(A/N Notes: Sorry for the delay, I ended up doing a bunch of stuff yesterday and ended up forgetting)
"Shuu... Shuu... Shuu... ... ... Hm?"
As she slowly woke up, Sakurako's blurry, tired vision could only make out a somewhat familiar lineup of houses and buildings. She appeared to be moving, yet she couldn't feel her legs. At the same time, she felt a comforting warmth close to her.
"..."
As Sakurako tried to organize her thoughts, she blinked to clear her vision, but it only seemed to grow blurrier. She blinked once, then again, but it didn't help. The third blink took a long time before her eyes opened again, followed by a fourth. Each time she blinked, her mind seemed to grow hazier, and before she knew it... everything went dark again.
...
She didn't know where she was. Everything looked colorless, immaterial, and dark, yet it felt real—like she had seen it before. Then she saw people, though she couldn't see their faces. Even so, she could recognize them.
She felt herself moving from one place to another, yet it always seemed as if she hadn't moved at all. She continued from place to place until she arrived at a street that felt eerily familiar. There, she found someone she seemed to know, yet all she could perceive was a blurred face. The person appeared to say something to her, but no voice could be heard. Still, she understood what they were saying.
Then the person raised their hand toward her. It felt as though their hand would never reach her, yet she couldn't help but brace herself for the impact. But she felt nothing. Instead, it was as if she had entered an empty, dark place.
Yet she didn't feel fear. Rather, she felt a comforting warmth, followed by the gentle sensation of someone patting her head, and finally, a rhythmic humming. And before she knew it... her eyes were greeted by a bright light.
"..."
Sakurako blinked several times, trying to adjust to the painful light hitting her amethyst irises and to clear her blurry vision. As she did, she heard a familiar voice speaking in a very gentle tone, as if careful not to hurt her ears.
"Ah. Are the living room lights too strong for you, Kogane-san? Want me to turn them off?"
"Hm?... ... ... Hi... rano-san?"
When she turned her head toward the voice, she saw Ichiro looking down at her with his usual gentle smile. He nodded at her question and said:
"Yup, it's me. Did you have a good sleep, Kogane-san?"
"?"
At his words, as her mind began to clear, Sakurako realized that she was lying on a sofa, covered with a blanket. More importantly, she noticed that she was resting on Ichiro's lap, receiving a lap pillow while he gently patted her head. She looked around, only to find that it wasn't a place she had been to before.
"... Hm, Hirano-san... where are we?"
"In my house's living room, of course. After you fell asleep on the train, I carried you all the way here, laid you on the sofa, and covered you with a blanket."
"I see..."
Sakurako closed her eyes again, but she didn't fall asleep. Instead, she retraced what had happened so far. As Ichiro had said, she didn't remember much of what had happened on the train, aside from telling him everything that had been weighing on her since what Masahiko had told her. But even that part still felt foggy.
As she continued thinking, Ichiro spoke again, causing Sakurako to pause her train of thought.
"Kogane-san, now that you're awake, would you like some coffee?"
"Hm? Ah... Yes..."
"Very well, then, if you'll excuse me."
With that, Ichiro sat Sakurako up and rose from the sofa as he headed to the kitchen, leaving her alone in the living room with her own thoughts. And the main one on her mind right now was: why was Ichiro helping her? After all, everything so far had had nothing to do with him, yet he had decided to stay by her side through it all.
Then she looked at her hand, still faintly remembering how it had held Ichiro's hand when she accepted it earlier, when he had invited her to have coffee at his family's café after Masahiko had shouted at her.
"..."
Remembering that feeling, as well as the one from earlier when she had been resting on Ichiro's lap, Sakurako snuggled deeper into her blanket in hopes of recreating that warmth. But before she could do much, she felt her consciousness slowly drifting away yet again, as if her body had completely relaxed and was finally releasing all of its exhaustion after being freed from having to stand in the cold for hours.
But before she could fall asleep again—
"Kogane-san, here's your coffee, and I also brought some snacks for you."
"!... Thank you, Hirano-san."
Hearing her favorite word and catching the scent of a perfectly blended coffee brought Sakurako fully back to her senses. She gently accepted the mug from Ichiro and began taking small sips from it, while also nibbling on the snacks he had brought her.
As she did so, Sakurako occasionally glanced at Ichiro, who had sat back down beside her. He was checking his phone while wearing his usual gentle smile. Seeing him like that, even after treating her to coffee, only made her more confused about why he had been helping and taking care of her like this so far.
Finally, she found an opportunity to ask him directly.
"Hm... Hirano-san?"
"Yes, Kogane-san?"
"... Hm... Why have you been helping me all this time, Hirano-san? Everything that happened today was only related to me and my family... so why did you involve yourself when you had neither reason nor necessity to?"
"Why I involved myself even though I didn't need to, is that it?"
"..." Nods
"Well, it's because it was you who was in trouble, Kogane-san."
"Eh?"
"I don't need any reason to help the quirky, gentle, and cute Kogane-san I fell in love with ever since we first met."
"Huh?... H-Hirano-san, d-do you l-like—"
Ding dong
Dingdongdingdongdingdong
"Sacchan!!! Are you okay!? D-Do you need a jacket!? A scarf!? Both!? loud coughs"
"Oi! You're going to trouble all the other neighbors like that! And you're not supposed to overwork yourself either!"
Before Sakurako could finish speaking, she was interrupted by the doorbell ringing, followed by what sounded like someone desperately worried about her.
"I think your friends are here, Kogane-san."
"Ah... yes, I agree..."
Once again, Ichiro got up from the sofa, but this time he went to open the front door, leaving Sakurako with a brief moment alone with her thoughts.
"..."
But her thoughts were quickly pushed aside the moment Ichiro opened the door, stepping aside to let a white-haired girl rush inside. The girl dashed straight toward Sakurako.
"Sacchan!!! coughs I was so worried when I heard you were left alone in the cold!!! coughs harder"
The white-haired girl who immediately went to hug Sakurako—sobbing and coughing at the same time—was none other than Mochizuki Kohaku: a tall, pretty, and very emotional girl with a frail body, which often left her bedridden from being overly active when she wasn't supposed to be.
And she was also Sakurako's childhood friend, someone who absolutely adored her due to her cuteness and her often aloof nature.
"I'm sorry for Kohaku-chan's manners. She gets easily worked up whenever she hears that something bad happened to Sacchan."
"It's okay. I'm just glad that Kogane-san has friends who care about her."
"Heh. You sure like to treat Sacchan in a special way, don't you, Hirano-kun?"
"What are you talking about, Vice President Ishii-hime?"
"It'll be Ishii-kaichou from now on, Hirano-kun. But I'll let it slide this time. And also... thank you for taking care of Sacchan until now." bows
"You don't need to thank me, Ishii-kaichou. I only did it because I wanted to."
"Heeeh... Well, if that's what you say, I'll believe it for now."
The girl who had just spoken to Ichiro and was now making her way toward Sakurako and Kohaku was Ishii Himari, Sakurako's cousin. She was a rather short girl with unruly blonde hair and a strong personality that was easily provoked whenever someone did something she didn't like.
Much like Kohaku, she was also one of Sakurako's childhood friends. However, unlike Kohaku, she often reprimanded Sakurako—either for failing to act like the daughter of an influential family or for being too "easygoing" during their occasional outings.
As the two childhood friends worried about Sakurako in their own ways, Ichiro watched them with his usual gentle smile, waiting for them to settle down after expressing their concern for her.
Some minutes later
"Hirano-kun, once again, I thank you for helping and taking care of Sacchan until now."
"Yes! Thank you very much for helping Sacchan, Hirano-san! Ah! That's right! Kazuo also told me that he and his father will be taking care of that ugly bastard very soon, and that they thank you for showing them the truth."
"You two don't need to thank me for looking after Kogane-san. I was just doing it because I wanted to. And Mochizuki-san, thank you for the message. Please give Kazuo my thanks for his swift response."
As Ichiro thanked Kohaku for the message, he chose to avoid commenting on how bitter and furious she had sounded when referring to Kazuo's older brother—in other words, Sakurako's former fiancé. And as for the person who had brought the two of them to Ichiro's house—
"..."
She stood quietly next to Kohaku, her face showing a mix of deep thought and exhaustion.
"... Kogane-san."
"... Hm? Ah, yes, Hirano-san?"
"Please take this."
"Huh? A scarf?"
"Yup. Since it might take a while for you to get home, I thought giving you another way to keep warm would be a good idea. Besides, this scarf can also double as a small blanket."
Ichiro then showed the scarf in its "open" form before folding it back to its usual size. Then, faster than Sakurako could respond to his offer, he had already wrapped it around her neck.
"! You didn't need to do this, Hirano-san."
"Kogane-san, I'm only doing this because I want to. Now please, have a safe trip."
"Ah... yes, thank you."
Not knowing what else to say, Sakurako accepted Ichiro's kindness and bowed to him, alongside Himari and Kohaku, before the three entered the luxury car belonging to Himari's family. Ichiro stood at the doorway of his home, watching the car drive away until it disappeared from view. Once it was gone, he returned inside to the warmth of his house.
"Well, I suppose that settles things for now..." stretching "... sigh... I wanted to spend more time with Kogane-san, but I suppose I'll have to wait until she feels better about what happened with her engagement..."
As Ichiro said this, he couldn't help but entertain a few selfish thoughts, though he quickly shook his head, dismissing them.
"Sigh... I really should've tried harder to forget these feelings... Because if anything, Kogane-san will probably just get engaged to the son of some other influential family."
As Ichiro continued to lament his feelings for Sakurako, he went about doing some basic household chores, such as washing the dishes and cleaning up some of the more obvious mess. However, in doing so, he forgot something important—something he should have taken care of right after saying goodbye to the girls. And now, he was about to be reminded of it.
"Phew... That should be it for now. I guess I should go—... Achoo!!!... Ah... this isn't good..."
.
.
.
Meanwhile
As the luxurious car moved along the road while snow continued to fall, Sakurako silently looked out the window with her usual blank expression. Meanwhile, Himari and Kohaku talked to each other, though Sakurako paid no attention to what they were saying, as she was busy going over everything that had happened so far.
"..." <'...the quirky, gentle, and cute Kogane-san that I fell in love with...'>
The part that concerned her the most was Ichiro's blatant confession, which she couldn't stop thinking about. She had her fair share of experience with boys confessing to her, but she could always tell that they were only asking her out because of her family's wealth or for some other ulterior motive. Not only that, but many of those confessions happened the very first time she met them—or, if they were lucky, after only meeting her once or twice beforehand, and only briefly at that.
However, Ichiro's words showed no such ulterior motives, nor did his actions before that. As she herself had said, he had no reason to help her or stay by her side all that time. After all, he could have simply lent her his scarf and left, or even let her deal with Masahiko on her own, and no one would have blamed him for not doing more. But he didn't. He stayed, even if it meant abandoning whatever plans he might have had before meeting her earlier that day.
As she continued thinking about these things, she found herself looking down at the scarf Ichiro had given her, which she was now using like a blanket. It gave her a faint warmth—one that felt different from the kind it was meant to provide.
And before she realized it, when she opened her eyes again, the luxurious car had already arrived at her home.