Breaking the Ice

Ichiro stood hesitantly in front of the sliding doors.

Despite the steady stream of people entering and exiting through the doors, he found it difficult to take that first step. The curious glances from passersby only added to his unease, as he wondered what they must be thinking of his hesitation.

With a sense of determination, Ichiro gathered his courage and tugged his ball cap tightly onto his head. He took a deep breath and willed his feet to propel him forward. Step by step, he made his way towards the physical therapy building, which stood adjacent to the main hospital.

Time seemed to stretch endlessly as he moved forward, inching closer to his destination.

As he stepped into the office, he found himself in a spacious room, mostly open, with partition curtains dividing it into multiple sections. In the center, several individuals were engaged in simple exercises, receiving assistance from nurses dressed in medical scrubs.

After checking in at the front desk with the nurse, he was guided to a designated massage area, where cushioned tables were placed.

Taking a seat on one of the tables, he felt a surge of optimism, believing that things would unfold better than anticipated. However, his elation quickly dissipated when a strangely familiar voice shattered the tranquility.

“Hey, you did make it back.”

The cause of his earlier trepidation, which he couldn't articulate before, now stared him in the face.

With a clenched jaw, he slowly opened his eyes, his gaze fixed straight ahead. A deep sigh of frustration escaped his lips upon taking in the scene before him.

In the massage area, there were only two patients at that moment. Apart from Ichiro, there sat a young girl, slender in physique, with her legs slightly extended in front of her. A nurse was gently massaging and manipulating her feet, while an uncomfortable smile played on the girl's face.

This girl was also sitting deeply in a wheelchair with a flowy blanket on her lap.

Her presence triggered a sense of discomfort in Ichiro.

“Not you…”

Resigned to his fate, he sighed again, silently accepting the situation.

"What?" the girl in the wheelchair gasped in utter surprise, bringing her hand to cover her mouth. "Are you shocked to find me here, of all places? Or are you not appreciative of my presence?"

The nearby nurses stifled their laughter, observing the interaction between the two of them, adding pressure on Ichiro to make a good impression. Struggling immensely, he forced a smile on his cheeks before answering.

“No, I'm happy to see you again. Truly…” he replied, attempting to hide his true intentions from those around him. However, he carefully laced his last words with a hint of disgust, hoping to subtly convey his feelings to Izumi alone.

While the nurses whispered quietly, seemingly captivated by the connection between the two teenagers, Izumi playfully cut her eyes back towards Ichiro.

“Oh, I’m so glad you are enjoying yourself,” she raised her eyebrows mischievously as she spoke, playing with him like a cat would its prey. "I don't usually let commoners gaze at my legs like this, but I'll make an exception for you."

As she spoke, she raised the blanket draped across her lap, revealing her upper shins and knees. A devious grin danced on her lips as she locked eyes with Ichiro, causing a wave of irritation to surge through his head in response to her taunting remarks.

However, the moment was short-lived.

“UUAAAHHHH!!”

Izumi's cry of terror pierced the air as the nurse applying pressure on her leg pushed too forcefully, causing her to lose her balance. Frantically, she tried to stabilize herself by leveraging against the armrest of her wheelchair.

The nurses rushed to her side, apologizing for the scare. As she caught her breath, she gestured for them to give her room. Subtly, she gripped the edge of her blanket and lifted it, covering the lower half of her face.

“A-Actually,” she stumbled over her words, “I don’t feel comfortable with your lecherous gaze beholding my perfect legs. C-C-Can we set a partition between us?”

The nurses exchanged subtle glances with soft giggles between them, acknowledging Izumi's request, and promptly moved one of the curtains to create a partition between her and Ichiro. Before she vanished from his sight, he caught a glimpse of her rosy cheeks.

Unexpectedly, this revelation failed to evoke the emotions Ichiro had anticipated. In any other circumstance, he might have succumbed to a sense of superiority.

However, his chest felt constricted, a small and tight sensation burning within him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't suppress this feeling. Instead, he gripped his collar, attempting to calm his frayed nerves.

“So you are friends with Ms. Nakagawa, I see.”

"Huh? Who?" Ichiro's head snapped up in surprise, his gaze shifting towards the nurse, who was engrossed in marking notes on her clipboard. As she started to move his arm, testing its current limits, she briefly glanced up towards the recently drawn curtain.

“Yes, it's so nice to see her friends coming to visit her,” she chuckled lightly while continuing her work, “Even if it is under circumstances like this. Poor girl has been here for so long, I thought maybe all of her friends had forgotten about her.”

Ichiro glanced back and forth between the nurse and the tightly drawn curtain, his mind gradually piecing together the puzzle.

Unconsciously, his free hand moved to the bill of his ball cap, pulling it down to cover his face, which was gradually heating up.

“We’re… not friends,” he finally managed to utter, his voice tinged with a mix of frustration and resignation.