The first Friday night after the start of a new semester.
“I’ll plan to return home this weekend.”
After taking a bath, I put on some felt clothes in place of my pyjamas. (felt is a material, search it up) Saeki was also wearing her separate pyjamas. We were sitting opposite to each other, on our own chairs.
“Howa?”
‘Howa’? It was probably due to surprise that led her to make such a strange noise.
“On this Saturday, I’ll return home.”
“Why?”
“Because ever since moving here, I haven’t come back once. The new term has started, and daily life has pretty much stabilized, so I would need to come back to visit my parents.”
This wasn’t the real problem.
“I can’t hide the fact that I’m sharing my flat from my family forever.”
“Do I need to drop by to say hi?”
“Please don’t do that.”
I immediately declined.
“So, you don’t want to tell your family that you are living together with a girl?”
Yes, this was the main problem.
“That’s right. I’ll find the best time to say it, or wait until our cohabitation has ended.”
If I tell them now, they will probably panic for a bit. My mother would probably be surprised, father would stay silent but panicking inside. And my little sister would feel both happy and curious.
“I’ll leave tomorrow morning… and would probably return on Sunday.”
“I’m lonely…”
“You aren’t a kid anymore. Why not ask your friends out?”
“I can call Kyou’s group, but…”
It seemed that her group of friends was close enough to invite each other out on rest days. Or, maybe it’s thanks to her friendly personality, to consider it something natural.
Saeki was silent for a bit — then suddenly…
“Ya~~chu”
She sneezed.
Or wait, was that a sneeze? How can a sneeze sound be so strange.
I confirmed with her.
“Sneezing, it might be due to the cold bath… I’ll go to sleep now.”
Saeki stood up.
“Good night, Yumizuki.”
“Ah, erm, good night.”
Not sure why Saeki ran into her room as if to hide something like that.
I didn’t understand it, so let’s give up.
________
Next morning.
If it was the usual, then Saeki would come and wake me up, but there were no signs of her this morning.
Even so, I didn’t oversleep. I could just get up myself, no need for someone to come by.
There were no signs of Saeki in the living room.
Truthfully speaking, I felt something out of the norms here. Even though she’s a returning student from America, she always woke up early without any discomfort, making me feel like she’s still experiencing jet lag. This was the first time I got up earlier than her.
I turned on the coffee machine.
After brewing my own cup, there were no signs of her waking up, so I knocked on her room.
“It’s morning, Saeki.”
And then…
“Uhmmmm~”
“…”
What was that, a moan?
“Can I come in?”
Feeling something was off, I worriedly came in the room.
Saeki was indeed still sleeping on her bed.
“What’s wrong?”
“I…”
“I?”
“I.. I think I caught a cold…”
“…”
I was out of words, because to me, she wasn’t any different than usual. In other words, she didn’t look like a patient.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“U, Ummm~~”
She whimpered again, as if to dispel the silence.
“A cold?”
“Yeah, cold. I think I got it from the baths.”
Understood, so the strange noise from yesterday was due to this. First off, what to do now?
“Let’s just check your body temperature first.”
I left her room, went in the kitchen to get the first aid kit placed next to the cupboard and grabbed the thermometer.
I returned to Saeki’s room.
“Use it to take your temperature.”
I gave her the thermometer, she took it and pulled it into the blanket.
“Does your head hurt?”
“Yup, a bit…”
“How about your throat?”
“A bit sore.”
“And nose?”
“Stuffed.”
She did sound like she got a stuffy nose.
“How about stomach?”
“Hungry.”
“…”
That so, well luckily she still had an appetite.
“I’ll grab some medicine, so in the meantime, just take your own temperature.”
“Yes yes…”
I walked to the kitchen again. Basically, there’s a few of every kind of medicine in the first aid kit, but I wasn’t sure if there were any suitable for someone with all the different symptoms. No, the biggest problem here was if she needed any meds at all.
I took some general cold medicines with the mildest effects to Saeki’s room. However, my feet froze in front of her room. The reason was because she was doing something sneakily in her room. Did she not realize the door wasn’t even closed?”
Saeki left the bed, took the thermometer close to the desk lamp. She even used her sleeves to rub on the tip.
“…”
Did she think these would be effective on a digital thermometer?
I gently backtracked a few steps.
“Saeki, I’m coming in.”
I walked forward after announcing that. Immediately, there were hurried footsteps inside the room. After confirming everything, I entered, seeing she was still wrapped in blankets like before.
“How’s it?”
“Ah, erm..”
Saeki poked her hands out of the blanket, gave me the thermometer with trembling hands. Looking at the LCD screen, there was nothing on it.
“Saeki, where’s the temperature?”
“Ehh? Ah, right? I accidentally pressed on the reset button.”
“…”
There’s this trick as well?
“So, what temperature did you get?”
“Ermmm, 40 degrees?”
“40 degrees?”
“Nono, it was just 38 degrees.”
She hurriedly corrected herself, giving a wry smile as a distraction.
“38 degrees huh.. Hmm, should just be a normal cold. Here’s the medicine.”
“Thank you, Yumizuki.”
“But..”
“But?”
“….not now. Wait until the cold’s gone bad, then have it.”
I should have said there was no use in having the medicine. Too wasteful. Thinking back, I didn’t even bring a glass of water.
“Understood?”
“Erm…”
Saeki powerlessly nodded.
“Now, Yumizuki.”
She timidly asked.
“Yumizuki, what do you plan to do today?”
I sighed. After all, this joke of a situation all came from that. Since she went this far for it, I should play along till the bitter end.
“Of course I won’t return.”
“Really?”
“I can’t leave you alone with a cold like this.”
I was obviously doting on her too much.
Alright, from Saeki’s point of view, even if she were mentally prepared to return to Japan alone, she would probably feel very lonely. If something happened, who could she rely on? Instead of being lonely, it would be more accurate to say she’s feeling scared.
“However, if you are cured by noon, then I’ll still return home as planned.”
“Ehh~~”
“You are a patient, right? Then be patient and lie down.” (Tl: Pun not intended)
“…”
It seemed like she knew herself that she was the one who caused all this mess, and couldn’t complain. Well, you asked for it.
“Around late afternoon, I’ll check up on you.”
“Um.”
I covered her up with the blanket, and left the room.
While Saeki was resting, I called home. She would probably not leave the bed until afternoon.
I heaved a relieved sigh.
(With that, I won’t have to meet that person.)
I was planning to return home today, because as a child, I had the responsibility to report home. In case there were emergencies, however, I could explain for myself.