Chapter 273: Examination

“Ai, how is it going with that guy, Handa?” After putting down her coffee cup, Kogure Ryoko asked her friend, who was sitting across from her.

“Not bad.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes.” Aikura Ai nervously picked up her cup and took a sip of coffee, hoping to cover the expression on her face.

Kogure Ryoko rubbed her temples and said, “Please, Handa is my boyfriend’s classmate, and we introduced him to you. Whatever the status of your relationship is, my boyfriend can easily find out, so you really think you can hide it from me? He complained to us, saying you wouldn’t meet him. Is that true?”

Aikura Ai suppressed her laughter and stayed silent.

Kogure Ryoko glared at her. “You’re still laughing? What’s wrong with Handa? He’s cheerful, good-looking, and he’s a perfect match for someone as introverted as you. Plus, he’s into you. Do you know he’s really popular at school? If you don’t act soon, someone else might steal him from you, and by the time you regret it, it’ll be too late.”

Aikura Ai smiled and said, “Ryoko, you’re like a matchmaker.”

Kogure Ryoko scoffed, “Just keep making fun of me. Be careful, one day, when you’re an old spinster, you’ll have to go to places like that to find men who no woman would even look at. Now, tell me, what exactly do you not like about him? So I can remind him.”

Aikura Ai hesitated and said, “Maybe our personalities just don’t match.”

“That’s a really lousy excuse. You’re already a bookworm, do you want to find another bookworm to be your boyfriend?”

“Isn’t that a personal attack?”

Kogure Ryoko was a bit helpless. “Fine, if you don’t like him, then forget it. Next time, I’ll introduce you to a guy who’s not too outgoing.”

“Ryoko, there’s no need…”

Before she could finish her sentence, a phone rang from Kogure Ryoko’s side.

Kogure Ryoko immediately pulled out her phone.

“I know, I’m chatting with a friend and I’ll be there soon.”

“Crazy, it’s a girl. Fine, whatever. I’ll be over in a bit.” After hanging up, Kogure Ryoko turned to Aikura Ai and said, “My boyfriend is calling me. I have to go now. You’ll be fine getting home, right?”

“Of course, no problem. You can go ahead.”

“Alright, I’ll leave then. We’ll talk again in a couple of days.” She said this and, with her handbag, left the café.

Watching her energetic figure walk away, Aikura Ai smiled and called over the waiter to settle the bill.

As she walked down the street, Aikura Ai remembered the question Ryoko had asked earlier.

In fact, there was something she hadn’t told Ryoko.

To not let her friend’s good intentions go to waste, she had started trying to date the guy named Handa. But unexpectedly, after less than half a month of dating, he wanted to take her to a hotel. Faced with such a blatant and unmasked request, she didn’t know how to respond. After refusing him, she returned to her apartment alone and had not contacted him again, deliberately avoiding his calls.

In reality, she was also very aware that in today’s fast-paced, efficiency-driven city, with fast food joints everywhere, the way men and women interact was just like this.

The girls and boys around her were like this: if they liked each other, they got together, and if they grew tired of each other, they broke up, moving on to find their next partner. In their relationships, sex was a normal part of things. It was also an important factor in maintaining their relationship. Although many couples started to get bored of each other after becoming tired of each other’s bodies.

The guy named Handa wouldn’t wait until marriage to sleep with her either, because they were both young, and neither had considered whether they would actually get married. The idea of marriage seemed so distant. Therefore, living for the moment was the true mindset of many young people nowadays.

However, she could never adapt to this fast-food style of romance. She felt deep down that, between men and women, beyond sex, there should be more to communicate with each other, or more profound experiences beyond just physical pleasure.

At that moment, she suddenly recalled something her philosophy teacher had said about Platonic love, which pursues only spiritual connection and rejects physical desires. But did such love without desire truly exist in the world?

Lost in thought as she walked, she didn’t hear someone calling out to her. When she finally started to hear something and turned her head in that direction, she saw a large truck barreling towards her like a monstrous beast.

Though the truck screeched its brakes loudly, it was too close, and due to inertia, the truck kept heading toward her.

In the instant the truck was about to hit her, Aikura Ai suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if she had transformed into a butterfly, slowly floating upwards.

※※※

The elevator door opened with a “ding.”

Two girls walked out of the elevator, one of them holding a bouquet of flowers.

“I wonder if she’ll wake up today?” the girl holding the flowers said with a worried expression.

Her companion comforted her, “Don’t worry, the doctor said she’s starting to improve.”

Just then, she pointed at the back of a man ahead of them with surprise. “Aiko, that looks like Gennai.”

Aiko followed her gaze and saw a tall man supporting a girl as they walked slowly forward. Alongside them was a girl wearing glasses.

“That really looks like him. Let’s go up and check,” Aiko said, quickening her pace. Murashima Mami immediately followed.

When they were just a few meters away from the man, he suddenly stopped and turned around to look at them.

It was indeed him.

Aiko immediately walked over and asked, “Hey, what are you doing here?”

Lei Yin, surprised to see the two of them, replied, “Rumi’s not feeling well. I brought her here for a check-up. What about you two?” Since Aiko had met Kazumi and Rumi in high school, he didn’t feel the need to introduce her.

Aiko looked at the girl standing beside him with curiosity, soon recognizing her as his distant relative who had once stayed at his house. It had been years since they last met, and she noticed the girl had grown more beautiful, though her complexion didn’t seem too good.

Coming back to her senses, Aiko said, “Do you remember my friend, Aikura Ai? She was hit by a car a few days ago while crossing the street and is now hospitalized here for observation.”

Lei Yin quickly remembered the shy and introverted girl and asked, “How is she now?”

Aiko, visibly worried, said, “The doctor said she’s out of danger, but because of the head injury, she hasn’t woken up yet. It’s all that bastard driver’s fault. How can there be so many drunks in this world?” She became more agitated as she spoke.

Lei Yin remained silent. Prolonged unconsciousness wasn’t a good sign.

Aiko then said, “Hey, we’re going to see Aiko now. Let’s talk later.” For some reason, she always felt like his younger sister, the girl with glasses, didn’t like her. Even now, her gaze felt cold and distant, making Aiko feel uncomfortable.

Lei Yin nodded. “If you need any help, call me.”

“Mm.”

After parting ways with them, Aiko said, “I didn’t expect to see them here.”

“Yes, it’s quite a coincidence,” Murashima Mami replied thoughtfully. The image of the girl from earlier, holding onto his arm tightly, kept appearing in her mind.

After a series of tests, including an ECG, blood pressure, blood tests, and ultrasound, Lei Yin asked Kazumi to wait outside with Rumi, and then he entered the doctor’s consultation room alone.

Inside the quiet consultation room, a doctor in his fifties was carefully examining the results of the tests.

After a while, he looked up and said to Lei Yin, “All these test results show that there’s nothing unusual with the patient’s physical condition.”

Lei Yin wasn’t surprised by this answer. Before coming to the hospital, he had already checked her pulse and hadn’t found anything abnormal.

Lei Yin frowned and asked, “Then why does she feel nauseous and vomit every time she eats? She’s never had this problem before.”

The doctor asked, “When did she start having these symptoms?”

Lei Yin replied, “Yesterday morning. After she woke up, my sister made breakfast for her like usual, but she only took one bite before she started vomiting. At first, we thought she just didn’t have much of an appetite after waking up, so we didn’t think much of it. But at lunch and dinner, it was the same. She would vomit every time she ate. That’s why we brought her here for a check-up.”

“Did these symptoms appear suddenly?” The doctor lowered his head, thinking.

After a moment, the doctor raised his head and said, “Since we’ve mostly ruled out physical illnesses, I suggest you take her to a psychiatrist for an evaluation.”

“You think this is caused by psychological issues?” Lei Yin asked.

“It’s very likely, because unless there’s an acute illness or food poisoning, it’s rare to have such sudden symptoms.”

“Thank you for your suggestion. I’ll take her for further checks,” Lei Yin said while collecting the test results.

When Lei Yin came out of the consultation room, Kazumi was anxiously watching him, afraid to hear bad news. A trace of worry also appeared in the girl’s eyes.

Walking up to her, Lei Yin gently tapped her head and said to his sister, “Don’t worry. Her body is fine. All the test results came back normal.”

Hearing this, Kazumi finally let out a sigh of relief.

Lei Yin turned to the girl and said, “Rumi, the doctor said your symptoms might be caused by psychological factors, so I’m going to take you to a mental health specialist for a check-up.”

When the girl heard the words “mental health specialist,” she immediately frowned.

Lei Yin had already expected her to react like this, as ordinary people often associate psychological illnesses with eccentric behavior, thinking of them as something related to severely mentally ill patients. That’s why he explained things clearly to her beforehand.

Sitting next to her, Lei Yin asked, “Rumi, how many times a day do you wash your hands?”

This strange question not only confused Rumi, but even Kazumi thought it was odd.

After a moment of thought, Rumi answered, “I haven’t really counted, maybe eight or nine times. If my hands get dirty, I’ll wash them again.”

Lei Yin continued, “Some people wash their hands more than twenty times a day. If they touch something or shake someone’s hand, they’ll immediately go wash their hands. They also often clean their living spaces several times a day, not allowing any dust to settle. This is called mild obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Other people wash their hands frequently as well. When they wash their hands in a public bathroom, they take out their own soap from their pocket, scrub their hands very hard, and even risk damaging their skin just to ensure they’re thoroughly cleaned. This is a more severe form of obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

“Whether it’s mild or severe, obsessive cleanliness is caused by psychological compulsive disorder. Simply put, psychological compulsive disorder is when someone forces themselves to do things they don’t want to do or shouldn’t do. It is a form of mental illness.”

“In fact, mental illness is a common urban ailment, just like a cold or fever. So Rumi, I hope you don’t look at mental health specialists with prejudice. Maybe they can help you.”

The girl gave him a deep look, then smiled and said, “I understand. Senpai.”

“It seems I also have mild obsessive cleanliness. To prevent my condition from worsening, you can take care of the cleaning at the apartment from now on,” Kazumi suddenly said in a playful tone.

“What are you talking about? Don’t mix things up!” Lei Yin responded.

“But when you were talking about cleaning earlier, I couldn’t help but feel like you were mocking me.”

“Hey.”

Rumi covered her mouth and chuckled lightly.

When the three of them came out of the psychiatrist’s consultation room, Kazumi looked a little disappointed.

Seeing her like this, Rumi comforted her, “Don’t worry, I’m fine now.”

Seeing her smile, Kazumi felt a pang in her heart. Rumi hadn’t eaten for nearly two days because of the vomiting. Even walking a little distance required someone to support her, or she would feel dizzy. How could she really say she was fine?

Since Rumi couldn’t eat, Lei Yin and Kazumi had to stay at the hospital while she received intravenous glucose and protein drips to ensure she got enough sugar and protein for the day.

Having trained in kendo since childhood, Rumi had always been physically strong and rarely got sick, unlike most girls who were afraid of injections and medication.

When she saw the nurse preparing the sharp needle for the IV, her right hand trembled, and she buried her head deeply in Lei Yin’s arms, not daring to look.

But when the nurse applied alcohol to disinfect her hand, the cool sensation made her think the needle had already been inserted, and she couldn’t help but let out a small cry.

When she looked back, she realized the needle hadn’t even touched her hand yet, and she quickly turned her head away again.

Finally, the needle was properly inserted into her skin. The girl immediately clenched her teeth, trying not to cry out in pain.

Though the needle had gone in, it was clear that the nurse’s skill wasn’t very good. The needle was slightly off, and because of this small mistake, a lump quickly formed on Rumi’s right hand.

“I’m so sorry, I really am,” the young nurse apologized immediately.

Lei Yin glanced at her and said, “Be more careful next time.”

“I understand,” the nurse replied, asking Rumi to extend her other hand for the injection.

The girl had no choice but to endure the pain again.

Fortunately, the second time the nurse successfully inserted the needle into the vein without missing.

Once everything was finished, Lei Yin said, “Could you please bring a warm water bottle? I’d like to apply it to her hand.”

“Please wait a moment, I’ll get it for you right now,” the nurse quickly left to fetch it.

“Are you alright?” Lei Yin asked, gently holding the girl in his arms.

She lightly shook her head and kept her face buried in his chest, not showing any intention of lifting her head.