The Nurse’s Office Angel Only Acts Sweet to Me Again Today ~ I Was Kind to a Beautiful Girl Who Goes to the Nurse’s Office and She Became Attached to Me ~ - Chapter 17-18

Chapter 17: The Angel’s Squirming and the Shrine of Love

Inside the grounds of Gotokuji Shrine was the Otome Inari Shrine.

It was famous as a super popular spot for women who wanted to make their love come true… or so they said. I had no interest in romance.

We passed under the series of torii gates leading to the main hall and walked together with Yukino on the stone path.

In my usual alone time, I never came to spiritual places like this (especially not love power spots).

It felt really fresh, and since I only knew the basics, actually being here made it different from what I had imagined.

I had not known that these connected torii gates were this vividly colored, or that there were this many of them.

“This is a shrine for making love come true, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Making love come true…”

“Hm?”

Yukino suddenly stopped walking and started squirming and fidgeting right there.

Wh-what was it? Pick-a-flower time?

“Nukumori… d-do you… have someone you like?”

Someone you like…

Yukino started a flighty conversation all of a sudden.

Well, coming to a place like this would lead to talk like that.

“Someone I like, huh…”

“D-do you?”

“Think about it the other way—do you really think I do? A guy with my boring looks.”

“B-but Nukumori… you know all these outing spots, so maybe you go on dates with a girlfriend somewhere I don’t know about.”

“Nope, no way. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. Just so you know, I barely have friends in class, and I spend most of my time alone, okay? No way a guy like that has a girlfriend.”

I laid it all out plain and simple this time.

Yukino did not know what I was like in the classroom…

When I was with Yukino, since she was not great at talking, I ended up chatting more than usual, so she probably saw me as talkative.

“Nukumori alone…? That’s not a lie?”

“Why doubt it? The me you know is all there is.”

“The Nukumori I know… is all there is.”

Yukino murmured those words, chewing them over quietly.

“What about you, Yukino? The nurse’s office gets a lot of injured athletes, so maybe you have a crush on some guy after all?”

“…N-no. I… decided not to like anyone.”

She started the flighty talk herself, but then gave such a cool answer…

“Why not like anyone?”

“…Because of my sickness, I fall asleep right away, and even if I dated someone I liked, I’d just cause trouble for them. Causing trouble for someone… hurts. And if it’s for someone I like, even more so.”

It seemed Yukino did not fall in love because of her kindness.

Causing trouble for someone you like… huh.

Since I did not have narcolepsy, I could not understand Yukino’s feelings completely.

But having a sickness probably made you pay way more attention to others than yourself.

“Then, to meet a guy someday who really gets your sickness, why not pray properly here before we go? Right?”

“…………”

“Yukino?”

“If… someone who gets it… is already here.”

Yukino tugged at my uniform sleeve with a quick pull.

“Y-yeah, you mean me? Well, sure, I hear about your sickness from the teacher a lot, and your mom taught me how to handle it… but I’m kind of an irregular case, an exception.”

When I said it with a half-smile, Yukino puffed out both cheeks hard and started punching my back over and over.

“…Muu.”

“Wh-what is it, Yukino!”

“Just because.”

“Just because…? Did I say something that bugged you!?”

“You did not, but just because.”

“So what does ‘just because’ even mean!”

After that, even when we reached the main hall of the Otome Inari Shrine, Yukino kept glaring at me the whole time.

Damn, what the heck…!

—

Chapter 18: Yukino’s Bad Mood

After Yukino and I finished praying at the Otome Inari Shrine, we headed back toward the Gotokuji Shrine.

“Hey, cheer up already, Yukino.”

“…………Muu.”

For some reason, Yukino had gotten in a bad mood after that.

Did I say something extra that bothered her?

Maybe when I acted like I understood her sickness because the teacher had told me about it, that made Yukino mad…?

“Uh, is your bad mood… because of what I said earlier? When I acted like I understood your sickness?”

“Huh?”

“You’re fighting a tough sickness every day, but since we’ve only known each other a short time, you got upset when I said something like I was some kind of understanding guy.”

“N-no! That’s not it!”

Yukino denied it strongly, even though her voice was small.

I had never seen her react like that…

“Wh-what? I… was actually happy about it.”

“Happy?”

“That you understood me… that you really get my sickness…”

“Well, of course. I do understand it, and I want to keep understanding it… but then why were you mad?”

“B-because… saying straight out that it made me happy felt kind of embarrassing… so I ended up acting grumpy.”

No way, if it made you happy, why act grumpy?

Yukino said some weird stuff sometimes, and it left me stumped.

Acting like an understanding guy but stumped by her… I was starting to lose confidence in being her understanding person.

“A-anyway, just cheer up already.”

“…Still no.”

“Why not! We were on the path to you cheering up!”

“Hmph.”

Yukino turned away on purpose, pretending to be mad.

She was definitely asking for that thing…

“F-fine. Okay, I’ll treat you to some sweets later then.”

“Sweets… yeah, now I’ll cheer up.”

Yukino’s face brightened right away, and she cheered up just like that.

What a smooth operator.

Yukino was easier than I thought.

✳︎✳︎

There were a few shrine visitors around, so we followed along behind them as we did our own prayers.

“I need to pray for my sickness to get better soon.”

“Yeah.”

Even right next to me like this, there was no sign of Yukino’s sickness acting up.

I still did not know why, but maybe Yukino did not get narcolepsy when she went out.

She had said she fell asleep during outings with her mom, though…

There were still lots of mysteries, but I tossed 100 yen into the offering box and wished for Yukino’s sickness to get better.