*RIIING~RIIING~RIIING*

“Urgh…”

Reiji groaned, turning to his side to shut off his alarm as he stretched as much as he could.

It was still quite dark outside, with the first rays of dawn barely creeping into his room through the gap in his curtains.

‘Fuck, it hurts!’

The painkillers he’d taken last night had allowed him to sleep like a log despite the stressful events, but now that they’d worn off, the pain started to cut through him.

The drowsiness wore off quickly, and he struggled to get to his feet after he threw his blanket off, revealing a thick bandage wrapped around his right shoulder.

Because the wound was quite large, it needed to be changed daily, but he couldn’t afford to waste time heading to a hospital or calling over one of the medical staff from the syndicate.

‘I’ll have to do it myself.’

Reiji hobbled over to the bathroom, where he kept a first aid kit that would get the job done for today at least.

He leaned against the sink and slowly unwrapped the injury, clicking his tongue in an attempt to swallow the stabbing sensation that was growing by the second.

‘Wow…. I didn’t get a good look at it last night, but….’

The cut that had been freed from the bandages was released in its full glory. Follow current novels on novelFɪre.net

A fairly thick red line marring his outer shoulder, with small trickles of blood still announcing its presence by slowly streaming down his arm now that there was nothing to hold it back.

‘Hmm, at least it’s not on the tattoo?’

The black dragon on his left side was untouched, making him sigh in relief.

“Ok, maybe I’m starting to lose it a little?” he murmured in slight surprise at his general indifference to such a major injury.

Reiji started to dress the wound, shaking his head to dispel the wandering thoughts. Today should be one filled with fun, relaxation, and, of course, studying.

There was no time to wallow in self-pity or grumble at his changing mindset.

After he finished applying the bandage and popping another painkiller, Reiji closed his eyes and took a minute to gather himself as he felt his head spinning.

When he opened them, he looked at himself in the mirror and noticed the dark circles signaling a lack of sleep. He was also feeling warmer than usual, and when he felt his forehead and neck, it was obvious that he’d caught a small fever as a side effect.

“….Damn it.”

Showering would be a hindrance, what with all the stuff covering his shoulder, so he used a washcloth and thoroughly cleaned every other part of his body after wetting it with water and soap.

It would have to do for now.

The hardest part would actually be the baking. Macarons were a fairly complex dessert to make, requiring a lot of finesse and technique.

But he could barely move his right arm without wincing at the sudden agony.

The pills could only do so much.

This would be an uphill battle, far more taxing than the miniature war he went through last night.

After bundling himself up in thick clothes and a hoodie to hide the injury, he got right to work, hissing his way through the almost masochistic procedure.

The entire time, he felt like he should just cancel the plans today, wanting to collapse into his bed as the fever started to dull his mind.

Haruna was more or less ready for the midterms, and taking one day off, since tomorrow was still an option, wasn’t too far-fetched.

And maybe a phone call to Yui to make her stay at home the entire day could potentially work, hoping that would prevent her from meeting Riku somehow.

‘…. Nah, I can’t do that. She was so excited for the sweets. And I’m hoping she could befriend Haruna too, which would go a long way for her.’

Today was just too important.

And so, he metaphorically rolled up his sleeves and focused on the task at hand, head facing down and brain switched off.

***

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

“REIJIIIIII!”

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

“Oi! Shut up, I’m coming!”

Reiji, who was staring into his oven, smacked his forehead in exasperation as he ran to the door in a hurry.

The racket she was making had already begun to make his headache worse, which made him apprehensive for the rest of the day.

He hastily flung open his door to see the perky redhead beaming at him with a blinding smile.

“What took you so long? My hand was starting to hurt from all that knocking!” she jibed as she entered without getting his confirmation.

“I took 5 seconds, how is that a long time?”

Yui turned to him with a deadpan look, maintaining her smile.

“Every second without my beloved feels like a decade away.”

“…..Where the hell did you learn that cringy ass line?” Reiji chuckled, dumbfounded at her rapidly evolving methods of teasing him.

Though she was initially serious, to some extent, in her random infatuation with him, it was obvious that she’d continued with this line of conversation because she saw that he found it both funny and exasperating.

“I’ve been watching romance movies and dramas in preparation for our wedding. I thought I’d start practicing earlier,” she grinned.

Reiji couldn’t think of an immediate response, so he just stood there with his mouth agape, his hand still holding the door open.

Yui looked him up and down and frowned slightly.

“Are you okay? What’s with the eye bags? And you look so pale, too?” she asked with worry.

Reiji closed the door and smiled.

“It’s nothing, I was just up really late studying for the midterms. I’m aiming for first place, so it’s been a few sleepless nights for me,” he replied.

He had prepared for such questions beforehand, so it didn’t catch him off guard.

“Hmmmm….”

Yui took one step closer, her eyes narrowing as if she didn’t believe him.

“The macarons are almost ready, so let me show you the house in the meantime,” he said, changing the subject quickly as he moved past her.

“Oh! Macarons! What flavours did you make?” Yui piped up, bounding after him like a puppy.

The mere mention of sweets had lightened her expression, and she quickly popped off her shoes and put on the guest slippers.

She had clearly made an effort for today, wearing a knee-length white skirt and a red blouse under a beige cardigan that gave her a mature yet youthful look.

She had paired that with gold hoop earrings that popped out nicely under her extra fluffy, deep red hair, which seemed almost impossible.

“Think of a flavour and I probably have it,” Reiji smirked.

“Oh, do you have bubblegum flavour then?”

“Eh? Um…. No? I was referring to regular macaron flavours, like vanilla, chocolate, raspberry, and pistachio. You know, the ones that are popular,” Reiji blinked nervously, not expecting to miss the mark on the first guess.

Yui giggled, covering her mouth at his puzzled face.

“I was messing with you, I don’t like weird flavours like bubblegum anyway. Well, except for when it’s actually bubblegum.”

“Geez, I thought I was going to disappoint you from the get-go!”

Yui grabbed his arm, pulling him back marginally as he raised his eyebrows in surprise, and whispered in his ear.

“You can never disappoint me, no matter what.”

Reiji felt a shiver run down his spine, quickly unentangling himself from her grasp with a cough.

“W-Wow, how many movies have you watched?” he muttered.

“A lot,” she replied, sticking her tongue out teasingly.

‘Dangerous! She’s super fucking dangerous!’

Reiji turned back and walked into the living room, hiding his partially flushed face from her.

“This is the living room, and that’s the kitchen over there.”

“OH! IT SMELLS AMAZING!” Yui shouted, sniffing the aroma emanating from the oven as she started hopping in place with excitement.

Reiji couldn’t help but laugh at her relaxed demeanor, a far cry from the gloomy spikiness he knew from the game.

“Alright, calm down. They’re not ready yet.”

“Awww…. Okay,” she pouted.

“Do you want to see the rest of the place, or should I start making the coffee?” Reiji asked, trying to hold back from squishing her adorable cheeks that had inflated with dissatisfaction.

“Um, show me the bedroom! I want to see where we’ll be sleeping after marriage!”

‘…..This is a Thanos-level threat.’

When Yui noticed his twitching brows, she burst into laughter once again, her red eyes crescenting with joy at his misery.

“Are you gonna keep this up the entire day?” he sighed.

“Maybe? At least until it stops being fun for me.”

“…That might be never, not when it comes to you.”

“Yep, it’s great that you understand! Now, show me our bedroom!” she declared, placing her hands on her hips in an authoritative stance.

Reiji didn’t really think things through when he first came up with the idea to invite her over, focusing more on the problems that could arise if she encountered Riku again.

And now?

He was paying the price.

But as he shook his head and followed her ‘command‘, there was a faint smile on his lips that eased the mental and physical pain his body was going through.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep