“What happened to your hand?”

Amane was sitting on the sofa when Mahiru saw his bandaged hand, and she frowned.

“Ah, accidentally twisted it during gym class. I had a checkup at the infirmary. Told to rest for a few days.”

Amane accidentally lost his balance while playing basketball in gym class, and he managed to break his fall with his hand, twisting it. The bandage was thus the result of this folly.

The twisted wrist did not seem to hurt much, and it was said he could recover fully in a matter of days, so he did not mind..but Mahiru frowned.

“..What do you intend to do?”

“What else? I’ll just live as normal, try my best not to move it. It’s not like it’s my leg that’s injured.”

“Amane-kun, are you insulting people like me who have injured their legs before?”

“Don’t misunderstand. Anyway, it’s not going to affect me that much to a point of being a hindrance. It’s fine, don’t worry.”

Amane never wanted Mahiru to worry this much for him. After all, it was a little suffering caused by his own carelessness. He could use his left hand, and was not too bothered by it.

Mahiru thought otherwise however. She looked at Amane’s wrist, and gently sighed.

“..I shall assist you until your hand recovers.”

“Eh, you don’t have to. I can use my left hand. I won’t have any issues in my daily life.”

“You are incapable of housework with both hands, and you say you are fine with one?”

“Ugh, now that you say so..but you really don’t need to worry. I have my left hand.”

“Please accept my kindness.”

It seemed she was still mindful of the moment when she injured her ankle. He felt that she repaid the favor with her meals, but it seemed Mahiru thought differently.

She sounded so calm and adamant, and would not allow for him to refuse. He felt a little perturbed, but he could only accept her graciousness obediently.

Ever since she found out about Amane’s wrist injury, Mahiru studiously took care of his daily life.

She made onigiri, and ensured that Amane could eat with one hand. She even took over the housework Amane should have done, and even shopping. Such thorough care left Amane flabbergasted.

The toughest ordeal however was when he had to eat the side dishes.

“I really can eat with my left hand.”

Mahiru fed every single dish to his mouth, like a mother bird to her fledglings, which left him very awkward.

Mahiru’s viewpoint was that she was simply taking care of the sick, and she probably was not embarrassed in the slightest. The one being fed however could not maintain a calm look. He did not dislike this, but he was very, very, very embarrassed.

Mahiru probably assumed that Amane was right handed, and could not use his left hand deftly. Ahhh, but even so, her feeding him was really a grueling test of will.

If Mahiru was actually embarrassed by this, Amane might actually die from embarrassment. Luckily for him, his sanity points merely dropped by half, given how she did so dutifully.

He watched her silently as she fed him, and sighed hard.

“..Erm, can I be honest here?”

He actually intended to state so, but Mahiru’s stubborn insistence would not allow so. Perhaps he would not be in this embarrassing situation if he had said so right from the beginning.

“What is it?”

“..I’m ambidextrous.”

“Eh?”

“I usually use my right, but I actually use both hands when I was younger, so I can eat on my own.”

Amane wanted to say that he could use his left hand, but it seemed Mahiru never realized he was ambidextrous, so she basically forced him to eat.

She was stunned to hear his words, and her face turned increasingly red.

“Wh-why did you not say so earlier?”

“I wanted to, but I couldn’t when you’re so pumped up. I tried to stop you.”

“Th-that may be so..”

“But since you’re so enthusiastic this time, please continue until my bandage’s removed.”

Since he had blushed for so long, it was time for Mahiru to suffer. He thought this little payback should be fine.

So he thought as he deliberately laughed at Mahiru, strongly restraining the shame that was about to explode in him, but it seemed this shame had reached her, for she blushed, and quickly stuffed lots of dishes into his mouth, clearly as a retaliation.

“Oy, that too fast.”

“I do not care.”

She turned her head aside, saying so with a shriller voice than usual. Amane chuckled at this sight of her, and restrained the shame in his heart as he chewed down on the delicious dishes she picked for him.