Chapter 432: Indirect Kiss
At that moment, Keika Kawasaki, who was enjoying her strawberry cake, paused and furrowed her brows slightly.
Seeing this, Hachiman felt puzzled. "What's wrong, Keika-chan?"
"Um... I can't eat anymore." Keika made a face, feeling a bit reluctant to leave some strawberry cake on her plate.
"Just say you've already had a lot to eat tonight," sighed Saki, "I'll finish the rest for you."
"Mhm, Onee-chan will eat." Keika nodded, then scooped up a piece with her spoon and offered it to her sister's mouth.
Watching her sister offer the cake, Saki simply opened her mouth and ate it.
After feeding her sister, Keika looked at Hachiman sitting on her other side, her eyes lighting up.
She scooped up another small piece and offered it to Hachiman.
"Hachi-niichan, you eat too."
Hachiman naturally didn't mind and opened his mouth to eat the small piece of cake.
Huh? That's the spoon I just used.
Seeing this scene, Saki also suddenly realized.
"Wait a minute..."
But before she could speak, Hachiman put the spoon in his mouth, leaving her speechless.
Oh no...
This should count as an indirect kiss.
I actually indirectly kissed Hachiman.
After feeding Hachiman, Keika scooped up another spoonful of cake and turned to her sister.
"Onee-chan, have another bite."
Seeing the cake offered by her sister, Saki hesitated.
But looking at Keika's innocent eyes, she couldn't bear to refuse. Reluctantly, she closed her eyes and accepted the spoonful into her mouth.
Keika had already eaten from it before, so it doesn't count as an indirect kiss between me and Hachiman.
Swallowing the cake in her mouth, Saki reassured herself.
Just then, she heard her sister's innocent voice again.
"Hachi-niichan, have another bite."
Opening her eyes, she saw Hachiman open his mouth to accept the spoonful.
This made Saki's face flush.
When Keika tried to feed her again, Saki shook her head repeatedly.
"Onee-chan is full, no more for me."
"Okay, then the rest is for Hachi-niichan."
Hearing her sister's words, Keika didn't question it and fed the remaining cake to Hachiman.
Watching Hachiman eat the remaining cake with the spoon she just used, Saki's blush deepened.
"Wow, all gone, Hachi-niichan is amazing."
Seeing Hachiman finish the last bite of cake, Keika's face lit up with a happy smile.
However, Hachiman didn't think much of it. There wasn't much cake left from Keika to begin with, and Saki had already taken two bites... Wait a minute, Saki had two bites...
Realizing this, Hachiman looked at Saki beside him.
Sure enough, the girl's face was now tinged with a blush, and when she noticed his gaze, she instinctively looked away.
Just as Hachiman was about to apologize, there was a sudden bout of intense coughing.
Turning towards the sound, they saw Nagisa, who had been fine just moments ago, now coughing severely.
Seeing this, her husband, Tomoya, tenderly rubbed her back with a concerned expression.
"Mom, are you okay?" Their daughter, Ushio, looked at her mother with worry.
"I'm fine, Ushio dear."
With her husband's help, Nagisa gradually calmed down, softly comforting her daughter. However, her face still retained a hint of paleness.
Observing this, Hachiman raised an eyebrow.
"Mrs. Okazaki, are you feeling unwell?"
Continuing to rub his wife's back, Tomoya's face showed some concern.
"My wife's health has never been great. We've been to many hospitals, but with no avail."
Hearing this, Hachiman hesitated for a moment but decided to speak up.
"If Mr. Okazaki trusts me, I can take a look at Mrs. Okazaki. I have some knowledge of medicine."
He had a decent impression of this couple, and if he could help, he didn't mind lending a hand. After all, he was considered a hero in this world.
"Huh? Mr. Hikigaya knows medicine?" Tomoya was surprised to hear this.
Even Saki was quite astonished. Despite being classmates for so long, she had no idea that Hachiman knew anything about medicine.
However, Tomoya hesitated.
They had visited numerous hospitals for his wife's health issues, but none had provided any definitive results. Moreover, Hachiman was still very young, just a high school student. So, he instinctively didn't believe in Hachiman's medical knowledge.
But considering that Hachiman had helped them find their daughter, he couldn't outright refuse.
After a moment's thought, Tomoya reluctantly agreed.
"Alright, but we don't have any medical equipment here."
After all, they were in a café, where there were no medical instruments available.
Hachiman smiled faintly, "Mr. Okazaki, you must have heard of traditional Chinese medicine, which relies on observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking. I understand this method, so I don't need any equipment."
Hearing this, Tomoya nodded in understanding. He had indeed heard of the wonders of traditional Chinese medicine, where diagnoses could be made without any instruments.
That's the only way he can explain the power of traditional Chinese medicine so that Tomoya can believe in him.
"Ah, I see. Then I'll trouble you, Hikigaya-kun."
"No trouble at all." Hachiman smiled and then turned to look at Nagisa Okazaki.
"Please, Mrs. Okazaki, give me your hand."
"Sure." Nagisa nodded and extended her right hand.
Turning her wrist over, Hachiman pretended to feel her pulse, while in reality, he channeled a trace of holy light into Nagisa's body.
Then he discovered that Nagisa's poor health was due to an old injury in her body, which had caused her to have low vitality.
It was probably from her childhood.
Generally, curing such an old injury would be difficult, but Hachiman possessed holy light, so resolving it was no problem.
With a smile, Hachiman covered the old injury inside Nagisa's body with holy light.
Nagisa, who hadn't felt anything before, suddenly exclaimed softly.
"Nagisa, what's wrong?" Tomoya asked anxiously.
Nagisa shook her head. "I'm fine, just feeling warm and comfortable, much better than before."
By now, Hachiman had finished treating her.
Unlike when he had dealt with the curse on Mana previously, Nagisa's old injury was not noticeable, but it was just a simple wound. Under the effect of holy light, it quickly healed.
Nagisa's originally pale face now had a faint blush.
Seeing this, Hachiman stopped in time.
After all, in the eyes of outsiders, he was just taking Nagisa's pulse; curing her with just that would inevitably raise suspicions.
Seeing Hachiman stop, Tomoya asked hopefully, "Mr. Hikigaya, what's wrong with my wife?"
Hachiman smiled. "Mrs. Okazaki has been weak due to long-term blood deficiency. I won't go into too much detail, but if I'm not mistaken, Mrs. Okazaki probably suffered an injury in her childhood."
Hearing this, Nagisa nodded lightly. "Yes, when I was young, I fell down a mountain. It seems that since then, my health has never been good."
"Then, Mr. Hikigaya, do you have any way to treat her?"
Seeing Hachiman accurately diagnose his wife's condition, Tomoya's hope ignited.
"My suggestion is to use dietary supplementation. When you go back, Mr. Okazaki, you can prepare some dishes that can replenish your wife's blood. Over time, I believe Mrs. Okazaki's health will gradually improve." Hachiman smiled and proposed a solution.
Although he had just healed Nagisa's old injury, her body was still somewhat weak due to long-term blood deficiency, and he had not directly replenished her.
However, now that the root cause was resolved, replenishing her blood was simple. Just eat more nourishing foods.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Hikigaya." Tomoya's face showed a hint of excitement.
Regardless of whether it was true or not, at least it gave him hope.
"I really don't know how to repay you, Mr. Hikigaya."
Hachiman directly refused. "No need for repayment. I didn't diagnose Mrs. Okazaki just to be repaid."
"But..." Tomoya still had something on his mind.
In his eyes, Hachiman had not only helped him find his daughter but also identified the cause of his wife's illness, for which he felt an immense debt of gratitude. However, at that moment, he was at a loss about how to repay it.
Hachiman didn't give him a chance to speak, standing up directly.
"Well, it's getting late. We should join our friends."
With that, he took Keika's hand, called out to Saki on the other side, bid farewell to the Okazaki couple, and walked out of the café.
Watching Hachiman and his two companions leave, Tomoya's excitement surged again.
"Nagisa, if what this Hikigaya-kun said is true, then your health will improve, which is really great!"
"Yeah, Tomoya. If my health can improve, then I can always be with you and Ushio." Nagisa felt much more comfortable after being treated by Hachiman, and hope ignited in her heart as well.
Though the little girl named Ushio didn't understand what had happened, she spoke up too: "Ushio also wants to always be with mommy and daddy!"
Hearing her daughter's words, Tomoya embraced her tightly.
"That's right, we'll always be together as a family."
"Yeah!"
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