Ch 46

POV Shinji Makoto

"Here." Nakano said as she held a bowl full of steaming porridge in front of me.

So it was porridge. Standard sick food. Not hard to make at all. But then what did she need the spices for? However the thing doesn\'t seem bad visually. Doesn\'t look burnt either.

I was trying to assess if her food was edible but it looked… just fine? Then were my instincts wrong?

"Not going to eat?" Nakano asked looking at me.

Seeing the food looked alright I hesitantly took the bowl but forgot to take into account how hot it would be.

"Ah. That\'s hot."

I wanted to throw it away but with all my willpower I managed to set it on the table before letting it go.

"Are you fine? Did you burn your fingers?" Nakano said as she took held my wrists and dragged me to the sink.

"It didn\'t burn don\'t worry." I tried to calm her down but she didn\'t listen.

Only after putting my hands in cold running water, she was finally satisfied and let go of my wrists.

"Why did you hold the bowl like that? Did you not realize it would be hot?"

"…"

Why am I being treated like a child right now?

Before I realized I was back on the table and Nakano was sitting right beside me with a spoon in her hands.

"Here since you really can\'t eat I will feed you."

I didn\'t even register her words before she put the spoon in front of my mouth and I reflexively opened it.

"How is it?"

"Haah. It\'s hot." I said as I tried to breathe out the steam and continued, "but it\'s really good."

Hearing that a slight smile surfaced on Nakano\'s face.

"My mother used to cook this same thing for me when I fell sick."

I wasn\'t lying. It really was good. Guess family recipes don\'t miss.

I quickly took the next spoonful that Nakano held out in my mouth. And for the next five minutes we just repeated this process. I didn\'t say anything and neither did she.

Unfortunately, good things don\'t last long, soon the bowl was empty and Nakano got up.

"You go to your bed and sleep now. The best cure for any fever is rest."

Again acting like my mother. Instead of going upstairs to my room I asked her the question plaguing my heart from the time she entered. At first I didn\'t know why she was doing this but there is no way someone who hates you will cook like this for you.

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? Didn\'t I tell you it\'s because you are sick?" Nakano replied without looking at me.

That\'s not what I wanted to ask. Clearly she is dodging the question. No, it can\'t go on like this. I have to push her.

"Then would you do this to any sick person?"

"If that person is close to me then yes." Again she replied without looking at my face.

"Then who else is this close to you?" I had decided to go all in at this point.

"What are you jealous?"

"Yes."

"…" Her shoulders trembled upon hearing my instant reply.

"Please tell me why?" I asked after a momentary silence.

After a long pause she finally replied with a sigh.

"I don\'t know."

"What does that even mean Nakano?"

What does she not know? Is it her feelings? Or something else.

"..." Nakano however didn\'t reply and continued to stare at the ground.

"I love you Nakano." I said in a gentle tone. At this point all pretence was useless.

My confession made her look up at me and we finally made eye contact for the first time in this conversation.

"I… I think I like you too Makoto. But… I don\'t know if I can be in a relationship with anyone." Her words made my heart beat rapidly, but the second part of her sentence killed all of that excitement like cold rain killing a campfire.

I had to take a moment to digest her words.

"Why is that?" I asked when she refused to elaborate.

When Nakano opened her mouth and was about to speak the sound of a knob being turned was heard. Soon there was the click and shut of the door with the sound of footsteps following.

"Oh, Onii chan you are here. Why is rejected onee chan here?"

"…"

"…"

My little sister Chika had returned home.

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POV Akari Nakano

*same day, morning*

"Oh. He said he won\'t be coming today because he is sick."

"What, is it serious?"

"He said it is a 100°F so no need to worry but I feel like he might be downplaying it a little."

Just then the teacher entered the class and the seat beside mine remained empty.

I caught myself staring at Makoto\'s seat a few times during class. I really felt weird with him not sitting there scribbling in his notebook.

Do I miss him? No way, right?

I was once again reminded of the last sentence he spoke to me on Shizuo\'s birthday.

I had been thinking about it for the past couple of days and my heart was still split into two about the decision.

"What happened Akari? Missing Nakano kun already?" Hinata said in a teasing tone as she munched on her lunch that consisted of sandwiches.

"You already know Hinata, I am just not interested in dating anyone." I quipped back at her.

Unfortunately, this conversation attracted the attention of someone else.

"Nakano san do you like Makoto kun by any chance." It was Shimabukuro chan who asked me with her eyes glinting weirdly.

I wanted to immediately refuse but I when I remembered how close she was to Makoto the words suddenly got stuck in my throat.

"I…"

"Haha. You aren\'t even refusing it now Akari."

"I don\'t know." I mumbled softly at a volume at which only I would be able to hear it.

I hate you Makoto, for making me think about you all the time.

Just then Shimabukuro said excitedly.

"That\'s great. If you like him how about going to take care of him today? No boy can refuse a caring girl right?"

"But I can\'t just show up at his door and say I am going to look after him? I don\'t even know where he lives."

"Don\'t worry about that Nakano san I will prepare all of that."

I couldn\'t refuse.

*back to present*

"Chika what do you mean by rejected onee chan? Call her Na-no actually call her Akari onee chan okay?"

"Okay rejected Akari onee chan."

She recognises me. She definitely recognises me. If she tells Makoto about how I was crying that day I will have no face left to show.

"Chika chan nice to meet you. I am your brother\'s friend. I heard he was sick so I came to deliver notes. Now I am leaving okay?"

I tried leaving but Makoto suddenly appeared behind me and took my hand.

"We will be in my room. Don\'t disturb us, okay?" He turned back and said to Chika chan.

When we were out of sight he finally loosened his grip and said softly in my ears.

"How can I let you leave right in the middle of our business?"

Twenty seconds later we were sitting face to face in his room.

"Now speak. You said you liked me, no?"

A red blush crept up my neck. I remembered my words before and replied,

"Th-that\'s right." I slowly nodded.

"And you know I like you too?"

I nodded again.

"Then what is the problem?" He said as he looked into my eyes.

These words made me remember my past experiences and all the tension left my body. I remembered his confession to me and the courage it probably took. I wanted to at least reply properly. I took a deep breath and said it straight to him.

"That\'s because I don\'t trust you."

"Is it only me?" He said after a small pause.

"Let me rephrase my answer. I don\'t think I can trust anyone enough to be lovers."

"…" He went silent on hearing that.

"Umm… I will be leaving now." I said as I scrambled to get up.

I was just about to leave when Makoto\'s voice came from behind me.

"Then let\'s date as a trial. How can you know if you don\'t try Nakano?"

"…"

"Let\'s not even fix a time constraint. How about dating me till you don\'t want to anymore?"

I looked deep into his eyes which were the sincerest I had ever seen, before sneering back at him.

"How is it different from normally dating?"

Does he think I\'m a two-year-old? Trying traps like this against me.

"Tch you caught me there, but you didn\'t give me your answer yet."

"Can I really trust you to never betray me then?"

"Obviously, I will say yes to that. But I don\'t know. That is for you to decide. And similarly, I have to do the same. I have taken a leap of faith for you Nakano are you willing to?"

"I…"

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