After Being Dumped With the Insult, “You’re So Clingy!” and Finding Her in Despair, I Kept Encouraging My Beautiful Classmate and as a Result, That Beautiful Girl Started Directing Her Heavy Emotions Toward Me Instead, but Since I Like Emotionally Heavy Girls, It’s No Problem - 4

Chapter 4: When I Woke Up

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When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling. It was an old wooden ceiling. Long ago, its beautiful brown wood grain must have been visible. Now it had darkened so much that the grain could no longer be seen. In the far right corner, the air conditioner was running with a loud whirring noise.

Apparently, I had been sleeping in my bed. I felt like I had been dreaming about something while I slept, but I couldn’t remember what it had been about. I slowly pushed myself up from the bed.

“Cold…”

At that moment, the cold object that had been resting on my forehead slid down onto my face. I picked it up with my hand. It was a damp towel.

“This is…?”

“Ah… you’re awake?”

As I was confused about the unfamiliar object, I heard a girl’s voice from the back of the room. I turned my eyes toward it. Jujoji was standing there.

“Jujoji? Oh, right…”

Seeing her, my memories gradually returned. I had invited Jujoji to my room. Up until the point where I lent the bath to her so she could warm up after getting soaked, everything had been fine. But then, even though she had been soaked too, I was the one who reached my limit first and collapsed. It seemed she had carried me to the bed and placed a damp towel on my forehead to nurse me.

“Sorry. I caused you trouble.”

Apologizing for making her take care of me, I tried to stand up.

“…Huh?”

However, my vision wavered and my body swayed unsteadily. Jujoji hurriedly supported me as I nearly fell.

“Please lie down. You still have a fever.”

I felt somewhat better than before I collapsed, but apparently I wasn’t fully recovered. She laid me back down on the bed and pulled the blanket over me. Then she replaced the damp towel with a fresh one. The cool sensation drew the heat from my forehead and felt pleasant.

“Sorry.”

“No, Kokonoe-kun caught a cold because of me. I’m sorry. I should have insisted that you take the bath first.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“I see.”

I didn’t regret catching a cold. Even if I got sick, what mattered more to me was that I hadn’t repeated the same regret from my childhood.

For a while, I rested my head against the pillow and stared at the ceiling. The heavy rain that had been so loud earlier had stopped at some point. Suddenly, I wondered what time it was and asked Jujoji. We had gotten back to the apartment a little after five in the afternoon. Just how many hours had I been asleep?

“What time is it?”

“Right now? Um… it’s 8 p.m.”

“Eight!?”

It had gotten quite late. That meant I had been asleep for nearly three hours. Even though it was that late, was it really okay for her to still be here? If it were a boy, coming home late might not raise much concern, but for a girl, her parents would surely worry.

“Won’t your parents be mad?”

“I already contacted them. I told them that a friend who lives alone collapsed and that I would be late because I’m taking care of him, and they understood. …By the way, what about your parents, Kokonoe-kun? I think you should contact them…”

“Ah… my parents are overseas right now.”

My parents were currently abroad. My father had been transferred for work, and my mother had gone with him. When my father’s transfer had been decided, I told them I didn’t want to leave Japan. They said it might not be a bad idea for me to experience living alone for the sake of my future, so I ended up renting an apartment and living by myself in Japan.

“Overseas!? That’s…”

Jujoji looked surprised when she heard that, then seemed to think for a moment. …Soon, she wore an expression as if she had made up her mind and spoke again.

“…I understand. It’s my responsibility that you caught a cold, Kokonoe-kun. So I will take responsibility and nurse you.”

“No, no, just go home. I’ll be fine. Ah, but letting you go home alone at this hour…”

Even though summer was approaching and the days were getting longer, it was naturally dark outside by eight o’clock. I felt uneasy about letting a girl go home alone in the dark. Normally, it would have been my responsibility to walk her home since I was the one who brought her here, but unfortunately I didn’t feel well enough to do that. I was unsteady even just walking.

“That’s it. I’ll call a taxi. I’ll pay.”

There was also the option of having Jujoji’s parents come pick her up. But I was the one who invited her here. In that case, it made more sense for me to send her home rather than have her parents come. I pulled my school bag closer from beside the bed, searched for my wallet, and began rummaging through it. However, Jujoji grabbed my arm and stopped me.

I was a little surprised by how strong her grip was for a girl.

“Please don’t worry about it. I’ll stay overnight and take care of you.”

“That’s really not a good idea. I doubt your parents would allow you to stay over.”

“I’ll convince them.”

“But…”

“Kokonoe-kun, when I was crying and told you to ‘leave me alone,’ you still forced yourself to sit beside me and comfort me, didn’t you? Then even if you say ‘I’m fine,’ I’ll force myself to stay by your side and take care of you.”

“No, I’m seriously fi—”

“You’ll let me take care of you, right?”

She leaned closer toward me as she demanded that. Though she wore a gentle smile on her face, the pressure I felt from her was overwhelming.

“Y-Yeah…”

Overwhelmed by that pressure, I found myself nodding.

“Since I’ve received your consent, I’ll contact my parents. …No taking it back now, okay?”

Jujoji took her smartphone and left the room for the moment. I stared blankly at the door she had exited through.

…I hadn’t known she could be that assertive. In class, her image had always been something like “soft-spoken” or “kind.” The sense of responsibility for making me catch a cold must be what was driving her to act that way.

At the time, that was how I interpreted it.

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