Can I brag about my very devoted wife to you?

I can’t hide it anymore

It was after lunch, while we were walking to the petting zoo, that I noticed something strange about Riko’s behavior.

“– And in the petting area, there are rabbits and guinea pigs roaming freely, and they say you can freely touch them. Also, it says here you can take pictures.”

“I’m glad! Minato-kun, let’s hold this Rabbit-chan and take a picture together!”

“Yeah. But, eh? … Riko, wait a minute.”

“What?”

Riko stopped walking while having a lovely face that was full of shyness. There was nothing unnatural at a quick glance.

But she was the person I liked, the person I had been watching from the side for the past few months. It was impossible not to notice.

“Riko, does your leg hurt?”

“Eh?”

Riko’s gentle smile tightened slightly.

“Oh, um, I’m totally fine–”

“Come here.”

I could tell right away that she was straining to keep me from worrying, so I ignored her words for the moment and sat her down on a nearby bench.

“Can I see your feet?”

“…”

Riko stared at me with sullen eyes.

If she wants to hide it in this situation… I had a bad feeling and knelt down at Riko’s feet.

“Riko, I’m sorry.”

After a quick apology, I took a look at her sandals and put her feet on my lap.

“Kya!”

Riko blushed immediately after my surprise. If it wasn’t for this emergency situation, I would have turned red just by touching Riko’s feet.

But right now, I was too pained to think about it.

“Minato-kun, you can’t do that. Your clothes will get dirty…!”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

They were cute little sandals with high soles, and probably the first time they were used today because they were still completely clean. I saw her feet, which were red in certain spots. In addition to these wounds, her little toe and heel were bleeding on being pressured by the sandals.

“… I’ll get you patched up in a minute, I’ll take the sandals off.”

“Oh, um, I’ll do it myself…!”

“Just stay still, Riko.”

“…! Ha, yes…”

For some reason, Riko became even redder when I said it firmly in a tone that wasn’t like me, so as not to make the caring Riko do it herself. I don’t know why, but I’m glad she didn’t try to get her feet off my lap.

I took off Riko’s sandal from her right foot, then fished into my backpack and pulled out a Band-Aid, antiseptic and clean gauze. Riko, who was watching my actions, widened her eyes.

“I’m surprised… Minato-kun, do you always carry that around with you?”

“No, I’ve prepared a lot of stuff just in case something goes wrong.”

In my backpack, I also have a flashlight, a battery charger, compresses, insect repellent, eye masks, and folding umbrellas for two people. The magazine I used as a reference didn’t have a list of things to bring on a date, so I wondered what I should do and decided to pack everything I could think of in case of unforeseen circumstances.

“Sorry, that might sting a little.”

“It’s okay.”

Riko squeezed her eyes shut as she prepared for the pain.

I didn’t want you to be in pain…

I sprayed the antiseptic as gently as I could with a feeling of helplessness. After wiping the wound with the gauze from the sealed bag and applying a band-aid, it was time for the left leg.

“–Okay, it’s done.”

“Thanks. I’ll try to stand up.”

“Eh? You shouldn’t push yourself–”

I hurriedly held out my hand to Riko. Riko put both feet on the ground while relying on my arm.

“Oh! That was amazing! It doesn’t hurt anymore, Minato-kun. It’s great that the band-aid stopped the sandals from hitting the wound directly!”

I was deeply relieved that she didn’t seem to be straining herself this time. But within a few seconds, I felt a surge of apology for having put her in this situation.

“Riko, I’m sorry. If I could have noticed your sore feet earlier, it wouldn’t have gotten so bad… No, it’s more that I didn’t realize you were wearing new sandals, and I should have realized that it wasn’t a good idea to walk long distances.”

“Well, wait! I’m the bad person. I made Minato-kun worry even more because I hid my sore shoes from him… And I was so excited that I was going on a date with Minato-kun that I wore my new sandals, which was stupid… I’m sorry…”

“No… It’s not your fault that I’ve been a failure all day…”

If I hadn’t made her walk the path from the pony area to the lake in the first place, none of this would have happened. The reason why it didn’t go as planned was because I didn’t tell Riko beforehand that I was planning to go horseback riding because I prioritized the surprise, and now that I think about it, I can’t say the surprise went well when I put myself in that situation.

I remembered the mistake I made on the train ride to the airport and the messed-up lunch box, and I felt deeply miserable.

And to top it all off, I let Riko be injured…

I want to punch myself in the face for thinking last night, “I’ve gone over the plan so many times, I should be able to handle tomorrow’s date perfectly.”

I was given the opportunity to redo our first date, but I couldn’t believe I’d screwed it up so badly again.

I wanted to try to make Riko like me and tell her that I like her. I thought I was doing my best, but I was just too over-confident.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything as planned… My plan was to make Riko happy properly…”

“What? What plan?”

Oh no. I said something I shouldn’t have. Even if I regretted it, I couldn’t undo the words once I had spat them out.

I couldn’t look up from feeling so miserable and explained what I had done to prepare for this date. I really wanted to look cool and not tell her about my preparations. In the end, I had to be honest and open about my over-confidence

“… No way… I can’t believe you did that much for me…And, Minato-kun, you talked to Rei-chan about that?”

“Asakura was very kind to me, so I’m sorry for not pulling off the plan well…”

“Why do you say it like that? I’ve been feeling so happy all day, haven’t I?”

“Thanks. But, you don’t have to comfort me. I’ve been failing a lot, and I know that better than anyone.”

“That’s not–”

Just as Riko was about to say something, thunder suddenly boomed above our heads. I looked up and saw that stagnant clouds were approaching from the west.

Had the weather finally given up on me? Even though the weather in the mountains was changeable, I could no longer help but think that I was attracting bad luck.

In no time at all, heavy drops of rain began to fall. The people around me rushed to find a roofed building.

“Let’s move, too. If Riko doesn’t mind, I’ll cover for you.”

I tried to bend down to lend her my back, but somehow Riko bumped into me.

Eh…?

She put her arm around me behind my back, making me even more confused.

I’m being held…? W-why?

“U-um, Riko-san…?”

Being so confused, I called out to her with “san”.

“I don’t care if it’s raining, I just want you to keep listening to me.”

“Y-yes.”

“I didn’t want to leave Minato-kun while we were on the train. So I was happy that you let me stay by your side. I was really surprised when you brought me to this farm as a surprise, and I was really excited because it felt like a special date. I couldn’t go horseback riding because I was wearing a skirt, but I wanted to look cute for my date with Minato-kun… The same goes for the sandals. I wanted to look as cute as possible from top to bottom, so that Minato-kun would think I was cute, even if only for a moment…”

“…”

“Minato-kun doesn’t know how much I was thrilled by the ponies. It was amazing to see that animals liked you so much. Do you remember, Minato-kun? It’s said that animals can tell who is kind to them. I think the ponies saw through Minato-kun’s kindness at first sight. I don’t know anyone as compassionate as Minato-kun. The fact that you woke up so early to make lunch for me, the fact that you brought me antiseptic and band-aids, the fact that you prepared a lot to make me happy, and the fact that you were depressed that it didn’t work, all of them were kind acts of Minato-kun, and I really respect that kindness of yours.”

I tried my best to make her happy, but it didn’t go well, making me depressed, but Riko accepted me all together.

I don’t believe that I have made enough effort to convey my affection for her properly. But Riko was so precious that I found myself overflowing with feelings.

“I, I like you, Riko.”

Translator & Editor: Riciel