The Saintess Next Door is a Super Popular VTuber Whose Character was Designed by Me
Tonari ni Sunderu Seijo-sama wa Ore ga Chara-Design o Tantoushita Daininki VTuber deshita
Chapter 33 - Recover and Orientation
"Good, it looks like you're better."
"Sorry for the trouble."
By the time night fell, Iori's fever had subsided entirely.
Now that his condition had improved, he was cleared to rejoin the activities. When he returned to the group, Kanata greeted him with a relieved smile.
At the moment, the entire grade had gathered in a large gymnasium for orientation.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime school trip, you know? You should at least take care of your health. If you're sick, we won't be able to enjoy it properly."
"Exactly. Please be more responsible."
With her arms crossed, Kurumi gave a disapproving huff, while Asumi, in a lower-than-usual tone, also scolded him.
Since he had caused them trouble, Iori felt guilty and could only offer a simple "Sorry."
"Isn't our 'Saintess' here being a little strict?"
"Not at all."
Most likely, Asumi was still slightly annoyed that he had ignored his need to rest and had made his fever worse by drawing.
She had let it slide earlier, but this was her way of making sure he didn't make the same mistake again.
Even though she wasn't openly showing it, Iori could tell she was secretly upset. Resolving not to make her worry like that again, he made a mental note to be more careful in the future.
"Alright, now that Iori can be with us again, shall we get started?"
"Why do we have to make chopsticks and udon during orientation? Couldn't they have come up with something else?"
"No complaints. If you want to complain, go yell at the upperclassmen who got too rowdy during the campfire a few years ago."
"Well, well, it's not so bad. Instead, this is fun in its own way, right?"
Grumbling about the odd choice of activity, Iori reluctantly picked up a handful of udon flour.
Originally, they were supposed to have a campfire, but due to past incidents, the school had replaced it with less risky activities.
Still feeling a little uninterested, Iori kneaded the udon dough as Asumi and Kurumi tried to placate him.
Incidentally, Iori and Asumi were in charge of making udon, while Kanata and Kurumi were making chopsticks.
"Hey, Kanata. That looks kind of crooked. You’re making mine, right?"
"Huh? Then how about I give this one to Tokisaka-kun instead?"
"Sounds good."
"Hey! You two, don’t dump your failed works on me!"
"How rude. This is art."
"That has nothing to do with art! And stop with that half-assed modern art nonsense. I'm gonna chop up your udon in revenge."
"Come on, don't be so childish."
Despite the bickering and teasing, the four of them continued working on their chopsticks and udon, laughing and chatting as they did.
Iori's retorts were getting sharper, a sign that he had fully recovered.
He was starting to return to his usual self.
"Man, the heat from this is insane."
As the nighttime orientation reached its peak, so did their udon-making session. Stirring a large pot of boiling water for four people was exhausting, and the rising steam made it even harder.
"Boiling it is tough, isn't it? Want me to take over?"
"Y-yeah. Thanks."
Noticing his struggle, Asumi, who had been preparing the broth, stepped in to help. As they switched places, her hair swayed slightly, brushing against the tip of Iori’s nose.
Looking closer, he noticed the ends of her hair seemed slightly damp.
The orientation program was actually split into two parts, while the kneaded dough was resting, the students had a scheduled bath time.
Since she had just come out of the bath, her hair hadn’t completely dried yet. That subtle change gave her an unusual allure, and for a moment, Iori felt his heart skip a beat.
Then, he suddenly recalled something from earlier in the day.
His memory was hazy from just waking up, but if that hadn’t been a dream… Asumi had been touching his hair and his cheek.
He had no idea why she had been doing that, but the image of her smiling mischievously replayed in his mind, making him restless.
"Oho, were you staring at our 'Miss Saintess' just now?"
"I wasn’t staring. And if you have to comment, go bother the other guys, not me."
Kurumi smirked as she caught Iori staring at Asumi.
She had an annoyingly sharp eye for these things. Iori turned his face away, trying to deflect attention by shifting the focus onto the other students.
And indeed, he wasn’t the only one.
Ever since earlier, he had noticed some of the guys sneaking glances at Asumi, as if captivated by her.
Strangely enough, even the girls, who normally didn’t pay much attention, were eyeing her more than usual.
And for some reason, some of those stares were directed at him too.
Iori wanted to believe it was just his imagination, but it was clear that wasn’t the case.
Feeling incredibly uncomfortable, he sighed.
"Ah, well… still, you were looking, weren’t you? Your face is red."
"It’s because of the fever."
"Coming from you, that excuse doesn’t really work right now."
"I was joking. Anyway, it's actually hot, so I’m gonna go cool off for a bit."
"Yeah, yeah."
Being teased was nothing new, but Kurumi’s remark had been a little too on the mark.
Not wanting anyone to catch on, Iori quickly slipped away, dodging the jealous glances from their classmates and escaping from Kanata’s and Kurumi’s prying eyes.
Meanwhile, the person at the center of it all, Asumi, continued to cook the udon with an indifferent expression.
Whether she was completely unaware of the attention or just pretending not to notice… no one really knew.
"So this is where you were."
While Iori was outside the gymnasium, standing on a quiet terrace near the hotel and letting the night breeze wash over him, Asumi quietly appeared at his side.
She was holding a paper bowl filled with udon, using it as a makeshift hand warmer.
"The chill just felt kind of nice, right? And the stars are beautiful."
"They really are."
Being in the mountains, the night sky was so clear, and the stars looked sharp and vivid. Living in the city, he didn’t usually get to see them like this, so he found himself mesmerized.
Asumi followed Iori’s gaze and looked up at the sky as well, her breath turning white in the cold as she squinted gently.
"Hey, looks like it turned out pretty good."
"Yeah. It’s really tasty."
After a short while of stargazing, Iori’s eyes dropped to the udon in Asumi’s hands. Steam rose from the bowl, simple but appetizing with kamaboko (a type of fish cake), tempura flakes, and green onions.
"Guess I’ll go back and grab some myself. Hope those two didn’t screw up my chopsticks."
"Ah, about that…"
"Huh? What happened?"
Just as he was thinking he should head back before the udon got too soggy, Asumi hesitated, clearly reluctant to say what came next.
"It’s hard to say this, but… those two broke your chopsticks."
"They did what!?"
Asumi, looking guilty, told him that after he left, Kanata and Kurumi had accidentally snapped his chopsticks.
"Now you've done it!", shouting into the cold night, Iori looked stunned as Asumi hurried to calm him down.
"P-please don’t blame them! They were trying to fix the bent on the chopsticks and then, um, the chopsticks just kind of… snapped."
"Snapped?"
"Yes… snapped."
"Seriously? …Well, whatever. If it wasn’t on purpose, I guess it’s fine. I can still eat with disposable ones."
The chopsticks were crooked to begin with, so it wasn’t a total shock. Still disappointing, though.
Though he was a little deflated, Iori recovered quickly. It’d just be one more story from this trip, he told himself—until he felt a gentle tug on his tracksuit from Asumi.
“…U-um, if you’d like… would you use these chopsticks instead?”
He looked over to see her nervously holding out the bowl of udon to him.
"You sure?"
"Yes. Since it’s a special occasion, I think it’ll be more memorable if it homemade, right?"
"You’ve got a point. Alright, I'll gratefully accept it."
The whole appeal of this part of the trip was enjoying handmade udon using handmade chopsticks. She probably felt sorry that he missed them out.
Gratefully, Iori accepted her offer.
"Here you go."
"?"
"Aren’t you going to eat it?"
"Y-yeah, I am..."
He had assumed she was handing him the bowl and chopsticks, but instead, she held up some udon with the chopsticks—feeding him.
It was one of those “say ahh” moments, and considering the chocolate incident from before, she was surprisingly bold.
It wasn’t anything he should be overreacting to, but now that he was aware of it, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Meanwhile, Asumi tilted her head innocently, totally unbothered—which somehow made it worse.
Saying something would only make it obvious he was overthinking it, so Iori just gave in and shyly took the udon from her chopsticks.
"Is it tasty?"
"It-it is... but..."
The sweet and savory flavor of the broth spread through his mouth at first, but being fed like this was so embarrassing, it made it hard to even taste anything.
Asumi smiled gently and asked for his thoughts, but he struggled to give a proper answer without revealing how flustered he was.
"But?"
"No, it’s nothing. Thanks. It was delicious. I’m gonna head back now."
"Okay."
Asumi looked pleased that she got to feed him, smiling softly, and she still didn’t seem to notice anything.
So before he could say or do anything stupid, Iori left her with just that one bite and went back to the gymnasium.
"Ah… the chopsticks…"
Left alone on the terrace, Asumi stared down at the chopsticks in her hand and murmured to herself.
Asumi finally realized it and let out a groan. After repeatedly picking up and letting go of the udon noodles with those very chopsticks, she finally exclaimed and took a bite, but she couldn’t taste a thing.
By the time she finished the bowl, her cheeks puffed out with each slurp, her ears were red—not from the cold, but from the warmth blooming inside her.
[To be Continued]
Support me on Ko-Fi
Post a Comment