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Table of Contents
Illustration

Chapter 1 – Encounter With the Angel

Chapter 2 – A Cold, and the Angel’s Care

Chapter 3 – Angel’s Share

Chapter 4 – The coincidental encounter

Chapter 5 – The Angel, and the cleaning operation

Chapter 6 – Friend’s visit

Chapter 7 – The Angel’s injury and thanks

Chapter 8 – The beginning of the dinner time together

Chapter 9 – The Angel’s birthday

Chapter 10 – The mom strikes

Chapter 11 – A reward for the Angel

Chapter 12 – The cooking class under the Angel’s guidance

Chapter 13 – Everyone’s Christmas

Chapter 14 – The duo’s Christmas

Afterword

Animate Side Story

Animate Collab

Gamers Side Story

Melonbooks Side Story

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Tora no ana Special

Credits

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Chapter 1 – Encounter With the Angel

“…What are you doing?”

It was raining, and she – Mahiru Shiina – was seated on the park’s
swing when Amane Fujimiya first spoke to her.

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Amane had just begun living alone soon after starting his first year of
high school. Living in the apartment to his right was an angel.

Of course, angel was a metaphor. Nevertheless, Mahiru Shiina was

so pretty and cute, the metaphor was not truly a joke.

Her flax-colored straight hair was well maintained, smooth and

glossy; her clear white skin smooth and unblemished. She had a nice
nose, a pair of large eyes beneath her long eyebrows, fine-looking
bright pink lips, and combining all these traits, she had a doll-like
delicate beauty.

She was in Amane’s school, in the same year, and he often heard of
what others said of her. Most said she was a girl of brains and brawn.

In fact, she had maintained first place in every exam they took,
always excelling during gym classes. Amane knew few details about
her as they were in different classes, but if the rumors were true, she
was a perfect superhuman.

She had no obvious flaws, had a nice face, outstanding grades, and
was humble and obedient. It was no wonder she was popular.

Some boys would be utterly envious at the prospect of living next to

such a pretty girl.

Despite that, Amane did not intend to do anything to her, and did
not think he could.

Of course, he too felt that the girl Mahiru Shiina was truly charming.

They were simply neighbors however. Amane never had the chance
to talk to her, and never intended to get involved with her.

If he did, he might garner the envy of the boys. Truth be told, if they
could get along just by living next to each other, the boys infatuated
with her would not have to suffer so.
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And to add on, charm from the opposite gender was not the same as
love. As far as Amane was concerned, Mahiru was a pretty girl most
suited to be marveled from afar.

For that reason, Amane never expected to get involved with her, let
alone maintain a sweet and sour relationship. He was merely living
next to her, never actually interacting with her.

So when he saw her spacing out alone without an umbrella in the

middle of the rain, “What is she doing?” He wondered, giving a
doubtful look at her.

The rain was so heavy, everyone else had already ran home, yet here
she was alone at the park between the school and the apartment, on
the swing.

(What’s she doing in the rain?)

Dark, thick clouds covered the skies, and there was no light shining
through, the surroundings dim. The rain lasted since morning,
blurring his visibility. Nevertheless, the eye-catching flax-colored hair
and uniform clearly identified Mahiru.

Amane did not understand why she was there without an umbrella,
letting the rain soak her.

It appeared she was waiting for no one, and she was not resisting the
fact that she was wet, merely staring listlessly in a certain direction.

Looking up, the face already lacking in color pigments looked pale.

If she was not careful, she could have caught a cold. Despite that,
Mahiru sat there quietly.

She had no intention to return home, so it seemed she wanted to do

just remain as he was. Perhaps no bystander should voice their
concern to her.
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So he thought as he prepared to cross the park–but at the last
moment, he saw her contorted teary-looking face, and scratched his
head.

He had no motive to get involved with her at all.

But his conscience would ache badly if he let someone be with such a
pained look. That was all that mattered.

“…What are you doing?”

Amane spoke to her with an aloof voice, indicating no other intent.

She shook her long hair, seemingly bogged down by the absorbed
water, and looked towards him.

Her face remained pretty as usual.

Even though she was drenched by the rain, her glow remained
unsullied. The rain showcased her face like an ornament. A fine girl
soaked in the rain, it seemed.

She looked towards him, her eyes widened.

At the very least, it seemed Mahiru knew Amane was her neighbor.
They would meet occasionally in the morning after all.

But as she was being spoken to, approached by a person completely

unrelated to her before, her caramel-colored eyes were a little wary.

“Fujimiya-san. Is there anything you want from me?”

Ah, so she remembered my name, so he thought. At the same time,

he could tell it was impossible for her to let her guard down.

They did meet before, but they were still strangers after all. It would
be expected that she would be on guard after being spoken to.

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She probably did not wish to interact much with someone of the
opposite gender. Typically, there were boys of various years
confessing to her, or approaching her, and she probably thought they
had impure motives.

“Nothing much. Just that I’m concerned seeing you alone in the rain
like this.”

“I see. Thank you for your concern, but I do wish to remain here.
Please leave me be.”

The voice was neither shrill nor wary, and while gentle, her faint
voice clearly showing her intent not to have anyone probe further.

(Well, guess that’s that.)

Clearly she was hiding something, and Amane had no intention to

probe further into her insistent refusal for others to get involved.

Amane merely asked in the spur of the moment. Asking for the
reason was merely a natural development, not that he was that
concerned.

If she simply wanted to remain, he was fine with that.

Mahiru in turn might have been wondering, why would he be talking

to her, or feeling something like that.

She stared at Amane skeptically with her fleeting, pretty face, “I see.”
so Amane answered.

If they continued talking, he would be hated, so perhaps it was time

for him to retreat.

Luckily for him, whether she had a good impression of him or not,
they did not have any relationship. Amane heartily made the
decision to return home and leave her be.

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However, he did not feel good about leaving a girl alone, soaked in
the rain.

“You’ll catch a cold. Take the umbrella. You don’t have to return.”

So at the very end, Amane was a busybody.

If she caught a cold, Amane could not sleep well. With such a
thought, he handed the umbrella covering his head to her.

She received the umbrella, or rather, he shoved it to her. Before she

could speak, he turned away.

He hastily left, and behind him, Mahiru called out.

But the voice was so soft, it was overwhelmed by the rain. He paid
no mind, and quickly darted through the park.

He merely hoped that she would not catch a cold, and shoved the
umbrella to her. Because of that, the guilt of wanting to ignore he
was mitigated a little .

Since she refused to talk, Amane did not intend to get involved with
her.

Since there was nothing going on between them, they would bid
farewell.

That was what Amane thought back then as he hurried back home.

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Chapter 2 – A Cold, and the Angel’s Care
“Amane, your nose is noisy.”

“You’re noisy.”

The following day, it was Amane who caught a cold.

Complaining was his classmate, and more notably, bad friend Itsuki
Akazawa complained about Amane, who wanted to snort back, only
to fail.

Instead, he was sniveling while trying to breathe through the nose,

causing a watery sound.

He was feeling utterly unwell, and his head had been reeling in pain,
either because his nose was blocked, or that the cold was causing it.

He had taken some medication he bought, but he ended up like this,

unable to suppress his symptoms at all.

Ahhh, his face contorted as his nose met the tissue again. Itsuki in
particular looked more dumbfounded than worried.

“Weren’t you feeling fine yesterday?”

“Got caught in the rain.”

“You alright? You didn’t bring an umbrella yesterday?”

“…Lent it to someone.”

Naturally, he could not say that he lent it to Mahiru from the same
school, so he could only keep his words vague and brush it off.

On a side note, he found Mahiru at school looking fine and energetic.

It was laughable for him, especially when he was the one who
handed the umbrella to her.

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But he truly deserved this, for he did not take a hot bath thereafter.

“But seriously, lending an umbrella when the rain’s so heavy? Aren’t

you too good a person?”

“Not like I got a choice. I just lent it to someone else.”

“Who did you lend to for you to even risk catching a cold?”

“…A kid who got lost?”

Well, it was better than saying someone with a kid-like body, but in
fact, she was in the same year as he.

（……Ahh, I see. She had the look of a lost kid.）

Only when he said it did he realize what it was.

Back then, Mahiru’s expression was that of a lost kid seeking her
parents.

“You’re kind.”

Itsuki knew nothing of Amane’s feelings, the latter thinking of

Mahiru, and giggled teasingly.

“Well, I don’t know who you lent the umbrella to, but you just wiped
your body and left it at there, right? That’s why you caught a cold.”

“…How do you know?”

“Anyone can tell how little you care about yourself just by looking at
your house.”

That’s why you caught a cold, you idiot. Once he was told off, Amane
had to remain quiet.

As Itsuki said, Amane would not actually care about his own
situation.
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To be precise, he was bad at cleaning up, and his room was in a
mess. He usually ate bentos and supplements from the convenience
stores outside.

And you say you’re living alone, so Itsuki stared puzzledly.

To Itsuki, it was no wonder Amane caught a cold when his lifestyle

was overly lax.

“Hurry home and rest already. We have a weekend coming up. Get
well soon.”

“Yeah…”

“Will be nice if you have a girlfriend who can take care of you.”

“You’re noisy. And you have a girlfriend. Shut up.”

Itsuki smiled proudly, and Amane reached his hand for the tissue box
with much annoyance.

Time passed, and Amane’s health worsened.

The cold symptoms he had were headache and runny nose, but then
they were accompanied with sore throat and fatigue, dominating his
body. After school, he looked forward as he hurried home, but the
cold was worse than he thought, his steps extremely heavy.

Despite that, he managed to make it to the entrance of the

apartments, dragging his heavy feet into the elevator, and leaned his
body onto the wall.

Haa, he found himself breathing more erratic than before, hotter.

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He managed to endure it at school somehow, but he might have
relaxed a little as he was about to reach home, and his body felt
unbearable.

He was usually fine with the elevator’s lack of gravity, but it became
a pain to him.

Nevertheless, he was about to reach home.

The elevator stopped at his level, and he slowly alighted, dragging his
feet over, only to freeze.

Before his eyes was a girl with flax-colored hair, one he had assumed
he would never talk to again.

Her adorable appearance was effervescent, her skin looking fine.

Anyone would have assumed she was the one who caught the cold,
but in fact, she was still fine. Perhaps it was because she usually took
care of herself well that there was such a huge difference between
them.

Mahiru’s hands were holding the neatly folded umbrella he had

shoved to her the previous day.

He told her she did not need to return it, but she did.

“…You don’t have to return it.”

“But I should return what I have borrowed…?”

Her words trailed off, for she saw Amane’s face.

“Erm. Are you, running a fever…?”

“…That has nothing to do with you, right?”

She appeared at the worst timing possible, so Amane frowned.

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To put it extremely, it did not matter whether the umbrella was
returned.

But it was not a good moment for them to meet at this point. She
was wise, and could easily determine the reason why Amane caught
a cold.

“But it is because I borrowed the umbrella…”

“That’s just what I did. Has nothing to do with this.”

“It does. I was there, so you caught a cold.”

“It’s nothing. You don’t have to worry.”

Amane did not want others to worry just because he did something
for self-satisfaction.

But it appeared Mahiru would not leave him be with just a few
words. Her pretty face was clearly showing worry.

“…That’s enough. See you.”

Amane was uncomfortable to be questioned, so he decided to

escape her questions and worry.

Stumbling, he received the umbrella, and reached into his pocket for
the key…well, he was fine till this point.

The moment Amane opened his door with much difficulty, he

suddenly lost strength.

He might have relaxed, for as he was finally about to enter his house,
his body stumbled into the railing behind.

Uh oh, so he thought, but the railing on the corridor was really

sturdy, and would not break from just a little impact. It was
sufficiently tall, and there was no way he could have fallen outside. It

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would hurt a little crashing into it, but that was to be expected…and
so he braced himself.

But his arm was suddenly tugged at, and he managed to stabilize
himself.

“…I cannot leave you be at all.”

The soft voice entered his somewhat faint consciousness.

“I shall return the favor.”

His head was feeling fuzzy, probably because it was all heated, and
he could not comprehend her words.

For before he could, Mahiru dragged Amane’s limp body, and

opened his door.

“I am going in. Please forgive me, but I have to.”

The quiet voice demanded no refusal.

Amane, affected by the cold, let himself be dragged without

resistance; it was the first time he was brought home by a girl his
age.

While he did not have a girlfriend to care for his sickly self, it
appeared there was an angel doing so instead.

It was only much later that he regretted letting her in, his burning
heat causing him to realize too late the situation of his own house; or
rather, when he saw reality before him.

Amane lived in a 1SLDK apartment.

A vast living room, a bedroom, and a storeroom, truly it was an

extravagant space for a person living alone. His parents were
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sufficiently well off, and after considering security and transport
convenience, he decided to stay here.

His parents were the ones who demanded that he stay here, and he
was fine with that as he was the one who asked to live alone.
Nevertheless, he felt there was no need to spend so much. He really
could not live in such a massive apartment alone.

Leaving that aside, despite living alone, he was a boy who was bad at
cleaning up.

Needless to say, the living room, and even the bedroom were in a
mess.

“This is really unsightly.”

The angel, or rather, the savior, did not mince her words at Amane
despite having such an adorable appearance.

It was really horrible, and Amane had nothing to say. If he knew

someone else was coming in, he would have moved a few things, but
it was too late for that.

Mahiru’s bright lips let out a sigh, but she did not return back, and
instead moved Amane into the bedroom.

On the way there, both of them nearly tripped over. Amane himself
was painfully aware that as the one who made the apartment so
messy, it would be bad if he did not clean up for real.

“I shall leave for the moment. Do change before I return. That should
be fine, no?”

“…You’re coming back?”

“I cannot sleep well if I leave a sick person on the bed.”

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Amane had similar thoughts when he saw Mahiru being drenched,
and he had nothing to say about that.

Once Mahiru left the room, he obediently did as told, changing into
his home clothes.

“It is so messy with no place to step on…how does he live with this
anyway…”

He heard a perturbed mutter while changing, and felt really

apologetic.

Once he changed, he laid down, and seemed to have fallen asleep.

After he opened his heavy eyelids with much effort, the first thing he
saw was the flax-colored hair.

Looking above the hair, he found Mahiru standing there, looking at

him; it seemed to be no dream.

“…What time is it now?”

“7pm. You slept a few hours.”

Mahiru tersely answered, and as Amane sat up, she handed over a
cup of isotonic drink.

Feeling gracious, he brought the cup to his mouth, and could finally
look around.

He found himself feeling a little better, probably because of the nap.

And then, he noticed his head was a little cold. He touched it, and
felt something cloth-like on his fingertips, though a little hard.

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There was a cooling sheet pasted on him, one his house would not
have. Having noticed that, he lifted his head towards Mahiru, “I
brought it from my house.” who simply responded.

His house had neither a cooling sheet nor an isotonic drink. It

appeared she brought the drink here.

“…Thanks for bringing it here.”

“No worries.”

The aloof answer had his grimacing.

It was likely she took care for him out of guilt, and not that she
wanted to talk to Amane. In any case, it was impossible to talk
intimately when she was in the house of a boy she had just met.

“Anyway, I brought the medicine on the table. It is best not to

consume with an empty stomach. Do you have any appetite?”

“Hm, sorta.”

“I see. I made some porridge, so please have that.”

“…Eh, you made that, Shiina?”

“Who else? I shall eat it if you do not want to.”

“No no, I’ll eat it. Please let me.”

He never expected her to care for him, and even make porridge. He
was a little flustered.

To be honest, Mahiru’s cooking skill was unknown to him, but he

never heard rumors of her failing home economics class, so it was
probably not too bad.

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Amane immediately lowered his head, asking to eat it, and Mahiru
stared at him blankly, but she nodded as she handed over the
thermometer on the side table.

“I shall bring it over. Do measure your temperature.”

“Okay.”

He did as she said, unbuttoning his shirt, and took the thermometer.
At that moment, Mahiru looked away.

“Please do so when I am not in this room.”

She sounded a little frenetic, and looking over, her face was a little
red.

Amane found it strange, since boys did not need to hide their chests,
unlike girls. Perhaps Mahiru had no resistance against the color of
skin, for she hastily looked aside the moment he unbuttoned his
shirt.

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Her white face was dyed with a little color of rose, her face still
looking aside as she shivered. One had to wonder if it was just him,
but Mahiru’s ears too were red, showing how embarrassed she was.

（…Ahh, I’m starting to see why the guys around her say she’s so
cute.）

Amane too felt that Mahiru was a beautiful girl, but nothing more.
There was no doubt she was pretty and cute, but that was all to him.

She was beautiful like a created piece of work. The impression she
gave was similar to that of an art piece.

But at this point, Mahiru was showing some embarrassment, making

her look a little more human, and strangely adorable.

“…Hurry and take out the porridge.”

“I-I will without you telling me.”

Their relationship was not close enough for him to plainly state how
cute she was, and she would have found him weird, so he swallowed
his thoughts.

Once he said that disinterestedly, Mahiru teetered out of the room.

She was a little slow, probably faltering, or because the room was
too messy. It was likely to be the latter.

As he watched her leave in a daze, Amane let out a little sigh,

wondering how it ended up this way.

（…Well, I guess it’s the sense of responsibility and guilt.）

A girl typically would not enter the house of an unfamiliar boy just to
take care of hime. It would be bad if she was attacked.

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Yet Mahiru did so despite the risk, so it seemed she was feeling really
guilty. Amane clearly showed no interest in her too, and this might
be cause for her relief.

In any case, there should be no doubt that Mahiru started taking

care of him because there was no other way.

“…I brought it here.”

While Amane had such thoughts in his slightly feverish head, Mahiru
knocked on the door tentatively.

It seemed she did not enter immediately, worried that he was not
dressed fully. He then remembered that he loosened his clothes to
measure his temperature.

“I’m not done measuring yet.”

“I meant that you should measure your temperature when I am not

in…”

“Sorry, I spaced out.”

He apologized, tucked the thermometer under his armpit, and soon

heard a dull electronic sound.

Hiii, he took it out, and it showed 38.3°C. Not bad enough to be

hospitalized for, but it was relatively high.

Amane wore his clothes properly, “Come in.” and told Mahiru who
had not entered. She cautiously entered with a tray.

She was obvious relieved, for he had finally put on his clothes.

“Your temperature?”

“38.3°C. I’ll get better with some medicine and sleep.”

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“…The medicine sold in shops mostly deal with the symptoms, not
the virus itself. Do rest well and work on your immune system.”

Despite being reproached, Amane knew that Mahiru was simply

showing her concern, and felt an itch in his heart.

Goodness, so she sighed as she placed the claypot and the tray on
the side table, opening the lid.

It contained porridge with plum. The porridge was thin, considering

the burden on his stomach, and there was lots of water, a ratio of 7:1
water and rice.

Plum was added not for flavor, it seemed, but because it was said to
be good for colds.

There was no steam oozing, but there was warmth, which showed
that it was not made moments ago, but deliberately cooled
thereafter.

While Amane stared at the porridge, Mahiru ignored him as she

served the porridge in a bowl. The plum bits were gently scattered
within, the seeds carefully removed, the red flesh faintly blended
into the white.

“Here. It probably is not hot anymore.”

“Nn, thank you.”

He received it, took a scoop with the spoon, and stared at it. Mahiru
was surprised to see his gesture.

“…What, do you want me to feed you? I am not providing such

service.”

“Nobody’s saying that…no, I’m just thinking that you know how to
cook.”

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“Anyone living alone should be capable of doing so.”

For Amane who had never been able to live a proper life alone, those
words really hurt.

“Fujimiya-san, before you cook, do clean up your room.”

“That too.”

It appeared Mahiru had somewhat known what Amane was thinking

as she proceeded with another jab. He muttered away, trying to pass
off this matter as he brought the spoonful of porridge to his mouth.

The sticky porridge spread in his mouth, along with the original taste
of rice and little salt.

But the sourness and saltiness of the dried plums were really mellow,
bringing a fine balance.

Amane did not really like salty dried plums, but he did like the slight
sweetness in this mild sourness. If he were healthy, he would have
put the dried plums onto white rice, making chazuke.

“It’s nice.”

“Thank you for that. But anyone could have made the porridge
without much difference.”

Mahiru answered with a blank face, a little smile appearing.

It was different from the smile he could occasionally see at school. It

was a smile of relief, and he subconsciously stared at her.

“…Fujimiya-san?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

The kind smile soon vanished after a single moment, and he found it
a pity.
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So he thought, but Amane did not say anything as he tried to brush it
off, eating the porridge in little scoops.

“…Anyway, please rest for today, and do drink lots of water. Use this
to wipe your sweat. I have prepared a basin of water; please soak the
towel, squeeze it dry, and wipe it.”

After dinner, Mahiru quickly brought another packet of isotonic

drink, a washing basin, a towel, a spare cooling sheet, and placed
them on the side table.

After all, she should not be staying in a stranger’s house, especially

one of the opposite gender; Amane too would have felt awkward, so
he accepted her actions.

And as Amane stared, Mahiru checked if she had omitted something.

（…For someone doing it out of her sense of duty, she sure is

thorough.）

It was harsh for him to say so, but Mahiru was serious and thorough
in whatever she did, leaving him with a wry smile as he started
getting used to her.

（Well, we won’t get involved with each other after this. Thanks for
the care though.）

It was unlikely he would have any involvement with her. After all, she
was just taking care of him this once.

And since they would not interact again in the future, he would use
this opportunity to ask something he was curious about.

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The medicine might have been taking effect, for he was starting to
feel a little tired, but the fever seemed to have subsided a little. His
thoughts were clearer as compared to before he slept.

“Well, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

Once everything was set, Mahiru looked over to him,

“Why were you on the swing in the rain? Had a quarrel with your
boyfriend?”

He was still curious about the previous day’s incident, which ended
up with him being cared for by her.

Mahiru was on the swing, soaked in the rain; why was she there?

Having seen her give the expression of a lost kid, Amane was
concerned, and forced his umbrella onto her.

But he did not understand why she gave such an expression.

She appeared to be waiting for someone, so he wondered if she had

a quarrel with her boyfriend or something, but Mahiru looked
towards him, dumbfounded.

“My apologies, but I have no boyfriend, and I have no intention to.”

“Huh? Why?”

“On the contrary, why do you think I have one?”

“Since you’re so popular, I thought you would have one or two at

least.”

Amane, being able to talk to her like this, felt she was a more
resolute, yet popular, ordinary girl. It did not seem the case to those
around him though.
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She was an adorable, innocent, obedient and humble pretty girl, a
petite, yet defined body. She looked ephemeral enough that anyone
would have the urge to protect her, and her style was such that she
was a boy’s ideal.

She was the top ranking student for the year, adept at sports, and as
he just learnt, great at gcooking. Surely she would be popular.

He had seen others actually flirting with her, and knew that a few of
his classmates had considerable interest in her.

She was spoilt for choice, and he could not imagine her not dating at
all.

He used the term, one or two at least, as he meant, but upon saying
that, Mahiru’s face was contorted.

“Not at all. I do not think I am one without restraint to be dating a

few males at once. Absolutely not.”

Her eyes turned cold as she flatly denied it, and Amane immediately
realized he stepped on a land mine.

For a moment, he felt a chill, but it was probably due to the cold. For
some reason, it seemed the room turned frosty.

“Sorry, this isn’t what I mean. My apologies.”

“…No, I might have been a little heated myself.”

But the moment he lowered his head, the cold atmosphere

dispersed.

Rather than say that she was feeling heated, it seemed the room was
cold like a snowstorm, but he dared not to mention this.

“Anyway, that was not the reason. I just wanted to calm my head a
little…I caused you worries, and you caught a cold. My bad.”
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“It’s fine. I’m just being a busybody. Actually, I don’t want you to feel
guilty just because I was being a busybody. Anyway, this is where we
stop getting involved, Shiina.”

As expected, Mahiru was taking care of Amane out of guilt, and once
she heard his eyes, she blinked and stared at Amane incredulously.

Was she that disturbed by him saying they would stop getting
involved?

“Of course, since there’s nothing common between us. You’re the
angel, the pretty genius girl who’s top of our year, and I don’t want
to get carried away. Did you think I’m feeling fortunate for having
you owe me a favor?

Mahiru awkwardly averted her eyes, I guess so, so Amane betrayed a

wry smile.

She however probably was not thinking too much, for that probably
happened before.

Selling favors to a pretty girl and getting involved in a relationship

might have been a passable method.

But it seemed Mahiru had quite a few experiences of that, and it was
no wonder she was so wary on that rainy day. Since she was so
defensive, he could not blame her for that.

“Well, it’s troublesome to you, getting involved with guys you don’t
like.”

“I guess so.”

“Of course, isn’t it?”

He was a little bemused to hear her confirmation.

Page | 34
She, famous as the obedient honor student of an angel, had her own
likes, dislikes and troubles, which made him a little familial with her.

It appeared Mahiru might have accidentally let slip, for she glared at
Amane, who baited her into saying so, with a little resentment.

This was the biggest proof thus far that Mahiru was a person with
emotions.

“It’s fine though? Well, I’m relieved to see that an angel has troubles
just like a human.”

“…Please do not call me that.”

It seemed she was bashful about being called an angel, for she
continued to show a peeved look.

Amane laughed once again, having found it similarly amusing.

“Well, it’s not like it’s anything urgent. I don’t have a reason to
pester you.”

So he said, and Mahiru widened her eyes in shock, showing a wry

smile herself.

Amane recalled Mahiru bowing seriously and returning to her

apartment as he laid on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

The medicine was effective, but he was worn out. Once he relaxed, it
seemed the sleepiness would strike.

He closed his eyes, recalling the events that transpired.

Nobody would have believed him if he said he was cared for by an

angel (vicious), and it was nothing worth talking about.

Page | 35
What happened on this day would be a secret only to Amane and
Mahiru.

Secret, his heart tickled just using this term, even though he decided
so because he found it a hassle to mention.

The next day onward, they would revert to being unfamiliar

strangers.

So Amane convinced himself as his consciousness slowly faded.

Page | 36
Chapter 3 – Angel’s Share

As declared, the relationship between Amane and Mahiru remained

that of passing strangers.

He recovered the day after he was cared for, and so happened to

bump into Mahiru while shopping at the convenience store, but they
Page | 37
did not truly interact. It appeared Mahiru was a little relieved to see
Amane looking fine.

Class started on Monday, and nothing changed. Same for everything

else.

But if there was a little change, it was that when he went to school,
he would lower his head while greeting others at school.

“Ohh, you’re looking great there, Amane.”

“Thanks to your care.”

Itsuki was worried after seeing Amane half-dead the previous week
when they went home, so he was waiting for Amane at the school
building entrance, wanting to check on the latter. Over the weekend,
he sent him a message, “You ain’t dead right?”

Amane messaged back, saying he was fine, but Itsuki remained

skeptical, and only after seeing Amane all lively did he sigh in an
exaggerated gesture.

“Well, even I would be worried seeing you like that. You’re better
now, but you should pay more attention to how you live. Start from
cleaning up.”

“Sounds like what someone else said.”

“Nn?”

“Ah, it’s nothing…I knew that over the weekend. Will be cleaning up
these days.”

No, you get down to it now, so the retort, but Amane ignored that.

That probably could not be done within half a day.

Page | 38
So he shook his head, and Itsuki did not pursue the matter further,
instead looking dumbfounded.

“Well, it’s your house, so do as you please. Make sure there’s enough
space to step on the next time I go there.”

“…I’ll see how it goes.”

While Amane frowned as he changed into the indoor shoes, he heard

a commotion in the neighboring classroom, and inadvertently looked
over.

Looking through the window, he found Mahiru showcasing her usual

beauty, surrounded by both boys and girls.

She was smiling calmly as she responded to them, yet she looked a
completely different Mahiru from days ago, so he thought with a wry
smile.

And Itsuki, having seen Amane’s expression, looked over as well; he

understood once he spottedMahiru.

“Ahh, Shiina-san? Still as popular as before. She’s pretty after all.”

“Well, she’s the angel after all…you find Shiina cute too, Itsuki?”

“Of course. I have Chii around, so she’s just there to be marveled at.”

“Stop flexing already.”

To be precise, the Chii Itsuki spoke of was his girlfriend, Chitose

Shirakawa.

Those two were a lovey-dovey couple, and whenever they were

together, it was just too dazzling for Amane’s eyes.

Page | 39
Stop flexing over here, so Amane waved away at Itsuki, but the latter
did not look unhappy. After all, it was normal for them after all, “This
guy’s hopeless.” so he laughed.

“What about you, Amane? Don’t you find Shiina cute?”

“She’s a beauty. That’s all.”

“That’s boring.”

“Well, she’s a flower on a peak we can’t reach. There’s no reason for

us to get involved with her, so all we can do is look.”

“You’re not wrong.”

While he hid the fact that she took care of him days ago because of
certain events, they were living in different worlds after all.

Amane did not foresee himself getting along well with Mahiru.
Outstanding humans would only mesh well with other outstanding
humans.

And Amane, so painfully self-aware of how useless he was, could not

possibly have anything to do with Mahiru, so cute and capable she
was.

Yes, Amane assumed he would have nothing to do with her

anymore.

“…What are you eating?”

And that notion was turned upside down when Amane was at the
veranda, drinking his jelly juice as he looked outside.

He found it a hassle to go down to the convenience store, and was

slurping at the jelly drink he usually kept at home, leaning on the

Page | 40
railing as he breathed in the air outside, only for Mahiru to appear on
the veranda herself.

Once Mahiru spotted Amane, she leaned over the veranda like he
did, noticed the jelly juice he was drinking, and frowned.

Amane never expected himself to be approached, and could only

remain rooted for a while.

“You see, it’s jelly that replenishes my energy in dozens of seconds.”

“…Are you planning to eat this for dinner?”

“What else then?”

“A high school boy with a big appetite is eating this?”

“Stop being a busybody.”

Typically, he would have survived on bentos from the convenience

stores, or sides from the supermarket, and not eat that little. On this
day however, Amane was too lazy to cook dinner, and was in no
mood for cup ramen, so he decided to have jelly juice instead.

It was unlikely to fill him, and he might have some snacks or sweets
thereafter.

“Cooking…I guess I shall not ask, since you do not seem to be capable
of doing that. I cannot imagine how you are living alone when you
cannot cook or clean up…”

“Shut up. That has nothing to do with you, right?”

The scathing truth hit him, and so he frowned and finished his jelly
juice.

He had suffered before, and already planned to clean up days ago,

but being told this for days had his motivation turn opposite.

Page | 41
Amane in turn was curious as to why Mahiru was being a little naggy;
she stared back at him, and let out a little sigh.

“…Please wait for a moment.”

Before he could respond or refuse her, Mahiru left the veranda, and
returned to her apartment.

Upon hearing the windows clatter shut, “What was that?” Amane
asked.

She said, but what did she want him to wait for?

He looked towards Mahiru’s apartment with surprise, but naturally,

there was no response.

（Guess I’m cooled down, time to go back.）

He was waiting for her, as she told him to, but the winter night was
colder than he thought. A sweater was insufficient.

In any case, he did not know why he was waiting so obediently.

The temperature was cold enough for him to be breathing white air.
He exhaled, and there was an electronic sound buzzing from the
corridor.

He immediately turned towards the door once he heard the bell.

There was only one visitor he expected.

He did not know why she would appear, but he evaded the messy
pile of clothes and magazines as he went towards the corridor.

Even without looking through the peephole, he knew who it was. He

dragged his sandals towards the door, unchained it──and as
expected, slightly beneath his eyes was flaying flax-colored hair .

“…What are you doing?”

Page | 42
“I had enough seeing how unkempt you are…these are leftovers, but
here.”

Mahiru retorted tersely as she reached her hands forward.

The hands much smaller than Amane’s were holding a tupperware.

The translucent lid vaguely showed the cooked food inside.

The contents were still warm, and there was some water droplets on
the lid. It was unclear, but there should be some cooked food inside.

He blinked a few times, and once she saw that his eyes were trying
to comprehend, Mahiru let out a deep sigh.

“You would not eat properly. Supplements are simply supplements,

not to be taken as the main course.”

“Are you my mom?”

“I do think what I insist here is normal. Also, you should be cleaning

up your apartment, no? It is difficult to stand in there.”

Mahiru glanced behind Amane, and narrowed her eyes in

exasperation, leaving him speechless.

“…I can still walk through.”

“Not at all. Clothes typically should not be on the floor.”

“Well, they just drop.”

“They will not if you wash them, dry them and fold them properly.
Please pack up all the magazines you have read. It will be
troublesome if you slip and fall.”

There was some spite in the words, but Amane knew well that
Mahiru was showing concern for some reason, and could not retort
at every point.

Page | 43
It was true that the last time she took care of him, both of them
nearly slipped as the room was too messy, and it was no wonder he
was being told off.

Grrr, Amane, unable to retort, showed a grimace, his lips pursed as

he received the tupperware from Mahiru.

The warmth slowly spread through his palm, and it was comforting
amidst this cooling weather.

“So, can I eat this?”

“I will discard it if you do not want to.”

“No no no I’ll eat it. It’s not often we get an ordinary dinner made by
the Angel herself.”

“…Please do not call me that. Seriously.”

He tried to get back at her by using her nickname at school, but her
white face was clearly starting to turn red.

It seemed calling her Angel itself was truly embarrassing. Looking

from her viewpoint, Amane too felt uneasy about it, and it was to be
expected.

Her cheeks were flushed, and she glared at him with a teary look,
which Amane could only grin at.

“Sorry. I won’t call you that again.”

Any more, and he would really ruin her mood, so it would not be
appropriate for him to joke anymore about this. Furthermore, they
were not on such familial terms to joke about, and it would be better
not to go overboard.

It appeared Mahiru really did not want to be called such, and she
cleared her throat, showing that she was rejuvenated.
Page | 44
Her cheeks remained strangely red however, and she looked not too
different from before.

“Well, I’ll be accepting this graciously. You don’t have to be sorry

about me getting sick.”

“Not at all. We are even now after I had taken care for you. I am
doing this for self-satisfaction…but I am relatively concerned by how
you are not living a proper lifestyle.”

“I get that.”

Amane had always been in a hapless state whenever she saw him,
and her decision might be expected from a certain perspective.

Even at this point, the entrance behind Amane was a complete mess,
and Mahiru had seen it all when she took care of him. There was no
point hiding.

“…Do eat proper meals and live a proper lifestyle now, okay?”

“Are you my mom?”

While Mahiru lectured away with a completely serious look, Amane

retorted back in exhaustion.

He brought the gift handed to him back, frisked for disposable

chopsticks from the supermarket, and sat on the living room sofa.

How would the food Mahiru shoved to him taste like?

He was thinking that the porridge from before tasted good. His
tongue was insensitive due to the cold, but the taste of the porridge,
cooked from uncooked rice, did enter his stomach gently.

It was likely that given Mahiru’s food was delicious just like that, how
would it taste this time?

Page | 45
Harboring some expectations, he opened the tupperware lid with
some trepidation, and drifting out was undoubtedly the fragrance of
cooked food.

It contained some root vegetables and chicken. The soup was mild in
color, clearly showing the bright colors of the carrots and the green
beans garnish.

Food of various colors were chopped into bite sizes, whetting the
appetite of Amane, who had only eaten jelly.

He quickly split the chopsticks, and first brought the carrot to his
mouth.

“It’s nice.”

The taste was obvious at once.

As to be expected of the health conscious Mahiru, the seasoning was

mild, but the fish stock was rich. This was not the powdered form
usually bought from the supermarket. It was stock boiled from
bonito flakes and kelp. The taste was completely different.

He slowly chewed, savoring the stock, seasoning and vegetables

spreading in his mouth.

The freshness of the vegetables was thoroughly emphasized while

the soup flavor was absorbed. Amane himself disliked eating
vegetables, but even he could enjoy it well.

Do eat more vegetables, so the implied message, for there was little
chicken inside. The chicken was really fresh and tender, not
overdone, and nothing to nitpick about aside from quantity.
The ingredients were relatively plain for a high school girl’s cooking,
yet it clearly emphasized her skills.

Page | 46
One could say it was a stark difference from those who had just
learnt how to cook.

It would be better if there was some rice or miso or soy sauce, so he

thought, but unfortunately he did not cook any rice…or rather, he
had finished his rice, and this little wish was unfulfilled.

It was too late for him to say so, but Amane regretted not going out
to buy two packets of rice.

“The Angel’s really amazing.”

So Amane praised the superhuman who was perfect at studying,

sports, housework, yet terrified and unhappy about being called
that. He continued to savor the ideal taste of these root vegetables.

“I’m returning this. It’s really delicious.”

The following night, Amane brought the borrowed tupperware along

as he visited Mahiru’s house.

Amane was truly bad at doing housework, but he was fine with
washing. It was proper etiquette to wash and return after all. So he
thought as he brought along the thoroughly washed and dried
tupperware.

Mahiru might have expected Amane to ring the bell at this time, for
she opened the door without checking.

She was dressed in a bordeaux red knitted one piece dress, and
narrowed her eyes slightly once she saw Amane.

She glanced at the tupperware, “It is impressive that you washed it

well.” and praised him as she would to a child, causing him to frown
unwittingly.

Page | 47
“Thank you for doing this much. This is for you.”

Mahiru received the tupperware, and that would be fine, but then,
she passed another tupperware to Amane’s hands.

As expected, or so it seemed, it was warm.

It probably contained fried pork and eggplant. As it was a little

colder, the lid was not covered in steam, and through the lid, he
could see the eggplants, the cooked meat, and the sprinkled sesame
seeds.

Looking at the color, it seemed the sauce was made from miso. The
slightly charred eggplant and glossy meat looked appetizing.

This really looked delicious, so he thought.

But he could not understand why she brought him food again.

“No erm, I’m just here to return the tupperware.”

“This is tonight’s dinner.”

“I know that, but,”

“Just to ask, you have no allergies, right? I do not care about your
food preferences.”

“Not really? But if I keep taking more from you.”

How would it turn out if he was to have two consecutive dinners

from her?

Amane was utterly grateful, especially given his improper balance in

nutrition, and Mahiro’s cooking were far superior to girls her age.
The taste would be remarkable.

So too would the food inside the tupperware be delicious.

Page | 48
But it would be an utter tragedy if the people from his school was to
see this. Of course, the tragedy would be on Amane’s peaceful high
school life.

Each apartment here was to accommodate a person, but considering

the facilities and geographic location, the rental was expensive.
There were no other schoolmates aside from Mahiru nearby, and he
did not need to worry about them being spotted, but he had some
hesitation on such a relationship being exposed.

“I made a little too much for myself. Will be glad if you accept some
of mine.”

“…Well, I’m glad to accept this, but usually, this gives others a wrong
impression that you like them.”

“You think so?”

“Nope, not at all.”

Are you an idiot? Given that she was making such a face, Amane had
no reason to think that much.

Furthermore, the beautiful prodigy Mahiru was showing concern

after witnessing how Amane was so useless at cleaning up, and it
was impossible to imagine her having any goodwill to him.

It was true that receiving dinner from a cute neighbor would be

fitting for a romcom manga development, but there was no love
between them, any comedic element difficult to find. Just to note,
Amane had no rice at home.

The only aspects present were the Angel’s vicious words and the
pitiful compassion showed.

“It should be fine then. You are planning to buy some bentos from
the convenience store or some side dishes at the supermarket, no?”
Page | 49
“How do you know?”

“The kitchen didn’t look like it was used properly, and there’s a lot of
disposable chopsticks from the convenience store and supermarket.
Also, anyone can tell without thinking, given how unhealthy you
look. Your face clearly looks unhealthy.”

She saw through everything with just a single trip to his house, and
Amane’s face twitched. It was an undeniable fact however, so he
could not say anything.

“…Now then, I shall be returning.”

Thud, once she was done with what she wanted to say and give,
Mahiru returned home.

Clank. The chain behind the door was latched up, and Amane looked
at the tupperware in his hands.

Within his palms was the still warm dinner, and he let out a sigh
before returning to his apartment.

The eggplants and pork with sesame seeds were really delicious, and
he had a craving for rice.

Thus, every day, he would exchange an empty tupperware for one

with food, his food nutrition taking a drastic turn for the better.

Mahiru’s cooking was not particularly heavy in flavoring, but they

were extremely appetizing, so every dinner, he would prepare
precooked rice to eat with these dishes.

There were different dishes every day, whether they were Japanese,
Western, or Chinese, and they were all delicious, impossible to
refuse.

Page | 50
Amane looked forward to each opportunity to eat every day. He was
apologetic about that, but it seemed he was being domesticated,
melancholic if he never got to eat her food.

Perhaps the Angel’s cooking was truly addictive. While thinking this
was not a good thing, Amane obediently accepted the tupperware,
and indulged himself in the food.

“…You’re looking great recently. Got your food sorted out?”

Amane was looking a lot better, probably due to having sufficient

nutrients from dinner. It was lunchtime when Itsuki stared at his
face.

Amane was having udon at the cafeteria, and was shedding cold
sweat in the face of the usually perspective Itsuki.

“Itsuki, I think you’re looking scary.”

“What, did I hit the bullseye?”

“No…well, I had to reflect on that.”

He would be told off whenever he met Mahiru at the apartments,

and given that he was receiving dinner from her, it was to be
expected that his quality of life had improved.

He wanted to express his thanks to the Angel, but at the same time,
he felt she was somewhat a busybody.

So he confirmed ambiguously, and Itsuki gleefully giggled away.

“Of course. Your old unhealthy look was because of your living habits
after all.”

“Shut up.”

“But you managed to get it fixed just like that?”

Page | 51
“…I was forced, sorta?”

“Haha. Your mom knows?”

“…Not exactly, I would say.”

Mahiru’s tone was similar to his mom.

She was way too young and cute to be called his mom, but Amane
did not want to reject Mahiru, who had been taking care of him all
this while.

“Say Itsuki. Did I look really unhealthy?”

“Yeah. Mostly because you looked too pale. You’re tall, but skinny,
and your face just looked unhealthy.”

“But my face’s like this.”

“I know. You can be livelier in your expressions though.”

“That’s impossible…I see, a dead looking face…?”

As he hardly checked his face in the mirror, Amane hardly knew how
he looked, but to others, he appeared to be utterly sickly.

Perhaps Mahiru was worried about Amane because he usually

looked dead.

“Amane, you should pay attention to how others look at you. You’re
always looking down, and not very approachable. You don’t really go
out to interact with others, and people just find you dull.”

“Are you just rubbing it in?”

“No, what else can I do without saying it plainly?”

Page | 52
Itsuki took the opportunity to coax Amane into focusing on his health
and appearance, “None of your business.” but the latter merely
retorted and looked aside.

Page | 53
Chapter 4 – The coincidental encounter

“Ah.”

There was a bell-like chime behind him.

Page | 54
It was a sound Amane was recently familiar with. He was not at his
apartment, but the snacks section of the nearby supermarket.

There were usually people there, but Amane never expected Mahiru
to react to him, so he turned towards her awkwardly, seeing her
wide-eyed.

She was holding a basket containing the ingredients for tonight’s

dinner, radish, tofu, chicken thigh and milk.

Looking at this situation, it appeared she happened to encounter him

at the snacks section.

“Let me say this first. It’s a coincidence, I wasn’t stalking you.”

“I know that. This is the closest supermarket here, so it is

understandable.”

He preemptively stated, “Why do you think that?” and Mahiru

groaned dumbfoundedly as she looked at the notebook in her hands,

It truly was the impeccable Mahiru’s style to write all her needs
down.

Once she checked the contents on the cute floral patterned

notebook, she left the snacks corner, and went towards the
seasonings on the opposite side.

Soy sauce and mirin, so she muttered with an adorable voice as she
searched for home necessities. She was truly acting cute, but Amane
was incredulous.

“The mirin’s here. Hey.”

“Ah, that is not the mirin I want. Underaged people cannot buy that.”

“This is considered alcohol?”

Page | 55
“It is treated as sweet wine. The seasoning type cannot be drank
directly when salt is added, so underaged people can buy this.”

He wanted to pass the mirin to her, but she shook her head, and put
the mirin seasoning into the basket.
It was the first time Amane heard of this, especially when he hardly
did any housework, “Heh.” so he answered as he saw her deft
movements from behind.

Mahiru stared intently at the rack of soy sauces, and paid attention
to the price labels, frowning and muttering away,

“…Special discount limited only to 1 bottle per person…”

It appeared she wanted to buy another one, for she lamented and
looked towards him.

“I’ll buy one, okay?”

“Thank you for understanding me.”

He sensed the intent of her words, and gave a wry smile as she held
a bottle of soy sauce. Mahiru gave a satisfied smile.

“…You’re unexpectedly frugal.”

“Frugal, or I should say, save as much as I can. We should not be

spending excessively.”

“Sounds like a Japanese characteristic…but I guess that’s expected

since we live off our parents’ money.”

Amane too lived alone, and relied on his parents.

He was born to a well off family, and was able to live in such a clean,
safe apartment. He also had ample living expenses, and did not need
to scrimp. Thus, he was really grateful to his parents.

Page | 56
He had to pay for school expenses, and had to spend quite a bit on
living expenses, so he would try to avoid pointless spending.

“…I guess. We are still reliant after all, so it is very important to

save.”

Mahiru’s responded tersely as she sorted the contents of her basket.

Her cold voice was devoid of warmth.

It was scary seeing how her answer was suddenly so monotonous,

but when she lifted her head, her expression was as before.

The fleeting dull eyes were no longer to be seen.

“…Anyway, are you buying this?”

Mahiru tried to change the topic, it seemed, as she stared at the

vacuum packed rice and potato salad in the basket.

While the portions he received from Mahiru were truly delicious,

that quantity was insufficient for him. As usual, he would buy some
rice for the main course and salad as side dishes.

“For dinner.”

“These are not healthy.”

“Come on. I bought salad, see?”

“But it is potato salad…how have you not ruined your body living like
this…?”

“You’re worrying too much.”

You should be eating more vegetables, so Mahiru narrowed her eyes

as she exerted silent pressure on Amane, who turned aside and paid
no heed.

Page | 57
While they continued to talk, Amane finished payment, and stored
his items in the plastic bag. Mahiru in turn took out a recyclable bag,
and stored her items inside it.

She truly was a plebeian Angel who cared for the environment.

However, while she had put her items in, the quantity left him a little
worried.

The milk, soy sauce and mirin seasoning totaled 4 liters, and while
they were slightly different from water in terms of density, it was still
4kg. Furthermore, she had purchased some ingredients, especially
the radish, which would be really heavy.

She did pack them all nicely and zipped it up, but it would be
physically taxing for her to carry it back to the apartment.

（So she bought this much seasoning and ingredients because of me

）

It seemed she would cook more than usual and share some with him.
All this while, Amanue had been receiving a portion’s worth of food.
She said she had been cooking too much, it appeared she had been
deliberately cooking excess food recently.

It seemed the result was that Amane caused her considerable

trouble, and he would be worthless as a male to not do anything for
her.

Once he saw that she was done zipping, Amane tried lifting it, and
while it was not too heavy for him, it would be considerably taxing
for a girl to carry it over a long distance.

While Mahiru was really athletic, her physical strength was another
matter. One could tell that beneath her clothes, her slender arms
could not have much strength.

Page | 58
Amane’s gesture had her caramel-colored eyes blinking.

She seemed grateful, rather than shocked.

“…I’m not stealing yours.”

“I am not worrying about that…I can carry that much, at least?”

“You’ll be cuter if you just accept this honestly, you know.”

“You are making it sound like I am not cute.”

“This is how you treat me compared to how you act at school.”

She might have some self-awareness, for she flinched a little.

Everyone agreed that she was so cordial, kind and humble at school,
but she showed none of these to Amane.

To be precise, while she did treat Amane well, she was blunt towards
him. She never showed any courtesy to him, and always stated what
was on her mind.

It was much better than lying however, so Amane did not really
mind.

While Mahiru remained silent, Amane seized the opportunity to

carry the recyclable bag chocked full of ingredients, along with his,
and hurried towards the exit.

There seemed to be some frantic movements behind, but Amane

paid no heed as he ignored their increasing distance, heading
straight forth.

He did not bother to slow down enough for her.

They were already together at the supermarket, and if anyone was to

see them walking home, side by side, things would get out of hand.

Page | 59
For them, this would be the ideal distance.

So Amane pretended not to have any relationship as he hurried on,

“…Thank you very much.” only to hear a little whisper behind him.

Page | 60
Chapter 5 – The Angel, and the cleaning
operation

Amane was bad at all kinds of housework, and worst of all, cleaning
up.

Page | 61
He could cook, if one’s definition of cooking was to get injured,
ignoring appearance and taste.

If he cooked with the idea that he could just heat it and put it into his
stomach, it would look and taste unappealing; not that he could not
cook however.

If he could not wash clothes, he would really have trouble in his life;
but he could do that at least. Even if he somehow could not, there
was a coin laundry shop nearby, and he could simply dump his
clothes in, add some detergent and water, and let it spin. That was
fine.

However, he was completely hopeless at cleaning up.

“What do I do with this?”

It was the day off, and Amane, having been nagged at by Mahiru and
Itsuki, finally decided to start cleaning. However he did not know
where to start.

He knew it was his own fault, but there were too many things, and
he had no idea how he should go about doing it.

For the time being, he washed his futon sheets, and dried them.

And then, he had no idea how to start cleaning.

His clothes and magazines were all over the place, and he practically
had no place to step on.

The silver lining here was that any food-related rubbish would smell
foul, and Amane would dispose of them promptly, so living there was
no oil stain or foul stench. Well, the room was simply in a mess.

Despite that, the mess troubled him most.

And while he sighed, there was a chime from the entrance.

Page | 62
Ah, so he blurted.

Appearing there would be the visitor he was long used to, or rather,
the blessing from Heaven, the delivery man-like existence who would
return after each delivery. To him, she was like a savior.

He hurried towards the entrance, nearly slipping as there was no

place for footage, and supported himself off the wall as he opened
the door.

“Sorry, I am here for the last tupperware…what are you doing?”

“…Getting ready to clean up.”

Mahiru saw him nearly fall over, and stared exasperatedly at his face.

“Thought there was a loud sound.”

“…I nearly fell.”

“I guessed so. You have not started cleaning, no?”

“Didn’t know where to start.”

“I guessed so.”

It is really difficult to start when it is so messy, so Mahiru noted

bluntly as per usual, Amane’s face twitched, but he could not deny it.

More importantly, if he really argued with her until the very end, he
would have no idea how to start cleaning.

But speaking of which, how would he ask?

He wanted to ask her tips on cleaning, but was she truly willing to
provide…so he stared towards Mahiru tentatively, and she looked
behind him, towards the messy entrance.

Page | 63
Uwaah, her eyes basically screamed so as she looked towards the
devastation behind him. To her, the entrance was overly messy.

“Please allow me…to clean the apartment completely.”

“Huh?”

Amane thought it would be brazen for him to ask Mahiru to help, so

he merely intended to ask her on how to clean up.

But he never expected Mahiru to offer her assistance.

“It is unbearable to think my neighbor has such a dirty room.”

Her words were always so overboard, and thus, he was not angry.
After all, she was telling the truth, and he had no room to refute.

“And you are living alone without being capable of doing your
housework? I suppose you spend your days with the optimistic
mindset, thinking you will get used to it. Right now, you cannot do
anything. How about you reflect a little on your actions?”

He had nothing to say.

His mother had said it would be easy if he had done his housework
studiously, but he always let it be, resulting in this situation. He too
realized he reaped what he sowed.

“Furthermore, this would not have happened if you had cleaned up

daily. This is a show of daily laziness.”

“…You’re right.”

Despite Mahiru’s words, one reason why he was not angry was
because she had been taking care of him, and he had no pride to
stand up to her. After all, she did correctly point out his past
thoughts and actions.

Page | 64
It all ended up like this because he let it be, thinking he could settle
it, and he could only quietly nod away at what she said.

“May I clean up this apartment?”

“…Can I ask you to do so?”

“Of course, since I suggested it. Also, I shall begin preparations. It is

best if you lock any personal items you wish to hide, or any valuables
in the storeroom.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Sad to say, while her words were blunt, she was so earnest in
offering her help, and he had no reason to worry that she would be
stealing anything.

After all, she, who so abided by common sense and was a busybody,
could not possibly harm others.

“…Are you not worried?”

“You’re not the kind of person to do that anyway.”

“Not that…are you not worried that I will see the things you will want
to hide as a boy?”

“Sorry about that, but I don’t have such stuff.”

“Well, if you say so. I shall change my clothes and bring my cleaning
tools over…I shall clean this apartment, thoroughly.”

Mahiru shrugged, and returned to her apartment. From behind,

Amane watched her leave with a wry smile on his face.

Mahiru returned to Amane’s apartment in different clothing, a long

white T-shirt, and khaki cargo pants.
Page | 65
The T-shirt clinging to her body emphasized her defined, curvy body.

She turned her hair in a bun, showing the white nape, leaving him a
little uncomfortable.

Typically, she would be wearing a one piece dress or a skirt, so this

was a new sight for him.

He was wondering if this boyish look would be suitable for Mahiru,

but it seemed he was overthinking it. It was then he thoroughly
realized that beauties would look good in anything they wear.

Nevertheless, while this clothing looked easier to move in, it could be

worn for outdoor purposes. He wondered if she was fine with it
getting dirty.

“Are you fine with it getting dirty?”

“I intend to dispose it some time later. It is fine even if it is dirty.”

So Mahiru said as she looked towards the devastation that was

Amane’s apartment, and sighed.

“Just to say this, we are doing this thoroughly, understand?”

“…Got it.”

“If you do, let us hurry. I am not going to hold back, and not going to
let you compromise.”

Is that alright? So Mahiru implied with silent pressure, “Yes.” And

Amane could only abide.

Thus began the cleaning operation launched by the Angel.

“First, bring the clothes into the laundry basket. Cleaning should go
from top to bottom, but if we want to use the vacuum cleaner, we
need to sort that out. There are so many clothes, so we need to

Page | 66
separate them in batches. Also, split those that you have worn and
those that you have not. We can wash them all, right?”

“Ahh just do what you want…”

As to be expected, even if they had a vacuum cleaner, they had to

start from the mess on the ground.

“…You do not have any undergarments lying around, no?”

“I’ll keep them in the closet at least.”

“Good. We will deal with the laundry later. Even if we wash and dry
them now, the dust will fly when we clean it up. There is insufficient
space to dry. If you are not really in need of them, we can wash them
once we are done cleaning.”

“Yes.”

“…Then, the magazines can be discarded. It would be one thing if you

are collecting them, but I guess not given how they are all over the
place. Cut out the pages you want to keep, and deal with the rest. Tie
them up, and bring them to the waste collection area.”

Mahiru quickly got down to cleaning, instructing Amane to keep his

clothes in the laundry basket as she stacked up the magazines one by
one.

She had asked if he had any magazines he really wanted to keep, but
that was not what he was concerned by, so he shook his head.
Seeing that, Mahiru bundled the magazines with the vinyl string she
brought from her house.

“Once done with the clothes, please come here and sort out the
other items on the floor. Same goes for them, sort out what you
want and do not want, and discard the ones you do not want.
Understood?”
Page | 67
“…Oh.”

“If you are unhappy about something, do say so.”

“No, not exactly…just that it seems very organized.”

“We will not have enough time otherwise. I do not want to see your
room in a mess.”

“You’re right.”

It was their day off, but time was limited. Given that the noise of the
vacuum cleaner would disturb their neighbors, they could only do so
in the day.

And the work before the vacuuming was laborious as it was. Mahiru
understood this, and told him to hurry with the packing.

He was apologetic about having to trouble Mahiru this much, but

thanks to her, there was more space for footing, and he was truly
impressed.

“Instructor Shiina…”

“Since you call me instructor, hurry up and learn. I cannot determine

which are your personal belongings, so please sort out those that
you require.”

“Yes sir.”

“Please do not treat me like a boy.”

So the grim faced Angel retorted as she cleaned up with her nimble
hands, sorting out things she could determine.

Amane himself had the urge to keep anything and everything, and
thus he was grateful and envious that she could be so decisive.

Page | 68
It was another person’s room, but Mahiru really spared no efforts in
cleaning up. She was truly acting like a housemaker, in a homely
manner.

Her orderly movements made it seem that she could have easily
cleaned this apartment herself.

But she might have been too hasty, for she did not notice her
footing.

What happened next was undoubtedly Amane’s fault, for Mahiru

stepped on his clothes on the floor, losing her balance.

“Ah.” So Mahiru blurted, and at that instant, Amane instinctively slid

towards the floor she was about to fall upon.

He felt a soft sensation and a sweet scent, along with some smell of
dust, which was probably caused when he hurried over.

His buttocks felt a blunt pain as he landed, but it was still endurable,
and he only blurted it out. At the same time, he could feel her weight
boring upon him.

He was fortunate that he was able to stop her at that instant.

“……Fujimiya-san”

Mahiru lifted her face, staring at him with a stunned look. She did
not appear to be fuming, but it appeared she had lots to say.

“Sorry for falling over. Well, we are cleaning the house because this
will happen.”

“My sincerest apologies. I’m reflecting about this…you hurt

anywhere?”

“I am fine. Thank you for catching me. I should be the one saying
sorry.”
Page | 69
“No, this is my fault…”

Amane had already been receiving dinner from her, and now he was
receiving assistance in cleaning. It would be unspeakable for him if
she was to be hurt because of this.

One might say he was so apologetic, he dared not look at her face.

If Mahiru was willing, he would have considered kowtowing towards

her, but it seemed she did not not intend to blame him for her falling
over.

“We are cleaning up to prevent this from happening, you know?”

“I know. I’m really sorry.”

“…No, you don’t have to be so sorry. I came here to help after all.”

She panicked a little as she looked up at him.

She looked at him up close with uneasy eyes while clinging onto him,
and he found it very difficult to calm down.

Amane, who had no luck with women, was already having a cardiac
arrest at this distance, let alone a pretty girl in close contact with
him.

Neither of them were in love with each other, but he found it really
inappropriate.

Mahiru herself seemed not to have notice her posture, so Amane

gently grabbed her shoulders, splitting them apart, and stood up
before the shame reached his face.

“…Shall we, continue?”

“I guess.”

Page | 70
Luckily, it appeared Mahiru did not notice Amane faltering, and she
held his hand as she stood up.

Her face remained stoic like usual, not caring that they made
contact.

Amane himself was thinking that a girl like Mahiru would not be so
bashful given that so many boys showered her with affections,
brushing this matter aside.

He looked towards her with a wry smile, apologetic for having her
help, so he motivated himself and got down to cleaning again.

“…That shocked me.”

Cleaning was truly a hassle for him, given that he was unfamiliar with
it.

And thus, he never noticed her little whisper and the slightly
reddened eyes beneath her faint colored hair.

“…Fuuu, it’s finally clean.”

In the end, they spent an entire day cleaning up Amane’s house.

They cleared the personal belongings on the floor after several

hours, washed the clothes, wiped the lights, the windows, vacuumed
the floor, and by the time they were done, the sun was setting.

The sun was visible when Mahiru entered the house, and this was
sufficient proof of how long they toiled on this.

But it was for this reason that Amane’s house looked pretty once
again.

Page | 71
The floor was cleared of anything unnecessary, cleaned thoroughly.
The windows and sills were cleared of dust, and so were the lights,
looking brighter than before.

Amane’s room too was cleaned, so there was nothing scattered on

the floor, and he could comfortably rest in there.

“We spent an entire day on this.”

“Well, it’s that messy…”

“All thanks to you.”

“You’re right.”

Amane could not lift his head towards the Angel cum savior, and
could only look towards Mahiru with respect, given that she had
helped him this much.

Goodness gracious, so she muttered as she tied the trash bag, having
spent her valuable day off on this.

She might sound brutal, but she did not look displeased, instead
looking accomplished. Nevertheless, she was a little lethargic, and
that was to be expected given that she had toiled an entire day.

He could not bring himself to allow her to make dinner after this.

Leaving aside whether she would be cooking his portion, he would

feel sorry if he let her work in such a tired state.

“I don’t want to go out and buy dinner now, so let’s order some
pizza. I’ll pay for today, since I’ve taken much from you.”

“Eh, but.”

“If you don’t want to eat it with me, you can take a slice back to eat.”

Page | 72
He could not stop Mahiru if she did not want to eat with him, but he
could let her bring some home.

More than wanting to eat with her, he wanted to show appreciation

to her, so he was fine eating alone.

“…Not that. I have never ordered pizza before though, so I am a little

shocked.”

“Eh, you haven’t?”

“I have not ordered pizza since I live alone…though I have made it

myself.”

“It’s amazing how you thought of making pizza yourself.”

Typically, one would order pizza either as a take-out, or a order out

of three choices. There might be few like Mahiru who would spend
the effort to start over from the dough.

“It’s normal to order a takeout. I often do it for myself. Wait, you’re

not the type to go to a family restaurant alone?”

“I have never been there once.”

“It’s rare to hear that. I do go alone, especially when my parents are

lazy to do so. Do your parents dislike going out to eat.”

“…Our housemaker would cook for us.”

“A nanny? Guess you’re loaded.”

It would be expected if she was a rich person.

Her etiquette, clothing and belongings looked posh.

Given how she had the refined vibe to her, it would not be strange to
assume so.

Page | 73
And once she said so, Amane showed a smile.

“I guess you’re relatively rich.”

But he immediately regretted saying these words, for the smile on

Mahiru’s face was more akin to self-deprecation than joy and pride.

Her response was muted when he mentioned about her parents, so

it seemed she was on bad terms with them.

It seemed this was not a matter she really wanted to talk about, so
he had no intention to probe at all

Every person had one or two things he would not want to mention or
let others know. Not asking about certain things might be courtesy
towards a person he was relatively unfamiliar with.

“Well, just think of it as an experience. Here, choose what you want.”

He decided not to talk about her parents, and showed her the pizza
advertisement instead.

It was the shop Amane frequented, the best tasting of the delivery
services he knew of in this area.

It certainly was not as good as one baked in a pizza kiln, but the
toppings ranged from standard to kids appeal, and surely there
would be some matching Mahiru’s tastes.

Seizing the change in topic, Mahiru took the menu, and quickly
scanned her eyes over.

The transparent looking roasted tea colored eyes stared at the

photos of various pizzas.

Those eyes, always devoid of emotion, seemed to be sparkling with

life.

Page | 74
（…Wait, is she actually looking forward to this?）

Perhaps he was thinking too much, but she appeared a little excited,
for once she had a look at the menu, she pointed at a four flavored
pizza typically found at parties, “This is what I want.” implying so.

Mahiru peered over to him, as though peeking, and once he agreed,

light began to glow in her eyes.

He made a wry smile seeing her obviously elated face, and with a
single hand, he dialled the number listed on the advertisement.

About an hour later, the pizza arrived, and Mahiru quickly ate it.

There were four flavors, and she seemed to have trouble deciding
which one to choose from, only to begin with the bacon and
sausages.

Not unexpectedly, she showed a princess-like side as she chewed on

the pizzas in small bites.

She was holding it in her hands, but there was some elegance to how
she ate, and it was likely she was raised to do so.

But at the same time, he found her as adorable as a little animal.

She narrowed her eyes at the stretching cheese strands, her relaxed
cheeks looking strangely adorable.

Typically, she looked really matured, poised even, but at this point,
she was acting her age.

And as she munched down on the pizza in little bites, Amane had the
urge to pat her on the head.

“…What?”

“Nothing. Just that you look like you’re enjoying this.”

Page | 75
“Please do not stare at me.”

But her displeased frown was not cute in the slightest.

“…Well, to say this, you aren’t cute at all.”

“That does not matter. Actually, you’ll just be uncomfortable with

me acting like I am at school, right?”

“Sorta. I’m more used to you being like this than at school.”

He never interacted with Mahiru at school, and never talked to her.

All he could see was the flawless, genial, beautiful smile she showed
to everyone.

And in contrast, she was showing no heed to others this time.

This might have been the true Mahiru, and her gestures at school
were simply her ‘going outside’ mode.

“For me, this part of you right now isn’t that tiring.”

“The uncute part?”

“Don’t be so vindictive…but well, I don’t know what you are thinking

of at school.”

“Mostly food and lessons.”

“You’re still playing the fool?”

Amane was implying that Mahiru was hiding something, but the
latter merely took the literal meaning.

It appeared she was not pretending, and looked at him with a

displeased look.

Page | 76
“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean that I can’t see your heart, so
like, I don’t know what you’re thinking at school, and you’re still
unfriendly now, but it’s easier to interact when you can express your
feelings honestly.”

“…Is my behavior at school inappropriate?”

“That’s how you deal with things, and I don’t think that’s bad. But
you’re not tired?”

“No. I have been like this since young.”

“Guess it’s ingrained.”

If she was ingrained with that mentality since young, her etiquette
was understandable. However, this meant that she was consciously
acting like ‘an ideal child’, and was doing so because she had no
choice.

But he could not bring himself to ask further about such family
details she had vaguely hinted at.

“Well, it’s good to be able to relax though? I managed to relieve

some stress from you.”

“…I cannot relax when you are so hopeless.”

“Sorry about that.”

As he shrugged in an exaggerated manner, Mahiru giggled.

Page | 77
Chapter 6 – Friend’s visit

Ever since that cleanup, it seemed the wall between Amane and
Mahiru had eroded a little, but the distance between them did not
close.

Page | 78
Even at school, they were strangers; after school, they would merely
exchange a few words while sharing dinner.

A few days ago, Amane was reminded to maintain the cleanliness of

his house. She was harsh, but he understood very well how she loved
to care for others.

And it was due to the timely reminder and cleaning advice she gave
that Amane’s house remained clean ever since then.

“Ooh, it looks a lot better.”

Itsuki came running over on the weekend, having heard the

apartment was looking better. Once he saw this completely renewed
house, he could only marvel in amazement.

“Never thought it would become so clean, especially when it was so

messy. I did help you clean up the last time, and it got dirty days
later.”

“Shut up.”

“No, I’m not nagging you, but think about it, how long it has been
since you last threw something all over the place?”

“Don’t worry, it’s a new record. Two straight weeks.”

“Can you please be ashamed that your new record is only two
weeks?”

You don’t usually throw your stuff onto the floor. As Itsuki nagged on,
Amane frowned, but the latter could not reject the goodwill of
honesty and common sense.

In fact, before Mahiru helped out, he had caused Itsuki trouble, so he

was unable to retort harshly.

Grrr, as Amane clamped up, Itsuki chirped happily.

Page | 79
“But well, since it’s so clean, I want to bring Chii along.”

“Don’t. Why do I have to see you two flirt with each other in my
house?”

“You don’t have to be so courteous.”

“Don’t take my house as a dating spot.”

How tragic was he for him to see his friend flirt around with his
girlfriend?

Having seen what others called the idiot couple being all lovey-
dovey, he hoped that they could show some consideration for him.

While he knew Itsuki was joking, he could not laugh given that he
had been seeing them every day.

“Well, enough with the jokes. I guess it won’t be dirty now that it’s so
clean, right?”

“I’ve been dealing with it.”

“So I say…whatever. It’s good to have the habit of putting back the
things you took out though”

“Are you my mom…?”

“Seriously, Amannneee, you have to start cleaning your house often,

you know~?”

“That sounds disgusting, and sounds disgustingly similar to mom.

You’re scary.”

Amane felt a chill up his spine when Itsuki made a falsetto

impression of his mother.

While Itsuki had never seen Amane’s mother, it was scary how
similar he resembled.
Page | 80
Furthermore, a boy faking a woman’s voice was really disgusting, and
Amane really had the urge to stop Itsuki there and then.

He stuck his tongue out in a pretentiously repulsed gesture, and

Itsuki kept laughing away.

“So your mom’s like this, Amane? My mom’s pretty hands off.”

“Guess I’ll say that I envy you. My mom’s the type to keep talking.”

“Just a good mother worried for her son, no?”

“But the kid won’t become independent.…”

“No, you’re so terrible that your mom can’t leave you be.”

“Shut up. She’s still being too much of a busybody to her son.”

It might be because he was an only child, but Amane’s mother really

cared for him.

She did not dote on him, but rather, she was the type to meddle with
everything, and worry about everything. While Amane himself did
not hate it, it was a hassle dealing with her.

She said lots of things when he chose to stay alone near his high
school, often dropping by to check on him. She was quite the hassle.

“Well, that at least means that she really finds you important, right?”

“This love is too heavy.”

“Just give up. One day you’ll understand how precious that is.”

“You’re the standard rebellious kid, and now you’re sounding like
you’re experienced.”

“Hahaha. Can’t do anything when it comes to Chii.”

Page | 81
Itsuki had quite a few disputes against his father because of his
girlfriend, so these words really sounded unconvincing, but what he
said did make some sense, so he listened to her.

He has his own problems to deal with after all, so Amane thought as
he let out a long sigh. Itsuki himself remained optimistic, not looking
weary in the slightest. “Those who dare get between Chii and me can
get kicked by horses.” though he did say such scary stuff before.

“Anyway, I’ll do something about my dad. You need to spend your

days well, Amane?”

While Itsuki grinned away, “I know that without you telling me that.”
Amane frowned with some frustration. He then realized Itsuki’s
words were exactly the same as a certain person, and made a wry
smile.

But Itsuki came to visit Amane’s house…not because he wanted to

check on the latter’s living habits, but just to play games. The topic of
the house soon ended, and they started playing.

Initially, they were supposed to be revising for the exams that were
to be held the following week, but before they knew it, they were
playing video games.

“Hey, stop wasting healing items man. We might not have enough
later.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“No, not that, you haven’t increased your level. It’ll get troublesome
later…”

While Amane was wondering how he should retort at the thrill

seeker Itsuki, the doorbell rang, causing him a different problem.

“Hm? A visitor?”
Page | 82
Itsuki paused the game, showing the menu as he lifted his face.

He knew Amane hardly informed others of his address, and thus

there were practically none who would visit. Even if there was, they
would be stopped by the apartment block gates, and would press the
speakers instead.

“I don’t know. The neighbor maybe? Probably got some news on the
notice board.”

“I see.”

“I’ll go check for a moment.”

He restrained his facial muscles from twitching as he tried to pull a

fast one over Itsuki, before hurrying towards the door.

It was fortunate that she did not call out after ringing the bell.

He opened the door without checking, opening a little slit just in case
he was seen, sneaked out, and closed the door.

As expected, Mahiru was inside, and she blinked away upon seeing
how Amane was being out of character. “Shhh.” he made this
gesture with his index finger.

“…Be quiet. Itsuki’s in my house.”

“Itsuki?”

“My friend. He’s here to play.”

“Ahh, I see.”

Once she understood why he was being so stealthy, she nodded and
did not ask further. As usual, he handed the tupperware over to
Amane.

Page | 83
It appeared she prepared this since morning. Inside it was udon, and
it was the perfect dish for the season that was starting to turn chilly.

Mahiru handed the tupperware without any further question,

Amane accepted it graciously, letting out a sigh.

“Ehe, well, thanks for the care you showed me, but I never was able
to express it. Sorry.”

“I am not doing so to be thanked by you…but thank goodness your

place is presentable enough to invite your friend.”

“Do I have to prostrate and express my thanks?”

“Not at all. Please do not.”

Stop making me look like a bad girl, she gave such a dumbfounded
look, and Amane could only give a wry smile.

After all, he really could not lift his head towards her, so he was
somewhat serious with what he said. After being in her care for so
long, a dogeza itself might not suffice.

She brought quite the ample portion of dinner, and he was sorry
about being a freeloader. He intended to find a chance to talk about
dinner money.

“Since your friend is here, I shall not disturb you for long. Please
excuse me.”

“…Thanks for all the help. I won’t tell Itsuki about you.”

“Please do so.”

“Well, even if I do, he’s not going to believe me.”

“I guess.”

Page | 84
Amane felt conflicted that she affirmed his statement so readily, yet
looking from Itsuki’s perspective, he would have wondered if Amane
was delirious if he said, Shiina is is actually cooking for me.

After all, the Angel herself was a flower at a tall place.

It would be one thing if he was a talented, handsome guy, but it

would have been impossible to assume a lazy, useless boy like him
could have her cooking for him.

“…May I ask you something.?”

“What is it”

“Since you cook for me every day, are you planning anything?”

Labor too costs money, and such free meals typically would be
impossible. Amane would not have done so if he was in her shoes,
and while he had no expectation of a once in a million chance that
she liked him, his curiosity got the better of him.

Mahiru lifted her head a little as she pondered, “Just for self-
satisfaction” and she said without changing expression.

“It is not difficult at all. It is easier for me to cook two persons’ share
instead of one, and I simply like to serve others.”

“So you just like to cook?”

“That may be one reason. I too feel relieved that you do not have
any strange misunderstandings, just expressing what you think. I
worry whenever I see what you eat, so I am doing so for self-
satisfaction.”

“…Is that so?”

“Of course. You do not have to worry about it. Do think of it as

fortune falling from above.”
Page | 85
“Fine fine.”

It appeared Mahiru had no intention to talk further, “Please excuse

me.” so she bowed courteously, and returned to her house.

（…Is that really the case?）

Amane did not think it would be enough reason for free dinner, so he
muttered as he too returned to his house.

“Who was that?”

“Just a neighboring sharing some food. I’ll put it in the fridge. Don’t
continue without me.”

“Ah sorry, I finished off the boss.”

“Damn you.”

Page | 86
Chapter 7 – The Angel’s injury and thanks

The park Amane and Mahiru first met at was along the road home.

Amane’s apartment was more suited for fewer people, and might
have difficulty hosting a family; there were few children in his

Page | 87
apartment block, and it seemed the other apartments had the same
situation.

Thus, the little park not too far away looked a little forlorn.

It was an empty place the children would not come to play at──and it
was there that he spotted Mahiru, supposedly on her way home.

“What are you doing here?”

“…Nothing.”

Mahiru was seated still on the bench, and narrowed her eyes once
she spotted Amane.

Unlike the last time, they knew each other, and Amane had ease
talking to her, but her answer was terse. She did not seem wary, but
rather, it seemed she was unable to say something.

“If it’s nothing, don’t just sit there looking helpless. What
happened?”

“…It is nothing…”

While curious about how she appeared to be in a crisis, the latter did
not say her reason.

There was a non-verbal agreement that they would not get involved
outside their apartments, but once he saw how troubled she was, he
could not help but talk to her.

Mahiru might have hoped for him not to be a busybody.

It’s fine if she doesn’t want to say this, so he thought as he stared at

her stiffened face, only to notice a few white strands on her blazer,
fur in fact.

Page | 88
“You got fur on your uniform. Did you pay around with a dog or cat
or something?”

“Not at all. I just saved a cat that was unable to climb down a tree.”

“This old cliche…ahh, I get it.”

“Eh?”

“Sit there, don’t move.”

Once he heard her words, he understood why she would be sitting

on the bench. He made a long sigh, and left for a moment.

Mahiru would definitely remain at that place.

Or rather, she could not move at all.

She was always acting tough for strange reasons, so he sighed as he

went to the nearest drugstore, buying a damp cloth and bandage. He
then went over to the convenience store, and purchased ice for
coffee. He returned to Mahiru and found her at the same place.

“Shiina, remove your tights.”

“Huh?”

He said, and Mahiru made an utterly frosty reply,

“No, don’t make such a sound…look, just cover with my blazer and
remove your tights. Cool down the painful area and stick the wet
cloth on it.”

He shook the grocery bag in his hand, indicating that he had no fetish
of seeing her remove her tights, but her face clearly froze.

“…How do you know?”

Page | 89
“You removed one loafer, there’s a slight difference in size of your
ankles, and you don’t want to stand up. It’s so cliche how you
twisted your ankle while saving a cat.”

“You talk too much.”

“Yes yes, now remove your tights. Stretch your leg out.”

It was obvious, but she never expected to be noticed, and grimaced

away.

She however covered the the blazer over her knees, probably
intending to do as told.

And so Amane turned away from Mahiru, took the cup of ice from
the convenience store, and poured water into it.

He sealed the opening, preventing water from leaking out, and took
a towel from his bag, making an ice pack on the spot before he
slowly turned around.

As told, Mahiru removed her tights, showing her bare legs.

Page | 90
Page | 91
Bare before him were the taut, soft, curvy legs devoid of useless fat,
along with the unnatural swelling of the ankle.

“Looks like it’s not too bad, but it’ll worsen if you move too much.
Let’s ice the injury for the time being. You may find it a little cold.
Once it’s not so painful, I’ll apply the cloth on you. Just rest.”

“…Thank you very much.”

“Next time, just be honest and ask. I’m not helping you because I
want you to owe me a favor.”

Amane himself was hoping to deal with a matter or two, hoping to at

least repay some of the favors she showered him with.

Mahiru put her leg on the bench, and cooled her ankle. She did not
show a change in facial reaction, but she did not refuse Amane’s
intent, and merely sat still.

“Is the pain subsiding?”

“…A little better.”

“I’ll get you a wet cloth…don’t get angry at me thinking I’m a pervert
or stalker now?”

“I will not say that to one I owe gratitude to.”

“That’s good.”

Amane once again emphasized that he had no impure thoughts as he

knelt down to Mahiro’s position, wrapping the damp cloth over
Mahiru’s red swelling ankle.

Page | 92
He asked how much pain she was in, and she said she could stand up
and walk, but she remained seated to prevent the injury from
worsening. At the very least, it was still a minor injury.

Once he sealed the damp cloth with the tape he bought, Amane
found Mahiru looking down at him.

“You are unexpectedly useful here.”

“Well, I can treat some injuries here and there. Cooking’s impossible
though.”

He shrugged in a joking manner, and she too giggled back.

All this while, she had maintained a stiff look. It would be great if she
could relax at this point.

Seeing her a little relaxed, Amane was relieved, and took out a pair
of jersey pants from his bag.

“Here.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t give me that look. Your legs are exposed, and you can’t wear
your tights when there’s a damp cloth. I haven’t worn this. Relax.”

A large bundle of tape was wrapped around her ankle, and it would
be difficult for her to wear her tights, let alone unnatural. Thus, it
would be better if she wore his pants, to shield against the cold and
exposed upskirt.

Once she realized he did not mean anything else, she took his pants
obediently.

Mahiru wore the pants, and Amane took back the blazer he had lent
her. He removed the parka he was wearing, and handed it over to
her.
Page | 93
“Here, wear this.”

“No, why?”

“You want others to see me carrying you?”

He could not let an injured person walk back alone. Also, he had
intended to do so right from the beginning.

After all, they were to return to the same please, and it would be
efficient to carry her back, let alone good for her injury.

“Ah sorry, you mind carrying my bag? I can’t carry my bag if I carry
you?”

“Is there no option to not carry me?”

“Say, you twisted your ankle, so just do as I say. It’s one thing when
there’s no one around, but since I’m here, just make use of my good
legs.”

“Legs?”

“What? You want me to carry you on my arms? Carry your

horizontally?”

“Do you really have the strength to carry me home?”

“Are you underestimating me? …Well, I don’t have confidence about

that.”

Carrying Mahiru horizontally was one thing, but it would be taxing

for him to carry her back to the apartment. It would garner too much
attention, and better not to do so.

He knew Mahiru was making a little joke, and did not get angry just
because he was belittled. He chuckled, seeing that she should be fine
given how she was in the mood for such a joke.

Page | 94
“Look, once you’re done, put on the hood and the bag. Also, I’ll carry
your bag once I lift you up. I can’t do that right now.”

“…Sorry.”

“It’s fine. As a guy, I’m not so shameless as to leave an injured person

behind and go home.”

He knelt down, turning his back on her, and she cautiously shifted
her body onto him.

Even through the parka and so many garments, Mahiru’s body was
so soft and delicate.

Once he was sure her hands were latching onto him tightly and not
strangling him, he slowly stood up, lifting her along.

As expected, she was really light.

While she had always nagged at him about this and that, her body
was so petite, one would worry if she ate well. It was probably
because she herself had a petite figure to begin with.

He could sense a faint sweet scent, and as she continued to latch

onto him firmly, he was starting to be overwhelmed with anxiety, but
he did his best to remain steadfast as he went home.

The act of carrying a person back would attract lots of stares, but
luckily for them, Mahiru’s face was hidden and lowered, and they did
not attract much attention.

“Alright, we’re here.”

They arrived at the entrance of Mahiru’s house, and as he had

intended to only go this far, he heartily walked away.

Since she was able to support herself off the wall and stand up right,
her injury probably was not bad. Luckily, the following day would be
Page | 95
their day off, so a few days rest should be sufficient for her to
recover and walk properly again.

“You don’t have to worry about my dinner today, so just rest well.
How about you live on some supplements too?”

“No need. I do have some leftovers.”

“That’s good. Bye then.”

Thank goodness he did not have to worry about her dinner. Also, it
was great that she could walk on her own.

Amane saw Mahiru go to her entrance and open the door, and he
too frisked for his key.

“…Erm”

“Hm?”

He looked towards her as she spoke to him. She was clinging onto
her bag firmly, timidly looking up at him.

The slightly faltering eyes left him a little skeptical. Her eyes
wandered around, looking a little awkward, but it seemed she made
up her mind as she stared intently at Amane.

“…Thank you very much for today. You really helped me out.”

“Ahh it’s fine. I just did what I wanted to. Take care of yourself.”

Amane himself would be troubled to be too concerned about

Mahiru, so he merely brushed the matter aside. He saw her lower
her head towards him, and unlocked his door.

Then, he remembered his parka and pants were still with her, but
after thinking that she might return in a few days, he entered his
apartment without looking back.

Page | 96
“What, you’re now the energetic type who likes to wear shorts all
year round?”

Amane was feeling a little melancholic during Monday’s gym class.

He was bad at that, and in this freezing weather, all he could do was
wear a pair of jersey pants.

Such jerseys were commonplace in this season, but everything

beneath Amane’s knees were exposed, and stood out amongst them.

“Not at all. I just forgot.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Shut up.”

He never met Mahiru over the weekend, and did not reclaim his
pants from her, thus the situation. But he could not say this to Itsuki,
and merely said he forgot.

He could take being laughed at, but when Itsuki gleefully slapped him
on the back, he retaliated.

Itsuki groaned like usual, and Amane merely sighed as he looked

aside.

They were at the grounds doing the high school, but the girls were at
the same area, having their own classes, so they could spot the girls
around. There were more people around, for there were two classes
attending leesons together.

They were having a track meet or something, appeared to be

waiting, so they were looking towards the boys.

“Do your best, Kadowaki-kun!!”

Page | 97
Typically, the boys and girls would have separate classes, but the
girls’ presence had the boys riled up…the girls were looking towards
the famous handsome boy, Amane’s classmate Yuuta Kadowaki.

Amane never really talked to him, but he knew Yuuta was really
popular, good at greats, and was the ace of the track team. Also, he
was really popular with the girls.

Amane felt that yeah, maybe the Heavens would bless a few talents
here and there, but the other boys did not take it well, a few of them
scowling away.

“Ohh ohh, Yuuta’s still as popular as usual.”

“I guess.”

“You’re not curious.”

“We don’t really have anything going on. Even as classmates, we

don’t talk. Anything’s fine.”

Amane felt that Kadowaki was not a threat, and since they had
nothing going on, he would care less about the latter.

He understood he was in the minority, and he would not get as

jealous as the other boys in his class.

No matter how perfect Yuuta might appear, he felt there was no

point in feeling jealous.

“You don’t really have much envy there, Amane.”

“What, you want me to go, gosh I’m so jealous of his popularity?”

“That’s not your character.”

Amane gave a snickering Itsuki a bored look, and looked towards a

smiling Yuuta, still basked in the cheers of the girls.

Page | 98
To the boys, he had an ideal body, a sweet looking face, and truly
resembled a prince. In fact, his nickname was the prince, because
there was no obvious flaw to him on first glance.

He waved his hand in the face of their passionate eyes and shrill
voices, and Amane thought to himself that Yuuta was truly a
socialite.

“Well, he’s really popular.”

“Of course. It’s no wonder the guys are jealous.”

“Haha. But the girls are really energeticー”

Itsuki himself had no interest in the other girls because he doted on

his girlfriend Chitose dearly. He spoke as though it had nothing to do
with him.

Chitose herself seemed to have no interest in Yuuta, and Itsuki

probably had no thoughts about that either.

（This school has way too many embarrassing nicknames like Prince
and Angel.）

Speaking of the Angel Mahiru, he wondered if she was resting well.

It appeared she did not leave her house on the weekend, and
probably rested quietly. He did not know how her injury was.

It so happened that they were having gym class with Mahiru’s, so

Amane scanned around, and spotted the outstanding, beautiful girl
in a corner of the grounds, despite her being amongst the crowd.

She did not change into her gym clothes, and was not among those
attending the lessons. She was probably just watching.

So she sat there quietly, watching, and garnered the stares of quite a
few boys.
Page | 99
Those they were far apart, Amane and Mahiru’s eyes met, and he
awkwardly looked aside, while she showed a faint smile on her lips.

And because the smile was directed at Amane, or rather, the group
of boys, “Was she smiling me?” “Of course it’s me!” everyone else
just exploded.

“This is a good chance. I must show my good points to Shiina-san.”

“Can’t have the Prince steal the show.”

A simple smile caused such zealous reactions, and one had to

wonder if they were amazing, or mere simpletons.

“…They’re simple-minded.”

Itsuki echoed the same sentiments, and Amane chuckled.

“Well, this affects our grades, so let’s do our best here.”

“What, are you working hard after seeing the Angel too, Amane?”

“No, I said I don’t have interest in her.”

“Well, of course, you don’t have interest after all.”

My girlfriend’s great right? As Itsuki began to boast about his

girlfriend again, “Yes yes.” Amane brushed him off as he gave a wry
smile in Mahiru’s direction.

“Thank you very much for the previous day. Here, the parka and
pants you lent me.”

That day, Mahiru delivered dinner in the tupperware as usual, along

with a bag.

Page | 100
He could see something within the bag, probably the parka and
jersey pants he lent her the previous Friday. It seemed she had
folded them neatly.

“Hm, how’s your injury?”

“It does not hurt anymore, but I cannot exercise much before I heal
completely.”

“That’s fine. I remember you were sitting by the sidelines during gym
class, right?”

“Yes.”

Mahiru was watching them during gym class, as a precaution, which

should be the right thing. She did not seem to be in pain, but she was
a little mindful of that ankle, so it probably was not healed
completely.

A wise decision, so he nodded, and then he recalled the smile back

then.

“But well, I guess the Angel’s really popular. One smile got all the
boys enthusiastic.”

“I told you not to call me that…I too was troubled. Was it something
worth being that happy about?”

“Well that’s what happens when a beauty smiles at them. Didn’t you
see the girls squealing when Kadowaki waved at them?”

“…Kadowaki…ahh, that really popular one?”

Mahiru looked disinterested, or rather, she had no interest at. She

could not remember him, and only recalled him after Amane’s
explanation.

Page | 101
He was no Angel, but Yuuta was a relatively famous boy in school, so
it was surprising that she did not know just from hearing his name.

“You don’t have any interest in him?”

“No. We are in different classes, and there is not much chance to get
along.”

“Hmmm? But the other girls look interested in him, saying that he’s
cool.”

“He is good looking after all. I have not spoken to him, and never got
involved with him. He does not matter to me.”

“You’re pretty blase about this.”

“If people can fall for each other just because of looks, how have you
not fallen for me?”

“Oh, so now you realize how cute you are.”

But what Mahiru said was true.

A good appearance was a reason to harbor feelings for another, but

not so much to like. Having agreed that, he had to admit Mahiru was
a pretty girl, though he was a little surprised that she had some self
awareness of that.

“There is always a commotion around me, and I will know even if I do

not want to. Objectively, my looks are passable, and I have not been
neglecting it.”

Mahiru said as a matter of fact, not showing any arrogance.

In fact, she probably did everything she could to maintain her

beauty.

Her face itself was pretty, but she was not satisfied with just that.

Page | 102
Her hair appeared to have a halo befitting her moniker as the Angel,
her skin was perfect and unblemished. She was always doing
housework, but her hands did not coarsen because of that, and she
did trim her nails. She had a nice body, and that was not something
attainable within a single day.

“You’re right, what you just flatly said is the truth, and I’m not
uncomfortable with that. So, you’re not embarrassed to be praised?”

“If others praise me too much, I will find it annoying.”

“A beauty sure has her troubles.”

“And the rewards that come with that, so it is not all bad.”

“You’re making it sound like someone else’s business…”

“What? Is it better for me to answer “that is not the case” with a

bashful look?”

“No, I know it feels really awkward for you personally.”

“I guess so. I do also feel it is pointless to put up such a facade to

you.”

“Yeah”

He would feel gaudy if Mahiru was to correct her bluntness, and

would feel some goosebumps if she treated him as she did to others
at school. He hoped for her to remain as she was.

Habit sure is scary. If she acted like the Angel at school here, he
would find it surreal.

The Mahiru Amane knew of was the one present before him, not the
one at school.

Page | 103
Both of them concluded it was for the better, so Amane looked
towards the tupperware brought towards him.

It was a larger portion than usual, containing several dishes. It was

more an early-bird bento box than mere leftovers at this point.

“Quite a lot today.”

“You took care of me after all.”

“Didn’t I tell you that you don’t have to worry about that…ooh,
there’s croquette.”

One should never underestimate the croquette.

It was often sold as a side dish, and commonly sold, but it was
tedious for one to make it, and infamously known for being the most
tedious homecooked dish to make.

One had to steam the potatoes, fry it, add ingredients like beef and
onions, shape it, cool it, apply coating and deep fry it…it was a bunch
of ordinary, yet tedious steps.

Amane, who could not cook, saw how much of a hassle when his
mother made it, and swore to himself that he would never cook it.

“I just fried the frozen stuff together however.”

“So you made fried chicken too?”

“Yes.”

The only fried food Amane ate while living alone were the side dishes
from the shops, and he was really grateful to receive handmade
ones.

If he were any greedier, he would have asked to eat it when it was

fresh and crispy, together with rice.

Page | 104
“…I do want to eat something freshly made though.”

Out of hygienic concerns, she would cool the food before putting
them into the tupperware, and he had to reheat it before eating. An
oven could replicate the crispiness, but it was inferior to the taste
fresh out of the pan.

Of course, that too would be delicious, but the best would be if he

could eat it fresh out of the pan.

He merely blurted out his own wish without any other intent, but he
might have been a little too loud, for Mahiru frowned.

“You want me to enter your house?”

“I didn’t say that. You shared food with me, and it’ll be too much if I
ask you to do that.”

To shake off all suspicion, he shrugged and denied so. Mahiru put her
palm under her chin, looking down.

She seemed to be thinking of something, and did not look at Amane

in the eyes.

“…Half.”

“Hm?”

“If we each pay half the ingredients cost, I can consider cooking for
you at your house.”

Mahiru finally said so, and the vigor in her eyes left Amane’s mouth
widened.

It was merely a joke, or a notion he accidentally blurted, but he was

taken aback by how she seriously considered and agreed to it.

Page | 105
Typically, would anyone cook in the house of a boy she was not well
acquainted with?

Even if that was more efficient, he was still of the opposite gender,
and they were not on close terms. Logically, she would be feeling
uneasy.

“I agree to sharing half of it, but it’s more like I’ll get too much from
you, so I’m more than fine with that…won’t you find it dangerous?”

“If you do anything, I will crush it. Physically. Irreversibly.”

“Woahh, you scare me.”

“After all, even if I do not do so, you will not do anything risky. You
do understand my position at school, no?”

“If I do anything to you, I’ll be dead meat.”

There was a vast difference in popularity between Amane and

Mahiru, the latter a weak girl at that. If Mahiru said that Amane did
something to her, there was no doubt Amane would never step into
the school again.

He knew the results of social death, and would not do anything. After
all, he was no fool, not one without restraint.

Or rather, he himself had no such intent.

“And also.”

“And also?”

“You do not seem interested in people like me.”

The conclusion, coupled with the serious face, had him giving a wry
smile.

“What if I say you’re my type?”

Page | 106
“You would have talked incessantly, and I would pull my distance
from you.”

“So I guess you recognize that.”

“Well, I do know you are a safe person for now.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

I guess that’s fine, so he thought, but he really had no intention to do

anything to Mahiru, so he did not deny it.

Naturally, he would seize upon this opportunity for dinner fresh off
the pan. While amassing the title of harmless boy, he also gained the
privilege to eat together with her.

Page | 107
Chapter 8 – The beginning of the dinner
time together

When Mahiru agreed to cook at Amane’s house, she raised the

following conditions.

Page | 108
・Amane was to pay for half the ingredients, along with labor costs.

・If they could not eat together, one was to notify the other a day in
advance.

・Both of them would have equal responsibility buying ingredients

and cleaning up.

The labor costs in the first condition was suggested by Amane, who
was sorry about taking advantage of Mahiru. The latter compromised
on this, and there was not much dispute about the rest, so they
managed to work out these details.

It was established that she would be the one cooking, so there was
nothing to worry about.

On the day after it was decided, Mahiru arrived with a grocery bag in
hand, or rather, carried it with two hands as she prepared to cook.

“…It really is new and unused…”

“Shut up.”

With a girl dressed in an apron in his house, Amane was practically

living in a man’s romance, but for some reason, he was on
tenterhooks.

Page | 109
Page | 110
One reason was that he was not used to that sight. The main reason
however was that she pointed out that the kitchen was unused.

“You have so many good things here, and you let them rust away.”

“They won’t rust when you use them, right?”

“That will be the outcome. These utensils are crying from being
unused.”

“So use your cooking skills to get them to stop crying.”

I can’t do that, so he bluntly admitted, and she stared at him blankly.

She might have expected that however, for she merely sighed and
did not grumble much.

“So do you have any seasoning lying around?”

“Of course, you think I’m an idiot? No issues with storage and expiry
here.”

“Oh? That is surprising.”

“They’re still sealed, that’s why.”

“That is not something to be proud about. If they are insufficient, I

can just go back to take them.”

“Thanks for the assist.”

“I should be able to cooking something with the basic seasonings. Ah,

I decided on the menu together, that is fine with you, right?”

“I don’t really get all these things, so I’ll eat whatever there is. I’m
not that picky either.”

Page | 111
“I see. I shall get started then…please tell me where the seasonings
are.”

“In this basket.”

“They really are unopened…”

She glanced aside at the seasonings, and frowned in bewilderment,

but she quickly reverted back to her usual expression as Amane had
briefed her beforehand, and she went to the faucet to wash her
hands.

“I shall get down to cook. You can wait in the living room or the
bedroom.”

“Sure. I’m useless here anyway.”

“That was really honest from you. But it is true that I will have
difficulty cooking with you walking around.”

“You’re pretty blunt yourself.”

“That is a fact though. I have no need to be discreet about that.”

As Mahiru had said, Amane would only be a hindrance, so he went

straight to the living room, and watched her from behind as she
cooked.

After she washed her hands, Mahiru hurriedly got down to

seasoning.

He did not know what she was about to make, but looking at the
ingredients, it was probably a Japanese dish.

He was incredulous that he could invite Mahiru to his house to cook

those delicious dishes, and wondered if he was dreaming. Once he
saw her hair swaying in a ponytail however, he knew it was reality.

Page | 112
（…Why does it feel like I have a wife?）

They did not have such feelings for each other, but the current
situation seemed that she had made this place her home, and he
could only imagine so.

He truly did not have an inkling of interest in Mahiru, but with such a
pretty girl cooking in his house, the situation would have caused his
thoughts to run wild.

As expected, whether he had feelings for her or not, the sight of a

cute girl being willing to cook for him caused his heart to throb a
little.

“…You are not thinking of something weird now, are you?”

“Don’t make any wild guesses.”

She asked without looking back, and his face twitched as a result, but
as she did not look back, his ruse was not blown.

She’s a sharp one, so he marveled, a shiver ran up his spine as his still
innocent heart of a man watched her from behind.

An hour or so later, dishes started to appear on the table.

Mahiru was the one deciding the dishes on this day, and they were
all healthy Japanese foods favoring her palette.

“These utensils and seasonings are somewhat useful, and I do not

have to take much. I should be able to make more exquisite dishes
starting tomorrow.”

“Well I’m grateful that you’re willing to cook for me.”

Page | 113
Mahiru was unsure of how many utensils and seasonings she could
use, so the dishes were relatively simple. Nevertheless, they were
colorfully vibrant and well plated.

There was steamed fish, vegetables with toppings, omelettes with

miso, and various Japanese dishes laid out that he would not have
dreamed of making.

Amane himself was not really a picky eater, but he liked Japanese
food. Once he saw how apologetic she was, he blurted that he
wanted to eat these.

“…These look really good.”

“Thank you for the compliments. Let us eat before it gets cold.”

Mahiru said as she sat on the chair. Amane then took the chair
opposite her.

The dining table for one was pretty small, and the duo were seated
very close.

Luckily, he had two spare chairs for guests, but there was something
indescribable about a pretty girl seated before him.

Once he started eating however, Mahiru’s beauty did not matter.

Itadakimasu, so he said, and first tried some miso soup.

The moment his lips touched the soup, he savored the miso and the
fish stock in his mouth, the tastes spreading along with the
fragrance.

It was a gentle taste different from instant miso soup, achieved after
much deliberation.

The miso was not too rich, and the taste of the fish stock remained
even with the saltiness.
Page | 114
The first taste was a little bland, probably because the miso was to
be used in other dishes. Only after one drank the soup completely
would he find it sufficiently concentrated.

More than lacking, it was a relieving taste that piqued his appetite
for rice and other dishes.

“It’s delicious.”

“Thank you very much.”

He honestly admitted his feelings, and she was relieved, narrowing

her eyes.

While he had been praising her for her dishes, she might be nervous
about him stating his thoughts directly to her.

Mahiru, who had been worried about Amane’s reaction, started

eating, and the latter too reached for the chopsticks.

After tasting all the dishes on the table, he found Mahiru’s cooking to
be really palatable.

The steamed fish was really delicious, while preserving the moisture
in the flesh.

Moisture would be lost if she heated it for too long, wanting to get
the flavor. It would have made the fish too dry, but the steamed fish
was really tender and smooth.

The omelette had the flavor he really liked.

Lured by the bright yellow color, he took a bit, and tasted the gentle
fish stock flavor.

There were some who liked their omelette sweet, someone who
liked it salty, but the one here was made from fish stock, a little
sweet.
Page | 115
The faint, soft sweetness might have been honey.

Not a lot was added, it seemed, but the lingering sweetness added to
the richness of the flavor.

He did not dislike either sweet or salty omelettes, but he loved those
with stock, with a little sweetness, and the perfect amount of
seasoning. He was so moved that he was able to eat such an ideal
omelette.

Delicious, so he muttered to himself, taking another bite.

The fire control was perfect. He slowly chewed on the soft omelette
with the fish stock, savoring flavor.

Definitely better than my mom’s, so he quietly thought to himself

these insolent things to his mother as he chowed down. Then, he
noticed Mahiru staring at him intently.

“…Looks like you are enjoying it.”

“It’s delicious after all. I should be grateful for good food.”

“Yes, that is true.”

“And well, it’s better to eat with a honest look than just scowling
away. We’re both happy here, right?”

Even though the food may be delicious, the cook would feel uneasy
and curious if one did not express his feelings honestly. Sometimes,
saying it was delicious with a frown would leave the chef wondering
he was sincere.

More importantly, it was better for both of them to express their

feelings on their faces. The one thanking and the one being thanked
do like to be in a good mood after all.

“…I guess so.”

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Mahiru seemed to have accepted Amane’s explanation as she
showed a little smile.

The gentle smile seemingly expressed relief, and she was so

adorable, he found his mind space out for a moment.

“Fujimiya-san?”

“Ah…no, it’s nothing.”

He was mesmerized by her, but naturally, he could not say this. He

suppressed the rising shame within him as he continued eating, not
wanting to be found out.

“…Gochisousama”

“Glad that you like it.”

Amane finished the food on the table, indicating he was full, and
Mahiru tersely answered.

Nevertheless, she looked calm, probably elated that Amane finished

the food completely, not leaving a grain of rice.

“It’s great.”

“I can tell from that.”

“Better than my mom’s.”

“I think it is taboo to compare a girl’s cooking to one’s mother.”

“Only when I’m trying to insult, you know? Anyway, are you curious
about that?”

“Not at all.”

“That’s fine then. It’s a fact that it’s delicious.”

Page | 117
Mahiru’s cooking skills were not honed simply with some experience.

Amane’s mother had more cooking experience, but she had a

different taste palette, and was blase about it, so there was no way
she could have fine tuned the taste like Mahiru did.

His father might even be better than his mother, let alone her.

“…Well I think I’m very fortunate here. I do get to eat it every day
after all.”

“Only when both of us have nothing else going on.”

“…Are we seriously okay with eating together every day?”

“I would have suggested so if that is not the case.”

“Well, that’s true.”

He knew very well that a straightforward person like Mahiru would

not have suggested so if she disliked it, but despite that, he was
wondering if this was fine.

He paid for half the ingredients, along with labor costs, but he was
worried that it would be too taxing on Mahiru.

“…Do you normally cook for guys you don’t like?”

“You are living too unhealthily. Also, I do enjoy cooking, and I do not
dislike seeing you enjoy the food.”

“But,”

“If you are still concerned about that, I do not actually have to cook
for you?”

“No please cook for me thank you very much.”

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He instinctively answered, and it showed how much her cooking was
a necessity, something he liked.

For him, getting Mahiru’s cooking was a matter of life and death.

He had some awareness of his own stomach, but the problem was
that her cooking was too delicious. It was likely that if he went back
to eating side dishes, every day would seem bland, and that scared
him.

Once she heard his instant answer that was easy to understand,
Mahiru showed a wry smile.

“Please accept it obediently.”

“…Oh.”

Amane had to sigh with elation, anticipation and guilt, thinking about
how the days of eating together with this great merciful Angel would
continue.

Page | 119
Chapter 9 – The Angel’s birthday

“Amane～, how is it?”

Page | 120
The term end exams finally ended, and the students were finally
released from the hellish tests. A few groups huddled in the
classroom, with more enthusiasm.

Amane and Itsuki were relieved as their exams too ended, appraising
their performances this time.

“Hm? Normal, not too bad.”

Amane naturally responded to that question, but there really was

nothing much to say. The questions were all within the testing scope,
and it was not too difficult given that he had revised properly.

He did not feel much difficulty writing this year, so he did not feel
anything different about them this time.

While Amane was one who hated the hassle, he would not slack on
his studies. He understood most of the lessons, and while he would
have difficulty getting full marks, he could get at least 80-90%.

“You’re probably going to be in the top 30…intelligent, aren’t you.”

“Just revise daily.”

“You’re telling me to do what you normally do daily?”

“I don’t want to hear it from you when you’re being all lovey-dovey
and not studying.”

The difference between Amane and Itsuki was not in brains, but
because the latter had been spending too much time on his girlfriend
Chitose.

Itsuki himself was no fool, and could have gotten a high ranking if he
applied himself, but unfortunately he prioritized most of his time on
Chitose, and was ranked lower than Amane.

“…A girlfriend’s nice though?”

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“Yes yes.”

“Say Amane, you should look for one.”

“Men have shed tears of blood wanting girlfriends.”

There were hordes of people wanting partners, and to certain

people, Itsuki’s careless words might have been infuriating.

Amane did not intend to be angry, and at this point, he had no desire
for a lover, so he merely intended to listen.

“How do I go about asking for a girlfriend.”

“A double date.”

“So am I supposed to be dazzled along with my imaginary girlfriend?”

“Then show off to us!”

“You think I have the personality for that?”

“…Impossible huh?”

“Of course.”

Amane too had self-awareness of his own bland personality.

He was one to avoid hassles as much as possible, and was overly

honest. Some might find him bland, and others typically had a poor
impression on him. It was impossible for such a personality to find a
lover.

And if he somehow got a girlfriend, the relationship between them

would have been really bland. At the very least, it would not be as
eyecatching as Itsuki’s.

Page | 122
“No but, Amane, you should find someone you like. Anyway, the girls
will have a different view of you if you cut away your bangs, look a
little more refreshed, and straighten your back.”

Amane felt he had an accurate opinion of himself. He was not super

handsome like Yuuta, or the fine cool looking type like Itsuki, but he
was not exactly ugly.

If he had dolled himself a little, and watched his habits, he would be

no inferior to a typical high school boy.

But even if he did doll himself up, Amane was not the type to simply
approach others.

“Those that latch to you just because of appearances aren’t really

the loyal type.”

“You say that, but if they show no interest in you, you can’t
understand her personality, right?”

“…Even then, I’m not in the mood to look for a girlfriend.”

And even if he did, her illusion would be broken seeing his daily life.

Amane was a human with zero ability to live on his own, unfriendly
to others. Even he would grimace to himself, thinking that he would
want to meet a girl who would be attracted to him.

After all, he hated interacting with others, his personality was

unsuited for this, and he had no thoughts of getting one.

But with Mahiru cooking at his house, it would be a tragedy if he

somehow had a girlfriend. He had no intention of getting one, and
was not worried by that, but that one reason alone was dissuading
him from doing so.

Page | 123
At this point, his priority was ‘Mahiru’s cooking ＞ getting a
girlfriend’, and that would not change easily.

“You really are boring, aren’t you…want Chii to introduce some of

her friends?”

“Don’t be a busybody. Most of Chitose’s friends are noisy, and just

having one as a girlfriend is enough of a headache.”

“You’re gloomy after all, Amane.”

“Shut up.”

“Well, if you say so, I’ll leave it be for now. But isn’t it unbearable not
to have a girlfriend, just spending your time alone during this
wonderful high school life?”

“No need, and it sounds troublesome.”

What do you think school life is about, he did not actually have such
a thought, but a girlfriend was really a necessity, and he had no
thought to find one.

Besides, it was not easy to find one, and not easy to fall in love.

“…That’s a pity.”

“Yes yes.”

“But well, you’ll change when you have someone you like, Amane?”

“Where’s that self confidence coming from.”

“It’s because you’re such a person that you’ll end up doting on your
girlfriend like a kitten.”

“Whatever you say.”

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He felt that he definitely would not become such a sickening
sweetheart, and could not imagine himself in such a situation, so he
brushed Itsuki’s words aside as he went away.

Itsuki in turn stared at Amane dumbfoundedly…looking aside, he

seemed relaxed.

“Ikkun, you going homeー?”

“Ohh, Chii?”

It so happened that Chitose popped by, and both of them seemed to

have agreed to return home together. Amane’s conversation with
Itsuki was merely for the latter to kill time.

So he turned around, and found a tomboyish girl with bright reddish

brown medium length hair, beaming as she waved at them, or
rather, Itsuki.

The lively vibe and hearty smile was a little too dazzling for Amane.
As befitting her appearance, she was friendly, lively, and was always
the type to cause a ruckus no matter good or bad.

She was a different type of beauty from Mahiru, and she ran over to
them, grinning.

Amane really hoped that she would be silent, because whenever she
showed up, he would get bullied.

“Say, Chii, don’t you think Amane’s the type to dote on a lover?”

“Enough with that.”

“Eh, what? Amane has a lover?”

“No.”

“Ehhhー, whatー. I would have wanted to get along with her.”

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Tch, so she clicked her tongue, looking disappointed.

“That getting along of yours is overaggressive skinship. Even I would

feel sad for my imaginary girlfriend if I have one.”

“Eh, so you have an imaginary girlfriend?”

“I said if I have one, okay!?”

“Just joking~”

“It’s tiring dealing with you…”

“It’s because you lack stamina, Amane.”

“Even if I have, it’ll be worn out by you…”

More so than physical stamina, he felt his mind would be the tired
part. Amane typically would not speak to anyone other than those he
was familiar with, kept a low profile, and lived a listless school life. It
would be really difficult for him to talk to a hyperactive person like
Chitose.

Despite the aloof reply, Chitose did not mind at all, “You aren’t
looking good.” so she said to a tired looking Amane, beaming
happily.

“Hurry up and get used to it.” Itsuki too randomly tossed in this
advice, and all Amane could do was to make a long, tired sigh.

“…What are you doing?”

Amane returned home, had some of Mahiru’s homecooked food,

and after washing the dishes, he found Mahiru laying out the exam
papers on the living room table.

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Washing dishes was a rotational task for them, but Amane took the
chance to wash them first, not wanting to add more to Mahiru’s
workload, and so Mahiru spent her time in his living room. She said
that if she left it all to Amane and returned home, she would feel a
little sorry.

“Checking answers.”

“Well I can see that.”

She appeared to be going through the answers, checking the

textbooks, seeing if she did make any mistakes.

“So how is it.”

“If I did not write the wrong answers, full marks.”

“To be expected of you.”

Her reply remained dull as she mentioned that she had full marks,
and Amane too showed no extreme reaction.

The lack of surprise was because Mahiru was always first in the year
for their school grades.

He felt that Mahiru could have done so, and thought that she would
get nothing more than full marks to begin with.

“I do not hate studying to begin with. After all, I have studied

through everything that is to be taught a year ago, so all I need to do
is revision.”

“Wooahh, as to be expected of you…”

“Are you not good at your studies too, Fujimiya-san?”

“So you know my grades?”

“I have some impression when you were listed on the rankings.”

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It appeared she had already known about him somewhat before he
first talked to her.

He had assumed those who were not in the single digit ranks were
not worthy of her attention, but she mentioned his previous ranking,
so it appeared she was paying attention.

Amane would spend some effort in studying not because of a serious

thought like…a student’ duty is to study. It was a condition his family
gave.

“Well, it’s the condition for me to live alone. Maintain my grades.”

When he was allowed to live alone, he was told not to let his grades
slip.

There was also the condition of him half to return home once every
half year, but that could be arranged over a long vacation, so his
family would not meedl if he maintained his grades.

“I’m just working hard enough for them not to cause me trouble, but
I can’t best you. You really work hard.”

“…It is important to work hard.”

Mahiru muttered, looking down.

The bangs covered her expression, obscuring it, but surely she was
not happy in the slightest.

Nevertheless, she quickly lifted her head, regaining her usual

expression, so he missed out on the opportunity to point this out.

And even if he did have the opportunity, he would not have asked.
She seemed to be enduring pain after all.

From time to time, Mahiru would show such an expression.

Page | 128
She never would say why she was feeling so painful, so disgusted,
but it seemed she was bound by certain things, struggling as a result.

It was not hard to imagine the cause of it being her family

environment.

Thus, it was inappropriate for him to interject.

He knew very well it was an area he as an outsider should not

interfere with, so he kept the distance as her neighbor all this while.

Amane too had things he did not want others to talk about. He too
often sensed that outside interference was really a rude thing, and
found himself more grateful when others pretended not to notice.

Mahiru did her best to hide the emotions she had, “I shall be leaving
now.” She said with her usual chirp, and then kept her textbooks and
question papers into the bag.

He did not intend to stop her, “I see” and answered tersely as he

looked towards her while she did so.

She was done packing all the things she took out, and stood up from
where she was seated when Amane noticed there was something
not belonging to himself behind an empty mug.

He reached his hand over, and found a plastic case containing the
student ID, which every student would have.

It appeared she had taken it out along with her textbooks, and forgot
to pack it back.

He scanned her face along with her name, student number, birthday
and blood type, simple information, and called out to her right when
she was wearing her shoes at the door, about to return back.

“You forgot this.”

Page | 129
“Ahh, sorry to make you bring it to me. Good night then.”

“Good night.”

She bowed courteously, and left his apartment. As he watched her

leave, he gently sighed.

He recalled the full date written on the student ID…especially the

month and day, and put his hand on his forehead.

“…Four days later?”

If he had not seen her student ID, he would never have known about
Mahiru’s birthday. If only I had known earlier, so he let out a sigh
again.

“So, do you have something you want?”

The next day, Amane took the opportunity to raise this issue to
Mahiru over dinner.

While he said it was a birthday present, he did not really mean

anything, and just wanted to repay her favors. He decided to give her
a present.

But that would have sounded really suspicious.

Even he found his question to be indelicate, brutish even, and

started to regret it. But Mahiru stared at him in surprise.

“Why ask this out of a sudden?”

“Well, it looks like you have nothing you want, so I’m just asking
because I’m curious.”

“That is still too sudden…”

Page | 130
He felt he could have done better trying to misdirect her, but he
could not take back the words he had said.

Luckily or not, it appeared Mahiru did not notice it was about her
birthday.

Ultimately, she felt he could not have known about his birthday, and
never thought about that.

“I see. So what do I need now? Or what I want?”

“What do you want?”

“A whetstone.”

“…Whetstone?”

He asked again without thinking, for the answer was completely

beyond his expectations.

Or rather, nobody would have expected a high school girl to say that
was the thing she wanted.

Typically, they would have wanted cosmetics, accessories, bags, and

such stuff. Amane could not imagine that she would have asked for a
tool to sharpen metals.

“Yes, a whetstone. I do have a few of them, but I do wish for a finer

polishing whetstone.”

“Hey, you’re a high school girl now.”

“Please do not think of me as an ordinary high school girl.”

Her words left Amane unable to retort.

No matter how lightly they put it, Mahiru truly could not be called an
ordinary high school girl.

Page | 131
She was already famous as the Angel in school, equipped with brains
and brains, perfectly capable of housework and cooking. Her taking
care of Amane, who was completely hopeless at housework, would
have one assuming she was a girl already married off.

（But who would have imagined her wanting a whetstone.）

It appeared Mahiru would be the only high school girl who would
have wanted a whetstone.

“You’re not buying for yourself?”

“Not that I cannot, but I do not often have the chance to, and it is
relatively pricey, so I have not. Also, I have a few polishing
whetstone, so I am in no real need for them.”

As she mentioned how she had a few with her, he really could not
imagine how she would be in the future.

“…We have a high school girl sharpening her chopper here.”

“There are though.”

“Even if there are, you’re the only one I know of, never mind
someone who wants to have a whetstone.”

“Sounds like a rare thing. Not bad.”

“What do you mean, not bad…”

It was really rare to see a girl with such likes, and so he did not know
what she wanted.

Amane himself was at his wits end, and Mahiru tilted her head
incredulously.

“Hey Itsuki.”
Page | 132
As he did not know what kinds of things Mahiru wanted, he could
only go with his last resort, to ask Itsuki.

He had anticipated that since Itsuki had a girlfriend like Chitose, he

would have an inkling of a girl’s thought process, a rough gauge of
what a typical girl would like.

He did not know if Mahiru was ordinary, but he deduced that at the
very least, Mahiru would not hate anything a girl would like.

“What?”

“What’s the present did you give Chitose?”

He thought it should be fine if he asked what Itsuki gave, so he

asked, but the latter gave him an astounded look.

“Eh, you want to give a present to a girl you like?”

“You think I’m the type to do that?”

“Nope.”

“See?”

“So why do you ask?”

“Someone I know has a birthday. Just for reference.”

He would have taken this reference to the next level, and go off to
buy one, but he did not want to say that.

“Uh huh. The best thing would be something she likes. Anyway,
usually you should be investigating this. This is the trick to keeping a
great relationship.”

“I said she’s not my girlfriend.”

Page | 133
Amane could imagine how dangerous it would be if Mahiru was his
girlfriend, in various ways (mostly the killing intent around him
however), and was terrified by that notion.

It was true that he felt at ease being with her, but these two were
simply together, with no desire to get attached. It was not love at all.

While he certainly found her cute, he did not intend for the
relationship to end up like that. Such was the feeling he had for
Mahiru.

“What she wants…what if I don’t know?”

“Got to look at how close you are to her. If you’re on good terms,
some accessories should be fine, but if you’re not that close, a few
small items or consumables; she should be happy with flowers, but
sometimes that makes things complicated.”

“…You’re really well versed in that.”

“I learned my lesson after all.”

Initially, Itsuki and Chitose were not the lovey-dovey couple they
became. It appeared they got closer slowly during middle school.
Amane was in a different middle school from them, so he did not
know the details, but it seemed they went through lots of hardships
before they started dating. Even at this point, he heard rumors of
their past.

Itsuki must have brooded quite a bit choosing a present for Chitose,
so the choices he raised might have been made after much
deliberation.

“Ah, some hand cream should be fine.”

“Hand cream?”

Page | 134
The unexpected choice had Amane pondering. With a gleeful look,
Itsuki explained.

“It works for whatever age groups. Students use textbooks and
notebooks every day for classes, and their hands dry easily; working
adults too get their hands dry typing in an aircon room; housewives
usually soak their hands in water, and their hands get coarse easily.
It’s really usable as a present.”

“Hmm it’s disgusting how much you know.”

“Well you’re the one asking.”

Pak, so Amane was slapped in the back, but they merely laughed it
off, for it was a joke.

（Hand cream?）

It was true this probably would not give her trouble.

Amane had made it his duty to wash the dishes after dinner, but
Mahiru would surely be washing things in her house. Her hands
would surely turn coase.

It was certain, looking at her silky hands, that she often took care of
them. In that case, buying such skincare products should be fine.

“Well, I take that in mind.”

“Go ask Chii later. Those of the same gender might have a different
idea.”

“……Ehhh.”

“It’s about time you get used to her already, okay?”

Page | 135
He did not hate her, of course, but he found Chitose to be the type
he could not handle, and was unenthusiastic about the prospect.
Itsuki merely smiled away, patting Amane on the back.

“Ehhー? You’re buying a birthday present for a girl, Amane?”

It was rare, really rare, that was the reaction she had as she grinned
away, or rather, smirked. Amane exerted all his strength not to let
his cheeks twitch.

After school, he went to Chitose’s classroom to ask, and as expected,

she was very enthused. On a side note, Itsuki said he had no worries
about Amane at all, so he returned home after sending Chitose a
message.

Once he saw her overjoyed face, he let out a little sigh.

（This is why I don’t want to rely on Chitose.）

If he asked her, she would surely question further and tease him, so
he really did not want to. She would not be unwilling to help, but the
undeniable fact was that he was bad at dealing with her.

“So that’s what Ikkun meant when he wrote ‘I’ll leave Amane to you,
Chii’ー. So you need my help?”

“You’re the only girl I can rely on, Chitose.”

“I’ll feel something if you say it that bluntly.”

She was a little speechless as she looked towards him, a look of pity
even, but Amane ignored it.

In fact, Amane had no female friend other than Chitose. He only

remembered the faces of the other girls in his class, and was not on
sufficiently good terms to ask them for help.
Page | 136
To be honest, most of them felt he was never standing out, and
would be troubled if he had approached them for help.

“Well, you don’t understand what a girl thinks, Amane. I’ll help you
out. This Chitose-san will discuss it with you.”

“…I owe you one.”

“What do you mean, owe me one? I look like this, but I know a girl’s
heart perfectly!”

“Well you’re a girl, at least.”

“Why did you add the ‘at least’? How am I like a guy here?”

Chitose lifted her chest proudly, but unfortunately for Amane who
could see Mahiru every day, that section was truly conservative, his
eyes ended up looking down.

But she was popular amongst the boys.

She had a cheery personality, was friendly, and would not ostracize
anyone. Her popularity was different from Mahiru’s, and she was
always the mood maker, amicable with just about anyone.

She was said to be part of the track team in middle school, her
slender build, taut legs and fine leg profile made her really popular.
Even Amane had to agree those were nice legs, and Itsuki had been
coaxing other boys “I’ll be angry if you keep staring at my girlfriend.”

“Ah yes yes you’re a cute girl~.”

In fact, she was a little overly unfriendly, though cute was the right
term to describe her. Her popularity was understandable.

“…And it’s because of that attitude of yours, people misunderstand

you. Seriously.”

Page | 137
“Stop being a busybody.”

“Yes yes. So, for a girl? What kind of girl?”

She asked, basically implying that she did not know how to start
without knowing that. Amane understood that if he were to
accidentally let slip, he would get teased. Thus, he chose his words
carefully.

“It’s a girl I know, a little younger. For the rest, I’ll exert my right to
remain silent.”

“Hey…if I don’t know what she likes, what kind of person she’s
looking for, I can’t give suggestions.”

“Maybe you can suggest a few things based on what you feel,
Chitose? I’ll choose from there.”

“Well I know you’re not going to say it. Can’t be helped then.”

Chitose’s words made sense, but if Amane said so, it would be he

was on good terms with a young girl, and the topic would deviate in
a strange direction. She might even figure out the truth.

He was trying his best to avoid this situation, and did not say
anything more. Chitose too knew Amane would not say anything
else, and did not ask any further.

“Hmm, let’s see…I don’t know how exactly the relationship works,
but if she’s someone you often talk to…then if I were her, I’ll be
happy to get anything from someone like you. Basically, she’s not
looking for some expensive consumable or daily item”

“That’s what Itsuki said.”

“Ikkun really understands the heart of a maiden. Well, if there aren’t

any conditions, some snacks, handkerchief, pouch, or something

Page | 138
small will do. But if I’m to receive an accessory from you, I’ll be
thinking like “What, are you bribing me!?”, sorta.”

“What’s the point of bribing you here?”

Can I even get anything good from you, so he shot her such a look, “I
guess so.” so she smiled back.

“Something small will be better.”

“…I see.”

“You’re not happy about that?”

“Not exactly.”

Of course, he was not unhappy about it, but he was worried Mahiru
would not like it.

If he were to give her something small, he would have to consider

the quality. She probably had posh preferences, and was the type to
choose something with both quality and functionality. Amane did not
know if his choice would be acceptable to Mahiru’s eyes.

Chitose seemed to have noticed that Amane was a little unaccepting

of this choice, “Hm.” so she thought of a while, and said,

“…Well, you can also give her something cute.”

“…Something cute?”

“You have to look at her interests, but I feel that you can give her
cute things…like dolls, keychains and such.”

This suggestion was really unexpected to Amane, who blinked a few

times. Chitose chuckled, in more ways than one.

“No matter the age, girls often do like cute things. Some adults still
keep dolls, so I think there should be many who like dolls.”
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“…Dolls, huh?”

While he had no idea of Mahiru’s girlish tendencies, he did

remember seeing the cute frills on her clothes, along with her
wearing fluffy clothings. She probably did not dislike cute items, at
the very least.

Would Mahiru be happy if Amane gave her a doll?

“Oh, now you’re looking a little interested, aren’t you?”

Once she realized there was a single reaction from Amane, Chitose
giggled away. The former was feeling a little conflicted, but he still
nodded, and let out a little sigh.

“…But it’s too weird for me to go out buying dolls now, right?”

“You’re buying a present, and that’s what you’re worried about?”

“At this age, it’s embarrassing for a guy to be carrying a doll to a

cashier.”

“You’re spineless.”

“Ugh.”

She was completely right, but he felt really conflicted to be pointed

out like this.

He should have discarded all his shame, but after all, it was really
awkward for him to buy a doll from a shop alone.

Luckily, Chitose was with him. Perhaps there was the possibility of
her walking home with him.

A possibility it might be.

“…Chitose, please”

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“Please?”

“…Go shopping with me.”

“Now what shall I doー?”

But it so happened that Chitose was an impatient girl.

Of course, she was not truly intending to reject her. She was
pretending to look frustrated just to tease him, and to harden his
resolve.

“I beg of you, seriously.”

“Hmm, I’m fine with that, you know?…speaking of which, Amane-

kun, I want to eat something sweet. There’s a crepes shop before the
train station selling a delicious limited edition itemー.”

“…Please allow me to treat you.”

“Yay！”

Once Chitose slyly asked for a treat, his face twitched. It was cheap
though, and he nodded in agreement.

It was a lot easier buying a single crepe than it was to go to a fancy

shop alone.

And as Chitose grinned away, Amane let out a long sigh, quietly
calculating the budget he had in his wallet.

Once he was done asking Itsuki and Chitose for advice, Amane finally
chose the present, and on Mahiru’s birthday, he looked at her back,
feeling really tense.

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His payment to Chitose was the special crepe from the shop before
the station (the winter limited berry berry special), and having
convinced her to buy something else, he added that to his
present…but at this point, he was wondering how to hand it over to
Mahiru.

The one who was supposed to celebrate her birthday was making
dinner as usual.

He did not know what the menu was, but it seemed she was making
Japanese food. She was acting naturally as usual, nothing too
different about her.

He could not sense any birthday vibe from her. The way she acted so
calmly, one would wonder if she remembered it.

Even after dinner was served, nothing changed. They did converse
over dinner, but ate as normal.

He really did not know when he should give her the present, so he
looked towards the paper bag with the present hidden behind the
sofa, frowning.

After dinner was over, he cleaned the table, and returned to the
living room, finding Mahiru at the two seater sofa. It seemed she
brought a book here.

Even when reading a book, she was pretty like a painting. Truly she
befitted her moniker of Angel.

He was wondering if he should sit next to her…but he could not

simply remain tentative. So he raised the bag placed there, and sat
next to her.

She suddenly lifted her head.

Page | 142
She probably noticed his presence and the ruffling of the paper bag,
and her caramel-colored eyes looked towards him, and then towards
the paper bag he was holding.

She seemed a little confused. It appeared that at this point, she had
yet to notice it was her birthday.

“Here. have it.”

Amane nudged the bag onto Mahiru’s knees, leaving her all the more
flabbergasted.

“What is this?”

“Isn’t it your birthday?”

“It is…but how did you know? I do not remember mentioning it to

anyone else.”

She had a wary glint in her eyes, “You left your student ID on the
table the last time”, but once she heard that, she might have
accepted this explanation, and reverted back to her usual look.

“You do not have to worry. I do not celebrate my birthday after all.”

Amane might not have mistaken the sudden cold, callous voice from
her.

Looking at her eyes, it appeared the word birthday itself was a taboo
to her.

I see, so he thought.

Even though it was her birthday, she had no change in attitude not
because she did not remember it.

She probably forgot about it because it was troublesome to her,

probably.

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If not, there was no way she would have used that tone.

“Ah I see. Just think of it as thanks for the daily stuff. I just wanted to
repay you somehow.”

So he handed the present to her, with the rationale being that, fine,
you don’t have to celebrate your birthday, but a gift for your usual
care. Take this as my thanks, and not a birthday.

He ate such delicious food every day, and she even helped him clean
up from time to time. These were trivial things, but she really took
care of him. Even if it was a small thing, Amane wanted to repay
Mahiru.

While he easily accepted her rationale, he insisted on giving her the

present, which left her somewhat confused. So she frowned a little,
receiving the present.

She looked towards the item in the bag that was wrapped in paper.

“…May I open it now?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded, and Mahiru nervously reached her hand into the bag,
pulling the box out. She carefully peeled the wrapping paper, and
undid the ribbon.

Amane himself felt extremely nervous to have someone else open

his present before him.

Inside it contained the hand cream Itsuki recommended. He bought

it in a set, so the large box contained some snacks too.

Just to note, it was an odorless one suitable for housework, not a

scented trendy one. It was gentle on the skin, its selling point being
that it keeps the skin moist.

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He checked the reviews on the internet, and it seemed he did not
need to worry about the effects, probably.

“Sorry that it’s not something valuable. I think your hands will
become dry when you do housework. There are those without scent,
but I guess you already have them. I heard it’s gentle for the skin,
effective even.”

“A practical item.”

“Actually, you emphasize much on practical items.”

“I guess. Thank you very much.”

You understand me well, so she smiled, and his lips relaxed.

It seemed she did not have a bad impression of him.

There was one other item…but it would be embarrassing for him to

open it before her. If possible, he wanted her to notice it before she
returned home.

Unfortunately however, Mahiru seemed to have noticed there was

something else in the bag, and looked into it.

“…Why are there two?”

“Ah, no, well, actually. It’s a selfish, subjective add on.”

“Add on?”

“…Add on”

He averted his eyes, merely answering so. Mahiru tilted her head,
not understanding what Amane meant, but she felt it would be
faster to open the bag, so she took the item out.

He used a packaging of similar color to the bag, so that it would not

stand out, and stuffed it to the bottom. This item was too big and
Page | 145
noticeable however. There was no way she would not have noticed
it.

It did not contain a box, but a polyester bag. It was just large enough
for Mahiru to hold in both hands.

Mahiru carefully undid the dark blue ribbon, and while Amane was
staring at her (can I get away from here now)──she cautiously
removed the content.

With two hands, she cautiously lifted the item, and looked rather
surprised as her eyes widened.

“…A bear?”

What Mahiru muttered was the true identity of that thing.

It was a doll not too big, the size of an elementary school girl.

It had faint colored fur similar to Mahiru’s hair. On its neck was an
aqua blue ribbon tied like a necklace.

It showed an innocent look, dark glossy buttons sewn as eyes,

reflecting Mahiru.

She might be thinking, a doll? When we are in high school?

No matter the age, girls often do like cute things. But after hearing
Chitose’s advice, this was what he chose.

It was really embarrassing for a boy to go buy this thing alone, so he

had Chitose buy this for him, the payment being the crepe from the
station shop.

Chitose kept laughing at him from the choosing part to the very end,
and perhaps he would have felt less ashamed if he went alone. Well,
bygones be bygones, it was pointless to mention it.

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“…I think girls like it.”

He scratched his head, muttering with an explanation to no one in

particular.

He really was bad at this.

After all, he had never given a present to someone of the opposite

gender, except to his mother when he was young. He never expected
himself to do this.

Would she feel disgusted to receive such a cute doll from a boy…he
glanced aside at Mahiru, and saw her staring intently at it.

Nobody could tell if she was happy or sad, she merely stared at it
stoically.

“Well, I can throw it away if you want.”

Can’t be helped if she doesn’t like it, so he determined as he said this

jokingly. Mahiru scowled as she turned her face around.

“I will not do such a thing!”

“Y-yeah. Given your personality, I don’t think you’ll do that, Shiina.”

Her reaction was stronger than he expected, and he nodded while

stumbling back. Once again, she looked at the bear.

“…I will not do, such a cruel thing. I will, treasure it well.”

The thin wrists were clinging onto the bear doll firmly, embracing it.

She resembled a kid who did not want the favorite toy taken away,
and also the loving embrace of a mother.

One could say that she really treasured the bear as she embraced it.

Page | 147
Gyuu, there seemed to be a fitting sound effect as she embraced it
firmly, and looked down at it.

The expression on the face was not the usual aloofness, and not the
usual shock whenever she was startled by Amane. It was one of
relief, kindness, love, and affection.

Her innocent smile was so pure. He stared at her with bated breath,
finding her so beautiful, so adorable.

（──I shouldn’t be looking at this.）

He inadvertently had such a realization as she stared at her

expression.

While he was not in love with her, this absolute beauty was showing
such expression, which only he saw, and even his heart was beating
wildly.

He saw her treasure the doll greatly, showing a faint smile, look so
adorable that anyone else would be mesmerized. Even he, who knew
his own bland personality, was nearly mesmerized.

To see how hot his face was, he put his hands on his face, and it
definitely felt much hotter as usual.

He was obviously too bashful, “…Damn it.” and so he cursed with a

volume Mahiru could not hear.

Luckily, she was not paying attention to him, half her face was buried
into the bear doll as she embraced it lovingly.

That sight of her was similarly adorable, and Amane restrained

himself greatly to avoid squealing.

“…I’m glad that you like it so much.”

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He wanted to say something, but he eked out these words, and the
eyes stared back at him.

“This is the first time I received such a thing.”

“Eh, given your popularity, I thought it would be normal for you…”

“What do you think I am…”

She sounded a little dumbfounded as she gave him the look, which
relieved him a little, for he no longer had to see that face again.

“…I never told anyone of my birthday. I dislike it, and I never said it”

Dislike, so she said as she looked towards the bear.

The eyes she had when she looked at the bear was so calm,
completely different from her words, and Amane felt a dissonance
there.

“I feel scared receiving presents from people, even those I do not

know, or those that I have no relation to, so I would not accept it.”

“But you accepted mine.”

“…You are not something I do not know, Fujimiya-san.”

So she whispered as she buried her face into the bear as she looked
at him. He started to regret staring at her directly.

She unwittingly looked up at him, showing a relaxed innocent face

befitting her age. Truth be told, she was adorable.

She was so adorable, he inadvertently had the urge to pat her head,
and the moment he was about to, he hastily reeled it back in.

（…That was close.）

Page | 149
If he too had relaxed, he would have patted Mahiru on the day. He
finally made her happy, and if he did so, all his efforts would be for
naught.

“…What is it?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Mahiru tilted her head in confusion, either having noticed Amane’s

hand that had twitched, or the anxiety that was exploding in him.

With that alone, his eyes were seized. Pretty girls are truly terrifying
things.

But if he were to admit bluntly that she was cute, even he would be
ashamed. “Huh?” and he was sure this would be her answer.

And if he said such words, Amane would die in many ways, so he

decided to contain this impulse for now.

“…Thank you very much, Fujimiya-san”

Amane averted his face, and Mahiru’s soft voice entered his ears
once again.

“Hey hey Amane, did it go well? The one you gave the present to?”

Given that they went shopping together, he would have to report in.
The following day, Chitose was grinning away as she went to hear
out from Amane.

He was fine with the fact that she, who was in a different class, came
looking for him. However, that kind of smile was something he really
did not want to deal with. He really had the urge to just go bye there
and then.

Page | 150
“It’s not the relationship you think of, and that development didn’t
happen.”

At the very least, he did not choose the present out of romantic
feelings, nor did he have any other thoughts.

There was no doubt he was delighted, but there existed none of the
development Chitose looked forward to.

“No, but well, is there really nobody that makes your heart flutter?
She’s definitely not just an acquaintance, and she’s a girl. Come on,
some gossip here.”

“We don’t have an unspeakable relationship.”

With Itsuki backing Chitose up, Amame could only deny vehemently.

Mahiru was happy, yes, but there was still some trouble, and he did
not want to discuss this with others.

He did not want to feed into their curiosity, so he answered as

callously as possible, and Itsuki pondered a little as he had his hand
by his mouth.

“…Hmm. Hey Amane.”

“What is it?”

“Did you give it to your neighbor?”

Truly, Itsuki’s high awareness and EQ was disastrous to him.

“…Why do you think so?”

“If we consider those you know, or those you took care of you, the
only one that fits that bill is the neighbor. You ain’t a local, you hardly
interact with girls, and someone has been feeding you recently, so
you’re grateful to her, right?”

Page | 151
“Who knows.”

“Hmm…Amane, you’ve been looking better recently.”

“Ah, I think so too.”

“So, she’s been giving you food often, and you wanted to give her a
birthday present as thanks?”

Itsuki was completely correct, and Amane did his best not to let his
cheeks twitch.

And that was why Itsuki was terrifying, for his deductions seemed as
though he witnessed it all. He might appear frivolous, but he was
serious and attentive, and also rather popular. However, he really
hoped he would shower these aspects to Chitose only.

“You’re coming up with wild guesses now?”

“I don’t know the truth, so I’m just imagining it. So is it true?”

“Who knows?”

“You’re petty.”

“Petty.”

“Shut up.”

No matter what they said, he was unwilling to be honest.

If he accidentally blurted it out, he would have to spill the beans.

Itsuki was one thing, the current high school girls who loved their
gossip would have interrogated him like no tomorrow.

In this world, there were magical creatures who could turn anything
unrelated to love into something involving love. Troublesome they
truly were.

Page | 152
Goodness, so he sighed as he packed his back, lifted it, and returned
home.

It was a tactical retreat, and also an evasion against their

bombardment of his heart.

“Bye then. Go do your lovey-dovey things and ignore me now.”

“We’ll do that without you saying that though?”

“…Ikkun, let’s go stalk him and find that lady…”

“Who in the world says that before the target? And you don’t have
that thought at all. The most you’ll do is to come to my apartment
gates.”

“Tch.”

Her cute lips formed a pout, but her eyes were serious.

At this point, Amane felt a shiver realizing that Chitose was not
joking, and would really do it, so he left the duo behind and hurriedly
left the classroom.

“…That was close.”

“What is the matter?”

Once he returned home, Amane blurted out, and Mahiru asked him
with intrigue.

It was a little too early to make dinner, even though Mahiru arrived
here after buying the ingredients. Both of them rested a little, and
Amane’s little whisper was overheard.

Just to note, she was being the same as usual.

Page | 153
That smile she showed the previous day was no longer to be seen.
Her usual expression was such that one would doubt if he was
dreaming. This should be the norm, or rather, Amane hoped she
would be like this. If she was to show the same expression she did
the previous day, he would feel his heart aching.

“No, well, Itsuki and the others were gossiping about the present.”

Because I went to discuss this with them, so he quipped and sighed.

It seemed Mahiru had remembered Itsuki’s name, “Ahh, I see.” and
she too sighed.

“Well, those did not look like things you would buy, Fujimiya-san.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

They already felt it was impossible for Amane to give a female a

present, and that was why they wondered if he was in love.

In fact, neither had the sweet, sour, or bitter feelings that came with
falling in love.

“Just my own issues. Goodness, what were they guessing?”

It was true that Mahiru was cute, and he had the desire to touch her.
He could not deny that.

But he felt every youth would feel this way, and after all, his heart
merely jolted a few times when he once again realized Mahiru was a
real pretty girl. There was no way it was love.

Even if he did like her character, he did not think of forming such a
relationship with her.

He glanced aside, and saw her usual pretty face.

Page | 154
However, his heart did not palpitate as it did the previous night.
Once again, he affirmed that he had not fallen for Mahiru, and he
sighed.

One had to wonder what she would say if she noticed him watching
her, so he turned his eyes towards the phone, only to see an unread
number on a chat app icon.

It was probably Itsuki, so he thought as he opened the app, but the

name on the new message was beyond expectation.

Once he saw the name Shihoko, he frowned.

Amane had few female contacts, three in fact, including her.

They were Chitose, Mahiru, and──his mom.

What now? So he thought as he opened her chat. It contained the

agitated text he really was bad at dealing with, things like how his
exams went, if he had any difficulty in life, and so on.

The reason why he was bad at dealing with Chitose was because
there was someone like Chitose…or rather, an older Chitose in his
family. Amane did not hate her, and could not bring himself to, but
his own mother’s personality was too much for him.

『Your grandpa sent fruits, so I’m sending some to you. Will be

delivering on Saturday. Do stay at home in the afternoon! I’m not
going to forgive you if you refuse or aren’t at home, you know?』

“You just decided on my schedule like that…?”

He had no real plans for Saturday, and was fine staying at home, but
should she not contact him earlier?

“What is the matter?”

Page | 155
Mahiru might have heard the mutter as she looked towards him with
her usual expression.

“Mom’s delivering fruits she received from grandpa. Probably

apples.”

“Do you know how to peel them?”

“…With a peeler, maybe?”

“You may…but it is a waste of nutrients to peel off the skin.”

My mom says the same thing, so he thought, but he swallowed that

notion.

“I’ll just eat with the skin then.”

“That is barbaric of you.”

“I’m lazy, you know.”

“That is lazy of you”

He could only show a wry smile at her usual blunt honesty, and
shrugged away.

While Mahiru looked stupefied, “Well, it will end up in the stomach

after all.” but she somewhat relented.

“Oh yeah. I don’t know if I can finish them all before they rot. You
want some, Shiina?”

“I shall have some then. Fruits are expensive after all.”

Her words might seem a dampener, but these words were truly
befitting her.

“Saturday, is it? I shall prepare lunch as thanks.”

Page | 156
“I’m the one who’s always being taken care of.”

“It is fine. I do not dislike cooking for you, Fujimiya-san.”

Kusu, so she made a sincere little smile.

Amane averted his eyes awkwardly as her smile reminded him of

what happened the previous day, “…I’ll leave it to you then.” so he
tersely responded.

Page | 157
Chapter 10 – The mom strikes

It might be a mistake when Amane planned to deliver the fruits

immediately after receiving them.

Page | 158
“A–mane.” Once he heard the doorbell and the cheeky, high pitched
voice, he realized the situation, and clutched his head.

He was grateful that Mahiru would drop to cook lunch on Saturday,

and thought it was a blessing from the heavens.

In fact, the carbonara she made was really delicious. The thick sauce
and the black pepper matched perfectly, and it was really delicious.

It was not Mahiru’s fault, actually. Yes, she really was not at fault.

The fault was that he was told to stay at home, and did not notice
why──along with this blood-related lady who loved pulling her
surprises and the extraordinary.

“…Erm, Fujimiya-san? It’s not the delivery…”

“Nope. Mom took the key and went past the gates…”

Thinking about it, he was at fault for taking his mom for real when
she would have wanted to observe him no matter what.

There was no way his mo would not be up to something.

“…Eh, mother??”

“Most likely, mom wants to see if I’m doing well these days…she’s
not telling me in advance because I’ll try to slip it past her.”

“Ahh…”

“I feel conflicted by how you look like you agree, but this isn’t
important.”

The problem was, how would he deal with Mahiru who was here.

If she was at the gates, he could have Mahiru return home. However,
since she was at his door, he could not do so. But if he led her in, she

Page | 159
would surely meet Mahiru, and there would be a misunderstanding.
Mahiru too would not wish for the same.

What shall I do? While he wondered, the intervals between the

doorbell rings shortened.

（──Ahh goodness.）

“……Sorry Shiina, go into my room. Please.”

“Eh, ye-yes?”

“Hold this. I’ll try to get my mom outside, and then you go home.
Sorry about this, but please.”

He really had no choice but to hide her.

Lunch was made, but they had cleaned up the place, so that was fine.

The shoes could be hidden inside the shoe cabinet, and he would
bring her blanket and other personal belongings into the room.

While she was in his room, he would offer some food once his mom
was done inspecting, and she probably would agree to that. He
would however refuse her if she demanded to inspect the room.

He would ask to make dishes using ingredients not in the fridge, and
they would go shopping together. That would be the moment
Mahiru would escape, or so he planned.

I don’t have a choice here, so he told Mahiru, handed her the extra
key and begged her. While she was troubled, “Y-yes.” She nodded.

They were not using the storeroom, but in this season, it would be
really cold without the heating.

There was heating and a fluffy cushion in Amane’s room, so she

would not be sitting on an empty floor, aching all over in the cold.
Page | 160
“…I shall leave it to you then. I’ll deal with my mom…”

Amane was already tired before he even met his mom. Once he went
towards the entrance, Mahiru silently slipped into his room.

Once he was sure she entered, he opened the door unwilling.

“Oh myーAmane, you’re late. I thought you were sleeping, but you
look very lively.”

Immediately appearing before him was his mom, whom he had not
seen since summer vacation.

She was his mom, but her appearance defied her age, and she was
still wearing that usual cheerful look back home. One would say that
it was not simply her appearance defying her age, but her actions
too.

“Yeah yeah I’m fine so can you go back now?”

“Is that how you treat your mom? I spent hours to arrive, you know?
How about some reward?”

“Thank you very much for taking the long trip here, please go back.”

“Still saying such things now? You really aren’t cute, unlike Shuuto-
san.”

“I’m a guy, why do i have to be cute?”

Ack, so he felt like vomiting, but his mom──Shihoko did not have her
mood ruined, “Still in the rebellious age.” as she merely giggled
away, accepting it.

“May I come in?”

“Wait, I haven’t said anything.”

“The rental is paid by Shuuto-san and me, you know?”

Page | 161
Once she said that, he had no room to refuse, and he could only
open the door with a scowl, inviting Shihoko in.

Of course, he walked along the wall where the bedroom was,

stopping her from entering as he led her to the living room.

“Say mom, call before you drop by. I’m an adult.”

“Oh my, if I didn’t drop by for a sudden spot check, I would not have
seen if my son’s doing well, you know?”

“Grr…you see, it’s fine here. All packed up.”

“Of course. It shocked me. You don’t do this at home, Amane, but
you’re pretty capable yourself. I never expected that.”

Shihoko scanned the living room, nodding away as though she was
marveling.

Of course, he worked together with Mahiru to clean up the

apartment, and managed to maintain it like this due to her advice
and reminders. It was all her contribution, but he could not mention
it to Shihoko at this point.

“Your skin looks good. Looks like you’ve been taking proper
nutrition.”

“…Yeah.”

He averted his eyes, for that too was thanks to Mahiru.

“Looks like you’ve been cooking…huh, two persons’ worth?”

She pointed her manicured finger at the cutlery.

Two people ate lunch, so there were two plates. He was careless not
to have noticed it, but Shihoko seemed fine with that.

“A friend visited.”
Page | 162
But that was not a lie.

He was uncertain, but they were already on the level of friends, so

his words were not wrong, it seemed. He never said the gender
though.

He tried his best not to look rattled as he answered. “Hmm.” So

Shihoko answered, seemingly unconvinced as she looked over to the
living room.

Somehow, he managed to bluff her, but he was dripping cold sweat.

“Well, passable…it does not feel like a boy is living alone.”

Shihoko looked around, asked a few questions, got a few answers,

and surmised thusly.

In a certain sense, it was to be expected. Mahiru had her hands in

most of these things.

“There’s nothing to worry about now right, mom?”

“Yes. It really shocked me. You couldn’t do anything when you’re at

home. Looks like you’ve grown.”

“…Well I can grow.”

From whose mouth do those words come from anyway, so he quietly

reproached himself as he answered. “You’ve worked hard there.” so
Shihoko beamed.

He did not appreciate the compliments, for it was not him who did
so.

But he could not say the truth, and could only endure and beg her to
return home.

At the very least, she was done checking on him.

Page | 163
Maybe she’ll go back without asking me to cook for her──but right
when Amane had this thought.

“And now I’ll check the bedroom.”

The final bombshell landed, and he widened his eyes.

Check the bedroom. In other words, his room…the bedroom.

Of course, Mahiru was inside it. If she was found, he could easily
imagine how his situation would end up much worse than his initial
plan for them to meet.

“Hey what. You can’t go in even though you’re my mom.”

“Oh, is there something unsightly in there?”

“A normal high school boy would have one or two unsightly things in
there.”

“You’re admitting to that, huh.”

“Yeah I admit it, so don’t go in.”

This would be where he would stop her with all he got. Even if his
pride was shattered, he had to hide Mahiru’s existence until the very
end.

At this point, if Mahiru was spotted in Amane’s room, Shihoko would

surely be having happy delusions, and that was something he wanted
to avoid no matter what.

He was stubbornly refusing to let Shihoko through, basically shouting

no as he stood before the door. Shihoko quickly deduced that there
was something hidden inside the room. “You’re hiding something
from mom~.” she beamed as she loomed in.

Page | 164
I’m really sorry, but I need to stop you even if I have to be forceful,
such was his attitude as he faced off against.

But there was a thud in his room.

“Amane.”

“Yes?”

“What are you hiding inside?”

“…Nothing to do with you, mom.”

“So you say. I see.”

The smile got wider.

It had a irresistible pressure, and whenever he saw this smile, Amane

found himself in much discomfort, his desire to refuse greatly worn
down.

It was a force of habit, something he could not change.

Gu, while he groaned, Shihoko seized the opportunity to put her

hand on the door.

Uh oh. It was too late to regret.

Shihoko went around Amane to check on the sound, and opened the
door.

And beyond the door──was a pretty girl leaning by the bed, cupping
a cushion on her knee.

Her eyes were closed, her breathing steady…basically, Mahiru was

asleep.

Page | 165
Page | 166
Napping was a common instance.

She was in a warm room with heating on, and just had lunch. These
two conditions were prime for her to fall asleep.

Does she usually sleep in a boy’s room? For a moment, he had such a
thought, but since she had deemed him as innocent, Mahiru might
have accidentally fallen asleep.

She could not be blamed for this though. It was boring to wait
foolishly without making a sound, and some things just happen.

The reason why he had his head cupped was because his mom
Shihoko barged into his room at this moment, and witnessed her in
this state.

Truly, there was a misunderstanding.

If he was in someone else’s shoes, Amane too would have

misunderstood, thinking that they were on such good terms, she
could be sufficiently careless to sleep in his room.

His face twitched as he glanced aside at his mom, and found her eyes
dazzling as she stared at Mahiru. “Oh my oh my.” so her heart
started to blurt out, or perhaps he was just over imagining things.

“Oh dear Amane, you found such a cute girlfriend! You really can’t be
underestimated!”

Kyaa, she squealed with a voice unbefitting her age, and his head
started to ache.

She had completely misunderstood, and was completely excited.

Typically, no parent would be that excited to see her son bring a

girlfriend home.
Page | 167
But she was definitely so excited because she loved cute things.

Well, it was true Mahiru had the appearance of a really pretty girl.

She was completely defenseless as she slept, her usual facade shed,
and most importantly, her expression and actions clear to see.

The speckless face was in a relaxed, peaceful state.

He was used to it, but every time he saw Mahiru, he found her pretty
face exquisite, extremely adorable. The innocent sleeping face was
so defenseless, so adorable that he had the urge to pat it.

The way she hugged Amane’s cushion strongly whetted the kind of
desire Amane really did not want to talk about.

To Shihoko, the girl who was so pretty that the already familiar
Amane had to admit so, appeared to be her son’s girlfriend (for the
moment).

It was likely this was the reason for her excitement.

“So you didn’t want mom to enter because your girlfriend is inside?
Goodness, you’re becoming a man before I know it!”

“Not at all! Absolutely not! She’s not my girlfriend, not anything!”

“Ahh, you don’t have to find excuses now, you know? Mom’s not
going to object to anyone you choose, Amane.”

“Eh no that’s not the problem here! We’re not dating! Not at all!！”

“You say you’re not, but she’s in your room, you know?”

“That’s because you suddenly popped by! Even if she’s in the living
room, you would have misunderstood!”

Page | 168
“Well, the main issue is that if you never intended to, you wouldn’t
have invited a girl into your house. If the girl doesn’t like you, she
wouldn’t be in your house, right?”

Upon being pointed out, he tried to think of a retort, but could not
think of any.

As Shihoko had mentioned, Amane normally treats his house as his

own territory, and would not be willing to invite others in.

Initially, he let Mahiru in because of the turn of events, but ever

since that, leaving aside the cooking, Amane let Mahiru into his
house because he was interested in her personality.

（Well, I can say that I like her.）

Even without talking about her appearance, Amane really did like the
girl Mahiru.

She had a conflicting personality she typically would not show in

school, vicious, blunt, and yet dishonest; she looked aloof, yet she
loved to care for others; she never minced her words; whenever the
unexpected was pointed out, she would panic and show a look
befitting her age; a few rare times, she would show an innocent
smile. At this point, Amane felt these were all of Mahiru’s charms

It could not be described as love, but at the very least, he found her
to be a really attractive girl.

“I like her as a friend, but don’t think it as love for the opposite
gender. Also, she doesn’t have interest in me.”

They were not so close for him to agree with Shihoko. To be honest,
Mahiru might not be happy about being misunderstood, that she had
feelings for Amane.

Page | 169
“Oh my, you can’t say that though? You’re not getting a little uppity
just because you think you understand the complex feelings of a girl,
are you?”

“How many times, mom, must I tell you we don’t have that
relationship…Shiina, please, wake up…”

Even after saying all he could, Shihoko kept talking about love, and
Amane could only put his hand on his forehand.

He really wished she could wake up earlier.

“Nn…”

The prayer might have worked, or perhaps she woke up because of

the commotion.

Mahiru slowly lifted her eyelids, making a sweet sound as she lifted
her face.

Her flax-colored hair slid off her shoulders.

Her caramel-colored eyes were blurry and moist, such

defenselessness left Amane unable to stare at her.

She looked up at Amane with sleepy eyes, probably aware that she
was not completely awake, and he averted his eyes slightly.

“Shiina, forget about how you fell asleep, please help me clear up
this misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding…?”

“Hey hey, girlfriend, your name?”

A fluffy Mahiru reflected on the meaning of those words, and

Shihoko approached her without restraint, grinning away like a
goody-goody.

Page | 170
Mahiru herself was confused after waking up, and faced with such an
unfiltered smile and cordialness, her eyes were looking flustered.

“Eh, e-erm.”

“Nice to meet you. It’s important to introduce each other, you

know!”

“Eh, M-Mahiru Shiina…”

“My, Mahiru-chan, such an adorable name! I’m Shihoko, you can call
me by my name.”

Mahiru was pressed into giving her name, and she looked towards
Amane, giving the “Save me, Fujimiya-san” look. Amane himself was
hoping that someone else would save him, and because he could not
help, he shook his head to refuse.

He knew his mom really well, that once she lost control, there’s no
stopping her.

Seeing how there’s exceeding interest, it appeared she wanted to

have a full conversation with Mahiru for the first time.

Though she might not have noticed that the important Mahiru was
looking troubled.

“E-erm, mother.”

“Oh! So you’re recognizing me as mom?”

“Fujimiya-san!”

“Fujimiya may refer to Amane and me. Hey, Amane.”

“Mom, you’re troubling Shiina.”

“Amane, you can’t be calling your girlfriend by anything other than

her name, you know?”
Page | 171
Amane frowned, for Shihoko really was not listening to him, but
Shihoko did not appear to mind as she continued to grin. She was
either a bold one, or thick skinned at least.

“E-erm, Shihoko-san.”

“Wha~t?”

“Actually, Fujimiya and I-I,”

“Which one are you referring to~?”

“…I-I do not have that kind of relationship with A-Amane-kun.”

Mahiru was clearly flustered by Shihoko’s taunting words, but she

did her best to deny it

With Shihoko prompting, Mahiru said his name after much

trepidation, shooting a few looks at him. Shihoko in turn beamed
away now that she got Mahiru to call Amane’s name.

“Oh, will this be how the relationship goes in the future?”

“Eh, e-erm, that is not.”

“Oh dear, am I being a third wheel over here?”

“E-erm, please let me explain! I do not have this kind of relationship

with Amane, kun. Just eating together. Amane-kun cannot cook after
all.”

“You make a good bride, Mahiru-chan. Our Amane here has to live
alone without knowing how to do housework. If this is so, please
continue to support him.”

“Ah, that.”

He felt Mahiru was doing her best.

Page | 172
But it was impossible to fend off against Shihoko’s momentum and
explain.

Shihoko’s eyes were glittering more than ever once she knew Mahiru
had been dropping by regularly, cooking for him, eating together
with him.

At this point, Amane could not stop Shihoko. The only one who could
would be his father Shuuto.

“…Give it up, Shiina. My mom’s not going to listen once she gets all
excited.”

“That…”

Amane was at the point of enlightenment, and could only give up

and explain, staring slightly at his mom who was out of control.

“Speaking of which, mom’s shocked to see that you got such a pretty
girlfriend, Amane.”

Amane was too tired to deny it, and he remained silent with Mahiru,
who did not know what to do.

Shihoko took silence as consent…or rather, no matter what they say,

she would think they were hiding their awkwardness. With curious
eyes, she stared at Mahiru intently.

“How is it, Mahiru-chan? Is Amane doing well now?”

“Eh…well actually…I do not think he will die…”

“Say something nice already.”

“But when I first came to this house, it was so empty.”

“Don’t be so harsh now. Look, it’s clean now, right?”

“But that is because I helped to clean up.”

Page | 173
“Well yeah, yep, got to thank you for everything, from food to
cleaning to whatever.”

He really could not lift his head to Mahiru when it came to these.

It was because of her presence that he lived a comfortable life till

this point, and he would have kowtowed and thanked her without
hesitation, but he would not because she did not want that.
However, he did intend to work hard every day to repay Mahiru.

But it was just that Shihoko took these words in a not-too-good

direction.

“Well, Amane, you’ve been letting Mahiru-chan help out all the time,
and not just this once? What a troublesome kid you are…it sounds
like you’re living together.”

“That’s not it!! How did you end up thinking that’s the case!? She just
lives next door!”

“Oh my, this is a fated encounter! It’s nice isn’t it, Amane, you have
such a pretty and capable girl taking care of you.”

“I can’t deny that she’s pretty and capable I have to argue about this
being a fated encounter.”

“Romantic, isn’t it?”

“That’s not what I mean! I’m saying that we’re not dating!”

“My my.”

Shihoko definitely was thinking Amane was trying to hide his

embarrassment, while the latter’s cheeks were about to twitch.

She always took events as food for her amazing delusions, and the
son who had been tormented by such a mom countless times let out
the heaviest sigh in months.
Page | 174
And Mahiru, overwhelmed by this astounding pressure, looked back
and forth between Amane and Shihoko, clearly at a loss of what to
do.

“Mahiru-chan, Mahiru-chan, I may be a parent biased to her son; our

Amane here is foul mouthed and dishonest, but he’s really
straightforward and gentlemanly here, so you can take it that you
bought a good item. He doesn’t have any experience with the ladies,
so you need to carefully control him, Mahiru-chan.”

“What are you saying now mom, shut up.”

The last half was clearly unnecessary.

“But I’m saying the truth here. Actually, why didn’t you look for a
girlfriend in the first place. It’s nice that you look similar to Shuuto-
san; maybe it’s because you look boorish?”

“Stop being a busybody.”

“Maybe you should show Mahiru-chan your cool side?”

“I’m not going to, and she doesn’t want to see that.”

“Here we go again. Ahh, Mahiru-chan, shall I doll him up in a way

you’ll like? Amane’s pretty handsome if he cleans up a little?”

Mahiru saw Shihoko grin away as she nudged at him, and gave a
blank, confused smile.

In a certain sense, Shihoko was truly terrifying to intimidate the

usually poised Angel this much.

“Mom, you’re really troubling Shiina. Hurry up and go back already.”

“You’re all grown up now, aren’t you? Wanting me to go back.”

“Seriously, I beg of you. Look, Shiina’s looking troubled.”

Page | 175
“Really? Mahiru-chan?”

“Don’t ask her now. She’ll definitely be courteous. Just go back now,
we can discuss this later.”

“Well, since you said so much, fine. It’s true that I’m disturbing your
sweet time with your girlfriend…you really don’t want me disturbing
your time together, huh?”

“Whatever you think of it. Just go back already.”

He was too tired to deny it, and Mahiru too must be tired from how
Shihoko was being all excited.

He looked over to Mahiru, and found her a little tired.

He made up his mind to comfort her as he waved his hand, ushering

Shihoko out of the door. The latter looked a little displeased, but she
did not say she was going to stay, probably out of concern, though in
a clearly different direction.

“Ah, Mahiru-chan, let’s exchange numbers. Do tell me of how our

Amane is doing later.”

“Eh, y-yes…?”

Finally, Shihoko established a relationship that had Amane begging

for mercy, and he put a hand on his forehead.

Mahiru obediently exchanged numbers over the phone, going along

with the flow.

There was no doubt that Shihoko would start to meddle with

Mahiru.

“We’ll leave our Amane to you now.” So she held Mahiru’s hands
with a Cheshire cat’s grin, and Amane decided to send a message to
his dad, “Please leash mom a little.”
Page | 176
“I am tired…”

“Sorry that a tornado dropped by.”

Shihoko did not stay for long, but they were already worn out,
seated side by side on the sofa.

Amanae was slouched into the sofa, covering his face as he let out a
long sigh. Mahiru was a little more cautious, but her usually
straightened back too was more arched than usual.

She, who was usually the most poised of all people, was completely
worn out by Shihoko. He did not know whether to be terrified of
Shihoko, or to apologize to Mahiru as the son.

“I’m really sorry for sending her back without resolving the
misunderstanding.”

“No, well, not much was lost…”

“No well, there’s damage…it looks like she’s really interested in you,
Shiina…she’s going to bother you with lots of things now…”

He caused Mahiru problems again thanks to that, and was really

apologetic to her.

Shihoko saw her son’s girlfriend (even though it was a

misunderstanding), and she really loved cute things, so she was
really interested in Mahiru, and would really take care of the latter,
to busybody levels.

“It looks like Shihoko-san really cares about you, Fujimiya-san.”

“That’s the nice way of putting it, but she’s annoying…”

Page | 177
Not that she was being a complete idiot, but the affection she
showed was something he did not want.

Amane too was at fault for being too careless, so he could not say
much about this, but even he too felt she was a busybody.

He was really grateful for his mom’s feelings, but to be honest, she
was a hassle and someone he wanted to keep his distance from.

“…That is nice.”

Mahiru muttered, and Amane looked at her.

“What?”

“Your mother is quite boisterous, but she is kind.”

“That’s just noisy and a busybody.”

“…But that is fine too.”

She was not being simply courteous, she was showing an envious
look. She muttered with a fleeting tone, and lowered her eyes.

Looking over, her face was melancholic, on the verge of shattering

upon contact. Anyone would have found her fragile.

She did not simply look tired, but also feeble and fleeting. . She
seemed to have felt Amane’s stare as she suddenly lifted her head,
smiling.

She regained her usual expression, as though nothing had happened,

and in a rare gesture, reclined into the sofa.

“Mahiru-chan, huh? ”

“…What’s with that out of a sudden.”

Page | 178
“No…it has been a while since someone called me by my name. They
usually call me Shiina.”

Amane was surprised to learn that nobody addressed the super

popular Angel herself, but it was probably because everyone was too
intimidated to call her by her given name.

She was the flawless Angel at school, and nobody dared to call her
so.

Also, there were a few who called her by her nickname, though she
herself hated it.

“If not your good friends, then your parents.”

“My parents will not call me so. Absolutely not.”

A frosty instant reply.

He inadvertently looked over at Mahiru’s face, and found it to be

devoid of color.

It was emotionless, as though they were stripped bare, a non-living

thing even. Due to the perfect face before him, he had a moment
when he thought she was a doll.

But that lasted only for a moment, for once she noticed Amane’s
stare, she locked away the stoic look, frowning as though something
was troubling her.

“…Anyway, it is rare to begin with.”

She quietly muttered, and let out a sigh.

He could tell that Mahiru was on bad terms with her parents.

She would occasionally show a frosty look whenever her parents

were mentioned. She never went out to eat with her parents, hated

Page | 179
her birthday, and from what she said, one could imagine she had
family issues──but he never imagined her parents not calling her by
name before.

『…That is nice.』

One had to question her feelings when she muttered that.

“Mahiru.”

He naturally called out the name he never once did.

The caramel-colored eyes blinked once.

It was unexpected, so she appeared to be spacing out, showing an

immaturity hidden beneath her usual demeanour and expression. It
would be appropriate to say she was taken aback.

“Anyone can call you by name, right?”

“…Well, you are right.”

So he quipped stiffly, and after a while, a faint smile appeared.

The relieved smile formed ripples in his heart.

“……Amane-kun.”

She whispered his name, and the ripples grew wider.

Just moments ago, Amane did not pay much heed as Mahiru only
used it when talking to his mom…but when she addressed him so, he
felt a swirling itch, something in his heart.

“Please don’t call me that outside.”

“…I know that. You in turn should not let it slip outside.”

“I get that. It’s a secret.”

Page | 180
He dared not look directly at a smiling Mahiru.

“Yeah.” so he tersely answered, looking to the side while pretending

to change posture, evading that smile.

Ever since the sudden strike from his mom on Saturday, there was a
change in the manner Amane and Mahiru addressed each other, but
nothing else really special.

Neither did the relationship suddenly improve, but as they started

addressing each other a little intimately, Mahiru’s attitude had
softened, somewhat.

“…Erm, Amane-kun.”

On Sunday evening, Mahiru showed up a little earlier, her face

showing some awkwardness, or worry.

Amane let her in, but he did not know why she was giving such an
ambiguous attitude.

He wondered if she was having issues with him calling her by name,
but she had no hesitation calling his name, so there seemed to be
something else

Both of them sat on the sofa. Amane looked towards Mahiru, and
found her pull out a handkerchief from her apron pocket.

While he was wondering what was going on, she opened the neatly
folded handkerchief, and pulled out a key wrapped inside it,
reflecting a dim light.

He had some impression of this key, for it was the one he gave her
the previous day.

Page | 181
“I am returning this key, since I did not do so last night. Erm, I forgot
about it, so I missed the chance to return it to you…I am really sorry.”

“I see.”

It appeared she was concerned about the fact that she took the key
home without returning.

Once he understood why she was acting so strangely, he looked

towards the key on the handkerchief.

Thinking about it, he realized Mahiru would practically drop by every

day to cook dinner. While Amane would open the door for her, there
were some times when he would take the long road home, and not
be at home, so she would have to wait outside for a little while.

It would be too harsh to make someone wait at the entrance, let

alone a female.

It was said the greatest enemy to a female’s body was the cold, and
putting himself in her position, he would not have felt comfortable
either.

Well, since Mahiru would drop by every day, it would be easier for
him to hand her the key.

“Well, I guess it’s fine that you keep it.”

“Eh?”

“You can return it when we have nothing to do with each other.”

Truth be told, if Amane left the key to Mahiru, it would mean she
would have to take care of him for a while, but she looked back at
him worriedly, for he did not receive the key.

“B-but.”

Page | 182
“Or rather, it’s troublesome for me to go open the door every time.”

“Your true voice is leaking out.”

“It’s not like you’re going to misuse it.”

“You say so…”

At least a month passed ever since he got dinner from her and had
her cook at his place, and he thought he understood her personality
well.

She had common sense and a good conscience, and her personality
was not devious.

Even though she had the key, she would not hand it off to someone
else, or slip in while Amane was not around. She was someone
trustworthy.

“Well, you find it a hassle to press the doorbell every time, right?”

“Even if you say so, it feels like you are being too careless.”

“I gave you the key because I trust you.”

Mahiru’s eyes widened once she heard these words, speechless, and
then she frowned.

The skepticism on her face was accompanied by a different unknown

emotion.

But Amane merely handed the key over to Mahiru, all the save the
hassle. If she really did not want to, he was willing to take a step
back.

Mahiru in turn looked back and forth between the key and
Amane──before she sighed.

“…Understood. I shall borrow it for now.”

Page | 183
“Yeah.”

“Amane-kun, I don’t know if you are being magnanimous or

careless.”

Goodness, so she said with some spite, and Amane responded with a
wry smile.

“That’s my style.”

“This isn’t for you to say about yourself.”

Hmph, so she pointed out coldly, only for Amane to smile brighter
than before.

It appeared they were already on sufficiently familiar terms for him

to have such useless conversations.

But since she permitted him to use her given name, it would be
strange to say they were not on familiar terms.

I really had enough of this person, so her eyes implied, but they were
filled with some warmth, rather than looking aloof.

And she knew that Amane was just joking around.

“I shall take it then. I do not care if anything happens to your house.”

“Like?”

“…Like if I pop by to clean up your house.”

“I’ll be grateful for that.”

“What if I stuff the fridge full of food?”

“Then I’ll get to enjoy breakfast, and there’s more things to eat for
dinner.”

Page | 184
Mahiru’s little jokes were really peaceful, or even music to his ears,
what he wanted. Nevertheless, the muted reactions had her a little
unhappy.

The threat did not seem like a threat, it emphasized her kindness,
and really was something to smile about.

“I feel that I have been treated as a fool.”

“I didn’t do that.”

It appeared if he continued to tease her, she would kick up a fuss.

While he really wanted to see her pout, he sheathed his smile and
stared at Mahiru.

Page | 185
Chapter 11 – A reward for the Angel

Amane saw a piece of paper with many students’ names pasted on

the corridor wall, “Oh that’s why.” and muttered.

Page | 186
The rankings of the exams a week ago was released, and Amane
came to look along with his classmates.

He ranked 21st, not much different from usual, not exactly standing
out, though decent. He did not feel anything amiss when he did his
papers, and was a little relieved to see that his rankings were as
expected.

Of course, Mahiru remained 1st in their year.

She truly was an intelligent girl, but he knew she was not lacking in
hard work, and could only marvel at how amazing she was.

He saw her studying after dinner.

Well, she was already smart to begin with, but what elevated her to
1st position was the relentless hard work.

“Shiina-san’s still 1st…”

“That Angel uses her mind differently after all, to be expected.”

Amane heard such voices amidst the commotion, and curled his lips
unhappily.

“…What is it, Amane? You look unhappy. Didn’t rank well?”

Itsuki too was with Amane as he watched the latter, looking a little
surprised.

Just to note, the rankings only listed the top 50, so Itsuki could not
find his own name. He merely dropped by to accompany Amane.

“Not really. Just 21st.”

“Ohh, that’s better than the last time.”

“Somewhat within the margin of error.”

Page | 187
“Well, the smart ones always say things differently after all.”

Itsuki ribbed back with a smirk. “Fine fine.” and Amane brushed it
off, before looking at the rankings again.

She really worked hard, so he thought.

She was unwilling to show anyone the effort she put in, and while
others would have expected no less from her, it was the result of her
putting in so much effort.

Even though those around her praised her for being amazing, they
knew nothing of her hard work, and could not comprehend.

That must be really troubling to Mahiru.

“…I’ll make up for that.”

“Hm? You said something?”

“Nothing, I’m going back to the classroom.”

“Alrighty.”

“Huh, Amane-kun. What is this?”

Mahiru had changed her clothes, went to the supermarket to buy

ingredients, and returned to his house. She was about to put the
ingredients into the fridge, only to notice this white box.

“Hm? Ahh, cake.”

The white box contained cake, and Mahiru might have figured it out
when she saw the shape, but she wanted to be sure. On a side note,
he bought the cake from Chitose’s favorite patisserie; the latter
loved uploading photos of that place on SNS.

Page | 188
“…You like cake?”

“Not exactly. It’s for you.”

“Why again?”

“You’re first in our year, so here’s a little celebration. Congrats on

getting first.”

Mahiru blinked her eyes once she heard it was for her.

It might have been really unexpected to her.

“I-I have been 1st every time. It is not something worth celebrating.”

“But well, you’ve been working hard, so a reward once in a while is

fine. You don’t like strawberry shortcake?”

“Eh? I-I cannot say that I dislike it…”

“Hm, that’s good. We’ll eat it after dinner.”

Amane cut off the conversation, having realized how taken aback she
was.

Mahiru would feel troubled if he paid too much attention to her, so

he should be a little more considerate.

He felt she was one who devoted her utmost to others, but
extremely strict with herself. She was the type to not relax unless
something drastic happened.

She would have put her head down and do what she had to do,
toiling without rest as long as nobody praised and coddled her. He
had a feeling she did not know how it was to fawn around. While
they did not spend much time together, he somewhat understood
her personality, and hoped to repay some of the efforts she spared
him all these while.

Page | 189
Amane saw that Mahiru was still rooted in the kitchen. He made a
wry smile, sighed, and stared until she moved again.

After dinner, he saw her serve the cake with some nervousness, and
burst out laughing.

“Wh-why are you laughing?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“That does not seem to be the case.”

“Don’t worry.”

He was simply bemused to see Mahiru acting so tense.

But if he laughed too much, he would have ruined her mood, and his
objective to reward her would be for naught, so he stopped after a
short while.

She brought some coffee along with the cake, placed them on the
table, and sat on the sofa.

She was acting gingerly, and he had the urge to laugh. However, the
person herself was right next to him, and he managed to endure it.

Mahiru looked up at Amane worriedly.

“Nn, congrats.”

“…Thank you very much. But…”

“Just take it. You worked hard after all.”

“Yes, that is true.”

“Come on, eat it. You should relax once in a while.”

Page | 190
I bought it for you after all, so he quipped. Mahiru looked a little
apologetic as she nodded away; she took the fork and the plate with
the cake.

“I am really grateful.”

“Go ahead.”

He waved his hand, and she took the fork, cut a bite size of cake
cautiously, and brought it to her mouth.

It seemed girls were typically picky about sweets, but it should be

fine since it was from the shop Chitose frequented.

The proof was that once Mahiru ate it, her eyes widened, and her
mouth relaxed a little.

She hardly showed change in her expressions, but recently, she was
starting to show some range of common emotions.

She slowly ate the cake, showing a kind expression, and this one
eating scene became a painting of sorts.

“…? What is it?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Mahiru found Amane staring back at her, and tilted her head in
confusion.

The expression was gentler compared to usual, and he, who had
been staring at her, found himself looking aside instead.

Instead, it was Mahiru who was staring at Amane. She suddenly

thought of something, and took another bite of cake, reaching it
towards Amane.

Ahh, she ended up trying to feed him.

Page | 191
“Eh, n-no I don’t really want to eat it.”

“You do not want to?”

“…No, well, that…since you’re giving it to me, I’ll accept it.”

He never imagined this scene to be possible, so obviously, he was

bashful, accidentally going along.

They were at such an age, of different genders. Further, a really

pretty girl was feeding him, so in a certain sense, he might be
considered lucky──but Amane was not at the point where he could
discard his shame and be outright happy.

“It is something you bought after all, Amane-kun. You have the right
to eat it.”

And Mahiru, the one suggesting this, never realized so as she

brought the cake to Amane’s mouth with her usual look.

Typically, one would have some idea of what feeding the opposite
gender entailed, but she just looked perplexed.

It was bad for him to reject her goodwill, so he made up his mind and
took a bite of it.

Spreading in his mind was an unbelievable sweetness.

“…It’s sweet.”

“It is cake after all.”

Mahiru did not seem to have noticed anything other than the cake.

He chowed down a little, and found it really sweet. His mental state
might have affected him greatly.

“…Feels like you haven’t felt anything.”

Page | 192
He experienced all of the sweetness, shame, and itchiness in his
heart, but Mahiru herself appeared fine.

Amane found it really vexing, “Give me that.” so he snatched the fork

from Mahiru’s hand, doing the same gesture to her as he handed her
the cake.

With this happening to him, how could he not retaliate?

“Here.”

“…Erm.”

“Eat it.”

Mahiru looked more perturbed than before, for his tone was a little
stiff.

But she had done the same thing to him, and did not seem to have
any intent to refuse; like a birdie being fed, she ate it tentatively.

Mogu, she started to chew.

He stared at her, and found her expression changing slightly.

Initially, she was mostly looking confused, but with every bite, her
face got redder.

And when she swallowed the cake, her embarrassment was plain to
see.

Her flawless, milky white face was red like an apple. Her eyes were a
little moist, probably out of shame as they swayed about.

“So what do you think?”

“I-it is delicious…”

“Not that. I’m asking how do you feel about being fed?”
Page | 193
Amane asked, knowing that she could imagine how he felt. She
lowered her eyes, her body shaking a little.

“…I would say I am very embarrassed.”

“You get that? You’re going to cause misunderstandings if you do

this with someone else. Do it between girls if you need to.”

Now you understand how I feel, so Amane said as he looked aside,

“Yes.” but Mahiru replied with a fading voice.

She probably did so because she treated Amane as a safe person.

Her subconscious act had him really worried, but it was not a bad
feeling, so there was nothing for him to blame her.

But the sweetness lingered in his mouth.

（I’ll be in trouble too if she’s too careless.）

He was glad to be trusted by Mahiru, but the unwitting careless act

was truly astounding.

So he concluded as he looked towards a shriveling Mahiru, gently

sighing.

Page | 194
Chapter 12 – The cooking class under the
Angel’s guidance

Though he could handle lunch at the school cafeteria, it was a

different case altogether on his rest days. They would have their own

Page | 195
events, and could not possibly be having lunch together. To be
honest, he might be getting too ahead of himself to ask for lunch.

After all, someone had been cooking dinner for him, so he should at
least figure out his own lunch on his days off.

But if he simply went to the convenience store and ate there “You
need to balance your diet.” Mahiru would nag at him, and he was
embarrassed about having to eat out every time.

Thus, lunch on his rest days were the most troublesome.

“…Shall I cook?”

He had no reason to go out, so he stayed at home. An hour from

noon, he started to brood over what he should have for lunch.

This would be the point where Mahiru would cook without

hesitation, but he could not do it.

Well, his cooking was not complete destruction, at the very least.

He would not make the black mosaic matter typically shown in

manga. Ignoring the appearance and tastes, he could make
something edible, and though he would be making something close
to edible instead of just edible, he could make something to eat at
least.

But since he was used to Mahiru’s cooking, there begged the

question of whether he could eat his own cooking. Nobody would
exactly cook food that was not delicious for no good reason.

（…Ahー, I’m really a useless person thanks to Mahiru.）

He was captive to Mahiru’s food.

But he really did not want to go out, and he was getting sick of
convenience store bentos.
Page | 196
As he had relied on Mahiru that much, he did not realize the
significance of him cooking, but at the very least, he should challenge
it.

Mahiru could not be around all the time. While he was on good
terms with Mahiru, they had another two years of high school, and
something might happen to break this relationship. Both of them
would go their separate ways in college, and it was impossible to
maintain the current situation.

（This is when I should try a little.）

Having considered future possibilities, Amane decided to work hard,

so he stood up from the sofa, and took his wallet.

“Huh? You went to the supermarket?”

Fortunately or not, when he was returning from the supermarket, he

found Mahiru at the gates of the apartments.

It seemed she too had just returned, holding a bag from the nearby
stationery shop.

“Yeah.” There was no need to hide, and he shook the the grocery
bag. Mahiru in turn gave an incredulous look.

“Huh, did you not buy enough yesterday? I thought you would buy
whatever I wrote in the notebook…”

“N-not that…actually, I want to cook lunch for myself.”

“…Amane-kun?”

After some explanation, Mahiru looked over at him in surprise.

Page | 197
It was to be expected. He always relied on Mahiru, and before he
met her, he was living through side dishes and convenience store
bentos. Now this Amane was saying that he was going to cook, and it
was unbelievable to her.

“I will tell you not to do this foolish thing. You will scald or cut
yourself, you know?”

“…Hey, I can at least cook something?”

“But that will mean ignoring any possible injury, taste and
appearance, no?”

Mahiru’s accurate description left him speechless.

He too felt the same, and he could not refute.

“I will not stop you if you want to do it, but if you continue to seek
the ideals while ignoring reality, you will feel the dissonance.”

“…You’re right”

The ideal would be Mahiru’s cooking. She had confidence in her own
cooking, and Amane himself had been eating it every day, praising
how delicious it was, so she knew he liked her cooking.

“But well, you want I need to wait my diet. Once we go to college,

when I need to live alone, I can’t rely on you, Mahiru.”

If he relied on Mahiru too much, he would be greatly shocked one

day if she was no longer around. He was becoming a useless human
thanks to her, but at the very least, he wanted to be able to do
something at least.

Mahiru widened her eyes at those words, and seemed a little

impressed as she sighed.

Page | 198
“…I think it is a good thing to act for your future, but this is where
you should rely on me a little more, no?”

“Eh?”

“It is better for me to observe in case something happens, than to

ruin everything without invigilation. Amane-kun, are you confident
that you will not make a mess out of the kitchen?”

“…Not at all.”

It was said that people bad at cooking could not keep the kitchen
clean, and he too felt the same. He could not deny it, for he felt that
once he used the kitchen, he would cause quite a mess.

“I guess so.” once Amane nodded, she flatly noted with a sigh.

“I think it is better for me to be there.”

“May I ask for you to do that?”

“I will not suggest it if I had no intention to.”

Her voice remained aloof, but she said so for his sake, so he did not
mind at all.

He lowered his head in thanks, “You do not have to be so polite.”,

she frantically answered, and he smiled back, entering the elevator
to his house along with her.

“…By the way, do you have an apron?”

“Don’t worry. I bought one to use during cooking class.”

“You used it?”

“Yeah, but it was pointless since.”

“I guessed so”
Page | 199
Having expected that answer, Mahiru sighed, and entered Amane’s
house along with him. She did have an apron in his house, and one
more in hers. The apron Amane usually saw was to be used in his
house, it seemed.

She tied the apron, and like usual, tied her hair into a ponytail. She
saw him pull a rich brown apron from the back of his closet, and
narrowed her eyes.

“You do not usually wear an apron, Amane-kun. It just feels so off.”

“Shut up. Sorry about that.”

“Well, that is to be expected…I guess you decided the menu since

you bought your ingredients.”

She looked towards the shopping bag on the shelf, and he nodded,

“Fried vegetables and omelette.”

“…Vegetables because I told you to watch your diet, and omelettes

because you like eggs.”

“You understand that really well.”

“I figured after some thought. What about the seasoning for the
vegetables?”

“Here. A bottle of yakiniku sauce.”

“An exciting taste for men…though it is delicious…”

“If it can be used, it’s good for cooking, right?”

If there had been no yakiniku sauce, he intended to add on with

pepper and soy sauce. Thank goodness for that sauce, so he quietly
thought.

Page | 200
He intended to use everything he could to cook, so he gave thanks to
the sauce as he imitated Mahiru, washing his hands.

While he was doing so, Mahiru prepared the utensils, lining up the
ingredients for Amane’s convenience. Such an ability really left him
impressed.

“For fried vegetables, you need to slice them up, and ensure that
they are evenly cooked…do you know how to cut them?”

“Are you taking me as an idiot?”

He could at least cut some vegetables. Bad at that, maybe, but he

knew how to use it.

He said with confidence, and began cutting the cabbage with Mahiru
looking…but only understood he was forcing himself when he cut his
finger on the knife.

Mahiru had been advising him, demonstrating, but she knew how
independent he wanted to be, and did not interfere. Once there was
any chance of danger, she would adjust a little, but when he started
to familiarize himself and did not do as told, he messed up.

“…Ow.”

He groaned as he looked towards his finger, cut by the knife and

bleeding.

He washed it in running water, but the wound still hurt.

“…I had a feeling this would happen. Here, give me your hand.”

She reached for a band aid from her apron pocket, wrapping around
it neatly, and he felt grateful and impressed.

“You’re well prepared”

Page | 201
“It will be strange not to happen to any person bad at cooking.”

“You don’t trust me at all.”

He knew very well that having cut his finger, he could not be trusted,
so he joked back.

“But well, I have seen how hard you are working, Amane-kun. It is
really impressive.”

“Thanks for the compliments.”

“You should have called me over to begin with.”

“I can’t be bothering you like this on the weekend.”

“I do admit that you are working hard, but you fumbled, you do not
know how to handle, and had to bother me. You should have asked
me in the first place.”

“Yes.”

It was a small injury, but if he was to cause a mess in the kitchen or

misuse an electronic applicable, he would be completely hopeless.

What Mahiru said made sense, and he could not refute.

“…Do not deep fry. You may cause a fire.”

“My level ain’t that high yet.”

“Deep frying is not that difficult though…I am amazed you managed

to live alone.”

“Sorry about that then.”

I’ll spend my life in the convenience store, he deliberately retorted in

a peeved manner, but Mahiru looked towards him in a panic.

Page | 202
He was neither dejected nor fuming, and she did not need to worry,
but she looked worried, her eyes lowered.

“…Well, since you dare not to deep fry, Amane-kun, you can tell me
beforehand if you want it.”

“I want menchi-katsu tomorrow.”

He said heartily, his mood seemingly improved. Mahiru seemed

relieved as she exhaled a little.

“Eat the cabbage garnish. I shall make a miso soup full of

vegetables.”

“Yes yes…thank you.”

“For what?”

“Many ways.”

He was taken care by Mahiru all the time, and her nagging was out of
concern, so while he grumbled at her nagging, he was earnestly
grateful to her. Without her, he would not be able to live a healthy
school life.

Feeling a little embarrassed, “You helped me out.” he quietly

whispered, and looked towards the vegetables again.

“Itadakimasu.”

“Oh.”

After fighting against the vegetables for an hour or so, there was a
messy plate of vegetables on the table, a pretty looking
omelette…and scrambled eggs next to it.

Page | 203
Of course, the pretty omelette was the sample made by Mahiru, and
it would be appropriate to refer to Amane’s omelette as scrambled
eggs instead.

Just to note, it was a taste test, so Amane’s omelette (or whatever it

was) was at Mahiru, while before him was the authentic, pretty
shaped omelette.

They clapped their hands together, expressing thanks, and moved

their chopsticks. Mahiru picked up the porous looking eggs, and ate
it.

“…There is no flavor in these scrambled eggs. Did you forget to add

salt and pepper?”

“I forgot. And I was supposed to make omelette.”

“You beat the eggs too much, and I even told you to stop when it
was turning into soboro…do watch out.”

“Sorry.”

He forgot to add the seasonings because Mahiru was busy with her
omelette, but most of the time, he did follow her instructions. The
taste and appearance were clearly because of his miscues.

Just to note, Mahiru’s handmade omelette was soft, fluffy and very
delicious. There was quite the difference in standard.

“…But I see that you are working hard, Amane-kun, especially for
your ability. The important thing is the attitude to do well. If I had
not been watching, cleaning up would have been a hassle, so I hope
you can improve on it.”

“…Am I not relying on you too much now?”

“You are saying it at this point?”

Page | 204
“Uu.”

“Well, I was joking…or not. I do like cooking for others, and I do not
dislike teaching others to cook, so that is fine.”

“…Thank you for everything.”

It was due to Mahiru’s grace that he could have this current life, and
thus he could not lift his head.

But if he kept lowering his head, she would be unhappy, so once he

saw it was time, he lifted his head and peeked at her.

For some reason, Mahiru was looking a little forlorn.

“If you end up being able to cook, will you not need to rely on me,
Amane-kun?”

If Amane could cook for himself, Mahiru would not need to make
dinner for him.

Realizing what she was thinking, he shook his head.

“No, actually…I still want to eat your cooking, Mahiru…your cooking’s

the best, and I really want to eat it. It just sounds a little selfish, and
useless of me though.”

He knew it was selfish for him to say so when he was the one
benefiting, but he preferred to eat Mahiru’s cooking more than his
own.

Also, he was infatuated with her cooking, and without it, he might
have a mental breakdown of epic proportions.

Once he begged of her in this pleading manner, Mahiru widened her

eyes, and smiled

The loneliness on her face too vanished.

Page | 205
“Fufu. I guess I have no choice then. I have no intention to stop now.
Do relax.”

“…Thank you.”

He saw the anxiety fade away, and was relieved, thanking her again.
The faint smile remained on her face.

“I will let you help from time to time, like using a peeler and such, or
measure the quantity.”

“Sounds like a kid helping you.”

“You need to start from there, Amane-kun.”

In fact, his skills were at a kid’s level, and could not reject that claim
as he pouted. Once again, Mahiru smiled happily.

Page | 206
Chapter 13 – Everyone’s Christmas

“Hey Amane, can we hold a Christmas party at your place?”

“No.”

The sudden proposal was rejected, and Chitose puffed her cheeks
massively.

Page | 207
Christmas Eve was about to come…and for Amane, who was living
alone and away from his family, it was not an event related to him.
Chitose and Itsuki wanted to spend it together with Amane, and
invited him along.

So Chitose came running over to Amane and Itsuki’s classroom

during noon break with this idea, but puffed her cheeks with Amane
responded so,

“But you’ll be alone anyway, so what’s the prob…ah, a girlfriend

maybe?”

“There’s none, nobody’s coming.”

“Then it’s fine. Or do you hate it?”

“Well, if you don’t like it, we’re fine with that, Amane.”

They do so but they were worried for their friend.

Or another reason was that they wanted a place where they could
freely fawn about.

But their apologetic looks left him a little sorry, and he did not hate
that idea anyway.

The reason why he did not want to was that it would be

embarrassing to see their unusual skinship at his own place, and he
would need to spend much effort explaining to Mahiru.

To put it a little more extreme, he would have to tell Mahiru not to

show up at his house before they left, and he would have to erase all
traces of her existence in the house.

“Not that I don’t want to…right right, 24th? We’ll split before night,
so you can just go around making out and such. Just don’t overdo it
in my house.”

Page | 208
He was not adamant to refuse them, so he promised. Chitose’s face
broke into a grin.

“Guess we have no choice. This will be a compromise.”

“Who are you?”

Chitose was getting a little too carried away, and so Amane pinched
his cheek, “Owwieee Ikkkunnnn, Amane is buullllyyinngggg~” she
started begging for help in a slurred manner.

“Come on Amane, stop bullying Chii. Only I get to pinch her cheeks.”

“Yes yes, just pinch her for me.”

“Leave it to me!”

“Don’t leave it to himー!”

He thought this would be a good chance for them to make out, so he

gave Itsuki the chance to pinch her. And as expected, they ended up
pinching and fooling around.

While being pinched, Chitose was really grinning away, and Amane
merely shrugged at this sight.

“…Can I go back now?”

He said that, but they were in their own classroom, and he wanted to
pull his own distance from them.

“No can do. We need to plan our stuff. Got to prepare cake and
food!”

“I can’t do that.”

Of course, Amane could not make any food appropriate for

Christmas.

Page | 209
Mahiru probably could make a few dishes as usual, but he could not
simply go to her for help.

Amane waved his hand, insisting that he could not do it, but for
some reason, Chitose stared at him.

“What?”

“It’s like, you can’t cook, but how are you so healthy?”

“Don’t sweat the little details.”

“Well Chii, Amane too has his own issues.”

“Ehh, Ikkun knows something too?”

“He said he’ll tell me later.”

“I didn’t say that.”

Don’t make promises like that. He glared at Itsuki, but the latter
merely laughed out loud.

A good thing about Itsuki was that he would not press matters, a bad
thing is that he could come up with the most outlandish things
instantly.

“Goodness…well, we can order a take out for lunch, though we need

to book in advance”

Amane ignored the probing look as he came up with a realistic

proposal.

Of course, it was without saying that Amane could not bake a cake,
and could not cook, so he could only suggest food that was already
cooked.

“Ah, then I want pizza! Let’s go to my usual place to order cake.

Should be able to order in advance!”
Page | 210
“We’re not eating chicken?”

“But you prefer pizza, Ikkun.”

“Well of course, you understand me after all, Chii.”

“Eheheー”

They said on their own that they wanted to order pizza, but Amane
himself did not dislike that idea, and he too found it fitting for a
party.

At this rate, it was likely they would be ordering pizza from the shop
Amane and Itsuki usually ordered from.

But once he heard of pizza, he suddenly thought of Mahiru.

The sight of her munching it down like a little animal was truly
adorable, for it was because he usually saw her eating elegantly.

When he tried to feed cake to her days ago, he felt his cheeks searing
somewhat.

（I’m never doing that again.）

Such a shameless act of feeding each other would be impossible to

do again. They were not the lovey-dovey couple like Itsuki and
Chitose, and probably would not have the chance to do so again.

“…Amane, what’s wrong?”

“Ah, nothing, nothing at all. I’ll leave the cake preorder to you.”

For a moment, Amane was lost in his own thoughts, and a surprised
Chitose leaned over at him worriedly. He hurriedly purged that
notion from his mind, and reverted back to his usual expression.

“Yes! Let’s order pizza too!!”

Page | 211
Chitose let out an excited squeal, and hearing that, Amane decided
to ask Mahiru for her Christmas plans.

“Christmas plans? None at all, I believe.”

Once she was done washing the dishes, she sat on the sofa, and
answered immediately.

He had expected her to have a girls gathering or something, but it

seemed she had no such plans.

Perhaps it was due to the surprised look on Amane’s face, but

Mahiru stared back at him, looking dumbfounded.

“Most of the girls I interact with have their own boyfriends, and I
refused any male who invited me out. I do not have any plans at this
point.”

“The guys cried huh?”

Mahiru’s defenses were exceptionally stubborn when she was

outside, and those boys who had some faint hopes in inviting her out
could only swallow their tears against her stubborn defense.

Amane felt amazed that they dared to invite her out. If he had no
confidence, he would not have dared to invite out the Angel. He was
really impressed with the optimistic fellows for trying their luck.

“…Do they really want to spend time with me?”

“If they’re lucky, they can get closer to you.”

“For what reason?”

“To put it, well, dating?”

“Why do they want to date me?”

Page | 212
“…They want to do this and that with you after that.”

“Impure huh.”

He quietly said a prayer to all the rejected boys, “Ah, but.” and added
on,

“Not all the guys are like that, so don’t be too suspicious. You should
be able to tell what kind of stares they’re giving you.”

“I guess so. Not all are being so uncouth. You are not one of them,
no, Amane-kun?”

“I’ve never looked at you with impure eyes.”

While he often thought she was cute, and did have thoughts of
patting her head at least, he had no intention to do anything more.

After all, if he wanted to, Mahiru would have realized and ostracized
him.

He got to sit next to her because he was a harmless boy. If he

showed even the slightest bit of lechery, she would leave him. He
never really had a wish to have a girlfriend, and to him, his hunger
was more important, so he had no intention to ruin this relationship.

“I guessed so. You did not have interest in me from the beginning.”

“Well.”

“And so you can be trusted.”

“Really grateful for that.”

For a boy, he could not accept how he was trusted like this, but he
was not displeased to be deemed a safe boy.

“…So, since you are asking about my Christmas plans, what about
yours, Amane-kun?”
Page | 213
“Hmm? Ahh, Itsuki and co will be here on the 24th. Not too different
from usual, but we’ll be a little late for dinner, so I want to tell you
this beforehand.”

Finally, they got back to the original topic, so he explained once

again, and she nodded, seemingly understanding.

“I understand. Do call for me once the Christmas party is over, and I

shall drop by to cook dinner. I shall make preparations before then.”

“Oh, sorry about that.”

“I am fine. Please have fun.”

“…You won’t feel lonely?”

“I am used to, living alone.”

He felt his heart ache a little when she answered as though it had
nothing to do with her.

Her face showed a bitter smile of self-reproach, probably because

she was reminded of her parents.

“…Well, well, it’s a really rude request, but even if you can’t make it
on the Eve, can we stay together for Christmas, like this?”

For some reason, this proposal had him really embarrassed.

He had no special meaning, but a typical invitation for Christmas had

a special connotation to it.

Yet he really had no other intent.

He just did not want to see Mahiru looking alone with her head
lowered.

In response, Mahiru blinked her eyes.

Page | 214
“Together? To do what?”

“Eh? Ah, nothing special actually, sorry.”

Once this was pointed out, Amane could not bring himself to invite
her.

There was no way they could have gone out together, considering
the troubles caused if he was spotted by others.

The only option would be to stay at home, but there was nothing
that could really pique Mahiru’s interests, and thus, they could only
choose to stay together and do nothing, but the vibe would be
extremely awkward.

I guess it might be better for both of us to spend the time

alone──right when he was about to retract his previous thought,
Amane found Mahiru staring at him silently.

“…Then, I want to play, that.”

Unexpectedly, Mahiru was looking really enthused.

Her slender finger was pointing at the television.

Or to be precise, the game console inside the TV board.

Mahiru had been around the past few nights, and Amane never
switched on the game, but she looked really interested, “Well, I have
never tried that…” She muttered her little wish.

He had no reason to refuse her if she wanted to play, but it was

utterly surreal for a boy and girl to spend Christmas together, playing
games, when they were not lovers.

Even though he had no such desire at all, he would feel somewhat

conflicted.

Page | 215
“No, well, it’s not like you can’t…I guess some games are fine.”

“We cannot?”

“No, not that we can’t.”

“Then, that should be good.”

“Y-yeah.”

Is that alone okay…so he wondered, but since this was her wish, he
decided to do whatever he could to fulfill it.

At the very least, he hoped to bring a little joy to her. He had been in
her care all this while, and she never actually requested anything. He
was fine with letting her play some of his games.

Also, he had no special plans for Christmas, so getting to eat with

Mahiru was a bonus itself.

“Well, who cares about Christmas, let’s just spend the time as it is.”

“I guess.”

Mahiru made a little smile that Amane dared not look at directly, and
he nodded, nonchalantly turning his face aside.

“Merry Christmas!”

And so it was Christmas Eve.

It was already winter break, and on this day, every person spent the
time in their own way. Itsuki and Chitose brought their belongings as
they gathered at Amane’s house.

It was 1pm.

Page | 216
Pizza and juice from the usual shop were on the table. They only
started at this time however because there were too many orders,
and it was pointless to make preorders, as the delivery was really
late.

But it was not too late to have lunch, and after all, they showed up
after noon had passed, and did not wait for long. Nobody really
minded.

“Yesyesmerrychristmas.”

“Amane, you’re not getting into it! One more time!”

“Merry Christmas.”

“The pronunciation is correct, but you’re still so lethargic?”

He really wished he would not be compared to the already

hyperactive Chitose.

Itsuki noticed that Amane was already somewhat enthused, so he

coaxed Chitose as he showed his usual hearty, somewhat frivolous
smile.

“Well that’s good enough. Let’s just eat, play and sleep, okay?”

“Don’t sleep in my house, you idiots.”

“Just joking. Of course I”m going to sleep at Chii’s house.”

“Make sure her parents aren’t in.”

“Ehhー, are you thinking of something H, Amaneー?”

Chitose leered away, and Amane ignored her as he went to the

kitchen to take out the cutlery and cups.

While she pursed her lips and looked displeased, I’ll help out, she
chimed in, and followed him.
Page | 217
Of course, the kitchen was really clean and tidy. It was already
Mahiru’s territory, the utensils and seasonings already arranged as
she pleased.

“It’s unexpectedly clean.”

“Thanks for the compliments.”

He answered her casually, and took some small places and cups from
the utensils, passing half of them to Chitose, only to find her staring
at the cupboard.

“…What?”

“Nothingー?”

Nimaa, he had a feeling she was going to pester him when she
grinned away, a chill rising up his spine, but he insisted on ignoring
her.

He noticed she had some grave misunderstanding, but he could not

figure it out as she did not say what it was.

She looked happier, and his cheeks stiffened. They returned to the
living room Itsuki was in.

“But this house sure is clean. It’s so big and tidy.”

Christmas songs were being played from the room’s speakers.

Chitose was almost done eating, looked around the living room with
only three people, and muttered.

The vast room was due to his parents renting this place, and the
tidiness was due to Mahiru helping to clean up this place. “Thanks.”
Amane had no comments about it, so he could only answer thus.

“Well, there was a period when it was really messyー. It’s amazing
you got it clean.”
Page | 218
“Shut up.”

“Yep yep. Has a female smell to itー”

“What makes you think that?”

Amane had no idea how the room being cleaner had anything to do
with the presence of a girl.

“Hmm? Nothing specific. Given your personality, Amane, it doesn’t

feel like you’ll be the type to clean the house. There’s also how you
arrange the books, the cords, and how you put the things in a way to
avoid damaging them. Some utensils aren’t exactly the type you like
ー”

“…My mom’s”

“Hmmm?”

He did put those things furthest in, but it appeared Chitose noticed
them when he took out the cutlery

Amane himself had insufficient cutlery, so Mahiru brought a few

from her own house, but he never expected the crude chatterbox
Chitose to notice such fine details.

“Well, it’s fine anyway? Right Ikkun?”

Amane made a strange pause, and Chitose stared at him with some
intent, before grinning as she leaned towards Itsuki.

The latter did not mind as he was probably used to it, and he reached
his hand out, having her sit on his thighs, and hugged her. Amane
himself really could not bring himself to look.

“Stop flexing in someone else’s house.”

“Are you jealousー?”

Page | 219
“Not really”

Rather than envy, he might say that he would have enough, so he

really wanted them to rein it in. Considering that this was their usual
selves, it was unlikely such advice would be heeded.

Chitose continued to cling onto Itsuki’s chest delightedly, looking up

at the ceiling and his face

“…Is everyone else so touchy feely now?”

“Don’t forget the folks crying tears of blood right now.”

It was impossible to think everyone was doing ths same thing. Some
would surely be spending time with their families, and their friends.
And there were some spending their time alone.

There were many who viewed being single as a humiliation, and

Chitose’s words might be dangerous if they went public.

“Do all boys want lovers?”

“Probably not. I don’t really want one.”

“But that’s because you’re a weirdo, Amane.”

“Shut up.”

“Well, everyone’s looking uneasy before Christmas. Especially the

single guys. Speaking of which, there’s a lot of guys who went to the
Angel and invited her for Christmas, but she rejected them all.
There’s a mountain of corpses. She said she has an appointment with
someone, so no.”

“Heh.”

Amane realized that the one she made a promise to was him.

Page | 220
While he felt he was the reason why they were rejected, but he did
not mind her using this excuse, considering the guilt she would have
refusing them. At the very least, she did not use his name, so that
was fine.

“The despair those guys had on their faces were really something.
It’s rude, but I just laughed.”

“Don’t laugh at them.”

“But well, it’s impossible when they don’t have any relationship, and
out of a sudden want to act cool during this event, you know? It’s too
late when they never established a proper relationship, and how is it
possible to say, we ain’t really close, but let’s spend time together
and improve our relationship. Also, there’s the kind of people who
say let’s party and seek out the chance for two of them to be alone.
That’s scary to any girl, you know?”

There is no way she is a loose person who accepts any invites, so

Chitose spat her tongue, probably thinking of some bad memories as
she clung onto Itsuki.

While Chitose and Mahiru were different, the former was a beauty
herself, so she too had her own troubles. Once he considered that
popular girls would be troubled by relationships, Amane started to
pity her.

“Well, that Shiina’s not doing well either, given the many invites she
got.”

“…You really don’t have any interest in the Angel huh, Amane?”

“Sorta.”

“Amane’s neighbor is the true angel after all.”

“Want me to chase you out?”

Page | 221
“Don’t wanna.”

You’re annoying. Amane glared at Chitose, “scary.” and the latter

said with a silly gesture, clinging onto Itsuki.

“But you can’t deny that the neighbor hasn’t been taking care of
you”

Guh, he was speechless, and she chortled heartily.

“Stop glaringー. sorry.”

Chitose did not sound apologetic, so Amane glared at her again,

“Kyaa~” so she made a cute voice, clung onto Itsuki…and looked
towards the window behind Itsuki.

Amane saw her freeze, and wondered what was going on as he too
diverted his eyes over. What he saw was a trail of white fluttering
down the blue skies.

“…Ah, Ikkun, look! Snow!”

“Ohh, a white Christmasー?”

It was late December, snow itself was common.

It was rare to see snow fall while it was sunny out there, but to the
lovers, it was something to be happy about.

Night had not fallen, but looking at the temperature, it probably

would last into the night, a Christmas Eve night coated with snow.

Guess the couples are going to be excited, so Amane thought as he

silently watched the couple next to him open the window and get
onto the veranda, thinking that they were going to make out for a
while as he stood up──only.

“Heh? Wh-why are you here?”

Page | 222
“E-eh?”

“Ah.”

The last voice he heard was one he was used to recently, the sweet,
cool voice.

He sensed a bad premonition.

Page | 223
Page | 224
He sensed the duo at the veranda looking startled, and hurried over,
only to see Mahiru at the veranda, probably looking at the snow, and
encountering the duo.

This is terrible. Amane looked towards Mahiru who was seated

properly next to him, and sighed.

He had no choice, after the tragedy at the veranda, and could only
invite Mahiru in.

After all, if he tried to bluff the couple, those two would have strange
ideas on their own. It would be better for him to be honest, and
prevent unnecessary guesses and misunderstandings.

And if he did not shush them properly, what would happen next
would be really terrifying.

“…Erm, I am really sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Mahiru sounded apologetic as much as she could but this was the
one thing she was not at fault at.

It was a White Christmas, the first snow of the season, so she could
not help but go to the veranda to see the snowfall.

If Amane had heard the window open, he would have hurried over to
stop the couple, but there so happened to be music blaring, so in
fact, he did not hear it.

Mahiru herself probably did her best not to make a sound, and he
did not notice.

Looking at the duo who were reflecting upon their actions, Chitose’s
eyes sparkled as she brought her face close.
Page | 225
“So, your neighbor’s the Angel, Amane!?”

“Erm, please do not call me Angel if possible…”

It appeared the Angel did not want to be called so straight to the

face, so she refused demurely. Chitose however was grinning away,
and one had to wonder if she was listening.

Itsuki in turn scratched his cheek as he frowned, looking back and

forth between Amane and Mahiru.

“Ehh, then…looking at what we know so far, Shiina-san’s living next

to Amane, and often cooks for him, am I right?”

“…Yeah.”

“We-well…I owe Fujimiya-san a favor, and I saw that he was not

eating healthily, so I was worried…”

Mahiru began to explain how the two of them met, and also how the
relationship continued; “I see.” so Itsuki answered, but his face
showed that he could not accept this explanation, somehow.

If he were in Itsuki’s shoes, Amane too would not have accepted this
explanation.

There was no way an ordinary boy like Amane would have an

outstanding girl like Mahiru taking care of him.

“Hmm, I sorta know what’s going on, but it’s incredible that you
don’t have other feelings for Amane, Shiina-san. You’re already a
commuting wife.”

“Pfft.”

The term he usually would not hear caused him to snort.

A commuting wife.

Page | 226
Since he mentioned so, the situation did seem similar. Every day,
Mahiru would cook dinner for Amane, and during rest days, she
would accompany him for lunch, and she would occasionally drop by
to clean up. Hearing it from Itsuki, it seemed this really was the case.

The difference was that there was no love between them.

And when Mahiru heard Itsuki say that, she widened her eyes, only
to switch to her outside smile, “I have no intention to, and this is
impossible.” she denied it.

Amane imagined her dealing with Itsuki and Chitose in the same
manner at school, and felt an itch in his heart.

“Well, I have no bad thoughts at all, that’s why Shiina’s helping me

out.”

“It’s fine when you say this, Amane, but this is a strange
combination…the prodigy’s cooking for you…wait, was the doll given
to Shiina-san?”

“…Well.”

“Heh.”

“Shut up.”

“But I haven’t said anything?”

“Your face is annoying.”

“Ow!”

Chitose was grinning away…or rather, smirking, leaving him

uncomfortable while he was really frustrated.

Page | 227
They were checking the facts, so she was not teasing Amane, but he
did not want her to be teasing him, for it would affect Mahiru. If
possible, he would want to ignore Chitose.

“Come on, calm down you two.”

Itsuki already noticed a change in Amane since the beginning, and

did not tease him as Chitose did.

He was one who could stop before things got out of hand, and was a
guy who could read the mood and put himself in other people’s
shoes. Amane hoped that Itsuki would stop before this fact was
exposed, but it was pointless at this point.

After coaxing a slightly glaring Amane and a thoroughly elated

Chitose who had solved the mystery, Itsuki turned his body towards
Mahiru and lowered his head for some reason.

“…Erm, Shiina-san, our Amane has been in your care.”

“Since when did I become your son?”

“Same to you. Thank you very much for raising Fujimiya-san well.”

“Don’t add on to that and make it sound like I’m worthless.”

“But you’re really worthless.”

“You bastard.”

He had self-awareness, and Itsuki had critiqued him for being too
lazy…but he felt conflicted to be pointed out like this.

It seemed Mahiru could also play along with this joke as she seized
the chance to play dumb, smiling as she watched Amane and Itsuki
bicker.

Page | 228
While the smile was not as genuine as the one she would show only
to Amane, it was not completely pretentious, and this too left Itsuki
with a dumbfounded look.

Stop staring when you have a girlfriend, an annoyed Chitose jabbed

at Itsuki…no, she was punching at him, which made it all the more
humorous.

But once he saw Mahiru tilt her head in confusion, Amane reverted
back to usual as though nothing had happened.

“…Well, we don’t have a sweet relationship like you two, and it’ll be
troublesome if the others are to know. You get that?”

“Of course. We won’t tell anyone.”

Amane was subtly threatening Itsuki if he ever told anyone else, but
was surprised to see the latter heartily agree.

“You too, Chitose.”

“I’m not that talkative. Nobody will believe that such a cute girl’s
making meals for you anyway, Amane.”

“Sorry for being so incompatible.”

“I wasn’t going that farー”

Chitose was right, and he had self-awareness.

Nobody would believe that an ordinary boy was taken care of by the
school idol they called the Angel.

And if they did, they would lambast him for being incompatible.

And it was because he expected it, he did not want others to know.
He really did not want the hassle.

Page | 229
Being humble, aren’t you? Chitose chuckled as she stared at Amane,
but her stare was seemingly attracted towards Mahiru.

Jii, she stared at the latter with a passionate gaze, sighed, and
continued staring.

Mahiru herself was feeling uncomfortable, at a loss of what to do.

“Erm, what is it?”

“…Thinking about it again, how are you so cute, Shiina-san ?”

“Eh? thank you very much……?”

Chitose praised Mahiru, and continued to stare at the latter’s face

intently.

“It’s the first time I’m looking at you up close; you really are so
beautiful, an Angel. Pretty face, white skin, long eyelashes, silky hair,
slender body.”

“E-erm…?”

Once he noticed Chitose’s bad habits occurring again, Amane let out
a huge sigh.

Amane was bad at dealing with Chitose.

It was not because he hated her, in fact, he was impressed by her

personality…but there were moments when he could not handle her.
She got agitated easily, overly concerned at times, and he found it
too tiring to deal with. There was another similar person in his
household after all, so this awareness was stronger.

In other words, the similarity to his mom had him unable to deal
with.

Page | 230
Chitose’s personality and likes were similar to Amane’s
mom…especially their utter fondness for pretty and cute things.

“Ahh, you’re so cute when I look at you up close. Hey, can I touch
your hair? What’s the secret to keeping it so smooth? Which
shampoo do you use?”

“No, e-erm…if you ask so much at once.”

“Your skin’s so bouncy. What did you do to maintain this.”

As a girl herself, Chitose was curious about Mahiru’s beauty secrets,

and also had the desire to touch the latter who was so pretty. She
rattled off a spiel of questions as she reached his hand towards
Mahiru.

Mahiru would be really pitiful if he did not stop her, goodness, so

Amane muttered as he tapped on Chitose’s head while the latter was
reaching her hand out.

He did not use much strength as he was just trying to stop and
retort, “Owie.” but a shocked Chitose muttered, pulling her hand
back from Mahiru.

Mahiru herself was relaxed by Amane’s interference. She usually

acted like the Angel, and was wary of those she was unfamiliar with.
She was not as leery towards the girl Chitose as she did to Amane,
but she was looking terrified.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“She’s a shy one. No skinship until you’re familiar with her.”

“So it’s fine when I’m familiar?”

“Ask Shiina that. Before that, note which state you’re at.”

Page | 231
Mahiru clearly looked as though she wanted to run away. It seemed
to be the right choice to stop Chitose.

And once she saw how disturbed Mahiru was, Chitose seemed to
have realized the reason why he stopped her.

“Sorry about that. I got too excited that I want to touch you.”

“Y-yes…?”

Chitose’s sudden confession of wanting to touch Mahiru left the

latter confused. She did not know what to do, and looked towards
Amane, pleading to him for help.

“AhーShiina, Chitose’s a weirdo, but she’s not a bad person…I think.”

“Are you even vouching for me? You’re just rubbing it in, aren’t
you?”

“Can you even deny that now?”

“Not at all!”

Chitose heartily boasted, stared at Mahiru intently, and with a

serious look, reached her hand over.

This time, she was asking for a handshake.

“Let’s start from being friends. Please take care of me.”

“Eh? Y-yes, please take care of me…?”

Upon being asked to shake hands, Mahiru extended her hand

apprehensively.

Chitose would want to be friends with anyone she was interested in,
and given her personality, it felt like Mahiru was going to be at her
mercy. Well, since they were going to be normal friends, he had
nothing to say.
Page | 232
He could only hope that Chitose would show some restraint.

“To get along well, we need to introduce ourselves! You might know
about me, or Amane told you, but I’m Chitose Shirakawa, the
girlfriend of Amane’s close friend.if that’s appropriate, Ikkun.”

“Yaa, it’s embarrassing to be called a close friend.”

“Then why are you making it sound so disgusting?”

“You’re saying that now…Amane, do you know the world calls this
tsundere?”

“How about I chase you out?”

“You’re cruel for chasing me out into the snow.”

“If you’re a guy, talk like one.”

Ack, Amane gave a repulsed look, and Itsuki laughed.

Looking at this, Mahiru widened her eyes. “Ahh, that’s how our
relationship feels like.” Itsuki in turn curled his lips into a happy smile

“Now then, introducing myself again. I’m Itsuki Akazawa, good friend
of this dishonest guy here. If Amane does anything stupid or weird,
you can talk to me.”

“What kind of person do you think I am?”

“…Fujimiya-san does not seem interested in me, and has no survival

ability, but he has some common sense. I do not think he will do
anything weird.”

“Saying that I have no survival skills is unnecessary here but thanks

for that.”

It was tragic that Amane could not deny it, but he was glad that
Mahiru deemed him a trustworthy person.
Page | 233
Itsuki then went up close to whisper “You have no interest in Shiina-
san even when you’ve so close? Are you even a guy?”, and in
response, was smacked in the back.

Amane could not say that he had no interest at all, but he did not
want to date, and he did not want to fake it all the way.

Mahiru herself probably wanted someone of the opposite gender

she could be suitably close with, and not to pursue a romantic
relationship. After all, they were merely eating together, and
spending time together.

Amane looked over to Mahiru. Chitose seemed to have felt they

were done talking, and fired more questions at Mahiru, leaving the
latter flustered.

But she did not look annoyed in the slightest. Sooner or later, they
would start to get used to each other.

Still confused, Mahiru responded with a little smile. Amane himself

was quietly relieved as he saw them start to get along.

“I’m really sorry about that.”

It was evening, after Itsuki and Chitose left, and Amane apologized to
a clearly weary Mahiru.

The latter was immediately harassed by people she did not know,
and her secret was revealed. It was likely she too felt perturbed and
weary.

Amane had a feeling this was a deja vu from the last time Shihoko
visited.

“No, it was because I was careless.”

Page | 234
“She’s noisy, isn’t she?”

“…A real lively person.”

“You can just say she’s really noisy.”

“She is just a little energetic, but an interesting one, I think.”

“What do you mean, a little…….……well, I guess it’s fine if you don’t

mind.”

Amane felt that Mahiru was being polite, despite thinking that
Chitose was a loudmouth, and that it was merely a mild expression.

Luckily, it appeared she did not dislike Chitose, but he did not know
whether it would be a good thing to be friends.

They had different personalities…and it might be interesting for them

to be friends, probably.

Of course, if she said anything that left Mahiru troubled, he intended

to remind her, but he decided to just watch for the time being.

“I do not have such people around me, so i am a little happy.”

“Well, it’s rare to see someone like Chitose…smack her on the head if
she gets too aggressive, you know?”

“Vi-violence is not good. I will try to coax her with words.”

Both of them felt Chitose would go crazy at times, and there were
times she would be passionate about strange things, so such a
reminder was necessary.

So he swore to remind Chitose later in his heart, and turned towards

the window, looking at the falling snowflakes.

Page | 235
If not for this weather, this secret would not have been revealed to
that couple…but snowfall might be a blessing to the lovers, so he
could not complain too much.

It appeared Mahiru too liked the snow, and once she noticed Amane
staring at the snow, she too enjoyed the sight.

The sun had set early as it was winter, the scenery darkening.

It was dark enough to be called night, and little snow fell, so one
could faintly see snow from the lights in the room

“It is a white Christmas.”

“I guess. But it has nothing to do with us.”

“But they are pretty. Is that not fine?”

They were not dating, so the meaning of White Christmas was

irrelevant to them…but since Mahiru liked it, the snow was not bad.

The fluttering snowflakes founded a white coating to the darkening

world. At the rate the snow fell, there would not be much piled up.

“But if it snows too much, public transport will be paralyzed.

Moderation is best.”

“You’re being realistic now.”

“People cannot live on romance after all.”

“I guess so.”

This little conversation might be thanks to the snow.

Both of them chuckled, and Mahiru stood up.

“I shall bring dinner over.”

Page | 236
“Eh, bring?”

“I made beef stew just now. Also, two people alone cannot finish a
roast turkey.…”

“I never thought about roasting a turkey entirely.”

“Well that is because you cannot cook well, Amane-kun. Tomorrow’s

lunch will be omelette rice with beef stew.”

“Sounds delicious for some reason…”

He knew before eating that it was going to be delicious, so he was

already looking forward to the next lunch before he had this dinner.

“I prefer the eggs a little more cooked.”

“A coincidence. I do prefer this traditional style instead. I shall bring

the pot here.”

Mahiru teetered out of Amane’s apartment and returned to her

own, and as he stared blankly at her back, he recalled the
commotion that had occurred in the day.

It was really unexpected that they were found out.

He himself was being doubted, so he expected the couple to be

increasingly suspicious of him, …but he never expected that Mahiru
would show her face at this moment.

Results-wise, they explained themselves, they got people who

understood them…but he was feeling a little conflicted.

If only the secret only to them could last a little longer.

（What am I thinking?）

Page | 237
At the very least, he did not need to play hide and seek with those
two, and it would be easier on his life, yet he felt a little gloomy. He
too felt perturbed, not knowing what it was.

It was not a bad result, but he just felt something was amiss.

“Is something the matter?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Mahiru returned with the pot in her hands, tilting her head in
confusion as she stared at Amane, but after all, he could not express
this ambiguous feeling to her outright.

As he struggled to maintain the same facade, Mahiru tilted her head

in confusion the entire time, not understanding why.

“…Haa, it’s delicious.”

Like usual, Mahiru’s cooking was delicious.

It was Christmas, so the dishes served were a little more intricate.

The beef stew Mahiru made was converted into a pot pie, and they
were slicing and eating it.

After enjoying the moment of cutting the pie, the crispiness matched
with the rich sauce of the beef stew could only be said to be a blissful
moment.

It appeared Mahiru bought flour just for the pie, and he was
impressed by her outstanding skills, letting out a sigh after eating the
second cake for the day.

Just to note, the cake was baked by Mahiru.

Page | 238
While baking the pot pie, she used said flour to combine with a
sweet dough, making mille-feuille. She was already at the level of a
pâtissier.

“Glad to see you like it…you ate quite a lot.”

“Nn. they’re really delicious.”

“Thank you very much”

He was getting used to her smile.

She would smile whenever he praised her cooking, and so it became

a daily routine.

It felt like Amane’s special privilege to see a much tender expression

from her, and he felt itchy within.

“…Omelette rice tomorrow…I’m looking forward to it.”

“You really like eggs, I suppose…I remembered you wolfing down the
egg rolls and such.”

“Can’t help it, it’s delicious.”

Even though he liked egg dishes, he would not eat them if they were
not delicious. He had such an appetite because Mahiru’s cooking was
really delicious.

He felt it was excessive of him to be this selfish, but Amane had no

intention of sharing Mahiru’s cooking with anyone else, and would
continue to enjoy it until she would stop.

“…Amane-kun, you look happy when you eat.”

“Well. I am happy. Your cooking’s really delicious, Mahiru.”

“Thank you for the compliments, but this happiness sure is small.”

Page | 239
“No, it’s high praise…understand your own worth…”

After all, it was that Angel’s cooking, and some boys would have
dreamed to have the privilege to taste it.

“It is something I do every day though.”

“But I’m still very happy with that.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. I get to eat good food every day.”

Amane himself had little material desire, and a stronger desire for
food. His biggest happiness was to be able to eat fresh, delicious
food every day.

“How are you able to make such dishes?”

“Someone who once took care of me said, 『if you want someone
who can give you happiness, capture the stomach』.”

“Sorry for letting you capture my stomach.”

“Just think of it as practice.”

Mahiru smiled, and his heart unwittingly jolted.

“…But the person who raised you is really amazing.”

“Yes. That person’s cooking is really delicious, and I cannot beat that.
The cooking is filled with the taste of happiness.”

As he saw her smile gently, looking into the distance, Amane felt a
little relieved.

It appeared that Mahiru really was doted on by the person who took
care of her, and it was obvious that she respected that person.

Page | 240
Mahiru must have been truly lucky to be next to that person.

“Sounds like it’s really delicious, but for me, yours is the taste of
happiness.”

Leaving aside his mom, his dad’s cooking was good too, but Amane’s
tastebuds preferred Mahiru’s cooking.

Her cooking was one of comfort, the type he would not get sick of,
peaceful and yet leaving him with anticipation. He would not get sick
of her cooking, and would even demand more of it.

But it was too much of a burden on Mahiru, so he would not say

these words.

So he nodded away, and saw her freeze.

One could say that perhaps it was unexpected to her.

She stared back at him, looking immature and dazed.

“…Mahiru?”

“Eh…I am fine.”

Once she heard that voice, Mahiru reeled, shook her head, and
looked down.

She clung onto the cushion she loved, exhaled slightly. Unlike before,
he could sense a strange charm from her.

“What is it?”

“…I am just thinking, if I can make such a happy taste.”

“Well, I don’t know why you’re being humble, but your daily
cooking’s delicious, and I want more.”

“Ah, thank you very much”

Page | 241
She peeked up at him, looking a little bashful, yet satiated as she
smiled. This time, it was Amane who looked down and wanted to
bury his face.

Once she showed that extremely rare expression of hers, even his
heart just jolted, even though he did not like her as someone of the
opposite gender.

He did not want to expose this slowly rising heat in his heart, and it
would be really awkward for both of them to be bashful.

“Ahh, erm…yeah, Mahiru.”

“Yes?”

“We’re starting from noon tomorrow, right?”

He changed the topic, unable to take this mood, but she did not
appear to mind as she considered his suggestion.

“Yes, we did agree, no? Lunch for dinner, and then the games we
promised…right?”

“Yep.”

“Erm…you do not like it?”

“Not at all. Just checking with you…the Eve’s over, but can we really
spend Christmas like this?”

“I would not have said so if I hated it…looking forward to it.”

Once again, she showed a little smile on her face. He could not look
at her, “oh.” just mumbling away as he leaned on the armrest
opposite her side, shielding his own shame.

Page | 242
Chapter 14 – The duo’s Christmas

The following day, Mahiru arrived at the house, looking a little

apprehensive.

Page | 243
She was nervous about going to the house of the opposite gender on
a holiday…not. Mahiru was earnest in wishing that she got to play
games, and she could not contain her excitement.

It was said this was her first time playing video games, and in this
sense, one might call her a Princess oblivious to the ways of the
world.

“I shall begin making lunch then.”

“Nn, cook the eggs a little more please.”

“I understand.”

Even though the customer was being extra demanding, her mood
was not dampened as she hurriedly put on the apron, hurried to the
kitchen, and began preparations for lunch. Surely she was in a really
good mood.

He felt a little ashamed to know she was really looking forward to

this, itchy even.

（Well, she’s just looking forward to playing games.）

Definitely not that she was looking forward to playing games

together with him.

So he gave a wry smile as he stared at the swaying ponytail.

“…How do I control this?”

After lunch, they sat on the sofa before the TV, staring at the screen.

He tried asking her what games she wanted to play, but once he
knew she had no idea of the genres, he had no choice but to choose

Page | 244
a nationally famous 2D game, and handed her the controller…as
expected, she was flailing all over, not knowing what to do.

“Erm well, first if you want to move, use this stick, and use this
button to jump…”

That Mahiru was usually so poised, yet at this point, she was looking
back and forth at the TV and the controller in confusion, controlling
it, and Amane found it extremely rehabilitating for some reason.

She was not used to playing games, but it was the first time he saw
someone play so casually.

After seeing her unable to evade the enemy’s attacks a few times
and die, he realized that even the Angel herself had things she was
bad at.

“…I cannot win.”

“You didn’t beat an enemy, let alone clear a stage.”

“You are noisy.”

“Well, just get used to it. It’s all muscle memory.”

Everything’s a challenge, once she heard those words, Mahiru got

down to playing the game again.

He felt a little encouraged seeing Mahiru challenge an entertaining

game with such a serious face, and showed a smile.

However, she always lost to the first enemy, and once he saw that
she never progressed, he started to feel uneasy, rather than
bemused.

She looked towards him.

Page | 245
Muuuu, he could hear the sound effect from her face, but he
probably was thinking too much.

Page | 246
Page | 247
“Ahh see, this is how you do it.”

If they stopped here, her motivation would be drained, so he put his

hands on the controller she was holding, demonstrating to her.

Amane himself had cleared this game a few times, and easily cleared
the areas she had difficulty clearing.

In fact, she was really terrible at this, and even an ordinary person
would not be stuck here…but he kept silent on this.

“Look, this enemy moves random at the same speed, but once you
see it speed up towards your character, just time here and jump…”

He operated the controller, nearly covering her little hands as he

made some explanation, demonstrating to her.

On the screen, the character did as Amane explained, and evaded

the enemy.

It was not some amazing move, but it was a new experience for
Mahiru who kept failing, “Woah.” so she blurted.

The eyes ornamented by her long eyebrows widened, her expression

cheerful.

As he was controlling at such a close distance to her, he discovered

that her lower eyelashes were really long, and smiled a little as he
saw how elated she was.

He looked down at her nice sidelong face, and she might have
noticed his stare, for she turned her eyes towards him.

Page | 248
He had leaned over to her before this, wanting to reach the
controller in her hands, so they were closer than he imagined. Their
elbows were already touching, and they were so close, he could
sense her breathing through his skin. Thus, her warmth and sweet
scent reached him.

“Sorry.”

Once he noticed that his hands were about to wrap around hers, he
hurriedly pulled his body back, and only then did she seem to realize,
blinking a few times, her eyes starting to daze.

“It…It is fine. I should be the one saying sorry.”

Once he noticed her face starting to turn red, he felt regret.

She did not like body contact, and no matter how familiar the two of
them were, she might feel displeased about having her hands
touched.

She appeared to be a little bashful, but she did not seem repulsed.

“I’m really sorry.”

“Erm, I really do not mind, you know?”

“You don’t hate it?”

“…It shocked me, but not that I hate it. You are not someone I do not
know after all.”

It appeared the magnanimous Angel had forgiven his insolence.

Since she decided to let bygones be bygones, he felt relieved, and

they played the game again.

Page | 249
This time, he decided to let Mahiru play on her own, and looked
towards the screen…only to see her die again. At that moment, he
was seriously wondering how he should improve her gaming skills.

The result was that she managed to stumble past the first stage, and
he decided not to play this game.

It was deflating for a complete novice to keep dying, so he intended

for her to try a different game to reduce stress.

“Mahiru, you’re tilting your body.”

They decided to play a racing game, common in the real world…and

Mahiru tilted her body.

This game was not controlled by gyro forces, and the controller itself
had no gyro sensor.

There was no need for her to tilt her body…but it might be a

subconscious act as she tilted left and right while holding the
controller.

She was focused on the game, and did not answer.

Unlike the previous game, this game seemed easier to pick up, for
people these days appeared to have fewer chances of riding a car.
Her skills were terrible, but at the very least, she could play.

She swayed her body with a really serious look, trying her best to
move the car.

（She’s really cute.）

It was strangely cute to see Mahiru rolling around like humpty

dumpty, and the serious look on her face as she struggled to play the
game with all her might added to that.

Once there was a large curb, Mahiru naturally tilted her body greatly.
Page | 250
Pomf, once she landed on Amane’s thighs, the latter struggled not to
laugh.

“…Actually, you don’t have to turn your body about, you know?”

“I-I am not doing this on purpose.”

“Yep, I know that, but you were tilting.”

He tried his best to stop his lips from shaking, and lifted her up.

But it was to be expected, given how fluffy and light she was. One
reason was that she was petite, but her body was so slender, he felt
it could snap at any moment, and he hesitated over whether he
should touch her.

Mahiru, lifted up by Amane, was shivering out of shame with her

cheeks red.

She truly was adorable like a little animal, and he finally ended up
bursting out laughing.

“Are you taking me for a fool?”

“No no no, I just want to smile.”

“So you are taking me for a fool.”

“Do you think I will take a serious person as a fool?”

“I do not think so…”

“See? I just find you cute.”

“…The cute you refer to surely refers to how you want to smile at an
adorable child.”

Page | 251
She appeared to be pouting as she said this, and might be really
unhappy if he overdid it, so he decided to stop expressing his
thoughts at this point.

It was fine for him not to show what he was thinking on his face, so
he quietly thought.

She looked a little displeased, and when he smiled at her, she turned
aside with a hmph.

There were few situations where the Angel nearly kicked up a fuss,
but once she got back to gaming, she discarded all these thoughts
and reverted to looking serious again.

She was starting to get used to the game, after stumbling around in
the beginning, and finally could play a little, catching up to the pace.

It was because it was a different game from the one she played at
first, a game of controlling a car.

She often crashed out of the course or into the wall, but she could
drive the car forward.

He was worried that Mahiru, being bad at games, would have driven
off in the opposite direction, but she was doing better than
expected, and he felt relieved.

So he split the screen in half, joining in the game, but the

subconscious gestures she did left him a little uncomfortable.

She naturally tilted her body about, sometimes putting her head
near his elbow, and then turning aside, repeating over and over
again.

Page | 252
And whenever that happened, a nice smell would be scented, leaving
him unable to remain calm.

Well, they were still racing at the lowest difficulty, so he was winning
the entire time.

“…How are you so fast?”

“Got used to it.”

After playing a few times, he memorized the track, and the turns
were easier. Even when the opponents were trying to obstruct, he
could adjust his camera angles or the obstacles to stop them.

He showed a wry smile while Mahiru looked incredulous, before

switching back to single player mode.

Considering her lack of experience, he felt she should practice more

on a large screen. It was better for her to race against the CPU than
to race him and lose confidence.

Luckily, she was still motivated, and kept staring at the monitor
intently even in single player mode

If she kept this up, she should be able to deal with the CPU players,
somehow.

He was relieved to see that her status as a hard work applied on

games too, and snickered away. It seemed Mahiru had realized this
too, as she slapped him on the thigh a few times.

The humorous reaction had him chortling, and so she frowned,

muttering “Amane-kun no baka”.

“I won.”

Page | 253
After at least two hours of struggling.

Mahiru stared intently at the glowing words indicating she was first,
and looked towards Amane proudly.

After a long battle against the TV, she won the glorious first place.

After countless experiences, she kept standing on the race tracks

despite coming in last several times, slowly improved her rankings,
and finally won. Surely she was really moved.

I finally did it, so the proud expression on her face, and Amane
earnestly applauded her.

“That’s great. I saw your hard work.”

“Yes.”

She was happy to be praised, and looked bashful, her usual

expression softening a little.

It was not a simple smile, but one filled with utter elation. It was so
unimaginably sweet compared to the usual aloofness she showed.

Recently, her aloof face would show an expression befitting a girl her
age, but on this day, this expression was more fitting than usual, and
was totally adorable.

It was an innocent, pure smile, eroding away at Amane’s sanity, and

the desire to pat her on the head arose.

His mind unwittingly ordered his arm as it went along with the
impulse to pat her like a kitten…before he hurriedly retracted the
hand he unwittingly raised.

“What is it?”

“Ah nothing. Just think that you played too much.”

Page | 254
“Have I improved?”

“Yep yep. A lot better than when you first started.”

“Thank you very much. I enjoyed myself, and started working hard.”

Fufu, so Mahiru chuckled, but Amane could not continue to look at

her as he tried to disguise his motive, taking out a little box from a
basket in a cupboard.

“Here’s your reward for coming in first.”

“Eh, erm, there is no need for that.”

“If you don’t want a reward, just take it that you got it from a certain
fat white bearded grandpa.”

Yes, it was the Christmas present he had forgotten to give the

previous day.

It was difficult for him to choose a present, given how close her
birthday was to Christmas, but he so happened to fancy an item, and
did not suffer as much as he did for her birthday.

Once she heard the words Christmas present, it appeared she was
reminded that it was Christmas as she blinked away a few times,
before cautiously receiving the item.

You can open it now, so he said, and she cautiously unpacked the
item.

（Well, it’s not a big deal.）

She opened the box, and slowly retrieved a leather key case.

She would be troubled if he gave her an expensive item, so he did

not choose a branded item, merely an item with a simple design,
befitting Mahiru.
Page | 255
It was a simple item engraved with flowers and vines, one designed
to be suitable for daily use. He was unfamiliar with flowers, and did
not know what was engraved, but once he saw the fine shapes, he
felt it would fit Mahiru, and chose it.

“Well, I gave you an extra key. You don’t have to use this though.”

“No, I will gracious use this. You have keener eyesight than I
expected, Amane-kun.”

“What do you mean, expected.”

“You normally wear a sweatshirt and jerseys, so I thought you have

some problems with your fashion sense.”

“I don’t have any other practical clothing.”

After all, he never got a chance to show himself being dressed up,
and he would avoid doing so given how much of a hassle it was.
Thus, the only modes he had been in were in school uniform, and in
the warm house.

Thus, he might have given her a horrid impression of his fashion

sense, but it would not be erased, for it really was terrible.

“…You look handsome when you tidy up a little. You did that back
when you were in middle school, Amane-kun.”

“Mom forced me to…wait, how did you know?”

“Shihoko-san sent me a photo, saying『he looks like this when he

dolls up a little』…”

“Damn her.”

There was a moment when he was forced to wear outdoor clothing

because of his mom’s work. He never expected her to leak the
photo, and quietly harbored loads of complaints towards her.
Page | 256
“…That dress up doesn’t suit me.”

“Is that so? I think you are just avoiding other people’s stares and
hiding your eyes behind your bangs, Amane-kun, but your face is
relatively handsome…”

Her little hand extended towards Amane’s face.

Her white palm lifted his bangs, and touched his forehead, his vision
made wider than before.

It had been a while since his vision was so vast, except when entering
the bath. His eyes looked towards Mahiru, who looked a little
shocked.

He felt it was not something worth being shocked about, and while
not particularly handsome, he had an ordinary face. He was thus
incredulous as to why Mahiru was staring at him.

“…What?”

“Nothing. I just find your eyes livelier than before.”

Months ago, Mahiru said that his eyes looked dead, and while it
really was rude, he could not deny that. At this point, she was staring
up at Amane.

There was no way he was becoming any handsome the more she
stared, but she continued to stare at Amane silently.

He was abashed to be stared at by someone of the opposite gender,

especially a really pretty girl.

However, he was not one to take his punishment alone, and as

payback, he grabbed some of the sidelong hair on her cheek,
showing her pretty face.

Page | 257
While he was apprehensive about touching her, since she touched
his hair without thinking, he should be fine. After all, he was just
touching her head, and he hoped he was safe.

（But seriously, she’s really a beauty.）

Looking at her once again, he was amazed by how beautiful Mahiru

was.

She might be far prettier than the pretty ladies in the magazines
scattered around his house, more attractive even.

After all, photos could not be trusted.

They merely captured moments, and could be enhanced. One could

publish it as it was, beautify it, or even falsify it.

At this point, Mahiru’s beauty and cuteness was undoctored.

As he continued to stare at this pretty face he would not get tired of,
her eyes started to blur.

Why so? So he wondered, but she removed her hand from his hair,
and looked down.

She fidgeted about, looking very uncomfortable. She put her

controller down, and lifted the cushion next to her.

“Erm. Well…yes. I too have a Christmas present for you.”

“O-oh, thanks.”

Before he could ask what was going on, Mahiru took out a wrapped
item from the bag she covered by the side.

“I shall prepare, dinner then.”

“Eh? A-ah okay…?”

Page | 258
So she said, and hurried to stand up. Faced with this overly rapid
development, he was at a loss.

After dinner, Amane washed the dishes, and returned to the living
room, finding Mahiru to be a little anxious.

While she had been used to sitting next to him recently, she was
being restless. Even during dinner, she was averting his eyes.

Mahiru had no awareness of him till this point. After recalling what
happened, he sensed that it was because she bought him a present.
He too was restless when he gave Mahiru the teddy bear. Perhaps
she was wondering what his reaction would be.

“Speaking about this, can I open it now?”

“P-please do.”

He lifted her present from the low table, and she stammered a little,
but she nodded.

I guess she is really nervous about giving a present, so he concluded,

and unraveled the ribbon.

It was not really heavy, and he could feel it was made of cloth, but he
never expected it to be a cloth with a monotone, zigzag pattern.

What is this, so he wondered as he spread it out, and understood its

purpose.

“A muffler?”

The soft, smooth item was one to be wrapped around the neck for
warmth.

Page | 259
“…You do not care about your appearance, Amane-kun, and you
always look cold.”

“Very practical indeed. Feels great to touch too.”

“The touch is important, since you will be using this often.”

She probably was right, since the quality of her items were all good.
She would not scrimp just to save some pennies, and preferred to
buy something of higher quality, to be used for a longer time.
Whatever she chose would be good.

He touched it, and found it nice to touch. It was silky smooth, fine
even for those with skin allergies, and surely would feel good.

He was impressed by how Mahiru chose something befitting her

quality as he looked towards her, who was staring back tensely, and
shook the muffler.

“Can I wear this?”

“I have given it to you, Amane-kun. Do put it on.”

“Alright.”

Upon hearing that subtle answer, he showed a wry smile as he

accepted her goodwill, putting the muffler around his neck.

Because of how thin the neck skin was, he could sense the the fabric.
It was soft, would not irritate the skin, allowed airflow, and kept him
warm, in turn warming his cheeks.

The effects were not easily experienced indoors, but he should be

able to feel warm if he wore it outdoors.

“Yep, it’s really warm.”

“Thank goodness.”

Page | 260
Amane showed a kind smile, and Mahiru seemed relieved as she too
smiled.

Recently, Mahiru had been showing various kinds of smiles, and he

inadvertently stared at her pretty smile.

（…Looking at her now, she’s really an Angel.）

Not that the smile she showed at school was unlike an Angel’s, but
that the earnest smiles looked a lot more mesmerizing.

“Wh-what is it?”

She seemed to have noticed him staring at her, her eyes fluctuating
as she looked back at him.

“No, it feels like your expression is a lot softer than when we first
met.”

“…Is that so?”

I have never realized this, so she seemingly implied as she widened

her eyes, patting her face. He smiled.

“Yeah, more like you’re a lot more harsher before, not cute,”

“Sorry for not being cute.”

“Don’t be angry…well, I think you’re a lot better than before. Like,

you have such a cute smile, it’s a pity.”

He already knew Mahiru was an extraordinary beauty, but the

difference in expression would give a different impression.

The Angel’s smile at school was merely to be viewed, a fragile,

untouchable beauty to it.

The cold expression Amane first saw from her was the most
unapproachable, thornful beauty.
Page | 261
At this point, she was showing a gentle, innocent smile befitting her
face, one that would garner the urge to touch, to dote upon.

Once he thought of the little changes that came with them becoming
closer, Amane felt something itchy crawling up his chest, onto his
cheeks.

“I’m glad that you’re now able to smile naturally like this, and get
used to it…what are you doing?”

Before he knew it, he was blocked by an object.

While he was talking, for some reason, Mahiru took the loose muffler
on his neck and lifted it to his eyes, not pulling it down. He really was
confused as to why she was doing this, his curiosity still unchecked.

Luckily, she merely lifted the muffler and not tighten it, so he was
not suffering. However, the warm breath left him a little hot.

“…Please do not say anymore.”

“What what?”

“…Nothing.”

As his eyes were blocked for no reason, Amane grabbed the hand
holding up the muffler, and pulled it down. Then, he started to see
the flax color in his widening vision.

Looking up frown, her body was quivering, her cheeks flushed from
the inside.

While she was not completely beetroot, there was a fiery red on her.
Once she saw Amane, her cheeks got redder.

Why is that──so he wondered, and there was only one reason he

could think of.

Page | 262
“…Are you embarrassed?”

“Shut up.”

In apparent confirmation of Amane’s words, Mahiru turned her face

aside. She’s still so harsh here, so he thought, and burst out laughing.

“I shall go out for some fresh air.” so she muttered, and went over to
the veranda.

He looked at the window, and found snowflakes falling just like they
did the previous day, but she did not mind as she went out.

The cold air drifted towards Amane.

The window was closed, cordoning off the outside air, but the cold
air remaining in the air would have left one shivering if he had not
been prepared.

Nevertheless, Mahiru went to the veranda, and Amane sighed.

It was one thing for her to be embarrassed and run away, but she
should wear something warmth. The clothes she wore were more
fashion-like, either for indoor purposes, or to be accompanied with a
jacket. Surely her petite body would be shivering all over.

Goodness me, so he cussed, and took the blanket hanging on the

sofa.

The snow continued to fall, and it was suicidal for her to stay outside
for so long while dressed so little.

Amane put on a coat as he went to the veranda, putting the blanket

on Mahiru’s shoulders. The latter then turned her head around
abruptly.

“You can go out and catch some fresh air, but don’t catch a cold”

Page | 263
“…Those were my words, no?”

It appeared she had cooled down somewhat, and replied with her
usual expression and demeanour. However, there was a tantrum in
her reply.

She was hinting back at the first conversation they had.

“Hmm…well, I didn’t take a proper warm bath, and was careless

there.”

“Do warm your body properly the next time you are drenched. I
would have dropped you into the bathtub if it were up to me.”

“Are you my mom?”

As Mahiru would say things reminiscent of his mom, he chuckled as

he recalled their encounter.

It happened when autumn was turning cold, probably mid October.

It was colder than at his hometown, so he got carless, and never
expected himself to lie on a bed in a feverish state just because he
was soaked.

Then again, the most unexpected was having Mahiru take care of
him.

“…Speaking of which, it’s been two months since that conversation.”

“Yes it is. Your house was really dirty back then, Amane-kunの…no,
these are not good memories, but memories nevertheless.”

“Shut up. We cleaned up now, haven’t we?”

“To whose credit is that?”

“Thanks to you, Master Mahiru. I want to kowtow in thanks.”

“I told you not to, seriously.”

Page | 264
It would be unbelievable in the past to think that they could make
such little jokes. Little time passed, and it was relatively recent, but
various things happened over the past two months, and time
seemed to have passed by quickly.

They went silent, and the surrounding silence beckoned.

The snow started the previous day, and stopped for a moment. At
this point, they continued to flutter in the skies, coating the
surrounding houses in white.

There were few cars buzzing around, for it was the residential area,
and also Christmas. He could hear a few Christmas songs from some
other houses, but nothing too buzzing reached them.

Haa, so Mahiru let out a breath of white air, and that sounded louder
than them.

“…It just feels strange for some reason.”

Breaking this short silence was Mahiru;s voice.

“At first, I was wondering what kind of person you are.”

“Well, I guess you were wondering that, Mahiru. I shoved the

umbrella to you, so it’s no wonder you’re suspicious…and now?”

“…I do not know. Maybe you are just someone who needs to be
taken care of.”

“You’re not wrong.”

She did not give a clear answer, and turned aside. He smiled towards
her, and leaned on the veranda handrail.

“…I too never thought that we would be on such good terms to eat
together. Actually, I thought you’re just to be watched and marveled.
Didn’t think that we would get involved.”
Page | 265
“So you admitted so, even though I already knew.”

This is why I trust you, she quipped, and he shook, smiling.

He knew that it was because he had no interest in Mahiru that she

accepted him. Vice versa.

“But well, I think it is great to know each other for so long. My living
habits have improved, I get to eat delicious food, and it’s easy getting
along with you.”

“…Is that so.”

“I’m really grateful for the past two months. Thank you.”

There was no pretense in this thanksgiving.

It was thanks to Mahiru that he improved his living standards, and

thoroughly enjoyed every mealtime. Furthermore, she would never
hold back, and he was at ease taking to her. It became a daily
enjoyment.

When he occasionally teased her, her reaction was cute, and he

would not get tired of that.

（She’s been smiling more often recently.）

He just had a thought that she was showing more emotions, and
piqued at his urge to dote. Of course, he could not do that, but he
felt healed just by seeing that.

Once she heard his words, Mahiru widened her eyes, and then
lowered them

One had to wonder if her cheeks were red either because of the cold,
or embarrassment.

“Same here, thank you very much.”

Page | 266
“But I never did anything.”

One might say Amane had been taken care of by Mahiru the entire
time, but she slowly shook her head, denying that notion.

“…I am grateful to you, Amane-kun, in ways you do not know.”

“Hmm…but well, thanking each other sure feels like the end of the
year. Well, we’re going into the end of year mood tomorrow, so it’s
not that weird.”

For some reason, the two of them began thanking each other. There
were 6 days until the New Year, close enough.

Once she heard the words end of year, she blinked her eyes, and
smiled earnestly.

“Fufu, yes…it is a little early, but please take care of me again in the
coming year.”

“…Ahh, please do the same next year.”

Once he heard this request he could not live up to, he nodded, and
smiled just as she did. “It is getting cold out here. We should return.”
Mahiru said, and turned around to open the window leading to the
living room.

The cold air led to her ears starting to turn red, so it was better for
Amane too to return indoors before he caught a cold.

（…I guess I do like such a lifestyle after all.）

And that was why his heart felt so warm.

He followed her into the room, staring at the swaying flax color, and
his lips curled.

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It appeared that henceforth, he would continue to get along with the
Angel next door.

Page | 268
Afterword
Nice to meet you. This is Saeki-san.

Did you enjoy ‘My Neighbor Angel’?

I tried writing with the aim of writing a love comedy that is

heartwarming, fluffy, and relaxed, so I probably achieved this.

Initially, they were cold and aloof towards each other, but they
started to build trust, and got closer to each other──the change in
feelings and relationship has me really happy.

Slowly, slowly, they closed the distance between them as they knew
more about each other. I felt we should have this kind of story. Well,
to put it, “Getting people anxious is the best part about this!”

This work was rewritten and edited from the web version, and to be
honest, in this volume alone, they had not pointed their arrows at
each other. They will get serious later on.

Henceforth, they will grow closer to each other while causing panic.
Mutual attraction is the best.

In this work, the heroine Mahiru had the nickname of Angel, and it is
thanks to the illustrations that she truly lived up to it. It is thanks to
Hazano Kazutake-sensei’s amazing illustrations for adding such
charm to the Angel Mahiru.

Actually, when discussing this with the editor, I insisted that

Kazutake-sensei would be great (glances), and he agreed. I feel a
little sheepish about that.

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Well, I like sensei, and was moved by that…thank you very much for
being the illustrator!

The charming illustrations from Kazutake-sensei shows how cute the

characters are. I always end up rolling on the floor after receiving
each illustration. The Angel really is an Angel.

I am really grateful for such amazing illustrations…!

Last of all, some thanksgivings to all who have taken care of me.

I am truly grateful to all who have devoted all their efforts in

publishing this work, the editor, everyone in the GA Bunko editorial
branch, the sales department, the QC, Hazano Kazutake-sensei,
everyone at the publisher, and to you who have picked up this book.
Thank you very much.

So I write till here, praying that we will meet again in the next
volume.

Thank you for reading until the very end…!

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Animate Side Story
“…Say, Mahiru.”

“Nn?”

“I can switch the channel if you’re scared.”

“I am not.”

Mahiru was looking paler than usual, denying so with a nonchalant

voice. Amane could not help but think she was putting up a facade,
given how her body was quivering.

She was terrified of the inopportune horror flick. Amane was merely
watching the TV with Mahiru next to him, just minding his own
business…and then he noticed her grabbed at his sleeve, the manner
she did so seemingly a cute onomatopoeia.

To be blunt, she was really looking pale. Whenever she heard a

scream, her body would quiver, her eyes a little moist. Amane would
be distracted from the movie whenever he noticed her so, his
attention focused solely on her.

(If she’s scared, can’t she just say it and go home already?)

He was not forcing her to watch, and if she did not like it, she could
have just gone back. He was unsure as to why she insisted on
watching something she disliked.

While wondering, Amane intended to reach for the remote control

on the table. A white clothed ghost female so happened to appear
on the screen. Mahiru jolted, poking her forehead onto Amane’s
shoulder.

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She did not appear to be fooling around in a ‘oh dear, I am scared’
attitude; she was utterly terrified, and Amane could not simply pry
her away.

“…I say, if you’re scared, don’t watch.”

His heart palpitated due to the fragrance up close, but he coaxed

Mahiru while trying to act calm. He took the remote, switched off
the TV, and Mahiru looked up at him.

He gasped as she stared at him with teary eyes.

“…You would have laughed at me if I ran when the show started,

no?”

“No, who do you think I am…just say that you can’t take it.”

“…It is embarrassing to still be a scaredy cat at this age.”

It seemed Mahiru did not want Amane to know that she was scared
of ghosts.

“I never think of that…just that you have something you can’t handle
well.”

“I am human too. There are many things I cannot handle.”

“…Like?”

“…Not telling you.”

She turned her head around, and he heaved a sigh of relief, glad that
she was not as terrified because of how distracted. “What a pity.” he
said.

While she was still kicking a fuss, her fingers never left his sleeve for
dozens of minutes. “Guess she’s still scared.” so he thought as he
gave a wry smile.

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Animate Collab
To Mahiru, Amane was a lazy, incorrigible, crude boy.

At least a month passed ever since they first interacted, and Mahiru
began having dinner at his house. “How has he lived till this point?”
she wondered again.

Under her guidance, Amane’s house remained tidy after a major

cleanup. It was horrible before that however; he often ate out or
bought food from the convenience stores. “Is he seriously saying that
he stayed alone?” One had to be either frustrated or impressed or
dumbfounded.

Amane’s living habits improved after he spent time together with

her, but without it, he surely would be living an unhealthy lifestyle.

He really was sloppy, a failure when it came to living independently,

but his personality was surprisingly pleasant.

He would not pursue Mahiru, but he would not leave her be, and
would get along with her while considering their distance and
situations. He remained aloof, but he was not inconsiderate; he
could be considered kind, gentlemanly.

He was a little different from all the similarly aged boys she
interacted with, and for this reason, she was willing to take care of
this trash of a boy.

“Un.”

After dinner, Amane washed the dishes, and returned to the living
room with two steaming mugs.

They contained coffee, and he added milk into the patterned mug, as
Mahiru would always do so in hers.

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“…Thank you.”

“No biggies. Good work together.”

He handed a mug to Mahiru, and sat next to her with no ulterior

thought.

Then, without saying anything, he leaned onto the sofa, drinking his
coffee.

He looked haphazard as he placed a leg over another. Once he

noticed her stare, “What?” he asked in a cold voice.

“…No, nothing. I just feel that you are rather earnest with an eye of
detail, Fujimiya-san. You do care for others even though you are
worthless.”

“I can’t deny that, but the ‘worthless’ part is too much.”

He merely smiled away, not fuming. Gruff he was, he was not lacking
in feelings. After they got a little closer, she understood that he
might appear cold, but he was truly a warm-hearted person.

He was impertinent, sometimes giving an aloof impression, but his

voice was kind, and he showed concern to her whenever she was
tired. He knew when not to probe too deeply into places she did not
want to talk about, and he was someone she could relax with.

“…You do not have to worry about me. We shared the cost of

ingredients, and I have received labor payment from you.”

“Nothing to do with you. I’m just talking to myself…I can finish both
mugs if you want.”

“I cannot allow you to be bloated. I shall accept this graciously then.”

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Amane never would expect his favors to be repaid, he just wanted to
care for others. Mahiru said nothing more as she drank the coffee he
brewed while this ridiculous atmosphere lingered.

Perhaps it was just her, but there seemed to be an added spoonful of

sugar in the coffee.

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Gamers Side Story
『When did you start dating Mahiru-chan?』

On the night the tornado called Shihoko struck, Amane received a

phone call, and frowned.

“I said I don’t have such feelings, and I don’t plan to date her.”

He firmly denied that, 『Ehhhh–』and there was a displeased voice

from the other end of the phone.

“Why do you make it sound like a pity?”

『You say you have no interest in her, but you led her into your
house, so I have to guess, you know?』

“That’s not the case. Get dad to pick up. This call’s never going to
end with you talking, mom.”

『How rude. I can get Shuuto-san here. Looks like he wants to talk to
you.』

While Amane could have Shihoko convey the gist of the message,
she might make it a hyperbole. He wanted to state the facts.

There were some sounds on the other end of the phone, along with
a clear, deep voice.

『Hey, it’s me.』

“Dad, don’t believe mom’s words completely.”

That was the first thing Amane said. 『He’s too much!』He could
vaguely hear Shihoko say such words, but chose to ignore them. 『
Hmm, I get the situation now, more or less.』so Shuuto chuckled.

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『So your neighbor’s cooking for you? She’s obedient and adorable,
and that’s why Shihoko’s so excited.』

“Yep.”

『Hmm, I understand. I know that you really trust that kid…Shiina.』

Otherwise she would not be spending her rest days with you, so
Shuuto said, and Amane clammed up.

Unlike Shihoko, Shuuto’s voice was calm, never bantering him, just
stating his own thoughts, and Amane could not refute strongly. In
fact, Shuuto was right to say that Amane trusted Mahiru.

『I’m not going to say much since you’re the one who made the
promise with her, Amane. Don’t rely entirely on her though.』

“Got it.”

『I’m glad that you have someone who really understands you, since
you’re so aloof and unlikeable. As a father, I’m glad that you have a
friend who knows who you really are inside.』

Shuuto had seen up close that Amane became distrustful of others

due to various reasons, so his voice was filled with relief and delight.
Amane had caused him much trouble and worry in middle school,
“Yeah.” so he replied sheepishly.

『…Hmm. Shall I drop by with Shihoko as well? After all, she is

someone trustworthy enough for you to invite home. I want to meet
her and thank her for taking care of my son all this while.』

“…Don’t just pop by. She’ll be scared.”

『I know that. Just that since I never got to see you, it’ll be great if I
have a chance to show up next time.』

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Shuuto chuckled, stating that he was really looking forward to the
next time, so Amane decided to prepare Mahiru for the next
encounter.

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Melonbooks Side Story
“…Amane-kun, are you not cold?”

Amane so happened to bump into Mahiru on his way home, who

narrowed her eyes upon seeing his attire.

He would be cold if he was dressed in a jersey and jacket over his

shirt, as he did when he first met Mahiru. Thus, he was wearing a
coat, but he seemed cold to her.

He was truly a little cold, dressed in a relatively thin coat, but he was
not at the point of being frozen. He was not wearing anything else to
keep warm, simply because he had nothing other than the coat. He
was not forcing himself, he simply had nothing to keep warm with.

On a side note, Mahiru herself was armed with a thick coat, muffler,
and gloves. In contrast, Amane appeared to be freezing, aside from
his legs.

“I’m not really cold here.”

“…Your ears and nose are red.”

“Can’t help it. There was a strong gust just now.”

Amane forgot to bring over winter clothing aside from his coat when
he shifted over, and one could say it was his fault. However, he did
not think it was much of a hindrance, so he never bought extra
winter clothing even in this season.

In fact, it was colder here than in his hometown. He thought to

himself that he should be buying gloves, or a muffler.

“Good thing school isn’t too far from our homes. I’ll be fine with just
a little cold.”

“I will be troubled if you catch a cold again.”

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“I’ll make sure not to catch it again.”

“…While I believe you will not end up like the last time, please be
careful.”

Because you never take care of your own health, Amane-kun, so

Mahiru muttered as she sized up his face and his uncovered neck.

“…What?”

“Nothing. I guess you do not have to suffer for long since our break is
coming.”

Their exams had ended, and awaiting them was Christmas, after
their end of term ceremony. He should be able to endure for this
long, at least. If this kept up, it seemed January and February would
be colder, so he wanted to buy some items to keep himself warm
before then.

Got to go shopping, so he muttered as he got onto the elevator, and

Mahiru silently followed him in.

For some reason, he felt a stare upon his neck. However, he ignored
Mahiru’s stare, having understood that he looked cold.

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Tora no Ana Side Story
“…Erm, why are you looking at me?”

Mahiru was busy making dinner, and Amane watched her cook from
the corridor. She asked without looking at me.

“Just seeing how you cook.”

“I know without you telling me. But why?”

“Just curious to how you do it.”

Amane was bad at cooking, and did not know how to make food
delicious, so he stayed by the side, watching. Just to note, he knew
nothing other than how skilled she was.

“I have not done anything special.”

“Hm, but I am curious about how you’re able to cook delicious stuff.
Just trying to pick up some tricks from you.”

“Practice makes perfect…the outcome was a little pitiful, but you can
improve with more practice.”

Mahiru was probably referring to the fried vegetables and the

scrambled eggs he called an omelette days ago.

“I know. That’s why I’m watching you cook and picking up some
pointers.”

“I will be distracted if you keep looking like this…”

“Sorry.”

Amane did not intend to disturb her, but since she said so, he had to
leave.

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He understood one would be distracted if they were being stared at.
Perhaps he was being inconsiderate.

He intended to just apologize and return. Then, Mahiru turned

around.

“If you want to watch up close, please put on an apron and help me.”

“That’s the best I can do…but won’t it affect you?”

“I cannot just ignore the novices, and when I can, all the more I
should help. Also, this does affect the future.”

She was right, and logical. Every person once lacked experience;
some were guided by their seniors, some taught themselves, but
every person had a period of inexperience. It would be inappropriate
to forget about this and harshly treat others.

Amane was amazed by the rationality she showed, and she looked
over at him, dumbfounded.

“I did say that you are to start by helping out, no?”

“…You did.”

“Fine, stop looking and engrave it in your body.”

She chuckled impishly, and so did he as he reached for his own apron
on the cupboard.

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Tora no ana Special
“It does not seem like you are a picky eater.”

Amane graciously ate the dinner Mahiru made, delicious as usual,

when she said so.

“I do have my favorites.”

“Eggs, I know. But you do not have any particular dislikes, and it is
great for me as the chef.”

“Nothing that I particularly dislike. To nitpick, I don’t like anything

too spicy or bitter.”

“Only the minority likes that…probably none.”

“Yep, nothing I can say that I really hate.”

Amane was not really picky. Of course, it was unknown if he would

dislike any ingredient he had never heard of, but there was nothing
in his daily meals that he really had to avoid.”

“So, why do you ask?”

“Nothing. Just thought of it. You never said that you cannot eat
anything, Amane-kun.”

“I don’t have anything I dislike. Even if I have stuff I hate, you’ll make
it delicious anyway, Mahiru.”

Given her cooking skills, it was likely she could make it suitably edible
for Amane even if it was food he disliked. He never had any
ingredient he particularly disliked, so such a scenario would never
happen.

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“I believe in your cooking skills. Besides, every dinner’s been great,
and I’m very happy with them even though I’m not picky. Thanks for
everything so far.”

There were times when he would crave for certain foods, but he had
no need to mention whatever he disliked.

Every day, he would heartily finish the food with graciousness.

He declared firmly as he finished the fluffy rice. She widened her

eyes, and lowered her eyes slightly.

He was worried if the heavy words left her dejected, but it seemed
not. Her white skin started to turn red.

Mahiru was probably embarrassed. Amane had yet to grasp the

moments exactly, but he felt she was easily embarrassed whenever
she was earnestly praised on the spot. This might be the same case.

“…It is pointless of you to praise me so.”

“Oh. Ah, another bowl please.”

I’m not done. So Amane raised the empty bowl of rice to her, and
saw her snatch it and scuttle back to the kitchen.

She got away, so he quietly laughed as he stared at the fluttering flax

color.

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Credits
Translation Group : HellPing

PDF is done by JLN

Page | 285
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