CH 37

Chapter 37 – Signs of Awakening

Since Moriyama-kun started helping the student council, Moriyama-kun’s behavior has changed.

The first surprise came on Friday morning, the day after Moriyama-kun made his student council debut, when he greeted me in the classroom!

I was chatting with a friend and saw Moriyama-kun enter the classroom. I looked at him and he noticed me and our eyes met, so I made eye contact and greeted him with a smile like I always do, and he came straight up to me.

“Good morning, Urushibara-san.”

It was only a few words of greeting, but I was so surprised.

“G-G-G-G-Good morning, Mowiyama~Kyu~n,” Ah, I did it again.

But Moriyama-kun smiled at me and went straight to his seat. The students around us who were watching our exchange were buzzing, but Moriyama-kun didn’t seem to mind at all…

Moriyama-kun, up until now, would never talk to me in the classroom if there were other people around, he never smiled at me in the classroom, he would leave the classroom if he was noticed, and he acted differently in the classroom than he always did when he was alone with me. It felt like he started to behave the same way in the classroom as he always did when he was alone with me.

So I was even more concerned about Moriyama-kun than usual and immediately texted him, “Are you okay? You’re not pushing yourself, right?” He immediately replied, “I’m fine. I’m sorry for making you worry.” When I looked at Moriyama-kun, he smiled at me again. His smile was so beautiful that even though I was in the classroom, my face got hot and my friends were worried, “Himeka-chan, do you have a fever?” My friends were worried about me, but I was more shaken up than them.

Also, I didn’t promise to have lunch with him that day, but I barged into the emergency stairwell and asked him what was wrong.

“Yesterday’s incident at the student council made me realize how much I usually make Urushibara-san worry about me, so I’ve been thinking about changing my attitude.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t have to worry about me and push yourself, okay?”

“Thank you very much for always taking care of me like that. I’ve been running away all this time, and I’ve caused not only Urushibara-san but also Haruko and Dozle a lot of worry. Now that I’ve been given the opportunity to help the student council, I hope I can use this as a chance to change myself at school, even if only a little.”

The honey-bitten expression on Moriyama-kun’s face as he spoke like that was the brightest I’ve ever seen on him, and I felt my heart rising as if it were rushing up to my chest all at once, and  unconsciously I…

“(I) like (you)…”

“Hmm? This nugget? Then let’s trade. I’ve been wondering about those mini hamburgers too.”

After saying that, Moriyama-kun picked up a nugget from his lunch box with his chopsticks, paused for a moment as if thinking about something, and then turned the nugget towards me.

“Ahhn,” he said.

My chest was thumping from earlier, I felt shame that I had unintentionally said I liked him, but I was so disappointed and relieved that he didn’t get the message, and I was so happy to hear him say “ahhn” with a happy smile in front of me that I almost involuntarily opened my mouth to say “ahhn,” even though I was so flustered that my eyes nearly started to spin.

As I chewed the nugget from Moriyama-kun, something dripped from my nose.

I thought it was snot and tried to get a tissue out.

“U-U-Urushibara-san! Blood is dripping from your nose! Oh my God! The saint lady is having a nosebleed! How fearful that holy blood is flowing! Tissue tissue… Ah, please use this!”

I was so excited that my nose started to bleed.

Moriyama-kun took a tissue out of his pocket and handed it to me, fussing as usual.

“Are you all right? Don’t tell me my nuggets are poisonous! I-I-I’ll call an ambulance now! Ah, damn it! My hands are shaking, I can’t press the number! Damn it!”

“Moriyama-kun! No need for an ambulance!”

“But I can’t face your mother if something goes wrong!”

“It’s just a nosebleed! Please calm down!”

“Let’s at least go to the infirmary! Let’s go now! Come on!”

“There’s no need to go to the infirmary! Nosebleeds are a common occurrence in karate! Calm down! Ah, right! You were going to eat this hamburger! Here, say ‘ahhn’!”

When Moriyama-kun panicked, I was naturally able to calm down.

“I-s that so…? Ahhn…”

When I put a hamburger in his mouth, Moriyama-kun smothered it, but there was hamburger ketchup on his lips.

I took one of the tissues Moriyama-kun gave me and said, “Please be still,” and wiped the ketchup from his lips.

Gently swallowing his food, I wiped his lips with my hand.

“Now it’s okay. It’s cleaned now.”

“Thank you very much. By the way, this is an excellent hamburger. Is this 100% beef? It’s cooked well, juicy and chewy. They’re all exquisite and very different from our hamburgers. You’re the best, Urushibara-san.”

Moriyama-kun finally calmed down and returned to his usual self.

“Um… I hate to say this, but… Mama made my lunch today, so it wasn’t me…”

“E-Excuse me for this! Ah, but Mama-san is really great. She’s as good a cook as Urushibara-san. She’s a super-beautiful madam, and she’s not to be underestimated.”

Muu~ Now he’s starting to praise Mama.

“I’ll make hamburgers next time!”

“Eh? Why all of a sudden? Is it because I ate the hamburger? Then I’ll give you another nugget… Urushibara-san is quite the glutton, isn’t she?”

“No,not that! That’s enough! Moriyama-kun’s a bully!” Squeaks

I felt that Moriyama-kun, whose behavior in the classroom had changed, was a little closer to me than before when we were alone. I unintentionally confessed that I liked him, and I was disappointed that I didn’t get the message across, but I was also relieved. Thanks to that, I got to see a lot of the real Moriyama-kun, which made me very happy and I felt it was a very enjoyable time.