Chapter 70: I have something to tell you…

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Translated and Edited by: luccayn.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you're close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it's cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one's older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

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Even though it was still the middle of the day, with plenty of time left for sightseeing, I was lying face down on my bed, groaning.

It was probably because I felt relieved after seeing Aoyama at the station.

After pulling an all-nighter last night, my cold had completely relapsed, and my consciousness was hazy. I had a vague sense that I wasn't feeling my best, but I didn't realize I was this exhausted.

“Damn it…”

I had gotten an ice pack through room service, but the contents had already melted into lukewarm water.

With no other choice, I dragged myself down to the shop, bought some ice, sports drinks, and medicine, then made my way back to my room.

My undershirt was soaked in a sickly cold sweat. My body felt unbearably sluggish.

But if I slept like this, I'd just feel even worse. I had to shower first, somehow.

Summoning the last of my strength, I washed off the sweat, dried myself thoroughly, and took some fever medicine.

Please, God, just let me be able to move by morning.

I'd rather die than have to pay for an extra night's stay.

Well, this was Kyoto. There had to be a god of health somewhere.

“…Hah.”

Even with my eyes closed, the dizziness kept me from falling asleep.

My body begged for rest, but my brain refused.

This must have been some primal survival instinct—a relic from ancient times warning me that if I let my guard down, I'd be killed.

Of course, as a modern-day Japanese guy who had never seen a mammoth in his life, I would rather just sleep already.

“…Are you okay? Your hair's still wet.”

As I stared blankly at the ceiling, Michiru, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.

Right, I ran into her at the shop earlier.

I don't remember what I said when she saw me looking this miserable, but I think—

“I told you not to come near me. You'll catch it. Get out.”

“Like hell I'm leaving. I was worried, so I snuck in from behind.”

“So my health doesn't matter to you?”

“Too bad. This is a worrying contest, and after a fair evaluation, it turns out I'm more worried than you. Your right to refuse has been revoked.”

…What the hell is wrong with her?

She's stubborn about all the wrong things.

“…Hehe.”

“You think me being sick is funny?”

“No, that's not it. I've been thinking this whole time—something about you has been off. Now that I realize it, I can't believe how long it took me.”

Well then, let's hear it.

What exactly felt off about me?

“You invited me and Saori to your room. Normally, you'd suggest somewhere else. You probably knew, deep down, that if you collapsed anywhere else, it'd be bad.”

“…Fair point.”

“And the reason you figured out where Kou-kun was? Intuition? If you started relying on intuition, that'd be the end of you. Because that would mean you're betraying the one thing you trust the most.”

“…Yeah. Maybe.”

“Now that I think about it… you were probably feeling awful this whole time. You just never showed it, so I didn't notice.”

Michiru dropped some fresh ice into the pack and placed it on my forehead.

Talking with her made it easier to bear the pain.

Or maybe it was the reassurance that even if I lost consciousness here, I was already in bed.

“Hints for everyone left through messages, unusually quiet, holding my hand, letting me drink from your bottle… Ah! That's right! If you were gonna worry about infecting me, it's already way too late.”

“Guess I forgot. You're right—it's too late.”

…So everything I did while acknowledging Michiru was just because of a fever.

Should I call this a failure? Or a stroke of luck?

Either way, I felt like I could keep talking for a bit.

She wasn't going to listen to me anyway.

Might as well humor her until we reached the end of this chapter.

“Shinji-kun, did you know Miki was going to come?”

“No. I didn't know who would come. But if anyone had a reason to never give up on Hareta, it had to be Aoyama.”

“…Yeah. Kou-kun's talent is on another level. Kokomi-chan and Kanae-chan fell in love with his weakness, but Miki-chan fell in love with his strength. That’s rare. For the harem, that is.”

“Yeah.”

I gave a short response.

A slight cough slipped out, and Michiru lifted my head to tilt a glass of sports drink to my lips.

“Don't. I can drink by myself.”

“You forced me to eat udon. We're even now.”

…Well, that made it hard to argue.

Maybe I had permanently lost the ability to win against Michiru.

Because now, when I thought about what she might feel if I fought back… I couldn't bring myself to say anything that might hurt her.

Because more than anything, I wanted her to keep smiling.

“You must have gotten requests from the others about Kou-kun, right? What were they?”

“They asked me to help him forget you. But Hareta solved it on his own. He never needed me in the first place.”

Michiru fell into thought for a moment.

“I don't think that's right. If you hadn't helped everyone—if you hadn't worked so hard—this wouldn't have happened. Just like you recognized me, Kou-kun must have seen your efforts and made up his mind.”

“…I disagree. There was no one stronger than me in this situation. But there was no one weaker than me, either. That's all there is to it.”

She adjusted the ice pack, then—

She patted my head.

It was embarrassing as hell, and I had no idea how to accept it.

So I pulled away, pressing my back against the wall instead.

Michiru smirked.

Even if she teased me, I had no strength to fight back now.

Holding the ice pack to my neck, I focused on keeping cool.

“Shinji-kun, can I talk to you about something?”

“What?”

“This trip made me think about what I am to everyone. We're not friends, but somehow, we're closer than before. It's kind of strange.”

…Huh.

“And then, I realized—we're kind of like you and Saori. We respect each other, we have things we dislike about each other, we share common ground, but we don't get too close. If we had to put a name to it—”

“Comrades?”

Michiru hesitated.

So I threw her a lifeline.

“…Yeah. That fits perfectly. We're comrades.”

She looked satisfied.

If that smile was the result of my last remaining brain cells, then it was worth it.

“Hey, Michiru.”

“What?”

“I have something to tell you.”

She held her breath.

Whatever she imagined my next words to be—

She was probably right.

“I don't want to say it while I'm this pathetic. I need to look you in the eyes. It's important. It will affect us from now on.”

Her face turned red.

She squeezed the blanket, fingers trembling slightly.

She knew.

She knew, but she held herself back.

“…Okay.”

“When the time comes, will you listen?”

“I will.”

Her flushed face, her teary eyes—

I almost lost it.

So I took a deep breath, steadied my emotions, and pushed her back with words.

“Thank you.”

…After that, I remembered nothing.

I must have finally fallen asleep.

And when I woke up—

It was the early morning of the next day.

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