CH 53

— It was 10 days before the completion of my training for the clinical trial.

I was down with seven laps left to run.

“I can’t… my body is too tired to move anymore…!”

Seeing me like this, Kashiwagi-san cheered me on as she sat in her chair.

“You can do it, Yamamoto~! I’ll give you a ‘reward’ if you finish it fast~!”

“Reward…!”

I turn my face to Kashiwagi-san as I fall down in anticipation.

“Oh, I’ll give you Ramune cigarettes! How exciting, right?”

I dropped my shoulders.

“Kashiwagi-san! I’m not going to get motivated if you give me one or two packs of that now! I mean, you force me to eat it every day anyway!”

“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry, but now that I think about it, the one I’m sucking right now is the last one. If you finish it quick, I’ll give you this a reward—”

“Seven more laps, right? I’ll finish it with haste.”

My feet felt so light, like flying.

◇◇◇

When I returned, almost dead, Kashiwagi-san greeted me with a big smile.

“Yamamoto! I am impressed! I never thought you liked Ramune Cigarettes enough to work this hard!”

“Zeh… zeh… Well, if you only have one stick, I don’t blame you… I’ll take that…”

“Surprise! I went through my pockets, and lo and behold, there was another pack! Now forget about this one, I’ll give you the whole pack!”

“…………”

I collapsed on the spot without a sound.(E/N: You really were motivated for that huh…)

Surely this is a blessing in disguise.

It seems like she saw through my true intentions of wanting to have the stick that she was sucking onto. I couldn’t help but think about it.

Disappointed, I accepted the pack.

“It seems the pack is crushed and it’s also oddly warm.”

“I apologize. It was actually in my back pocket and I was sitting on it so it got crushed. If you don’t like it, I’ll replace it with a new one in my room.”

“I’ll keep it as an heirloom…”

God had not abandoned me yet.

[Postscript]

Tomorrow will be another bonus story! (A little longer though)

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