Can I brag about my very devoted wife to you? - Chapter 1 Part 2

Chapter 1 Part 2 – She waited all this time for me in the freezing snow

TL: Chaos

ED: Riciel

In the end, while Sawa and the others were apologizing and saying “We were goofing around too much… sorry.”, Hanae Riko looked worried. Meanwhile, the homeroom teacher took me to a nearby hospital using his car. Before this, I had changed out of my soaking wet uniform into a PE uniform. Of course, I didn’t have a spare pair of pants, so I was in a miserable state under my jersey…

At the hospital, I was told by the doctor, “It’s not the flu, but your fever will likely rise further tonight. I’ll give you medicine for your fever.”

Then, I had to spend the next hour receiving an IV drip, so I made sure to call the movie theater beforehand where I worked to let me rest for a while.

This was originally the time of year when part-time jobs weren’t allowed before final exams, so it was fortunate that I had no working shifts at this time. I’m sure the director had already found a stand-in for me right away, but it had pained me to bother him due to my upcoming tests.

Thanks to the IV drip, I was able to move more or less properly, but the fever made it hard to keep my feet on the ground. So, my homeroom teacher gave me a ride home to my apartment.

“I’m sorry for this. Thank you very much.”

When I thanked him from under the mask he gave me at the hospital, my homeroom teacher laughed and said, “You’ve had a bad day, too.”

“Are you sure you’re okay by yourself? I’ll follow you to your room, okay?”

“No, there’s an elevator, everything’s fine.”

“Is that so? Well, you should get some rest on the weekends. Also, if you have any problems, call me.”

“Sure.”

The homeroom teacher patted his bearded cheek, then reached over and closed the passenger door. After seeing off the mini-car driven by my homeroom teacher, I headed for the entrance and gasped. 

That’s because I found Hanae Riko huddled up coldly in front of the glass door of the apartment building entrance.

“Ehh… Hanae-san?”

“Ah… How was the hospital…?”

When she heard my voice, Hanae Riko looked up vigorously and trotted over to me. Just like a dog that was waiting for its owner in front of the supermarket.

“Why…?”

I couldn’t get any more words out. Hanae Riko didn’t live in this apartment.

… Surely you haven’t been sitting here waiting for me to come back?

No, no, no, no. No way.

You didn’t have to wait for me.

It’s Hanae Riko we are talking about.

“I’m sorry… I’ve waited and waited… But I was really worried about you…”

“…!”

I froze when Hanae Riko easily acknowledged the idea I had dismissed.

… Seriously?

“How are you feeling…?”

“Oh, yeah. I got an IV drip, so I think I’m feeling a lot better than when I was at school.”

“I see… Glad to hear it…”

I blinked repeatedly, still in disbelief about the situation.

She said she was worried and waiting for me…

I’d understand if it was for a hot guy, but for me…

Even though I had my coat on, it was freezing cold…

I looked closer and saw that the tip of her nose was red and her eyes were watery from the cold.

Just how long have you been here ……!

Unlike me, who went to the hospital with my homeroom teacher, my classmates, including Hanae Riko, should have gone home after cleaning time. Before the test, not only part-time jobs, but also club activities were prohibited. The students were told to go home and study. So when the cleaning was finished, they were basically kicked out of the school building.

The distance from the school to the hospital was about ten minutes by car. And then there was also the time in the waiting room, the time at the doctor’s office, the one hour I was on the IV drip – all of it. I couldn’t walk properly because of my injuries, so it took me a long time to do all of that, and it ended up taking me more than an hour and a half from the time I had left the school to the time I got home.

If Hanae Riko had come straight from school to my apartment, I would have kept her waiting for quite some time.

… That couldn’t be possible, right?

Being outside for an hour on a cold, snowy day was like torture.

Waiting for someone in such a situation would be something only a loyal dog like Hachiko would do.

I wouldn’t last five minutes, at least not if I were her.

… So there’s no way that Hanae Riko was here the whole time.

There’s no way…

“Well, Hanae-san, you were waiting for me somewhere else, weren’t you…?”

When I asked her for confirmation, Hanae Riko tilted her head with a cute smile on her face.

“Eh? No, no. I rushed here as soon as school was over because I thought we would cross paths.”

There’s a girl right here who’s like the loyal dog Hachiko…!

[TN: Hachiko: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachiko]

And for some reason, Hanae Riko resembled the dog a little too much. She really was starting to look like a Hachiko expecting praise from her owner.

No, no, no.

I must be crazy to think that the most beautiful girl in school is starting to resemble Hachiko.

As I racked my brains, Hanae Riko’s face suddenly became uneasy.

“Sawa-kun told me where your house is.”

I’m sure I’ll be forced to deal with an excited Sawa at the end of the week.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked without permission…!”

“It’s totally fine…”

“I just couldn’t go home like that!”

“Uh-huh.”

You were that worried about me?

Hanae Riko… How good of a girl are you?

What’s going on with this girl who’s not only cute but also has a saintly personality?

“Well, um, I’m sorry about that. I apologize for making you wait so long. I’m sure I kept you waiting for a long time.”

“It’s not…! Don’t apologize…! It was my own choice.”

“But…”

We were both at a loss for words and there was a brief moment of silence. This was definitely the right time to end our meeting. I couldn’t let Hanae Riko freeze here any longer.

“Oh, it’s not good for us to be standing here talking when you’re not feeling well…!”

“No, it’s really fine… And anyway, the diagnosis didn’t show anything serious. Thank you so much for coming despite the cold. See you later.”

I hurriedly tried to walk past Hanae Riko, feeling very awkward. However, because of this, I wobbled again and lightly bumped my shoulder on the wall of the apartment.

“Are you alright!?”

Hanae Riko rushed over to me and lent me a hand right away. I’ve been seen in an unattractive position after having fallen on my butt on this day again. I felt too miserable to meet her gaze head-on, so I looked down awkwardly and thanked her quickly.

Honestly, I wanted to run away from this place right now. So this time, when I was about to slip by Hanae Riko, she stopped me for some unknown reason.

“Wait, Shinyama-kun…!”

Hanae Riko shifted her gaze hesitantly, then cautiously bit her lip for a moment. It was as if she was trying to muster up some courage. I was waiting for Hanae Riko’s next words, feeling uncomfortable and unsure of why she was holding me back.

“Ah, um… you know what?… If it’s not too much trouble, maybe you could let me take care of you…!”

“What…?”

What do you mean by taking care of me?

Hanae Riko, are you okay?

You mean you’re the one who’s gonna take care of me?

That suggestion was so implausible that I couldn’t understand the meaning of her words at all. That’s why I tried to refuse her while being confused. 

“But I can’t let you feel that responsible for me…”

“No, no, no! It’s not like that! I just thought that if there was anything I could do to help, I would do it… please don’t take it too seriously…”

“I see, but I don’t want you to catch a cold…”

“I don’t catch any colds at all, so I’m fine!”

“But my room is a complete mess…”

This reminded me of my room littered with plastic bottles that were left unattended because it was a hassle to throw them away, or the laundries that had accumulated over time.

“I’ll take care of that too.”

“Yeah…”

“Just consider me as a trial version of a maid robot that just showed up at your house one day! That’s all you have to think about! If someone tells you that they want our help in testing a product to introduce it later, you’ll try it out light-heartedly, right…? Right…!?”

What’s with that analogy of hers…

I don’t think I understand…

A daily life where you suddenly receive an all-purpose help robot (and a beautiful girl) one day; that was a future that had yet to come, even after the end of the Heisei era. [EN: An era in Japan, which was from 1989 – 2019.]

I had assumed that Hanae Riko was a girl of few words, so in my mind, I was surprised to find out that she talked quite a lot. Whenever she got flustered, she spoke a little too fast and her breathing timing was a little off. Not only was she a beautiful girl, but she was also cute in every aspect.

Plus, she was unbelievably kind… Otherwise, she wouldn’t have offered to help me.

But what a problem this is…

That’s because I’m going to hesitate no matter what.

There is no way that I should be nursed by the most beautiful girl in the school…

I thought about that in my head, which felt more hazy than usual.

“Listen, Hanae-san. I’m glad you feel that way, but I still think you should go back to…”

“…….”

As soon as I was about to decline, Hanae Riko’s shapely eyebrows furrowed upside down. When she gave me that pitiful look, I felt as if she was trying to make me feel guilty. This made it impossible for me to find the right words to refuse her.

Oh man…

My mind was still swirling with doubts about whether it was really a good idea, but in the end, I accepted her help.

“Can I ask you to help me out then…?”

I could still vividly remember the smile on Hanae Riko’s face when she heard my reply. 

At that moment, I couldn’t forget it because I was so mesmerized by her that I forgot to breathe, or even about the pain in my legs for that matter. I had no idea why Hanae Riko gave me such a look. But I thought that this was how a face smiling like a blooming flower looked like.