When I Told the Most Beautiful Girl in the School That My Confession Had Failed, She Suddenly Started Coming at Me With Unbearably Heavy Feelings

Chapter 25: Cold and Toothbrushing

Pipipipipi, pipipipipi…

“…Mm… fu… uh…”

The ringing electronic tone dragged my consciousness back. A throbbing pain shot through my head, as if it were bound tight. I remembered it had been raining since morning… Die, you low-pressure system.

I picked up my smartphone and stopped the alarm while rubbing my eyes, which refused to open properly.

My body felt strangely heavy. The time was 7:30. Normally, I would have been up by now. The next alarm would go off soon.

In this case, the right thing to do was to jump up in a panic, but I did not even feel like panicking, let alone getting out of bed. My head was fuzzy, and my breathing was a little labored.

Just to be sure, I dragged myself out of bed and fetched the thermometer. I tucked it under my arm and waited a bit until the electronic tone sounded.

“Ugh…”

The displayed temperature was 38.2°C. This was definitely a cold.

I had an idea what caused it. On the way home yesterday, I had stubbornly lent my blazer to Rinne and gone home without it, so my body must have gotten chilled.

Yesterday, I had avoided a bad dream and gotten completely full of myself. At this rate, going to the academy was out of the question… I should contact Amane.

I desperately roused my feverish brain and sent a message to Amane. Once I finished the necessary contacts, exhaustion overtook me, and I sank back into bed.

▼▽

<<Rinne side>>

“…Hey, what’s that?”

“Rinne, why are you wearing a boys’ blazer?”

(Hehe… this is superiority…)

Rinne drew stares because the blazer she wore was for boys.

On the way home yesterday, she had borrowed it from Renji, washed it after getting home, and put it on again, satisfying her desire to show that she was his and feeling content.

(Before the uniform change, thank goodness… I washed it, but Renji’s scent lingers… Ah, it’s unbearable… I want to lick it all over right now… or rather, eat it.)

“…Ugh, what are you doing, Rinne senpai?”

When Rinne lifted her face from where she had buried it in her arms, Amane stood there looking appalled.

“Oh, good morning, Amane.”

“Why are you greeting me so casually? Don’t sniff my stepbrother’s uniform like that. …Senpai caught a cold, apparently.”

“Eh?”

“I was told to let you know. …There, I passed on the message.”

Before she knew it, it was the time when Renji usually arrived. Rinne felt ashamed that she had been so focused on the blazer she had forgotten about the man himself.

“Amane, Renji is…”

“…Ah, this is just me talking to myself, but senpai lives alone in some place, right? Even if you ask me, I won’t tell you, but if you ask the teacher, you could probably find out where he lives.”

Amane left those words behind and departed the classroom. It took Rinne only a few seconds to act.

▼▽

<<Renji side>>

『It’s your fault…!』

It was a familiar memory.

I was in a game where we battled across a net, careful not to drop the ball—a simple setup where any mistake was fatal.

Don’t look at me like that. I did not want to do this either, or something like that.

In the end, I did not know what I wanted to do. Even if I did know, it did not feel right.

If I had jumped back then, would I have changed something?

Could I have returned just one to him?

▼▽

“Uh…”

Thirst woke me. With unsteady steps, I made my way to the living room and gulped down water from a glass.

As I swallowed, a scratchy pain ran through my throat. My body still felt feverish.

The time was 11:00. The fever had dropped a bit from morning, but I could not call myself energetic yet.

“The medicine… damn, I was out.”

Ding-dong.

Of all times, a visitor arrived. With unsteady steps, I checked the monitor.

“…Eh?”

I froze in front of the monitor.

Shaken by the unexpected visitor, I headed to the entrance anyway. Buoyed by the fever, I opened the door without much hesitation.

▼▽

<<Rinne side>>

“I came over.”

“…Why are you wearing my blazer?”

Renji looked more languid than usual, and I could tell at a glance how poorly he felt. His lower voice than normal made my heart flutter a bit.

“…More importantly, how did you get here?”

“I asked the teacher for your address and left school early. Come on, you’re not feeling well, so back to bed.”

I pushed Renji’s broad back and shoved him into bed. Normally, he would resist a little more, but this time, it was clear he felt really bad.

I took his temperature, and it was 37.3°C. Definitely a cold.

“I bought some jelly and Pocari Sweat—do you want anything? Oh, right, medicine…?”

As I pulled cold medicine from the plastic bag at the register, my gaze fell on a paper bag that must have held the medicine.

“I already took the medicine, so I’m good… Could you grab a towel for me?”

“If it’s sweat, you could use my uniform…”

“Go get it.”

Prompted by Renji, I fetched a towel from the bathroom. …Honestly, I wanted to sniff this towel too, but patience, patience.

“I got it. Now, take off your shirt.”

“…Eh.”

“At least let me do your upper body. Otherwise, there’s no point in me coming.”

With that, Renji reluctantly began to undress.

His well-muscled, toned body came into view. The sweat tracing his skin stirred my desire and shook my reason.

“…Can I lick it?”

“If you don’t hurry, I’ll wipe it myself…”

I pressed the towel to Renji’s body and wiped away the sweat.

I had felt it before when I touched him in the empty classroom, but he had a great build. The muscles, perfectly proportioned, were somehow sensual, and I felt like reaching out any moment. He looked slim but had just the right sturdiness—the body of my dreams…

“…Such a nice body… ♡”

“Thanks, I guess. …Rinne.”

“What?”

“I’ll handle the lower part myself.”

“Oh, come on, no need to hold back… Ah.”

In the moment I reached for his lower body, he snatched the towel away. …I had hoped to touch it if I got the chance.

“By the way, are you hungry? I could make some porridge if you want.”

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t eaten since morning… Yeah, please.”

With permission, I borrowed the kitchen and whipped up some porridge quickly. It was good that he did his own cooking.

I returned to the room, casually collected the towel, cooled the porridge so it would not burn, and offered it to Renji.

“Here, ahh~”

“…Rinne, I can feed myself.”

“Ahh~”

Renji gave in first. He really must not be feeling well today.

“Is it good?”

“Yeah. Tasty. Give me another bite.”

We repeated the feeding motion a few times, and Renji finished the porridge.

Compared to his usual healthy self, he seemed a little listless now, and it was cute.

This weakened side he showed only to me. My base possessiveness reared its head here too.

“Thanks for the meal.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll handle the cleanup, so just relax. Well then ________________”

“Rinne.”

As I tried to leave the room, Renji called out to me.

He twisted his mouth as if struggling to speak, then muttered softly.

“…Could you hold my hand?”

“…Eh?”

…Huh?

…What? What? What do you mean? You want to hold hands? Don’t say something so cute all of a sudden just because you have a fever.

What? Is that what you want? Do you want me to jump you? Does this mean you’ve given your body to me now?

Holding hands means skin touching skin, so that’s basically a kiss, right? A deep one, even? We could end up with a kid? The stork might bring a baby? ???

Are you ready? Do you want to marry me now? Want to make a baby? What? Get married? Are we getting married???

“…If you don’t want to, it’s fine.”

“I’d love to.”

I gently took Renji’s outstretched hand. Seeing his face flush with embarrassment made it hard to settle for just holding it.

“Sorry about this. …It makes me feel a little safer.”

“…Has someone done this for you before?”

“When I was little, Mom did. …I used to get sick a lot as a kid, and she took care of me often. So even now, when I get sick, it scares me a bit.”

“She’s a kind person. …It’s okay. I’m here with you.”

I held Renji’s hand gently. Looking at him like this, his body was sturdy, but inside, he was a little childish and adorable.

Renji fell asleep right away. He breathed peacefully.

“Good night, Renji.”

I planted one kiss on his forehead and quietly left the room. After finishing the dishes and throwing out the trash like the plastic bottles, I took a breather.

“Now then…”

This was the main event.

While savoring the scent of Renji that clung to it, I marked the room.

I rubbed my body against the living room sofa, placed my mug next to his, swapped out a few towels. I left enough of my scent in this house to drive away any other woman who might come.

“And then… Ah.”

My gaze fell on Renji’s toothbrush. It sat unguarded in the bathroom. …Well, it was his home, so of course.

“…Come to think of it, I haven’t brushed my teeth yet. Right, it takes me a while anyway.”

After making that mysterious excuse to myself, I brushed thoroughly for ten minutes before leaving.

▼▽

<<Renji side>>

“…Nnh.”

I woke up. The midday stuffiness had vanished somewhere, and my body felt lighter.

I checked my temperature: 36.5°C. It had dropped considerably from morning.

“…Thanks to Rinne.”

When I went to the living room, Amane was there.

“Amane, you came over? …Why are you standing there like that?”