The Beautiful Girl I Accidentally Helped Who Has Somehow Become Attached To Me. - Chapter 31: Blushing Answer.

Blushing Answer.

The fact that Mikami-san hurriedly left on Saturday suggests that something must have happened that I’m unaware of. In fact, given the circumstances, it would be odd if nothing happened at all.

It’s easy to imagine that Mikami-san did something, but the way she reacted at the end feels like it wasn’t just that. Her clumsy lie was cute, but her panicked response was something I had never seen before. It’s more likely that I did something to cause it…

I thought she was lying about having a cold, but I decided to check in on her anyway, just in case. She replied with a simple, “Don’t worry about it.”

Then, yesterday—Sunday.

It feels strange to say it after so long, but I didn’t spend time with Mikami-san, which was unusual. Well, she probably needed her own private time, and we hadn’t made plans for her to come over, so it was my fault for assuming she would.

I still didn’t think it was true that I had given her my cold, but I figured there might be something wrong with her health after all, so I sent another message, even though I didn’t want to meddle. As expected, or maybe not, I got a reply that simply said, “Don’t worry about it.”

Even though she wasn’t here, my mind was full of thoughts about Mikami-san.

So today, Monday.

I have to go to school, but for some reason, I just can’t find the motivation.

As usual, Mikami-san isn’t here.

Well, this is what should be normal. For me, who has gotten used to hearing the doorbell in the morning, letting a girl into my house, offering her coffee, and walking to school together, it feels strange… but ideally, this is what a typical weekday morning should look like.

Even though things have simply returned to the way they were before I met Mikami-san, my mood is off, probably because I had started to consider spending time with her as part of my daily routine.

Even mornings seemed somewhat enjoyable. I’d wait for the doorbell to ring, anticipating her arrival. The earlier wake-up time, adjusted to fit Mikami-san’s schedule, had long since become second nature.

“…The coffee’s gone cold. I guess I’ll drink it.”

Out of habit, I had made coffee for Mikami-san, and now it was growing cold. Since it wouldn’t be cleaned up by itself, I drank it all at once.

It wasn’t hot enough to be called a hot coffee, it was too bitter, and it tasted lonely.

***

I decided to leave the house a little earlier and head to school. As I stood in front of the elevator, I sighed.

I guess something is going on, huh? Should I ask her?

While I was thinking about Mikami-san again, the elevator coming down from above stopped, and the doors opened.

“Ah…”

There she was—Mikami-san.

When our eyes met, Mikami-san looked… awkward.

“Aren’t you going to get on?”

“…I’ll get on.”

“Okay then. Good morning.”

“Yeah… good morning.”

If she had started pressing the close button at that moment, I might have just skipped school out of sheer heartbreak, but Mikami-san, giving me a suspicious look with narrowed eyes, waited for me to get on.

I got on the elevator, and we exchanged awkward greetings.

Despite the heavy atmosphere, just seeing Mikami-san’s face made me feel a little better.

The elevator reached the first floor, and we got off, stepping into the entrance.

We went outside and walked slowly. No words were exchanged since the greeting, but strangely, it wasn’t uncomfortable. Mikami-san didn’t say anything, but she glanced at me while walking next to me, seeming like she wanted to say something.

“Uh… so… has your cold gotten better?”

“…Aren’t you going to ask? You know I lied and went home, right?”

I hesitated for a moment, so I decided to bring it up.

We had agreed that I had given her my cold, so I tried to show concern about that. But Mikami-san was trying to break that story herself.

“Well, I know. I didn’t catch a cold. It’s not like I could’ve given you a cold when I don’t have one.”

“Then… what was that fever?”

Ah, I see. So this is where we’re going.

To clear things up, I guess I’ll have to come clean myself.

Anyway, I already have a good guess about what Mikami-san had been up to. I didn’t intend to bring it up in detail, but she seemed like she was about to open up.

In that case… I might as well be embarrassed now and get it over with, it’ll make things easier later.

“Uh… don’t laugh, okay?”

“…Yeah, I won’t laugh.”

“Well… it’s because you’re just so cute, Mikami-san, I’ve been so nervous, so aware of you, and I got embarrassed and felt hot… that’s all.”

“…Huh? Eh, wha—?”

Ah, admitting it again is super embarrassing.

I can tell my face is red again without even looking in the mirror, though it’s not as bad as before. But… there’s someone next to me whose face is even redder than mine.

Mikami-san looks like a boiled lobster, she’s so cute.

“Uh, um…”

“You don’t have to react if it’s too much. I’m sorry for saying something like that all of a sudden. Was it creepy?”

“No, absolutely not. In fact… I’m really happy that you said that, Kirishima-san.”

“…I see.”

“Yes.”

I blurted it out without thinking, but I’m honestly relieved that things didn’t get worse.

Mikami-san, with a faint blush on her cheeks, doesn’t seem to mind, and I’m just glad she doesn’t seem to hate me.

“So…? Are you going to tell me what you did?”

“…Saying ‘did something’ is rude. After you fell asleep, I just crawled into your blanket for a little bit and lay next to you.”

“…Just a little?”

“Just a little.”

She says it so casually, but honestly, it’s hard to call it “just a little.”

“You don’t seem that surprised.”

“Well… I kind of figured. By the way, why?”

“Because your bed and blanket were there, and you were sleeping. It was just a little curiosity.”

Hey. Don’t say it like you’re just doing it because the mountain was there.

A beautiful girl like Mikami-san shouldn’t be sneaking into a guy’s bed just out of curiosity.

“Originally, I just planned to crawl in for a little bit and then leave right away. But then… I got caught by you and… you turned me into your body pillow…”

“Ah, ah…”

“I was able to escape just before you woke up, but I couldn’t handle it. I was overwhelmed and ended up running away.”

“So that’s what happened.”

“By the way, the reason I couldn’t come yesterday or this morning is because it was too embarrassing to even think about, and I didn’t know what face I should show you when we met.”

“…That makes sense. So… that means we were together?”

“Don’t put it like that. I was at least five hundred times more embarrassed than you. You’ll have to take responsibility for this.”

What an absurd argument.

Mikami-san sneaking into my bed was totally a self-inflicted blunder.

But this ridiculous situation… it’s so typical of Mikami-san.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“I’ll visit you after school today, so you’ll be treating me to a lot of things.”

“I see… I’m looking forward to it.”

We looked at each other and laughed.

It’s not exactly like the saying “after the rain, the ground becomes firm,” but at least I’m relieved that Mikami-san doesn’t hate me.

However… apart from that, I really feel like I need to talk to Mikami-san more thoroughly and make her realize what it means to be a girl. That was the strong feeling I had as I walked along the way to school.