The morning after Tokyo Aqualand, I woke up with a sore throat, a cough, and brutal lethargy. The symptoms read cold, so I sat up, dug a thermometer out of my desk drawer, and stuck it under my arm.
”…Over 38°C.”
The number on the readout was well above my baseline. Cold confirmed. Almost certainly thanks to yesterday’s pool.
“Reona and Riona okay…?”
Worried about the two who’d been with me, I sent them a LIME message to check in. After hitting send, I grabbed cold medicine, cooling sheets, and a mask from the dining-room cabinet.
I was heading back to my room when the phone in my pajama pocket lit up and started vibrating. The incoming-call screen said Tsurugi Reona.
“Hello?”
“Ryouya-kun, how are you doing?”
“Voice is way worse than usual.”
I could hear Riona too, so they had me on speakerphone.
”…Temperature’s over 38, so it’s pretty rough.”
“Right, that sounds awful. Riona and I will come take care of you.”
“Getting ready now. Hang on.”
What. They were just — declaring it. Granted, being nursed by beautiful girls has been a fantasy of mine forever, but making them actually do it felt like asking too much.
“I really appreciate the offer, but you might catch it too, so—”
“You said yesterday that Mio-chan was out today too, right? Which means you’re alone in the house.”
“Leaving Ryouya alone like this is not an option.”
”…Okay. If you insist, please.”
They were locked in and would clearly come anyway if I tried to refuse, so I accepted. A little while later, Reona and Riona arrived at my room with a plastic bag full of sports drinks. The turnaround was so fast they must have left the house the second the call ended.
“Ryouya, you look terrible. No pushing it today.”
“Yeah, Riona and I will take care of you, so don’t worry.”
“Thank you. Genuinely.”
The fatigue had only deepened since I’d first woken up — at this point, having them here was a relief I hadn’t quite anticipated.
“We’ll go to the kitchen and make rice porridge.”
“Sorry to make you do all this.”
“You don’t need to apologize. Nee-chan and I are doing this because we want to.”
They left the room. I lay down on the bed and dozed off. Apparently I was out for a while — the two of them came back in carrying a tray.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Ryouya-kun. Porridge is ready.”
“It’s hot — eat slowly.”
“Thanks. Looks great.”
I picked up the spoon to eat the porridge they’d put on my desk. The lethargy made the spoon feel ten times its actual weight, and eating was genuinely hard. After watching me struggle for a few bites, Reona and Riona exchanged a look — and then proposed something.
”…Ryouya-kun, want us to feed you?”
“No, that’s a bit much—”
“Don’t hold back.”
I’m seventeen. Being spoon-fed had crossed several lines of my dignity. But the two of them looked committed, and trying to stop them once they were like this — based on prior experience — was not going to work.
”…Okay. Feed me, then.”
“Compliant. Good.”
“Ryouya. Open.”
I took the spoonful of porridge Riona held out in one bite. The gentle, comforting flavor spread across my tongue.
“It’s good. …But still too hot to eat fast.”
“Then I’ll cool the next bite.”
She and Reona started cooperatively blowing on the next spoonful. There was something — almost — bewitching about it, and I caught myself staring; my lower half woke up. Disastrous.
Thankfully the blanket was covering it. If they caught it I would be branded pervert on the spot. I had to ride this out.
“Cooled enough.”
“Ryouya. Open.”
The next spoonful was a perfect temperature. They went back and forth like that until the porridge was gone.
“Oh, that’s right — I’ve heard that if you give your cold to someone else, you recover faster. Want to try?”
”…How exactly?”
“A cold spreads through mucous-membrane contact. So mucous membranes need to touch.”
“So if me, Riona and you did some deep kissing, that’d definitely do it.”
“No, no — not happening.”
I’m already suffering through a fever, please do not pitch that at me. What if it made the symptoms worse?
“Aw, I thought it was a great plan.”
“Tell us if you change your mind, Ryouya.”
Saying that, Riona handed me a glass of water and the cold medicine. I wasn’t going to change my mind, but I didn’t say so.
“Take this and rest, Ryouya-kun. We’ll head out.”
“Don’t push it. Take care.”
“You two — thanks for today.”
After they left, I flopped back onto the bed. I stared at the ceiling and quickly got hit with a wave of sleep that I didn’t fight. The cold cleared by the next morning, which spared me a long chunk of summer break.
———
That wraps the pool arc. The overnight-trip arc starts next chapter.
Ratings and follows go a long way — please consider it.