My Beautiful Childhood Friend Is Working in a Maid Cafe For Some Reason - Chapter 65

The next day, I caught a cold, despite being a fool.

I had always said that fools don’t catch colds, but I was too much of a fool.

“Cough, cough!”

As I sniffled while coughing, Haru turned around, worried.

“Are you okay?”

“Not really…”

“How did you catch a cold? You had an umbrella yesterday, and you seemed fine.”

Yesterday, as I was leaving the shoe locker area with Yukina, I ran into Haru, who was walking with her. They looked like they were about to share an umbrella on their way home.

At that moment, I listened uncomfortably as Yukina excitedly explained something to Haru.

“A lot happened…”

If I had taken a warm bath and dried off properly after coming home wet, I probably wouldn’t have caught a cold. But I had work afterward, and since I didn’t have much time, I just quickly dried my hair.

Then, as usual, I went to work, came home, and when I woke up in the morning, my temperature had risen.

I had forced an umbrella on Yukina and now, if I skipped school, she might worry. So, I forced myself to attend school, despite feeling dizzy.

“It’s funny how Yukina-chan is perfectly fine, though.”

“This has nothing to do with Yukina…”

“Hmm.”

Haru gave me a suspicious look, but I ignored it. I was too tired to make excuses.

“So, how was sharing the umbrella?”

“It was terrible… That’s all.”

After saying that, I slumped onto my desk and quietly closed my eyes.

Thanks to Haru’s height, the teacher didn’t notice me slumped over. Because of that, I managed to recover a little, but I still felt hazy. My body was completely taken over by the cold.

“Yusuke, are you okay?!”

Having been slumped over all day, this was the first time Yukina spoke to me today. I couldn’t meet her eyes, remembering what had happened yesterday, and I mumbled, “I’m fine…”

“But…”

“It’s not your fault, Yukina, so don’t worry…”

That’s right. This is entirely my fault. If I hadn’t been so self-conscious, everything would’ve been fine. But that’s impossible. There’s no way I couldn’t be aware. That’s why I’m accepting this outcome.

“You should go home and rest today.”

I nodded at Haru’s words.

“Yeah, I’ll go home and sleep. See you…”

I grabbed my bag and left the classroom on unsteady feet. I headed straight back to my apartment.

“Excuse me…”

Alright, I’ve contacted my job to tell them I’m taking the day off. There’s nothing else to do now but sleep.

After changing into my tracksuit and making the call to work, I was about to head to my room from the living room when the doorbell rang.

Who could it be at a time like this? I thought about ignoring it, but my curiosity got the better of me, and I headed to the door.

When I opened it, I found Yukina standing there, holding a bag.

“Y-Yusuke, are you okay? I bought some peach jelly and drinks from the convenience store…”

She was slightly out of breath and sweating, so she must have run here. I appreciated her effort, but just as I reached out to take the bag, a cough escaped me.

I quickly covered my mouth, thinking that I shouldn’t infect Yukina.

“I-I’m worried about you, so I’ll stay by your side. I’ll take care of you. So, can I come into your room?”

I knew that if Yukina stayed with me, she might catch my cold too. My mind told me it wasn’t a good idea. But I couldn’t make myself say no. Before I knew it, I had opened the door wider to let her in.

“Yusuke, lie down properly.”

After saying that, Yukina disappeared into the living room while I lay down on my bed.

As I closed my eyes and thought about the situation, I couldn’t help but feel that this was a bad idea. But I couldn’t even tell if that was a rational thought.

“Yusuke, did you wipe off your sweat properly?”

Yukina peeked her head into the room, and I just stared blankly at her. She pulled her head back and returned a few moments later with a damp towel.

“Here, use this to wipe yourself down. If you’re not sure, just do it anyway.”

I agreed and started to sit up, preparing to take off my clothes.

“W-Wait, let me leave first!”

“Oh, sorry.”

I apologized to Yukina, whose face had turned red as she covered her eyes.

However, for some reason, Yukina didn’t leave the room. In fact, it looked like she was peeking at me through her fingers…

“Um, aren’t you going to leave?”

“W-Well, I’ll wipe you down instead. Besides, you’ve seen me naked before, so it’s only fair if I see you too, right?”

I didn’t have the energy to argue, so I simply handed her the towel.

“O-Okay, I’ll start with your back.”

“Please do.”

Yukina’s cold hands touched my back.

At that moment, my body shivered involuntarily.

“Mmm…!”

I let out a sound that would be unsettling coming from a man.

“S-Stop making weird noises!”

“I can’t help it… Yukina’s hands are so cold, they feel good…”

“Even so…”

“Mmm… Mmm…”

In retrospect, I’ll probably regret this a lot later. But right now, I couldn’t hold back the noises.

Yukina’s cold hands felt amazing on my feverish body. Just having her touch me made it seem like my fever was dropping.

That’s probably why I wanted her to touch me more.

“Yukina… touch me more.”

“Nya!? W-What are you saying?!”

“Please… If you don’t want to, that’s okay.”

“I-I’m fine with it… But Yusuke, are you really okay with this…?”

“Yeah. I just want to feel better as soon as possible…”

“O-Okay… Here I go.”

Yukina’s hands gently patted my body — it felt so good that I could hardly stand it.

To an outsider, this must have looked like a beautiful girl touching the bare skin of a half-naked man… a rather improper scene.

I could never have said this to the usual tsundere Yukina. I could never have relied on her. But I could say it to this dere-dere Yukina, and I could lean on her.

So, just for now, I’ll allow myself to depend on her. After all, right now, Yukina is in full-on dere-dere mode.