Sickness is in the Air - Part 1

I received a text early in the morning from Kanako.

come over please

This was the first time she'd ever asked me to go over. Based on the message, I didn't really know what was going on, but it sounded important. It wasn't like I had anything else I wanted to do. Fujiharu wasn't going to be inviting me to go out any time soon. I put on my normal clothes and began making my way over.

A few minutes later, I arrived at the front of her grand apartment complex. I scanned my keycard to enter the main reception area before getting on the elevator. I had hardly ever seen a receptionist at the desk, I guess they must only be working during weekdays around school hours.

Eventually, I was at her door. I knocked a few times but received no response.

"Kanako, can I come in?"

Still no response.

I decided to just scan my keycard and enter. I doubt that she'd get mad if she was the one who called me over. The door clicked and I walked into a very messy house.

For some reason, Kanako was still nowhere to be seen.

"Kanako, why did you call me over?"

I walked around the apartment looking for her; I checked basically every room, and the only room left was her own room. Her door was closed, so I knocked a few times. Finally, I managed to hear a faint voice.

"...Mizuhara..."

I decided to open her door. I was met by the sight of a very tired and unwell Kanako huddled up in her bed. I slowly walked over—it was obvious that she was definitely quite sick.

"How are you feeling?" I asked

"...not great..."

"How come you called me? Couldn't you have called your father?"

She hid her face under the blanket.

Oh well.

"Are you hungry?" I asked

"...yes... can you make some rice gruel?"

"Rice gruel?"

"...yes please."

I guess I could make that—it wasn't exactly a complex dish.

I made my way over to her very large kitchen and looked through a few of her cupboards.

She sure has a lot of junk food.

From chips to biscuits to chocolate, her pantry was chock-full of these foods.

After a little bit of searching, I managed to find where she kept her rice. I scooped some into a pot before washing it through. Then, I filled the pot with a large amount of water.

Now, I assumed I just had to cook this at low heat.

It usually took quite a few minutes to cook, so I made my way over to the living room couch. I contemplated going back into Kanako's room, but it'd probably be better if she got some rest.

I honestly wasn't exactly the best person to invite over to take care of a sick person.

I probably should tell her father about this, but I guess I'll hold off for a little while. It seemed she didn't want her father to know for some reason.

A little while later, I walked back over to the kitchen and checked on the rice gruel I was cooking. From what I could see, it seemed to be done. I poured it into a bowl and added some chopped-up spring onion. Steam was radiating from the bowl yet there wasn't much aroma. Such was the nature of rice gruel.

I put a spoon into the bowl and made my way into Kanako's room again. It seemed that she was still awake.

"I've got your food."

"...thanks."

I placed it on her bedside table as she slowly got up to a seated position. Now that more of her body was out of the blanket, I could see that she was sweating quite a bit. I placed my hand on her forehead—she definitely had a fever. Based on what I could see, I assumed that she either had a cold or the flu.

"...sorry for making you do all this."

"It's fine."

She leaned over and grabbed the bowl of rice gruel from the bedside table. After scooping a few mouthfuls into her mouth, she smiled a little.

"I-it's good."

She continued to slowly eat the food I made.

"Do you have any medicine?" I asked.

"Eh... I don't think so..."

"I'll go get some, you just stay here and rest."

"A-are you sure...?"

"Don't worry, your father will pay me back."

"Hehe."

With that, I left as she continued to eat the rice gruel.

There was a convenience store nearby where I could get some medication. It was around a five-minute walk before I arrived at the small corner store. Inside, I looked around at the medications they had on sale. I guess all I really needed was something to deal with the symptoms. I got some anti-inflammatories and decongestants and took them over to the counter. I also grabbed some green tea.

"That'll be $17.99."

I tapped my phone.

I made my way back to the apartment complex and made the pointlessly long journey from the entrance to her room again. I scanned my keycard before opening her front door. With the medication in hand, I made my way over to her room.

It seemed she had already finished the rice gruel I made and was lying down in her bed again.

"Kanako, I've got some medicine for you."

"Oh, um, t-thank you."

I poured the medicine out onto her spoon and fed it into her mouth. I left the green tea and anti-inflammatory tablets by her bed.

"If you're thirsty or your throat hurts, you can have these."

After that, I began making my way out of her room.

"...Mizuhara, can you stay...?"

"You want me to stay here?"

"...y-yes."

"I suppose."

I decided to take a seat on the ground, leaning against her bed. I didn't bring anything with me aside from my phone, so there wasn't much I could do.

"...Mizuhara."

"Yes?"

"...sorry about all of this."

"You know, I'm going to have to bill your father extra for all of this overtime."

"...eh?"

"Just kidding, I don't really mind."

I looked over at her and saw a faint smile on her face.

I decided to take this moment to relax. The last few days have been a bit more action-packed than I'd have liked.