Chapter 11: Encounter in the Infirmary

The school that Asahi went to had a lot of big events during the second semester.

One of those events was the cultural festival held after the summer break, a two-day event that would be held by each class and attended by the general public.

However, the first-year students were only allowed to put on exhibitions, and it seemed that they couldn’t get motivated unless it was something like a fair or restaurant that the upperclassmen put on.

And the other thing was the ball games that awaited them after the midterm tests.

The boys played soccer and softball. Girls competed with other classes in basketball and volleyball, and there was even a small reward for winning. In addition, there was a legend about a special prize for the MVP of each event, so there was no lack of excitement among the students.

This was a great opportunity for boys to appeal to the girls and the whole school. The athletic department becomes especially enthusiastic about this event.

Asahi’s class was no exception, and they were quite enthusiastic from the start of practice.

Perhaps, it also meant a way to release resentment about the cultural festival.

“But still, aren’t you too enthusiastic about blocking with your face from practice?”

“…Shut up.”

“Hey, don’t talk. You might get blood on your mouth.”

Asahi suppressed the urge to complain, “You made me talk didn’t you?” and quietly kept his mouth shut.

Chiaki, who was walking next to me, never stopped talking, and now I regretted that I had chosen the wrong guy to accompany me.

In the meantime, the blood from my nose showed no signs of stopping.

I managed to block it with my thumb and forefinger and hurried to the infirmary.

“Man, that was a h**l of a shot.”

Chiaki gave a twitching, bitter smile, but Asahi, the victim, didn’t even have a shred of a smile.

With the ball game coming up in a week’s time, each of the students decided to practice the events they were going to participate in during PE class. As it was a joint class with another class, they decided to have a practice game as a prelude.

Asahi was struggling as a beginner goaltender, but during the first half of the game, a powerful shot hit him clean on the face.

As the opponent was a member of the soccer club, Asahi’s nose bled profusely and he was sent to the infirmary immediately.

“Around here is enough. You might miss your game.”

“It’s almost the second half, huh? Make sure you come back alive, I’ll be waiting for you.”

Chiaki raised a flag when he said goodbye, but even if you wanted to end your life with a mere nosebleed, you won’t be able to.

I managed to get to the infirmary even though my legs were a little wobbly from anemia and my hand was turning red from holding my nose.

“Please excuse me…?”

Asahi opened the sliding door and rolled his eyes at the sight.

The teacher in the infirmary was supposed to be a white-haired old lady in a lab coat, but what I saw was a girl in her gym clothes with long black hair and a striking blue ribbon.

“What are you doing here, Himuro?”

“It’s the same as you, I also got hurt.”

Sandwiched in between with a somewhat familiar exchange, Asahi first washed the blood from his hands in the sink.

He then turned his attention to Fuyuka, who was sitting on the sofa.

The injury was apparently referring to her right wrist, which was clearly swollen.

“What happened with that?”

“I twisted it a little during basketball practice.”

I hadn’t been particularly paying attention to it, but it seemed that the joint class was with Fuyuka’s class.

While the boys were having a practice game on the field, the girls were probably having a preliminaries game in the gym as well and it seemed there was some kind of accident there.

Fuyuka’s thin wrists, which were covered with ice packs, were covered with a bluish purple color, and every now and then she would twitch her face in pain.

“You’ve had a lot of bad luck lately, haven’t you?”

“I can’t deny that…”

She collapsed with a fever or injured her wrist.

Fuyuka sighed a little and then narrowed her eyes to look at Asahi’s face.

“What’s wrong with your nose?”

“I took a clean shot on the face.”

“You have also quite the bad luck.”

Fuyuka frowned, as if she had imagined the actual scene.

If anything, Fuyuka’s injury seemed more painful, but I guess it was different for everyone.

“Ah, the blood got on the floor…”

“S**t, it started dripping.”

As we talked, the blood that had almost stopped began to flow again.

“Where’s the school nurse?”

“It seems she was called in the faculty room and never heard from again.”

“Seriously?…Oh well, I’ll do it myself then.”

He took the liberty of going through the drawers and shelves and applying the appropriate treatment himself.

All that was left was to stuff it to prevent the blood from further dripping, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for.

“There’s no gauze…”

“It’s in the bottom right shelf.”

“That really helps.”

While thanking her for the unexpected support, Asahi completed stopping the bleeding with his dominant hand.

“How’d you know where it was?”

“I’m on the health committee.”

“You nominated yourself?”

“Not at all, I lost in a rock-paper-scissors.”

“I see.”

Belonging to a committee was not compulsory, and only a few people were selected from the class.

If there were motivated students, the conversation would proceed smoothly, but most of them didn’t like the idea of taking time away from their club activities and playtime for one or more activities a week, which eventually leads to a rock-paper-scissors contest.

“Back then, I should have picked rock.”

When I couldn’t help but laugh at Fuyuka’s grudging muttering, I was immediately met with a sharp look.

“You look quite dumb.”

“Shut up, that’s what happens to anyone who gets a nosebleed.”

Seeing Asahi with gauze stuffed in his nose, Fuyuka now snickered without reservation.

It was probably a counterattack to being laughed at. At the same time, it showed the change in her attitude toward Asahi.

The trigger was definitely the incident at the supermarket.

Since that day, Fuyuka had softened her attitude towards Asahi.

They started exchanging short greetings when they passed each other in the apartment, and casual conversations like the ones they had now continued a bit.

‘Why don’t you just do the same for the rest?’

It would be conceit to think that I was forgiven because her words and attitude were still cold and plain.

However, even though I knew this to be true, I couldn’t help but wonder at the difference in distance.

“Do I have something on my face again?”

“No…I’m just wondering about something.”

As I unconsciously stared at Fuyuka, I was met with another cold stare.

After all, it seemed that the difficulties around here were still the same.

“With that injury, will you be able to play?”

Turning away from Fuyuka, Asahi also changed the subject to deceive her.

“I don’t know if I can make it.”

Ask a question and you will get an answer. At least, that seemed to be the extent of this relationship that had been established.

“In the meantime, I want you to rest for at least a week.”

“Just in time for the event.”

“That is true.”

Fuyuka’s neat face suddenly became cloudy.

“I just hope I can join in time…”

“That’s surprising. I thought you weren’t really interested in these kinds of events.”

“…That’s because I like basketball.”

I had heard that Fuyuka was a good basketball player.

It seems that Fuyuka was very enthusiastic about the event, and even though she was in the going-home club, the people seemed to have high expectations for her.

“I hope you get better soon.”

Couldn’t you have said something a little more clever?

It was too late to regret it when I saw Fuyuka’s expression darken.

“Thank you.”

Fuyuka thanked him straightforwardly and then closed her mouth.

The conversation ended and silence befell.

There was no need for Asahi to stay in the infirmary after the treatment.

I turned my back on Fuyuka and opened the door of the infirmary again.

“Take care of yourself.”

The words of concern that came over his back made Asahi feel an ache of regret.