Flowing Promises (Under Revision)

Chapter 60

It's nothing to brag about, to be honest. But it seems Kayano was intrigued by my stories, so she pleaded for me to continue and listened carefully to every word that I said. It was...pretty comforting.

"So, you had a personal nurse to take care of you?" She asked about the nurse after I mentioned her.

"Yeah. She was much older than me. But, her looks make her look like a teenage girl." I said.

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah! Oh, and I wanna ask you something. Does a kiss on the cheek means a greeting or something?" I asked.

"Hmmmm... If we're talking about the west, it is, from what I have heard. Why do you a——wait! Don't tell me you actually got a kiss from her?!"

"Yeah, that was a bit——wait, why are you angry all of a sudden?!"

Is the kiss-greeting that discomforting to talk about? Maybe I should'nt have brought that up.

The scene I'm seeing right now is the first scary side I've ever seen from her. I'm kind imagining that she suddenly got so upset that there's flames coming out behind her and her hair was flying up in the air. Her face was...well, how do I put this...totally scary, that I thought I was gonna get killed.

"GGRRRRHHHHH———Oh, nothing~"

But unexpectedly, her expression suddenly changed. She smiled innocently at the end and looks away, staring into the ground.

I still had my eyes on her after that. I'm still a bit worried though. Due to us becoming close, I've already known how to see through her masked acts. And at those times, I can imagine how she's feeling on the inside.

Should I comfort her?

"You know, Nagisa..."

Too late! Before I could say something to her, she started to speak instead.

"Y-yeah?? W-what?"

"Now that you mentioned it, I...I was thinking that...maybe I could've been the one nursing you to health. But, it couldn't be helped, can it?" There she goes again with that masked smile of hers. She gazes at me with that smile. How fragile.

"The both of us were severely injured. But you had the most fatal condition so you were taken to a place far away...(far away from me~)" She was starting to get emotional and all, but, she only whispered that last phrase, unfortunately. I couldn't quite hear it.

"Hm? What did you say at that last one?" So in order for me to find out, I asked her.

But...

"Huh?? Oh, i-it was nothing! It's not a big deal!" She ended up saying that. Maybe it was something embarrassing, so I guess I should drop the curiosity for now.

"But yeah, it can't be helped." And she goes back to her previous state.

You know, seeing her like this, I've also been wondering to myself...

Was I a good friend to her? We are best friends, but, the way how she acts whenever she's around me, it's not the usual thing that BFFs do.

Is protecting her enough? All I've been doing is saying that I'll protect her no matter what. But the more time passes by, the more I think that I'm only been feeding my ego. Is this really the right thing?

  

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