Volume 3, Chapter 4.5: Hoshizawa's POV 8

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...

...I didn't even realized that I slept...

It was pretty early in the morning, earlier than my usual wake up routine. I looked around to see my father, taking a sip from his coffee

"Oh, Miu. Did I wake you up?"

"No, I just woke up earlier than usual today, father"

"I see. I didn't expect that you'll wake up right now so I haven't ordered anything yet besides getting coffee from the vending machine. Do you want me to order something for you?"

"Its fine, father. I'm not hungry yet"

"Is that so? Anyways, I went over to Shun's room earlier to thank him for escorting you back here safely yesterday..."

Oh...I remembered that after we got here, I actually never got to thank Amagasa kun for picking me, and Aya san back here safely. I was going to thank him afterwards, but Oma sama, Amagasa kun's grandmother, told me he went to sleep already. I then thanked Oma sama and went straight ahead to my room that night...

I was recalling what had happened yesterday when my father said something that caught on to my ears

"...but Oma said Shun's resting in his room. Apparently he has a fever, a high one too. I went with her earlier to check up on him"

"?! Amagasa kun has a fever?!"

"Huh? Yeah, he must've caught it yesterday because apparently, he got back here soaking wet. That's what Oma said to me"

"..."

...

Oh no!

...

its...my fault...

...

...its my...

...

...its my fault that he got wet...

...its my fault that I couldn't do something before it happened...

...its...my fault that he got sick...again...

...

"Miu...? Are you alright? You're making a sad face"

"Father...its my fault..."

"..."

Ever since I was a little kid, I was a crybaby whenever I see someone important to me gets hurt...

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"Sweety...don't cry...mother will get even better when you always smile!"

"*Sniff*...Mother..."

I remember that time when my mother's disease was already too late to be cured. She was only waiting for the day where she'll get to rest for eternity...At that time, I didn't know that my mother had few days left to live...

"Miu, your mother wants you to smile, so she can get better"

"Father...will she really get even better if I start smiling from now on...?"

"That's...right, whenever your mother sees you're sad, it slows her recovery, but if she always sees you smile, she recovers quickly"

"*Sniff*...mother? Is it...true...?"

"O...of course it is, sweety! Your mother doesn't lie to you, right?"

"Mother...*Sniff*...father..."

Because I don't want to slow down my mother's recovery, I tried my best to stop crying and showed her the genuine smile that I got 

"I hope you get well soon, mother!"

"Mm! that's what I want to see! *Chuckles*"

My mother smiled at me back as my father hugged us, enveloping me and mother in a warmth feeling...

...

...

...

...but then...the day came...when my mother passed away...

...

"M...Mother...you told me that you'll get better when you see me smile...so why..."

"..."

We were in mother's graveyard that day. My father kept crying as he promised to my mother that he would take good care of me no matter what...

...

...I was standing in there, looking at her grave...as I remembered my sole promise to her...

...

"Sweety...don't cry...mother will get even better when you always smile!"

...Mother...

...

...with my head up high, smiling at her, I looked at her once more...

"Still, I'm keeping my promise, Mother. You want to see me smile...right? Cause it...gets you even...better..."

I said as I forcefully smiled...but with the emotions that was bottling inside of me, I dropped down to my knees, wore down my smiling face, and started crying as hard as I can. My father couldn't do anything, but hugged me tight as he too, silently cried in front of my mother's grave...

"...I'll keep smiling as I can...so please keep smiling up there...Mother..."

...

...

...

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I was looking down the moment I heard from my father about what happened to Amagasa kun, I started to recall that memory that I never want to happen to someone important to me ever again...

"Miu...he'll be fine"

"Father...?"

"It won't be anything like last time...at the very least, I can assure you that it won't end up like what you're thinking right now"

"..."

...

...

Ban couldn't blame Miu for reacting that way, seeing it by other people may be just a normal thing for them, but for Miu, it always reminds her of what happened to her mother...leaving her emotionally scarred of it

"Father...w..what if he-"

"Miu, trust me"

"!"

After hearing those words, she recalled about the same thing what Amagasa kun had said to her:

'Trust Me'

...and because of that, she tried to resist the urge to cry about it...and was replaced with determination...

...

...

I looked at father with determination in my eyes and said the following words

"...Father, I want to be the one who'll nurse Amagasa kun back to health!"

"...!"

...

...

Ban had his mouth agape at what his daughter said. It wasn't because its his first time hearing her daughter said something like that, but because he immediately sensed that Miu was serious about it. 

"...I see...its really because of him that...Miu was able to slowly change herself..." He said in his mind. Ban couldn't help but smile a bit while looking at his daughter...

"You should be telling that to Oma and not me, but do what you want, Miu. We do owe Shun a lot than you might think"

"! Thank you, Father! I'll go now and ask Oma sama for permission!"

...

She then leave as she said that. Ban was left at their room while saying to himself:

"You're no longer the kid that I was always worrying for...I'm glad that he was able to change you...no...I'm glad that he was the one who changed you...Miu..."

He then goes into a funny, and wacky type of a father after all those drama, giving himself a sudden thought that maybe...just maybe...that he's right about his hunch...

What hunch you might ask? Well...We'll get into it as we progress more to the story...

...

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"Oma sama!"

"Oh, Miu sama. Do you need anything? It seems like you were in a hurry?"

While I was running down the hallway, I quickly saw Oma sama came out of Amagasa kun's room. I quickly called out to her

"Um...Oma sama..."

"Oma san is fine, Miu sama"

"Oh, no, that'll be rude of me..."

"Its fine, Miu sama! Just call me Oma san!"

"Oh...then...Oma san..."

"Yes? What do you need?"

"Um...uhh..."

"...?"

...

...I took a deep breath, and tried to calm myself down as I said the following words aloud-

"I want to nurse Amagasa kun back to full health! Is it okay if I take the role?!"

-At that moment, I didn't realized that Amagasa kun was standing from the other side of the room...

...he saw us...

...he saw me...

...he heard me saying it out loud...

"W-what?!"

"A-Amagasa kun?!"

...

The day then started with Amagasa kun and I meeting each other in such a very awkward situation...

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End of Chapter 4.5