When Nagato returned, Nonou was quietly lying in bed inside the ward.
"Is that you back?"
She only spoke after hearing footsteps.
"Yeah, I bought something to eat."
Nagato set the meal aside and helped Nonou sit up from the bed.
"It smells amazing."
As Nagato opened the food container, Nonou caught a whiff of the aroma.
"Have a little bite to tide you over. We'll have something better later tonight."
Saying that, Nagato pushed the container toward Nonou and placed the spoon into her hand.
Nonou fumbled, trying to locate the edge of the container. She couldn't see a thing.
She froze for a moment, unsure how to begin.
"Oh, my mistake."
"This must be inconvenient for you. I'll feed you instead."
Nagato took the spoon from Nonou's hand and picked up the container himself.
Then he scooped up a full spoonful and brought it to Nonou's mouth.
"Ah, open wide."
Nonou obeyed and opened her mouth like a child.
At first she felt awkward, but soon let go of her hesitation.
After all, she was a patient—being cared for like this was normal.
After feeding Nonou, Nagato finally began eating his own meal.
His meal had already gone cold.
By afternoon, the time had finally come.
Standing beside Nonou, Nagato got ready to remove her bandages.
"I'll take off the bandages now. Then slowly open your eyes."
"If anything feels uncomfortable, be sure to tell me."
Nagato had never cared so deeply about a patient before.
"Okay, got it."
Right now, Nonou was the picture of a well-behaved girl, not even teasing Nagato.
Of course, saying she wasn't nervous would be a lie.
Until she could see for herself, she wouldn't know how successful the surgery had truly been.
"Then here I go."
Nagato quickly removed all the bandages.
As Nonou opened her eyes, she adjusted to the light.
Soon enough, she realized everything looked incredibly clear—she didn't need glasses anymore.
Looking left then right, she felt absolutely no discomfort.
Finally, her gaze settled on Nagato's face.
This was the clearest she'd ever seen him without her glasses.
That fiery red hair looked especially dazzling.
"Thank you, Nagato."
She had a thousand things to say, but they all boiled down to those few words.
"Don't mention it—it was a promise I made to you."
Nagato responded with a warm smile. This sudden sense of accomplishment felt greater than curing dozens of patients combined.
"You actually look pretty good when you smile like that."
Maybe love really is blind—she thought Nagato had never looked more handsome.
"Pfft, whatever. You can check out of the hospital now."
Nagato blushed slightly at her compliment.
He knew exactly what he looked like.
"So soon? I can leave already?"
Nonou had expected they'd keep her under observation longer. She hadn't expected discharge to be this straightforward.
"What? You want to stay another night or something?"
"That's also possible, you know."
Nagato teased lightly—like anyone actually *wants* to stay in a hospital.
"No way!"
"This place isn't half as nice as my home."
Nonou quickly got out of bed, still wearing the same clothes she had come in.
"Let's go, there's nothing to pack anyway."
After saying that, Nagato took Nonou and walked outside.
As they passed by the hospital front desk, he greeted the nurse and told her the ward was now free.
"Wanna have dinner at my place tonight?"
Nonou said as she walked beside Nagato. She also had something important to tell him.
"Would that be too much trouble for you?"
Nagato didn't refuse, he just worried about troubling Nonou.
"No problem, I usually cook for myself anyway."
"You'll get to taste my cooking today."
At this point, Nonou lit up, clearly very confident in her cooking skills.
"Alright then, I'll be sure to give it a good try."
Seeing how enthusiastic she was, Nagato agreed.
He mentally braced himself—he'd compliment her no matter how it tasted.
"Let's go buy some ingredients first."
Nonou led Nagato toward the marketplace, a place he'd never been to before.
Once they arrived, the sheer variety of ingredients overwhelmed Nagato.
Honestly, he only knew how to eat—not cook.
Nonou bought a ton of ingredients in one go, and both of them were carrying full bags on their way back.
Arriving at the apartment building, Nagato finally followed Nonou inside.
They reached a room near the middle of the second floor. Nonou put down the shopping bags and pulled the key from her pocket.
"My place might be kind of messy, so don't look around too much."
She warned Nagato in advance—she couldn't even remember if she'd left any underwear lying around.
Living alone for a while had developed some bad little habits.
"Got it."
Nagato carelessly replied. What kind of secrets could there possibly be in her apartment?
"Come in."
Nonou pushed open the door and stepped inside first.
Quickly scanning the room, she darted inside and shoved a few pieces of clothing under the couch cushions.
Then she turned around, giving Nagato—who had just entered—an uneasy look.
"Did you see anything?"
Nonou asked, blushing.
"Nope."
Nagato refused to admit he'd seen the cartoon-patterned panties.
"Good."
"Make yourself at home. There's water if you want some—I'm heading to the kitchen."
Relieved, Nonou stopped worrying about entertaining Nagato any further.
As soon as Nonou entered the kitchen, Nagato carefully avoided the couch cushion hiding the undergarments and sat a bit farther away.
Only then did Nagato start to take a closer look at Nonou's small apartment.
The layout was very simple but obviously well-arranged.
A faint fragrance filled the air—it was the same scent Nagato often noticed on Nonou.
The small room was easy to take in with just one glance, nothing particularly unusual.
Hearing the sound of running water from the kitchen, Nagato considered whether he should offer help.
Before he could stand up, he heard Nonou's voice.
"Nagato, can you hand me an apron?"
"It's by the sofa."
Nonou had been in a rush earlier and only now realized water had splashed onto her clothes.
"Okay, I found it."
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Nagato glanced around idly and noticed a pink apron. He picked it up and headed toward the kitchen, where Nonou was handling seafood.
"My hands are all smelly from the fish. Can you help me tie this?" she asked, arms stretched out with a bright smile.
"Alright then," Nagato replied after a slight hesitation.
Carefully unfolding the apron, he stepped behind Nonou to wrap it around her. As he leaned in, the familiar scent about her became stronger.
"Turn around so your back is toward me."
He slipped the apron over her head first, then asked her to turn.
"Sure!" Her bright, clear voice echoed in Nagato's ears.
"Done."
"Is there anything I can help with?" Nagato asked after tying the apron securely around her. It felt awkward just sitting around doing nothing in the living room.
"No need. Just go sit down and wait for dinner."
With that, Nonou gently shooed Nagato out of the kitchen and got back to cooking.
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