When I Started a Volunteer Nursing Service, All the Beautiful Girls in My Class Suddenly Became Gloomy

Chapter 1: First Time Nursing Someone

My school has this special SNS thing.

Of course, the teachers didn’t make it. It’s a community the students built on their own.

People use it to share old test questions, look for friends, stuff like that.

It’s basically the hidden side of our small school world.

Because it’s anonymous, everyone speaks their real thoughts there more than in the class group chat. High school romance stuff gets whispered about all the time.

“Man, Ichinose Yukino is seriously cute.”

“I know, right? That fragile vibe of hers is addictive!”

“Isn’t she basically the cutest girl in our whole school?”

“But she’s hard to approach, with that atmosphere…”

“Yeah, true. She’s gotten more than ten confessions since we started, but she still doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

“Ahh, I wish I could date Yukino…”

“Give it up, dude. No way for you.”

I finish my own post and check the first-year bulletin board. There are nonstop comments about our classmate, Ichinose Yukino.

She’s called the school’s top beauty or the unreachable flower. Right after we started school, those nicknames stuck. She always sits by the window, staring outside.

Her long black hair reaches down to her waist, and her clear eyes look like you could fall right into them. Her skin is pure white like fresh snow, just like her name, and her legs are long and slim.

The beauty mark under her eye catches your attention like a single pearl on the beach. Her soft pink lips are like the first cherry blossom petals in spring. Her grades are always near the top of the year, and she’s pretty good at sports too.

She’s not exactly unfriendly, but it’s true she has this vibe that makes people hesitate to get close. Sometimes girls talk to her, and she just answers calmly without things really heating up.

Maybe that’s why, now in June, there aren’t many people around her anymore.

Well, I can’t really talk about other people.

I’m bad at making friends, so I’ve been alone ever since school started. My parents moved to another prefecture for work, but I didn’t want to leave my hometown, so I live by myself.

That’s why I had to learn cooking and housework, and I got pretty good at them. I realized that slacking off would just make life hell later, so now I keep things in order.

“Haa…”

I’m quietly scrolling through posts that feel far from my own life when a sigh slips out.

…Being all alone really is lonely.

Today, like always, I was just going through the motions at school.

“Here, I guess.”

After buying what I needed at the convenience store, I head to the address written down. I enter the apartment building and take the elevator to the fifth floor.

I stop in front of the second door from the front, take a quick breath, and press the intercom.

After a moment, the door opens slowly.

“Sorry for the wait… *cough*… thank you for—”

“Ichinose?”

“Eh… Amamiya Yu…?”

The person who comes out is Ichinose, wearing a camisole with a cardigan over it.

She looks completely different from the Ichinose I see at school. Her shiny black hair is a little messy, and she didn’t have time to fix her bedhead, so the ends fall softly on her shoulders.

It must be the fever. Her cheeks, usually white like snow, are faintly red, and her eyes behind those long lashes look a bit watery.

Her collarbones peeking out from the camisole look painfully thin, and the way she clutches the cardigan at her chest seems so weak. Still, I think she’s beautiful, so Ichinose Yukino is just unfair.

…No, that’s not important right now.

“Ichinose, your face is all red… Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine… *cough*, mm…”

She doesn’t look fine at all.

Her voice sounds thick with fever, and her body sways like she’s dizzy.

“Watch out—”

I reflexively grab her shoulder, and her body feels surprisingly hot.

“…Ah.”

“S-sorry.”

Startled, a weak voice slips from Ichinose’s lips. I quickly apologize, but she slowly shakes her head side to side.

“No… thank you… By the way… *cough*… why are you here, Amamiya…?”

“I came to take care of you.”

I pull out my phone from my pocket and hold it up.

Then—

“So Yu… that’s your first name, Amamiya…”

She sounds relieved, and the strength leaves her body.

“Um, can I come in?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

I support Ichinose and slowly walk her into her room. It has a simple, white-based style just like her.

There isn’t much extra stuff, so it doesn’t feel very lived-in. But it’s not cold either. There are soft pink cushions and a small houseplant that make it feel calming somehow.

By the window sits a short bookshelf with novels and textbooks neatly lined up. Next to it is an aroma diffuser, and a faintly sweet scent drifts through the room.

“Lie down and wait for me.”

“Okay…”

I help Ichinose onto the bed, then take a cooling sheet from the plastic bag and stick it on her forehead.

“Feels nice…”

Even with her eyes closed, Ichinose smiles in a way that clearly shows how good it feels.

“Pudding or ice cream, which one do you want?”

“…Pudding.”

I set down sports drinks and some medicine from the store on the side table next to the bed, then slowly open the pudding lid.

“Can you sit up?”

“Yeah…”

I slide my hand under her head and gently help her up. Then I try to hand her the spoon with pudding on it—

“…Feed me…”

“Huh?”

“Feed it to me…”

In a voice I never would’ve imagined from school Ichinose, she opens her small mouth.

“Ahh—”

“Wait just a second.”

She’s really weak right now, I think, and scoop up a bite of pudding with the spoon to bring it to her mouth. Ichinose holds it in and smiles happily.

“Even you can smile like that, Ichinose.”

Seeing it makes me feel happy too.

“I-Is that bad…?”

“Not at all. Actually, this side of you is cuter than usual.”

“——!”

She turns her face away with a huff.

“I’m going back to sleep!”

Ichinose buries her face in the pillow.

“Are you hungry at all?”

“What are you gonna make…?”

“What do you want to eat?”

“Rice porridge…”