What Is In The Computer?

"Minato-san, can I use your computer?"

One day, just a few days before the summer festival, Airi asked Minato after he finished preparing to go to work.

"You don't have to ask for permission. You didn't forget your password, did you?"

"No, I didn't forget it, but I thought I should tell you."

Airi lowered her eyes apologetically, but Minato couldn't understand why she was so concerned.

If she wanted to use it, she could, and he didn't say anything about not letting her touch it.

"Don't worry about it so much. Use it as you like."

"Thank you very much."

When he encouraged her by patting her head, Airi's expression turned into a soft smile.

With the conversation settled, he headed for the door.

"Well, I'm off to work. In the meantime, keep an eye out for viruses."

"Yes, it's okay. It won't come to that. Have a good day, Minato-san."

"…? Well, whatever, I'm going."

The last time she had touched the computer, she had been terrified of viruses, but her confident words that "it won't come to that" made him suspicious.

However, thinking that she had been studying at school and might have simply said that to reassure him, Minato went outside.

"…I'm sorry."

The moment the door closed, Airi apologized in a small voice, but he didn't particularly care and headed for his part-time job, thinking that she might still be worried about using the computer.

"I'm home."

"We-Welcome, back."

He finished his part-time job without any problems and went home, but Airi's attitude was clearly strange.

She was acting completely suspicious, and her cheeks were tinged red.

"Airi, what's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"

"N-No, It's nothing!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"…Alright."

She was in her usual condition before he left for his part-time job, but she might have been feeling sick. That's what he thought, and when he asked her questions, she just said, "It's nothing."

He decided not to worry about it, thinking that if she said that much, it was probably something she didn't want him to hear.

Airi's suspicious attitude did not change even after dinner and bath.

Normally, their eyes would meet many times, but today, they didn't meet at all, and she was as far apart as before, when she should have been much closer lately.

He couldn't overlook the fact that it had come this far. Perhaps Minato had done something to her without his knowledge.

"Hey, Airi, did I do something wrong? If there's something you don't like, I'll fix it."

"N-No, Minato-san didn't do anything wrong."

"But Airi's attitude is strange. Is it something you can't tell me?"

"Um, this time…"

"…No, you don't have to force yourself to say it. I'm sorry for pressuring you."

No matter how much she trusted him, there would still be some things she didn't want to say.

When he apologized for being too insensitive, Airi buzzed and shook her head.

"No, it's not Minato-san's fault! Rather, it's me who's at fault…"

"What do you mean by that?"

Airi was blatantly depressed, but she had never done anything to harm him before.

When he asked her about the cause of the problem, her blue eyes welled up as if she was about to cry, and she began to speak softly.

"I'm really sorry. I have deceived Minato-san."

"Deceived is a big word… So, what exactly did you deceive me about?"

"Minato-san didn't ask what I would do with the computer, did he?"

"Yeah, but it was for research, right?"

He couldn't think of any other reason why Airi would use a computer.

The fact that she would use a computer instead of a smart phone stuck out to him, but he had no intention of digging deeper.

Minato's words made her expression even cloudier.

"Yes, it was something I was researching, but…"

"If so, you didn't deceive me. Anyway, why are you acting so strange with all that research?"

"…Do you really not understand?"

Airi stared at Minato with wet eyes. The fact that she said it like that must have meant that she had some idea of what was going on with Minato.

The kind of research that would make her behave suspiciously, and the roundabout way of saying that it was nothing out of the ordinary.

Finally, he remembered what she had said about not getting any viruses, and connected the dots.

A cold sweat poured down his back and he wondered if she had seen them. If this was really the case, then her strange attitude after Minato came home would make sense.

"…By any chance, did you see it?"

Airi nodded slowly but firmly to Minato's words.

His mind went completely blank. He couldn't think of what to do, because he had lost his ability to think.

As Minato was in a completely frozen state, she stared at him with a face that was bright red up to her ears.

"Do you like silver hair?"

"Eh, ah, that's…"

"I looked at the files on the computer. There were a lot of silver hairs."

"…Just kill me."

Airi's research must have been the stuff on Minato's computer.

He hadn't told her she couldn't look at it, and she knew it was there.

But it was an unspoken agreement that she was not supposed to touch it.

He covered his heated face with his hands and nodded in agreement at the fact that she had completely grasped his personal taste.

There was no way he could look at her in this state.

"I-I'm sorry. Please raise your head."

Minato could hear the concern in her voice, but he begged to be left alone for now.

"…That's impossible, give me a second."

Minato's voice sounded frightened and confused, but he thought he should get this turmoil out of his chest for now and didn't respond to anything.

"So, why did you look?"

After quite a while, he asked her when he finally got to see her face.

He didn't mean to be angry, but he wanted to at least hear the reason.

"I'm sorry. The only times Minato-san has complimented my appearance was at the fireworks display and on the way home from shopping the other day."

"As I told you before, I didn't tell Airi because I thought she wouldn't like to be complimented on her appearance."

He felt like he was being subtly sidetracked, but he responded honestly about her appearance.

However, Minato was so embarrassed that he said it bluntly, which Airi must have misunderstood as anger, and in her frightened state, she said,

"I certainly don't like, or even care about, other people's compliments, but this time it's different… You're angry, aren't you?"

"I'm not angry. I just want you to give me a good reason."

"…Well, I was wondering what kind of person Minato-san's ideal girl would be."

When Minato said he wasn't angry, Airi let out a sigh of relief, but then said something that was bad for his heart.

The way she said it, it sounded like she was conscious of Minato.

Airi also started to panic, as if she understood that what she just said was dangerous.

"U-Um, you don't like it when the people you live with don't like the way you look, right?"

"No, I'd say that my appearance is no better. …In the first place, didn't I say I like the way Airi looks?"

It was incredibly embarrassing to rehash the time when Minato praised Airi, but he couldn't say that now.

If one were to ask, which one's appearance would be unacceptable to everyone, it would definitely be Minato.

"I like the way Minato-san looks, and he certainly said he likes the way I look, but I–what am I talking about?"

Airi, who had turned so red that steam was coming out of her head, turned her face down.

As he watched her, thinking that he shouldn't make any unnecessary moves, she looked up, as if she had recovered.

However, her bright red face had not yet changed, and her eyes were still moist.

"…Are you angry?"

"Like I said, I'm not mad. I didn't tell you not to look at it, and you weren't lying when you said you were doing research."

"…Do you hate me now?"

"No, I don't hate you for that."

He wasn't going to get angry, and he wasn't going to hate her. There were no lies in his words, but looking at Airi's full face, he couldn't ask her the most important reason.

"…Then, do you want to touch my hair?"

He gave up on asking her why, and as he was pondering what to do about the fact that she had discovered his liking for silver hair, she said something outrageous.

"What?"

"It's true that I violated Minato-san's privacy for whatever reason. In that case, I must be punished."

"But I have no intention of punishing you."

"If so, why don't I give Minato-san what he desires?"

"Desires…? That's a bad way to put it."

"But you like silver hair, don't you?"

"…I can't deny that."

"Then–"

Airi came close to Minato. It smelled softly of Minato's favorite sweet flower.

She sat down at a distance where their shoulders touched and turned her body towards him, then she bundled her beautiful silver hair and offered it to Minato.

The long, straight, waist-length hair was close enough for Minato to touch.

"Go ahead, Minato-san, please feel free to touch it." (T/N: Sounds lewd :p)

Airi's shy smile was filled with shame, and if Minato wasn't mistaken, there was a hint of joy mixed in with it.