Volume 2 - CH 7

“Really, you’re just a helpless idiot, Jirou.”

After my consciousness returned, these were the first words I heard…More importantly though, where am I?

“In a hospital. After that incident, you were brought here with an ambulance.”

I received a brief explanation on the situation. My surroundings were full with white walls, and the oddly familiar scent of medicine. Ah, this is a hospital room. Just as the voice had stated, I was currently laying in a hospital bed.

“…Ouch.” Feeling pain all over, I couldn’t hold down a groan.

My whole body’s in tatters. When I put on my glasses, I saw bandages all over my body, like I was a mummy of sorts. I might just be able to work part-time at a haunted house at this rate.

“You best be thankful to the young lady. The Suzutsuki main family paid for the medical expenses and hospital fees…as gratitude for stopping the fight between me and my Dad.” The alto voice explained.

When I turned my gaze towards that voice, I saw Konoe sitting on a chair next to my bed. Since she had a basket of fruits with her, she must have come to visit me.

“Hm?”

I couldn’t help but blink in confusion at the unexpected scenery in front of my eyes. Sitting next to Konoe on a similar chair, covered by a blanket, someone was sleeping.

“Don’t cause a ruckus. She just got a break.” Konoe said, and pulled up the blanket.

It was none other than Suzutsuki Kanade. Surprisingly enough, I was looking at Konoe Subaru’s master, who was sleeping like Snow White in her fairytale.

“She must have been tired. After all, she was worried the entire time you were out cold.”

“The entire time…What time is it right now?”

“It’s roughly 4pm. Look outside, the sky’s turning orange, right.”

Mmm, she’s right. The sky outside the window was slowly turning to red. That means…if this isn’t some miracle that had me go back in time, I’ve been sleeping for almost an entire day.

“Still, what is your body even made out of, Jirou.”

“Where did that come from?”

“I mean, you got hit by a large truck, and if you’re lucky, you might even get discharged today. That’s what the nurse just now told me. Or, do the people working here just hate you that much?”

“…Well, something like that.”

I was wondering why this place looked so familiar. This is the general hospital I was often brought to as a child. I was a regular here even, all thanks to my family’s circumstances. As a result of that, most people here know my face. Though, they look at me like I’m some unfamiliar living being.

“For crying out loud, what extreme regenerative ability you have. Are you even human? Same goes for Kureha-chan as well, you normally don’t heal a broken bone in two weeks.”

“Really?”

“You’re plenty weird, Jirou. The truck driver almost passed out from the shock after finding out you’re still alive.”

“That hurts. He should have at least been happy.”

“The young lady was worried you might have been injected with the T-Virus1 or something.”

This ain’t Biohazard.

“And, after you got treated here, your cold improved as well. We maybe should have called an ambulance from the very start.”

“Don’t say that. Makes me think all my hard work and suffering was for nothing.”

And, I want to avoid being hospitalized if possible. I don’t like staying here. Since ending up here was involved with a lot of pain when I was a small brat, I just don’t have a good image about it.

“It’d be better if you come home soon. Kureha-chan is all depressed.”

“Depressed?”

Why? I’m safe, you know. Or, does she not want Konoe to go home? Was it that much of a shock? Hearing my question, even Konoe showed somewhat of a troubled expression.

“The thing is…Kojirou went home with his owner.”

“Wha?”

“Do you remember? Kojirou suddenly started running towards the highway, right. That was because he spotted his owner across the street.”

“……”

“By the way, the owner is a young grade school girl, who was out searching for Kojirou as well. So, the stray Siberian husky made it back home safely.”

“…Huh.”

I see. That’s why our home’s princess is all depressed.

“I feel bad for her, really.”

“That bad?”

“Yeah. She was more shocked than when you collapsed, Jirou.”

“………”

So that’s how much I mean to you?

“Well, that’s just her acting strong, I guess. She said that she wanted to come visit you today, but I told her to stay home for now. It might only put her down more coming here, but you won’t wake up at all.”

“Huh. Alright then, let’s go home.”

My body still hurt a bit, but it wasn’t anything that would stop me from leaving this place. I know that my healing abilities are no joke, after all I recovered this much in a single day.

“And, sorry that you had to come visit me, but I’m okay now. I’ll be back to my full glory soon enough…Not to mention that I have the will to live burning inside of me.”

“Hm? Are you looking forward to something, Jirou?” Konoe tilted her head, confused.

Haha, what are you talking about? I might have lost ⅔ of it, but today is the third of May, still Golden Week. From here on out, everything will go my way. Once I get home, I can relax. Even Kureha won’t torture me with her wrestling moves, I’m injured after all, and just got discharged from the hospital. Ahh, my own Golden Week is going to start…!

“It pains me to say it, but that won’t happen, Jirou.”

However, my hope was immediately crushed with the following sentence.

“After all, today is the 5th of May.”

“…Wat?”

…Alright, time-out. What did she just say?

“Here, look at my phone, you can check the date there.”

You’re kidding, right? I accepted Konoe’s phone and looked at the screen, only to find ‘May 5th’ written on there. Eh? What is this about? Since I’ve slept a full day, shouldn’t today be May 3rd?

“From your reaction, I guess you really don’t know. You were brought here on May 2nd, and slept for roughly three days.”

“Wha…”

“The doctor responsible for you said you weren’t in any grave danger, so you should probably wake up eventually, but I didn’t expect you to sleep this long, you damn sleepy head.”

“……”

“That’s why, today is the last day of Golden Week, and school starts tomorrow. Aren’t you glad, not missing a day? Congratulations on being discharged.” Konoe announced, and clapped her hands together without creating a sound.

…This is too cruel. Don’t play me like that. What about my Golden Week…Can’t I just get hospitalized again…

“Anyway, I’ll be taking my leave now. I have some other business.”

“Other business?”

“Yeah, you’re not the only one who’s hospitalized right now.” Konoe must have been careful to not wake up Suzutsuki, as she calmly got up from her chair. “After you collapsed…Dad caught a cold, and was out cold as well.”

“……”

…Hey now. Does that mean…

“I bet he must have gotten the cold from you, Jirou. After living beneath that bridge, his physical condition and mental health worsened, which was probably the reason for him catching your cold, so he was hospitalized together with you. That’s why, although I don’t really want to…I should visit him.”

“Phew, that’s a shocker.”

How miserable. But, we’re talking about that old fart. I bet the biggest shock was being rejected by his own daughter, so he might just recover the second Konoe comes to visit him. That’s how it should be. Maybe now their relationship will improve a bit. I bet Konoe was just being stubborn, but actually wanted to make up with her old man. After all…you never know how long you have those parents around.

Konoe should be aware of that. More than the average person.

“And, you don’t need me nursing you back to health anymore.”

“Hm.”

That way of phrasing sure hurt a bit. I wonder why, maybe she’s annoyed that I was so desperate in sending her home?

“But…I was happy.”

“Eh?”

“Back then, you ended up in tatters, and yet told me ‘I won’t die’, right. You were so desperate in trying to make me stop crying, I decided to…put trust in your words, your promise.”

“…Konoe.”

“But, keep in mind…” She took a deep breath. “I’ll have you take responsibility.”

“Responsibility?”

“Yeah. Please, don’t break that promise. You’re a precious…friend of mine. I don’t want my friends to die. That’s why—if you were to betray those words, and went off to die…”

—I will cry again.

Even now, Konoe looked close to breaking out in tears, but somehow managed to keep them back, as she announced these words.

“…Yeah.” I nodded as confident as I could.

I feel like she’s asking for some pretty ridiculous stuff right there, but I was the one who started this all, so I can’t help it. But…it’s fine. I know just fine. I definitely won’t make you sad again. For that, I need to get stronger.

“…Yeah…U-Um, Jirou.”

“Hm? What?”

Konoe’s cheeks turned red, as she fidgeted awkwardly. She stuttered a few times, but eventually managed to properly move her mouth.

“—Thanks!”

She left behind these words of gratitude, spoken to the best of her ability despite it being a bit awkward, and left the room.

“…Thanks, huh.”

Still sitting on my bed, I repeated the same words Konoe just told me. How do I say this…it’s unbelievable to me. To think that this Subaru-sama, who is known for her blunt and cold behaviour, would thank a classmate of hers like this.

“…Why am I feeling so ticklish?” My chest felt fluffy, and restless.

It’s an odd feeling. Even though she simply gave me her thanks, my heart is racing to no end. Maybe I really got another cold? I could only look at the door Konoe left through in a daze, pondering about this feeling inside my chest, when…

“…Huh, that’s a rare sight.” A dignified voice rang out inside the room.

In shock, I turned towards the voice, and found Suzutsuki on the chair, her eyes opened as she smirked at me.

“Y-You, since when have you been awake?”

“‘Don’t cause a ruckus. She just got a break’, I guess.”

So from the very beginning. Ahh, what a blunder. To think that komodo dragon had to hear my muttering. She’ll definitely threaten me with this later.

“Still, it really is unbelievable…To think that Subaru would say ‘Thanks’ to someone but me. Not too long ago, that would have been unthinkable.” She took off the blanket covering her body, and smiled.

See, that’s what I mean. I really didn’t want this damn rich lady to hear my muttering.

“But…after being shown such a thing, I can’t blame her.”

“Eh?”

Hearing these words from Suzutsuki’s mouth surprised me.

“When you got hit by that truck, drenched with blood, you still tried your best to convince Subaru. You were different from usual—for a short moment, you weren’t just some chicken bastard.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean. You teasing me? Ah, you’re probably pissed because of that ‘Move’ before, right.”

Thinking about it, I must have sounded pretty cold. We’re talking about that young lady, she probably isn’t used to receiving such a harsh tone.

“—You’re right. That was the first time a man said something like that to me.”

I wonder why, but Suzutsuki slowly started crawling onto my bed. And not just onto it, but also towards me.

“Now that we’re talking about that, how is your gynophobia coming along? Has living together with Subaru helped you with that?”

“Hm? Ah, yeah, I think so. I can at least touch a woman now.”

A lot happened after all. Sparring, that incident in the bath, and so on. It’s not completely gone for real, but I at least can handle myself around a girl now.

“Hmm, I see.”

Listening to my words, Suzutsuki must have thought of something, as she started smiling. And then, she suddenly moved closer towards me.

“Then, should we try it out?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Isn’t that obvious? I want to test how much you’ve gotten used to girls.”

It was…an abrupt incident. Without any warning or signal, Suzutsuki—pressed her lips on mine.

“…!?”

Unable to comprehend what just happened, I just reflexively jumped off the bed. My nose was bleeding. As expected, being touched by a girl activated my gynophobia…But, there’s more pressing problems than that right now.

“Oh my, this is worse than I had anticipated. Since you still get a nosebleed from something like this, it appears as if our relationship as partners in crime will continue for a lot longer.” Suzutsuki smiled, acting like nothing happened.

“You…y-y-you! What are you doing!?” My tongue wouldn’t move as I wanted it to.

Also…what, eh? Was that just now…

“Why are you so flustered? It was just a kiss.”

“Waaaaaaah!”

She actually said it out loud! Not to mention with no hesitation!

“It’s just a bit of skinship. They do that all the time overseas.”

“Shut up! We’re in Japan!”

“Ever heard of globalization?”

“Like hell I care! I’d rather have Japan isolate itself again then! Not to mention…!”

“Not to mention?”

“Didn’t you say that Konoe was your first love!?”

That’s right, this rich lady should have feelings for Konoe Subaru. So, why would she kiss a classmate despite having someone she likes?

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I still love Subaru as much as before. However—” She grinned. “A first love is a first love. There’s no guarantee that it will continue, right?”

She said it like there’s no problem to whomever she may be kissing now. Not to mention that she stuck out her red tongue, smiling.

“……”

You’re kidding. This is a lie. Please tell me that I’m still dreaming. After all, that just now was my first…

“By the way, that was my first kiss.”

“Wha…”

As I was falling deeper into despair, she just showed me a teasing grin, like a true devil.

“I’ll be going home now.” She acted like nothing happened, as she headed towards the door.

I thought she just wanted to run away, but right before stepping out, she turned around, which had her black hair flutter.

“Bye, Jirou-kun.”

Elegantly, with a beautiful face enough to make my heart skip a beat, she announced these words. And then, almost like she was singing her favorite song, she continued.

“See you at school tomorrow.”

1 Another reference to Resident Evil, this virus turns peeps to super mutants (iirc)