On the other side, Soyo Nagasaki had finally finished the bowl of porridge.
Though to be precise, most of that large bowl ended up in the stomach of Kamijou Mutsuki.
But since the girl had been a long-time vegetarian and naturally had a small appetite, it wasn't as if she was still hungry.
After resting for a while after the meal, Mutsuki brought her medicine and fed it to her.
Soon, Soyo began sweating quite a bit—clearly the medicine was starting to work.
"Get a good sleep,"
Mutsuki said with a smile as he used a towel to wipe the sweat from the girl's face.
"When you wake up, you'll be a handsome boy!"
"I don't want to be a boy!"
Even though she was already feeling dizzy and drowsy, Soyo still instinctively protested.
She, Soyo, was a cute beautiful girl, thank you very much!
"Mutsuki…"
Perhaps because her weakened body amplified the uneasiness in her heart, the girl suddenly felt strangely insecure.
Almost subconsciously, she gripped Mutsuki's hand tightly.
"You won't leave… right?"
"I'll stay right here. I'm not going anywhere."
Mutsuki replied calmly, a slight smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"…So could you loosen your grip a bit?"
"As expected of a bassist—even when you're sick your grip is this strong."
"Did you train it carrying packages and takeout all the time?"
"Ah, sorry."
Only then did Soyo realize what she was doing and quickly let go of his hand.
"Mutsuki…"
But after letting go, an inexplicable emptiness suddenly crept into her chest.
Driven by that strange feeling, the girl spoke almost instinctively:
"Then… maybe you could sleep here too?"
"?"
This time, Mutsuki was genuinely considering whether he should call emergency services.
"No! I didn't say anything!"
Even the half-delirious Soyo realized what she had just blurted out and immediately flushed red, hurriedly denying it.
"..."
Looking at the girl's uneasy expression, Mutsuki sighed softly.
In the end, he reached out and held her hand again.
"Mm…"
Feeling the warmth spreading from his palm into hers, the girl's cheeks turned red once more.
Outside the quiet room, the world remained calm.
But somewhere far away, it was as if someone had begun playing Haruhikage—a melody gentle enough to drift softly through the afternoon air.
This time, however, Soyo Nagasaki didn't squeeze Kamijou Mutsuki's hand painfully like before.
Instead, she gently held it… and then interlocked their fingers.
Mutsuki: ?
Soyo: (*≧▽≦)
Resting on the pillow, Soyo gazed at Mutsuki's profile.
For the first time, she suddenly felt that this guy was actually kind of good-looking.
Even if she really became the lady of his house, she didn't feel particularly unwilling about it.
Of course, although her relationship with Mutsumi Wakaba had become a little complicated recently, she had no intention of stealing away her former friend's fiancé.
It was just that Mutsuki clearly looked like the kind of scumbag who was good at flirting with girls.
The water around him ran far too deep.
She was worried that Mutsumi wouldn't be able to handle him.
So she would test Mutsuki herself first—check his depth for her friend.
She definitely wasn't falling for him.
Everything was for the sake ofSakiko Togawa!
Soyo firmly believed that.
And then, wrapped in that warm, comfortable sense of security, the girl quietly drifted into sleep.
Youth truly was wonderful she fell asleep almost instantly.
Looking at Soyo sleeping with the peacefulness of a baby, Mutsuki somehow started feeling sleepy too.
But out of a caretaker's sense of responsibility, he kept part of his attention on the girl while taking out his muted phone to scroll through videos and keep himself awake.
And just like that, almost an entire day passed.
It could only be said that Soyo was really exhausted or perhaps the sleep was simply too comfortable.
In the end, it was the sudden ringing of the doorbell that finally woke the half-dozing Mutsuki.
Was it already that late?
The sunlight outside the window had somehow turned dim and golden.
Checking the time on his phone, he realized that Tomori and the others had probably finished school quite a while ago.
When he opened the door, sure enough, it was the five girls of MyGO!!!!!.
Well… technically four, since Soyo was still lying inside.
Strangely enough, the one who cared about Soyo the most—Mutsumi—hadn't come.
Probably because of what happened yesterday; she might have felt awkward showing up.
As for Sakiko…
That probably didn't need any further explanation.
"Why did all of you come?" Mutsuki chuckled lightly as he invited the girls inside.
"Don't tell me that without your bassist, no one can handle the chores?"
"We would never do something that cruel!" protested Anon Chihaya immediately.
"We… asked Mutsumi."
On the other side, Tomori Takamatsu answered softly.
Because of Mutsuki, Mutsumi actually knew where Soyo lived.
"Soyo… how is she?"
Tomori was genuinely worried about the bandmate she had promised to play in a band with for the rest of her life.
"She caught a fever after getting soaked in the rain yesterday. She's lying inside resting now."
With that, Mutsuki led the girls into Soyo's room.
And in the quiet bedroom, their bassist was still sleeping peacefully, completely unaware that her entire band had come to visit.
Mutsuki reached out and touched Soyo Nagasaki's forehead.
The fever had mostly gone down now.
After that long sleep, she seemed almost fully recovered.
Curiously, Raana Kaname crouched beside the bed and poked Soyo's cheek.
But just as her finger got close, Soyo suddenly moved her mouth slightly, almost biting down on it.
Startled, Raana quickly pulled her hand back.
If she somehow caught the "Ting-Wang virus," that would be terrible.
She had no intention of becoming "Ting-Cat."
Meanwhile, Anon Chihaya looked at Soyo's sleeping face and couldn't help smiling.
"I didn't expect it… but this girl actually looks kind of cute when she's asleep…"
she muttered quietly.
Then she noticed Soyo's lips moving slightly, as if murmuring something.
"Mutsuki… no… you can't…"
A soft, sticky voice that made people's hearts itch drifted into the girls' ears.
"If you do that… to me…"
"Mutsumi-chan… won't get angry… right?"
"Mutsumi-chan is so scary…"
"I'm not like her…"
Wait a second, what kind of dream are you having exactly?!
Anon's pupils shook violently.
Then the girls slowly turned their heads toward Kamijou Mutsuki.
Their gazes—especially those of Anon and Taki Shiina—became extremely subtle.
Just what did you do to Soyo for her to have such a strange dream?!
"It's getting late," Mutsuki said with a calm smile under the girls' suspicious stares.
"You came all this way, so you must be tired. Let's eat dinner first."
"But looking at Soyo's condition, she probably can't cook today. Which one of you knows how to cook?"
Don't change the subject!
But in the end, Anon still honestly ended up taking responsibility for dinner at Soyo's house.
Wait.
She had only come here to visit a sick bandmate.
How did she suddenly become the chef?
The only problem was that Soyo was still sleeping, seemingly ready to sleep the whole day away.
"She only had some porridge this morning," Mutsuki said.
"She should still eat dinner."
That was his reasoning.
But for some reason, Anon felt that this wasn't the real motive of this scummy guy.
"But since she's a patient, waking her up too roughly wouldn't be good."
"So…"
And thus—
[悴んだ心ふるえる眼差し]
(A withered heart, trembling eyes.)
The sleeping Soyo suddenly furrowed her brows.
In her dream, she was carrying out her plan to conquer Mutsuki for Sakiko's sake…
But then Mutsumi Wakaba caught her red-handed on the spot.
And then Mutsumi suddenly started singingHaruhikage?! 🎸
........................