Chapter 21
“May I ask you something about Azami-san?”
In the men’s changing room, which was much brighter with the morning sun shining through a small window near the ceiling, Kaede, who was lying down a little further away, turned to me and said.
As soon as I met Kaede, I told her that I couldn’t tell her about my situation for some reason. Of course, there’s no way I could say that I don’t know anything since I just came back from another world, so I said that, but anyway, I guess Kaede took that into consideration when she asked me.
“…I’ll answer if I can.”
I replied while lying on my back with my arms crossed over my head as a pillow. I look at the side of the road at Kaede, and I think she opened her mouth and then quickly closed it again.
“….?”
I turned to Kaede, wondering how long it would take her to spell out the next word. Huh groaning Kaede swallowed her next words.
“Did you want to ask me something?”
“Yes, but….it’s okay, after all.”
In response to my question, Kaede said and smiled. I’m curious what you were thinking of asking, but I’m not even sure if that’s a question I can answer in the first place. Well, if that’ s what you say, I don’ t blame you.
“Okay. You can always ask me if you want to say it again.”
“….Yes. Oh, uh, Azami-san. Are you going somewhere today?”
As I thought of it, Kaede asked a question. I smiled and replied to her question, which was obviously not the question I was trying to answer.
“Oh, I don’t have any plans at the moment.”
“Really, absolutely? You’re not going to be gone when I wake up, are you?”
Kaede carefully and persistently checked on me, and stared into my eyes.
There was plenty of food downstairs, so the first thing to do now was to figure out how to carry Kaede. I couldn’t take any action yet, unless I could come up with a good way.
I dare say I’d like to take a look at that city hall community to see if it’s safe or not. If Kaede wanted me to stay today, there would be no problem even if I didn’t go see her again today.
“Okay, I promise. Now get some sleep.”
I know how she feels. That’s why I stared back at her and said it clearly.
Maybe she felt relieved by this, but eventually Kaede fell asleep.
+++++
I woke up in the sunlight and looked at the watch on my wrist. Apparently, I had been asleep for three hours.
The sun was a little higher in the sky, and I glanced at the small window, grudgingly wondering if the light had hit me directly. I looked at Kaede, who was lying against the wall, and saw that she was still asleep. Thinking about putting up some kind of curtain later, I got up to go to the bathroom.
“…Azami-san…”
As I quietly opened the door, a voice called out from behind me. I turned around to see if she was awake, but she was still meditating and taking small breaths with no words to follow.
“Sleep talking…”
She wriggled her body, occasionally squeezing her eyelids tightly shut, as if she was dreaming about something. I saw that the blanket she was wearing had slipped off and her shoulders were hanging out, so I walked up to her and put it back on. When I looked closer, I saw that Kaede’s face was slightly reddish.
And then, slowly, Kaede’s eyes opened.
“Oh, Azami-san? Good morning?”
“Oh, I woke you up, I’ m sorry.”
“No, that…..I’m so glad you’re here.”
Kaede looked up at me and smiled, coughing lightly. Seeing this, I put my hand on his forehead without asking.
“You look like you got a fever, maybe you caught a cold. Give me a minute.”
I regretted that if we were going to sleep in the same room after all, I should have let her sleep on the sofa in the staff room like we did when we first met. After three years of traveling in the other world, I was used to sleeping on the hard ground, so I let him sleep in this room.
When I tried to stand up, Kaede pulled her hand out of the blanket and grabbed the hem of my pants without effort.
“Please don’t go….”
And then, as if squeezing out a voice, she turned his pleading gaze to me with trembling eyes. I’m sure she’s not feeling well and is feeling even weaker.
“Ah…It’s fine….I am not going to leave this floor.”
I had no choice but to respond in the same way.
I was actually thinking of moving Kaede to the staff room and then going outside to find some cold medicine.
But then I decided to let Kaede rest in a better environment, and with Kaede’s permission, I left the men’s changing room.
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