Source
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5612jg/24/
Back then, all I could always hear was a man yelling and my mom apologizing.
What the man said was absolute and I did not speak so as not to provoke him.
My mom always had bruises on her body.
She hid them from me, but I was not stupid enough to not know that.
One day, she defended my mother and I was beaten.
I suffered pain I had never felt before, and at the same time I knew my mom’s pain.
Then one day, my mom brought in a man I didn’t know.
He seemed to be a classmate of my mom’s from college, and he was a kind man.
He separated us from that man.
We became a family.
I had an older brother.
He was kind and had a pretty smile.
But I…
I woke up in the infirmary.
Drenched in sweat, just like in the morning, and my uniform was sticking to my skin, making me feel uncomfortable.
“…..I’m hungry.”
My stomach rumbled, indicating my hunger.
However, I don’t have the energy to get up and look at the ceiling without thinking.
“You must have a very big bug in your belly.”
I suddenly heard a voice from outside the curtains.
I jumped up with a start and opened the curtains to find Mitsui kun sitting in a pipe chair, reading a book.
“W-what are you doing here?”
“I’m the one who brought you here.”
“R-really?”
Now that I think about it, I was being carried by someone.
“I mean, what happened to honorific language? You’ve lost your identity.”
I suppress my mouth.
I had been acting like I was at home.
“…Thank you for carrying me. But aren’t we in class right now?”
I glanced at my watch.
And saw that it was just after noon, the time of fourth period class.
“Well, I thought I’d come right back…”
Mitsui kun looked at me.
“What is it?”
“Well, you were having a nightmare while calling my dad. I couldn’t leave you alone.”
That’s why he was here from the middle of the third period onwards.
I felt bad that I had made him skip class, but I also felt a little happy.
“Besides, you’re hungry, aren’t you? I made these in the home economics lab with permission, would you like to eat it?”
I remember that he had heard my stomach growl and I suddenly felt embarrassed and my face flushed.
I pull the covers of the bed over my head and writhe.
“Erm, don’t you want some?”
Mitsui kun, as expected, takes pity on me and looks apologetic.
“……I’ll eat it.”
Mitsui kun brought a nearby desk and put the food on it.
It was porridge, with an egg and dried plums.
It was the same porridge my mom used to make.
“I’ll get you something to drink, too.”
Mitsui kun prepares everything for me.
He was very thorough.
“It’s a little cold, but that’s about right. I guarantee the taste.”
I laugh at the confidence with which he says this.
I tease him a little as I pick up the spoon.
“I’m not sure if I have the strength. Can you feed me?”
“Huh !?”
Mitsui kun’s face turns a little red.
“No?”
“Well, you look fine. You look like you could at least eat.”
“Haa～. My head is spinning.”
“You’re fine, aren’t you?”
While saying that, Mitsui kun takes a spoon and scoops up some porridge and brings it to my mouth.
He seems embarrassed and turns his face away from me.
If possible, I wanted him to do it while looking at me, but it would be pitiful to tease him any further, so I put the porridge in my mouth.
It tasted really good and was somewhat nostalgic.
“How’s it taste? Isn’t it good?”
“Yes, it’s good. Besides, it tastes just like the porridge Mom used to make.”
I explained to Mitsui kun, who tilted his head.
“When I was in elementary school, I once had a high fever, and that’s when I ate it. It tastes just like that porridge.”
Back then, Mitsui kun and I were brother and sister, and I was also Mitsui Reina.
“Ah, that time.”
“You remembered. We didn’t even talk back then.”
Because I built a wall first, we didn’t have anything to do with each other.
If only there hadn’t been a wall back then…
“I remember, I mean, I’m the one who made that porridge.”
“Eh?”
I was surprised at his sudden coming out.
My mom had told me that she had made it, so I had assumed that she had made it.
“But she said she made it herself….”
I said what I thought.
Then he answers shyly.
“I asked her to do it. To pretend that she made it.
“Why?”
“Because…”
Mitsui kun scratched his head and turned his face away.
“I’m sure you hated me, so I thought if I told you I made it, you wouldn’t eat it…”
I couldn’t help but laugh at those words.
It was louder than anyone had ever heard from the honor student Fuyusaki Reina.
Seeing this, Mitsui kun stood up and got angry.
“D-don’t laugh so much !”
“B-because, ahahaha !”
What an idiot.
I have never disliked you even once.
Well, it was my fault for not being honest.
That day, the infirmary was filled with the loud laughter of a girl and the embarrassed protests of a boy.
Having slept a little, my fever had gone down to a slight fever, and I decided to leave early during lunch break.
Until then, Mitsui kun had nursed me back to health.
I should thank him for something next time.
(Speaking of which…)
Suddenly, I remembered the nostalgic voice I heard when I was being carried away.
When I had a fever in the past, I heard a desperate voice saying, [It’s all right. Hang in there.]
It sounded a lot like the voice I heard then.
(Could it be…fufu)
I headed home, my relaxed face not returning.
Is it because of the slight fever that my face is hot?
Or….
–
–
If you enjoy our content, feel free to donate, Thank you in advance !