Can I brag about my very devoted wife to you?

Chapter 1 Part 5 – I ended up spending the morning with her (in a healthy way)

TL: Chaos

ED: Riciel

I slept soundly without waking up once, and the next thing I knew, the room was starting to brighten up. It was already morning.

I had eaten a delicious meal, nourished myself, taken my medicine, and slept well, and my body now felt surprisingly relaxed. Yesterday’s sluggish feeling had completely vanished.

I sat up, shocked to find Hanae Riko dozing off in the chair by the bed, and stopped breathing. She was curled up as if feeling cold and was burying the tip of her nose in the coat that was draped over her.

“Eh… Why…?”

“Hmm…”

Hanae Riko, who unconsciously flinched at my words, slowly opened her large eyes. She moved her face a little absentmindedly, but the moment she saw me in her vision, she jumped up with such force that I thought I heard the chair being pushed away forcefully.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stay until morning…! Well, actually… I tried to go home after Shinyama-kun fell asleep, but the train stopped because of the snow…”

When I understood the situation, I wanted to hold my head.

“Ah, you’re right…! Sorry…!”

I had heard this information on the radio in my teacher’s car.

“In the Kanto Koshin region, including Tokyo’s 23 wards, there is a risk of major disruptions to timetables due to the snow, and some services on conventional lines may be suspended.”

I let out a small sigh, remembering the inorganic voice of the announcer.

Unbelievable…

Why didn’t I care for her properly…?

No matter how much of a cold you had, that shouldn’t an excuse to not mention it. I was so ashamed of myself yesterday when I only had been thinking about myself.

“How are you feeling, Shinyama-kun?”

“Oh, yeah. I feel much better. My fever seems to have gone down already.”

Hanae Riko said, “I’m still worried about you.”, and offered me a thermometer. I accepted it and measured my fever at 36.6°C. My temperature was back to normal.

She peeked at the digital numbers on the thermometer and exhaled as if she was relieved. Still, she quickly exclaimed, “But you have to take your morning medicine! I’ll be back in a minute!”, and dashed out of the room.

I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.

I’m feeling fine, and I should get up…

But is it okay to go peek when you’ve been told to wait?

Because in old tales, any characters who peeked despite being told to wait ended up horribly.

If I were to do this, Hanae Riko would probably say, “It looks like you’re really going to be okay by yourself now. I’m going home.”, and leave.

And that would be the end of our relationship.

We’ve never spoken to each other at school before.

Starting Monday, we’ll just be strangers again.

‘But I… I don’t want her to go home yet.’

I was immediately ashamed of myself for even thinking such a thing.

She must be exhausted because of me.

That’s why I have to let her go.

As I was heading to the living room after changing my clothes, Hanae Riko came back with a homemade egg sandwich, an apple cut into bite-sized pieces, and a glass of water for my medicine on a tray.

“Ah! Don’t do that, Shinyama-kun. It’s important to completely recover from a cold. Please go back to your futon.”

There was no way I could talk back to her, especially not with her gentle tone. In the end, I ate a delicious egg sandwich made by Hanae Riko, ate an apple, took some medicine, and enjoyed an extended period of dreamy happiness.

Hanae Riko was also sitting beside me, munching on her sandwich. She squinted her eyes a little and ate her food happily. It was so cute that I couldn’t help but glance sideways at her several times.

I just hope that Hanae Riko doesn’t notice my rather creepy behavior…

◇◇◇

– After eating and resting, I thanked her again and apologized to her.

“Thank you, Hanae-san, for everything. Also, I’m really sorry… Did you sleep in the chair…? It was cold, wasn’t it…? Oh, I’m really sorry…”

“I was wearing a coat, so I’m fine. It’s not that bad. See?”

“Still, you should have woken me up…”

Hanae Riko just smiled softly at my words.

“I’m glad to hear that you’re feeling better, Shinyama-kun. But I think your body is still weak, so you need to rest a little longer.”.

It must have been absolutely freezing with just a coat, but she didn’t say a single word of resentment. On the contrary, she was only worried about me.

Just what are you, Hanae Riko…?

Just why are you so kind?

In addition to feeling guilty, there was an additional emotion mixed in. A feeling I’ve never had for anyone before.

I felt affection mixed with a longing for her, combined with a faint pain in my chest.

I’m such an idiot.

What the hell am I thinking?

That’s impossible…..

I’m about to fall in love with the most beautiful girl in the school?

I don’t know what to do with myself anymore.

Yes, I can still turn back.

I’m sure it’s just a fleeting crush.

It’s not that I deeply fell in love with her.

I told myself that in my heart.

“I hope it has stopped snowing by now.”

Hanae Riko said this in a tone of voice that sounded like she was talking to herself, and approached the window. With a crisp sound, the curtains were opened.

Beyond the window was a snow-covered landscape. Hanae Riko and I couldn’t help but look at each other in front of a scenery full of white that made us doubt that we were even in Ofuna.

“Wow…”

I also stood up and went to the window.

“What should I do? It looks like the train isn’t moving yet….”

Hanae Riko, standing next to me, looked like having sparkles in her eyes which stood in contrast to her words.

I think she’s happy about the snow.

I already knew that she was much more expressive than she looked, so I wasn’t surprised, but I was thrilled too. Because Hanae Riko, who was looking around the city as if she was imagining herself excitedly scurrying in the snow, was too cute.

“Can I stay here a little longer, Shinyama-kun?”

“Of course. If Hanae-san agrees to it, I’m fine with it.”

“How could I disagree?”

I didn’t know how to answer, so I fell silent. Because I had become aware of her earlier, I had trouble talking to her anyway. Due to that, I found myself unconsciously sighing over and over again.

“Do you hate… me, Shinyama-kun?”

“W-what?”

“You look kind of uncomfortable…”

“……!”

Wha?

Your eyes are getting all teary.

It would be quite unbearable to think that someone might not like you…

But I can understand what it’s like to have to go through without being liked.

It doesn’t matter that I’m unnoticeable compared to her, I can relate to her feeling saddened.

I didn’t want to see Hanae Riko cry, so I hurriedly explained myself.

“It’s not like that… It’s just that we’ve never had any contact with each other before. I don’t know how to interact with you…”

“Really?”

When I nodded my head, Hanae Riko relaxed her shoulders as if she was relieved.

I’m glad.

It seems that the misunderstanding has been cleared up.

“… It’s true that we’re in the same class, but we don’t usually talk at all. I wonder if Shinyama-kun doesn’t like getting involved with people other than Sawa-kun and the others. Aren’t you distancing yourself from our classmates?”

“Isn’t that also the case for Hanae-san? You seem to be more careful about that than me.”

In the first place, I’m not voluntarily building a wall.

I’m just an invisible guy who doesn’t have any presence and doesn’t get noticed by girls.

But even though I don’t stand out at all, I sometimes inadvertently get caught in Sawa’s stray bullets, causing me to be viewed in a bad light, and I have even been called names…

Hanae Riko also had a complicated look on her face next to my depressed face.

“I seem to be careful… Did I look like that in school?”

“Well, yes. I thought you were avoiding men since you were always with girls.”

When I said that, Hanae Riko looked a little uncomfortable and looked down.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not really good with boys. But I wanted to talk to you, Shinyama-kun.”

She made it sound as if I was the only one special, and for a moment I almost misunderstood. But I knew. There was no way someone like me would be treated as special.

Maybe what she meant now was ‘I don’t consider you as a member of the opposite sex, that’s why I treat you the same way I would treat a person of the same sex’. In other words, it was a pattern of how girls would open up to guys who they judged to be harmless.

Sadly, such men weren’t allowed to appeal to the opposite sex. If you were to do that, they would instantly feel uncomfortable and leave you.

“Shinyama-kun… I’m glad I could talk to you, Shinyama-kun.”

I tried my best not to misunderstand Hanae Riko’s words any further as I kept my gaze on her.

“I should have been brave earlier. I should have been brave enough to do this earlier. I found out too late, though…”

“Too late for what?”

“I’m about to move overseas because of my father’s work.”

“What…?”

I was extremely shocked to learn of this. Hanae Riko will move abroad soon…..

Does that mean I will never be able to see her again…?

… No, I think it’s for the best.

I’m sure that the unrequited love that I have for her will disappear once we are apart.

That way, I won’t have to experience unnecessary suffering. Yeah, yeah.

“I really wanted to stay in Japan by myself like Shinyama-kun, but I was told that it wasn’t allowed.”

“…I see. Well, Hanae-san is a girl, so your parents will be worried.”

“But… I really, really want to stay here…”

Hanae Riko muttered with her voice gradually fading away. When I turned my head to the side to look, all I saw was a downcast girl. I didn’t know what expression she had on her face, but I could tell she was depressed. I couldn’t stand still, so I started to encourage Hanae Riko with a few words of my own.

“They say you can’t stay here alone, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Then why don’t you stay with your relatives?”

“My parents are from Hokkaido and all my relatives live there…”

“Oh… Then why don’t you ask your good friends?”

“They were all worried about me, but no one had a room available…”

“Well, most of the houses don’t…”

The only reason I had an extra room in my house was because of my parents being overseas.

“If Hanae-san was male, I could have offered you an empty room.”

There was no point in bringing up such an impossible IF. But as soon as Hanae Riko heard my words, she looked up.

“… Shinyama-kun, do you mind living with me?”

“Hmm…?”

The sudden and unexpected question made me choke up.

“How could I not like it, but Hanae-san is a girl….”

There’s not a single chance in a million that we’re going to live together.

I… I mean, does Hanae Riko think it’s possible for me to live with her if she’s asking me that…?

… Wait, wait, wait, you idiot.

You’re wrong.

Even if it’s possible, it’s only because she doesn’t want to leave Japan and can tolerate living with me.

…Yet, if that’s the case, it’s still kind of nice to know that she’s not hating me.

As I was thinking about this, Hanae Riko suddenly turned her entire body towards me and leaned forward. In an instant, the distance between us shrank.

Whoa…!

Her momentum was so strong that I quickly packed off, which caused her to get even closer. With her impatient demeanor, she probably didn’t realize that she was so close that she was almost touching me.

“I’d like to ask … a favor of Shinyama-kun.”

“Yes …?”

“Shinyama Minato-kun…! Will you make me… your bride, please?”

….. What?

Did she just say… to become my wife?

Wait… wife…? Wife!?

“EHHH!?”