In a World Where Chastity Is Reversed, I Kept Provoking Girls Until Things Went Too Far - Chapter 32: Cold and Nursing

Chapter 32: Cold and Nursing

The morning after coming back from the nature class.

Kouta woke up later than usual and lay in his futon, staring blankly at the ceiling.

He felt heat building up, and his body felt heavy. The back of his throat stung a little. His pajamas were slightly damp from night sweats, and it felt gross.

“…Ugh. Maybe a cold.”

But he figured the exhaustion from the nature class had all hit him at once.

He muttered that quietly and checked his phone. The time was nine in the morning. It was a holiday today, so he had the day off.

“Well, a little fever should go down quick…”

He put his hand to his forehead, and his palm felt definite heat. He felt kinda sick overall, so he pulled the covers up over his head.

But his mom, who was making breakfast downstairs, didn’t miss that slight odd movement from Kouta.

“…Kouta? You up? Come show your face!”

There was a thumping sound coming up the stairs. The door flew open, and in burst his mom, Kasumi, in her apron.

“What’s with that face! Your cheeks are all red!”

“Nah, I’m fine, really…”

“You’re not fine! Let me feel your forehead!”

She said that and pressed her hand right to his forehead.

That instant—

“…Hot! You do have a fever!”

Kasumi whipped around right away and yelled toward the stairs.

“Mio! Your brother’s got a fever! Call Rika too! Oh, and I gotta call your company to say he’s taking the day off!”

“W-Wait, you don’t need to go that far…”

“My son’s down, so there’s no way I can go to work on a holiday!”

Her voice echoed through the whole house.

His head already hurt, and now her voice was bouncing around inside it even more.

Kouta sighed as he realized,

“This is the kind where they won’t let me rest.”

“Here, some rice porridge! Eat it right now!”

“H-Hey, Mom, you haven’t even taken my temperature yet—”

“I can tell just by looking! Your face is red!”

Kasumi set the tray down with a bang, and the spoon and bowl rattled a bit.

From behind her, his little sister Mio came in, holding her own tray.

“Hey, Mom, that’s not really porridge. It’s basically just okayu with too many ingredients thrown in.”

“What are you saying? When you have a cold, you just need to get some nutrition any way you can!”

“But for a cold, it’s about easy digestion, right? Mine’s got a properly gentle flavor!”

With that, Mio held out her homemade porridge confidently.

It looked… honestly, way too thin, like grains of rice floating in hot water.

“Nah, Mio, that won’t have any flavor…”

“It’s fine! Your health comes first, big bro!”

“Hey! Don’t you think the one your mom made is more reliable?”

His mom and sister glared at each other, each holding a ladle like weapons.

Right in front of the sick guy, the two of them ramped up the tension on their own.

“One of you is enough…”

“Which one do you want, Kouta?”

“You like mine better, right, big bro?”

They both pressed him at the same time.

A war had broken out over “nursing rights.”

“How about taking turns, one spoonful from each?”

Kouta said that in desperation, and the two went quiet for a second.

“…Fine, I’ll go first then.”

“Why do you get to go first, Mom!”

After that, spoons of porridge came at him from right and left, alternating, and Kouta’s brain just shut down.

The final straw came when they tried to take his temperature.

“Putting foreheads together is more accurate than a thermometer!”

“What are you talking about? The thermometer’s way more reliable!”

“Then just do both!”

“That’s weird, isn’t it!? …Wait, is it actually not?”

From down the hall, there was a bang! as the front door flew open hard.

“…Hey, what are you doing!? It’s so noisy, you wouldn’t think there’s a sick person here!”

There stood Rika, still in her uniform, sports bag slung over her shoulder.

Her hair was a bit messy, like she’d just come back from club activities—no, more like she’d bailed out midway.

“R-Rika!? What about club?”

“I ditched halfway! Mio LINE’d me that ‘big bro’s on the verge of death’!”

“I didn’t say he was on the verge of death!”

His little sister turned bright red and shot back.

“‘He’s suffering from the fever, but Mom’s trying to make him wear those zero-sense pajamas’!”

“H-Hey! Those were made from good material for your health!”

“Leopard print has nothing to do with health!”

As the chaos deepened, Kouta pulled the covers over his head and sighed.

In the middle of all that mess, Rika moved smoothly.

She glanced at his mom and sister, then opened the freezer with no wasted motion. She took out ice, wrapped it in a clean towel, and came to the bedside with a sports drink she’d probably bought on the way home.

“Here, Kouta, drink this. I’ll cool you with the ice pack, so don’t move.”

“…Th-Thanks…”

“Take your meds too. They probably left them sitting around, huh?”

At those words, Kouta gave a wry smile and nodded.

Rika said nothing more and gently held out the cup.

Her voice had a weird calming effect.

Maybe because his mom and sister were so worked up from worry, her calm tone felt extra reassuring.

“Seriously. I get that you two are worried, Mom, Yui…”

As she applied the ice pillow, Rika let out a small sigh.

“But making noise around the sick person just makes it worse, right? And for pajamas, it’s about breathability, not the pattern.”

“Ugh…”

“But we were worried…”

His mom and sister both drooped a little.

Rika gave them a soft smile.

“So both of you—withdraw.”

“Huh, wait, withdraw—”

“Get out of the room.”

His mom and sister looked at each other and slunk out.

As the door closed, the room went dead quiet, like magic.

“…Thanks.”

“Seriously, those two’s energy was higher than your fever.”

Rika gave a wry smile as she stuck a new cooling patch on Kouta’s forehead.

Her fingertips were a little cold, and it felt oddly nice.

“…You’re pretty reliable after all, sis.”

“Of course. I’m the one stuck between a brother-obsessed little sister and a high-energy mom, so I’m the one who has it toughest.”

As he watched his sister laugh while saying that, Kouta closed his eyes, feeling a bit more at ease.

The next morning.

Sunlight streamed in through a gap in the curtains, bright and white.

Kouta opened his eyes slowly. His condition was way better than yesterday. The heaviness in his head had eased, and the sore throat was gone.

“…Morning.”

A small voice came from beside him. Rika was dozing in a chair by the bed, a blanket over her shoulders. She’d apparently stayed up all night nursing him. On the desk were a half-drunk bottle of Pocari and the bag from the melted ice pillow.

“…Sis, thanks.”

When Kouta muttered that, Rika rubbed her eyes and smiled.

“Mm… We’re siblings, right? It’s normal.”

Those words warmed his chest a little.

—Right then. A faint noise from beyond the door.

“…Mom, be quiet!”

“But I wanna check on him…!”

They were bickering in whispers. Then, with a click, the door cracked open just a few centimeters. There, the faces of his mom and sister peeked in side by side.

“…Ah.”

Their eyes met Kouta’s. Awkward silence.

“G-Good morning, Kouta! How are you? All better? Mom got a little too hyped yesterday…”

“…Sorry, big bro. We were loud, huh…?”

Both of them looked totally dejected. They seemed even more awkward remembering yesterday’s commotion.

Rika said with a wry smile,

“It’s fine if you’re sorry. Next time, ‘calm nursing,’ okay?”

“Yes…” “Yeah…”

His mom and sister nodded obediently.

“Well… thanks, everyone. Thanks to you all, I’m feeling a lot better.”

At those words, all three of their faces lit up at once.

“Really!? Yay~!”

“See, our love did the trick!”

“Of course, since I nursed him one-on-one.”

In the end, all three made breakfast for him, and his room got lively again.

But it was much gentler than yesterday’s chaos, filled with soft, kind sounds.

—Noisy, but this everyday life really feels the most relaxing.