CH 45

A warm morning sun shines into the classroom. The sky is a clear blue color that seems to go on forever. As usual, Toma sits in the seat next to Haru, preparing for the lecture while moving his mouth.

“Haru… Mio-san is really popular, isn’t she?”

“Hahaha! What are you talking about, stating the obvious? Did you hit your head or something?”

“No, it’s not that… it’s just that I saw it with my own eyes.”

Yesterday’s customer. Even though he was drunk, his remark was unforgivable. But Mio’s popularity has a lot to do with why such comments are made.

“Are you worried about it? Or is it more like you’re uneasy about seeing the nursing department’s angel being so popular?”

“Well…”

“I can understand that feeling, but don’t think too deeply about it. Because she’s the nursing’s angel, she’ll probably reject all the guys who confess to her one after another.”

“I hope so…”

Of course, Toma has never had this kind of worry before. It’s just because he has developed feelings for Mio… and he realizes it again at that moment.

And Toma is not the kind of person to miss the answer that can be inferred from Mio’s response of “I hope so”.

“Oh, could it be… you’re in love, Toma?”

“Wha-what? Well, um…”

Telling your friend, or rather your best friend, about your crush was an embarrassing thing for Toma.

“Hahaha! You always stutter when you’re caught, huh?… Oh, wow, finally, huh?”

“What do you mean, finally…”

“Well, I mean, I kinda expected you to fall for her, Toma.”

“What? That’s not true!”

Haru had spoken as if he could predict the future, not just guessing who might like who. Toma had a hard time believing him.

“Well, it’s obvious since she’s like an angel. And since you’re in love with her for real.”

“Y-Yeah, you’re right, but your theory is crazy…”

“So, when did you start liking her? You must have recently come to me for advice.”

“I-I’m not telling. It’s embarrassing…”

“You’re such a baby!”

Haru playfully hit Toma on the shoulder and smiled with joy. This was good news for his best friend.

“I know it’s kinda weird to ask you this, Haru, but how do you think I can get closer to Mio?”

“What’s there to worry about? You have her contact information, right? Just ask her to walk home with you after school.”

“I-I get nervous about that kind of thing…”

“Don’t be such a wimp! If you want to get closer, you have to be brave. This is the key to winning in love!”

Haru confidently tapped her fingernail on the desk, feeling proud of herself.

“The key to winning in love.” This phrase had just come to her, but she wasn’t wrong.

“Since it’s a different university, you don’t have much time to spend together. If you can invite her out on a date on weekends, that’s a different story.”

“W-well, that’s not possible. We’re not even dating yet…”

“Then how about walking home together after school? That’s settled then. Have the courage to ask her out.”

“Y-yeah, you’re right…I’ll email her in a couple of days since it might seem sudden if it’s tomorrow. Thank you.”

Not out of jealousy, but Haru genuinely supports Toma.

(Tomorrow will be too sudden, I need to do my best and ask her out…)

For Toma, the reason for walking home with Mio was not just to get closer to her, but also to be cautious of that customer.

Shine’s master, Miki, had even directly told him, “I want you to keep an eye on Mii-chan.”

***

The following day…

“Hey, hey, did you hear? There’s talk of a suspicious person! They showed up yesterday!”

“Yeah, yeah. They keep following people from behind, right? They’re definitely trying to find out where people live. It’s super scary.”

“It was my friend’s friend who was approached!”

“The fact that they’re going after anyone and everyone is creepy…”

The students at Reijou Nursing University were all talking about this suspicious person incident.

An event that posed a danger to their safety had occurred in the area.

The police were apparently patrolling the area from today, but there was still anxiety remaining.

“…It’s unsettling.”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect a suspicious person to show up in this area. I wonder what they’re thinking, Mio-chan?”

“I wouldn’t know even if you asked me… I’m not the suspicious person, you know.”

Mio had a valid point.

“Hahaha, yeah, that’s right. Hey, Mio-chan, be especially careful, okay? You’re the face of this university. It wouldn’t be strange if the suspicious person was targeting you!”

“Why me? What do you mean?”

“Well, Mio-chan, you’re the one representing this university. It wouldn’t be strange if the suspicious person was targeting you!”

There is information that people are being approached indiscriminately, but what Nanami says cannot be denied.

There is no one as famous as Mio at this Reijou Nursing University, so if the suspicious person’s ear catches wind of her, they are bound to target her.

“Nanami, don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

With those words, Mio interrupts and leans her cheek on her hand, narrowing her eyes as she speaks.

“Leave taking care of me to Toma-kun, just like before.”

“G-gikku!”

Nanami makes a sound effect, either waiting for a retort or purposely being dramatic.

“I know you planned to have Toma-kun take care of me from the beginning.”

“A-aha… I was worried about you, but I guess there’s no point in saying that now…”

“I want to know what your intention was. Don’t try to dodge the question like you did yesterday, okay?”

The next day when Mio is absent from the university, she asks immediately, “Why did you choose Toma-kun to take care of me?”

However, just as Mio predicted, Nanami evades the question. She still has not given an answer.

“Well, I understand your desire to know, Mio-chan, but…”

“Then tell me!”

“I will exercise my right to remain silent!”

With her voice overlapping Mio’s, Nanami declared loudly while placing her hands on her hips and proudly puffing out her chest.

In this position, Nanami could keep any secret, no matter what happened to her. Mio understood this, and thus had no means of pursuing the matter further.

“Come on, you don’t have to keep it a secret like that… Even if you regret it later, I won’t know because I’ll have taken him from you, right?”

“Maybe it would be wiser for Mio-chan to worry about herself instead? Even if I take him, you won’t know~?”

“You’re such an idiot, Nanami.”

“Hahaha, looks like I’m about to become an M soon.”

Mio responded with an insult to Nanami’s provocation. Anyone who heard this conversation would never have suspected that these two were love rivals.