The Love of My Childhood Friend, Who Has Overcome a Terminally Ill Diagnosis, Is Overwhelming
“F, for now… Akun, why don’t you go take a shower?”
“Hmm. You’re right. I’ll do that.”
Even though I’d told Kanade I’d treat her to something special tonight, I decided to follow her advice and get ready for bed first.
“Alright, I’m going to take a shower.”
“Okay.”
Leaving Kanade in my room, I headed to the bathroom.
“…I’ll be waiting, Akkun.”
As I was leaving, I thought I heard Kanade’s faint voice, but maybe it was just my imagination.
Anyway, I went to the bathroom and took a shower.
It was summer.
My body, having spent the day in the high humidity and heat, was covered in a thick layer of unpleasant sweat, so washing it all off in the shower felt really good.
“Phew…”
While drying myself off with a bath towel, I thought about Kanade waiting in my room.
…Come to think of it, how did Kanade end up staying at my place tonight?
She said something like she asked my mom because she wanted to focus on her studies, but… for someone who said that, she was trying to distract me from my own studying at first.
She did manage to focus properly once she got into her studies today, though…
She prioritized making dinner over studying, or chatting with my mom…
I just couldn’t sense any real desire to focus on her studies from Kanade today.
So… why did Kanade end up staying over at my place tonight?
The only answer I can think of is… just one.
She got so caught up in chatting with my mom that she missed her chance to go home!
Seriously.
Kanade is still a bit scatterbrained, as always.
Oh well, seriously.
…When I heard Kanade was staying over, I was a little taken aback.
It’s because I’ve never had a member of the opposite sex of that age stay over before, so I felt a bit nervous.
However, I didn’t feel any aversion to the idea of Kanade staying over. If anything, I even felt a little happy.
Even when I heard she’d be sleeping in my room, I felt a little nervous, but I didn’t feel any aversion.
If anything, I even felt a little happy.
The only thing I simply couldn’t stand, though, was the idea of Kanade sleeping on a futon laid out on the hardwood floor.
Kanade had a history of suffering from illness.
I’d come to realize some time after we reunited that her health was on the mend… but even so, since sleeping at someone else’s house is bound to cause at least a little stress, I wanted to eliminate anything that might be a burden to her as much as possible.
……How did she end up staying at my place?
Whether the answer I’d just come up with was right or wrong, it didn’t matter at this point.
Anyway, I’m out of the bath now, so I’m going to do my absolute best to host Kanade!
……Feeling determined, I headed straight for my room.
I climbed the stairs, put my hand on the doorknob, and hesitated.
…Should I knock?
Technically, the room is a private space. Kanade is the only one inside.
……For the rest of the day, my room is Kanade’s only private space.
Wouldn’t barging in without knocking, invading that private space, offend her?
Oh, crap.
If I did that now, I could invent a new set of manners not found in any manual, use those manners to put on a show, and probably make a killing.
…But instead of thinking such foolish things, I steeled myself.
I placed my hand on the doorknob and turned it slowly.
In the end, I didn’t knock.
After all, this is my house. This is my room.
As the owner of this room, I’d come to the conclusion that knocking just didn’t feel right.
“…Hmm.”
And so, almost immediately after reaching that conclusion, I began to regret why on earth I’d made that decision.
It was the middle of the night.
It was about time for good kids to go to sleep. It was the kind of hour when even adults, if they were tired or had an early morning ahead, would start dozing off.
At a time like this, Kanade wasn’t relaxing in the room… Instead, she was on all fours by the bookshelf, stretching her arm into the tiny gap between the shelf and the wall.
…What on earth was she doing there?
…Come to think of it, there’s an outlet between that bookshelf and the wall.
Maybe Kanade… was planning to plug in an AC adapter there to charge her smartphone.
If so, I should help her out quickly.
I slowly opened the door… and as I peered through the gap between Kanade’s T-shirt—which was bunched up at her neck—and the floor, my mind went blank.
…Beyond the T-shirt was pitch black. Yet, I could faintly make out the cleavage. And… unfortunately, beyond that, it was still too dark to see anything.
I almost let out a sigh of exasperation, but this wasn’t the time for that.
“Phew. Got it in.”
Just as I’d decided to help Kanade, she stopped crawling on all fours, dropped to her knees, and began to smile with the satisfaction of a job well done.
“……Ah.”
“A-Akkun.”
Kanade smiled at me.
“Welcome back. You’re late.”
“Sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. Thanks to you, I was able to finish a little task, so it’s fine.”
“A little task?”
Could that possibly have something to do with her plugging something into the outlet between the bookshelf and the wall?
“Akkun.”
“What?”
“From now on, let’s stay together even more, forever.”
Kanade’s voice sounded excited, but the light had once again faded from her eyes.
Maiasa