“Why are you heading to the rooftop alone? Aren’t you with your friends?” Seeing the lonely figure of his junior carrying a lunchbox at noon, Momoshiro Takeshi couldn’t help but feel a surge of sympathy.
He thought the junior might have been isolated by his classmates, which was why he was heading to the rooftop to eat alone. So, Momoshiro enthusiastically invited the junior to eat with him, “I just bought my lunch, how about we go to the rooftop and eat together? That way, you won’t be lonely!”
Echizen Ryoma: “No, thank you, senpai. I can manage on my own.”
Ryoma was quite unaccustomed to the sudden warmth from his senpai. Having grown up in America, where he was used to an independent and free lifestyle, he found it hard to adapt to the hierarchical culture in Japan after returning.
Therefore, he didn’t want to eat with this unfamiliar senpai, even though this senpai seemed much more reliable than the previous one, Arai, who had tried to trouble him and Koku. Ryoma didn’t let his guard down and directly refused, “I’m used to eating alone at noon. I might feel uncomfortable eating with senpai.”
“Alright then.” Since he confirmed that the junior wasn’t being bullied by his classmates, Momoshiro didn’t insist on forcing him to eat together and generously let Ryoma go.
While Ryoma was eating on the rooftop, he received a reply from Koku.
After finishing the hospital procedures and returning home with his mom, Tezuka Koku saw the messages and missed calls from his friend. He immediately replied and then called back.
“Ryoma, Ryoma, I was sick and went to the hospital yesterday, so I didn’t have my phone and missed your messages.”
“It’s okay, I met Tezuka-senpai today, and he told me about your situation.”
Hearing Koku’s usual energetic voice over the phone, Ryoma knew he was alright. But to understand Koku’s condition better, he asked again, “Are you feeling better now? Still uncomfortable?”
“No, I’m fine now. I ate too much yesterday, so my stomach hurt. Uncle Oshitari gave me an injection, and I’m all good today!”
“I’m already discharged and back home. Mom is cooking.”
“Is that so?” Hearing this, Ryoma reflexively checked the time on his phone. It was almost 1 PM, so if they started cooking now, it might be even later when they eat.
“Koku, are you hungry? If you are, find something to eat first!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Koku didn’t feel very hungry, but since he usually didn’t refuse others’ kindness, he agreed when Ryoma suggested he find something to eat.
However, he didn’t plan to eat anything else. Earlier, Oshitari Eiji had given him glucose, and on the way home, Tezuka Ayana had fed him some easy-to-digest cake, so he was already half-full.
Just as Koku was about to report his day’s schedule to Ryoma, Tezuka Ayana called him from the kitchen to come down for porridge.
Ryoma heard her voice over the phone and suggested ending the call, “Koku, go eat quickly. We’ll see each other after school and talk then.”
“Yeah, yeah, Koku is coming~” After responding to his mom, Koku realized a bit late that Ryoma mentioned coming over in the afternoon.
“But does Ryoma know where Koku’s house is?” Koku asked.
“I don’t, but I arranged with Koku’s brother this morning to go together in the afternoon, so I’ll find out then.”
Oh right, Ryoma could come with his brother. Even if Ryoma didn’t know where the Tezuka residence was, he could still find Koku.
“Ryoma, you’re really smart!”
“But Koku needs to go eat now, we’ll talk later, byebye~”
“Byebye~”
After praising Ryoma’s intelligence, Koku planned to go downstairs to eat with his mom. He said goodbye to Ryoma over the phone and hung up.
Then he happily ran downstairs to share the news with his mom that his good friend was coming over.
“Mom, mom, Ryoma just said he’ll come with my brother in the afternoon to visit me. I’m so happy.”
“Really?” Hearing this, Tezuka Ayana was genuinely surprised. She thought Koku had only been at school for a few days and wouldn’t have made such good friends so quickly. But thinking about it, the name Ryoma seemed familiar, as if she’d heard it from Kunimitsu before, giving her a sense of familiarity.
But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t match the name “Ryoma” with anyone in her memory, so she asked her son again, “Is Ryoma a new classmate you met at school?”
“No, it’s Ryoma, the one I’ve known for a long time.” Seeing his mom’s confused look, Koku thought she couldn’t remember his friend, so he kindly reminded her, “Don’t you remember, mom? It’s Ryoma, the one I played with in America.”
In America, played together?
With Koku’s reminder, a figure immediately popped into Ayana’s mind, “Oh, it’s him!”
The little boy who saved Koku’s life in America and had always been close to him.
“Then I must prepare well to welcome our Ryoma!” After all, it’s Koku’s friend’s first visit, and Ayana wanted him to feel the warmth of their home.
Because Ryoma might be the only good friend Koku has known for so many years. Anything associated with “only” becomes extraordinary.
Compared to her eldest son Kunimitsu, who occasionally brought friends home to study together, Ayana was more worried about not hosting Koku’s friend well for the first time.
However, Koku didn’t notice his mom’s nervousness and happily agreed with her, “Yeah, yeah, Koku will help too.”
“What will Koku help mom with?”
Just as Ayana was feeling extremely nervous, Tezuka Kuniharu returned. Worried about Koku’s health and fearing Ayana couldn’t handle both taking care of Koku and the hospital procedures alone, Kuniharu took leave after finishing his work and rushed back.
As soon as he returned, he heard his son energetically talking about helping, so he smiled and said, “If there’s anything, dad is back, let dad handle it.”
“We were talking about how to properly host Koku’s good friend.” Noticing the concern in her husband’s eyes, Ayana knew he misunderstood, so she quickly explained, “Koku is fine now, but in the evening, his good friend from America will visit, and we’re planning to host him well.”
“Koku’s friend, then we must host him well!” With his wife’s explanation, Kuniharu immediately understood why she looked so serious when he returned.
If he hadn’t come back, Ayana alone at home taking care of Koku wouldn’t be able to prepare dinner well, which might lead to misunderstandings when Koku’s friend visited.
Now that he was back, there was no problem. Kuniharu picked up Koku and said to his wife, “Leave Koku to me, you can focus on preparing dinner.”
“Of course, I know that,” Ayana said, stopping her husband from lifting Koku to play, “Put Koku down, he hasn’t eaten yet!”
“Hahaha, then how about dad carries Koku to the dining table?” Knowing his action wasn’t appropriate, Kuniharu laughed to ease the awkwardness and negotiated with his son, “Koku, eat well, and after eating, dad will play with you.”
“Okay!”