212 Vol. 4 pt. 15 Patch 3.0: A Change of Pace (1/2)

By the time Ryouta wakes up, he finds that the bed is missing two people: Cassandra and Alice. Serra, however, is lying sideways across his abdomen.

Ryouta grabs Serra and pulls her up so that he can properly wrap his arms around her and give her a kiss on her forehead. She kind of reminds him of a dog. A small, petite dog.

Serra slowly blinks her eyes open and smiles when she sees Ryouta.

Now, when Ryouta notices that his girlfriend's first reaction to seeing his face right after waking up is to smile, that makes him feel like he's on the top of the world! He smiles even more than before and places another kiss on her forehead, causing her to smile even wider now.

”Morning,” Ryouta says, making sure to clearly pronounce it so that it's easier to read his lips.

”Blegh,” Serra mumbles. Whether she's deaf or not, anybody can get the point across with ”blegh” in the morning.

She wrinkles her nose when she smells what Ryouta has been sniffing.

The next noise that Ryouta hears from her is the grumbling of her stomach.

”Hungry?” Ryouta asks her.

Serra nods her head. But, rather than get up to go and get food, she wraps her legs and arms around him like a sloth on a tree branch and just looks up at him with a smile.

”I'm still sore. You don't expect me to take you downstairs like this, do you?” Ryouta asks.

Serra nods some more and kisses his neck.

”You better hope I don't fall,” he says while squirming over to the edge of the bed. Once there, he's careful to lean up and then try to stand up while Serra remains clinging to his torso.

This is when it hits him just how much pain he's still in. He feels even more sore than he did yesterday. So, while he may have originally intended to give Serra her way by carrying her downstairs like this, he flops backward instead. ”Sorry, way too much pain,” he groans.

Serra looks at him, scoots farther up his body, and places a series of kisses on his neck and face before unclinging herself from him. Instead of having him carry her, she stands in front of him off of the bed and holds her hands out to offer assistance in getting up.

”I really am like an old man,” Ryouta says, grabbing onto Serra's hands. He leans forward while she pulls backward. With just a bit of effort from them both, Ryouta stands up and rubs his lower back.

Serra can't help but giggle at the sight. He might only be a couple of years older than her, but he's acting like he is six times her age!

She then grabs his hand and places it on the top of her head.

”What are you doing?” Ryouta asks her.

Serra signs ”stick” and then points at herself.

”You're… my cane?”

Serra nods.

”You're ridiculous is what you are.”

Serra shrugs.

Ryouta takes his hand off the top of her head, getting a pout from her, and walks downstairs – he slowly walks downstairs. Moving too fast hurts too much. It's especially bad going down the steps, but at least going down is easier than going up.

There's no way he's going back up those stairs until he absolutely has to.

”Ah, good morning!” Alice says from the kitchen, spinning around in her wheelchair to greet Ryouta and Serra.

Serra runs over to Alice, wraps her arms around the other, and kisses her.

Of course, then Serra goes to look at the food that Alice has been working on.

”And you, my hero? Do you require a good morning kiss as well?” Alice asks Ryouta with a happy smile on her face.

”That sounds nice, but could you meet me halfway?” Ryouta asks.

”Still in pain?”

”Sadly.”

”Very well! I shall allow you to be lazy,” Alice says before wheeling over to him.

Ryouta leans down and kisses her. ”Thanks.”

”You're welcome! You should be exceptionally grateful because of that breath.”

”Hey, it's not my fault. You wanted us all to go to bed without changing or brushing our teeth. You don't get to judge me for having morning breath this time.”

”Fair enough! Do not get used to that, though. Last night was an exception to spoil Cassandra! I will be expecting all of us to take care of our hygiene without fail from here on!”

”Yes, mom.”

”Hmm. Say that again, my hero.”

”Say what? Mom?”

”Hmm… How about 'mommy?'”

”Uhh… mommy?”

Alice claps her hands together. ”That's it! I think I could enjoy such play.”

This is when Ryouta turns away from her to go and sit down at the dining room table, slouching over and burying his face into his arms. He wants more sleep, but he's not tired enough to sleep through the pain at this point.