But she obliged, tentatively spooning up porridge and blowing on it before bringing it to his lips. She also fed him the chilled peaches, using a fork to break the fruit into smaller bites.
‘That was delicious, thank you.’
‘Thank your friend, Mr Rice Cooker.’ With a bashful smile, she gestured at the machine as if she were making an introduction. ‘The next time this happens, though, I’ll be the one doing the cooking … or at least I hope to be.’
He welled up with laughter at the way she backed out in the middle of making this declaration, which led to another painful coughing fit.
‘Quick, lie back down.’ Miho helped him get under the covers and then asked if he had any medicine.
‘I still have some of what I bought.’ As he was speaking, he realized how close her face was to his.
‘I don’t want to give you my cold,’ he warned her.
Miho said she wasn’t worried.
‘My exams are over for the semester, and I’m not going home until the festival … so if I get sick my aunt will take care of me. Plus, I’m pretty healthy.’
As she enumerated her excuses, she brushed her soft lips tentatively against his chapped, feverish ones.
It was at Christmas when they took their relationship to another level.
Though they were both students with limited means, the plan was for them to have a little feast at Kei’ichi’s apartment, complete with Christmas cake for two. They called it a feast but Miho was still inexperienced with cooking and Kei’ichi’s repertoire was limited to simple dishes. So the menu was a choice between temaki sushi or nabe, and they decided on nabe because it was nice to sit around the hot pot in winter.
They had already picked out their presents for each other: matching Swatches that they’d found at the Loft department store in Umeda. Kei’ichi had bought hers and Miho bought his. Still not entirely used to being a couple, they were a little embarrassed about going to the part of the store that sold his-and-hers rings and accessories.
On that Christmas day, neither of them had to worry about catching a cold, and they both probably expected that the evening would end with a kiss.
When the time came to exchange gifts, Kei’ichi handed her two packages.
‘Wait, what’s this for?’
‘Well, the men’s watch cost more. So this is to make up the difference.’
‘You didn’t have to do that! I live with my aunt so I have more flexibility …’
‘Are you saying I’m to be pitied? I can’t have that.’ His hometown accent had inadvertently crept into his voice. ‘C’mon, just open it.’
They’d been dating for more than six months so he had a pretty good idea of her tastes. He was confident that she would like what he had chosen.
Inside was a necklace with a hand-blown glass pendant. The design was delicate, in pale pastels of mostly pink and green.
In the weeks before Christmas, Kei’ichi had saved up by working more hours at his part-time job, so this was within his budget, plus he had occasionally seen Miho wearing something similarly understated.
The saleswoman had also given him the hard sell, emphasizing how reasonably priced it was for such a unique item.
‘Since it’s hand-blown glass, each one that the artisan makes will have subtle variations in colour and shape. So you could say it’s one of a kind.’
His tone was slightly apologetic – the necklace had not been expensive – but all the same, Miho put it on right away.
‘I love hand-blown glass! Thank you!’
Come to think of it, now he remembered that Kyushu, where she was from, was famous for its hand-blown glass.
‘Ah, I forgot!’ Miho said, clapping her hands together. ‘I have another one too! It’s a Christmas present that my friends gave me today …’
She rummaged around in her bag, retrieving an oblong package that she held out with both hands.
‘It’s probably sweets of some sort. I thought we could have it with the cake.’ She began to unwrap the Christmas-themed paper – but then she suddenly became rigid, almost dramatically so.
‘… Miho-chan, those aren’t sweets.’
The packaging featured cute childlike characters, but it was plain that the items inside were intended for adults. Miho was not so naïve that she didn’t recognize what they were.
Miho’s cheeks went up in flames. This time, even her hands that had been unwrapping the package were flushed.
‘I guess I … was wrong …’
It was painfully clear that she hadn’t known what was inside. Her agitation made him burst out laughing.
‘Wha— I can’t believe it! Why on earth would they have given this to me?!’
‘Your friends probably wanted you to open it in front of them. They wanted to see your reaction!’ Miho’s friends could not have known that Kei’ichi would get to enjoy the display all to himself.
‘What the hell were they thinking?! I can’t bring something like this back to my aunt’s house!’
Miho could just imagine her old friends making fun of her.