Chapter 265: Lying Alongside You

“Yeah, I heard. You’ll fully recover in three days, right?”

Yukinoshita could tell lies too.

Of course she could.

People who could live in this world without ever needing a lie didn’t exist.

But, there was one thing—

Yukinoshita wouldn’t lie for herself.

Moreover, if Yukinoshita lied for someone else, then that person must be really special to her.

The girl stood to one side, watching quietly as Himekoji clumsily moved forward, feeling his way and walking step by step.

“Yeah, so no need to worry about me. This time, I really didn’t lie to you.”

As Himekoji said this, he couldn’t help but silently praise the old doctor in his heart.

The old doctor was reliable.

This was enough.

…

The two hospital beds were about three meters apart. Four stools were placed against the wall.

The layout of the hospital room was now clearly mapped in his mind after several rounds of practice walking the distance.

Perfect!

He would definitely be able to pull it off without any problems!

Himekoji showed a confident smile.

The smile was charming and handsome, but not likable.

Because, that wasn’t the Himekoji the girls here wanted to see.

This kind of smile only made their hearts ache.

…

“What… an idiot.”

Yukinoshita shook her head and looked away.

She didn’t expose Himekoji’s “lie.”

Although it went against her usual way of doing things.

But it couldn’t be helped.

Because, it just didn’t fit—

“Absolute correctness” and “never lying,” the two core tenets of justice Yukinoshita insisted on upholding, were now contradicting each other.

In this moment, the lie was correct.

Perhaps.

Or maybe, Yukinoshita just couldn’t bear to.

Though it was hard to see, the snow beneath the snow surface…

Was gentle.

If that’s what Himekoji wanted, then she would lie alongside him.

Yukinoshita, who never lied, told a lie.

So what?

…

“The meaning of ‘fully recovered in three days’…”

Tobe from the neighboring bed watched Himekoji blindly moving forward, suddenly thought of something, shuddered, and blurted out in shock,

“Could it be… could it be your eyes, Himekoji-kun?”

“Yeah.”

The position of Tobe’s bed was forty-five degrees diagonally in front of Himekoji.

Visualizing a rough map in his mind, Himekoji “looked” towards Tobe and nodded calmly,

“It’s just temporary blindness. Only for three days.”

Himekoji said, raising his index finger to his lips.

“Shh—”

He said it mysteriously,

“So please, keep it a secret for me later. Don’t make our classmates worry needlessly.”

As soon as Himekoji finished speaking, a voice cut in—

“Needless worry??? Onii-chan! In your mind, is our worry meaningless, unnecessary, not needed, and unimportant? You idiot! Don’t just casually dismiss other people’s concern for you!”

She had promised to hold back. She had promised to restrain herself. She had promised to act alongside Himekoji in this play about “recovering in three days.” But—

Just how was she supposed to hold back? How was she supposed to restrain herself? How was she supposed to pull off this acting?!

The emotions churning up inside her were so big, so strong, like ocean tides, growing fiercer and fiercer.

Her eyes, still swollen and red from crying just moments ago, filled with tears again.

Tears were colorless.

But they turned eyes red.

“No, what do you mean ‘dismissed other people’s concern’?”

Himekoji grinned.

When feeling awkward, smile.

When feeling guilty, smile.

When not knowing what else to do, just smile.

“Akiko, thank you for your concern. I’m fine, really fine. And, the fact that you care this much about me? It makes me happy.”

Himekoji reached out to touch Akiko’s hair.

Before him, it was still pitch blackness.

…

It makes you happy?

But…

I’m not happy!

I’m angry! Super angry!

Because—

Onii-chan, you can’t even see that I’m crying.

“Idiot… idiot Onii-chan… Onii-chan is a big idiot!”

Tears welled up, swirling in her eyes, then streaming down her face.

Akiko tried hard to keep her voice low, hiding the tremble of tears.

Himekoji’s hand, resting on Akiko’s head, suddenly froze.

…

When Hayama and the others arrived, it was nearly evening.

The one leading them was Hiratsuka-sensei.

Perhaps Yuigahama had said something to everyone outside the hospital room beforehand. When they entered, each wore an odd expression.

Only Hiratsuka-sensei seemed relatively normal.

The Female Teacher looked Himekoji up and down, shook her head emphatically, walked over, and immediately delivered a sharp knuckle strike to his head.

“You there, it’s time to grow up a little! Being a Pervert isn’t an excuse to hurt yourself, you know.”

“Huh? Hurt myself?!”

What on earth is ‘hurting myself’?

“Sensei, I admit I’m a Pervert, sure. But my kind of perversion isn’t the psychological kind, hello!”

“Honestly, it absolutely qualifies as psychological deviance.”

“Wha? Isn’t that conclusion a bit too hasty?!”

And also, wasn’t saying that about a student a bit too harsh?

“Himekoji.”

Just as Himekoji was silently grumbling to himself about this, Hiratsuka-sensei suddenly called his name seriously.

“Hmm?”

The latter, half-reclined on the hospital bed, instinctively straightened up.

“That… listen, you’re always hurting yourself.”

“Eh? Me?”

Hiratsuka-sensei’s words made Himekoji pause briefly. He quickly snapped back, shaking his head in denial,

“No, I’m not, I haven’t…”

Because, how could that be?

Who is dumb enough to hurt themselves?

Self-preservation is human instinct.

“But, I wonder if you’ve started realizing this yet? By hurting yourself, you indirectly hurt others too.”

Hiratsuka-sensei’s hand reached towards Himekoji’s cheek, leaving him no room to dodge.

It landed gently.

The warmth from the Female Teacher’s palm was gentle, just right.

Hiratsuka-sensei stared quietly at Himekoji.

Actually, deep down, she had one more thing she wanted to say.

But she decided against it.

Ultimately, the Female Teacher just sighed softly.

“Hah…”

…

Himekoji.

You should be realizing it by now, shouldn’t you?

A world where no one gets hurt doesn’t exist. Not even if you sacrifice yourself.

…

“I’ll go for a smoke.”

Everyone watched as the Female Teacher exited.

Though her cool turn looked incredibly handsome.

Still, as a Sensei, openly announcing she was going to smoke right in front of her students…

Was that really appropriate?

…

Hiratsuka Shizuka-Sensei was gone.

No one spoke. No one knew what to say.

The air in the hospital room instantly fell into silence.

Awkwardness filled the space.

Finally, Hayama was the first to break the stifling atmosphere.

“Mihara-kun, you didn’t… well, I’m really glad you’re okay.”

He stepped forward, gently placing the fruit basket he held onto the bedside table,

“And also? The way you stepped in like that? It was truly brave.”

“You’re… a Hero.”

“A Hero who makes me feel ashamed.”

……