The Day I Had a Lover

On that day in late November during the recording session for the drama CD for the special edition of All About My Little Sister, Volume 6, when Itsuki Hashima heard Nayuta Kani was in the hospital, he immediately abandoned his duties and ran straight over.

Finding her at the clinic, and discovering why she had overworked herself to the point of physical breakdown, Itsuki finally caved. He had wanted to wait on this until he was sure he was a protagonist on equal footing with Nayuta, but he was out of time.

“I want to be with you. I want you to stay with me forever.”

Nayuta, of course, had been infatuated with Itsuki for far too long to turn him down. And with that, they were officially lovers.

They held each other tight, as if confirming each other’s feelings. After five, ten, twenty, thirty seconds with Nayuta’s haggard frame in his arms, Itsuki couldn’t help but think: It’s okay if I keep doing this forever, right?

…He wasn’t sure when to let go.

Not that he wanted to. He really could do it forever, to be frank. The sensation of her soft breasts through their clothing and the heat of her breath as she buried her face in his chest filled Itsuki with an indescribable happiness. But Nayuta was ill and still attached to an IV bag. They couldn’t be here all day.

Still, she showed no sign of letting go first.

Should he let go? Or shouldn’t he? As Itsuki agonized over the question:

“…Is it all right if I come in?”

“Whoa!”

Itsuki hurriedly pushed away from Nayuta at the sound of the gravelly, heavy voice behind him. At the doorway, looking into the room, was Satoshi Godo, the mafia-like editor in chief of the GF Bunko label. Next to him was Kirara Yamagata, Nayuta’s editor.

“I’m glad it’s nothing too serious, Kani.”

“…Thank you,” Nayuta sullenly replied, annoyed at having their embrace interrupted.

Godo smirked a bit at this, then turned to Itsuki. “Well, I suppose we can all breathe a sigh of relief?”

“Y-yeah,” said Itsuki, blushing.

“All right, Hashima. You’ve got work to do.”

Itsuki’s eyebrows arched upward. The drama-CD recording was still in progress. It was about half an hour by car from the hospital back to the studio—he should be able to make it back before the session ended.

This time, at least, Itsuki had set his ideals aside enough to put Nayuta ahead of everything else. But that didn’t mean he had lost his resolve to become a hero on Nayuta’s level. If anything, acting on his feelings for her ahead of schedule just made him want to achieve the second part of his mission even sooner.

First, this drama CD. Shaking off any remaining desires to stay with Nayuta now that their feelings were out in the open, he resolved to devote everything he had to making this production a winner.

“…Okay, Kanikou, see you later. I gotta get back to work.”

Nayuta answered his farewell with a slightly forlorn look before giving him a soft smile. “All right, Itsuki. Good luck.”