47 Chapter 45 - Ichiba?!

"Ichiba...?! "

The person who bumping into him turned out to be Ichiba. Really, it seemed like this girl was clumsy.

"Ittetete, ouch... Thank you, Toru-kun. You saved me... ", sitting on him, Ichiba held her ankle while trying to stand up. Looking a little pained.

"Ish, how did you fall? clumsy girl"

"I slipped on the stairs, ugh"

"Is your ankle okay? Let me see."

Ichiba sat on a nearby staircase, seemingly struggling to stand up. This girl, it's a good thing he was at the bottom. Otherwise, the injury might have been worse. "...As expected, it looks like you sprained it" Ryousuke continued. Holding her ankle and seeing that her foot was sprained.

"ouch ouch, ugh, it hurts"

"You should go to the School's Health Clinic. Come on, I'll take you"

"Ouch... Un, sorry to trouble you Toru-kun"

"It's okay"

Seeing her face in pain, how could he just look at her right? Of course he would help her. Ryousuke picked up Ichiba and carried her. After that he walked towards the infirmary.

*ding dong deng deng!

Ugh, the timing wasn't right. Having a sour face, Ryousuke realized that he would be late for class. The bell had rung, which meant that class time was starting again. But so be it, right now his priority was to get Ichiba to the School's Health Clinic.

They soon arrived at the School's Health Clinic. He knocked on the door, and a voice saying "come in" could be heard from inside. Opening the door, he saw that the School's Health Clinic officer who was the female sensei was sitting, doing something on her laptop.

"Excuse me sensei, I brought my friend who sprained her leg."

Diverting her attention, sensei looked at the two of us. She instantly understood the situation, so she nodded and told Ryousuke to get a chair and sit Ichiba down.

"Ah... It's sprained, but it doesn't seem too bad. So it'll probably heal in a week as well" Sensei explained, holding Ichiba's ankle and icing it.

Hearing her words, Ichiba made a disgruntled and frustrated face. She lowered her head and looked like she wanted to cry.

"But, our drama performance starts this Friday... "

Ah, it seemed like she was worried about the performance that would be performed this week. As the main lead, she did play a big role in the continuation of their drama, without her, the drama club would have a hard time continuing the drama they were going to do and finding a replacement.

"...Ichiba"

"You can't. Your leg won't be healed by then, you'll only make it worse if you do something strenuous"

"B-but!"

"No buts. Your club activities are important, but your health is more important"

"Sensei is right, Ichiba. You should just rest for now. We'll try to discuss this at the club later"

"..."

She was angry. Well, that's normal anyway, after all this drama performance is very important to her. It's also their first drama club performance since they entered, so of course Ichiba wants to go.

But looking at her current condition... That's not possible. Unless she really wanted her ankle to get worse, which was certainly not a reasonable decision.

Looking down, Ichiba clenched her hands hard. Her eyes began to tear up and she restrained herself from crying with all her might.

Sensei seemed to realize that, as she began to smile and calm Ichiba down. "Take it easy, if you rest well, you'll probably recover faster too"

"For now, just lie down on the bed there and wait for me to call your house. You should go home for today, it's not effective for studying if you're in this condition"

"...Yes, sensei"

"Good, give me your home number"

"...Here"

Sensei seemed to have bandaged Ichiba's leg(left ankle) and treated it. So, she told Ichiba to lie down on the bed.

Sensei also started walking out of the room and started calling Ichiba's home.

Ryousuke picked her up and made her lie down on the School's Health Clinic bed. Although her face looked very wrinkled, but it seemed that she also understood her own condition.

"Good rest Ichiba. I'll tell Kazuki-san about this"

"...Una"

"Yes."

He knew Ichiba and Una were very close friends. Maybe if Una was here, she would be able to calm Ichiba down more. So, he called her. Walking to a corner of the room some distance away from Ichiba, he called Una.

Una immediately answered his call.

[sensei, excuse me. I permission to pick up the phone]

She also seemed to ask the teacher in her class for permission. After that, a few steps were heard, and she seemed to go out of the classroom to get some privacy.

[hello?]

"hello, Kazuki-san, it's me, Toru. Can you come to School's Health Clinic? Ichiba had just slipped on the stairs and now had a sprained leg. She looks very depressed because it looks like it will take a week to heal and it's not possible to perform in the drama"

He explained the details briefly.

[I see. No wonder she hasn't returned to class yet. She's just making me worry. Okay, thanks Toru-kun, I'm coming now]

Una's angry voice could be heard. Although, her angry voice couldn't mask how worried she was about Ichiba.

"Yeah, I'll hang up then"

[fine]

*tut, he hung up and turned back to Ichiba. "looks like Una is coming"

"...I see", Ichiba replied lacklusterly. Her face still looked upset and sad.

Just then, Sensei re-entered the room and sat in her place again. "Ichiba-chan, just rest. Your pick-up will be here in a moment"

Ichiba just nodded in reply. While waiting for Ichiba's pickup and Una to arrive, they just stayed quietly.

It didn't take long for Una to arrive. She seemed to be running and was already out of breath by the time she arrived at the door.

"...Sakura?! What a careless girl! ", she immediately rushed to Ichiba's side when she saw her lying on the bed.

"Una..."

"Damn it, you're so bad"

Una hugged Ichiba gently. And just like that, Ichiba burst into tears and began to speak her mind to Una. "Uwaaa, hiks. She said I can't perform in the drama in this conditionnnn"

"Sakura... "

Seeing this, Una also began to feel sad and looked teary-eyed. She patted Ichiba's head gently and let the girl cry out her sadness.

... That's good. Ichiba is indeed better off with Una around. It seems he is no longer needed here.

He averted his eyes and smiled wryly at sensei who was still watching them, then he nodded and pointed his finger out, not wanting to disturb Ichiba.

Sensei nodded, then he also patted Una's shoulder lightly. Una turned her gaze to him and he also signaled to her that he was leaving. Una also nodded while moving her mouth without making a sound, "thank you"

Ryousuke nodded, and left the room quietly.

Walking alone back to his class, Ryousuke had a sour face. Why couldn't everything just go smoothly? Now they can't perform without their main cast. Hahh... He didn't know what was going to happen now...

'Why is this starting to looks like something that would happen in those Japanese school life films? Sheesh, seriously'