Volume 1 - CH 51

“I’m done with my bath!”

Himekawa is wearing a head towel as usual.

She is wearing the pink pajamas that were in the changing room earlier.

She puts her pen on the table and walks toward Himekawa.

“I’m going to take a bath too.”

Himekawa’s eyes move to my forehead, then to my fingers wrapped in a handkerchief.

With a slightly apologetic expression on her face, she walks up to me.

“Are your forehead and fingers okay?　Do they still hurt?”

To be honest, my fingers hurt, but not my forehead.

It doesn’t hurt as bad as it did before, but I feel like it might interfere with my daily activities.

“The pain isn’t as bad as it was earlier. It doesn’t hurt as much as Himekawa thinks it does, so don’t worry about it.”

I tried to be a little stronger. I don’t like to show my weakness in front of girls.

And if it hurts, Himekawa will just be troubled.

Himekawa’s small hand rubbed my forehead.

Himekawa is slightly warm after taking a bath, and her hand is also warm.

“The bleeding seems to have stopped. How’s your finger?”

Himekawa’s hand lightly grips my finger.

“Aaah! I’m sweating! I’m going to take a bath!”

I shouted a little.

Leaving Himekawa in the living room with a blank expression on her face, I hurry to the bathroom.

I undressed, trying not to move my sore fingers as much as possible, and washed my head and body, albeit awkwardly.

After the bath, I put a towel around my neck and go to the kitchen to get some milk as usual.

So far, so good. I don’t have to use my right hand much.

In the living room, I see Himekawa on the sofa with a notebook open.

But that notebook is my notebook. Why is she looking at it?

“Tendo kun. Tell me honestly.”

Himekawa comes up to me with the notebook in her hand.

Her expression is a little scary. I have a feeling I’m going to be accused of something.

Could it be about what I saw in the changing room?

If so, I apologize with all my might.

If I bow at the right angle and apologize honestly, I am sure she will forgive me.

“Yes. Then please sit on the couch!”

Huh? Why would I do that?

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to dry your hair, Tendo-kun. Come on, come quickly.”

Himekawa beckons to me.

At any rate, I sit down on the sofa and look at the front.

Behind me, Himekawa is sitting there with a hair dryer in her hand.

“I’m going to start. Please tell me if it is hot or painful.”

Hot air is released from the hair dryer with great force, hitting my scalp.

“It’s hot!”

“I’m sorry!　That was a little too close.”

Hi, Himekawa. It’s hot when you use a hair dryer that close to your scalp.

A few minutes passed, and Himekawa gradually got used to it. And my hair started to dry.

Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve had someone dry my hair.

It feels good.

I close my eyes, lean my weight on the sofa, and relax.

“I’m done!”

I touch my hair with my hand.

Yes, it’s dry. But something feels different.

What is this strange feeling?

“Thanks. You saved my life.”

I turned around and looked at Himekawa.

Himekawa’s face was completely red, probably due to the hot air.

“Can I dry off here too?”

“Hm? That’s fine.”

Himekawa sits down next to me, takes a head towel, and puts it on the table.

She brushes her wet hair a little with her hand and begins to dry it with a hair dryer in one hand.

Himekawa’s hair next to me rides the wind of the hair dryer and tickles my arm.

Her hair, which was a little cold and damp at first, gradually begins to dry, and her pitch-black hair dances in the air.

A faint smell of soap wafts through the air. And Himekawa’s hair tickled me.

I unconsciously forgot about the pain in my fingers and grabbed a handful of Himekawa’s hair.

The hair I lightly grasped was so silky and smooth that it slipped right out of my hand.

“Did my hair look damaged?”

Himekawa asked as she looked me in the eye.

I was at a loss for an answer because I had done it unconsciously.

“What? Oh, no, it’s, um, it’s silky and I don’t think it was damaged.”

“I see. If you see any branched hairs, please let me know.”

Himekawa talks to me with a smile.

Yes, that smile is intensely cute. This is my true feeling.

I never thought about it before, but Himekawa is cute after all.

I can understand why guys in my class have a crush on Himekawa.

“I’m done! I’ll go put the hair dryer back where I found it.”

Himekawa gets up from the sofa and leaves the room.

Ah, I’m tired. Let’s go to bed early today. Let’s go to bed.

I opened the door of my room from the living room and tried to get ready for bed.

But I noticed something different.

There was a set of futons in front of my bed.

Did I prepare such a futon?　I didn’t, did I?

I freeze in front of the door for a moment.

“Oh, I’m going to sleep with you today. It would be a disaster if something should happen to me while I’m sleeping, wouldn’t it?　”

“Huh?”

“I moved while Tendo-kun was taking a bath. I’m a good sleeper, and I can probably sleep even if Tendo-kun is noisy, so I’ll be fine.”

Himekawa answered clearly next to me who froze.

My thoughts were frozen and time just kept passing.

“Come on, brush your teeth and let’s go to bed. We need to get some rest.”

Himekawa grabs my arm and forces me into the bathroom.

Was Himekawa this aggressive?

Then we moved to the washroom and brushed our teeth side by side.

My hair is styled differently than usual, but let’s not worry about that at this point.

I can fix it tomorrow morning. Himekawa must have done something earlier.

I wonder what we look like in the mirror from the outside.

When I looked at Himekawa through the mirror, our eyes met.

Perhaps we are thinking the same thing?

We smile a little at each other and rinse our mouths with cups in hand.

We left the washroom side by side with our cups lined up and toothbrushes stuck in our cups.