Book 4: Chapter 15: Patch 3.0: A Change of Pace

By the time Ryouta wakes up, he finds that the bed is missing two people: Cassandra and Alice. Serra, however, is lying sideways across his abdomen.

Ryouta grabs Serra and pulls her up so that he can properly wrap his arms around her and give her a kiss on her forehead. She kind of reminds him of a dog. A small, petite dog.

Serra slowly blinks her eyes open and smiles when she sees Ryouta.

Now, when Ryouta notices that his girlfriend’s first reaction to seeing his face right after waking up is to smile, that makes him feel like he’s on the top of the world! He smiles even more than before and places another kiss on her forehead, causing her to smile even wider now.

“Morning,” Ryouta says, making sure to clearly pronounce it so that it’s easier to read his lips.

“Blegh,” Serra mumbles. Whether she’s deaf or not, anybody can get the point across with “blegh” in the morning.

She wrinkles her nose when she smells what Ryouta has been sniffing.

The next noise that Ryouta hears from her is the grumbling of her stomach.

“Hungry?” Ryouta asks her.

Serra nods her head. But, rather than get up to go and get food, she wraps her legs and arms around him like a sloth on a tree branch and just looks up at him with a smile.

“I’m still sore. You don’t expect me to take you downstairs like this, do you?” Ryouta asks.

Serra nods some more and kisses his neck.

“You better hope I don’t fall,” he says while squirming over to the edge of the bed. Once there, he’s careful to lean up and then try to stand up while Serra remains clinging to his torso.

This is when it hits him just how much pain he’s still in. He feels even more sore than he did yesterday. So, while he may have originally intended to give Serra her way by carrying her downstairs like this, he flops backward instead. “Sorry, way too much pain,” he groans.

Serra looks at him, scoots farther up his body, and places a series of kisses on his neck and face before unclinging herself from him. Instead of having him carry her, she stands in front of him off of the bed and holds her hands out to offer assistance in getting up.

“I really am like an old man,” Ryouta says, grabbing onto Serra’s hands. He leans forward while she pulls backward. With just a bit of effort from them both, Ryouta stands up and rubs his lower back.

Serra can’t help but giggle at the sight. He might only be a couple of years older than her, but he’s acting like he is six times her age!

She then grabs his hand and places it on the top of her head.

“What are you doing?” Ryouta asks her.

Serra signs “stick” and then points at herself.

“You’re… my cane?”

Serra nods.

“You’re ridiculous is what you are.”

Serra shrugs.

Ryouta takes his hand off the top of her head, getting a pout from her, and walks downstairs – he slowly walks downstairs. Moving too fast hurts too much. It’s especially bad going down the steps, but at least going down is easier than going up.

There’s no way he’s going back up those stairs until he absolutely has to.

“Ah, good morning!” Alice says from the kitchen, spinning around in her wheelchair to greet Ryouta and Serra.

Serra runs over to Alice, wraps her arms around the other, and kisses her.

Of course, then Serra goes to look at the food that Alice has been working on.

“And you, my hero? Do you require a good morning kiss as well?” Alice asks Ryouta with a happy smile on her face.

“That sounds nice, but could you meet me halfway?” Ryouta asks.

“Still in pain?”

“Sadly.”

“Very well! I shall allow you to be lazy,” Alice says before wheeling over to him.

Ryouta leans down and kisses her. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome! You should be exceptionally grateful because of that breath.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault. You wanted us all to go to bed without changing or brushing our teeth. You don’t get to judge me for having morning breath this time.”

“Fair enough! Do not get used to that, though. Last night was an exception to spoil Cassandra! I will be expecting all of us to take care of our hygiene without fail from here on!”

“Yes, mom.”

“Hmm. Say that again, my hero.”

“Say what? Mom?”

“Hmm… How about ‘mommy?’”

“Uhh… mommy?”

Alice claps her hands together. “That’s it! I think I could enjoy such play.”

This is when Ryouta turns away from her to go and sit down at the dining room table, slouching over and burying his face into his arms. He wants more sleep, but he’s not tired enough to sleep through the pain at this point.

“What’s for breakfast?” Ryouta asks.

“Bacon and eggs!” Alice cheerfully announces.

“Woah, seriously? That’s so… well, when I remember who you are, I guess cost really isn’t an issue.”

“Correct! I have always wanted to cook a traditional breakfast like this for you!”

“How come you never did it back at the apartment?”

“I – do not worry about that, my hero.”

“I’m too hungry to question it. I think Serra is too,” Ryouta says, peeking up from his arms and seeing Serra practically bouncing at the sight of the bacon sizzling in the pan.

“I can see that! Goodness, such energy first thing in the morning.”

“You should’ve seen her before she knew you were making bacon. She wanted to cling to me and get carried downstairs. Oh, did Cass go to her thing?”

“She did! I don’t know why she wanted such an early appointment, but I am sure that it will be fine.”

“Ah, whatever. I’m too tired to think about what she’s doing.”

Of course, right after saying that, Ryouta’s mind immediately jumps to some outlandish conclusions.

What if she’s pregnant?

No, that shouldn’t be possible! They haven’t even had that sort of sex yet in real life. What if… what if she’s dying? What if she got sick and is keeping a secret from everybody? No, she wouldn’t, right?

“I’m awake now,” Ryouta groans. “I hope it’s alright. Her keeping this secret has been driving my mind crazy.”

“Every girl needs to have her secrets!” Alice says.

“Yeah, yeah. Still going to drive me crazy.”

“I am sure there are things you do which drive us crazy as well!”

“Like?”

“Hmm… I… I am not sure! I do not think there is anything you have done that has bothered me. Well, there were those times you would drink near your computer and eat in bed.”

“Says the one who came up with the idea to make us all go to bed without changing and brushing our teeth.”

“That was an exception for a good cause! Do not sass me if you wish to eat your bacon!”

“Yes, mommy.”

“Please, my hero, it is too early to be getting me excited.”

“You… are you actually getting into that?”

Ryouta doesn’t get a response.

What he does get, however, is a plate with bacon and eggs on it.

She even has coffee prepared! Fortunately, she also knows how to make coffee to his liking: sugar and cream with a bit of coffee.

“How is it?” Alice asks them.

Serra is too busy devouring the meal in front of her to try and read Alice’s lips, and Ryouta’s pain is relieved more with every bite of bacon.

“Perfect, of course,” Ryouta tells her. “Did you already eat?” he asks when he sees that she hasn’t set any food out for herself.

“Mhm! I ate with Cassandra earlier. I made us omelets!” Alice explains.

“That sounds pretty good. What’s your favorite thing to make?”

“Hmm. I like baking the most, so I would have to say that baking cake is my favorite! Mainly because I love to decorate them afterward.”

“That makes sense. I’d love to see you decorate a cake sometime. You’ll have to do that for my birthday.”

“Why wait until then? I’m positive we could find a reason to celebrate something sooner than that!”

“You’re right. Let’s celebrate buying a house then.”

“Ah, perfect! The more reasons to celebrate, the better!”

“How many things did your family celebrate a month?”

“Hmm… we probably hosted or attended two events a week on average – just to socialize, and then we celebrated everything even slightly important!”

“Rich people are something else,” Ryouta says, looking over at Serra and seeing some egg on her chin. She’s been dipping her bacon into the runny yolk of the egg on her plate, and now that egg has dripped onto her.

Alice, being the proper lady that she is, wheels herself next to Serra and picks up a napkin to wipe Serra’s face with for her. Naturally, Serra huffs and pouts and whines the entire time.

Then she goes back to dipping her bacon into eggs.