Stealing Spree

Ignoring her unnatural awkwardness, I approached her table and sat down on the chair in front of it.

“Are you alright, Coach?”

Although the words I uttered sounded like it’s filled with concern, I maintained a neutral expression.

She was still fidgeting and her eyes were seemingly unfocused. Moreover, I noticed that it’s not just a simple case of her feeling awkward. If I’m not wrong, she’s like this not because of me.

Because at the moment, she’s breathing roughly and the way her eyes darted around wasn’t because she’s trying to evade my gaze. It’s more like she’s becoming feverish and restless.

Thinking back to earlier, I didn’t notice anything wrong when she was dealing with the mothers. However, she’s mostly silent during the latter parts of my lesson. I hadn’t checked on her because I was focused on the enrollees and she disappeared shortly after I concluded the lesson.

I took that as Coach Ayu, moving back to this room. However, now that I’m here, something’s not right.

I waited for at least a minute. When I didn’t hear any response from her, I leaned forward to check on her condition carefully. My eyes were scanning not just her facial expression but also her bodily movements.

She’s subtly shaking and even though I was still a distance away from her, I could feel the cold being exuded by her.

… This girl. She caught a cold. No. It’s safe to say that she’s caught influenza.

I put a hand on her forehead and just like I expected, it’s burning hot. It’s at least one or two degrees above the normal human body temperature.

Perhaps feeling the touch of my hand, her eyes finally focused on me. Registering me in her mind, Coach Ayu then forced a smile as she straightened her body and swiped away my hand.

“Y-you’re here, huh? Let’s see. Your pay for today is— Eh? W-why can’t I…?”

Coach Ayu tried opening one of the drawers of her table but every attempt she made was missing the handle that she needed to grab and pull. She then looked at me and asked. “U-uh. Onoda-kun. C-can you help me…?”

… How long will she act as if she’s fine? This woman… Is she unaware of her current state? Pushing herself not to appear weak in front of me?

In any case, I couldn’t just sit here and leave her be. No matter what, even excluding my interest in her, I wouldn’t be too heartless to leave her to tend for herself when I was here and noticed her current state.

Ignoring her plea for help, I pulled my phone and quickly typed in a message and sent it to Sena.

After putting the phone back, I promptly stood up and circled to her side.

When I did that, her unfocused eyes staggeringly followed my movements.

“Excuse me, Coach.”

Only leaving those words and without waiting for her response, I then grabbed her from her seat and carried her out of the room. Coach Ayu struggled in my arms but with how weak she was at the moment, it was pointless. “H-huh? W-what are you doing? P-put me down at once!”

“Stop acting strong, Coach. Do you think I won’t notice when it’s too obvious? Settle down and let me bring you to the sickroom.” I reproached. “You know, you should’ve told me that you’re not feeling well. No matter how physically fit we are, this kind of sickness is simply unavoidable at times.”

No matter how strong one’s immune system is… there will always be an instance when one cannot avoid being sick. That’s the same for me. And perhaps, it’s also the first time in a while for this woman.

Since the gym wasn’t that spacious, it didn’t take a minute for us to reach the sickroom. Although it’s a place to bring those who were injured from too many exercises, it’s still like a small clinic where any member could rest.

There should be a medical practitioner there but given the current time, the one assigned to look after patients was already out.

Picking one of the two sickbeds, I dropped her there and told her not to move while I looked for medicine.

With Akane and the others waiting for me outside, I couldn’t stay here for long. I messaged Sena to inform her of what happened. She should be running back here by now.

“Ruki? How’s Coach?!”

And like I just said, the girl who looked as if she sprinted from outside to here pushed the door open and asked in a worried tone. Without waiting for my reply, her head quickly scanned the room and after seeing Coach Ayu writhing at the sickbed where I placed her down, Sena hurriedly went to her side to check on her condition.

Coach Ayu was like an older sister for Sena so it’s only right to inform her. Besides, I wasn’t the kind of asshole who would take advantage of a woman’s weakened state like this. Even if this happened back before the change in my mindset, although I wouldn’t go to the trouble of taking care of her completely, I wouldn’t act ignorant and leave her alone upon seeing her like that.

A while later, I found the flu medicine. For the water, I found the mini-fridge in the room containing it and other beverages. After picking bottled water, I returned to their side and began administering the medicine.

Although Coach Ayu was still struggling not to be nursed at first, Sena became my assistant to hold her down which eventually made her obedient enough to take the medicine.

Since she still had her wits on her, Coach Ayu snubbed me as she lay back down on the bed and put the blanket over her head.

Well, that’s fine. It’s not like I will be staying to wait for the medicine to take effect. Still, I couldn’t wrap my head around her decision to act tough in her room.

When Sena ran out of the room to get some water and a towel to use, Hisa-jii also appeared in the room, shaking his head at the sight of Coach Ayu who’s probably starting to drift off to sleep. From the concern apparent in his eyes, Coach Ayu was probably closer to a daughter for him.

“This stubborn child…” Hisa-jii sighed before switching his gaze on me, “Onoda-kun, thank you for noticing Inaho’s condition and bringing her here.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Hisa-jii. I believe I only did the right thing. Being the only one at the scene.”

Hisa-jii stared at me as if trying to discern if what I said was truthful. A few seconds later, he smiled and nodded in approval.

While waiting for Sena to return, I chatted with the old man for a bit. As for our topic, the stubborn sick woman at the bed.

Well, I didn’t hear anything noteworthy but Hisa-jii was filled with praises towards her. Even though she got that injury, Coach Ayu remained involved with the sport. If not for the warning from her doctor, it’s more than likely that she’d still stubbornly fight in the ring.

In any case, hearing Hisa-jii talk about Coach Ayu. It’s like I’m hearing a doting father showing off her daughter that’s already at her marriageable age to a potential partner.

Uh… I wouldn’t hold it against him. This old man probably knew a thing or two about Coach Ayu’s fondness for me. But that’s all he did, he didn’t try to probe me whether I was even the least bit interested in her.

When Sena returned with the towel and a small container filled with water, Hisa-jii told me to follow him to Coach Ayu’s office. There, he gave me my salary for today and asked me about my program’s current situation.

Upon returning to the sickroom, Coach Ayu was already sleeping soundly while Sena told me to go and not let Akane and the other girls wait. She’s going to look after Coach and go home with her when the latter wakes up.

“I see. I’ll call you later to check, alright? I guess she’ll have a lapse in her memory about who brought her here and took care of her. Better to not tell her that it’s me.”

“Are you sure? You confirmed it, right? You’re the one she likes.”

“Mhm… Confirming it and acting on it is different though. She won’t wish to steal me from you.”

“As if you can be stolen.” Sena laughed at that impossible thought. “But you’re right, she’ll be too conflicted if she starts acting on it. However, Ruki, don’t close all the doors for Coach.”

This girl… She clearly didn’t mind having Coach Ayu join our complex relationship but she also didn’t want to dictate my actions.