I then walked over to the bench while Akatsuki-san remained silent looking the other way. I then slowly put her down on the bench and said

“I'll go get my bags there's some wet tissues I can use to clean the wound”

“Ah wait-”

I quickly ran over to the other side of the road and picked up my grocery bags on the ground. I first check to see if the vegetables were damaged. Thankfully none of them were or else they would have rotted really fast and all of them would've been wasted. A chef should always treat his ingredients with care as a way of giving respect to the farmers who painstakingly cultivated them

On the way back I saw her bag full of manga and few books which fell out, on the ground. I decided to pick them up later since treating her was my first priority

I came back to the bench, crouched down and pulled the tissues out my bag and said

“Lift your leg”

She obediently lifted it unlike before. I pulled some tissues out from the packet and just started to clean the wound when she said

“Ow-Ow! That stings!”

She gripped the bench tightly because of the pain

“Sorry, they have disinfectant in them so it will hurt a bit. But it's good for cleaning a wound. Just bear with it for a moment”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Okay, but do it slowly”

She closed her eyes and I started wiping the blood off. After cleaning the wound I searched my groceries for any kind of material to cover the wound but there was nothing that resembled a cloth

I didn't even bring my handkerchief along today.….…..Oh well

*Cloth tearing noise*

She looked down when she heard the noise and was surprised

“Woah! Why did you tear the bottom of your shirt?”

“I couldn't find anything to cover the wound so I tore my shirt to use as a substitute bandage”

“But you don't have to-”

“No, it's my duty. I was the one who caused this injury so I have do, whatever I can to treat it. The loss of this shirt is nothing compared to the pain your feeling now”

She looked at me with doubtful eyes as I covered the wound. She then said something I never expected her to say

“You know, are you really my friend?”

I was so shocked at what she said I froze up

“Huh?”

She looked like she realised what she had just said and waved her hands at me as if she was denying something

“No-No! Don't take it the wrong way. You’re definitely my friend”

Phew...I almost got a heart attack

“Then why did you say that?”

“It's just that instead of a friend, you’re acting more like my mother. You're really protective over me. Is that something normal friend's do?”

I thought about it for a second and looked at her and said

“I don't really know what exactly a normal friend is. I've never had many of them so I can't tell you what a normal friend does. But to me a friend is a precious person. They're someone who I will help no matter what happens, someone who I will protect no matter the circumstances. They're a person I want to spend my happy and sad moments with. If I had to say, a friend is like family to me”

I looked at her and saw a tear roll down from her eye. She then said in a low voice

“Family…”

I panicked

“What happened? Why are you crying? Does it hurt that much?”

She then wiped her eyes while smiling and said

“No, it's not that! I just heard something really good. I'm just happy, that's all”

So their tears of joy, that's a relief. But why did she say family though? She did say she has family circumstances, maybe it's related to that

After wiping her tears she bent down towards me, looked at me with bright eyes and a big smile and said

“So, you'll always protect me and be by my side right?”

I smiled and said

“That is what I promised”

She didn't say anything back but started swinging one of her legs while sitting on the bench as if she was in a happy mood