Mamura’s dad was preparing breakfast for his two sons again. He was worried about Mamura who shut himself in his room and about his misunderstanding with Suzume.

“Hmn…what were the ingredients for porridge?” His Dad racked the shelves to look for the recipe book. “It is hard…being a father.” He heaved a deep sigh.

*Ding-dong* He was startled by the sound of the doorbells. “Who could this be at this early morning?” He scratched his head.

“O-Ohayogozaimasu~” Suzume curtly bowed. “I’m sorry for coming without prior notice….I…” Suzume was blushing profusely as Mamura’s father saw that she was carrying a plastic bag.

“Ohhh…” He looked inside the house, and then looked at Suzume.  “Come inside. You wanted to visit Daiki, right?”

“No…no, I was just going to deliver him some food my Uncle taught me. I…I’m really sorry for the misunderstanding. And, for my…” Suzume felt so apologetic that she bowed so low.

“So, you did not want to visit him?” As Mamura’s father, his Dad really knew how to push it to the end.

“Uhmm…” Suzume fidgeted uncomfortably. “Ca-Can I?” Suzume blushed at the thought.

“Well…of course, he’s on his room. But, you can go first to the living room. I’ll let him know, first.”  

“Ah…No, please just let him rest. I’ll be going back right after I check on him.” Suzume went inside. He followed Mamura’s Dad on the living room. She did not know what to do at this home visit.

“You can turn on the TV. I’m really sorry but you can feel at home. Join us for breakfast, okay?” Mamura’s Dad said. Suzume most definitely did not imagine this scenario.

“But, Mamura’s down with a fever, right?” Suzume remembered what her Uncle said.

“He just doesn’t want to move around. And, it’s just a cold now. “ Mamura’s Dad assured her.

“Eh? So, he’s fine now. I- I can go home…” Suzume stood up. “He…he doesn’t know I’m here yet.”

“No, I,I insist…”

Unexpectedly, Suzume’s stomach growled. Oh, I was not able to eat breakfast at home.

“Dad?” Mamura’s Dad and Suzume turned around. Mamura was there, staring blankly at both of them. He twitched his eyes and closed them momentarily. “Dad, why was Suzume here?” Even if he covered his face, he was totally red. “I…I thought she did not know I had a fever last night.”

“Well, her Uncle knew.”

“Hmn?” Mamura looked at Suzume. “You…you should join us for breakfast.”

“Mnm.” Suzume nodded obediently. There was that atmosphere again. She was not really the quiet type, but at times like this, she did not know what to say.

“Uhm….” Mamura spoke. Suzume noticed that they were both at the two corners of the room. “Can you hand me a face mask?”

“Oh..it’s just right- Ahh…It was in the other room. I’ll leave both of you alone…” Mamura’s Dad lied. He just wanted them to talk a bit more.

*cough*”So…why did you come so early? You…you can sit down.” Mamura was struggling with his words.  He wanted to make Suzume comfortable.

“Mnm.” Suzume sat upright on the sofa. They were alone again and she felt so tensed.

How should I make him talk to me about that girl? What should I say to him? Suzume racked her brain for a topic but she could not find one. She just sat there with him on the opposite side of the sofa.

“That..” Suzume started to talk. Mamura got startled for a bit but his face softened.

“What is it?”

“There was this girl who confessed to you, right?” Suzume’s hands became sweaty. “Why did you postpone your reply?”

“Eh?” Mamura tried to think. His memories of that girl’s confession were blurry. “I…I did not know that she confessed.” Mamura felt shy. He messed up because of his runny nose and that he was feverish yesterday.

“But, she was talking about it…Yu-Yuyuka mentioned it.” Suzume tried to let the words out.

“Really?” Mamura’s head was splitting in two. “I should clear the misunderstanding…” He could not keep his focus. His eyes were suddenly closing… But, he needed to endure it. “Did…did I make you worry? I…I’m sorry for declining your offer to go to the music store. I also did not..”

“Now, I understand. You…you did not want to accompany me on the way home because you’d thought that it would be obvious that you had a cold and that it’d make me worr..”

“Yeah, you’re a good girl…” Mamura tried to stand up and pat her on the head. “It turns out that I made you worry…” Mamura could not keep still. He was totally out of his head to do this. His cold really did mess his thoughts as to why he patted her head. His eyes were also giving him away. He thought he was fine this morning but ….I was no good after all, huh?

Mamura sat on the sofa again. Suzume looked at him and she noticed that he was not feeling well after all. She tried to slowly, slowly let Mamura’s head lean on her shoulder. This should be fine, right? I am allowed to do this, right? I…I’m her girlfriend after all. Suzume blushed so much that she thought her heart could not take it.

“Yosano-san, Daiki-kun…” Mamura’s Dad stole a peek. “They seemed to be having a good time, already?”

His father saw the image of Mamura and Suzume just sitting there without doing anything. Mamura just rested his head on Suzume’s shoulder while she was blushing obviously.

Suzume just realized that Mamura’s father was there. “Uhm…it seemed like he’s struggling…”

“OH, I’m sorry. We don’t really have a woman in the house so we struggled with the chores and work. He seemed to be taking it all in. Help me, I’ll carry him to his room…” Mamura’s Dad carried Mamura to his room.

Suzume was surprised. It was a first time that he would be going to a classmate’s room. Precisely, to his boyfriend’s.

“Uhm…I’m sorry. But, I’ll just serve you and Mamura breakfast here. Is that fine? You…taking care of him while I’m preparing…”

“Of…of course, sir.” Suzume did not really know what to do. But, she just needed to look after him while waiting for his dad, right?

Suzume looked around and she saw that Mamura had a collection of CDs stacked neatly on one of the shelves. His desk was also clean and all his reference books were there. I don’t really know much about him.

“Suzume…” Mamura was talking on his sleep.

“Eeeh?” Suzume was really surprised. I have to calm my heart…

Mamura’s Dad came shortly after. He checked on Mamura’s temperature.

“He’s fine now. “

“I…I have to go home now.” Suzume tried to reach for the door knob. "I...I'm sorry. But, after all, I'm calling it a day."She apologized and walked out of the room. She was stoned whilst listening to Mamura's father tending him. She felt so stupid and dumb. She was really childish. Why does he have to call me on his sleep?

"That's kind of underhanded, huh? You pretending to be sleeping...." Mamura's father handed him a glass of water.

"Leave me alone..." Mamura felt so red as his heart was throbbing, as he painfully clenched his chest. Did I really push her too hard? At this rate, she's going to kill me. "Dad, I think my fever's going up...." There was this imaginary steam coming out from Mamura's head. "She's really amazing..."