Are You Not Feeling Well?

"Ninomiya, wake up."

In the morning, I woke up Airi as usual.

I was used to waking her up, but I would never get used to seeing Airi's too-cute sleeping face.

My heart beats were a little faster, but I ignored it and managed to shake her awake.

As usual, when she first woke up, she was in a daze because her mind was not working.

While making breakfast, I felt uncomfortable as I watched her sluggishly head for the bathroom.

(Wait… Something's wrong.)

We had been living together for more than three weeks, so I could easily notice the slightest change.

I didn't think it was a cold because her face was not red, but something was wrong.

As I continued to watch Airi from the side, it was obvious that she was sighing more than usual and her body seemed to be more sluggish. It was possible that something was wrong with her health.

"Ninomiya, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine…"

"Are you sure? Do you feel sick or anything?"

I asked her while we were having breakfast, but she just tilted her head and shushed me.

She looked strangely ill just now, and she still looked a little pale, but was it just my imagination? I was pretty sure there was a subtle pause in her reply just now.

I asked her again since Airi's personality puts up with her being sick, but she gave me a gentle smile.

"I'm fine. What are you worried about?"

"No, something doesn't feel right."

"You're worried for nothing. There's nothing to worry about."

Airi told me there's nothing to worry about. But I couldn't shake my uneasiness.

However, if she didn't want to answer even after this much questioning, then she might not really have anything.

I was hoping that I hadn't overstepped my bounds, but I needed to be sure.

"I understand. If you're not feeling well, take it easy and tell me."

"Okay, okay, I understand."

I stopped here because I was afraid she might get angry if I persisted too much.

Airi chuckled in dismay, and her response to me really did seem to be the same as always.

"I wonder how Kujo-senpai noticed."

I thought I heard something while Airi was washing the breakfast dishes, but I couldn't quite hear it over the sound of water.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"No, not at all. I'll be going first."

"Yeah. Have a good day."

"I'll see you later."

Airi's walking speed was slower than mine, so she usually had to leave first.

There was no point in worrying about it any further, so I also finished cleaning up and headed for school.

"Oh, that's Ninomiya-san."

While I was talking to Kazuma in the classroom, he seemed to have spotted Airi.

Apparently, their next class was PE, and the first-year students, including her, were gathering on the field.

Well, I thought Airi would be easy to find since she stood out so much, so I somehow turned my attention to the playground.

Her bright silver hair was easy to spot, it seemed to shine in the sunlight.

However, Airi headed towards the edge of the ground. Apparently, she was only observing.

(Why would she be observing? I thought she was fine.)

A question popped into my head.

I had asked her about it earlier that morning and she had said there was nothing wrong with her.

But she seemed to be just observing even though she was not feeling sick.

"Oh, you're looking at Ninomiya-san, huh?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Shiori said that Ninomiya-san can exercise, so is there a reason why she can't?"

"I don't know. You can't tell other people's circumstances."

"That's true."

Kazuma also seemed to know through Momose that Airi can exercise. He was wondering why Airi was only observing.

As we were both looking at Airi, a few girls started talking to her.

I couldn't see much expression on their faces, but they didn't seem to be joyful. They seemed to be asking Airi something with their eyebrows raised.

The people around her were not making any particular noise. They were probably worried about Airi.

(Do girls worry about you even when you are not sick? Could it be…?)

That's when it finally hit me.

My guess must be right. I was sure she couldn't tell me about this.

Finally convinced, I contacted Airi through the messaging app.

Fortunately, I didn't have a part-time job that day, so I'd be able to go home right after school, and also shop for dinner.

I took my eyes off Airi, thinking that she would probably look at my message after PE was over.

After school, I headed to the supermarket near my house.

It felt like it had been quite a while since I had left the shopping to Airi lately.

I smiled bitterly as I remembered our exchange on the messaging app a while ago.

[I'll make dinner tonight, you just stay home and wait. Just tell me what you want to eat.]

[What's wrong with you all of a sudden? Let me make it like usual.]

[I just thought I'd make it sometimes too, you know?]

[Whenever you say that, there is always something going on, what happened?]

[There's nothing going on. Today is my day off from work, so at least let me make it today.]

[I am not convinced.]

[Please.]

[I understand. Please be ready when you get back home.]

[Roger. So, is there anything you want to eat?]

[Anything is fine.]

[Can you just cook the rice for me?]

[I understand.]

Although it was difficult to grasp her emotions from the text, she seemed to be very upset.

Momose also got in a bad mood once a month, so I left those occasions to Kazuma. Airi had managed to keep it together this morning, but now she might be emotionally unstable.

I let out a sigh, knowing I was going to be questioned once I got home.

It was true that I had never cooked out of the blue before, so I could understand why she would be suspicious, but I couldn't tell her why.

(I usually don't do anything, I should at least do this for these occasions.)

I used my phone to search what women eat in these situations and bought the ingredients.

It seemed to be rather easy to make, and I didn't think I would make any mistakes. I went home relieved and happy to have guessed correctly.