Chapter 72

Synopsis
Saikawa suddenly falls ill with a cold for the first time in his life, so Ryuuichi, Kotaro, and the chairwoman take care of him. As he recovers, he experiences the emotional sentiments of familial love.

Long Summary
Kotaro is helping Ryuu pluck the strings off the garden peas. Once they are done, Ryuu turns to Saikawa, asking if they need to assist in anything else. However, Saikawa does not move, and stands like a statue. Just then, he staggers and falls backwards, and Ryuu rushes to catch him. He moves him onto the couch, and Kotaro checks to see if he still has a heartbeat while Ryuu, panicked, calls the chairwoman and informs her of the incident. Kotaro touches Saikawa's face and notices that it is quite hot. The house-call doctor examines Saikawa, saying that his fever is quite high, but he just has the cold. The chairwoman scolds Saikawa for not noticing his symptoms, and Saikawa responds that he has lost face. He admits that his body felt sluggish and that his throat was starting to hurt, but since he has never contracted a cold in his life, he did not recognize that he was ill. He then stands up and walks into the hallway, announcing that his illness must not hinder him from doing his tasks. He then falls face-first onto the hallway floor. Ryuu tries to carry Saikawa back, but Kotaro, who is now crying, tries to help carry him too. Saikawa puts on a face mask to prevent the spread of infection. The chairwoman orders him to be obediently nursed back to health, and Saikawa agrees to heed her order. The chairwoman says that she will make dinner preparations, and Saikawa, by a conditioned reflex, immediately sits up in his bed. Saikawa apologizes for worrying everyone and explains that he never knew a cold could make one's body feel so sluggish. He says that he would like to fully experience what it is like to suffer through a cold. Ryuu and Kotaro wrap a negi, an onion, around Saikawa's neck, give him rabbit-shaped apples, and hold onto Saikawa's hand. Saikawa informs the chairwoman that he would like to experience being nursed for a cold. He asks for someone to blow on his food and feed it to him. Kotaro takes a spoonful of rice porridge and gently blows on it. When he offers it to Saikawa, Saikawa takes the spoon and feeds Kotaro. Ryuu asks why Saikawa was the one feeding Kotaro, to which Saikawa replies that he did not dare eat after he made Kotaro hungry. The chairwoman, Kotaro, and Ryuu leave Saikawa alone in the room, allowing him to finish eating and go to sleep. Alone in the room, Saikawa reflects on the practices used for nursing sick patients. He doubts the effects of the negi's scent, ponders whether having grated apples would be better for his throat, and thinks about the embarrassment from holding someone's hand. The rice porridge was dull to eat alone and had no flavor or scent. Suddenly, Kotaro knocks on the door and enters, carrying several stuffed toys and books, saying that they are his friends. Ryuu follows him with more stuffed plushies. Kotaro places them on Saikawa's bed and asks if he is lonely. Saikawa holds up a cat plushie and tells Kotaro that because of him, his loneliness as disappeared. Saikawa decides that Kotaro lending his friends to him is a very effective way of treating a cold. The next day, Saikawa has made a full recovery, but now, the chairwoman has a cold. Saikawa says that he wanted to return home in order to prevent spreading the infection, but the chairwoman says that it cannot be helped that a family member transferred a cold to her. Saikawa is rather surprised, saying that he was not aware that the chairwoman, Ryuu, and Kotaro regard him as a family member. The chairwoman claims that it is simply a figure of speech, but Saikawa looks over to a framed picture of him, the chairwoman, Ryuu, and Kotaro. Saikawa announces that he will wrap a negi around her neck, grate apples for her, have Ryuu hold her hand, and lend Kotaro's friends to her. He reflects on all these methods, thinking to himself that all of these are what one would consider as a family's love and affection.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Kotaro Kashima
 * Ryuuichi Kashima
 * Saikawa Keigo
 * Morinomiya Youko
 * Morinomiya Youichi (photograph)