"That... should do it!"
Kiryuuin pressed the medicinal patch firmly onto Kazuo's lower back, and Kazuo instantly gasped and cried out loudly.
"Hiss, ouch ouch ouch!"
"Alright, alright, that's much better, stop yelling, it's giving me a headache just listening... Hiss!"
Kiryuuin said heartlessly, but Aoi came from behind and gave him a hard smack on the head.
"Kazuo, are you okay? Do you need to go to a nearby clinic to get it checked out?"
Peeking out from behind Kiryuuin, Aoi looked at Kazuo's back with the medicinal plaster on it and asked with some concern.
Before Kazuo could answer, Kiryuuin 'tsk'ed and interjected: "It's just a sprain, isn't it? No bleeding. Just put the plaster on him and let him rest for a day, he should be mostly fine."
Kiryuin Aoi frowned and glared at her older brother, then looked at Kazuo with some concern: "Are you uncomfortable anywhere? The way you were just now, is your knee okay?"
"Haha... it's nothing. Right now, my back is mostly what hurts. My knee should be fine. I just hit the floor, and I'm much better now that I've recovered..."
Kazuo smiled, indicating there was no need to worry too much, then showed a hint of concern: "Compared to me, how is Rice Shower-classmate? That girl, is she alright?"
To be honest, this situation was caused by him rashly going up to talk to her. If Rice Shower really had any problems, he would feel extremely guilty.
"As for her, Miko and I are taking care of her. It looks like she was a bit frightened, and she should be—"
Before she could finish, the white-haired girl poked her head out from the inner room. She looked at Kiryuin Aoi and said:
"Kiryuin Aoi, that girl is awake."
"Is she!? Ah, hiss—"
As soon as Kazuo heard the news, he subconsciously tried to straighten up, but the immediate pain made him groan like an old man, supporting his back.
This back injury indeed didn't seem particularly optimistic.
"Kazuo, don't move around either. Let's go see how she is—"
"No... let me go too. After all, it started because of me..."
If he didn't apologize in person, he would feel an unshakeable sense of guilt towards this girl, who was as sensitive as a rabbit.
That being said, Kazuo's condition made it impossible for him to move normally for a while. But seeing his firm expression, Kiryuin Aoi knew that persuading him would be useless. After a moment of thought, she said:
"...Then, let my brother help Kazuo over!"
"What!?"
Kiryuuin, who had intended to be an outsider, suddenly cried out in surprise. Kiryuin Aoi's eyebrows shot up, and she glared at him angrily:
"If you don't come, then I'll help him."
At these words, Kiryuuin immediately became obedient.
"I can do it, I'll do it!"
Though he didn't say it aloud, Kiryuuin was clearly an ultimate sis-con.
The group arrived in the inner room and helped Kazuo sit down. Kiryuuin was then directly sent by his sister to the front desk to mind the shop.
The extremely miserable Kiryuuin couldn't even put up any resistance, only guarding the front desk with a gloomy expression, still muttering something under his breath.
Meanwhile, in the inner room, Rice Shower, who had been resting on the sofa, had now calmly woken up, though she still seemed not fully alert.
The girl named Miko slowly helped the recently awakened Rice Shower sit upright.
"...Ugh, where am I..."
Sitting on a chair, Kazuo held his back with one hand, looking at the somewhat confused girl with concern.
"Are you Rice Shower? I'm Kiryuin Aoi, and this is the Uma Musume I'm in charge of, Happy Miko. You're currently in our shop because you fainted outside the shop earlier... How do you feel now?"
"...Hmm...? I fainted just now..."
When she looked up while murmuring with her head down, she happened to glimpse Kazuo sitting a little further away.
The moment their eyes met, scattered memory fragments slowly began to piece together.
"..."
After a pause of about a few seconds, the girl's expression changed from confused to blushing and then to flustered.
"Waaahhh, Rice Shower didn't do it on purpose! I'm sorry, I'm sorry for causing you trouble!"
Rice Shower immediately sat up straight, apologizing repeatedly to everyone.
The others didn't know why she suddenly acted this way, and Kazuo quickly waved his hands to dissuade her: "It's not like that! Rice Shower-classmate, this should be my fault! Are you alright!? Do you feel any discomfort in your body? If I hadn't scared you at that moment, such an accident wouldn't have happened... So, I should be the one to apologize."
If, because of his actions, an athlete was injured and their career was affected—
That would truly be a grave sin.
Kazuo didn't want any of this to happen, otherwise, he would feel guilty to death.
Both of them seemed to be blaming themselves.
Rice Shower looked at Kazuo with teary eyes, then gently shook her head and said: "Rice Shower... is fine, but, I really didn't mean for this to happen..."
"It's good that you're alright..."
Kiryuin Aoi saw that both of them seemed to feel that this incident was due to their own fault, so she clapped her hands to attract their attention and said: "In short, it was just a small accident. As long as nothing major happened, there's no problem. So neither of you needs to blame yourselves too much."
"Rice Shower..."
Despite these words, Rice Shower clutched her clothes, her expression somewhat conflicted.
She still seemed very bothered by what had happened earlier.
Kiryuin Aoi clearly noticed this and immediately changed the subject: "By the way, you two seem to know each other?"
Rice Shower looked up and carefully glanced at Kazuo, but she became timid and hesitant.
"Uh—"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Rice Shower is too clumsy and couldn't remember anyone!"
Unexpectedly, she started blaming herself again.
Kazuo quickly waved his hands and tried to reassure her: "No, no! Our previous meetings were quite coincidental, and it was only me who recognized Rice Shower-classmate unilaterally."
That's right, although he was wearing a mascot costume the first time, it had been a month since then, and last time at the voluntary selection meeting, Rice Shower seemed to have kept her head down, not daring to look at his face, and simply ran away with her head down—
So, it was normal for her to feel unfamiliar.
However, to be honest, this was also Kazuo's first opportunity to talk to her up close, because previously, whenever he approached, she would instantly disappear like a startled small animal.
Rice Shower looked at Kazuo, and after a brief moment of silence, she cautiously asked:
"Um... excuse me, what... should Rice Shower call you...?"
Just as Kazuo was about to speak.
"He's a pervert."
Miko instantly deadpanned.
"I am not!"
Why would she get that impression?
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