Aoyama lowered his head and glanced at her.
At this point, her expression had already revealed everything.
Her crimson eyes flickered with embarrassment and panic.
Her eyelashes trembled violently, and her lips opened and closed several times as if she wanted to speak, yet had no idea how to begin.
“A towel.”
Aoyama answered without changing his expression.
He soaked the folded cloth back in the warm water, wrung it until it was only damp, and placed it back on her forehead.
“A warm compress helps reduce fever.”
“Ugh…”
Utaha opened her mouth slightly and let out a vague sound of protest, as if she wanted to argue but could not find a single reason.
From a functional perspective, right now it was indeed just a towel.
But the moment she remembered what it had originally been used for, the overwhelming embarrassment made her feel like her entire body was about to burn apart.
“My underwear was, was…”
She struggled to explain, but the fever made her thoughts sluggish and sticky.
The words reached her mouth before disappearing again.
“You…
you don’t know that it’s…”
“I know.”
Aoyama’s voice remained calm.
“But your fever is too high.
I didn’t have time to find another clean piece of cloth for you.”
“It’s already been washed.
The thickness is suitable, and it absorbs and retains heat well.”
“Besides, you need to lower your body temperature right now.”
“So don’t worry about what it is.
Close your eyes and rest.”
Utaha’s lips trembled slightly.
She wanted to argue.
She wanted to ask, Do you really not think using a girl’s underwear as a towel is strange?
But the warm, comfortable sensation on her forehead made it impossible for her mind to function properly.
The heat slowly seeped through the fabric and into her skin, easing the painful pressure in her head.
She had to admit that it genuinely made her feel better.
“Mm…”
Her gaze unconsciously drifted downward.
Aoyama’s arm was wrapped around her shoulders, holding her against him.
The chest beneath her nose was solid and warm.
His body heat passed through his shirt, creating a sense of security she could not ignore.
“…Got it.”
In the end, she only gave a quiet reply, her voice almost too soft to hear.
Then she buried her face back into Aoyama’s chest, her ears red enough to look like they were about to drip blood.
She tried to ignore the warm compress on her forehead made from her own underwear.
She tried to ignore the empty sensation beneath her skirt, the fact that she was wearing nothing underneath.
And she especially tried to ignore the fact that she was currently clinging tightly to him in this exact state.
“Aoyama-kun…
don’t laugh at me.”
Her voice was muffled.
“I’m not laughing.”
Aoyama truly was not laughing.
His expression remained calm as he stared at the curtain of rain outside the stone overhang.
“But using that as a towel…”
Utaha’s voice became as quiet as a whisper.
“Don’t you think it’s strange?”
“No.”
“Right now, you’re a patient.
Anything usable is just a tool.”
“…Thank you.”
The two of them remained silent for a while.
The fire crackled softly, with occasional sparks flying from the flames and fading among the ashes.
The rain outside showed no sign of weakening.
Instead, it grew heavier, with water pouring down from the edge of the stone overhang like a curtain, almost turning the shelter into a half-enclosed cave.
“Fuu…”
Utaha’s breathing gradually became steadier, but her body temperature remained high.
Her body pressed against Aoyama’s chest felt like a burning stone.
Sweat continued to seep from her neck and back, soaking the front of his shirt.
Through two layers of fabric, Aoyama could clearly feel the contours of her soft body pressed tightly against him.
Her fever was intense, and the heat spreading from her body made even the ambiguous sensations between them carry a dangerous warmth.
“Ah…”
Aoyama was not completely unaffected.
He was an eighteen-year-old normal male, and he was currently holding a girl of the same age whose figure was impossible to ignore.
She was wearing only a shirt and a school skirt, with nothing else beneath.
So how could he possibly feel nothing?
His breathing was indeed slightly faster than usual.
And his body honestly responded with an unmistakable reaction.
“…”
Utaha noticed.
Her entire body stiffened.
Although her forehead was still burning and her thoughts remained clouded by fever, she clearly felt that terrifying presence gradually becoming impossible to ignore.
She was not some innocent girl who knew nothing.
As a romance novelist, she was far too familiar with situations like this.
But when she wrote about them, she was sitting safely at her desk.
Right now, she was truly pressed against an eighteen-year-old boy’s chest, feeling the most honest reaction of his body and the heartbeat beneath his skin.
Her ears burned even hotter, and her breathing fell out of rhythm.
“Aoyama-kun, are you…”
Her voice was muffled against his damp shirt, so quiet that it was nearly drowned out by the rain.
“Yeah.”
“…Then why aren’t you pushing me away?”
“Because you’re sick.
If I pushed you away, you’d get colder and your condition would become worse.”
Aoyama’s voice remained steady, though a careful listener could detect a faint trace of tension.
“…So you’d rather…”
She paused.
“Endure this?”
“…”
Aoyama was silent for two seconds before answering.
“Kasumigaoka-san, can you rest quietly right now?”
Utaha did not speak again.
She buried her face deeper against him, her nose resting between his ribs as her warm breath brushed against his skin.
She could feel the strong, restless beating of his heart.
She could also feel that his reaction had not disappeared yet, but she chose to close her eyes.
“How can it be this…”
…
The wind poured in from outside the stone overhang while the fire danced beside them.
Aoyama took several deep breaths, forcing himself to shift his attention away from the soft warmth in his arms and toward the heavy rain outside.
The storm showed no sign of stopping.
The sky was covered in gray clouds, as if all the light had been wrapped away by a massive wet cloth.
“Once the rain stops, I need to find some medicine for her fever.”
In a primitive forest like this, there should be wild ginger or something similar.
“If I’m lucky, I might even find honeysuckle or dandelion.
Both are commonly used herbs for clearing heat and reducing inflammation.”
But there was another thing he worried about more.
What would happen if he became sick?
In the wilderness, one person’s illness meant a sharp decline in their ability to survive.
Right now, he and Utaha depended on each other.
If one part of their survival chain failed, everything could collapse.
“I need a stronger body.”
“What I need most right now is immunity, recovery, and resistance to illness.”
After all, his cheat ability was “you get what you eat.”
As long as he found creatures with strong vitality and consumed them, he could gain corresponding physical enhancements.
Rainforests had no shortage of insects.
Snakes, scorpions, centipedes, spiders…
They sounded disgusting, but many of these creatures were considered to have medicinal value in traditional medicine.
As long as he found the right species, he could gain the corresponding enhancements.
“Let’s wait until the rain stops.”
Aoyama quietly muttered to himself and shifted his gaze away from the rain curtain.
He looked down at Utaha, who had gradually become calmer in his arms.
Her breathing had become slower and deeper.
The white “towel” on her forehead was already half-dried from her body heat, carrying a faint layer of warm moisture.
Her fingers, which had been tightly gripping the fabric at his waist, slowly relaxed.
They curled naturally against him as she rested there like a cat curled up beside a stove, trembling slightly from time to time.
Aoyama reached out and adjusted the cloth that was about to slip from her forehead, the edge brushing lightly against her temple.
Utaha’s eyelashes trembled, but she did not open her eyes.
After a while, her lips moved slightly, and she murmured a few unclear words.
“Aoyama-kun…
still cold…”
Aoyama added another thick piece of firewood to the flames, then tightened his arms and pulled her closer.
Through the fabric of their uniforms, her body heat felt like a small flame pressed against him.
Aoyama quietly replied,
“Mm.
I’m here.”
“Mm…”
Utaha made a faint sound in her sleepiness, rubbed her forehead lightly against his chest, and finally became completely still.
Outside, the rain flowed down from the edge of the stone overhang like a curtain of water, separating the shelter from the outside world.
The fire occasionally popped softly, and its orange glow illuminated the two figures.
Holding the feverish girl in his arms, Aoyama listened to the storm and wind roaring above them while staring through the rain toward the distant gray sky.
He quietly said,
“I have to find a way to keep her alive too.”*