— It was 10 days before the completion of my training for the clinical trial.
I was down with seven laps left to run.
“I can’t… my body is too tired to move anymore…!”
Seeing me like this, Kashiwagi-san cheered me on as she sat in her chair.
“You can do it, Yamamoto~! I’ll give you a ‘reward’ if you finish it fast~!”
“Reward…!”
I turn my face to Kashiwagi-san as I fall down in anticipation.
“Oh, I’ll give you Ramune cigarettes! How exciting, right?”
I dropped my shoulders.
“Kashiwagi-san! I’m not going to get motivated if you give me one or two packs of that now! I mean, you force me to eat it every day anyway!”
“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, but now that I think about it, the one I’m sucking right now is the last one. If you finish it quick, I’ll give you this a reward—”
“Seven more laps, right? I’ll finish it with haste.”
My feet felt so light, like flying.
◇◇◇
When I returned, almost dead, Kashiwagi-san greeted me with a big smile.
“Yamamoto! I am impressed! I never thought you liked Ramune Cigarettes enough to work this hard!”
“Zeh… zeh… Well, if you only have one stick, I don’t blame you… I’ll take that…”
“Surprise! I went through my pockets, and lo and behold, there was another pack! Now forget about this one, I’ll give you the whole pack!”
“…………”
I collapsed on the spot without a sound.(E/N: You really were motivated for that huh…)
Surely this is a blessing in disguise.
It seems like she saw through my true intentions of wanting to have the stick that she was sucking onto. I couldn’t help but think about it.
Disappointed, I accepted the pack.
“It seems the pack is crushed and it’s also oddly warm.”
“I apologize. It was actually in my back pocket and I was sitting on it so it got crushed. If you don’t like it, I’ll replace it with a new one in my room.”
“I’ll keep it as an heirloom…”
God had not abandoned me yet.
[Postscript]
Tomorrow will be another bonus story! (A little longer though)
Please wait a moment for the main story to resume! <(_ _)>