Chapter 136 Seasonal Cold
"Bai, look outside!"
Hearing Haruko calling his name in the morning, Shiro walked a few steps to the French windows, where he saw the fluttering white snow.
"So it's winter already." Bai pressed his hand against the glass, then rubbed it as he felt the coldness.
Haruko, however, pressed her hands together excitedly, her skin red from the cold, unable to contain her excitement. "When the snow falls harder, we can go out and play in the snow together!"
Bai looked at her, who was bathed in the snow, and his eyes couldn't help but show tenderness.
He and his snow sprites welcomed their first winter together...
Feeling Shiro's hand stroking her head, Haruko looked at him and laughed along with him.
But what arrived even faster than the heavy snow was the seasonal cold. Haruko Hayama, who always prided herself on being a cockroach with a strong will to live, caught a fever.
"Oops!" Haruko quickly pulled the blanket tighter in.
Bai knocked on the door a few times, and after receiving a weak response from her, he quickened his pace.
"Is Haruko alright?"
Bai placed the hot water and medicine he brought in on the bedside table and tenderly touched her forehead.
Haruko's reaction was slower than usual; she only looked at him slowly after his hand had been removed.
"This is bad... I can't see any snow."
Bai chuckled, "You're sick and you still want to see snow?"
"After all, it's my first winter with Shiro, I'm really looking forward to it!" Haruko's slightly nasal voice rang out.
Bai Wei was stunned. He had always thought that he was the only one who cared about their relationship, but he didn't expect that Qingzi had also been valuing it.
A surge of joy and sweetness welled up inside her, and she smiled, her voice softening as she replied to him.
“We will have many winters, so... there’s no rush, Haruko.”
Haruko stared blankly into the complex emotions in his eyes. Was it because of her cold? She seemed unable to understand Shiro's gaze, yet she also seemed to vaguely comprehend it.
After hearing the news that Haruko was sick, everyone came to visit her one after another.
Naruto Uzumaki was the most impulsive; in his haste, he jumped through the second-floor window of the Hayama family home and landed directly in Hayama Haruko's room.
“Naruto…?” Haruko’s eyes widened slightly.
Naruto rushed anxiously to her bedside, but when he saw Haruko Hayama, who was pale, flushed, and looked sickly, he froze on the spot.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" Haruko asked, puzzled.
Called back to reality by her voice, Naruto's face actually started to turn red, and he lowered his head somewhat helplessly.
"N-nothing!"
Even though Haruko's illness is such a terrible thing, he found it incredibly touching that Haruko, lying weakly in bed calling out to him.
But at least he remembered that he had come to visit her in the hospital. After a moment of hesitation, Naruto moved closer to her and carefully placed his hand on her forehead.
Feeling the warmth from his palm, Naruto frowned and asked softly, "Haruko, how are you feeling?"
Because Naruto was leaning forward, Haruko's normally insensitive nose was filled with his unique scent, warm and sunny.
Perhaps because of the fever, her mind wasn't quite right, and Haruko mumbled in the morning, "Naruto smells so good..."
Her voice was soft and weak, but Naruto Uzumaki, who was close by, could clearly hear what she said. His face instantly turned red. Thinking that Haruko was sick, he first stiffly raised his hand, took a few steps back, and then started to pound his face in his hands.
Haruko Hayama: ?
After calming himself down, Naruto awkwardly returned to her side, though the heat on his face still lingered.
"Haruko...you smell good too..." Naruto whispered in response.
Haruko laughed in the morning.
Her golden retriever is such a well-behaved puppy!
"Cough cough!"
A deliberately loud noise at the door interrupted their tender moment. They turned around and saw that it was a group of people in white, wearing fake smiles and dressed to visit a sick person, coming up.
The key point is that the golden retriever didn't feel the death ray being shone from Bai at all, and kept bragging to them that he was the first person to see Haruko Hayama.
Ignoring the dim-witted Naruto, Shikamaru Nara placed a basket of fruit on the bedside table.
"Oh, didn't you say idiots don't catch colds?" Nara Shikamaru smiled slightly, but the concern in his eyes was unmistakable.
"So I'm not stupid!" Haruko Hayama exclaimed with a proud air, as if she had just vindicated herself.
Nara Shikamaru, who couldn't help but laugh, replied helplessly, "Looks like you're quite ill."
"Haruko is sick and you're still bullying her!" Yamanaka Ino pushed him aside unhappily, and when she looked at Haruko in the morning, she immediately put on a worried and concerned expression.
Nara Shikamaru, who witnessed her face change: ...
"Haruko, would you like some fruit? I'll peel some for you!"
As a girl, Yamanaka Ino had a clear advantage, not only sitting directly on the edge of the bed but also touching Haruko's flushed face.
“Ino… Ino, your hands are so cold,” Haruko Hayama replied with difficulty.
Yamanaka Ino quickly withdrew her hand and smiled brightly, "Sorry, I just came from outside and almost forgot."
"Let me do it!" Choji Akimichi stepped forward, carrying a large bag of snacks. "Eating snacks is the happiest thing when you're sick, so I specially brought you my treasured snacks!"
Haruko and Naruto couldn't hide their surprise. Naruto even pointed at him directly, saying, "How could Choji share snacks? You're definitely a fake Choji!"
Nara Shikamaru, with his hands in his pockets, explained for him, "He pushed Haruko out before, which angered everyone. He's here to apologize to Haruko."
"Yes, I was wrong! Please forgive me, Haruko!" Choji Akimichi said, his eyes brimming with tears.
Who knows what kind of life he lived after that? Everyone looked down on him. It was one thing for others, but even his teammates couldn't stand him. Even the dogs on the street would spit on him!
Akamaru, who was passing by on a walk: Woof woof woof!
Seeing his comical crying face, Haruko was amused and said, "I forgive you!"
"Yosh! Did you hear that? You're not allowed to bully me anymore!"
Having been released on bail, Choji Akimichi suddenly looked at his two teammates who had tormented him with renewed confidence.
Nara Shikamaru turned his head away, pretending not to see anything, while Yamanaka Ino snorted, showing her disdain for him.
After seeing the few lively characters off, it was almost evening. Shiro touched Haruko's forehead again and felt that her temperature seemed to have dropped a bit. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Haruko had already fallen asleep by then. Due to her cold, her breathing was heavier than usual, but listening to her regular breathing in the room, Shiro felt incredibly at ease.
He enjoyed having Haruko Hayama by his side, and he loved the feeling of having her all to himself.
Even a single breath, at this moment, belongs only to him, doesn't it?
"Haruko..."
Bai's soft murmurs, accompanied by his subtle affection, echoed in the room.
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