CH 17

“Yes, lift up your arms.”

As Suzuka told me to do, I raised my arms and rolled up the top of the bedclothes I was wearing and took it off.

No, I was asked to take it off.

And after taking it off, I put on a T-shirt.

“That’s very generous of you.”

“You’re hurt. You deserve it.”

“Is that what this is about?”

“Come on, let’s have breakfast, shall we?”

I go to the kitchen with Suzuka.

Last night.

When my mother asked me, “Will you eat breakfast tomorrow?” I answered, “Probably” and that’s why it was usually prepared.

Scrambled eggs, sausage, and a simple salad.

“How many pieces of bread do you eat, Yuki?”

“One slice is all I need.”

Two minutes of toasting the bread in the toaster.

A dinging sound informs me that it is done.

Suzuka was brewing coffee, so I thought I’d spread some margarine on the bread I’d toasted.

“I cannot spread it.”

Spread margarine on bread.

What even a child can do easily is difficult.

“You’re struggling, aren’t you?”

“Sort of.”

Somehow, I clumsily finish spreading the margarine on the bread.

So, we sat in the dining room chairs and started a leisurely breakfast together.

“It’s been a long time since I had breakfast with Suzuka like this. So, how were you when I was in the hospital?”

“I? Well, on the days I didn’t go to visit you, I went to hang out with friends. I felt like it was time to get some things ready, you know, clothes.”

“Clothes?”

“Yuki. We’re college students starting this spring, you know? Did you forget that until now we had uniforms, but from now on we have to spend our days in plain clothes?”

“…… Well, yeah, I guess so. Ah.”

I sound dumb.

Because of my hospitalization, I suddenly remembered something important that I had completely forgotten.

“What’s wrong?”

“Suit ……”

“Really. You have to buy a suit to wear to the entrance ceremony.”

“It will be crowded at this time of the year. Well, as long as I don’t have to fix the bottoms or anything, I can get it done in time, but I don’t want to look sloppy.”

If I wanted to make it in time, I can afford to make it in time.　

However, I intend to buy a suit that I can use for job hunting.

If that is the case, it would be better to have the suit adjusted to my size.

The interviewer’s first impression of you is your appearance.

Without it, there is no way to get a job offer. That’s what my father used to say.

“You’ll leave the house around nine o’clock.”

“I suppose. Thanks for the food. That’s it.”

I was eating scrambled eggs and sausage with a fork, but with my non-dominant left hand.

The plate is a mess.

All I could do was laugh bitterly.

“Like a child.”

“Hah ……. The way forward. My broken right hand can’t even hold a pen, so I have to practice writing with my left hand to even keep up with my college lectures.”

“Oh, I see. Then, I will take the same lectures as Yuki and show you my notes.”

“You know what? We pay high tuition fees. Don’t worry about me, just take the lectures that interest you. If not you, I can ask to see the notes of someone who took the same lecture as me.”

“I’m so excited. Isn’t it cold? I just wanted to take a lecture with Yuki. Aren’t you longing for it? To sit side by side with your lover and attend the same lecture.”

The same lecture with Suzuka.

There will surely be no conversation. Just attending a lecture together beside each other.

Even though that’s all there is to it, she seems to be somehow excited about it.

“I can’t help it. I’ll take a few of the lectures.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shall we?”

Together, both of us are moving in earnest toward our new lives starting in the spring.

It was while we were discussing this with our hearts filled with anticipation.

“Mmm-hmm~”

“You’re in a good mood.”

“It’s been a while since Yuki and I have been together.”

“Stop it. Don’t say cute things towards me by surprise.”

“Ehehe. Then, I’ll say more. I’m glad to be with you for the first time in a long time.”

Suzuka is happy without weighing herself down.

She is highly aggressive.

And perhaps because I have an injury on my right hand, which is my dominant hand, she is being very kind to me, which makes her even more aggressive.

“… Dangerous, dangerous. I forgot to take my pills.”

We finished breakfast and relaxed together.

I totally almost forgot to take my after-meal pills.

It still hurts like normal when the painkillers wear off…….

“Sorry? Because you protected me.”

“I told you not to apologize. How many times do I have to tell you that that was not your fault, no matter what you think?”

As a result of protecting Suzuka.

I got hurt.

How can anyone not feel sorry in a normal way?

You don’t have to apologize to me, okay? I’m sorry, but here’s what I’m going to do.

If I just tell her not to apologize, her apology will become nothing but a festering mess.

“Then, if you have any trouble, just let me know, okay?”

“Then, for the time being, bring me some water. I’ve come all this way. Let me take this opportunity of being spoiled by Suzuka, okay?”

Let’s rely on her in moderation, shall we?

I told Ryoka with a deliberate smile.

“Yes!”

The cheerful Suzuka simply nodded her head.

So, after pouring down the pills with the water I was given, I felt an itch in my ear, so I took out an ear bud from the shelf.

“No. Stop.”

I can’t use my dominant hand.

It is not impossible, but it would be bad if I scratched the inside of my ears.

Besides, ear cleaning itself is not a necessary act, if you ask me.

“I’ll do it for you.”

Suddenly, a voice calls out to me from behind.

“Oh, don’t stand behind me. It startles me, you know?”

“Sorry, sorry. Come on, Yuki. Come here?”

As she speaks, Suzuka sits on the floor, gently slapping her own thighs.

In short, I’m allowed to lie down there.

“……Excuse me for disturbing you.”

“What do you mean you’re sorry to bother me?”

She giggles at the strange mannerisms.

I use her thighs as a pillow.

Small, but still soft, and the left half of my face is happy.

“I’m asking you.”

“I was asked to do it. So let’s get started, shall we?”

The sensation of going in slowly.

I heard a rustling sound.

I’m not ticklish, but I’m filled with ticklishness.

I never dreamed that the day would come when Suzuka would do this to me.

“…”

I fall silent.

Suzuka talks to me softly.

“I’m a little embarrassed. I can’t believe I’m doing this with Yuki.”

“You know, it’s really not fair of you to react like that, okay?”

“Ehehe.”

The happy time that follows with a little chatting goes by very quickly.

From the feel of it, it was like the final touch, and she was already playing with my ears.

And finally…

“Whew!”

A gentle breeze blows in my ear.

It tickles, but it feels good nonetheless.

“Okay, that’s it.”

“Lap pillow. Good ……”

I let out an exclamation.

I guessed that my face had been broken up so much that Suzuka slightly loosened the corners of her mouth.

“You’re a spoiled child, aren’t you? Yes, move over, move over.”

I was forced to quit the lap pillow a little too forcefully.

I wanted to savor it a little longer, though, didn’t I?

It can’t be helped.

I try to leave Suzuka.

“I said I had to do the opposite, I said I moved out of the way, do you feel like I shouldn’t?”

“Oh, yeah. Did you?”

“What shall we do?”

“Please ……”

I sink my face into her thighs, using honorifics that I don’t use much with Suzuka.

“It can’t be helped. Let’s get started, shall we?”