"... You are really a true 'God-person'."
Kazehara Tetsu looked at the girl in front of her who was sitting upright slowly like a zombie, with snow falling on her head and shoulders.
Thousands of words finally converged into this sigh with a bit of helplessness.
In this severe cold of minus degrees Celsius, I still slept so peacefully, and my first words when I woke up were so disrespectful and lacked common sense.
Apart from using the word "God-person" to describe this kind of brain circuit, there seems to be no more appropriate word.
"God-person?"
Morishita Ai's eyes that had just opened and were still a little confused blinked.
"Is that some kind of religious title? Or is it some kind of specific online discourse?"
She tilted her head slightly, showing an extremely strong desire for academic exploration of this unfamiliar vocabulary.
"..."
Kazehara Tetsu pressed his temples and felt a headache.
"Forget it."
He waved his hand and gave up the plan of cultural export.
"Don't worry, just think that I am talking to myself and not say anything."
"... It's really baffling."
Morishita Ai frowned slightly, seeming dissatisfied with this half-said behavior.
She wanted to stand up, but found that her legs were as heavy as lead, and her body that was just halfway up swayed violently.
"Just doing something that I don't understand at all, without any logical foundation."
"Huh?"
Seeing her shaky appearance, Kazehara Tetsu quickly stretched out his hand and held her arm.
"You have no right to say that to me."
Kazehara Tetsu stopped the joking look on his face and his tone became a bit more serious.
"Although I don't usually like to meddle in other people's business, especially in this kind of self-inflicted situation. But..."
"Is this a short-circuit in your brain circuit? By sleeping in the open in this weather, do you want to test the limits of the human body, or do you want to directly turn yourself into an ice sculpture?"
"This is very dangerous. If I had come half an hour later, or if I had simply let you go, you might have made the headlines tomorrow - 'A school girl froze to death on the streets.'"
Faced with this merciless and even threatening lecture, Morishita Ai showed no fear.
"Don't worry about the deduction of specific consequences, Kazehara Tetsu."
She said carelessly, with an obvious nasal sound in her voice.
"Because..."
She stretched out a hand and pressed her forehead.
"I feel that a problem has already occurred."
"A slight feeling of dizziness, well, this is the so-called 'sickness' sign."
"..."
Kazehara Tetsu is completely speechless.
"Now that you know a problem has occurred, stop talking nonsense."
He sighed, and regardless of whether men and women were intimate or not, he directly put his arm around her shoulders and put half of her body weight on him.
"The current appointment is cancelled. It seems that our destination will be changed."
"Where to go?"
"Where else can we go? Of course the health room."
Kazehara Tetsu said angrily, walking in the direction of Academic Building with this "giant baby" who was completely uneasy.
"Let's go quickly. I hope the teacher there hasn't gotten off work yet."
Academic Building seemed particularly empty and quiet during the holidays, and the footsteps of the two people echoed in the corridor.
The door to the health room was unlocked, but there was no one inside.
It seems that even the dedicated School Doctor chose to take a vacation for himself on days like Christmas.
"Where to sit."
Kazehara Tetsu pointed to the hospital bed covered with white sheets.
Morishita Ai was obedient, or maybe because he really had no strength, he sat on it obediently.
The coat on her body had already been soaked to the surface by the Snow Water outside. Kazehara Tetsu didn't say anything and directly helped her take it off.
"Hands out."
Kazehara Tetsu pulled up a chair and sat across from her.
Morishita Ai extends his hand.
Kazehara Tetsu held her hand and frowned.
"Do you still feel it?"
"Yes."
Morishita Ai looked at his movements with dull eyes.
"The pain and touch are still there. It's just a little dull."
"You may be lucky, or your physique is different from ordinary people."
After some inspection, Kazehara Tetsu confirmed that although her skin was severely frozen, there were no signs of severe frostbite.
It is also commonly known as "frozen to the core", but not "frozen bad" yet.
Then, he reached out his hand again and put it on her forehead.
"Sure enough, I have a fever."
Kazehara Tetsu took back his hand, turned around and rummaged through Medicine Cabinet, and found a Electronic Thermometer.
"Hold it, don't talk."
After a few minutes of silence.
Kazehara Tetsu took out the thermometer and took a look.
"38.9 degrees. High fever."
He threw the thermometer into the tray aside, folded his hands in front of his chest, and looked at Morishita Ai, whose cheeks were abnormally flushed due to high fever.
"It seems that although our genius girl has a good brain, in terms of survival instinct, she is simply a single-celled organism."
Next, there was a five-minute sermon on "Kazehara Tetsu-style".
Morishita Ai, who usually likes to use his strange logic to refute others, was unusually quiet at this moment.
Perhaps it was because the high fever slowed her brain's response and made her unable to formulate effective rebuttal logic.
Maybe it was because... in this empty health room, in this Christmas who was supposed to be alone and sick, although the man in front of her was venomous, he gave her a strange experience of being "cared for" that she had never had before.
"... I know."
She waited until Kazehara Tetsu paused to take a breath before she whispered this sentence.
"I will pay attention to the ambient temperature next time."
Seeing her wilted look at this moment, Kazehara Tetsu's original anger was mostly gone.
"And next time?"
He shook his head helplessly and handed her a glass of warm water.
"Drink. Replenish water."
Look at Morishita Ai holding the cup in both hands and drinking water in small sips.
Kazehara Tetsu pulled up the chair and sat down again.
"Speaking of which..."
He looked at Morishita Ai's eyes that had become moist and blurred due to fever, and asked the question that had been lingering in his heart from the beginning.
"Why are you planning to date me?"
"To be honest, I didn't expect you to make such a decision at all."
Hearing this question, Morishita Ai stopped drinking water.
She raised her head, her eyes somewhat blank, as if she was sorting out her somewhat confused thoughts.
"Reason?"
She turned her head and looked at the gray sky outside the window.
"Because... there's nothing to do."
What a simple, straightforward, and hurtful reason.
"Everyone is discussing the arrangements of Christmas. Although I am not interested in that kind of collective activities, and I don't understand why they are so enthusiastic about a Western religious festival. But..."
She turned back and looked at Kazehara Tetsu.
"As an observer, I'm curious."
"I want to learn from others how the so-called 'Christmas' lives. The process and sense of ritual."
"Are you doing it for an experiment?"
Kazehara Tetsu raised his eyebrows.
"That's understandable."
Morishita Ai nodded, very candidly.
"And in this school, I know very few people. People of the opposite sex who can be called 'familiar' and who I think have enough sample reference value..."
She pointed at Kazehara Tetsu.
The person I know the most is you."
"Also, I think if it were you... you should be able to provide a 'standard' dating sample."
"Heh..."
Kazehara Tetsu couldn't help but laugh.
"It's really yours."
He stood up, walked to his already somewhat empty satchel, and put his hand in it.
"But it's a pity, Morishita Ai."
"Given your current physical condition, the original 'standardized dating process' of watching movies, eating, and shopping may not be possible."
He rummaged around in his bag for a while and took out a box.
"Although the process is endless, I still have to play this role to the end."
Kazehara Tetsu walked back to the bed and handed the box to her.
"The so-called Christmas, one of the core links is the exchange of gifts."
"Take it. Consider it a souvenir of this failed experiment, or a gift for visiting patients."
Morishita Ai was stunned.
She put down the water glass and took the box with some hesitation.
"Gift..."
She murmured softly and opened the box.
Inside is a pair of unique ear clips.
Not the tacky flowers or hearts, but... something that fits her aesthetic very well.
"What a shame."
Morishita Ai looked at the gift. She raised her head and looked at Kazehara Tetsu with a bit of annoyance in her tone.
"I didn't prepare any gifts at all."
"Moreover, in accordance with the principle of Equivalent Exchange, unilaterally receiving without giving will lead to imbalance."
"It doesn't matter anymore."
Kazehara Tetsu stretched out his hand and wanted to touch her head, but thinking that she had a fever, he patted her shoulder lightly instead.
"You are a patient and have privileges. That's fine."
"I accept my wishes. As long as you lie down and don't cause any problems to yourself, that will be the best reward for me."
"No."
Morishita Ai shook his head.
"I don't want to take advantage. This is not in line with my principles."
She frowned in thought, her eyes wandering around the room, as if looking for something that could be given as a return gift.
But this is a health room, and there is nothing except the smell of medicine.
suddenly.
Her eyes were fixed on Kazehara Tetsu.
"I thought of it."
Morishita Ai's eyes lit up a little.
"What?"
Kazehara Tetsu hasn't reacted yet.
Morishita Ai suddenly raised his upper body.
She stretched out her hands, clumsily grabbed the collar of Kazehara Tetsu's coat, and pulled it down with a little force.
The distance between the two instantly dropped to zero.
"Well..."
Kazehara Tetsu's pupils shrank slightly.
There are no tricks to speak of.
Just a simple fit.
It's like stamping a stamp. Press it hard and hold it for two seconds.
Morishita Ai's flushed face was very close, and those eyes didn't even close, but stared at Kazehara Tetsu's eyes with a serious look.
Two seconds later.
Morishita Ai let go of his hand and sat back down, even taking a few breaths because of the excessive movement.
She licked her lips, as if thinking about what she had just said.
"That's it for now."
"This is the highest value output I can provide at the moment."
"If I remember to talk about it in the future... Of course, the premise is that I can still remember it after the fever subsides."
"Whether you remember it or not, the transaction ends now."
After saying these extremely irresponsible words, she closed her eyes and her breathing quickly became longer.
Kazehara Tetsu stood beside the bed, raised his hand, and gently touched his lips that still had warmth.
"Heh..."
"Is the trade deadline?"
He looked at "God-person" who had fallen into a deep sleep.
"This account is not easy to settle, Morishita."