Shiina Mahiru listened to Saiki's words and obediently sat on the sofa, hugging the Doraemon pillow beside her. Then she reached up to touch her own face and forehead.
[It seems like… yeah, there's a tiny bit of a cold. Why though? Could it be that right after the cold was almost gone, I went to play basketball and got all sweaty, then climbed a tree to save a cat, fell and got my wound infected, forgot to take medicine, got exposed to wind, and didn't rest properly, so it came back?]
Shiina Mahiru couldn't understand. Was her body really this weak?
(After everything you just described, in a certain sense, this body is already impressively tough.)
After finishing the dishes, Saiki came out and saw Shiina Mahiru already asleep on the sofa, still hugging the Doraemon plush.
Saiki walked over, touched Shiina Mahiru's forehead, and in an instant, a display appeared in front of his eyes showing 37.6 degrees.
[Sure enough, there's still a slight fever.]
Saiki took out a blanket and covered Shiina Mahiru with it. Then he placed his right hand on her forehead. A faint green light glowed for a moment before he pulled his hand away, sat down beside her, and continued reading his manga.
[With a cold, you need plenty of rest. That should be enough to keep her asleep until evening.]
After reading for an hour, Saiki got up, walked to the fridge, opened it, and saw there were some things inside, but not much.
[Guess I'll head out for a bit.]
Saiki tidied up, walked to the door, turned the doorknob, then seemed to remember something. He turned back, walked to the sofa, and looked at Shiina Mahiru.
...
Saiki was walking down the street, thinking about what to buy for dinner tonight, when he heard a voice.
"Butt's showing, alien's yao yao yao, yao yao yao…"
Saiki looked in the direction. There was a kid with a round chubby face and thick eyebrows, talking to a female college student.
The kid showed an innocent side-profile smile: "Big sis, big sis, do you like adding green onions to your natto? Want to join me for some afternoon tea…"
The female college student already seemed shocked and annoyed by this kid. The girl frowned in thought, picked up a wooden stick, and waved it around.
"Little brother, look, look!"
The kid's eyes sparkled with golden light, drool dripping from his mouth like a little puppy. "Woof woof woof!"
"Go get it!!"
The pretty college student tossed the stick onto the road. Watching the annoying kid chase after it, she immediately ran in the opposite direction.
(That was way too easy to fall for.)
But when the kid picked up the stick, a car was already speeding toward him, and he still hadn't noticed.
[Too dangerous.]
Saiki grabbed the kid by the back of his collar with one hand and leaped back to dodge the car.
The driver slammed on the brakes, skidding forward a bit before continuing on. Still, a gentle voice came from inside the car: "Geez, grandma, watch where you're walking…"
The kid was still dazed, the stick still in his mouth.
Saiki set the kid down.
"Huh? Where'd big sis go? How did big sis turn into big brother…"
Saiki pointed. The female college student's fleeing back was already disappearing into the distance.
The kid also saw her running away. She was too far now to catch up.
Then he spread his hands and struck a side-profile smile pose: "Geez, don't be so shy."
[What a weird kid.]
The kid started introducing himself: "I'm not a weird kid! My name is Nohara Shinnosuke, a lively and cute little boy. You can call me Shin-chan. What's your name, big brother?"
[I'm Saiki Kusuo. You almost got hit by a car just now. Do you realize that?]
Shin-chan scratched his head: "Well, life is full of all kinds of surprises. Don't sweat the small stuff."
[Is that really how you're supposed to use that line?]
Saiki was speechless. This kid was way too strange.
"But thanks anyway, Saiki-oniichan. Don't worry, I'll never forget you saving my life. Teacher always says that when someone helps you, you have to repay them. Rest assured, I'll definitely get revenge for this!"
[I don't need you to get revenge. Thanks.]
"No way, I will get revenge."
Shin-chan rummaged in his pocket, pulled out a wallet, took out a 1000-yen bill, and handed it to Saiki: "Here you go, Saiki-oniichan. This is your reward."
Saiki was a little surprised. [Kids your age already have pocket money? This wouldn't happen to be the money you were sent out to buy groceries with, would it?]
Shin-chan clapped his hands: "Oh oh, Saiki-oniichan, you're amazing! You guessed it right. Are you able to read my mind or something?"
Saiki: ...
[Well then, goodbye.]
Saiki had already checked. The kid's body was fine. He was ready to leave.
"Wait wait! Hey! Saiki-oniichan, look, it's Action Kamen!"
Shin-chan seemed to spot something incredible and grabbed Saiki's pant leg.
Saiki followed his gaze. There was a store with an Action Kamen toy sign displayed at the entrance.
[Aren't you supposed to be buying groceries? Do you have money for that?]
Shin-chan thought seriously, then clenched his fists and came to a conclusion: "In life, you sometimes have to give up unimportant things to move forward."
[Mm, that's the right attitude.]
"So let's go buy Action Kamen!"
[Seriously, you clearly don't get it at all.]
Saiki decided to ignore him and kept walking. After just two steps, another voice made him stop.
"Coffee jelly limited-time special new product, free samples available…"
Saiki pulled back the step he had just taken and walked into the store. [Yare yare, it's still early. Browsing a bit is fine.]
Shin-chan followed along.
Saiki picked up one of the sample coffee jellies and took a bite. [Oh, this rich, mellow texture, sweet and delicious, so soft and fluffy. Is this cantaloupe?]
The clerk started explaining: "This is our new cantaloupe-flavored coffee jelly, now on limited-time special. Would you like to buy a few boxes to try, sir?"
"Hey, I want to try some too."
Shin-chan watched Saiki eating with such bliss and got very interested, tugging at Saiki's pant leg.
[Seriously, you're still here.]
Saiki picked up one box of coffee jelly and handed it to Shin-chan.
"Ahm~ So goo'!"
The clerk saw how happy the two of them looked and felt a sale coming: "So, sir, how many would you like?"
[In that case, let's just start with 10 boxes.]
"G-Good!"
The clerk had thought at most two or three boxes. Never expected the guy in front of him to buy ten straight away. What a jackpot.
...
Saiki put the coffee jelly in the shopping cart, thinking about what else to buy. Actually, he had only come in for the coffee jelly to begin with.
Saiki glanced at the cart and felt something was off. He closed his eyes, opened them again, and looked. Somehow there were now a few extra boxes of bear biscuits.
"Hey, seriously, how could I forget to buy these?"
Shin-chan picked up another box of bear biscuits and tossed it into Saiki's cart.