Toranoana Special: The Angel's Transformation

Ever since they began dating, Amane found himself noticing something about Mahiru that seemed to slowly become more apparent with time. That being the fact that Mahiru was opening up much more, in general. Now showing Amane her true feelings on a regular basis, she seemed much more honest and chose to rely on him for many things.

Right now, in fact, Mahiru was sitting on the sofa next to him. Amane was getting her to completely relax from nothing more than patting her head, and she was wearing an innocent smile as a result. The look on Mahiru's face reminded Amane of the fluffy and squishy stuffed animals that she loved so much.

"…Say, Mahiru. You're more childish now than you were when we first met, I reckon."

Amane suddenly spilled the beans about how she tended to show him a rather childlike grin that she never shows to others, and Mahiru's face tensed up with dissatisfaction. Looking relaxed just a few moments ago, she now gave a tight-lipped frown as she prepared to express her annoyance.

"Why are you suddenly making fun of me?"

"I-I'm not making fun of you or anything like that… I just worded that poorly. Compared to when we first met, you've become a lot more honest with your feelings, is what I meant to say."

Amane desperately tried to explain that he hadn't meant to call her childish, but Mahiru didn't seem to be calming down. "You'd always build a wall around you when interacting with others, Mahiru. Along with your policy of never letting anyone get too close to you, you always made yourself look calm and collected as you treated others like total strangers."

"Th-That couldn't be helped. I thought you were a strange person at the time."

"Well, I know that you can be pretty stubborn at times, Mahiru. However, even now, I wonder how you managed to open up to me as much as you did."

"W-Well, that's because I could clearly see that you didn't have any impure thoughts, or at least would not act on them, Amane-kun. You were also very kind, and you always looked after me."

"…I see."

From the beginning, Amane had always treated Mahiru like a good neighbor that he was on friendly terms with. He was never rude and never treated her unkindly, even after they had known each other for a long time, and this was likely the reason why the walls around her had started to crumble. But now that they had become lovers, it was hard to imagine her acting like her old self anymore, and he felt that the future now looked brighter for her.

"You have changed a lot too, Amane-kun. You used to be curt, blunt, and disinterested in others, but that feeling is completely gone now."

"What do you mean? Do you want me to be blunt again?" "I-I wouldn't like that."

"Thought so. Were you against that kind of change?"

"…Not at all. Erm, I-I'm very happy that you express your love freely now."

Whispering under her breath, Mahiru's expression changed from sulking to embarrassment.

Amane had been welcomed into a relationship by the girl he was madly in love with, and naturally, there was no way that he could treat her coldly. He now knew just how correct the Fujimiya family's teachings really were: If you love someone, prove it with both words and actions.

A relationship with no mutual love and affection will eventually fall apart.

Amane firmly believed in unconditional love, but there was no guarantee that such a love would simply stay eternal without work. Only by constantly making sure that each of them could find what satisfaction was possible in any given situation, could they live in perfect harmony without a strained relationship.

Amane scratched his cheek in mild embarrassment, "I'm glad that I was able to convey my meaning properly. Well, to begin with, it'd be dumb for someone to act curt or not be interested in their girlfriend, right? There are a lot of things about you that I don't know, but I want to learn more about you, to show you that I care, okay?"

"…Is that so?"

"If that's not enough for you, there are other ways that I can show you that I care, right?"

Amane joked that if she wasn't satisfied, he was more than happy to compensate for it as much as she wanted, but then, Mahiru snuggled up to his chest and glanced up at him shyly.

"…I-In that case, please do."

Mahiru's eyes were overflowing with deep affection and a tinge of expectation—would Amane steal a kiss after such a sweet reaction?

After squeezing her hand, Amane chuckled. "…Now, you're being really honest, too." "D-Don't say that!"

"Sorry, sorry. …I'll make sure to be more considerate."

Amane's limits had been tested numerous times since Mahiru started allowing herself to be more spoiled by him, so while this change was bad news for Amane's heart, he couldn't help but think that it was still a very welcome change.

Being troubled yet overjoyed at this change sure is a nice problem to have, Amane mused as he embraced Mahiru, wrapping his arms around her.