I Want to Hear Your Voice - Chapter 23-1

SS “Cold” (2)

“Dragon God, the human’s God…”

Tears trickled down his face.

“Please, help Sousuke…”

Sousuke. Sousuke. Sousuke…

My chest feels painful as if it will burst. I can’t stop worrying. What if something bad happened to Sousuke? What if the human part of Sousuke did something even worse to him?

What can I do to help Sousuke recover…?

Satori suppressed his voice and continued to cry at the foot of the bed, so as not to wake Sousuke up.

He felt his body floating softly. Satori thought he was dreaming when he felt like he heard the familiar voice of Sousuke calling his name.

“…You sillyhead. You shouldn’t sleep in a place like this.”

(Even though I’ve told him that I’d be okay…)

Sousuke’s hand, which Satori liked very much and was very precious to him, stroked the edges of his swollen, feverish eyes in a comforting way.

Just after, he was gently dropped as if he were lying on something soft, then his favorite presence left. Satori gasped. When he opened his eyes, Sousuke, who didn’t seem any different from usual, noticed him and smiled. Satori’s chest became tight.

“Good morning, Satori.”

“So-so-sousuke…!”

Sousuke…

The tears that had stopped flowing were spilling down once again.

Are you okay now? Are you in pain? Is there anything that hurts? Did the human part inside Sousuke stop doing bad things?

There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he was overwhelmed by his feelings that he couldn’t properly express them in words. Toward that Satori, Sousuke looked at him with a happy, but a bit embarrassed, and a speechless face.

“I told you to believe me.”

As his cheeks were being caressed in a teasing manner, Satori nodded his head while spilling down new tears.

“Thanks for lending these to me.”

(These are your treasures, right?)

Sousuke returned the amethyst pendant and charm pouch containing the memo back to Satori. Then, out of nowhere, he suddenly licked Satori’s cheek that was now covered with tears.

“It’s salty…”

Sousuke let out a wry smile.

“I-I thought something bad will happen to you and I asked the Dragon God for help, but he didn’t answer me…”

I’m glad, I’m glad, I’m glad that Sousuke has recovered.

As Satori said that while sniffling, Sousuke looked a little annoyed. 

(Why does Satori always rely on that guy at times like this…)

When his name was called, Satori turned his tear-stained eyes to Sousuke.

“…Sorry for making you worry.”

(I won’t let you be alone again, Satori. I’ll always stay by your side.)

As Satori was being apologized to with a slightly troubled face, he shook his head to the side.

The depths of his chest felt tight, as if he had eaten too much food. But, it wasn’t because he was sad that he was in pain.

Something warm enveloped Satori’s body. Satori already knew what this was. When people feel overly happy, they tend to want to cry. It was because there’s something that made them very, very happy, that they didn’t know what to do. Sousuke had taught him this.

“I-I’ll also stay by Sousuke’s side! I’ll never leave Sousuke alone!”

At the words Satori said with high spirits, Sousuke laughed with the happiest expression Satori had ever seen on his face.

“Yeah, please do so…”

Satori blushed. He suddenly felt embarrassed for some reason, and he fidgeted while looking down.

“By the way, where did you learn to tie a leek around the neck of someone who got a cold?”

Satori looked up quickly. If that was the question, even he could answer it.

“Yo-you see, I saw that on a TV drama before!”

Because of it, Sousuke really became healthy. Satori’s heart was swelling with excitement, he thought that TV drama was so wonderful to be able to teach him things like that.

“TV drama?”

(Is there a TV drama that still ties a leek around the neck of a sick person nowadays…?)

Hearing Sousuke’s inner voice that seemed to have some doubts, Satori tilted his head, wondering if he had said something weird again.

At that moment, the white fluffy spirits went to Satori’s feet while looking somewhat disgruntled, and urged him for water. He just realized that he had been so upset when Sousuke was sick yesterday, that he had completely neglected them.

“Ah! Sorry, I’ll give you some water quickly!”

As Satori panicked, his foot was caught in the wave of bedsheets and he almost fell. Sousuke’s arm that stretched out on the spur of the moment braced Satori’s body.

“Hey, be careful now.”

“Yu-yup! Thanks!”

“By the way, aren’t these guys becoming more and more cheeky…?”

Huh…?

In the face of Sousuke who muttered in astonishment, Satori felt that there was something strange, but he didn’t know what it was.

Satori felt puzzled.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

It was just my imagination, right…?

When Satori shook his head, Sousuke laughed and said, “What a weird guy.”

Satori was happy and looked down in embarrassment.

“For now, let’s make some food. You probably haven’t eaten anything since last night, right?”

In response to Sousuke who said the word ‘food’, the white fluffy spirits jumped up and down joyfully.

“I know, I know. I’ll give some water to you guys now.”

(Come on now, don’t jump around my feet. I might step on you.)

Satori blinked his eyes in surprise. Was it just his imagination that Sousuke seemed like he could see the white fluffy spirits?

“Satori.”

At that moment, Sousuke called him. At the hands that were stretched out to him without the slightest hesitation, Satori looked at it while squinting his eyes, as if he were looking at something bright.

(Come here.)

Satori smiled softly.

Soon, the dawn would break. Sousuke would go to his job as an announcer, and Satori would perform the duties that he could and also learn about the human world. It was so that he could continue living together with Sousuke in this world.

Now, the day began as usual.