Although there were students who we passed by who looked on curiously upon seeing me carrying someone like a princess, they soon lost their interest after seeing the wound on Arisa-senpais knee. And that made our trip to the infirmary smooth.

Arisa-senpai, on the other hand, used her hand to cover her face. Most likely, she didnt want to be seen by others as a clumsy one or she just didnt want to look at me directly.

Either of the two, it didnt matter at all.

Just the fact that she specifically came to check on me was enough to raise my mood. Even if she ended up pushing me away after the treatment, knowing that I was still on her mind was enough.

When I arrived at the infirmary, Hayashi-sensei wasnt in. Thats surprising since every time I would come here, shed be inside.

In any case, I opened the door and put her down on one of the beds.

Stay still, senpai. Let me get the first aid kit. We have to treat that before infection sets in.

Y-you dont have to. I can

There you go again. I promise Ill leave after treating your knees. I cut her off and went to one side of the infirmary where the first aid cabinet was located.

I quickly picked the necessary medical items for it before returning to her side.

I made sure not to look at her face directly because if I did, the restraint that I put on myself concerning the attraction I was feeling for her would burst out.

Besides, she also remained silent after I cut her off. Whatevers on her mind at the moment, shes keeping it to herself.

Although I wanted to catch her sneaking on me at first, that changed after seeing that pained expression and her clear attempt to not look at me.

Rather than use this chance to get close to her again, I just wanted to treat her injury and make sure that shes fine.

As I kneeled in front of her, Arisa-senpai hurriedly pushed down her hands between her legs.

Well, shes wearing a skirt so if she didnt do that, I could easily take a peek.

Hold it properly, senpai. Let me check how serious it is first. I said as I held onto one of her legs to inspect the wound.

Uh I could describe how wonderful her leg feels in my hand in detail but I better not, right? Its not the right time.

Pushing that thought to the back of my mind, I seriously began inspecting her wound.

Both of her knees were scraped but thankfully, its not as big as I first thought. Its just her blood that made it look like that at first glance. Still, she would need to plaster a band-aid on her knees for a few days until the wound dries. However, it would surely leave a scar. Its on her knees after all.

For girls like her, having a scar was somewhat shameful. She might need to get a scar-removal lotion and apply it carefully. But thats after it healed completely.

Its not that serious, thankfully. But I cant help but wonder how you trip and get wounded like this... Please be careful next time, senpai. I muttered my evaluation to which she responded with a weak whimper.

At this point, I had no choice but to look up and check on her expression. Her lips were pursed, her forehead was slightly creased and her eyes were half-open as if shes deliberating whether to look down or not.

Nonetheless, with our eyes meeting each other, she hurriedly averted her gaze. Seeing that, I felt a little bitter. She really hated looking at me or its just her way to also stop that attraction shes feeling for me.

Were both aware of it. It would definitely be uncontrollable if we let it run rampant.

Anyway, Ill clean the wound first Please endure the pain, senpai. It will only sting a bit.

I brought out some cotton and wet it with alcohol. But before I could push it to her wound, one of her hands grabbed at my wrist, stopping me.

W-wait dont use alcohol.

Its understandable for her to do this. Even me, I somehow hate the feeling of that stinging pain. However, its not a reason to stop.

I continued moving my hand, overpowering the strength shes using to stop me.

Seeing that shes losing on that part, her leg then tried to eject from my hold. But given that I was prepared for that, I just held it down and pushed the cotton on her wound.

At the same time as that, I looked up and saw Arisa-senpai issuing a hissing sound as she tried her hardest not to scream from the pain. The corners of her eyes quickly became wet as tears threatened to form and trickle from them.

I hated seeing her being hurt but this was necessary. So as soon as her leg stopped trembling, I put all my focus on cleaning her wound. And once thats done, I switched to her other knee.

With the most painful part done, I quickly move to apply the antibiotic cream on both knees before putting on band-aids on both knees.

It didnt take that long. Scraped wounds werent that serious anyway. Its just painful. The reason that it needed to be treated quickly was to prevent infection.

There. Its done. I declared as I let go of her legs. Senpai should take this time to rest. Let the medicine do its wonder before walking again.

I stood up to throw away the bloodied pieces of cotton and returned what I used to the first aid cabinet.

T-thank you.

With my back turned to her, I heard a weak voice uttering her gratitude to me.

Its partly my fault anyway so Im just guilty. Theres no need to thank me, senpai. I answered without turning around to face her.

This should be the time to leave as I promised. However, I found myself hesitating to turn around and walk out of the door.

Seconds passed quickly and I remained at that spot, just staring at the red cross symbol of the first-aid cabinet.

O-onoda-kun?

Perhaps wondering why I got stuck there, Arisa-senpai called out to me.

Hmm? Dont mind me, senpai. Ill leave as promised. I I just need a little time to calm myself down.

Thats not why I

Arisa-senpai tried to say something but in the end, she couldnt finish it as her voice trailed off.

Most likely, shes trying to say Thats not why I called out to you. However, remembering that she had chosen to distance herself from me, she stopped.

Well, thats my own pessimistic interpretation. I said I accepted that she chose that option but it still stings. Its more painful than applying alcohol to a wound.

See that, you cant finish it, senpai. Its really fine. You focus on getting better and I wont show up at that abandoned clubroom again. To stop the same incident from happening.

At this point, I already found the courage to turn around and walk straight towards the door.

That last sentence I uttered had two different meanings. The first one was obviously seeing her scampering off to escape only to trip and injure herself. The other meaning was about our relationship. Call it helping her or anything but if we found ourselves alone in the same room, like this, that undeniable attraction would go haywire.

I was barely holding on so I had to escape quickly before I lost myself to it. Shed hate it if it happens. Possibly.

Its not like this would be the last time wed see each other. Perhaps a month from now or if not that, a year later, I would still have a chance to seriously go after her. At the moment, its better to respect her choice and see where that would take her.

Yep. That should be the case

However, before reaching the door and escaping the infirmary, from the corner of my eyes, Arisa-senpais staggering figure came rushing.

You numbskull! Stop creating your own damn conclusion!

Along with that snarly scream from her, Arisa-senpai tackled me down, her arms slipped to my back and gripped my clothes tightly.

Ignoring the pain from falling on my butt, I lowered my head to see the girl holding onto me, her face buried in my chest.

This girl just after telling her not to move, she did this.

Moments later, a warm sensation seeped into my uniform, spreading onto my chest.

I recognized it.

Tears.

Arisa-senpai was crying.