Chapter 6:
If You Catch a Cold, Take Care of Yourself
“YUUUUHI, goob morning…”
It was the morning after our fight, and the first words out of Filia’s mouth when she got out of bed didn’t sound right. Her voice was hoarse.
“Jeez, Filia, you sound like a zombie. And your face is kinda red.”
“Huugh…?” As that mysterious sound came out of Filia’s throat, I noticed that her cheeks were way flushed. Filia was usually still sleepy in the mornings, but today her eyes were even puffier than normal.
“Ah-choo! Ugh, I think I caught a cold.” Filia blew her nose with a tissue. “My head hurts…” A full-blown cold. Oof. “I might have gone a little overboard with my training…” she lamented as she laid down on her bed, placing a wet towel on her head.
“Wait, is that really how you get a cold? I’ve always pushed myself to the limit in training, and I’ve never caught one.” Sure, Filia had been training more seriously than before, but if that was all it took, why hadn’t I ever caught one?
“Ah, that’s right,” Filia mumbled, staring at me blankly. “They do say that idiots don’t catch colds, don’t they?”
“I’m an intellectual muscle man, though…”
“Then you’re an idiotic intellectual muscle man.”
I’m idiotic even though I’m an intellectual? What in the world could that even mean? I groaned. “Oh, man, my head’s starting to hurt just from trying to figure that one out.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ve got a case of head bombs.”
“Head bombs? What is that?”
“It’s a disease where your head suddenly explodes and you die.”
“Don’t say somethin’ so scary!” What a terrifying disease. I definitely did not want to die outside of battle!
“I’m sorry,” said Filia, exhaling a hot breath. “I’m a little tired. I’m going to rest today.” The mattress moved up and down along with the movement of her chest.
“Yeah. You make sure you get your sleep. Take it easy.”
“I’m…completely useless!” Filia moaned in a hoarse voice.
“What do you mean?”
Was it her illness making her feel weak? I’d heard it said that when your body is weak, your spirit feels weak too. Maybe it was time for some encouragement.
As I thought about that, Filia continued speaking, looking frustrated. “I just thought of the most brilliant way to tease you, Yuri, but…I can’t seem to get the words out.”
“It’s okay if you can’t get the words out. Better, even.”
“So disappointing…so, so disappointing,” Filia moaned. “I curse my lack of strength…” Heartbroken, she bit her lower lip so hard that it practically turned white.
It wasn’t normal for her to be that disappointed. Jeez, how much of her heart and soul did she pour into making fun of me, anyhow?
“Phew… Phew…”
After some time had passed, Filia had fallen asleep. She really had been exhausted after all. I figured I ought to replace the towel on her forehead. I picked up the towel and put it in ice water. When the towel was cold enough, I picked it back out from the water and wrung it out well.
“There we g—huh?”
It seemed I’d wrung the towel out too well, because now it was a tattered rag. Well, I didn’t have any other choice except to get a new towel and try again. Being extra careful paid off that time, and I successfully managed to wring out the excess water.
“Hey, Filia, this might be a little cold.” I placed the towel on her forehead.
She reacted for just a moment after I draped it on, letting out an “Mm…” But she didn’t wake up, and I soon heard her fall back to sleep.
Making sure not to look at her bare skin peeking through her slightly exposed pajamas, I adjusted her clothes.
“Guess I’ll head out then.”
After I double-checked that Filia was asleep, I left the room.
I was making my way down the main street of Jeepupp when I saw a girl running from the other direction, her red twin tails swaying as she ran. It was Ashley. As soon as her eyes met mine, she ran toward me as fast as her legs could carry her.
“Yuri! I heard that Big Sis is sick?!” asked Ashley, out of breath. She looked incredibly intense.
“Yeah, she—wait a minute. How do you know that?”
“Sister senses!” she said matter-of-factly. She was talking complete nonsense again, huh? “I can’t just wait around like this! I have to go watch over her!” With that, Ashley dashed off for the inn.
“H-hey!” I shouted as she ran off, but she was already fading from view. “She’s sleeping right now, so don’t disturb her! Don’t do anything to make Filia have to fuss over yooooou!”
I had already given Ashley a key to our room so she’d be able to get in, but I didn’t want her to make any trouble for Filia. I wasn’t super confident that just asking her not to bother Filia would help.
“I know!” Ashley shouted back, and she was gone.
Well, she clearly idolized Filia, so she probably wouldn’t do anything to cause her discomfort. Besides, with an S-Rank like Ashley on standby, the room would be well protected. With that comforting thought, I started off down the main street once again.
After a bit out on the town, I finished my business and returned to the inn. When I opened the front door, I sensed a different presence inside other than Filia. It seemed Ashley was still there. I came inside without saying a word so that I wouldn’t wake Filia up in case she was still sleeping.
“W-welcome back!”
The person to greet me was none other than Filia, still lying on the bed. She was already awake. Based on the sound of her voice, it seemed like she was feeling better than she had this morning. And there, draped over the edge of the bed, was a sleeping Ashley.
“She bother you at all?” I asked.
“No, no, Ashley is a very polite girl. She didn’t trouble me in the least. She even held my hand, which helped me sleep soundly.” Filia smiled fondly at Ashley, who seemed pretty deep into unconsciousness. Filia raised her arm to show me and, sure enough, Ashley was still firmly holding her hand.
“I see. That’s good.”
I studied Ashley for a moment. She gave off the impression of someone with an unyielding spirit, but she looked so gentle like this. I thanked her for taking care of Filia and laid a blanket over her.
A little while later, Ashley slid down from the bed and woke with a start. “Hm? Did I fall asleep?” She looked around the room as she yawned, scanning the surrounding area with her red eyes, her vision presumably still a little blurry.
“You were out like a light,” said Filia.
“I-I’m sorry, Big Sis. And here I was, thinking that I came all this way to take care of you when I ended up falling asleep myself. I didn’t even do anything…”
Filia waved away the apology. “No, no, I’m just happy that you came. Besides, it looks like you changed the towel on my head a few times, and you even held my hand. What you did for me made me very happy, Ashley. Don’t say you didn’t do anything, okay?”
“B-Big Sis!” Ashley’s nose twitched and her eyes began to water.
I winced. “Don’t cry…”
“I-I’m not crying!” she insisted. Nevertheless, a clear liquid was pouring out from Ashley’s eyes, though they (reportedly) were not tears.
“Well, then, I think it’s about time we eat,” I said. “Whaddya say?”
Now that Ashley was awake, I figured it was lunch o’clock. I couldn’t exactly leave it to Filia to handle the meal on account of her having a cold, so I headed for the kitchen. Cooking wasn’t my forte, but I wasn’t bad at it either. Filia and I had been cooking in shifts, after all. Just as I was about to start preparing to get cooking, Ashley came into the kitchen too.
“I suppose if you’re back, then I should be going,” said Ashley.
“What? Goin’ home already? Why don’t you stick around and have a bite to eat?” Given Ashley’s personality, I’d been expecting her to say that she wanted to stay over.
But Ashley turned down my offer with a serious look on her face. “No, I can’t. I know that sick people might feel a little lonely by themselves, but they can end up getting even sicker if things are too rowdy. I really do want to stick around, but…no matter how I feel, I don’t want to be a bother.”
Wow. I hadn’t thought of that at all. Was she actually really smart?
“You’ve really been giving this a lot of thought,” I observed.
“Unlike you, Yuri,” she replied, snorting.
“Rude. I give things a lot of thought too, you know.”