I Risked My Life To Save The Cheeky Girl, And As A Result, I Lost My Right Arm. - Chapter 13.1: Conflicting Feelings. (Part 1)

I apologize for the delay.

I’ve decided to go back and revise the story’s progression. I felt that the depiction of the heroines (especially Yuzu) was a bit shallow in the previous version, so I wanted to take more time to develop the relationships with the heroines and make them more appealing.

I hope to make it even more interesting than before, so I look forward to your continued support.

Story continues after Chapter 7.

Conflicting Feelings. (Part 1)

March 18th, Tuesday. 7:30 AM.

Cough, cough.

I lay weakly in bed, grimacing and coughing.

Hasegawa stood beside the bed and placed an ice pillow on my head.

Beep beep, beep beep.

The thermometer I had under my arm beeped. She said “Excuse me,” took it from under my arm, and checked the temperature.

Cough cough “What… what was the temperature?”

When I asked, Hasegawa responded with a bitter voice, “It’s 38.4°C.”

“Well… I guess I’ll have to… skip school…”

“Senpai, I will also stay home. I’ll stay and take care of you all day.”

“N-No, you don’t have to go that far. It feels wrong to make you skip school too…”

“No, I insist. Please, let me stay.”

Hasegawa’s wet eyes stared directly at me. In those eyes, my face, grimacing in weakness, was reflected.

To be honest, I wanted Hasegawa to stay. My dad was on a business trip for two or three days, and my mom had already left for her part-time job, so the house was empty. It felt difficult to ask my mom to come back because I had caught a cold.

(That said… it still feels wrong to make Hasegawa miss school because of me…)

It was that time of year, when colds are easy to catch because of the changing seasons, but still, I should have taken better care of my health.

I should have known that Hasegawa would worry about me.

“Senpai, please. This is exactly the reason why I am here.”

“…………”

After hearing Hasegawa’s plea, I slowly answered.

“…Okay. Then, I’m sorry, but could you take care of me…?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I’m sorry, Hasegawa. I’m making you do something so troublesome…”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

Hasegawa took her phone out of her bag and said, “I’ll call the school and let them know I’m taking a day off,” before dialing.

“U-Um, teacher, I’d like to take the day off today…”

While I dully stared at her as she made the call, I touched the ice pillow that had been placed on my forehead with my left hand.

Ah, this feels awful. My skin feels hot on the surface, but inside my body, it’s shockingly cold. I can feel chills running down my back, and no matter how many blankets I put over myself, I can’t get warm.

“Alright, I’ve made the call. Senpai, is there anything you’d like to eat?”

“Umm… I guess… something warm would be nice…”

“Something warm… How about miso soup and porridge?”

“Ah, yeah… I think I’d like that.”

“Then I’ll go make it, I will handle it in the kitchen.”

After saying that, Hasegawa left the room and headed to the kitchen. The sound of her footsteps fading away reached my ears.

“…………”

The morning sunlight was streaming in through the gap in the curtains. As I bathed in it, I felt like I was being scolded with words like, “Hurry up and get up to go to school” or “Have a normal morning as usual.”

I couldn’t stand it and, still lying in bed, I pulled the curtains closed.

“…Sorry to keep you waiting. Here’s your miso soup and porridge.”

About 30 minutes later, Hasegawa returned to my room with a tray in her hands.

“Cough cough. Th-thank you.”

I sat up, coughing, and thanked her. Hasegawa placed the tray on my thighs.

The smell of the tofu and seaweed miso soup and the egg porridge tickled my nose.

“Wow, you’re amazing… Hasegawa, you’re good at cooking!”

“When I was at home, I used to cook a lot. Though, I can only do it by following recipes on my phone.”

“No, no, that’s still impressive. Wow, thank you so much, Hasegawa!”

Just as I was about to grab the spoon, she took it first. Then she scooped up some porridge and blew on it, saying, “Fuu, fuu.”

“Here you go, Senpai. Please open wide. I will feed you.”

“Ah, okay. Um… ahh…”

I decided to let her feed me. It made me think back to when I was still in the hospital.

It hasn’t been that long since I was discharged, but it already feels like a long time ago.

“Fuu, fuu.”

Before putting the porridge into my mouth, Hasegawa always blew on it. As I ate it, I felt like I was experiencing a kind of indirect kiss, and it made my heart race a little.

“Here you go, Senpai. Open wide.”

“Alright… Ahh…”

“How is it? Is it too hot?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. The temperature is just right, and it tastes great.”

“I’m glad. I’m relieved.”

Hasegawa’s face relaxed slightly, showing a hint of happiness.

“Still, I didn’t know you were so good at cooking, Hasegawa. I’m not good at that kind of thing, so I’m kind of envious.”

“As long as you follow the recipe, anyone can make it.”

“It’s the following the recipe part that’s hard for me… I can’t seem to manage that…”

“Fufu~, I guess that might be a bit difficult for you, Senpai.”

“Hey? You’re being kind of harsh, laughing at your senior like that.”

“I know all too well that Senpai is a bit of a klutz.”

“Tch, no respect for your senior, huh? Geez.”

Hasegawa and I were gently chatting, smiling at each other.

Ever since the day we went to that shopping mall together, our relationship had recovered enough that we could exchange lighthearted jokes like this.

Before, Hasegawa always had a tense expression, and there was no chance she’d ever smile. But now, that tension had eased a little, and she was starting to show a more relaxed side.

Just like before the accident, when Hasegawa teases me, I genuinely feel happy, and I can’t help but smile.

“Ouch.”

At that moment, the spoon brushed against the corner of my mouth, and I felt a sharp, burning heat.

Hasegawa quickly pulled the spoon back, looking at my face with concern. “A-Are you okay!?”

“S-Sorry… I didn’t cool it down properly before bringing it to your mouth…”

“No, no, it’s fine, it’s fine… It just touched the corner of my mouth…”

Even though I said that, Hasegawa’s face didn’t brighten. She looked genuinely apologetic, furrowing her brow and pouting.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”

“Hasegawa…”

“I should’ve been more careful…”

“…………..”

The gentle atmosphere that had been there just moments before had vanished.

An awkward and heavy silence settled between us, weighing down on my shoulders.

“Hasegawa, you don’t need to blame yourself so much.”

I said those words, not just about the spoon but with a deeper meaning, hoping she’d understand.

But she didn’t accept it. She shook her head vigorously and, with a strained voice, said, “I shouldn’t have gotten carried away.”

“…………..”

After that, she continued to feed me the food she had made.

However, as time passed, the warmth of the food faded, and the freshly made warmth that had been there earlier gradually disappeared.

After that, I slept for a while. When I catch a cold, I always believe that the best way to recover is simply to sleep it off.

I took some cold medicine I had at home and, following my body’s natural rhythm, slept deeply like I was in a stupor.

“…Hmm.”

When I woke up, it was already well past three in the afternoon.

It seemed that the fever had finally subsided, and my whole body felt warm. I could immediately tell I had sweated quite a bit, as my back felt damp.

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I took the thermometer from the side of my bed and measured my temperature. It had dropped to a mild fever of 36.9°C.

(Sigh… Good. This way, I won’t trouble Hasegawa any further.)

Thinking of her, I finally realized something—I was alone in the room.

(Huh? Where did she go?)

She was probably just in the bathroom or something, but I felt a little lonely.

It was surprisingly hard when the person who is usually by your side isn’t there when you wake up.

“Oh, Senpai, you’re awake.”

However, my loneliness faded quickly. She entered the room, holding a cold compress in her hand.

“Ah, Hasegawa. Where did you go?”

“Sorry, the cold compress had warmed up, so I went to replace it with a new one.”

“I see. Thanks.”

I sat up and took the cold compress from her, placing it on my head to cool off.

“By the way, Hasegawa, I took my temperature just now, and it’s down to 36.9°C.”

“Really? That’s great.”

“I’m really sorry. I’ve been such a bother today.”

“No, no, please don’t worry about it. Let me help as much as I can. By the way, are you hungry? I can make some porridge again, if you’d like?”

“Well, uh… No, I’m okay for now. I was thinking I’d take a bath first.”

“A bath?”

“Yeah, I’ve been sweating, so I thought I should wash it off.”

“Got it. Then, I’ll clean the bath for you.”

“Huh? No, no, it’s fine. I’ll clean it myself. I’m feeling better now, so I can handle that much.”

“Senpai, please just rest for today. When you’re recovering, it’s important to take it easy.”

With that, she said, “I’ll go clean the bath,” and left the room again.

In the end, I lay back down in bed and decided to rest some more.

(Sigh, it feels like today’s just a day where I keep bothering everyone.)

I let out a silent sigh as I stared at the white ceiling.

(…Well, I guess it’s true. Maybe it’s better to let myself rely on her today.)

If I try to push myself and end up getting sick again, that would just cause more trouble. I should rest properly today so that it can all end in one day.

“………………”

But really, I can’t help but feel indebted to Hasegawa.

She’s been taking care of me every day, even if it’s a form of atonement for her actions.

Even today, she’s cooking for me, preparing a cold compress, and now even cleaning the bath…

A mixture of gratitude and guilt overwhelms me, and I don’t know how to put my feelings into words.

I’ve always had a good relationship with Hasegawa, but I never expected she would do all this for me. It’s even more surprising than I thought.

“………………”

I can’t help but wonder.

What does Hasegawa think of me?

Is it just as a senior, or… is there something more?

‘The only one who would treat someone like I am, is probably you, Senpai.’

That line Hasegawa said before… Looking at it now, I can’t help but think that, at the very least, she must consider us to be good friends.

It’s not just a simple senior-junior relationship; maybe we’ve become more like friends… or maybe even something deeper than that.

…No, wait.

Could it be that there’s something even further?

Maybe she sees me as a potential romantic partner?

After all, she chose to live at my place and takes care of me all the time like this. Isn’t that something that only someone with romantic feelings would do…?

“………………”

Smack!

I slapped my own cheek with my left hand.

What the hell, Nakamura Reijiro? Don’t get conceited.

She’s only taking care of me as atonement, not out of any romantic feelings. It’s wrong to expect anything more from that.

Besides, there’s no way a girl would fall for someone like me, a clumsy fool. There are much cooler people in the world. There’s no way she would choose someone like me.

“………………”

…And.

And I absolutely… shouldn’t fall in love. I can’t have feelings for Hasegawa beyond a junior.

After all, I’m one-armed.

I’m the kind of person who has to rely on others just to live. Someone like me, carrying such a troublesome handicap, shouldn’t be the one to make Hasegawa happy. She deserves someone else by her side, someone who can bring her happiness.

I swore I would give up on love.

Pull yourself together, Nakamura Reijiro.

“…Senpai, the cleaning’s done. I’m filling up the bath now.”

After a while, Hasegawa returned to the room. I thanked her and got up from the bed.

“Alright, I’ll go grab my clothes and head to the bathroom.”

“Understood. Then, I’ll come with you.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll join you in the bath.”