"Dad, why didn't you come home yesterday?"
In Tokyo, on the top floor of a hospital inside the director's office.
A girl, whose appearance was identical to Ichika, Miku, and Yotsuba — only her makeup and hairstyle were different — sat across from a dignified, well-groomed man.
Her expression was angry, and her tone carried a trace of accusation.
"Yesterday, I had to perform an emergency surgery."
Nakano Maruo flipped through a patient's medical record in his hand without even lifting his head, as if the girl sitting across from him wasn't his daughter at all.
"As for the gifts, I already had Ebata send them back to you."
Just when it seemed like the conversation was about to end, Nakano Maruo spoke again, "Do you like—"
"What we want isn't that!"
The three words "Do you like" were cut off by Nino's louder voice.
"We don't care about gifts at all."
"Did you know we waited for you the entire night last night?"
"Why didn't you come home?"
"You clearly promised us."
"Why do you break your promise every time?"
"If you can't keep it, you shouldn't make the promise in the first place."
By the end, Nino's voice was tinged with sobs, as if she might burst into tears any second.
"This isn't something I can control."
Nakano Maruo finally deigned to lift his eyes from the pile of medical records, looking at his daughter and calmly explaining his helplessness.
He hadn't forgotten that yesterday was his daughters' birthday.
He wanted to go home too.
But a critically ill patient had been rushed into the hospital, and at the time, he was the only doctor available to perform surgery.
As a doctor, could he really abandon a patient just to celebrate his daughters' birthday?
Of course, these were things he could never say to his daughter.
Nino opened her mouth, about to say something more, but at that moment, someone knocked on the office door.
Nakano Maruo said calmly, "Come in."
Soon, a nurse pushed open the door. "Director, the patient's family is demanding to see you."
Nakano Maruo stood up from his chair unhurriedly.
"If there's nothing else, you should head home early. I'll have Ebata drive you. It's not safe at night."
As father and daughter brushed past each other, Nino spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Did you ever really see us as your daughters?"
Nakano Maruo froze in his tracks.
The nurse looked at him in confusion.
Nakano Maruo quickly resumed walking.
In the same hospital's B ward, on the second floor outpatient infusion room, Eriri was receiving an IV drip, leaning weakly against Takashi.
"You knew you had an event the next day, yet you didn't eat or sleep! What were you trying to do, cultivate immortality?"
"Go ahead and keep this up!"
"Let's see who's going to take care of you when your body finally gives out!"
Sitting next to Eriri, Takashi chattered nonstop, lecturing her.
Normally, if Watanabe Takashi had dared to talk to her , Eriri would've immediately snapped back.
That's just how a tsundere acts.
Even if she knew deep down that what you said and did were for her own good, she would still cover up her embarrassment with sharp words.
But this time, Eriri didn't argue. Instead, she quietly listened, her heart feeling warm and sweet.
Because in her eyes, Watanabe Takashi was scolding her because he cared.
Otherwise, when had he ever lectured anyone else ?
Eriri's thoughts, however, were unknown to Takashi.
He simply thought that her illness had drained her even of the strength to argue.
"You stay here and finish your IV drip obediently. I'll go get your medicine and buy you something to eat."
After giving this stubborn tsundere a proper scolding, Takashi helped Eriri sit up straight and prepared to leave.
Feeling him about to walk away, Eriri instinctively reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
Takashi looked down at her and gently patted her soft hair. "Don't worry, I'll be right back."
After thinking for a moment, he added, "I'm not leaving."
Only then did Eriri release her grip.
She watched as Takashi's figure disappeared from her sight before withdrawing her gaze, looking down at her hand that had instinctively grabbed onto him.
She felt a sense of wonder.
She had thought that her heart, which had only ever raced for Aki Tomoya, would never beat faster for anyone else.
Yet now, it was beating vividly because of another boy.
She hadn't expected that someone could so completely replace the person she had liked for nearly ten years in less than a year.
Watanabe Takashi was truly amazing.
Bit by bit, he had stolen the heart that had once been hung up on Aki Tomoya.
Clutching her chest, Eriri tilted her head back and murmured, "Aki... now I finally understand how you felt."
After meeting Watanabe Takashi, Eriri finally understood why Aki Tomoya had been moved by another girl.
"Childhood friends really can't compete against a sudden newcomer."
Not having enough cash on him, Takashi first stopped at an ATM to withdraw money before heading to pay the hospital fees.
"This is such a rip-off."
Takashi muttered irritably.
He had been hoping that Eriri would "explode" some gold coins for him, but instead, he was the one spending money first.
Of course, losing money was a small problem. The bigger issue now was that Eriri seemed to be falling for him. What should he do?
They had agreed to a relationship based on mutual need — so why was she developing real feelings?
How could she tarnish their pure, money-based relationship with emotions?
"Damn it, this is all Aki Tomoya's fault!"
Holding the payment slip, Takashi cursed under his breath, blaming everything on Aki Tomoya.
If it hadn't been for Tomoya's crappy game project, and if he had properly taken care of his girl, Eriri would never have fallen for him.
If Eriri didn't like him, he could have continued tricking money out of her without guilt.
Now that Eriri had real feelings for him, how could he shamelessly continue?
Forget about tricking her — he already felt guilty.
Seething inwardly and not paying attention to where he was going, Takashi accidentally bumped shoulders with someone.
Takashi turned to apologize, but when he saw the person's face clearly, he blurted out, "Miku?"
The moment he said it, Takashi regretted it.
Right now, he is Watanabe Takashi, not Kitahara Takashi.
Damn it, this was all Aki Tomoya's fault!
Nino was in a terrible mood and originally intended to just walk away. But seeing Takashi seemingly recognize "Miku," she suddenly stopped and began sizing him up.
Fair and delicate features, jet-black hair, tall, wearing thick glasses — he looked like the typical dull and rigid bookworm.
Nino had no interest in guys like that.
She preferred rebellious, slightly wild types.
But thinking about Miku's personality, Nino felt like these two actually might match quite well.
A nerd and a shut-in girl.
Imagining the two of them dating made Nino want to laugh, and her mood improved considerably.
'Wait, she's not Miku.'
Takashi quickly realized she wasn't Nakano Miku.
Miku never wore makeup, and the gloomy, headphone-wearing girl wouldn't dress so flashily.
Realizing he had mistaken her, Takashi decided to roll with it.
He stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and asked with concern, "Miku, what are you doing here? Are you not feeling well?"
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