February 1st, Friday.
Six in the morning.
At the Matou Residence, Sakura, wearing an apron, hummed a cheerful tune as she busied herself in the kitchen.
Although she found it a little strange that her brother had skipped his morning training and still had not gotten up, she did not think much of it.
After all, making her brother a nutritious and delicious breakfast was what mattered most. Just imagining her brother getting up in the clothes she had washed herself, eating the breakfast she had made herself, drinking the coffee she had brewed herself, and reading the newspaper she had fetched herself from the mailbox outside...
Today's breakfast was delicious too...
Today's coffee tasted great too...
Being able to hear her brother praise her like that made her so happy!
However, just as Sakura was imagining certain increasingly forbidden scenes, Shinji's weak voice came from nearby.
"Sakura, I think I caught a cold. I don't need breakfast. I'll sleep a little longer."
At those words, Sakura's body instantly stiffened. It took her quite a while to come back to herself before she mechanically turned to look at Shinji, who was wrapped in a blanket, pale-faced, sniffling, and looking utterly unmotivated.
Eight in the morning.
After getting some extra sleep and receiving Sakura's attentive care, Shinji had barely recovered some of his energy. Holding a cup of hot tea and wrapped in a blanket, he sat beneath the kotatsu in front of the steadily burning fireplace.
"Sakura... Sakura."
Watching Sakura bustle around without a moment's rest, Shinji lifted his head from the kotatsu table and called out, then said, "I'm fine now. You can go to school. Really, I'll be completely better after resting a while."
"You're burning up so badly. Stop pushing yourself, Brother."
Sakura reproached him as