Chapter 3: The Angel’s taking care of the sick (1/2)
Because of his fever, Amane realized too late the situation of his own house; he regretted letting Mahiru in when he saw reality before him.
The apartment Amane lived in was a 1SLDK.
It contained a vast living room, a bedroom, and a storeroom, an extravagant space for a person living alone. As his parents were sufficiently well off, after considering security and location, he decided to stay here.
His parents were the ones who demanded that he stay here, and he was fine with that . Nevertheless, he felt they did not have to spend so much. He really could not handle living in such a massive apartment alone.
That aside, while Amane lived alone, he was bad at cleaning up.
Needless to say, the living room, and even the bedroom were in a mess.
“This is really unsightly.”
The Angel, or rather, the savior, did not mince her words despite having such an adorable appearance.
It was really horrible, and Amane could not refute. He would have moved a few things if he knew someone else was coming in, but it was too late for that.
Mahiru’s glossy lips let out a sigh, but she did not leave. Instead, she moved Amane into the bedroom.
On the way there, both of them nearly tripped over. Amane himself was painfully aware that as the one who made the apartment so messy, it would be bad if he did not clean up for real.
“I shall leave for the moment. Do change before I return. That should be fine, no?”
“…You’re coming back?”
“I would not be able to sleep well if I leave a sick person on the bed.”
It appeared Mahiru had the exact same thoughts Amane about that prior incident, and he could not comment.
Once Mahiru left the room, he obediently did as told, changing into his home clothes.
“…It is a mess, and there is no place to step on…how do you live like this…”
He heard a perturbed mutter while changing, and felt really apologetic.
Once he changed, he laid down, and seemed to have fallen asleep. After he opened his heavy eyelids with much effort, the first thing he saw was the flax-colored hair.
He looked above the hair, and found Mahiru standing there, looking at him silently. It appeared what happened before was no dream.
“…What time is it now?”
“7 pm. You slept for a few hours.”
Mahiru tersely answered, and right when Amane was sitting up, she handed over a cup of isotonic drink.
Feeling gracious, he brought the cup to his mouth, and could finally look around.
He found himself feeling a little better, probably because of the nap.
He then noticed his head was a little cold. He touched it, and felt something cloth-like on his fingertips, though it was a little hard.
There was a cooling sheet pasted on him, one his house would not have. Having noticed that, he lifted his head towards Mahiru. “I brought it from my house,” she simply responded.
His house had neither a cooling sheet nor an isotonic drink. It appeared she brought the isotonic drink here too.
“…Thanks for bringing it here.”
“No worries.”
The aloof answer had his grimacing.
It was likely she took care of him out of guilt, and not a desire to talk to Amane. In any case, it was impossible to talk intimately when she was in the house of a boy she had just met.
“Anyway, I brought the medicine on the table. It is best not to consume with an empty stomach. Do you have any appetite?”
“Hm, sorta.”
“I see. I made some porridge, so please have that.”
“…Eh, you made that, Shiina?”
“Who else is here? I shall eat it if you do not want to.”
“No, no, I’ll eat it. Please let me.”
He never expected her to care for him, let alone make porridge, and thus was a little flustered.
To be honest, Mahiru’s cooking skill was unknown to him, but he never heard rumors of her failing home economics class, so it was probably not too bad.
Amane immediately lowered his head, asking to eat it, and Mahiru stared at him blankly. She nodded as she handed over the thermometer on the side table.
“I shall bring it over. Do measure your temperature.”
“Okay.”
He did as she said, unbuttoning his shirt, and took the thermometer. At that moment, Mahiru looked away.
“Please do so when I am not in this room.”
She sounded a little frantic, and Amane looked over to find her face a little red.
Amane found Mahiru’s reaction a little intriguing, since unlike girls, boys did not need to hide their chests. Perhaps Mahiru had no resistance against the color of skin however, for she hastily looked aside the moment he unbuttoned his shirt.
Her white face was dyed with a light shade of rose, her face still looking aside as she quivered. One had to wonder if he was imagining it, but Mahiru’s ears too were red, showing how embarrassed she was.
…Ahh, I’m starting to see why the guys around her say she’s so cute.
Amane too considered Mahiru a beautiful girl, but nothing more. There was no doubt she was pretty and cute, but that was all to him.
She was beautiful like a sculpted piece of work. The impression she gave was similar to that of an art piece.