When I Started Doing Housework For The Cool Beauty In My Class, She Began Asking Me About The Dinner Menu Every Day. - Chapter 22: Kaze-saki-san Is Feeling A Bit Uneasy.

Kaze-saki-san Is Feeling A Bit Uneasy.

“Ugh, my head hurts… and my throat too… cough, cough.”

I woke up to the worst possible morning, immediately aware of how awful I felt.
A pounding headache, a sore throat, fatigue, and chills.

Even though I’d slept plenty, my body felt drained and heavy, and just sitting up to turn off the alarm left me gasping for breath.

“…Looks like I’ve caught a cold.”

Even with my foggy head, it was obvious.
The various symptoms my body displayed left no doubt—I was sick.

It was impossible to ignore, and it made me feel just a little pathetic.

Yesterday, Shirayanagi-kun had gone out of his way to look after me.
He did everything he could to make sure I wouldn’t catch a cold.

And yet, here I am. My immune system really let me down this time…

What went wrong?

I took a proper bath to warm up. He even made sure my hair was thoroughly dried…
So, I guess the problem must’ve been earlier in the day.

Was it because I stayed in my slightly damp uniform for too long?

Now that I think about it, when Shirayanagi-kun tried to forcibly get me to take a bath and change clothes, maybe that was truly the best course of action.

If I hadn’t been so stubborn and insisted on putting it off, if I’d just listened to him… maybe things would’ve turned out differently. But it’s too late for regrets now.

Still… I really thought he was going to take my clothes off. That was shocking.

Well… okay, I’m sure he’d never actually have the guts to do it. I only teased him because I was convinced it was just an empty threat.

But thinking about it now… it’s so embarrassing that I feel like my fever just spiked again.

“Uwaa… Let’s start by taking my temperature.”

First things first: confirming my condition.
I placed the thermometer under my arm and waited a dozen seconds.

(…38.3°C, huh.)

The displayed temperature was higher than I’d expected.
But given how awful I felt, it made sense.

I dragged my heavy body to the living room after calling the school to let them know I’d be absent.

Normally, I’d happily open the fridge and grab the breakfast Shirayanagi-kun prepared, but in this state, I couldn’t imagine eating much.

Still, I needed to put something in my stomach to take medicine, so… maybe I’ll just have some soup. Yeah, that should work.

I think I can manage soup.

It’s the same ginger and green onion soup I had yesterday—warm and soothing.
The chicken broth is rich yet light, making it incredibly delicious.

It was meant to be preventative, but having this as my breakfast now feels like a stroke of luck amidst this misery.

“So good…”

I felt like the chills eased up slightly.

Now I just needed to take my medicine and rest. But before that, I should send a message to Shirayanagi-kun.

I’ll let him know that I’m not feeling well and won’t be coming to school, and that we’ll have to cancel our dinner plans for today.

Ugh… it’s disappointing, but it can’t be helped. I don’t want to risk giving him my cold.

Even though I understand that, I can’t seem to press the send button.

Why is that?

Is it because I don’t want to give up on our dinner plans?

But with how I’m feeling, I don’t even know if I’ll recover enough to eat, and above all, the thought of giving him my cold is unacceptable.

“…Achoo! Ah… I sent it…”

The internal struggle over whether to send the message canceling our plans for today was unexpectedly resolved by an accidental sneeze.

This should be the right thing to do… and yet, I can’t help feeling a little disappointed. Maybe even a bit lonely.

“…I should just take my medicine and sleep.”

All the overthinking seemed to have worsened my headache slightly.

Not wanting things to get any worse, I decided to retreat to the comfort of my futon without delay.

***

“huuhh… It’s already evening.”

Thanks to the effects of the medication, I’d slept longer than expected. By the time I woke up, the sky was already turning a soft orange.

I wondered how much rest had helped.

When I checked my temperature, it was still 38.0°C—barely any change. A sigh almost escaped me.

Still, the headache and sore throat seemed slightly better. It wasn’t entirely pointless to rest, at least.

After hydrating myself, I started contemplating what to do next.

Around this time, Shirayanagi-kun would usually show up to prepare dinner, but I’d told him not to come today.

I still had a fever and needed to take more medicine, but it’s not ideal to take it on an empty stomach.

The problem was, I’d already finished all the soup this morning. The only leftovers were onigiri and some heavily seasoned ginger pork from last night’s dinner. It was packed with ginger for its immune-boosting properties, but… would I even be able to stomach it?

What kind of food should I eat in times like this?

School was probably over by now, so maybe I could message Shirayanagi-kun and ask for advice about something simple I could prepare myself.

Opening the messaging app, I noticed several unread notifications.

Shirayanagi-kun had been sending me messages throughout the day, checking on my condition, asking about my fever, and expressing concern.

“I just woke up.”

I sent him that message, and it was marked as read almost immediately.

We exchanged a few texts about my condition. I told him my fever hadn’t gone down and that I planned to take medicine after eating something. Then, I asked for his advice on a light meal I could make on my own.

But even though he’d read the message, there was no reply.

Was he thinking it over?

As I waited, the sound of a chime rang out—not the notification sound from my phone, but the doorbell.

“Who could it be at a time like this…?”

Checking the monitor, I saw Shirayanagi-kun standing there.

Huh? Didn’t I tell him today was off?

Baffled, I made my way to the front door to let him in.

“Yo. Well… you’re definitely not looking well.”

“N-Now hold on. I sent you a message to cancel for today, didn’t I?”

“…Let’s just say I didn’t notice it in time.“

“heeeehhhhh, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Shirayanagi-kun, you literally replied that you understood.

But… fine. I’ll let you off the hook with that excuse.

Because honestly, I’m glad you came.

I’ve been feeling a little lonely, after all… It’s only natural to feel happy, right?