"Where am I!?" Koi thought as he tried to open his eyes. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a sight of a white room. He tried getting up but suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
As he moved his face toward the direction of the hand and saw a girl's face, it was the same face he had seen before he fell unconscious.
'Is she an angel!? Is this heaven?'
"Stay calm," the girl said. Her voice seemed shrill and melodious to Koi, and he asked,
"Is this heaven?" the girl looked at his face with a dumbfounded look as she said,
"I didn't remember you getting hit on the head. This is a hospital."
After hearing what the girl said, Koi finally looked around slowly and confirmed that the white room was a hospital room, and he saw an IV drip connected to his arm. It was a very pleasant room; the white color of the room had a comforting feeling rather than an overwhelming feeling,
"Now, don't move much," the girl said calmly,
"Ok," Koi answered and laid back comfortably. The bed seemed way better than the bed he had back at his house,
The girl who was sitting on the chair beside the bed was waiting for him to settle down.
"Did you bring me here?" Koi asked,
"Yes, I did. It was honestly scary when I saw your face go pale and you fall on the ground from the bench." the girl's face looked genuinely concerned as she said this,
"What were you doing there?" Koi asked as he found it strange for a girl to visit an abandoned shrine that late at night,
"Same question, what were you doing there!? Can't you find any better place, literally at the end of the town!?" the girl asked. She looked a bit irritated.
"Sorry… I don't have any other place!!" Koi apologized, and the girl asked,
"Why are you apologizing now!?"
'Because you were scolding me!?' Koi thought but said,
"I don't… know."
"Ughh!! Either way, I am Airi Ito… I am the leader of the NGO that was supposed to pay for the operation that day," she said
'Ehh? Did I hear it right?' it was too sudden for Koi, who had lost all his hope,
"You are the leader of…?" he asked with a questioning gaze in a low voice.
"I said I am the leader of that NGO!!" she said in a firm voice.
Koi smiled slowly, and the more he thought about it, a huge smile appeared on his face as he asked,
"You will return my money, right!!" he asked, clearly excited, after all.
'There is still time left for registration if I get back money now… this all would just become a sour 2-week experience for me,'
"I can't," Airi said in a firm voice, and Koi suddenly stood up as the blood started going into the IV pipe,
"Why can't!?" this was the loudest Koi spoke, but Airi's attention was focused on the IV connected to his hand as she shouted,
"Sit down!! Hear me out first!? The blood is going into the IV!!" and pulled him down by pulling on his shirt,
"You fine now?" she asked as Koi's face was pale after seeing his blood going into the IV.
"I am fine… sorry I suddenly," he said,
Suddenly, she moved forward and put her finger on his lips.
"Shush… don't say sorry anymore, it makes me feel guilty," for Koi, whose highest level of interaction with a girl was hand-holding during a high school cultural festival night dance. A girl touching his lips was too intimate, and he got goosebumps, and his face turned red as he felt the thin finger with long nails on his lips.
And soon seeing his expression, Airi also blushed as she pulled her hand back as she thought,
'Doing that felt so natural…' and frowned forcibly as she said to him,
"What are you blushing for!? I was just making you stop. "
Koi replied in a low voice,
"Sorry… it was just sudden, and you are beautiful, so…."
Airi is used to praises like this as she received them every now and then everywhere she goes, so she shrugged it off as she continued,
"Please don't apologize as it was also a major fault by our side, and you apologizing, again and again, is making me guilty."
"I am sorry about that," Koi replied, and only when Airi stared at him with a grudge, then he realized that he again apologized.
'She isn't speaking anything… what should I do!!!' he panicked, but after taking a deep breath, Airi spoke in a serious voice,
"You see that day that operation charges were supposed to be paid by us… but the person who was supposed to go suddenly got a fever and forgot to inform anyone else… that idiot… so when we came to know about it, it was after the day of the operation it was strange as we had already gotten the notification of the operation charges being paid,"
"I see," Koi said and was relieved.
'After all, uncle wasn't a scammer…' and after seeing the expression of relief on Koi's face, Airi felt confused as she thought he would be mad angry at her and would blame her for his loss.
'Why is he looking so relieved!?' she wondered as she continued,
"The next day, I went to the hospital and asked how the payment was fulfilled. When I met the Receptionist who cleared the payment, and she told me what happened… at first, I thought you might be a son of a rich family or something that you casually paid the fees, but when the receptionist pointed at you in the video, I was shocked…."
"Why?" Koi asked, tilting his head.
"Nothing much, it's just you were dressed too humble," Airi answered with a smile,
'Ahh, she doesn't want to say poorly. Well, I didn't get to choose when I leave,' Koi thought with an awkward smile and was touched by her consideration.
"After that, I did a little background check on you and your current whereabouts in the town and came to know who you were and how you are living right now… it was very hard as to who would expect you to be living in the abandoned Shrine then…" saying till here Airi went quiet she moved her head down,
Koi, who was getting restless, asked in a small voice,
"Then…?"
Airi moved her face back up. It was looking a bit red as she began speaking.
"Then… knowing that you are not a son of a rich family and are rather middle-classed who left his house to join college, and that was all the money you had… I felt… I felt…" seeing her red face and quivering lips, Koi suddenly thought,
'Is she in love with me!? Had my kindness finally paid off,' after reading many romcom mangas, he could only think of love when he saw a girl with a red face quivering on her words, and he happily asked,
"You felt?" his voice was clearly joyous, and Airi answered,
"I felt…"
"You felt?" Koi asked, his heart beating fast, and Airi looked straight into his eyes as she shouted,
"I felt... how can someone be so stupid!!"
'Ehh?' Koi thought as he felt the pointy word stab into his heart like an arrow,
[10 damage dealt]
"Like really, who in their right mind would give away the last of their money to someone they just met!?"
[5 damage dealt] he felt another arrow pass through his head,
"I literally would've slapped you as soon as we met if not for your condition!!"
[15 damage dealt] Koi touched his cheek,
'Stopppp!!' Koi's soul was shouting,
"Like, did you even think if you were married due to such a tendency, your wife and children would suffer!!"
[20 damage dealt] he felt his heart being crushed, opposite to her having a crush on him like a manga. She was just pissed.
"Charity is good, but when you have more than enough for yourself or some to spare…. I honestly wanted to scold you for an hour."
[HP down to 0] resounded in Koi's head as he fell on his back. Her being sincere about her comments only made him feel more disappointed.