Late April weekend.

Perhaps worn out by the new school term, Aoi had unusually stayed home from school. And when her fever still hadn’t gone down by Saturday, Hoshikawa’s aunt contacted my mom.

“Poor Aoi-chan seems to have come down with a bad cold. Her aunt had an emergency dental patient she absolutely couldn’t turn away today, so Aoi-chan’s been home alone until early afternoon.”

“Seriously? She must be feeling lonely.”

I dredged up memories from my past life. Back in the brutal Sales Department Section 2 days, when a junior colleague (female) living alone was laid up with a high fever, I used to buy loads of sports drinks and easy-to-digest food and go look after her, right? Nothing gets to you mentally like being all alone when you’re feeling unwell.

“Mom, I’m gonna go check on Aoi. I’ll stay with her until her aunt gets back.”

“Oh my, how thoughtful. Here, take these with you.”

After receiving some get-well jelly and fruit from Mom, I jogged over to the Hoshikawa family’s apartment.

* * *

I unlocked the door with the spare key I’d gotten from her aunt (my family and Aoi’s family had swapped spare keys with each other’s moms) and called out, “Excuse me.” Deep inside the silent apartment, I gently opened the door to Aoi’s bedroom.

“…Aoi, you awake?”

The room was dim, the curtains half-drawn. The lump on the bed rustled, and from within the futon, a face flushed bright red from the fever peeked out. Her golden-thread hair, usually tied up so neatly, was left down today and slightly disheveled.

“…Shizuku…chan?”

“Yeah. How are you feeling? Sorry to intrude.”

I pulled a folding chair up beside the bed and sat down. Aoi blinked her tear-filled emerald green eyes, then broke into a relaxed, innocent smile befitting her age.

“Ehehe… Shizuku-chan came to see me. It’s like… a dream…”

“It’s not a dream. Here, let me change your cooling gel patch.”

I peeled off the lukewarm cooling sheet stuck to her forehead and gently pressed a fresh one I’d bought into place. While I was at it, I tenderly brushed her sweaty bangs to the side.

“Nn… Shizuku-chan’s hand is so cool and feels so nice…”

Aoi narrowed her eyes like a pleased cat and rubbed her hot cheek against the palm of my hand.

Normally, behind such actions I’d glimpse a terrifying possessiveness screaming, “Shizuku-chan belongs only to me!” and a murky, grudge-filled warning to those around her. But today, I couldn’t feel any of that heavy, yandere-typical aura from Aoi at all.

She was simply a defenseless little seven-year-old girl, worn out by a fever and wanting nothing more than to be spoiled by her dearest childhood friend.

'…What’s this? I was always worried since she sometimes had that Hannya-like (demonic) aura behind her… but turns out, she’s just a normally cute kid her age, isn’t she.'

Feeling relieved inside, I opened the lid of the fancy fruit jelly I’d brought.

“Aoi, any appetite? This should go down easily.”

“Yeah… but I just don’t have the strength…”

Aoi gazed up at me with fever-damp eyes. With a wry smile and a “Yeah, yeah, I got you,” I scooped some jelly with a plastic spoon and brought it to her mouth.

“Here, say ahh.”

“…Ahh.”

With a soft slurp, Aoi swallowed the jelly.

“It’s so good… Because Shizuku-chan fed it to me, it’s the most delicious thing in the world…”

“You’re exaggerating. Here, another bite.”

As I spooned jelly into her mouth one after another, Aoi happily opened her mouth like a little bird. When a bit of syrup nearly dribbled from the corner of her lips, I swiftly wiped it with my fingertip and then cleaned it with a nearby tissue. It was a smooth caretaking move honed from nursing a soused junior colleague in my past life.

“…Shizuku-chan.”

About halfway through the jelly, Aoi stretched a tiny hand out from under the futon and clutched the hem of my shirt tightly.

“Hm? What’s up? Feeling chilled?”

“No… um, there’s something I’ve wanted to tell Shizuku-chan for a long time…”

Though her fever made her breath come in soft puffs, Aoi still strung her words together with all her might.

“I… love Shizuku-chan. I love you the most in the whole world.”

There was no obsessive drive to crush rivals, no manic desperation not to let go. Just pure, 100% untainted affection. That confession, so utterly direct and pure, made my eyes widen in spite of myself… and before long, my expression softened into a smile.

“Yeah, I know. I treasure you a ton, too. You’re my number one cutest princess, after all.”

I wrapped Aoi’s small hand in both of mine and gave it a gentle, reassuring pat.

“So, for now, don’t worry about a thing and get some good sleep. Until your aunt gets back, I’ll be right here beside you.”

“…Really? You won’t go… anywhere?”

“Not going anywhere. Promise.”

When I whispered in my finest husky voice, Aoi let out an “Ehehe…” and a smile of pure, deep happiness, then clasped my hand tightly in both of hers as her eyes slowly drifted shut.

* * *

[Aoi’s Perspective]

—So warm.

Inside her head, hazy with fever, Aoi’s consciousness was enveloped in overwhelming happiness, as if sinking into a sea of fluffy cotton candy.

Her mind was ordinarily always busy. ‘Anju-chan got close to Shizuku-chan again.’ ‘How should I get rid of that silver-haired Lise-chan?’ ‘The spot beside Shizuku-chan belongs to me alone, so why do these bugs keep swarming?’

Those black, seared emotions of jealousy and possessiveness to protect her beloved prince. But now was different.

Into Aoi’s heart, weakened by a cold, Shizuku’s kindness flowed in like a cool, clear stream.

'…Shizuku-chan’s hands are so big and gentle…'

The fingertips softly stroking her forehead. The slightly exasperated yet utterly sweet voice when feeding her jelly. Those magical words—“You’re my number one cutest princess”—more effective than any miracle drug in the world.

'…I don’t need anything else, as long as I have Shizuku-chan. Anju-chan, even Lise-chan, they don’t matter anymore. If only Shizuku-chan will just look at me and be kind to me like this…'

The yandere-esque ‘madness that excludes others’ had been completely purified by Shizuku’s overwhelming escort ability (nursing), sublimating now into mere ‘overly pure love.’

Falling asleep wrapped in Shizuku’s scent and feeling Shizuku’s warmth. Could heaven exist anywhere else in this world?

'…God. If this is because of my cold, then I’d be fine staying sick forever… I want to stay like this, being spoiled by Shizuku-chan, forever and ever…'

Sniffle, sniffle. With her golden-thread hair spread across the pillow, Aoi began to breathe peacefully in her sleep, like an angel. There was no trace of darkness or madness on her face.

Shizuku’s unconscious kindness possessed such a staggering healing effect that it could even temporarily dispel the curse of a special-grade yandere.

* * *

“Hey, Aoi. You asleep now?”

A few minutes later. Seeing Aoi’s face as she had fallen completely asleep, I let out a small sigh. My right hand, still held by her, was starting to go a little numb, but if I pulled it away now, she’d probably wake up.

'…Well, every now and then, this ain’t so bad.'

I fished my smartphone out with my free left hand, and while idly browsing some news site one-handed, I decided to take it easy until her aunt got home.

'Still, today Aoi was so straightforward and cute. If she’d just relax like that all the time, I’d be a lot less worried.'

That innocent, age-appropriate sweetness she shows only when she has a cold. That in itself was a sort of ‘gap moe’ that greatly tickled my protective instincts as a man from my past life.

But I was making a fundamental misunderstanding at that moment. Aoi’s yandere nature hadn’t been ‘cured.’ Because of my overly perfect nursing, the ‘degree of dependence on Shizuku’ inside her heart had broken through its limits and grown even deeper, stronger, and more unshakable.

When Aoi recovered from her cold next time, what kind of monstrous emotion would this ‘100% pure refined love’ evolve into when it mixed back with her yandere components?

That peaceful afternoon sick visit was nothing but the calm before the storm.