Spending A Lovey-Dovey College Life With A Spoiled Childhood Friend

It’s been a little over a week now, ever since I was hospitalized for heat stroke. My blood tests have come back to normal, so I’ve put the boring hospital life behind me. But now I’ve got another problem.

It was after Miyu came to visit me and we had breakfast together. As we were about to go to class.

“You forgot your hat, here.”

She said so while handing me a hat.

“No, it’s okay, I’m just going to a normal class.”

It’s already the end of June and it’s sweltering hot, but a hat just to go to class is a bit of an exaggeration.

“You can never be too careful. I once had a heat stroke during a lecture.”

“O-Okay. All right, all right.”

She looked genuinely worried, so I gave up and accepted the hat, hoping that it would reassure Miyu.

Then, during the lecture.

“Ah~ it’s so hot! Isn’t there air conditioning here?”

It just so happens that the room we were in doesn’t have an air conditioner, and with the recent high humidity, I feel it even more. Then,

“Here, It’s important to stay hydrated.”

Some kind of liquid was poured from a water bottle.

“Ah, thank you.”

I gulped down the drink that was handed to me. Hmm? What’s this…? It looked like a sports drink, but it’s not that sweet, and it’s also a little salty.

“Hey, what’s this?”

I ask Miyu, who’s listening to the lecture next to me.

“I diluted the sports drink and added some salt. Was it too salty?”

“No, not that much, but why though?”

“Sports drinks are too intensely flavoured! And they don’t have enough salt content, so I added some.”

“Why do you need so much salt?”

“Saline deficiency is the main cause of heatstroke!”

“There’s plenty of salt in rice…”

That’s what I would argue. For example, let’s imagine a school cafeteria. If I order a single beef bowl, I will probably get some stewed beef that contains enough salt, and if I order a Japanese dish, it will probably come with miso soup which is also salty.

“But still, rice is absorbed too slowly. If it’s a drink, it’s absorbed quickly.”

Miyu seemed serious as she stressed her theory.

(Well, I can drink this just fine.)

That’s what I thought, but then Miyu’s worries continued.

If I showed any signs of tiredness due to heat or if I said, “It’s hot…” she would hand me a cold Pita she had brought from somewhere, or give me a special hydration drink. [TLN: ピタ – flat bread – something for him to eat I suppose.]

It was nice of her to be worried about me, but she was a little too sensitive about it. So I decided to go to the student lounge and have a little talk with Miyu.

“Hey, you’re acting a little weird today.”

“I think it’s normal.”

“No, I know it’s a little hot but for me to wear a hat, hydrate, and putting on cold pads is just too much.”

Even if I had been hospitalized for heat stroke, I doubt I would have gone this far.

“That’s not true. Heat stroke is really scary.”

She complained with a scary and serious look on her face. She’s right, heat stroke really is scary.

“But, you didn’t have to go this far, right? I mean, is this okay with you?”

Of course, it’s understandable since she found out that I had a heat stroke. But, ain’t she a little too sensitive about this?

“It’s a heat stroke, Ryu-kun, Because of that you almost…”

She said so in a very quiet voice.

“Err, I’m almost what?”

“You almost died of heat stroke, Ryu-kun!! Because of that I’m really scared that you’ll get another heat stroke!!”

Miyu shouts at the top of her voice. How did Miyu know about that? 

“No, it’s just a mild case of heat stroke.”

“A week in the hospital for a heat stroke is really serious!”

“Did you look it up…?”

I haven’t looked into it properly, but I might be able to find that kind of information by searching on the internet.

“That’s right… and the doctor said that Ryu-kun would have been in danger if he had been a little late.”

I had no idea that the doctor in charge talked about it. I was tempted to ask him if he was concerned about confidentiality, but since Miyu had been designated as my emergency contact, maybe he thought that Miyu was my relative?

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t want to worry you, so I kind of faked it…”

Maybe I should’ve told her properly instead of letting this happen.

“I know you didn’t want to worry me, Ryu-kun. But… I wish you had told me properly…”

Halfway through, I heard a choppy, tearful voice. Tears were spilling out of her eyes. When I saw this, I finally realized how much I had worried about her.

“I’m sorry I made you so worried…”

With that said, I hugged her body and gently stroked her hair.

“Well, Miyu’s right, to be honest, I was in a rather bad situation.”

“So it’s true, I knew it…”

“But, now that I’m out of the hospital, I’ll be fine this time.”

“But if you get a heat stroke again and if Ryu-kun almost dies…!”

“I’ll be fine. Don’t you trust me?”

“It’s because, I’m afraid you’ll try to hide it again, just like this time, Ryu-kun…”

It seems that my attempt to appear lighter this time had the opposite effect.

“All right, then let’s make a promise.”

As I said that, I suddenly remembered my childhood. When I think about it, we used to make promises when we were little, even if it was something trivial. Especially when we had to make up. But as we grew up, we didn’t do that anymore.

“A promise…?”

“That’s right, a promise. We used to do it all the time. You know, like…”

“I’ll give you a thousand needles if you lie to me. I remember.”

“Pinky swear, whoever lies will be made to swallow a thousand needles, right? I remember that!”¹

Finally, I was relieved when Miyu smiled a little.

“I know it sounds childish, but I promise I won’t push it, what do you think?”

I looked at Miyu. Then she giggled and said,

“I guess I was a little too worried about you. You don’t have to make any promises.”

She said with a calm expression.

“Are you okay now?”

“Yep, now that you’ve said that, I’ve calmed down a little. I wondered why I was worrying so much!”

She continued,

“If I can’t trust you this much without a promise, then I don’t think it’s okay!”

“I see, I’m glad to hear that from you. Dont worry, I’ll be sure to tell you from now on.”

So, Miyu’s worries finally settled down.

But I didn’t realize that what I said to keep her from worrying would have the opposite effect… and I didn’t know that Miyu would become so anxious. We’ve grown up together since we were kids, but there’s still so much I don’t know about her.