Editing HanTsuki:Volume 2 Chapter 1 (section)

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Countless bed sheets and towels hung on the rooftop looked like they were dancing to the wind.

As I basked in the sun and stared at the cloudless blue sky, feeling the soft and warm wind, I felt as if spring had arrived. Having rested for three whole days, my cold had pretty much subsided, but since my body had been warmed up under this warm weather and sunshine, I was both lazy and drowsy.
    
Speaking of which, Tada also really liked sitting on the rooftop like I do.  

Just like an old turtle. 

The ward that Tada used to live in had just received a new patient. It seemed it was a university student with a broken leg. But what's enviable, no, not at all enviable, was the fact that a girlfriend-like person comes to visit him every day. Looking at his room from the rooftop, I could see the door is open, and its interiors fully visible. In the brightly lit room, the two were chatting happily. How much I would like to go and pat his shoulder to tell him.

Everything had become the past tense... 

I want to walk into their room, to tell them, there used to be a perverted old man called Tada that had lived here for over a dozen years; I want to tell them, this old man collected thousands of porno magazines, and before he passed away, he gave them all to me. 

Tada-san definitely lived. 

He definitely existed in this world. 

He lived for 80 years. 

Of course, it's not possible to tell them all this. 

"Wha'?" 

They might look at me confoundedly. 

"So what?" 

They might also say. 

Ah, Tada-san, you've gone too far. It's all because of you, that Rika hates me now.

Even when he's dead, he still causes problems, how horrible. 

Tada-san would definitely laugh wholeheartedly, "hahahaha~".

If it's him, he'd definitely be convulsed with laughter. 

As I stood in a daze, "What are you doing?", came a voice from above. 

I slowly looked up, happening to see a young man standing there. His white outfit told me he was a doctor. But I've never seen him before, so was he a new doctor sent over from the university? 

This was what I had learned when I was hospitalised: small hospitals like Wakaba Hospital are all affiliated with a University Med school. It's like convenience store chains. So sometimes, young doctors from that med school were sent here to gain experience. It's killing two birds with one stone.

I imitated Tada's face and tried to smile. 

"I'm enjoying the sunshine." 

"Oh", he said softly. 

"You'd better return to your room before the weather gets cold. Your cold isn't fully cured yet." 

"Huh?" 

Why would this guy know that I had caught a cold? 

Wakaba Hospital, though small, still had over 100 patients, and a patient's illness can't be known by all doctors, usually only by the attending physician. Not to mention, a doctor that just arrived from med school couldn't possibly know my illness, because I only caught this cold recently. This was weird. 

Noticing my confusion, the doctor chuckled: 

"You still haven't realised!" 

"What?" 

"It's me!" 

"Doctor Natsume!" 

"Mm." 

This handsome young man grinned at me. 

"Am I not cool or what?" 

This is unbelievable! 

When I first saw him, his face was full of stubble, and his hair was messy, completely like a sloppy uncle. 

But this person in front of me was obviously a gentle and mild youth. The hair style is quite fashionable, and the slightly long hair gives off a cool and comfortable feeling. With a clear contour of the face, beautiful double eyelids, long lashes, and light brown pupils, even though his grin irritated me, this can only be described as a young handsome man. 

This is infuriating! 

Any male would be angry after seeing such a young handsome man. Shoot, everyone would think so. 

Definitely detestable! 

"I'm going to go hiking, " said Doctor Natsume. 

No, just Natsume is fine. 

I changed the way I called him in my heart. 

There's no need to append "Doctor" to his name. 

"It's a hobby I've had since I was a student. Two whole months, I've confined myself in a small cabin in the mountains, living by myself. Don't you think it's rude, calling me to be on duty just after I came out from the mountains. During the 2 months on the mountain, I didn't shower, shave or even cut my hair. I even scared a child at the spot that came for an emergency call." 

Natsume laughed again. "Hahaha".

"After duty, I had a shower and went to the hairdresser. It felt like turning from an ape-man back to being a human. Hey, Ezaki, do you understand what I'm saying? Why are you looking at me with such a scary expression?" 

"Nothing's wrong"

As if there's something he's really enjoying, he didn't stop smiling. He seemed to have just smoked, because there was a lingering smell as he took a seat beside me. Once again looking at Natsume sitting beside me, I confirmed he's definitely over 30. He's already at the age where he should marry, and wouldn't be strange even if he had a child or two. But the aura he gives off was quite young, or at least not old at all. 

There were these kinds of teachers at school as well. A frank personality, so rather than a teacher, he'd feel more like an elder brother, very sociable and popular among girls. 

However, personally, I find it difficult to interact with these teachers. 

Therefore, I'm sure it'll also be difficult to get along with Natsume. 

Of course, it's definitely like this. 

Without mistake.

"Did you have a quarrel with Rika?" he suddenly asked. 

"How did you know?" 

"Rika had been complaining about it. She's so angry there are flames in her eyes. Very intimidating indeed. She even yelled,' boys are all idiots!' She sure is scary when she's angry." 

"Totally scary!" 

I nod furiously. 

Just thinking about Rika's raged eyes sent chills down my spine. 

"Well, it ''is'' Rika." 

However, for some weird reason, just listening to Natsume, I feel anger boiling up within me. After thinking through it carefully,  Natsume actually just called Rika's name directly. To have another man, not to mention a handsome young man to call her name like this, infuriated me. 

"Do you know Rika?" 

"Of course I do, I'm her attending doctor." 

"Attending doctor? So you specialise in cardiology?" 

Hearing my question, Natsume seemed quite surprised. 

"Has Rika told you about her condition?" 

"Mm." 

Natsume sighed softly. 

"Well, isn't that rare. Rika actually mentioned her illness." 

"Why is that?" 

"I've known her for a long time. Started from the hospital in Shizuoka, 5 years? no, it's been 6 years. She has never told anyone about 
her own condition until now." 

"Ah?" 

"Maybe it's just her personality. She never had any friends before, so she's quite sensitive about this topic." 

Natsume appeared very happy. 

"For Rika, you are a very important existence- a patient that can chat with her. You have to get along with each other in the future too, ok!" 

He's smiling wholeheartedly. 

And I changed my opinion of him. 

Perhaps, he's not as bad as I think he was. 

"To have a friend like you is quite nice." 

Friend? He specifically emphasised the word "friend".

Had it been my hallucination? 

"Friends are really important, as they can share anything with each other. Lovers are different. Lovers have a gap, and some things cannot be shared. The saying that opposite genders can  never have true friendship are made just to fool children. Rika and you are friends, right!" 

The more I listened, the angrier I got. 

A gap? 

Not lovers? 

Rika and I weren't only friends. Though we hadn't confessed, our relationship wasn't that simple. I didn't know how to put it into words, but we weren't just normal friends! 

After regaining self-consciousness, I realise I'm glaring at Natsume. 

He was also looking at me with a cheeky expression and a smirk on his face. 

Just earlier, I changed my opinion of him, but I reverted back now. 

I still detested him. 

No, I hate him!