CH 39

(This is Makoto’s POV)

From the beginning, I had no intention of going to a homestay. Riding a plane all the way and sacrificing sleep time just to listen to the explanation of the importance of cultural exchanges, even as a joke, was foolish. Please read this at ChocoCats.

If I have time to do that, it would be more useful to go carry on with the plan to get Mai. That was my thought.

That’s why, I pretended to be sick, and on the day of the event, I purposely told one of the parents the routes where fatal accidents occur frequently, and created a space where I could be together with Mai. When one of them came back, the parent was surprised to find Mai not going to school, but when I explained that I had her take days off because Mai might have an infection, that parent was easily convinced.

It didn’t take much time and effort for me to deceive them, but I was worried that it will be troublesome in the future.

That’s why today, I acted as if my health had improved with a slightly better complexion. Or rather, there was no abnormal physical condition from the very beginning. I showed them indirectly that I had returned to my normal condition, and convinced the parents this time it was Mai who not feeling well, so we went to the hospital together in the morning.

Both parents weren’t there because of work. I randomly described the symptoms that corresponded to a common cold and were prescribed medicine. Because the medicine must be taken after the meal, we ended up having lunch in the cafe inside the hospital.

“Onii-chan, can you taste it properly? Do you know what’s in it…?”

“I know. It’s salmon and spinach, right?”

“Alright then…”

I hadn’t eaten since morning, so I ate risotto, and Mai looked at me with a worried look on her face while eating a hot dog. Before long, maybe because she was thirsty, she cautiously reached for the iced coffee and made a face like the end of the world when she sipped it.

Previously, when I was ordering coffee, Mai said, “You shouldn’t drink coffee because you have a cold, right? It’s bitter.” and switched my coffee with her apple juice. I read the medicine precautions, wondering if the medicine can be drunk with coffee, and as a result of running to the medicine delivery counter, I was drinking Mai’s apple juice.

“Wanna change?”

“It’s okay… because it’s a wall that I have to overcome someday…”

And Mai drank the coffee I ordered with a gloomy face.

“Hey, can you really taste if it’s sweet or bitter? It’s good that you now have some appetite, but it doesn’t because you can’t really taste anything, does it?”

“Yeah. It’s sweet.”

The apple juice I got from Mai was sweet. But in spite of its numbing sweetness, it wasn’t too unpleasant. Please read this at ChocoCats.

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After having lunch, I took a detour on my way home. There is an art museum near the hospital. Mai was looking at me suspiciously, and I thought she was suspecting me of feigning sick, but turns out she was worried that I was overdoing myself. Please read this at ChocoCats.

Mai said, “Inside the art museum, you have to walk, you know?” no matter how I see it, she was so worried about me. Instead of feeling guilty, I was just happy. Rather than finding it silly for being easily deceived, there was a strong sense of satisfaction that I’m inside Mai’s head.

The contents of the exhibition in the museum that we saw were painting from the medical treatment points of view, and there were works such as patients undergoing treatment and even works that were drawn for later studies lined up.

Back then, I would have been excited to see any part of a living body being cut, and I would have been excited by the vivid colour that overflowed from there. And yet, I couldn’t feel excited over that as I used to feel in the past. It was just paintings of body parts, it looked just like the humans and animals walking around.

“Hey, was the exhibition interesting? How is your body?”

Mai tilted her head at the café inside the building, where conversation was allowed. I couldn’t say that I didn’t get anything at all, so I gave a curt reply, “some of it”.

“As expected, you are still feeling unwell, aren’t you? Let’s go home?”

“No, I was the one who decided to go, but I think it was a complicated world even for me.”

“Huh…”

Mai made a dubious face. If it was before, I would reply “it was very interesting”. Because the common answer to such grotesque works is either that or “it was scary”.

In my personal opinion, I might have thought it was “beautiful”. But now it feels no different from the guardrails around here.

“How about Mai?”

“Maybe I should draw pictures. I learnt a lot from looking at them.”

“Are you aiming to become a painter?”

“No, but humans are creatures that aim high.”

And yet, the blood colour of Mai’s lips that said such stupid things, the colour of her skin that was exposed from the hem of her clothes, and her fluttering black hair were incredibly vivid.

“Somehow you looked like you had fun, but what? You went to a cafe in the end?”

“Well…”

Maybe I was already perverted. I didn’t get anything meaningful from an exhibit that I was sure if it was me before, I would have been satisfied with. And instead, I feel the emptiness inside me filled in an instant by looking at Mai who was looking with shining eyes at the cakes with lots of creams, which would give me heartburn just looking at them, in a café near the museum. Please read this at ChocoCats.

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Perhaps because we stopped by the cafe in the art museum, when we went out, it was already evening. Mai said, “don’t you feel like eating ice cream when you have a fever?” and went to the convenience store to buy ice cream, and when we got home, Mai tried to put me to sleep but it was still 3 pm. Please read this at ChocoCats.

In the end, I told her that I won’t be able to sleep at night if I sleep now, so the two of us sit on the sofa in the living room, turned on the TV randomly, and absentmindedly watched a rebroadcasting foreign movie.

“I wonder if all the characters will die. What do you think, Onii-chan?”

“Won’t one person survive? Even if everyone dies in this situation, it would still be an emotional ending, right?”

The movie wasn’t interesting at all. A typical, templated ensemble story. But even though it was certainly boring, holding hands with Mai made me confusedly feel like I was spending an extraordinarily meaningful time.

“Who will survive? I guess it’s the baby.”

“Is that what you think? A child?”

While talking nonsense, I intentionally touched Mai’s hand and wondered if there was something in it. Mai said, “It’s ticklish” while trying to let go, so I hurriedly gripped her tighter.

“What, are you tired of the movie already? Do you want to arm wrestling?”

“I can’t see the movie.”

As Mai said that, she turned her attention to the TV again.

Mai’s hands were slightly softer and whiter than my own skin, but there was no particular difference other than that. I want to pull off this arm, I couldn’t even ask for the satisfaction feeling of doing it with my own hands. After touching and confirming everything, I continued watching the boring movie with Mai. Please read this at ChocoCats.