Faltering Before the Angel's Acting

The test was over in the blink of an eye.

Amane and Mahiru, who had never missed out on studying for the test in the first place, were able to tackle it with composure, and they finished it without stumbling at all.

Chitose, who had overcome the hellish test period and as a corpse started shouting, "We're free~!" and raised both her hands in the air the moment the test was over, full of joy.

"Man, I'm so tired! Thanks to you two, we made it through safely!"

"We won't know if we made it through until after we get the results, though." "Don't be so boorish! You should be overflowing with a sense of liberation!

Mahirun, Mahirun, let's go have tea at the café as a party for our hard work!" "I don't mind. Um, Amane-kun…"

"I'm going to hang out with Itsuki, so don't worry. Have fun together. If you're going to be late, contact me and I'll come pick you up."

Chitose, who had been drained for several days in a row, had regained her cheerful demeanor, and he wasn't so boorish as to keep Mahiru with him. Even if they were lovers, they knew how to treasure each other's time, and they weren't narrow-minded enough to interfere with every little thing they did when they were with friends, so he let Mahiru go enjoy herself.

Mahiru was relieved to see Amane nod so readily, and she smiled hesitantly and agreed to go hang out with Chitose, saying, "I'll take you up on that offer, then."

As Amane gazed at Mahiru's back as Chitose left the classroom with a smile on her face, Itsuki smiled and patted him on the back.

"Since when have you been hanging out with me?" "Right now."

Amane hadn't actually promised him, but he wanted Mahiru to have fun without a care in the world, so he decided to say that. Itsuki must have guessed what he was trying to do, too, since he kept quiet.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, no one's home anyway, so it doesn't really matter." "Besides that, I'm going to have you treat me to a hamburger." "Why?"

"Karaoke cat ears."

"You found out, huh? Shiina-san's being so honest as well."

He slapped Itsuki's back, who smiled without a hint of guilt, a little harder, and reproached him, saying, "I don't really mind, but at least say a few words first."

It wasn't that he was angry but more that he was just shocked that it leaked out.

If it made Mahiru happy, then he was so fond of her that he wouldn't think it was a big deal.

"I'll do that next time. I wonder what I should do next." "You're not reflecting on your actions at all."

Itsuki, still having pictures of him in his smartphone folder, grinned, so Amane furrowed his brow slightly but didn't blame him. He simply gave him a light glare.

✧ ₊ ✦ ₊ ✧

Around the time Mahiru and the others were likely having tea at the café, Amane had come to a hamburger shop with Itsuki.

It was the type of fast food restaurant that high school students would often complain about, and besides Amane and Itsuki, there were students from the same school and those wearing uniforms from other schools.

Amane took his seat with what he had ordered and shrugged lightly as he looked around.

"There's a lot of them."

"Yeah. I heard there was a test at other schools, too. I was talking to a friend from another school yesterday, and she said so…"

"So that's why everyone's so cheerful."

"You guys were so calm from the start, but you're acting weird, Amane… Well, putting that aside, let's eat before it gets cold."

Itsuki gave him a subtly exasperated look, but he seemed to have given up, as he was quickly brushing it aside and pinching at the fries he had ordered.

Following Itsuki's example, Amane unwrapped his hamburger and started eating. It had a familiar taste, but compared to Mahiru's cooking, it left him a little unsatisfied. Of course, junk food was fine in its own way, but Mahiru's cooking really was the best, and Amane realized this painfully once again.

"…You look like you miss Shiina-san's cooking, even though you ordered it, Amane."

"That's not it… Well, yeah, but I do think it's delicious. It's just that hers is the best. I'm grateful that you treated me."

"Yeah, yeah. You two really are close… Hurry up and get married." "When the time comes. I'm only sixteen, so I can't do it at my age."

"You really answered seriously. Actually, you're right. Shiina-san already has that kind of atmosphere about her."

"Shut up. Is it bad?"

"Well, I'm kind of relieved. It's encouraging to know that there's someone else nearby who's dating under the assumption that they'll get married."

Itsuki was dating Chitose in consideration of his marriage to Chitose, so in that regard, Amane was probably a comrade to him.

If there was one difference, it was whether or not his parents recognized her, so Itsuki also thought it would be nice if his father recognized her someday and he could marry Chitose without needing to put up a fight.

"…By the way, what's going on with all that?"

"I wonder if things will change there. Just in case, I'll take my grades seriously enough that he doesn't have the right to complain, but I'll keep insisting either way.

I'm the only one who can do anything about this, so it can't be helped. What about you? How's the progress?"

"You went to your parent's house with her, didn't you?" Itsuki grinned and lightly kicked him with the tip of his shoe, so Amane did the same before having another sip of his orange juice.

"It's not like anything happened."

"What were you doing over the summer then…? You'd be way too cowardly to do nothing when your lover's with you 24/7."

"We have our own pace."

"So you were able to kiss, but not any more than that. How should I put it?

You're so pure and innocent."

His voice was lukewarm and heartwarming rather than exasperated, so Amane was subtly irritated and kicked him in the leg again.

"…I invited her to stay overnight. We haven't done it yet, though." "Seriously, you haven't done it yet? In a way, it's amazing that you haven't stayed over yet after letting her say hello to your parents."

"Shut up… I didn't really want to do anything… I just wanted to sleep together."

He'd be lying if he said he didn't want that to happen, but more importantly, he wanted the comfort of sleeping peacefully with her in the same blanket.

Mahiru seemed to like sleeping together, so there was also the fact that she would be happy if they simply slept together.

"As a couple, I don't think that's a good idea. Don't you think Shiina-san might unexpectedly want to spend the night with you?"

"I'm not that assertive, though. I'm sure there would be some psychological resistance there."

"There's no way you'd lay a finger on her. You're the kind of guy who'd lose his heart just from being a little afraid. I'm not surprised you'd back down the moment you see a hint of rejection."

"Shut up."

It wouldn't be funny if he called him a coward, but Amane was aware that from someone else's point of view, it was true, so he couldn't deny it.

"…Well, even if you don't push for it, It's fine. Shiina-san's going to do her best with Chi's advice anyway."

"Hey, do something about your girlfriend. I feel like she's definitely planting some unnecessary knowledge inside Mahiru."

"I don't think Chi's said anything she doesn't need to know. You guys are too shy for your own good."

"Maybe she's being given some weird ideas right about now," Itsuki said with a laugh, to which Amane raised an eyebrow before praying to Chitose, Don't give her any weird ideas, as she wasn't with them right now.

✧ ₊ ✦ ₊ ✧

Mahiru had returned in the evening without contacting him, so he hadn't gone to pick her up. He wasn't so much worried about that as he was about something else, as he'd notice that something was wrong with Mahiru when she came back.

"What did she tell you?"

Chitose had definitely told her something, so Amane stared at her as he asked the question, and Mahiru, sitting next to him on the sofa, awkwardly averted her face away from him, almost robotically.

He was right on the mark.

Amane had no intention of letting her get away, so he slid over to Mahiru and brought his face close to hers, and she tried to run away, body and all.

"...It's nothing."

"I don't think it's nothing. If it's nothing, look at my face and tell me." "You should be able to do that much," he said gently to Mahiru, but she still didn't look at him.

Seeing this, Amane wrapped his arms around Mahiru's stomach; as she turned her back to him he brought his lips close to her ear,

"Mahiru."

Amane knew that if he whispered her name gently with his breath, Mahiru would tremble in an easy-to-understand way. He knew Mahiru was weak to whispers in her ear, so he did it on purpose. It seemed to have an effect, so he hugged her tightly as he called out to her again, and her body relaxed as if she was melting down to her core.

Looking at Mahiru's face from above as she leaned back against his chest, her flushed cheeks and moistened caramel eyes looked at him with dissatisfaction.

"…That's not fair, Amane-kun." "What do you mean?"

"It's not fair to do that when you know my ears are weak." "It's not just your ears."

He also knew that she was weak to tickling, but…of course, if he went that far, her mood wouldn't get any better. This time, he simply coerced her with his voice to get information out of her, since she wouldn't talk. If he were to tease her with a smile… Mahiru would tightly close her lips shut.

She didn't seem to want to say anything, so she leaned against Amane but did her best to look away. If she really didn't want to, she'd run away from this place, so it wasn't so much that she didn't want to say it as much as it was that she had a lot of resistance.

"Come on, if you don't hurry up and say it, I'll physically make you talk." "…Ph-Physically?"

Unknowingly, Mahiru's face instantly turned bright red, and when she met Amane's gaze, she lowered her eyes even more shyly. It was a joke about tickling her lightly to urge her to talk, but Amane wondered whether she thought he was going to sexually harass her.

As Mahiru trembled, he propped her up with his palm to wake her up, wondering if he shouldn't tease her too much, and she turned her body around to face him. Her gaze was faintly damp and feverish, so Amane ruffled his head, almost growling for a moment.

"I'm kidding. I won't force you." "…Kidding."

"I won't do anything you don't like, Mahiru. You don't have to say it if you don't want to, but don't take Chitose's words too seriously."

Mahiru was probably telling him to be proactive, but he didn't want her to lose her mind, so he wished she'd let him keep it under control.

Putting Amane's mental and physical worries aside, since they were going to be together for a long time to come, there was no particular need to hurry, he thought as he spoke, but Mahiru raised an eyebrow subtly.

"…At the very least, I've been taught something useful in relationships between men and women."

"Huh, what kind?"

"I-I can't say that, but… Chitose-san is rather experienced, so she taught me some useful things."

"…I don't think there's any need for unnecessary knowledge." "I'll decide if it's unnecessary."

When she put it that way, he couldn't argue with it, but even so, he wanted to proceed slowly and little by little rather than being awkwardly rushed along by Mahiru's second-hand knowledge.

"That troubles me," Amane shrugged and Mahiru appeared slightly downcast. "…I want the person I love to like me more. Is it bad for me to want to deepen our relationship in various ways?"

Her dejected voice made him realize he'd said it the wrong way.

From her point of view, she'd gotten Chitose's advice precisely because she wanted to get closer to Amane, but it would be sad to cut that off as unnecessary knowledge and throw it away.

He hadn't intended to hurt Mahiru or make her sad, but it was true that Amane's words had hurt her. The moment he reached out to her to apologize, Amane felt a shock run through his body. Amane staggered at the suddenness of it all and collapsed on the sofa, and for an unknown reason, Mahiru was leaning against him as if riding on top of him. Or rather, she was straddling him. It was an extremely dangerous angle, so he looked up to avert his gaze elsewhere, and his eyes met Mahiru's.

There was something mischievous about her eyes peeking out from her bangs, which swayed about with gravity.

"…Chitose's idea?"

"It seems I didn't apply enough pressure." "You're so rough. Was that an act, young lady?" "No, it's true that I'm sad."

Apologetic-ness oozed from his chest as the words dropped into a wry smile, and Amane instinctively wrapped his arms around Mahiru's back.

Mahiru buried her face in the area around Amane's collarbone, paying no heed to the strange sound she made, and hugged him lovingly. Feeling her softness made him feel excited inside, and the faint scent of shampoo made his heart skip a beat, but his desire to cherish and love her was stronger than that.

"Sorry for saying it's unnecessary. Um, how should I put it? Chitose seems to have taught you something very stimulating."

"I-I don't think it's that bad, not yet."

"I'm still curious, but let's leave it at that… It's up to you to take Chitose's advice, Mahiru. But for me, it's not fun for Chitose to give you advice about this and that."

"You didn't like it?"

"This is just my personal opinion, but… umm, I was hoping we could get to know each other better little by little, and I was hoping we could move on as we felt fit. It's a little different from not being able to enjoy the current time and atmosphere while looking at what's ahead."

"If you call me a coward for that, I can't deny it though…" he added with a bitter smile and let out a soft sigh. He could tell she was using Chitose's advice to spice things up, and he understood that it was because Mahiru loved him from the bottom of her heart. He was very happy to hear her say so.

Putting that aside, he doesn't think it's right to hurry up and rush things. "Sorry, I said something pathetic. I'm just a coward."

"…No, I understand very well that you love me and care about me… Um, how should I put it… It's not that I want to hurry, it's just that… you don't hate me, do you?"

"What do I hate about you?"

"…Um, th-that I'm making you hold back."

Mahiru was squirming subtly in embarrassment as she pressed herself against Amane, and he knew exactly what she was trying to say, so he couldn't help but give her an unusually bitter smile. It wasn't directed at Mahiru, but at his unbearable self, instead.

Reacting to even the slightest thing as he did was a sign of his youth, but it was also a bad sign of what was to come. Amane was deep in thought as if it was someone else's problem, and slowly let the heat dissipate from his body, clearing up his mind.

It would be cruel for Mahiru to make him even more conscious of her presence. "It's not that I don't like it. Well, I'm a guy, so I have a lot on my mind, but it's not like I want to force myself to move forward. Besides, you're scared too, right?" "…Yes."

"Then it's fine. We can do it at our own pace."

He ruffled her head, and Mahiru smiled reassuringly, rubbing her cheek against Amane's chest.

In such a position with Mahiru leaning against him from above left Amane with a lot to think about, but his feelings of love took priority and he shunned any intent to pull anything strange. Instead, he silently patted her on the back.

"That aside, I'd like you to get off me as soon as possible." "Am I heavy?"

"You're not heavy, but… please understand."

Amane gently patted her on the back as if saying, Please realize what I mean, but Mahiru showed no sign of backing down. On the contrary, she edged closer to him and looked right at him. Amane instinctively made a bitter face and pursed his lips, and Mahiru lowered her eyes in embarrassment, but it seemed she had no intention of letting him go after all.

"Can I stay like this a little longer?" "…Do whatever you want."

He could force her to retreat, but Mahiru was sticking close to him because she wanted to, so Amane intended to respect her wishes.

"It can't be helped." He swallowed his happiness and embarrassment and let out a small sigh, then placed his hand on Mahiru's head, which seemed to be rubbing against him, and combed her soft hair with a polite gesture.