Chapter 33 - A Day with a Cold (Number 2) (1/2)

A Day with a Cold (Number 2)

“Geho geho… Then, let’s start class…”

Standing in front of the teacher’s desk, Hiiragi-chan was wearing a mask. Looking at her, she looked weak. Last night, when we talked to each other on the phone, she seemed perfectly fine, though. It seemed that she has caught a cold.

“Sensei, you’re cold?”

“Are you alright?”

“You’re coughing quite a lot, you know?”

When the girl’s made a worrying voice, Hiiragi-chan made a smile. Ah, she’s quite tough isn’t she. To other people, it may have seemed like the goddess’s normal smile, but I understood.

“Yeah, it’s alright. Today, I’m teaching class B, so I thought I would bear with it.”

“Eeh, Sensei, so hardworking…”

“If you were a guy, I would’ve fallen for you.”

“Everyone! Don’t bother Hiiragi-sensei!”

When the most outspoken girl in the class said that, everyone nodded. I guess rather than everyone wanting to listen to her, they probably all felt the same way. Gehon, gehon, while coughing, Hiiragi-chan continued class. It would be fine if she just rested, I ended up thinking.

Properly doing your work, and pushing yourself to do work when you really can’t is something that’s completely different. Since everyone in the class was more cooperative than normal, class ended up proceeding smoothly, and when the chime rang, Hiiragi-chan left the classroom. After waiting a bit, I went to the staff room, but Hiiragi-chan wasn’t there. When I asked the other teachers around, I was told that she might be in the infirmary.

“Excuse me.”

Giving the proper greetings, I entered the infirmary. Sticking my head through the closed curtains, I saw Hiiragi-chan sleeping in the bed. Koho koho, geho geho, she was continuing to cough.

“If you’re feeling that bad, it’s fine if you just sleep.”

“… But I tried my best to come…”

Zuzuzu, she blew her nose, and took what seemed to be an excruciating breath.

Bringing over a chair, I sat down by the bed.

“Ah, sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“Seiji-kun, to see you, I did my best to come…”

I stroked the head of Hiiragi-chan who was having tears build up in her eyes, Ah. I see. So that’s the reason she came to class…

“Are you going to leave early?”

“No…!”

She was being a bit stubborn.

“Today, during lunch… We don’t need to go to the home economics club. It would be the first time in a while that we would be alone together… I definitely, won’t leave…!”

S-she’s quite obsessed with it…

“If you leave early though, I can also leave early and look after you.”

“I’ll do it. I’ll leave early.”

So fast.

So, after helping wake her up, I made up some personal reason for me to leave school early, packed up my stuff, and left. At around the same time, Hiiragi-chan had finished making her own preparations to leave early, and had just walked out of the staff room.

I was planning on going to Hiiragi-chan’s place after going home, but I was more worried about her than I thought. In a situation like this, she probably can’t drive back. I’ll use my cell phone and call a nearby taxi company for a ride.

“… My cell phone is gone…”

No taxi would stop if an ordinary high schooler were to flag them down though. So we ended up riding together, heading to Hiiragi-chan’s place. When we arrived, I crouched in front of Hiiragi-chan.

“Come on, on my back. Go ahead. I’ll carry you.”

“Since I’m heavy… it’s fine…”

“Don’t worry about, just get on.”

Half forcing her to be carried, I walked up the stairs to the apartment as fast as possible. Just as I thought, she isn’t heavy at all. It seemed that she was about reaching her limit, as her resistance after carrying her was really weak, and her breath on my back was pretty shallow.

“If it keeps going on like this… you’ll probably go off somewhere, after throwing away…”

“I won’t leave, am I some sort of demon?”

“No… don’t leave me… I’ll diet…”

“You’re not heavy, not heavy at all. It’s fine.”

She seemed to be in a super weak mode, as she began to cry a little bit on my back. After entering into Hiiragi-chan’s place, I brought her straight to the bed. Trying my best change her clothes without looking and throw a blanket on her.

“Are you hungry at all?”

“I’m hungry, but I don’t have any appetite…”

“But you still need to eat something. I’m going to borrow your kitchen.”

Without waiting for a reply, I left the bedroom and Using some leftovers and some eggs, I make a simple porridge.