CH 32

The chirping of birds can be heard from the surrounding area. The brisk morning sun illuminates the city.

An incident that occurred while Toma was on his way to school:

“Hey, I heard he’s the boyfriend of Nursing’s Angel!”

“Huh!? No way, that can’t be true… the Nursing’s Angel?”

“I heard he went to pick her up on Friday…”

“Seriously!? Is it true!?”

(…)

Toma walks briskly towards the university, trying not to hear the conversation of the two men as much as possible. Three days have passed since they made plans to go home together from Friday and today is Monday. The moment he fully anticipated had arrived.

(…)

Toma arrives at the university with twice his usual walking pace. Even while walking down the corridor on campus…

“Wow, it’s the boyfriend of the Nursing’s Angel… her boyfriend!”

“Huh? Is that him? Is he a student here!?”

“I heard he’s the one who conquered Mio, the woman known as the man-eater… How did he do it?”

(…)

The volume of the voices of the three girls’ group was not in a whisper. It was normal volume, as if they intended Toma to hear them.

“Maybe he did a wall slam on her, you know, like pushing her against the wall and… BAM!”

“Or maybe he caught her weakness and forced her to be his girlfriend…?”

“That’s unlikely, isn’t it…?”

(….)

As he entered the classroom for his first period class, he felt people whispering behind his back and hastily made his way inside.

“Hey, look who it is, it’s Toma! The ultimate lovebird! So jealous, man.”

“…Even you Haru… huh.”

At university, students were allowed to create their own class schedules. Toma and Haru had made theirs to have the same class at the same time.

Haru, who was already sitting in the classroom, teased Toma as he pulled out the seat next to him. “Come sit over here, Toma,” he said with a smirk.

“Heh…”

Though Toma took the seat, he couldn’t help but look down at the floor since every male student in the room, except Haru, was glaring at him with an intense gaze. Some even had sharp pencils sticking out of their learning materials.

“Hahaha, so they found out. The moment the rumor about the Nursing’s Angel having a boyfriend broke out, this is what all the fuss is about!”

“I don’t get how she’s so popular when she’s from another university…so many questions.”

“If you can make the ‘Nursing’s Ange’ your girlfriend and eventually your wife, you’ll hit the jackpot like winning the first prize in the lottery. She’s going to a good university, and she’ll become a nurse at a famous hospital in the future, and she’s stunningly beautiful.”

“I’m not denying that, but it’s not necessary to spread rumors like this.”

Regardless of becoming her boyfriend or not, walking next to the ‘Nursing’s Angel’ and chatting is an honorable thing. To have a longing for her, Toma has no idea.

As her nickname ‘Nursing’s Angel’ suggests, just that alone is enough to become the target of jealousy.

“Well, the reason for this situation is you, Toma. You called the Nursing’s Angel to the main gate and went home together.”

“Well, I didn’t expect it to become such a big rumor…I’m not good enough to be with Mio-san…”

“Even calling her ‘Mio-san’ lacks credibility. When did you start calling her by her name? Are you guys dating?”

“If we were dating, I would tell you, but I’m not. You’ve been helping me with advice, so I thought I’d tell you.”

“Ha ha, that makes sense. You just casually mentioned calling her by her name.”

Saying that, while lightly punching his shoulder, there was no particular reaction from Toma. It seems that he understands what Toma doesn’t want to say.

“How can we solve this misunderstanding, rather than that…”

“Toma, you are such an idiot. There’s no need to solve it. If we leave it like this, the guys who are after that Nursing’s Angel will decrease. As a result, the number of people who confess will decrease. It’s great, isn’t it?”

“What are you talking about? That’ll cause trouble for Sasaki-san, won’t it? What if Sasaki-san has someone she likes, and that person misunderstands or something…”

Toma was pondering with his arms crossed, but Haru interjected before that.

“Toma, it’s too late to switch to calling her ‘Sasaki-san’ by her surname. It’s okay to just call her by her name as far as I’m concerned.”

“…Yeah, I got it.”

“But anyway, if you think it’s bothersome, why don’t you ask the Nursing’s Angel directly? Like, ‘There’s a rumor going around now, but what does Mio-san think about it?'”

This was advice based on information obtained from his sister Nanami. Haru showed an attacking attitude here. By listening to this, it was certain that there would be some kind of progress, even with the super-insensitive Touma…

“Wait a minute. Can’t you see that it’s bothersome?”

“You don’t know what people are thinking, so it’s best to ask them directly. If they say it’s bothersome, then we should take action to clear up the misunderstanding, right?”

“Y-yeah, that’s right…”

“But if she says ‘it’s not bothersome,’ think carefully about how you’ll respond… and what that means…”

“What do you mean?”

At this point, most people can probably guess why it’s not a bother…

“The Nursing’s Angel is known to speak her mind, right? So there must be a reason why she doesn’t find it bothersome. You need to think hard about that. If you come up with an answer…no, it’s nothing.”

“U-understood…?”

“And also, try to make an effort to fix your dullness, Toma. I’ve heard that there’s no escape when a woman gets serious.”

“What are you talking about…?”

“Well, you’ll understand later.”

Having said that mysteriously, Haru picked up her smartphone from the desk and started fiddling with it. Seeing Haru’s behavior, where she showed that she wouldn’t say anything more, Toma began to prepare for class.

***

“I’m sorry for contacting you so suddenly. Toma-kun, you’re working today, right? If it’s okay with you, I was wondering if you could come with me…”

Along with this message, a stamp of a red panda with its two fingers interlocked and the words “Please!” was sent to Toma during his lunch break.