ACT II - The Unexpected Omimai I

Now that I knew of Reo's situation, it was time to act.

I asked the teachers for copies of our current batches of homework, and asked for Reo's address so I could deliver it to him. They seemed greatly relieved to see someone from class actually caring about his absence—plus they probably knew of his difficult family situation.

After getting praise from my teachers about my 'kind, caring heart', I went on my way to Reo's house, carrying with me both the homework papers and a few healthy snacks I had prepared for him from yesterday evening. I didn't want to be excessive and cook an entire meal, but I really had my doubts about him feeding himself properly.

It was true that I was tired after my club training, but thankfully his house was near a train station so I didn't have to walk all that much. Standing in front of his home, my mind started to flood with thoughts—as it tended to do, no surprises.

I started to worry if me visiting without a notice was too sudden, or even rude! All this time, I had chickened out about asking for his number, so now I had no way of contacting him. I told myself that it was too late to back away at this point, and took a deep breath to soothe my nerves. I pushed the doorbell quickly, before my anxiety could kick in a second time.

The door opened with a shocking speed, it was barely three seconds! Faced with Reo much earlier than I thought, all I could say was a "H-hi," with a weak, shaky voice. He himself seemed to be greatly surprised, but soon enough his face was back to his expected state of weariness.

"My, this is one unexpected Omimai visitor. Well, do come in, and ignore the mess. Kinda not in my best state, as ya might expect."

I excused myself inside his small apartment. No wonder it didn't take him all that long to answer the door, all the furniture was crammed inside this tiny box of an apartment! Even then, it didn't feel one bit suffocating, as the walls were covered in pictures of mountains and many varieties of plants, mainly Sakura trees. There were also a lot of drawings made by the hands of children, which I assumed to be of his sisters. And while it was true that the space was a bit messy, with all his school items and whatnot being scattered all around the floor, it didn't feel uncomfortable. Rather, they looked like colorful flowers blooming in their most natural state.

He gestured to his bed for me to sit on, for all the other seats available in the apartment were his study desk's wooden chair and a small pink cushion on the floor.

"Feel free to sit on my bed, I'll get you some tea meanwhile…"

I panicked and tried to stop him, I didn't need him to overexert just for my sake! Somehow even though what I wanted to say was that I wanted him to rest in his own bed, what came out of my mouth was "I'll just sit on that cushion over there, your bed is probably awash with germs!".

He didn’t respond for a while. Regret hit me like a truck, why did I go and say something like that, while he was just offering something for my own comfort…?!

Just as I was about to apologize, he said "Hmm, ya do have a point. It'd be awful if ya got sick because ya were kind enough to pay me a visit, especially since you're a guy who's sensitive about health topics."

Regardless of my protests, he still made some tea for me. As the water boiled, he took out a mask from a drawer and put it on. "There, now ya can be sure of your safety~ Take one too, if ya would like."

Well, it certainly was true that I had an aversion to catching illnesses, due to my past experience, so I gratefully took on the offer. Even though I had never really talked about it in detail, I guess I really did have such a sensitive image. I couldn't blame people even one bit.

He put the tea on the floor as I sat on the fluffy cushion, and then moved to his bed, placing the teacup on his nightstand. He really seemed… Exhausted.

"Sooo, uh, have you eaten yet, Reo-kun? I brought some snacks for you…"

His eyes widened, just a little. "Eh? For real? Woah, you're seriously such a considerate guy. I was actually waitin' by the door because I ordered take out. Was expectin' it to arrive, but you appeared instead, hehe~"

His laugh turned into a cough real quick, thankfully not lasting a long time.

"Whoops, sorry about that, man." I reassured him that it was alright, and right after, the doorbell echoed in Reo's apartment for the second time that evening. Not wanting to make Reo leave the comfort of his bed, I handled the delivery person. He had ordered a box of pizza.

"Niiice, right in time for a little tea party. Feel free to take some slices yourself, Yuujin-kun. Of course, let's share your snacks as well~"

"No, no! They're for you, I can just make more for myself at home. Thank you for the offer though."

I handed over the bag with the snacks, and informed him that it also had the homework sheets inside as well. That made him stick out his tongue.

"Meeh, I'm sick so I guess the teachers wouldn't mind it if I skipped on these~ Ya made the snacks yourself, though? You're really skilled in kitchen matters, huh?~" I shook my hands in front of me to dismiss his compliment, as the things I cooked for myself were rarely anything fancy.

"And that's more than enough, man. Don't we eat to survive anyway? Alright, I'm diggin' in. Itadakimaaaasu~"

We spent some time enjoying each other's company in complete silence for a while. While it was true that my stomach was growling, I hoped that my classmate didn't hear them, as I really just wanted him to keep the meals to himself, in case he needed more for tomorrow. Sipping on my tea, I wondered how to open a topic about his current life situation without sounding too suspicious, or overly nosy.

He took the lead in opening a topic after the long silence.

"I like eatin' pizza. It has so many ingredients so I enjoy the feelin', as if I'm havin' five meals at once. But it's not somethin' you can eat because of your diet, right? Sorry 'bout that, if I had known that you'd visit, I'd—"

"No, no! You're the sick one here, it's normal that you'd eat what makes you happy. I'll eat at home anyway, probably my mom prepared something already, so—"

Crap! Why'd I go and mention my mom's cooking now, just how insensitive was that?! Panicky, I examined his facial expression to see if my careless response had gotten him upset. His green eyes were cast down and he was smiling in the most bitter way possible. Of course! Just how much of an incurable fool was I?!

"Oh, right… You should be home soon, yeah? Thank you for visitin', I shouldn't take up more of your time, your family must be waitin'…"

He was so kind, not even a trace of anger in his voice could be heard, even though I was totally deserving of it…!

"I… I would like to say sorry. You live alone, don't you, Reo-kun…?"

He sighed, still smiling. "Guess it's obvious enough, by the state of this tiny apartment. No use of hidin' it anyway—Yeah, I live alone. No worries, though, my family's all fine. They live in Nara, while I came to Tokyo for high school." He gestured towards something behind me, and when I turned back, I saw that there was a photo album.

"Well, I actually had my family photos on the wall, but I… Kinda teared up a lot seein' them in my vision all the time, so I moved them back to the album… Away from my sight, only hittin' up the photos when most needed. Feel free to take a look."

After asking if he was completely sure about it, I carefully opened the album. The photos were all in chronological order, starting from his parents' wedding, to a small baby boy called 'Reo' being born, to him growing up with two more girls called 'Mio' and 'Nao'... They were such a beautiful family.

The photos were radiating such a bright, warm feeling of love that I completely understood his point, as I was starting to tear up myself…!

"Not to brag but, my parents are kinda crazy cool and my sisters are such cute angels that… I kinda dunno why someone mediocre like me found his way in this family tree."

"What are you saying, Reo-kun? You're like, the coolest person in our entire class, plus you're… As gorgeous as everyone in your family."

He chuckled at my passionate response. I felt my cheeks get warmer with a blush. But I truly felt my statement, so I stood by it with all my heart.

"Haha, man. What did I do to earn such high praise from you? I do have manners so I'll say thank you, of course. Though, I still doubt myself… I mean, look at them!"

I continued my exploration of the photo album.