Can I brag about my very devoted wife to you?

Chapter 1 Part 1 – How did I get so close to the most beautiful girl in school?
TL: Chaos

ED:Riciel

It was extremely cold that morning, and the news and Twitter trends on my phone were filled with headlines such as ‘the coldest period of the year has arrived’. During the break time, I watched news reporters talking about how much they wanted to eat hot pot or take a hot bath to warm up, and after lunch, it started to rain with sleet.

Even though the classroom was heated, the cold air was still coming in from the hallways and windows. I was tempted to have hot pot and a bath to warm myself up.

However, my parents were away on a business trip, so no matter how cold the day was, it was impossible to have any homemade hot pot meals. I’m sure there was an earthenware pot among the cooking tools my mother left behind, but I was unable to cook. In addition, I always took a shower, so the bathtub wasn’t ready to be filled with hot water.

It’s hard to get through this cold weather without any pots or pans and no warm baths…….

As I was thinking about this, I felt a chill in my stomach. It was especially cold around my shoulders. I was thinking it was just my body feeling a temporary chill, but gradually my joints started to hurt.

Ugh. Seriously…

Feeling the signs of a cold, I hunched on my back.

Ever since I started living on my own when I entered high school, I’ve been eating at convenience stores for all three meals. Perhaps that’s why I’ve been catching colds more easily in the past few years.

That’s also why I know.

This is a bad one.

I had two hours of class left. It wasn’t bad enough for me to leave early at this point, so I pushed myself a little too hard, which wasn’t a good idea at all. During the cleaning time after the sixth period, my fever rose so high that I started to sweat.

If I had told the teacher that I was sick at this stage, Hanae Riko and I would not have gotten married.

And now that I thought about it, life was quite scary.

Was it just a coincidence that occurred between me and Hanae Riko, or was it fate?

There was no way to know.

But anyway, our meeting happened, and in an uncharacteristically heroic way, I saved the most beautiful girl in the school from trouble. I would never have done such a thing normally. In retrospect, the heat from the fever must have dulled my judgment.

– Let me tell you what happened in detail.

This week, the boys in my group and Sawa’s group were in charge of sweeping the hallway entrance, and they were all amused by the slippery tiles in front of the shoebox that were wet from the storm. Compared to the others who were having fun with brooms as sticks, saying, “Hockey!”, I wasn’t feeling well and I couldn’t help it. My breathing was ragged and my body felt lethargic with just a little movement, and I was feeling hot. In total, my condition was so serious that I had to concentrate on staying conscious.

I can’t wait for the cleaning time to be over…

As I sighed and swept, Hanae Riko appeared from the classroom with a trash can.

Sawa and the others were also probably aware of Hanae-san. For a brief moment, the elevator entrance was silent.

But in the end, no one was able to call out to her. Even when they saw Hanae Riko holding a trash can with both hands and walking away with an umbrella around her neck, they couldn’t even say, “Can I help you?”.

Instead of offering to help, they resumed their hockey game in a more excited manner than before she had shown up, but all of them were sneaking glances at Hanae Riko’s.

‘Maybe Hanae Riko will glance at us.’

I could feel the helplessness of them expecting such a thing, and I felt a headache.

I wondered why guys were this childish.

I didn’t join Sawa and the others, partly because I wasn’t feeling well, but also because I was scared. I had low self-esteem, and I was afraid that if I did the same as them and I happened to make eye contact with Hanae Riko, she would think that I was just an overexcited, gloomy person.

No, Hanae Riko doesn’t have that kind of personality.

She’s not that kind of girl with a bad mouth.

This is just my imagination.

‘Even so, she might think that boys were really annoying……’

This paranoia of mine already makes me sick.

As soon as I sighed secretly, as if to show the gods that nothing good can happen when otakus get excited, Sawa and his friends’ pranks caused a disaster.

Maeno tried to hit back the broom that Sawa had flung at him. The handle of the broom hit Hanae Riko’s umbrella as she was walking out in the storm.

“Kyah…!”

With a faint scream, Hanae Riko lost her balance, right in front of me. Her umbrella with a bright red flower design flew into the air, while the trash can fell with a nasty gurgling sound.

The sleet-soaked tiles were so slippery that the ground looked like a skating arena and the pale Hanae Riko lost her balance.

Strangely enough, the whole thing seemed to me like it was happening in slow motion. That’s how I was able to react immediately. I wasn’t aware that I had good eyesight, and this was the only time in my life that I had ever experienced anything like this.

I grabbed Hanae Riko’s hand and pulled her towards me. It would have been cool if I could have saved her gallantly. Unfortunately, I slipped and fell on my butt on the spot. The rainwater had passed through my uniform and was slowly soaking my pants. The rain was pouring down on me, mixed with sleet.

It’s impossible for me. This was so lame…

The only good thing was that I had let go of Hanae Riko’s hand just before I fell, so she wasn’t affected.

Hanae Riko was staring at me with a stunned look on her face, seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened. Her hair and uniform were getting wet, little by little. Behind her, Sawa and the others were standing around with expressions on their faces, as if they didn’t know what to do.

Why are those guys like part of an insignificant background scene?

I looked from Sawa and the others back to Hanae Riko once again. It seemed that Riko Hanae has finally grasped the situation and lowered her eyebrows as she looked at the fallen trash can, the umbrella on the floor, and me sitting there.

Ugh, this is awkward…

I can only imagine how pathetic I look slumped over.

“Hanae-san, pick up the umbrella, you’ll get wet.”

When I tried to stand up after telling her that, I felt a jolt in my head and stumbled back.

“Shinyama-kun…! Are you in pain somewhere…?”

“Oh, no, I’m not… I’m just sick with a cold… But don’t worry about it. It just made me woozy for a second….”

I forced a smile, but honestly, I didn’t feel like I could get up right away. It was probably a bad idea to try so hard to stand up immediately, with my body weakened by the cold. I wanted to call Sawa over, but my head was still wobbly and I wasn’t able to speak loudly. Just then, in the corner of my narrowing vision, I saw Hanae Riko move quickly.

“Oh! Um, hold on….”

Hanae Riko put her hand on my staggering body and supported me. I was so surprised by her actions that I just let her do what she wanted.

“I’m sorry… it’s my fault….”

“No, no, it’s not… Hanae-san’s fault.”

“But you have a cold, and I made you get all wet… I’m really sorry.”

“Uhm…”

Why did I only say “Uhm”? What even is that? Add a little something more.

“Really… don’t worry about it…”

“What should I do…? You have to go to the infirmary… No, I think you should even go to the hospital, right? Do you want me to call an ambulance? Or, should I get the doctor first…?”

“It’s not that big of a deal…”

“Don’t overdo it… What should I do, what should I do…?”

At that moment, Sawa seemed to come to his senses and announced “I’ll go get the teacher!”, and ran off. The other boys were still standing around, not taking any initiative as usual. Compared to them, Hanae Riko supported me and took me to a place out of the rain and stayed close to me.

“Do you want to sit? Or is it easier for you to lie down? Ah! Do you want to lie on my lap?!”

“…Oh, calm down, Hanae-san..!”

Why did you offer me a lap pillow ……? The situation felt too unrealistic for me to be happy, even though a beautiful girl had made me such a good offer.

I didn’t know that Hanae Riko was such an impulsive girl. I had a strong impression of her behaving and smiling modestly, so I assumed she was quite a calm girl, but now, her high rashness showed.

“I wish I could carry Shinyama-kun like a princess and take him to the doctor. …… Do you want to try that out…?”

“No, please don’t…”

There was no way that the slender Hanae Riko could carry me in her arms like a princess, and even if she could, she shouldn’t.

“What do you want me to do, Shinyama-kun? Is there anything you want me to do?”

Hanae Riko, holding me, looked into my face with concern. The distance between us was so close that I didn’t know if I could take a breath without bothering her.

Yes, I’m worried that she’ll think I’m a pervert. But I can’t talk if I hold my breath……

So, I had no choice but to try to breathe without making any noise. It felt quite perverted and depressing. Hanae Riko, who probably didn’t notice my stupid struggle at all, was staring at me with a crestfallen look on her face the whole time. Seeing her, I thought in a corner of my feverish mind.

Hanae Riko is also very cute when she looks dejected.