Vol 10 Chapter 9 (2/2)
The rabbit felt that my actions eird at first, but after it understood that this was an expression of love, it licked my face
Recently, I had been starting to understand what otou-san meant when he said that 'if you want to be loved, you have to love others first' The rabbit I liked would respond to me affectionately in my clutches As I was happy, I would come over even when it was not time for our duty
”Well, Yoshi+-kun's really aeball--”
As I wanted to continue, the rabbit looked behind me
I followed its stare and saw Yoshi+-kun walking right at me--for some reason, my heart raced somewhat
”Then, that's all for now Time to eat~”
The rabbits heard that there was food, and happily leaped over to my feet
Yoshi+-kun ca care not to step on the rabbits as he opened the door and went in
”You're here early, Mizuki-chan”
”U, yes, wellI want to see these children earlier”
I was not lying I really wanted to see them earlier, but I will keep what I said before as a secret
”I see The rabbits sure are cute, aren't they?”
”Yes”
I was a little happy that I had the sahts as Yoshi+-kun
”Arre? Is this one male?”
”No That's the er tail is the father”
Ast the 3 rabbits, one of them was a 4-year-old father, one of theirl that was less than a year old
”Then, this one?”
”This is the youngest girl”
The three rabbits really looked the same, but they had their unique traits I was proud that I could distinguish them from each other just by their movements
”Doesn't this one see its head at us”
”That's its habit It's cute, isn't it?”
”I see So it's a trait It's definitely cuteArre?”
”What is it, Yoshi+-kun?”
”Mizuki-chan, you have grass in your hair”
”Eh?”
Yoshi+-kun said as he stared at rass on my hair? I think that child kicked it onto my hair when I cuddled it”
”Ehis, is it still there?”
”Ahaha, it's on the other side I'll help you take it off”
Yoshi+-kun got close to me and reached his hand out
His hand touched eball
I realized this, and blushed as I froze
”Okay, I took it offMizuki-chan?”
”FUAAH!?”
I let out a cry I did not expect Wh, why!? Why is my face so hot?
”What is it? Are you feeling unwell?”
”It, it's nothing, nothing at all!”
”??? You're very weird here, Mizuki-chan”
Yoshi+-kun tilted his face as he sawface
At his feet, the one-year-old rabbit was tilting its head in the same direction
”Good ”
Yoshi+-kun waved at me as he walked into the classroom
”Good ~ Aki-kun”
”GoodYou're later than usual today”
”Un, well, onee-chan”
”What? Did you do sory?”
Ever since apped seats in the past, ot further away froreet each other ere sitting close to each other
At these kinds oftoo e? Soood traits like being very positive
”Good , Akihisa-kun What is it? What happened?”
”Ah, Reika-chan Good ”
And the girl as the coreeted Yoshi+-kun
”It's not really anything big here,”
”Yes yes--ahaha! Akihisa-kun, what is it?”
”Eh? What is it?”
”Your head! Behind you!”
”Eh?”
Yoshi+-kun hurriedly looked behind, and found that there was a cute hair ribbon on the back of his head girls would wear
”Ahaha! What is that, Aki-kun?”
”Aki-kun, you got pranked on!”
”You're cute, Akihisa-kun♪”
”Ah! Onee-chan definitely did that”
Yoshi+-kun reached behind his head to pull down the decoration Everyone stared at hihed
”Ah That's so funny~”
”That's really funny there”
”I don't find it funny at all!”
”Ahaha, is that so?”
”Sorry sorry”
”But Aki-kun, ould onee-chan do that to you?”
”Well, I don't know about that, but onee-chan definitely did not look happy”
”That ain, Aki-kun”
”You can't think of anything?”
”Unn she asked ave it to a girl in class', and she wasn't happy about it”
”Did onee-chan want to eat the cookies you made?”
”But onee-chan doesn't like sweet things”
”That's not the problem Onee-chan is really pitiful there”
”I'm the one to be pitied here I had salt water for breakfast this !”
”Salt water for breakfast? Ahaha, that's really a!”
”That's not funny at all! Who can live on with salt water alone!?”
”””AHAHAHAHAHA!!!”””
Laughter erupted at that moment
It was always like this around Yoshi+-kun Everyone was happy, and Yoshi+-kun setically as well
That is greathe has so s I do not have
”Hm~? I wonder who Akihisa-kun made these cookies for that caused him to end up like this~”
Alanced at me
The rabbits continued to nibble grass in front of me
During the pet caring time after school, I spent time alone with the rabbit
I put the food that dropped out back inside the tray, and the feive a grin at this moment
”Good one, children”
I patted on the back of the rabbits that turned back to eat the food froave a soft voice Rabbits would ry, and I only learned of that as a pet caring member
At first, I wanted to quit the job of being a pet-pet raising member, but I really liked this job Every day, I would look forward to duty time that occurred once every week The rabbits were that cute, andYoshi+-kun had duty as well
However,
”Did Yoshi+-kun forget about the duty today?”
I patted the rabbit on the back as I said Today's duty is swapped over with another day because another class had to go to another school today, so Yoshi+-kun probably forgot because of this
”It's a pity”
I whispered as I scratched it from behind the ears
The rabbit probably felt good as it let out a soft voice
After taking good care of the equipment and closed the rabbit hut door
”Bye bye I'll come back”
I said
”-chan, you find Kojima-san to be better?
”Ehh, but he often play pranks”
”I can't stand him either”
I returned to the classroom, and heard the voices fro in the classroom
I opened the door and silently walked in
As expected, the ones inside were roup of 4 in the classroom
”Reika-chan, so yours is?”
”Yes, Akihisa-kun”
”Ah, I understand!”
”He's so cool, right? Like during PE class”
”Right?”
I heard the name I was concerned with, and immediately looked over
And roup looked over at me
””
Kanda-san narrowed her eyes as she smiled and asked,
”Hey, Plain Lover-san, who do you like most?”
”Ye, yes?”
This unexpected question caused me to panic
”Do you have someone you like?”
”No, I, well, no”
I did not really understand what it meant to like so was to be said with others
”What's the problem here? Tell me~”
”We want to know too”
”Yea, it's too sneaky if you don't tell us after hearing us~”
”Eve, even if you say so”
I did not hear much, and I did not want to hear them in the first place
Kanda-san said as she saw that I was unwilling to talk,
”Well, it's--nothing If you don't have one, so be it”
”Eh?”
She let ht she would pursue this further
”I thought you would say Akihisa-kun, but it's great if that's not the case”
”Eh? What's the problem with that You'll definitely hen compared to Plain Lover”
”Yeah~ you're skinny and cute, Reika-chan”
These words hurt me
I did feel this way personally, but it was really sad to hear these words said right at me I am fat, and not cute at all
As I looked dejected, Kanda-san and the rest continued,
”We can't say that Boys are kids after all If you say so--”
”Ah, well, the other boys will move further away from him”
”It's pitiful that Akihisa-kun would be teased by other boys”
”Especially when he got involved with Plain Love, right?”
Ah
The roup said, I remembered
It was true that those boys who talked to the girls would be teased If that ould happen when he talks to me, I wonder ill happen if he likes me
”But does Akihisa-kun really like Plain Lover?”
”Hurry up and say it, you know?”
They asked ain
I had doubtful feelings of not wanting to cause trouble for Yoshi+-kun, felt embarrassed as I wanted to keep this secret, and alsoI had a little pride in me
These feelings intertwined with each other, and before I realized this, I cried out
”I--I DON'T LIKE YOshi+-KUN AT ALL!”
I did not knohy I just had to say it at that moment
Even if it was just a few moments earlier or later, even if it was just a little softer
Then--
”Aher I shouldn't have listened to?”
And then, Yoshi+-kun would not have heard it
”A, Akihisa-kun? Why?”
”Haven't you returned back?”
”I re duty, so I rushed backbut it looks like it's done Sorry, Mizuki-chan”
Yoshi+-kun lowered his head at hly confused--
”!”
I tookfro back
”Ah! Mizuki-chan!”
”Forget about it, Akihisa-kun Don't bother with Plain Lover-san”
”Right right Plain Lover-san doesn't like you anyway, so it's not like it matters anyway”
”Speaking of which, Akihisa-kun, can you talk with me for a short moment?”
””
”??? What is it, Akihisa-kun?”
”Sure, I have so I want to say to you too, Reika-chan”
After that incident, I had been living through the days in a daze
Because of that, I did not notice that everyone stopped calling me 'Plain Lover' from a certain point
”What is it, Yuki-chan?”
Now, even my friends who often called me 'Mizuki-chan would call me Yuki-chan I think it was derived from 'Mizuki-chan→Zuki-chan→Yuki-chan[6]
”Kanda-san and the rest started calling you that first”
And I could only get this anshen I asked about how this nickname came about
Kanda-san's group; I started thinking more into this the moment I heard about this Did they call me Yuki-chan because I looked as fat as a snowman, or
”You don't look fine recently, Yuki-chan What happened?”
”No, it's nothing”
My friends orried, so I answered the in the first place
”Then, I'll go forduty then”
”Ah, okay See you, Yuki-chan”
I bid farewell tohome, and ran off to the rabbit house
I opened the rusted gate and went in The rabbits ca if it was me
”hello there How are you feeling?”
I greeted the rabbits that were ju around me The rabbits seemed rather happy as they let out cries
”I'll clean up now, so wait for the food, okay?”
I put the rabbits that were hopping around out of the hut one by one, cleaned up the inside of the hut, changed the water, the bedding grass, and finally, I served the food the rabbits aiting so long for They happily nibbled on it
Normally, I would stroke them on the backbut today, I started to think mindlessly
”I--I DON'T LIKE YOshi+-KUN AT ALL!”
These same words continued to repeat in my mind
I really regretted it, and I was dejected over it
I actually said that to the kind Yoshi+-kun, and worst of all, he personally heard it
He definitely hates me now
Yoshi+-kun was kind, and up till now, he had not shown it, but he definitely hates ry when soards to them
”I didn't expect that I would say such hurtful things to Yoshi+-kun”
Before that, I would feel happy whenever he calledhis eyes I could not do the pet-caring duty I normally looked forward to because I was admitted into hospital fro alone Nowadays, I could not stand being alone with Yoshi+-kun
”Haa”
There was a saying that happiness will slip away if I sighed In that case, I suppose no happiness, no matter how small it is, will befallwhenever I breathed
As I was feeling depressed, I felt a soft touch at my feet
Conscious of this, I looked over, and saw a rabbit rubbing itself at irl that always had its head tilted
””
I wordlessly squat down to pat her back, and the other rabbits, on seeing my reaction, tilted their heads and let out a cry 'Nu' before going back to nibble on their food
Were they co me?
I thought as I stared at the rabbits that were eating, occasionally looking up at me
”If you want to be loved, you have to love others first”
As what otou-san said, once I started loving the rabbits, the rabbits loved me back too
However, in that case--
”I will be hated if I said that I do not like, I guess”
This thought continued to swirl in my mind
”I didn't want to say that in the first place”
My vigor and happiness slipped out of h
And it eeks later that I caught a fever and got admitted into hospital
I suppose it was really true when they say that illnesses come from mind
On a particular ot up, found out that I had a fever, and took sick leave, but the fever just would not subside The next day, I went to the hospital I often went to
Right now, my fever has subsided somewhat, but since I still have to take many tests and treatment, therefore I continued to be hospitalized
It seehtly weaker The doctor at the hospital did say ‘when you’re an adult, you don’t have to come to the hospital’
I was already used to seeing this hospital room
Inside this unpleasant pure white roouests to sit on On the table beside the bed, there were flowers okaa-san put there, and there were also postcards my classmates wrote in when I was hospitalized
“Get well soon, Kawai Nene”
“Let’s go out and play when you’re recovered! Yoshi+no shi+nobu”
“A lot of things happened Sorry, please take care of yourself Kanda Reika”
A words, there was one line from Kanda-san
Also—
“I’ll definitely go visit you—Yoshi+ Akihisa”
Ast the letters that were sent, there was Yoshi+-kun’s e as well
“…”
After seeing this, I wondered if Yoshi+-kun bothered about the words I said about hiot all about it…
Or rather, hts about ht to Yoshi+-kun
“As expected, soetic like Kanda-san is better than me…”
In the past, she would give a few bad looks to y on the postcard and orried about me
“Kanda-san’s so good…and so energetic, athletic, cute, gentle…”
I cannot match her in every way
Besides, I do not like ood points, and I hate that I keep hesitating like this
I wonder what Yoshi+-kun felt when I, an annoying person said that ‘I don’t like him’ Did he feel shocked, or…
“…”
The ht about that, the more worse I felt
“Oh yes I have to study…”
I brought the bag besidebetter, I have to work hard for the one weeks worth of lessons that I had missed I want to catch up with everyone, even if it is only about studies…
There was no one else inside the ward room I continued to do aof the clock’s second hand just felt very loud
And then, I found that I wrote a wrong answer
“Ah…I filled in the wrong answer column…”
I accidentally wrote the answers I should have written on the left side on the right instead
I looked back to see where the problem arose from, and found that I wrote the answer of the 4th question in the wrong column
“Ahaha…this isn’t good…”
I erased the parts I wrote wrongly with an eraser and rewrote the answer again And then, as I was rubbing aith e on the assess sound
“Really, I can’t do anything…”
Why is it that I aloomy, not cute, so weak, and cannot even do my maths well…
“Uu…uu…”
All sorts of feelings swelled in my heart, and tears came out from my eyes
It was a good thing no one was looking, and I continued to cry as I did the questions
On the next day, at 8pm
Visiting tiot up to return home
“Then, Mizuki-chan, I’ll come back to visit tomorrow”
“Un, thank you for bringing the books here, okaa-san”
I thanked okaa-san graciously for bringing books to me
I often talked about how cute the rabbits at school hen I was at hoht me a book called “How to raise Rabbits” Maybe she will allow me to raise rabbits at home
“Speaking of which, a boy was buying the saht this book Is it a current trend to raise rabbits?”
Okaa-san said this before she returned back
I will be happy if that is the case The little rabbits are really cute
“Your body is recovering nowadays, but don’t stay up overnight”
“Okay~”
Okaa-san left these final reminders behind as she walked out of the hospital
Left alone in the patient wardroom, I hurriedly reached over for the “How to raise Rabbits” It will be great if there is a way to make rabbits happy written on it, so that I can try it out when I go to school
On the books, there were basic things like “Is that they can’t eat”, and also ether” and “How not to be hated”
“Eh…so rabbits like to dig holesI didn’t know that”
Even if there is no dirt, they like to play with things given to them like tissue paper
I really wanted to try out all sorts of things with those children at school at this point
I could not help but continue reading, and saw the chapter “Rabbit illnesses”
“The syht be rather severe by the time you find out that the rabbit is sick You have to spot early symptoms”
These words caused ht that those children could get sick
“But everyone has had good appetite, and they were juht…?”
The symptoms listed were similar to humans, like fever, loss of appetite, diarrhea, and those children never showed such symptoms
“Thank goodness Looks like they’re fine…”
I continued to read the symptoms that did not match, and patted my chest as I continued The last line that was listed, however,
“Also, rabbits ht suffer from an illness called ‘torticollis’”
Torticollis, I have never heard of this illness before
“Torticollis is a disease caused by a proble the balance in rabbits The main illnesses will involve inner ear and ht be caused by a parasite da the brain”
Problee
I could not help but holdwords laid out in front of me
It is alright, they are still energetic, nothing will happen to them…
“The sy of the head, and so on”
“Eh…?”
Tilting heads, now that it was irl that was less than a year old
“The illness will develop based on the body size, and soht die in a short time”
That child had been tilting its head repeatedly for a long tiain
“Once you find it tilting its head, you have to bring it to a specialist clinic”
I had been in hospital for a week, and it had been 3 weeks ago ever since the last time I saw that child
“Doesn't this one see its head at us”
“That's its trait It's cute, isn't it?”
It was not a habit, it was sick…!
I felt angry at ht that I knew about everything, and I did not notice it back then…!
“The syht be rather severe by the time you find out that the rabbit is sick You have to spot early symptoms”
I recalled the opening line in this chapter
Problee—death
It ht be too late if I do not hurry up
“That sort of thing is impossible…!”
I said these words that I did not actually ed to hear
“The syht be rather severe by the time you find out that the rabbit is sick”
The words on the book caused me to feel more and more uneasy
Unknowingly, I ran out from the wardroom to the school
“…”
The school at night was so silent and dark, without a trace of life
“How is that…possible…”
I collapsed on the floor in a limp manner as I looked into the rabbit house
The father and htly further away—that rabbit that was less than 1 year old was lying face up, notat all
I did not know if it was because the illness developed quickly during these past few days as that child lay on a towel that was not too cold, acting as a bed The hay on the tray were scattered apart for easy eating
But the care showed by the pet raising committee members did not work at all, and this child slept silently without breathing
“Why…! It was still energetic before this…!”
It was even prodding at my body, and coo…!
I did not have any faint hopes about whether it was just sleeping while facing upwards I kneithout cuddling it, that it died in the ht
“Mizuki-chan…?”
As I was spacing out, someone called me by my name
The owner of the voice was holding the book I just read
“Yoshi+…kun…”
Why is he here, why does he have that book?
I would have such doubts in the past, but at this point, I only had one thought
—It was my fault
The reason why this child died is because I did not notice it
There were so ns before this, but I did not notice it even when it tilted its head If I had checked through it carefully, if I had discovered it earlier, it could have been saved
This child died because I was hospitalized
If I had carried out my duty as a representative and told others about how it keeps tilting its head, ht be able to save it
Why is it that I just cannot do anything
I have a weak body, I aloomy, I am fat, not cute, and have very poor athleticis, and I could not realize that the rabbit I loved is feeling sick
“Mizuki-chan, about the rabbit, sorry…”
Yoshi+-kun said to me in a concerned manner
It was the same for Yoshi+-kun He is so kind to such a person like me, and I even said ‘I don’t like him’ after all that had happened
All sorts of annoying thoughts swirled in my mind—the one little friend that would coer move because of me
“Mizuki-chan, are you alright…?”
The things I hate, the things that cause s that cause ht about this…
“I HAD ENOUGH!! EVERYTHING…EVERYTHING!!”
I yelled without thinking about anything and ran away from that place
I did not remember how I ran
Before I realized it, I was back at hts were out, and I buried
—Why is it that I cannot do anything?
—What a?
—Why is it that I am so useless?
This sudden sequence of events caused hts
—No
—Am I an existence that annoys people when I approach them?
—If that is really the case, a to be hated by everyone for the rest of my life?
I lostthe roo to me, so I covered the blanket over myself and continued to cry
My throat hurt, and my tears were dry
I lifted my head weakly, and saw that the hands on the clock pointed at 11
“I should be sleeping now…”
I did not feel like sleeping, but I had to do this
Okaa-san will be troubled if ht I don’t want okaa-san to hate me here…
“I don’t want to have any dreaood or bad…”
I did not want to experience both the pain of the drea up
I closed , slipped the blanket over ain, and at this moment
“Hachoo!”
My ears suddenly heard this voice
“Eh…?”
I draggedbody up and looked around
This voice, did someone sneeze…?
Was it from the next room? But the walls were not so thin that a sneeze could be heard…
“Hachoo!”
As I thought about that, I heard that voice again
The voice ca the courtyard
I, as so tired fro that I could not turn ot off the bed and pulled the curtain aside
And then, I was shocked and made speechless by the scene outside the
“Wh…y…?”
There was a tall and large tree outside the
And Yoshi+-kun’s body was shaking as he sat on a branch
“Yoshi+-kun!?”
I opened theand called out to Yoshi+-kun as outside
“Ah, Mizuki-chan, good evening”
Yoshi+-kun greeted reet me when I was on my way to school
“Good evening isn’t the issue here! Why are you over there!?”
In contrast, I asked back in a thoroughly confused manner
And then, Yoshi+-kun stared at my face and said
“Because you look really sad, Mizuki-chan”
Eh…?
“Do you know? It’s better to be with someone else at this time”
Yoshi+-kun beaemore and more confused because I could not understand Yoshi+-kun’s actions
To be with so on the tree outside so late at night, in such a cold weather, all for this!?
If he says that he wants to be together, would it not bein the first place!?
Why—
“Why must you do this!? You can just leave me alone!”
It is better to forget about so, who can only add onto other people’s troubles!
In response to my words, Yoshi+-kun said with an incredulous look,
“Eh? Why must I leave you alone?”
Why? Why in…!
“Because of me! I said that I do not like you already, Yoshi+-kun!? Did you not hear me say it that time!?”
“Yeah, I did hear it”
“Then—!”
Then you would definitely hate me—
“But I do not mind about that Onee-chan always said that I airls, and also—”
Yoshi+-kun kept his always s face as he continued,
“—Even if you don’t like me, Mizuki-chan, I do like you”
At that moment, all the words that rushed to my mouth vanished
Yoshi+-kun’s ‘like’ andabout the like between friends
But even so—these words were already a big treasure I gained
“Ah, that’s right I got soive you, Mizuki-chan”
As I was at a loss of words, Yoshi+-kun agilely used the branch to get to the
“Here, a get-well-soon gift”
Yoshi+-kun said as he pulled out so small from his pocket
“…A rabbit, hairclip…?”
“Yeah”
Yoshi+-kun nodded
“Yourabbits, Mizuki-chan…but that kid definitely won’t wish for this”
Yoshi+-kun said as he was at arth from me
“So I hope you’ll con