Chikasugiru Karera no, Juunanasai no Tooi Kankei [LN] V1 Chapter 4.8

Chapter 4 - Inside her room

"I'm home," My mother's voice woke me up.

The moment I opened my eyes, the fluorescent light whitened out my vision. I felt pain and closed my eyes tightly. When I slowly opened my eyelids again, the familiar ceiling of my room was there.

My whole body feels hot and sweaty. I move my eyes down and see my uniform and bed.

I took the clock by my bedside. The two hands on the clock showed that it was past 9:00 p.m.

It was about 6:00 p.m. when I got home, meaning I had slept almost three hours.

The center of my head was numb and I felt lazy. I lay in a daze for a while, but then I remembered that I hadn't cooked dinner, and I got up in a hurry. I took off my uniform and changed into my loungewear.

I shoved the shirt I had been wearing all day into the washing machine and opened the living room door. 

"Oh. Kenichi-kun," Izumi, who had apparently been having a conversation with my mother, said, looking at me. When my mother looked back at me, she complained, "You're on duty for dinner now, aren't you?"

"Sorry, I fell asleep."

"What should I do now that you've fallen asleep?"

"I'm sorry. I'll make it right away."

I took the ingredients I had bought out of the refrigerator. Then my mother said to Izumi gently, "You look much better," and left the living room. I guessed she was going to her room to change her clothes.

Izumi and I were left alone. Izumi was dressed in pajamas and a hoodie, the same as this morning. In the bright light, her expression was much clearer than it had been this morning when the fever had blurred it. My pulse thumped once more, remembering the alluring look of the sleeping Izumi I had seen earlier. 

When I asked her, "Are you feeling okay?" She replied, "Yes, my cough has stopped, and I think I will be able to go to school tomorrow."

Seeing Izumi's usual soft appearance, I felt a pain in my chest again. 

---Not good. I felt that she was so cute.

I immediately turned my head away from Izumi, took out a nutritional drink I had stored in the refrigerator, and handed it to Izumi.

"This is from Yuriko. I stopped by the drugstore on my way home. She said, 'Get well soon,'"

"Thank you," Izumi said, accepting it with girlish tension.

"Tell her thank you," Izumi said.

"Yeah. Got it."

I replied quickly, trying not to look at Izumi's face too much, and stood in the kitchen to cook dinner. My mom and I are fine with porridge now. If I made a special menu just for her, she would be concerned about me again.

"What's wrong? Your face looks a bit off."

Izumi stood next to me and tilted her head as if to look into my face.

"Could it be that you've caught a cold after all?"

"Don't worry, it's not like that!"

She tilted her head even more when I said strongly.

"I-Is that so? Then I'm glad to hear that......Oh, do you want me to help you cook dinner?

"It's okay. Just take a seat. You just got better." 

I said so, and sent Izumi back to the living room.

When I was alone in the kitchen, I felt a brief moment of relief. Washing my hands with cold water seemed to cool my flushing heart, and I finally began to feel calm.

But what was that suffocating feeling as if my heart was burning in my chest earlier?

End of chapter 4