A Calm And Ordinary Day

A few days had passed since they visited the grave, and a day with no particular plans began.

He had gotten used to the fact that he couldn't feel one of his arms when he woke up in the morning, which had become an almost daily occurrence lately.

However, it might be bad for his health to have the blood flow stopped like this.

He knew he had to do something about it, but if he did something blatantly out of the ordinary, Airi would notice.

While wondering what he should do, he stroked Airi's head, who was sleeping comfortably.

He guessed she had grown used to the sensation of having her head stroked, and it didn't wake her up anymore if he did it really lightly.

Rather, unlike when she was awake, she would give a pleasant, carefree smile, which was a secret pleasure for Minato.

Then, when he stroked her as if combing her, she opened her eyes briefly.

"…Nnn?"

"Good morning, Airi."

"Gud murning…"

Her beautiful wet blue eyes melted the moment she saw Minato, and she greeted him in a childish voice with a lisp.

Seeing Airi's blue eyes at this moment was another one of Minato's pleasures.

He knew it was bad manners to look at a woman's face when she woke up, but she looked so different from when she was awake that he could look at her forever.

However, as usual, she seemed to be almost unconscious at this time, and she quickly dropped her eyes and buried her face in Minato's chest.

"Do you want to go back to sleep?"

"Yesh~ Gud Nite~~"

Airi replied to Minato's words, which she almost didn't hear, and started to sleep again.

He didn't know what would happen if she knew he was holding her in his arms, so he didn't stroke her this time, but kept her still.

During the summer vacation, he tried to wake up in the morning so that he wouldn't lose his rhythm, but it seemed that he would be late making breakfast again today, so he just kept sharing his body heat with her.

After finishing a late breakfast, they did their usual separate things.

Most of the time, Airi played games, but sometimes she read, which she had recently started. The only other thing she did was her summer vacation assignments.

Both of them were the type to work hard on their assignments, and they had made a lot of progress by today, so there was no need to worry about panicking at the end of the summer vacation. They probably wouldn't need to study much in the later half of the break.

Also, since he didn't have space for new books on the bookshelves that he already had, and he didn't want to spend any money for it, Airi had been enjoying e-books that Minato read on his phone.

He wasn't sure if it would be a good fit for her tastes, as most of them were very subcultural, but she didn't seem to mind, and after he recommended it to her once, she asked him to lend her his phone quite often.

When he first lent her his phone, Airi asked him worriedly, "Are you sure it's okay?" He didn't mind lending out his phone, and since it didn't contain anything he didn't want to be caught with, it was a rather easy thing to do.

The problem was that he was so close to Airi while playing games or reading. Not only was she right next to him, but she would occasionally put their backs together. Even now, he was reading with her back to him.

"Airi, get off my back for a second. I need to concentrate."

"Okay."

At least when Minato was serious, like today, she would easily retreat with a relaxed voice when he warned her, so it wasn't really a problem.

And maybe this showed in his attitude, but when he wanted her to move away for a little while, except when he was concentrating, she would often move away from his back or side before he could call out to her.

Time kept passing as they stuck together and separated in this way.

"How is the massage for the first time in a while?"

"It feels good, thanks."

Airi told him after dinner that he hadn't had a massage lately, so she did it for him.

It wasn't that his body was tired, but it felt so good that he didn't hesitate.

Airi was also in a good mood as she massaged him, perhaps because it was a skinship.

"Minato-san, can I pat your head when I'm done?"

Airi had said something like that during the massage. As he recalled, she had patted Minato's head during the second massage, but that time she stopped the moment he woke up.

The only other time she had done it was the last time they had visited the grave to comfort Minato.

Although he had the desire to have an attractive member of the opposite sex do that to him, Minato felt that it would be defeating for him to say so, so he threw that thought away.

"…Do what you want."

"Yes, I'll do as I please. Are you okay in this position?"

"What else is there to do but hold this position?"

"How about on my lap, like I did before?"

"…No. Girls shouldn't be defenseless like that."

If he were to lie on her lap right now, he would really be drowned and melted by Airi.

As a last ditch effort to resist, he warned her, but she didn't budge at all. Instead, she saw through Minato's inner thoughts and laughed at him softly.

" Fufu , you didn't say no, did you? I understand."

He knew that if he reacted, he would be teased. So he remained silent, and then, her thin fingers touched Minato's head.

He buried his face in the pillow that smelled so good and sweet from Airi, and just had his head stroked.

He was excited, but the feeling of comfort was greater, and he was gradually getting sleepy.

"Good night, Minato-san."

She could tell that Minato was going to fall asleep without even looking at his face.

He completely gave up resisting and surrendered to the pleasant feeling.

The sweet, debauched voice melted Minato's body and mind, sinking him into a swamp of sleep.

It was time to go to bed and they got into the futon, but due to the fact that he had been put to sleep after Airi's massage, he didn't feel sleepy at all.

And apparently, Airi, too, was not tired since she had taken it easy today, and she was playing with Minato's back with one hand, tracing her fingers on it, as she couldn't sleep.

He let her do whatever she wanted for a while, but when she kept asking him to "turn around," he told her it was only for this once and turned to Airi.

"…Just for now."

"I know, I know."

Unlike in the morning, it was dark, but Minato's eyes, accustomed to the darkness, could clearly see Airi's figure.

They were not as close as when they were arm-in-arm, but since they were both on the same futon, it was inevitable that they would be in close proximity.

"Minato-san, can I borrow your arm?"

"Well, I don't mind. Here."

"Thank you very much."

He held out one hand to her, hoping she wouldn't do anything strange, but Airi pulled Minato's hand closer and placed it on her own cheek.

Then, she rubbed her cheek with it.

"You touched my cheek the other day, and it felt good."

"…If Airi is happy with that, then do what you want."

"Yes, I will use it then."

He thought about warning her, but since it was Minato who had offered it, he couldn't do that, so he kept his mouth shut.

Instead, he didn't respond to any of her words, but relaxed his fingers and let her do what she wanted.

He didn't touch her cheek much, but she had a puffy smile on her face, so he wondered if she liked to have her cheek stroked.

"You don't have to respond if you don't want to, but you don't mind if I touch your cheek, do you?"

"I don't remember ever saying that I didn't like it. In fact, I like it because it feels good."

"…I see."

He was so flustered when she said she liked it with a defenseless smile that he could only give a simple reply.

Recently, it had become normal for him to pat her on the head and even touch her cheek.

But Airi was the one often asking him for it, so it was probably a lost cause to worry about it.

However, Minato's mental strength would not last if she kept smiling at him in the dark, so he moderately turned his back to Airi.

At that moment, he heard a giggle and a small laugh.

Although it wasn't malicious, it made him feel like he was being teased, and it made him feel a little bummed out.

"…Don't laugh."

"I'm sorry. Minato-san is just so cute when he's embarrassed."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"No, not at all."

Since the time they visited the grave, Airi had been telling him how cute he was.

He was not happy about it, so he bluntly reproached her, but she didn't seem to care at all.

"Minato-san, thank you very much."

"What's with that suddenly?"

He didn't actually dislike it that much, and he didn't really react any further since it was useless to warn her, but suddenly, Airi thanked him.

He hadn't done anything special today, so he didn't know why he was being thanked.

When he questioned her about it, she put her head lightly against Minato's back and spoke up.

"It was a very calm day today. I wish this day could go on forever."

"It's what Airi wants, right?"

"Yes, I wanted it, I wished for it, and you gave it to me. Thank you so much, Minato-san."

"..."

He didn't know what to say to Airi's words of gratitude, so he fell silent.

Minato then heard a gasp of laughter, but ignored it.

He surrendered himself to the sleepiness that came over him, wishing that these days of listening to her calm voice would last forever.