are you doing all this for me?”
“Because we’re neighbors. And, well, you know. I don’t want to wake up feeling guilty.”
He also owe her for making dinner for him yesterday.
When he gave her that simple reason, Seika clutched the blanket tightly.
“But I don’t have your contact info, Houtarou-kun.”
“Oh, right.”
Houtarou took out his smartphone and opened the ‘NYAIN’ messaging app.
Seika also operated her phone with trembling hands and scanned the QR code.
A light electronic beep sounded, and their contact information was exchanged.
“Hehe, I’ll message you on NYAIN every day.”
“Don’t. It’s a hassle. Only do it when it’s really necessary.”
“Okay, thanks, Houtarou-kun.”
“You’re being too familiar, Hirugami-san.”
Leaving behind his usual curt remark, Houtarou exited Seika’s room.
The door closed quietly with a thud, and silence returned to the room.
◇
Alone in the room, Seika lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
Beside her were the medicine and sports drink he had left for her.
Apart from her feverish body, a sweet, tingling heat burned deep within her chest.
Up until now, there had been plenty of boys who were kind to her.
But they all wanted something in return. They were all the type who were attracted to her flashy, “gal” appearance and ultimately just wanted to sleep with her.
They’d be kind, whisper sweet nothings, and then try to push her into bed. Seika had been hurt countless times by that kind of shallow kindness.
But Houtarou Achi was different.
He gave her jelly when she was feeling weak, got her medicine, and took care of her in every way—then left without a trace of ulterior motive.
Even when he saw her without makeup, wearing her dorky pajamas, he didn’t change his attitude one bit.
She opened her smartphone and stared at the NYAIN screen.
All that was registered there was the simple name “Achi Hotarou.”
His calm eyes, devoid of any expectations for the world. She couldn’t forget the warmth of his palm—clumsy, yet filled with genuine kindness.
“He really is completely different from everyone else…”
Her muttered soliloquy melted away into the quiet room.
Burying her face in the blanket, Seika’s cheeks, already flushed from the fever, turned even redder.
“Oh no… I might like him more than I thought…”
[A convenient girl who’d sleep with anyone]
The heart of the girl who had been putting on a tough front to hide behind that label had been completely conquered by her aloof neighbor.
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