“A cold, eh. I will prescribe a medicine for you, and advice you to take some rest.”
“Yes, understood…”

The doctor’s diagnosis did not come as surprise to Fuyuka. She went to the pharmacy adjacent to the hospital, handed in her prescription, and received the medicine.

“Please get well soon—.”
“… Thank you very much.”

She checked the time after she got the medicine, and it was almost noon. Simply put, she spent a good few hours in the hospital. She resented herself a little for catching a cold at the most inopportune moment.

And so Fuyuka, fura-fura, shaky as she was, takes a cab parked in front of the hospital to bring herself​ back to her place.
The apartment is tucked away in a fairly intricate alleyway, requiring her to have a short walk. Had it been spring or fall, it would have introduced no difficulty, but it was midday in the middle of summer. The rays of the sun rising overhead were so fierce that they seemed as if trying to crush her down, and combined with the cold that she had, it was quite menacing.

“I-I have to at least make it home…”

If she collapsed out here, she might just end up miserably dying in the street. However, battling a profuse sweat and a chill which seemed to contradict it, Fuyuka managed to find her way to the apartment.

“U-ugh, I didn’t realise that the corner flat on the second floor would become a hindrance at times like this…”

She was already in pieces, but she had reached there somehow; and gathering all the last bits of her strength, she climbed up the stairs to her rooms, and pressed the intercom.

“… Huh?”

No response was returned, however. “Oh, right, I told her not to answer the door when she was alone,” Fuyuka suddenly recalled, and spoke up, so that she could be heard in the room.

“Ohana… it’s me. I’m back, can you open for me?”

Promptly there came, pata-pata, a pattering sound from within, unwittingly bringing​ relief to Fuyuka. Then, just as the lock was opened, the figure of an agitated young girl plunged into her view.

“Fuyuka-san! Are you okay!?”
“Y-yeah, kind of… But no, I’m not okay with the cold.”

It was pleasantly cool as she stepped into the room led by Ohana. Apparently, the air conditioner adjusted the room temperature, relieving Fuyuka of the mid-summer heat.

“What would you like for lunch?”

Fuyuka shakes her head, and replies to Ohana’s peeping-like voice:

“I’m sorry, I don’t have much of an appetite. I’ll just take medicine and get some sleep.”
“I… I understand. Please wipe off your sweat and change your clothing. I shall bring some water for you.”
“Thank you…”

Perhaps it was the relief of being back at her room that weighted down Fuyuka’s body, as though all that she had just borne outpoured on her. She, somehow, was able to move her languid body and wipe herself off with a towel as Ohana had asked, before putting on her sleepwear.

The moment after​ Fuyuka took the medicine she obtained, she flopped down onto the futon—pretty much collapsed. It would seem that she finally hit her limit.

“Sorry, I’ll leave the house to you for a bit…”
“Pray have a rest and do not worry about it. I shall stay right beside you.”

Fuyuka’s weak eyes could catch sight of Ohana sitting next to the futon. The vixen-girl she saw with her foggy mind indeed had an air of something ethereal; so much so, in fact, that it was enough to make her wonder if everything up to this moment had not been a dream.

(No—, not again—.)

The thought of a dream brought Fuyuka’s mind back to the person who had previously left her—reminding her of the nightmare she had had at the hospital.

(Same sex or whatever, it has nothing to do with it. I only wish I had someone there for me…)

Her reason, weakened by the cold, draws out all the negative thought. For it is between women, for there is the future—the insecurity she cultivated within herself grew ever larger.

“Fuyuka-… san?”

Rather than fallen asleep, Fuyuka’s eyelids dropped as though she passed out. Right then, just as her eyes were about to close completely, her lips moved faintly:

“… Please… don’t go.”

It was a small, an exceedingly thin voice.¹ It could never have been heard, if not for a quiet space; to Ohana’s large ears, however, it passed loud and clear.

♢

“Fuyuka-san.”

She was now completely asleep as Ohana place her miniature hand upon the head of other.

“Mm-hum…”

Lady had come down with a cold, and still looked to be in pain. While Ohana’s hand felt nice and chilly, resting it on the lady’s forehead seemed to soothe some of the fever; yet it still remained high.

“Let me bring you a chilled towel.”

Saying so in a volume that would not rouse her, Ohana went to the kitchen to produce a wet towel. She had only made arrangements in the kitchen in case Fuyuka wished for meal, but that was necessary no longer.

“Hopefully she has an appetite when she wakes up…”

The prepared items only had to be used at evening, so it had not been a waste of time.​ Although regardless, it all depends on how Fuyuka feels once she is awake. Even Ohana knew that merely taking medicine does not guarantee it having an instantaneous effect.

For a girl who essentially never falls ill, it is the first time she witness a person actually being afflicted by a disease, and it cannot be denied that she is rather distressed.

Her ears were folded down anxiously, her tail, also, was hanging down helplessly, to prove it.

“A-anyhow, just at present I have to nurse her.”

Shaking her head in order to dispel that apprehension, Ohana returns to the room, bringing a wet towel along with her. As before, Fuyuka was sleeping in pain.

“Pardon me for a moment.”

She gently laid a chilled towel upon Fuyuka’s forehead. And whereas it was some time before it took effect, it appeared to work better than Ohana expected, and she felt that Fuyuka’s breathing have calmed down slightly.

There was no chance she could do any cleaning today, because of the circumstances. Consequently, Ohana chose to remain next to the sleeping Fuyuka.

“… Things sparsely work out the way we expect them to, do they.”

Meaningfully sighed Ohana, while keeping her eyes upon the sleeping Fuyuka. She then continued to nurse Fuyuka carefully, replacing the towel on her forehead to ensure that her condition would not suddenly deteriorate.

“Mm-umhmm… mph.”

Fuyuka was having a hard time with her cold all the same, letting out a small moans from time to time. Her sweating had been intense, either, and Ohana cared for her the whole time, steadily wiping it off.

Perhaps it was due in part to such worthwhile care that Fuyuka’s condition seemed to be improving little by little. By the time evening came, she was no longer suffocating and was sleeping normally, undoubtedly thanks to Ohana.

“At this rate, she should probably be able to have a meal after she wakes up.”

Ohana murmured, and breathed a sigh of relief, deciding to get everything ready, so that she could serve Fuyuka as soon as she would be up.

Once the sound of dishes filled the air softly, the lady, whom fever was keeping asleep, finally came back to her senses.

“Mm… Hmm…?”

Ton-ton, while the sound of a kitchen knife tapping reverberated around the room, Fuyuka pulled open her heavy eyelids, and looked up at the ceiling.

---

Thank you for all your bookmarks, ratings, impressions and typo reports!
Thanks for all your support!

1. Voice like the sound of a mosquito’s wings—Japanese expression to describe a very quiet voice; back