"Damn it, Aoshi... how did you end up like this?" Ayane grumbles as she sits at the foot of the futon where Aoshi has been resting for the past day.

They are alone in the house — Eliss left about half an hour ago to go to work, though not without complaining quite a lot. Aoshi had to insist repeatedly to convince her to go and not leave Mr. Tobita in trouble, and to avoid leaving him alone, Ayane agreed to stay until evening.

She had stopped by about two hours earlier to bring him the day’s notes, but Eliss had insisted she stay a little longer.

"I wouldn’t be able to work peacefully knowing my beloved Aoshi is home all alone. As much as I love him, I can’t ignore how unbelievably clumsy he is. Would you mind staying here with him for a while? I trust you, Ayane, so it doesn’t bother me leaving you alone with him — actually, it would make me really happy. Hell if I’m paying a nurse to take care of him! Those women are all shameless cats in heat who’d use the excuse of changing his bandages just to grope my Aoshi!"

Those were Eliss’s exact words before leaving for work, and Ayane certainly didn’t need to be asked twice.

"After we split up yesterday afternoon, I was crossing the old industrial district when a car turned the corner and hit me head-on. Luckily it wasn’t going too fast, so I got away with just a few fractures and some bruises. The doctor said I’ll probably be able to go back to class in about a week."

"But that black eye really doesn’t look like the result of a car accident — it looks more like... a punch! Aoshi, are you sure some thug didn’t beat you up and rob you? Lately on TV they only talk about crazy stuff like that!"

"Ugh, don’t start too! Eliss already interrogated me all day thinking someone beat me up. As you can see, I still have both my phone and my wallet. It would be pretty stupid to assault me without stealing anything, don’t you think?"

"Y-Yeah, I guess you’re right..." Ayane murmurs while gathering the notebooks and books scattered across the living room floor and putting them back into her bag.

"Thanks for staying with me this long, even though I’m sure you had a lot of other things to do. Sorry for the trouble." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Apologize? For something like this...? Don’t say stupid things, Aoshi! D-After all, we’re best friends, right? Taking care of a friend in trouble is the least I can do... Ah, speaking of which, I thought maybe tomorrow you could invite Takuma over. This morning he told me another one of those perverted games you two like arrived, and he can’t wait to let you try it. His exact words were: ’When you’re stuck in bed, there’s nothing better than a good erotic visual novel to lift your spirits — and not just your spirits.’ Ah... honestly, you two are hopeless. I can understand him — poor guy, he’s probably spent his entire life talking only to 2D girls — but you should be more mature by now. Aren’t you a little too old for this kind of stuff? Besides, why would you even need games like that when you’ve got a beauty like Eliss by your side? Sure, you’re not really together, but you two keep kissing all the time, and I imagine that when you’re alone you probably also do... well... those kinds of things..."

"Why do I always end up getting dragged into this? Takuma’s the real pervert here!" Aoshi grumbles, pretending to be offended — though there’s a faint trace of melancholy in his voice.

Of course... Ayane and I are best friends. How could I even think, even for a moment, that she might feel something more than friendship for me? Besides, if a girl were really interested in a guy, she’d want to spend time alone with him, right? And this could’ve been the perfect chance for us to be alone together... so why invite Takuma too?

"Y-Yes, three people are more fun than two, right? Maybe this time Takuma will finally manage to turn you into an eroge fan," Aoshi says, trying to sound relaxed.

"In your dreams! I’m never touching something like that! Unlike you two, I actually have a little sister — a real one — and there’s absolutely no way I’m playing a game where I’m supposed to seduce someone who could practically be my sister! A-Anyway... fine. I’m sure Takuma will be happy about it."

His answer makes it painfully obvious that, to Aoshi, I’m nothing more than a close friend. He doesn’t see me as anything beyond that. After all, if he liked me even a little, he would’ve come up with some excuse not to invite Takuma, just so we could spend time alone together again tomorrow. I wanted to test him — to bring up inviting someone else just to see how he’d react... but I think I finally got my answer to the question: "What does Aoshi really feel for me?" I need to stop deluding myself, stop building hopes around nothing... or all I’ll do is hurt myself.

"Alright then, see you tomorrow, Aoshi. Try not to overexert yourself, and if you need help, don’t hesitate to call me, okay?"

"Thanks again, really — you’re a truly special friend, Ayane. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you. See you tomorrow evening, same time. And please, be careful on your way home."

"Yeah... a truly special friend..."

She forces herself to smile, returns the goodbye, and quietly closes the door behind her.

This house really feels cold and empty without Eliss around. Her endless energy, those shamelessly provocative gestures — honestly bordering on harassment at times — even her constant scolding whenever I don’t fold my clothes or leave the bathroom floor soaking wet after a shower... it’s like all those things have become part of this place.

And yet, it wasn’t like that at first. During the first few days she cleaned the entire house from top to bottom without complaining even once. Now she complains about every little thing — even a single sock left out of place. In barely a month she went from being a loving girlfriend blinded by love to a wife dragging her husband around to do household chores.

But the real question is: how have I changed toward her? If I could figure that out, I’d probably also understand what I truly feel for her... and what I should do now.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Who could it be at this hour — maybe Ayane forgot something?

"Come in."

The front door opens — and Aoshi freezes, overwhelmed by disbelief and fear. His breath catches completely as his heart pounds violently in his chest, on the verge of exploding.

"M-Miori...?"