Chapter 315: Mashiro Mashiro Mashiro
Chapter 315: Mashiro Mashiro Mashiro
“Akito? Nanami?”
It seemed like the noise from Himekoji and Nanami had woken Mashiro up. With sleepy eyes half-closed, Mashiro suddenly spoke out at that moment.
“Oh, you’re awake, Mashiro… Good morning…”
The instant Mashiro spoke, Nanami’s face turned bright red. Somehow, she felt like someone had caught her doing something secret, giving her a weird, guilty feeling.
“Good morning, Nanami.”
Compared to Nanami’s nervousness, Mashiro was calm as always. Raising a hand, Mashiro greeted back in return.
“What do you mean, ‘good morning’ to you two? It’s clearly still night right now…”
Himekoji’s complaint wasn’t heard by them, or maybe it was heard but ignored.
“Why are Akito and Nanami in my room?”
Mashiro, who had woken up from sleeping on the futon, tilted her head as if puzzling over this question.
“Even my bed got taken away…”
“So listen up, this is Nanami’s room! Shiina, since you just woke up, get your head clear first.”
“No, I’ve been awake for a long time now.”
Mashiro’s reply surprised Himekoji, though.
“When did you wake up?”
And Nanami was obviously more concerned about it.
The girl hugged Torajirou tightly in her arms, her gaze at Mashiro full of panic and tension.
“Torajirou began?”
Mashiro answered honestly.
Though it was unclear why it was in a questioning tone.
“Huh?”
Torajirou began?
That meant right from the start!
“Oh… no…”
In that second, Nanami felt like she’d been struck by lightning.
The ostrich mindset took over right away—she stuck her bottom up, buried her head deep again, pressed the pillow over it, and stayed in that bad, flat-on-the-bed pose like she was broken.
If she could dig a hole, Nanami would probably have gone from the third floor straight down to the basement in one breath…
Himekoji could almost understand that kind of shame. He felt sorry for a second, then looked toward Mashiro.
“Shiina, if you were awake, why didn’t you say so sooner?”
“Talking is too much trouble. Opening eyes is trouble too.”
“But you’re talking with your eyes open now…”
“Because it’s time.”
“What time do you mean?”
Himekoji totally didn’t get what Mashiro was saying.
“Akito, I want to get sick with a fever too.”
So that made even less sense!
“Don’t say silly things!”
“I’m serious.”
Mashiro sat on the floor, looking up at Himekoji, clenched her small pink fist in front of him to show she meant it.
“You shouldn’t be serious about stuff like that!”
Seriously, just taking care of Nanami had already worn him out…
Why was Mashiro causing more trouble then?
“I want to be taken care of by Akito.”
“But I’ve been taking care of you since I met you, okay?”
“Hah, true, you almost took care of me right onto the bed.”
Just a moment before, she was acting like an ostrich with her head buried under the pillow, but now she’d stopped that, and started to speak softly in a mocking tone at Himekoji.
It seemed Nanami had gotten her mind adjusted back, recovering well both body and mood.
“That didn’t happen at all!”
“It did!”
Despite still having a fever, Nanami suddenly got energetic, arguing back at Himekoji.
“Shut up, you can’t even get out of bed yet! Aoyama is in bed, right? I’m taking care of Aoyama, right? So that means I took care of you onto the bed too?”
“Huh?”
Shocked by Himekoji’s shameless words, Nanami was speechless for a moment.
“I want it too.”
Mashiro seized the chance to speak up.
“What do you want?”
“To be taken care of onto the bed by Akito, so I can’t get down.”
“Stop talking nonsense! Aoyama is only like that because of the fever!”
“Then I want to get a fever too.”
This foolish talk was all too familiar, like déjà vu.
“Please, Shiina, stop making more work for me, okay?”
“No.”
“I’m not asking for your opinion!”
“No.”
“I already said, I’m not asking for your opinion! And I’m not gonna listen to you, hey!”
“No.”
Seriously, again?
What a useless repeat! Repeating it over doesn’t help! No matter how seriously you say it, it ain’t happening!
“Take good care of your body yourself, and if you get a fever, I definitely won’t forgive you!”
“Can’t take good care.”
Himekoji really admired how calmly Mashiro said that.
“Are you a little kid? Can’t you take care of your own body?”
“Because it wants Akito to take care of it.”
“Huh?”
“My body wants Akito to take care of it.”
“Huh?!”
“I want Akito to take care of my body.”
This was getting worse and worse!
“Enough! I’m not listening, I’m not listening!”
Frustrated, Himekoji kept his hands firmly over his ears.
Jeez, Mashiro!
Always saying stuff like that—didn’t she know it was unfair?
Just as Himekoji thought that, Mashiro, sitting on the floor, stood up suddenly.
The girl stood on tiptoes and reached out, forcefully pulling down the hands Himekoji had over his ears.
What the heck?
When Mashiro’s palm touched Himekoji’s wrist, Himekoji felt like electricity flowed through his arm.
As if a huge, unstoppable force came, his hand slipped off his ears without a fight.
Where did Mashiro get so much strength?!
Even the “not listening” special move had been broken!
“I want Akito to take care of my body.”
Mashiro looked at Himekoji and said it again, the second time.
“Still… you shouldn’t get a fever…”
Mashiro’s pretty, cute face was close, but it felt far away to Himekoji, like a strange painting that wasn’t real on some exotic place.
Himekoji didn’t know what mood he was in when he said this.
All he knew was his heart was racing—earlier, it was for Nanami, but now it switched to Mashiro.
The only thing that didn’t change was how each quick beat of his heart spread an indescribable pain through his whole body.
…
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