章節 41: Sickness is in the Air - Part 1
I received a text early in the morning from Kanako.
come over please
This was the first time she'd ever asked me to go over. Based on the message, I didn't really know what was going on, but it sounded important. It wasn't like I had anything else I wanted to do. Fujiharu wasn't going to be inviting me to go out any time soon. I put on my normal clothes and began making my way over.
A few minutes later, I arrived at the front of her grand apartment complex. I scanned my keycard to enter the main reception area before getting on the elevator. I had hardly ever seen a receptionist at the desk, I guess they must only be working during weekdays around school hours.
Eventually, I was at her door. I knocked a few times but received no response.
"Kanako, can I come in?"
Still no response.
I decided to just scan my keycard and enter. I doubt that she'd get mad if she was the one who called me over. The door clicked and I walked into a very messy house.
For some reason, Kanako was still nowhere to be seen.
"Kanako, why did you call me over?"
I walked around the apartment looking for her; I checked basically every room, and the only room left was her own room. Her door was closed, so I knocked a few times. Finally, I managed to hear a faint voice.
"...Mizuhara..."
I decided to open her door. I was met by the sight of a very tired and unwell Kanako huddled up in her bed. I slowly walked over—it was obvious that she was definitely quite sick.
"How are you feeling?" I asked
"...not great..."
"How come you called me? Couldn't you have called your father?"
She hid her face under the blanket.
Oh well.
"Are you hungry?" I asked
"...yes... can you make some rice gruel?"
"Rice gruel?"
"...yes please."
I guess I could make that—it wasn't exactly a complex dish.
I made my way over to her very large kitchen and looked through a few of her cupboards.
She sure has a lot of junk food.
From chips to biscuits to chocolate, her pantry was chock-full of these foods.
After a little bit of searching, I managed to find where she kept her rice. I scooped some into a pot before washing it through. Then, I filled the pot with a large amount of water.
Now, I assumed I just had to cook this at low heat.
It usually took quite a few minutes to cook, so I made my way over to the living room couch. I contemplated going back into Kanako's room, but it'd probably be better if she got some rest.
I honestly wasn't exactly the best person to invite over to take care of a sick person.
I probably should tell her father about this, but I guess I'll hold off for a little while. It seemed she didn't want her father to know for some reason.
A little while later, I walked back over to the kitchen and checked on the rice gruel I was cooking. From what I could see, it seemed to be done. I poured it into a bowl and added some chopped-up spring onion. Steam was radiating from the bowl yet there wasn't much aroma. Such was the nature of rice gruel.
I put a spoon into the bowl and made my way into Kanako's room again. It seemed that she was still awake.
"I've got your food."
"...thanks."
I placed it on her bedside table as she slowly got up to a seated position. Now that more of her body was out of the blanket, I could see that she was sweating quite a bit. I placed my hand on her forehead—she definitely had a fever. Based on what I could see, I assumed that she either had a cold or the flu.
"...sorry for making you do all this."
"It's fine."
She leaned over and grabbed the bowl of rice gruel from the bedside table. After scooping a few mouthfuls into her mouth, she smiled a little.
"I-it's good."
She continued to slowly eat the food I made.
"Do you have any medicine?" I asked.
"Eh... I don't think so..."
"I'll go get some, you just stay here and rest."
"A-are you sure...?"
"Don't worry, your father will pay me back."
"Hehe."
With that, I left as she continued to eat the rice gruel.
There was a convenience store nearby where I could get some medication. It was around a five-minute walk before I arrived at the small corner store. Inside, I looked around at the medications they had on sale. I guess all I really needed was something to deal with the symptoms. I got some anti-inflammatories and decongestants and took them over to the counter. I also grabbed some green tea.
"That'll be $17.99."
I tapped my phone.
I made my way back to the apartment complex and made the pointlessly long journey from the entrance to her room again. I scanned my keycard before opening her front door. With the medication in hand, I made my way over to her room.
It seemed she had already finished the rice gruel I made and was lying down in her bed again.
"Kanako, I've got some medicine for you."
"Oh, um, t-thank you."
I poured the medicine out onto her spoon and fed it into her mouth. I left the green tea and anti-inflammatory tablets by her bed.
"If you're thirsty or your throat hurts, you can have these."
After that, I began making my way out of her room.
"...Mizuhara, can you stay...?"
"You want me to stay here?"
"...y-yes."
"I suppose."
I decided to take a seat on the ground, leaning against her bed. I didn't bring anything with me aside from my phone, so there wasn't much I could do.
"...Mizuhara."
"Yes?"
"...sorry about all of this."
"You know, I'm going to have to bill your father extra for all of this overtime."
"...eh?"
"Just kidding, I don't really mind."
I looked over at her and saw a faint smile on her face.
I decided to take this moment to relax. The last few days have been a bit more action-packed than I'd have liked.
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