The Legend of Level 0 in Academy City

"Yeah, right? I think so too! Hey, Little Grey? Little Grey!"

Misaka Mirei didn't notice the sinister and resentful look in Inoue Hideka's eyes, and happily called out to the kitten.

Misaka Mikoto: "..."

Am I the only one who thinks this name is incredibly tacky?

Chapter 318 Illness

December 23st, early morning.

The Inoue family home was unusually quiet this morning.

Saten Ruiko slept soundly until she woke up naturally. After getting up and dressing, before going out to wash up, she wondered why she hadn't heard Inoue Eika get up today.

At this time of day, he should have already gone out for his physical exercise.

Surprisingly, Saten Ruiko didn't notice anything today.

After comforting Misaka Mikoto to continue sleeping, Saten Ruiko glanced wryly at the cat sleeping beside Misaka Mikoto, who had been given the ridiculously nicknamed "Little Grey," and then opened the door to the living room.

Looking towards the sofa with a probing gaze, Saten Ruiko's expression suddenly became quite interesting, showing helplessness, speechlessness, a smirk, and a hint of affection.

From Saten Ruiko's angle, a pair of exposed feet can be seen next to the sofa.

The person sleeping on the sofa is Inoue Hideka, and naturally, it goes without saying who owns the feet.

"She must have been exhausted yesterday," Saten Ruiko thought to herself.

For this reason, she did not choose to ask Inoue Hideka about her doubts yesterday.

Shaking her head helplessly, Saten Ruiko walked to the sofa, wanting to wake Inoue Eika, who had somehow fallen asleep on the floor.

"what?"

At this moment, Saten Ruiko noticed that Inoue Hideka's fair face was as red as a sunset.

Realizing something, Saten Ruiko quickly went over and touched Inoue Hideka's forehead.

It's very hot!

It's obvious that she has a fever.

"Hey! Yinghua~ Yinghua!"

While calling out, she gently shook Inoue Hideka's body, hoping to wake him up.

"Yinghua! Wake up! Stop sleeping on the floor, Yinghua!"

"Hmm? Ruiko..."

Inoue Hideka struggled to open his eyes, but his vision was blurry and he was confused. His head felt like mush, and he seemed unable to think.

"Yinghua, how are you feeling? Let me help you up."

------

Inside Inoue Hideka's room.

After Saten Ruiko left, Misaka Mikoto couldn't sleep either. She caught a glimpse of the cat next to her out of the corner of her eye and excitedly scooped it into her arms.

"Meow~~"

Nestled in Misaka Mikoto's arms, the kitten, whose sweet dream had been disturbed, lazily yawned.

Misaka Mikoto seemed completely unconcerned, affectionately stroking the kitten's soft fur and muttering like a lovesick woman:

"Wow! Kawaii~~ Little Grey is just too cute! Uh... no, I said it out loud—why did I agree with such a corny name!"

At that moment, Saten Ruiko's anxious voice came from the living room.

Misaka Mikoto stopped tormenting the kitten—which was now officially known as Little Grey—and curiously looked towards the doorway.

"Yinghua! Wake up! Stop sleeping on the floor, Yinghua!"

Saten Ruiko's voice grew increasingly anxious. Misaka Mikoto also sensed that something was wrong with the idiot at that moment. She hurriedly dropped Little Grey, got out of bed, and rushed towards the door without even putting on her slippers.

"What's wrong, Saten? What's wrong with this guy?"

In the living room, Saten Ruiko was trying to drag Inoue Eika, seemingly to help her up, but she was not strong enough, and Inoue Eika was a big, heavy 1.7-meter-tall woman. She was simply unable to lift the powerless Inoue Eika up, and it looked like she was 'dragging' her.

"Ah! Misaka-senpai, just in time! Come help me! Eika seems to have a fever, and I can't lift him. Could you move him to the sofa for me?"

"call……"

Hearing from Saten Ruiko that it was just a fever, Misaka Mikoto's anxiety finally subsided.

"He's sick, so let's move him to our bed instead of him sleeping on the sofa."

Misaka Mikoto showed no awareness of having taken over Inoue Eika's bed, and even said she wanted to move the original owner of the bed to 'their' bed.

"Yes, that's true!"

After thinking for a moment, Saten Ruiko agreed with Misaka Mikoto's suggestion but did not refute the word "we" in Misaka Mikoto's words.

Inoue Hideka vaguely heard the conversation between the two. Although her mind was slow to process, she gradually came to understand the meaning behind their words, and she was speechless with frustration.

She could only silently comfort herself, thinking that Saten Ruiko was too busy with the situation to consider such details.

Leaving aside the tragic fate of the head of a certain family, Misaka Mikoto complained about how heavy she was while working with Saten Ruiko to lift Inoue Eika's heavy body onto the bed that originally belonged to him.

Saten Ruiko was alright, but Misaka Mikoto, because she was wearing pajamas and her body was in close contact with Inoue Hideka's, felt it even more strongly.

She could still feel Inoue Hideka's heavy, hot breath on her neck. After enduring the strange sensations in her body, she finally put Inoue Hideka on the bed. Her face turned bright red as she fled the room in a panic, frantically saying that she was going to find a thermometer.

Saten Ruiko was too busy to pay attention to Misaka Mikoto, who was acting up again. While calling out to the door where the thermometer was, she carefully tucked the blanket around Inoue Eika.

Saten Ruiko touched Inoue Hideka's forehead again with her hand, and frowned deeply.

It wasn't that no one close to her had ever had a fever before; for example, Shiori had a fever once during summer vacation, but this was the first time she had ever seen such a high temperature.

When Misaka Mikoto brought the thermometer over, Saten Ruiko immediately took it and gently inserted it into Inoue Eika's ear.

As expected of technology that is 20 or 30 years ahead of the outside world, the thermometer in Academy City has a display screen. You only need to insert it into your ear to immediately display the body temperature of the person being measured.

With a beep, a few small words appeared on the thermometer's display.

"Uh! How... how did he get such a high fever? Should we take him to the hospital?"

? ?

Upon hearing Saten Ruiko's words, Misaka Mikoto took the thermometer and looked at it, puzzled.

"Ugh! He has a fever of 39.8℃! What's wrong with this guy? Why did he suddenly start having a fever?"

Seeing the numbers on the thermometer, Misaka Mikoto complained, but her face clearly showed anxiety.

Inoue Hideka was in a very bad mood and didn't want to say a word.

Otherwise, he would definitely say to Misaka Mikoto with disdain, "Isn't it because you guys dumped me at the restaurant yesterday?"

During the Daihasei Festival, there were many athletes, so the air conditioning in the restaurant was quite cold. I accidentally fell asleep there, so what's so strange about catching a cold?

"Should we really send him to the hospital?"

Saten Ruiko frowned and asked Misaka Mikoto.

"Yeah, I think so too..."

"Hey..." Hearing their words, Inoue Eika felt she could no longer remain silent. Although she felt nauseous and dizzy, she forced herself to speak.

"Just give me my medicine... Going to the hospital... isn't that too much trouble?"

……

In the end, after all that fuss, Saten Ruiko managed to find some cold medicine at home and give it to Inoue Eika, instead of making a big fuss and sending her to the hospital for a simple cold.

After that, things were simple. After taking the medicine, Inoue Eika fell asleep peacefully on her long-lost bed.

Misaka Mikoto originally planned to stay at home, but Saten Ruiko persuaded her to go to the competition. After seeing that Inoue Eika was alright, everyone else went about their business, except for Saten Ruiko, who stayed behind to take care of Inoue Eika instead of going out to have fun as usual.

------

in the afternoon.

Inoue Hideka woke up from her sleep after a long and restful nap.

Saten Ruiko was sitting on the edge of the bed, her hand resting on the table as she scrolled through her phone. Seeing Inoue Eika wake up, she turned and asked anxiously:

"Yinghua, are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I'm much better now, thank you, Ruizi!"

Inoue Hideka looked up at Saten Ruiko, who was lying above him, placing her hand on his head to test his temperature. Her long hair fell naturally, tickling his cheek.

Feeling the girl's concern, Inoue Hideka felt a sudden sense of satisfaction, and the absurd thought that perhaps being sick all the time wasn't such a bad thing could flash through her mind.

"It seems the fever has subsided, but we still need to use a thermometer to make sure."

As she spoke, Saten Ruiko took the thermometer and put it into Inoue Hideka's ear again.

Beep!

"Hmm, 37.6℃... Although there's still a slight fever, it's nothing serious. Yinghua must be hungry, right? I'll go make you something to eat first, just wait a moment."

After saying that, Saten Ruiko left the room.

Looking at Saten Ruiko's back, her long, smooth black hair casually draped behind her, Inoue Eika felt that her slender body seemed to contain immense power. Just looking at her would give one a sense of inexplicable happiness.

It's a very strange feeling.

But Inoue Hideka couldn't deny that at that moment, he only wanted to focus all his attention on the girl who must have taken good care of him all morning.

The house was quiet, with only the sound of Saten Ruiko cooking coming from the kitchen; it seemed that no one else was home.

Inoue Hideka got out of bed, put on her slippers, and dragged her still somewhat heavy body toward the kitchen, following her heart's desire.

Chapter 319 Finally, the Confession

The temperature of the protagonist's high fever in the previous chapter has been slightly modified to 40.6℃. This is just an explanation.

The following is the main text.

The pure white kitten was curled up on the sofa, taking a nap. Inoue Hideka only glanced at it and ignored it.

Akiyama Yan's skills are truly exceptional. She is highly efficient, and perhaps because it was a request from Inoue Hideka, Inoue Hideka received information about the kitten from her at 11 PM last night.