A typical conversation between guys in college is…

“She’s so cute.”

“I got her contact address, you know?”

“Oh, really? Give me.”

“For a million yen.”

“I’ll kill you.”

It’s really silly.

I was watching my friends arguing like that.

“I mean, is there any girl you think is cute these days, Hidetsugu?”

“Eh? I don’t know.”

Me huh..

“I think Ando-san, who started working part-time with me, is a very nice girl.”

“By Ando, do you mean … Hiyori Ando?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Well, sure, her features are pretty good, but she’s a little … skinny.”

“She seems poor. That kind of woman is a bit.”

My friends laughed and said that,

“Oi, Don’t say that.”

I just couldn’t keep the force out of my voice.

“W-What is it, Hidetsugu? Don’t get so serious.”

“T-that’s right.”

“Ah, sorry. …”

I apologized honestly.

I knew the two of them were joking around.

But when I … remembered the tears she spilled at that moment, I got emotional.

“Ah, speaking of rumors. It’s about Ando-san.”

I turned to look as my friend said that,

“Hey, isn’t she looking a little dizzy?”

“Maybe she’s poor and can’t afford to eat well.”

“I mean, Can’t the convenience store you both work at give bento handouts or something?”

“Maybe it used to be like that, but now it’s a hassle and there are issues with food poisoning and stuff. We don’t get handouts, at least not at the store I work at.”

“What, that’s so cheap.”

Ignoring my friend, who was an outsider but was still complaining, I stared at Ando-san.

Speaking of which, at the end of my part-time job yesterday…

[Hey, have you lost weight again?]

[Haha, I’m sorry. Even though Matsuo-san helped me the other day.]

[No, you don’t need to apologize like that. Do you want to come to my house again?]

[N-No, It’s fine]

She was humble, reserved, and refused.

But I should have brought her to me then, even if I had to force her.

“Ah!”

A voice came out of nowhere.

Ando-san’s thin body swayed unsteadily. Then she fell to the floor.

“Kyaaa!”

The lecture room suddenly became noisy.

“Oi, that’s not good!”

“Seriously!”

I ignored the voices of my friends and rushed out.

I came up to Ando-san, who had collapsed.

“Ando-san, are you okay?”

I called out desperately.

“…… ugh …… Matsuo-san?”

“Hold on, I’ll take you to the health center right now.”

I lifted her collapsed body. She was surprisingly light.

I ran out of the lecture room at a high speed, ignoring all the attention around me.

*****

“She is malnourished”

The nurse at the health center attached to the university said,

“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine after some rest.”

“Thank you.”

“Well, call me if you need anything.”

The nurse smiled and left.

I looked at Ando-san, who was sleeping quietly on the bed.

Her cheeks were thin. My chest tightened looking at her.

“…Sorry.”

Suddenly, she spoke up.

“Ando-san, are you awake?”

“…I’m sorry”

She was not. She was still asleep and having a nightmare.

“I’m…a nuisance…I’m sorry.”

“Ando-san.”

I squeezed her hand. And then, her eyes suddenly opened.

“Ah, …, Matsuo-san.”

“Are you all right”

“Yes. … I’m sorry. D-Did you bring me all the way here, by any chance?

“It’s no big deal.”

“Ah …… sorry.”

I saw her say that with a face that looked like she was about to cry and I ….

“… eh?”

I hugged her.

“…… don’t apologize anymore. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“…M-Matsuo-san.”

Then tears spilled from her eyes.

I waited until she calmed down.

“Thank you …, I feel a little calmer now.’

“I see.”

I moved away from her.

“I-I apologize for hugging you so suddenly, Did you hate it?”

“No, that’s not true. Matsuo-san’s body was big and splendid… and very warm.”

“Haha. You are so small and slender, so I was worried that I might hurt you.”

“Fufufu”

Finally, Ando-san smiled.

“Hey, Ando-san. If you want, you can tell me about your situation.”

“Eh?”

“Because it’s not normal for a person to fall down like this.”

“Oh, that’s right……I’m sorry……ah.”

Ando-san kept her mouth shut.

I patiently waited for her to speak on her own.

“…I-I don’t have any family.”

“Huh?”

“Ah, I have a family on my family register, but my relationships with my family have been severed. …”

“Ando-san ….”

Then, what I heard from her was not pleasant.

Her parents divorced when she was very young. Then her father took her in. Later, her father remarried, but things didn’t work out with her stepmother.

Her stepmother asked her, “Who are you going to choose, me or this child?” As a result, the father decided to abandon Ando-san. Then, she was taken in by a relative.

However, there was no place for her there either.

The relatives took her in only because it would not be good for their image to see her running away to shady establishments. Therefore, they did not show her even the slightest affection.

“I was going to work right after graduating from high school instead of going to college”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. But a teacher at school saw my grades and encouraged me to pursue higher education, and my uncle …, who is my father’s brother, …. also told me to go to college.”

“Is that also, perhaps, for the sake of their image?”

“Yes. Even if I wasn’t his own daughter, he probably didn’t want people to say that he couldn’t put me into college in this day and age. But my uncle had two children of his own, so he didn’t have that kind of financial leeway. So, I only asked them to pay the entrance and tuition fees. The rest of my living expenses are covered by a scholarship I borrowed.”

“Then, any allowance…”

“Not at all.”

“That’s painful… It’s too painful. It’s not about money issues… no one is thinking about you…”

As I was talking, my eyes got hot unintentionally.

“Ah, sorry. I’m the one who’s crying… even though I’m not the one affected.”

“No, no… I’m really grateful to you for helping me in so many ways, Matsuo-san.”

At that moment, I saw the faint smile on Ando-san’s face, and my heart tightened deep in my chest again. At the same time, I clenched my fist in determination.

“Ando-san, come to my place.”

“…. eh?”

“It may really be unnecessary meddling on my part,…. but still, I can’t leave .. … you like this. A nice girl like you is suffering so much…this world is really cruel.”

“Matsuo-san,…”

“You may not like my room as a man, … but still, will you come to my place?”

“It will be troubling for you, Matsuo-san…”

“It’s fine. You’ve been holding back a lot up to now, haven’t you?”

“Yes… but, that’s no excuse for me to rely on Matsuo-san.”

“I don’t want to see that look on your face anymore.”

I looked her straight in the eye and told her.

“I don’t want to see you suffer. I want you to live your campus life more cheerfully and happily.”

Tears welled up in Ando-san’s eyes again.

“Hicc…… hic ……”

Then I patted her back as she cried.

“It’s okay. I’m not your family, I’m just a stranger. But I still want to help you.”

“Thank you so much….Matsuo-san “

For a while after that, she shed tears that were filled with accumulated feelings.