I showed her a book I’d bought while out on the town. A picture of rice porridge was displayed prominently on its cover. I’d gone out of my way to buy it. “I’ve been studying up the food you should feed people when they’re under the weather. I’m sure Filia could eat this without straining herself too much. Would you mind helping out a little?”
“Huh. You’ve really been quite thoughtful when it comes to Big Sis too.” Ashley blinked her red eyes in surprise. “To be honest, it’s improving my opinion of you.”
There wasn’t anything strange about that, to be clear: I was, after all, a gentle muscle man. Didn’t mean I wasn’t glad to have impressed her, even if just a little bit. “Filia is my invaluable partner. It’s only natural that I’d care for her.”
“Ngh! I-I’m not going to lose!”
“Uh. What?” I had absolutely no clue where this competitive stance was coming from.
“Grrr!” Ashley flashed her white teeth as she…growled? It looked like she was trying to intimidate me.
Well, whatever. Although I was slightly confused about whatever Ashley was doing, I started cooking.
Cooking itself wasn’t really all that difficult. Even though I’d never made food for a sick person before, I figured I could put something together. Ashley had admitted that she wasn’t very good at this kind of thing, so I asked her to take care of some miscellaneous preparation elements.
After I’d made a little bit progress, I called out to Ashley, who was still in the middle of her own task. “Hey, have you ever caught a cold before?”
“Well, yeah,” said Ashley, nodding as if it was only natural.
“I haven’t. Is it pretty rough? Catching a cold?”
“Well, when you’re sick, you’re sick, so…yeah? It’s pretty rough. Huh, I guess it’s really true what they say: Idiots don’t catch colds.”
“Hm. Filia told me the same thing.”
“Ohhh, does that mean that Big Sis and I think alike? That’s! So! Cool!”
“I…see.” Seriously, just how much did this girl idolize Filia?
I smiled wryly at her, and she smiled happily back. However, before long, it was time for Ashley to head out. The food was done, though, and Filia was up. Ashley waved to her on her way out.
“Well, I’ll be heading home now. See you later, Big Sis!”
“Mm-hm. Thank you for everything today, Ashley.”
With that, Ashley left, just as she’d said she would.
“Ashley really is such a good girl, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” At the very least, she wasn’t a bad person. Maybe a bit impudent, though. Well, she was just a little impudent, I supposed.
Food finished, I carried a tray over to Filia’s bed. When I laid it all out, she looked at me in surprise, then compared the different dishes.
“You…went through all the trouble of making this for me?”
“I am a gentle muscle man, after all.”
“I still have no idea what that means, but…thank you so much, truly.” Filia bowed her head to me. Then she started chowing down, though she had a few occasional coughing fits while chewing.
“Is it good?”
“It’s fairly tasty.”
Fairly, huh? Well, fairly was fair. It wasn’t like I was much of a cook myself. On top of that, I’d heard that food for sick people was designed more for ease of edibility than taste.
“I know it’s terribly rude to say this after you’ve just cooked for me,” said Filia, “but I do think regular food is tastier. Though I suppose I couldn’t bring myself to eat such a thing right now, even if I wanted to.”
“Then you need to get better soon.”
“I’ll do my best. I’ll eat this all up and be right as rain again.” Filia opened her mouth wide, stuffed her cheeks with food like a squirrel, chewed…and had an intense coughing fit.
“Don’t push yourself.”
Before long, Filia was clasping her hands together in front of the now-empty dishes. “Thank you for the meal.”
“Can I take these away, then?”
“Thank you very much, but…please don’t secretly lick those dishes behind my back or anything, even if they are the dishes this beautiful elf girl just used. Okay?”
“Like hell I’d do that!” Okay, how big of a pervert did she think I was, anyway?
After I finished washing the dishes, I sat down on my bed, beside Filia’s. It was still just past noon. I had enough time to go and handle a request, but I figured I might as well call it off for the day. Ashley had only gone back home because I was here. If I didn’t stay, it would’ve been a waste for her to leave.
Besides, I’d just learned that when someone is sick, they want someone by their side.
“Yuri. Do you mind if I touch your muscles?” asked Filia.
My eyes widened. “F- Filia?! So you’ve finally realized the splendor of muscle?!”
“Yuri, please be quiet…your voice is making my head split …”
“S-sorry…” I quickly lowered the volume of my voice as Filia held her head in her hands.
But wow, really? I’d never imagined that Filia would finally ask to touch my muscles.
“Let me be very clear, Yuri, so there isn’t any misunderstanding. I’m not some muscle fan now, okay? I just want to try siphoning some of your seemingly excessive amount of energy through your muscles.”
“Either way, that’s fine with me. Honestly, I am feeling absolutely, intensely moved right now.”
“H-huh…” Filia looked confused.
Regardless, I held my right arm out to her and partially released my muscles. When compared to my left arm, which was in its normal state, my right arm was about three or four times thicker now. “Go on, touch it. As much as you want.”
“All right then, if you insist.” Filia hesitantly stretched out her hand, placing it flat against my arm. Her skin was usually cool to the touch, but today, with her cold, her palm was hot. After holding her hand on my arm for some ten seconds or so, she took her hand away.
“Did you get any of my power?” I asked.
“Yes, I siphoned out a good chunk of your power for myself. I’ll be good as new tomorrow,” said Filia, smiling.
Her smile was beautiful, but it somehow seemed kind of forced. Maybe she was trying to put on a brave front so she wouldn’t worry me.
Hmm. If that was the case, my only option was to let her see more of my muscles so she could feel well again!
“My muscle power can’t be drained so easily. And for your proof—” I released every muscle in my body. My jacket exploded, exposing my well-trained upper torso. My muscles remained as strong and full of life as ever. “See?”
“Aaaaand now things are just uncomfortable. Please stop!”
“Um. Sorry.”
Cowed by the apologetic-yet-annoyed look on Filia’s face, I regained my composure and quickly gathered up the scattered remains of my clothes.
The next day, I checked on Filia first thing.
“Morning, Filia. How you feeling?” I asked, calling out to her just after she woken up.
Filia made an “ahh, ahh” sound in her throat, put her hand to her forehand, and did a ton of other things, but eventually, she opened her mouth to speak with a look of disbelief on her face. “I think I’m feeling better, somehow.”
“I see. I’m glad.” I didn’t really know much about how all this worked, on account of never having had a cold before, but getting over it in a day did seem pretty quick. I was just glad that it hadn’t lasted too long.
“Was it because I touched your muscles after all, Yuri?” she murmured.
“That’s what I’d think. Muscles are amazing, after all.”
Once again, it just went to show that anything was possible through muscle!
Filia, who had supposedly recovered from her cold, started hugging herself for some reason. “My word, could Yuri’s muscle power really have flowed into me? I’m getting chills just imagining it.” She was trembling hard enough that her whole body was shaking, though it looked a little put on.
“Well, now that you’re finally better, don’t worry yourself ’til you feel awful again. Besides, shouldn’t you be happy? I mean, it’s muscle power, you know?”
“Of course not. It’s muscle power, you know?”
Wow, even after being healed thanks to muscle power? How ungrateful! Well, at least she was better.
“I sure am!” Filia grinned. “And now that I’m better, I can eat all the delicious food!”
“Don’t just read my mind like it’s nothing!” I was glad that she was healthy again, but I had a feeling she was just going to start pushing me around again.
“Now I can play with Yuri to my heart’s content!” Filia crowed.
“Don’t play with me…”
My face contorted with exhaustion. Filia just smiled wickedly.