Chapter 20: The Ice Lady’s Smile

The time was just past six o’clock when an electronic beep of the intercom rang.

It was Asahi who informed her to come at this time, so he was not surprised, but instead he couldn’t help but chuckle.

If it were six o’clock in the evening, it would be the same as usual, however that was only for the past five days, but instead it was much brighter outside, and one could even hear the chirping of birds.

This meant that today’s meeting was set in the morning.

“…Good morning.”

“Mhm. Good morning.”

When I opened the door, Fuyuka who was wearing her school uniform greeted me.

It was a normal thing to say “good morning” to someone you knew in the morning, but it felt fresh to be greeted by her.

In the first place, it was a strange sight to see her ring the intercom and just walk in without hesitation.

“I didn’t expect that you would really come in the morning.”

“…Of course, I will.”

There was a slight pause, perhaps because it was still early in the morning and she might not be completely awake yet, and If you looked closely, you could see that she was perfectly dressed, but her caramel eyes were vacant.

If you’re still sleepy, you should have gone to bed, I thought, but I didn’t say it. Since she was already here, there was no way she would listen to me even if I told her.

―I can’t be the only one sleeping while you wake up early to make a bento.

Last night at dinner, I had no reason or way to decline her if she said that as if it was something natural.

So today, on the day of the ball game, a perfect day for sports, Asahi and Fuyuka arranged to meet up in the morning.

“Right. I forgot to tell you, but you’re not allowed in the kitchen today.”

“…Why is that?”

“The beauty of a bento is that you don’t know what’s inside until you eat it. So, if you saw me making it, you’d lose that, wouldn’t you?”

“Oh…Is that how it is?”

“That’s just how it is.”

There was another short pause, either she was still sleepy or because the prohibition wasn’t still clear to her.

Either way, Fuyuka nodded obediently and breezed through the kitchen, moving to the end of the sofa where she sat.

For the past few days, they had been in a cooking class where Asahi explained the cooking process while Fuyuka watched, but that was not the case today.

After making sure that she hadn’t moved from the sofa, I quickly placed the two lunch boxes and laid out the white rice first.

Then, I filled it with frozen goods, including taco wieners, and garnished it with tomatoes, broccoli, and other vegetables for color and nutritional balance.

On the way, I was about to take out my chopsticks to cook an egg when I suddenly saw Fuyuka’s right hand.

There were no bandages or taping of any kind, revealing her beautiful, pale skin.

“Looks like your hand’s healed.”

“Yes, I’m able to move it now, thanks to you.”

“Thanks to me? I just made you meals, you know?”

“There’s no way it’s ‘just’. The reason I healed so quickly was because I was able to rest through the most taxing part of the day, preparing dinner.”

“…In other words?”

“You’re quite slow on the uptake. What I’m saying is that it’s thanks to you. There is no need to be humble. You’ve been a great help to me.”

I don’t know how to react in this situation so I just listened as she expressed her gratitude towards me.

If it was with Chiaki or Hinami, I could just reply and laugh, but with Fuyuka, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

She was usually cool and blunt, but sometimes she can be quite honest, which was very unsettling.

However, it was strange to be the only one who was weirdly conscious, so Asahi tried to remain calm as he mindlessly cooked tamagoyaki. [TL: A Japanese Rolled Omelette.]

“Well, anyhow, I’m glad that it healed in time. You’re going for the win, right? I’ll be rooting for you.”

“Since I’m going to compete anyway, I want to win. However, shouldn’t you be rooting for your class?”

“I’m gonna cheer extra for my class, that’s fine, right?’

“…Just please, don’t shout my name out loud.”

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of going that far.”

If all the students were in one place and one student was assertively cheering for a person, even if that student was not the “Ice Lady,” that student would still stand out.

As for Asahi, of course, he didn’t intend to support her with that much enthusiasm.

As a person who had been watching the progress of her injury, I am only cheering for her with my heart.

“Here, it’s done.”

“…Can I go over there now…?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Just take it with you.”

After wrapping the completed bento in a simple and plain furoshiki and placing it on the counter, Fuyuka carefully picked it up as if she were handling a fragile object. [TL: furoshiki, wrapping cloth.]

 “…It’s quite warm.”

“That’s because it’s freshly made. Besides, it’s got a keep-warm feature, so I’m sure it won’t get cold until noon.”

“Can I borrow something that high-tech?”

“No, it’s not that big of a deal. They’re usually sold at low prices these days.”

The contents of the furoshiki were a perfectly ordinary bento box, but Fuyuka didn’t seem to be very familiar with it. What was bothering her? She was looking at it curiously from above, below, right and left, and her eyes were busy trying to peek inside between the furoshiki.

“It’s gonna be fun to see what’s inside, right?”

“Yes, you’re right. It’s only a little bit, but I understand what you are talking about, Kagami-san.”

“That’s good to hear, but there’s not that much in there, you know?”

“Is that something you, the one who made it, should say?”

In fact, I made it a little more rich than usual, thinking that Fuyuka would eat it, but I think it would be best to lower the bar here.

Fuyuka sighed in dismay without hiding it, and gave me a suspicious look, but It doesn’t bother me.

Without any particular conversation, I saw Fuyuka off to the door after she packed the bento in her bag.

“I’ll wash the bento box and return it to you later today.”

“Mhm, got it. I don’t mind if you just gave it to me without washing it.”

“No, I’ll wash it and return it. Now that I can use my hands, I can’t have you spoil me forever.”

She was turning her right hand around as if to say, “Look,” to show her recovery, and didn’t seem to be in pain.

I could honestly rest assured that she would be able to lead a normal daily life.

At the same time, Fuyuka’s words about not wanting to be spoiled left a strong impression on Asahi’s ears.

Although it was not directly communicated in words, she was probably saying that she no longer needed Asahi’s care.

It was a relationship that was originally built on being too nosy.

Of course, if there was no reason to take care of her, Fuyuka would no longer come to the house or have dinner with him.

“Then I’ll count on you. Make it shine, alright?”

“Of course, you can leave it to me.”

To be honest, my worries about Fuyuka won’t go away even with her already healed.

Over the past few days, I tried to teach her how to cook, but I’m not sure if she would be able to cook food on her own.

Even with cleaning the dishes, from what I saw, it was not something that I could count on her to do.

However, it was probably times up.

We shouldn’t worry ourselves and impose our good will any more than we already have.

So, Asahi tried to ignore the unidentified pain that stabbed him in the chest and tried to finish the conversation while keeping a reasonable distance.

Fuyuka then opened the front door.

“Well then, good luck with the basketball.”

“Thank you very much. If I’m not mistaken, you’re on soccer, right, Kagami-san?”

“Yeah, I’m surprised you remembered it. I only said it once before.”

“I have a good memory.”

Nevertheless, she seemed little interested, since she can remember our trivial conversation.

Even though we had been making small talk more often in the past week, I could hardly see any change in Fuyuka’s expression, so I thought she was just trying to fit in with me.

“I will…also cheer for you.”

After the door slammed shut, Fuyuka’s words arrived late in Asahi’s ears.

‘What the h**l was I thinking?’

Feeling ashamed of himself for even thinking for a moment that he wished this time could go on a little longer, Asahi lightly hit his head on the wall of the entrance.

The gentle, soft smile that Fuyuka gave me when we parted was burned into my eyes and I couldn’t get rid of it.

The innocent smile, which was inconceivable from her usual straight face, had enough destructive power to confuse Asahi.