Published at 31st of August 2019 12:58 pm

Volume 9, Chapter 03: Separated Warmth

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

It was a bit cold, but with a bright morning sun that reminded you of a sunny sky. The refreshing morning of our date. What disturbed my peaceful slumber was

“Ahn! Noo! Stop!

a sudden charming and bewitching voice that echoed through my room, which made me jump up perplexed.

“Wh- What? Someone here? Just what are you doing in my room!”

When I straightened up my upper body and looked around at the same time, the alluring voice continued lewdly without pause.

“Yahn… Just not my bottom… Hahn… Stop… Shinobu-samaaa!”

The sweet voice calling me was the alarm clock that Kaorun gave me last night. Apparently it was the type that allowed a voice record.

“Please… show some restrain, Shinobu-sama… Ahn… This out in the open… Hyahn… My voice is leaking… Mm… If someone… hears this voice—”

“I would be done for without doubt!”

Like I would stand for someone getting the wrong idea.

I immediately slammed my palm on the button on top of the clock, stopping the weird alarm. Following, I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead and made a small sigh.

…That damn perverted maid, she pulled outrageous pranks as ever.

Well, it woke me up for sure. It was also a fact that I got kind of excited. Besides, I believed that Kaorun was just seeking attention with her own way of fawning on someone.

But I should properly caution her next time.

As such thoughts crossed my mind, now my cell phone rang. Kaorun was calling me.

“…Hello?”

“Mm… If someone… hears this voice, we will be found… Kyahn… It is so embarrassing… Shinobu-sama, you pervert…”

“Kukuku, so you say, but it looks like your body can’t wait anymore, you know? In truth, even you want—”

“Shinobu-sama, please stop the sexual harassment. Otherwise I will report you right away. You are so shameless early in the morning.”

“That’s what I want to say!”

I had wanted to play along with her joke to retort later, yet she prevented me from doing so at the worst part. Now I was just a pervert. I regretfully sent my gaze to the alarm clock.

“What kind of behaviour is that so early in the morning? What’s the idea behind this alarm clock? Or rather, I hope you don’t have any listening devices in my room.”

The timing of her call was just too peculiar.

While I watched around my room once more, Kaorun gave me the morning greeting “Good morning, Shinobu-sama” through the phone. She changed her tone into a softer one.

“Just for the record, I have not set up any listening devices. I just somehow sensed your agitation, Shinobu-sama, so I tried calling you. Could it be, it happened at a nice timing?”

“Cruelly so.”

“Fufu, I am glad that I could meet your expectations. This is all possible through the power of love.”

“…What an annoying power. I’m already weary of it. I don’t want such a love.”

“Well then, Shinobu-sama, to make you accept my glamorous love, I will sneak into your room next time and change the recording of the alarm clock into a kitten-like little sister play one, or even into a mother play one that gives the impression of a snappy beauty.”

“Are you threatening me? If Nazuna or my mom were to hear that, it would result in a incredible awkward family meeting. So please, don’t do it.”

I was relatively serious. But Kaorun on the other hand giggled and readily changed the topic.

“—Now then, jokes aside, Shinobu-sama, please get ready for your date already. You are not allowed to go back to sleep and be late for the date, you hear?”

“…The hero always shows up late.”

“Okay, stop there. Since you are trying to go back to sleep by laying down on your pillow this very instant, Shinobu-sama, I will tell you something good. Therefore please get up properly.”

“Nah, I was just joking, but… what’s that something good?”

“Truth be told, the alarm clock I presented you is set up in the way that even when you press the button on the top, it will ring the alarm again unless you turn off the switch on the side.”

“…That ain’t good at all. Launching a time lag attack, what a fearsome alarm clock.”

Most likely she wouldn’t allow me to go back to sleep. That said, I had no such intentions today. I ended the call with Kaorun and stretched myself a bit on the bed.

Then suddenly there was a knock on my door and Machina came into the room unforeseen. As soon as she spotted me, she showed a slightly surprised expression and then smiled softly.

“Morning, Shinobu. I thought you would still be sleeping, but I see that you managed to wake up yourself today.”

“Impressive, right? I really tried my best. Praise me kindly.”

“…What are you blabbering? You ain’t a kid, so it’s natural to wake up by yourself. Could it be you’re still dragging on the baby play from the other day? So you really seek a motherly figure…”

“Machina, currently I don’t seek a motherly figure, but your retort. Do your usual. And I would be grateful if you could forget about that baby play stuff. It’s even more traumatic for me than cross-dressing.”

When I dropped my shoulders with a sigh, Machina softly reached out her hand towards me and petted my head comforting.

“Good boy, good boy.”

“…Okay, it might be your idea of cheering me up, but to be honest, it has the opposite effect. What’s with that strangely warm smile? Don’t treat me like a kid.”

It was embarrassing, as I was teased subtle.

For now I escaped from her warm hand, whereupon Machina suddenly shifted her gaze to the alarm clock on my bed, tilting her head doubtful.

“Is that alarm clock new? Somehow I get the feeling that the maid picture on it resembles Kaoru a lot. Did you buy it?”

“No, actually Kaorun came over to my room last night to play—”

“Yahn! I only came over to play, yet you dragged me all the way out here…! Aahn, you cannot, Shinobu-sama. I will end up leaking a lustful voice. Mmm…”

Cutting into my words, Kaorun’s bewitching voice sounded from the alarm clock once more.

…Not good. I totally forgot about the time lag attack. I turned pale and stopped the alarm at the same time, but it was already too late. Machina’s lips were trembling.

“Sh- Shinobu! Just what did you do with Kaoru last night!? And even recording that voice of hers into your alarm clock! Just how much do you love maids!”

“No, wait, you’re wrong! It’s a misunderstanding!”

“Misunderstanding, my ass! Don’t lie! I already know that you love maids! You’re drooling when my sister wears maid clothes! And you always enjoy talking with Kaoru so happily! Just what’s so good about maids!?”

“…Their submissive service to their masters?”

“Wh- What the! I don’t have either of that!”

I carelessly leaked my true feelings by forgetting my situation, whereupon Machina protested with teary eyes.

“Besides, if you want someone to listen to your every request, then get a computer program instead of a maid! I’m sure it’ll be more effective!”

“You’re wrong, Machina. The charming point of a maid is that she obeys you of her own free will. A program can’t imitate that.”

“I, I see. Maids are so profound— Not! To begin with, isn’t the perverted maid Kaoru the exactly opposite of your beloved submissive type? That you did weird things to Kaoru despite that means that you just have a thing for females in maid clothes, doesn’t it!?”

“No, no, I don’t really have a fetish for maid clothes…”

How could I clear up this misunderstanding?

Machina made a face close to tears while blurting out “I’ll wear maid clothes too! So play with me more often!”. I became even more panicked, whereupon my cell phone rang again, as Kaorun called me again.

“…What do you want now?”

“Well, I suddenly felt like maids were being made fun of, so I tried calling you.”

“Do you really have no listening devices here? What kind of sixth sense is that. Machina indeed said something on the lines of ‘A program is more efficient than a maid’…”

“Ah, please apologize! Please apologize to all maids and maid fans in the nation! Looks like I need to explain the merits of a maid to Machina! Please pass the phone over to her!”

“…Yeah, okay. And while you’re at it, tell her about how you gave me the alarm clock yesterday. She perfectly got the wrong idea about it.”

Asking Kaorun so and handing my cell phone over to Machina, I waited and observed for a while, but after a few seconds already, Machina furrowed her brow to whatever conversation they were having.

“Kaorun’s heartfelt weather forecast for today? I’m not interested in that. Eh? What? Don’t make fun of maids? Jealous Tsundere? Wh- Who are you calling a Tsundere! Eh? A contest? You’ll give me maid clothes when I win? Fine! I’ll accept by all means! Today for sure I’ll win over you!”

…Really, what kind of conversation were they having? After the call, Machina said “I’m going out for a bit!” as soon as she handed me back my cell phone and turned her back to me, rushing out of the room.

Seeing that behaviour made me get the feeling that the misunderstanding wasn’t completely resolved.

While watching over Machina’s back, I inserted a sigh and decided to get ready for the date…

* * *

The meeting place was the fountain at the station. It might be the best spot for meet-ups, since the huge fountain served as a landmark. There were a lot of men and women in my vision, who all were probably waiting for someone.

But, as I came way earlier than the appointed time, Luna and Hijiri still weren’t here. By the way, my mother and the others recommended Luna to preserve the feeling of the date, so in the end she would rendezvous with me at the fountain too.

To be honest, I didn’t get a woman’s heart about this stuff, but it was a long-awaited date. Today at least I would put aside my worries and make some good memories with the three of us. Right now I thought it would be fine to face Hijiri’s feelings after that…

When such slightly serious thoughts crossed my mind, I suddenly felt a presence behind me. Apparently someone was sneaking up on me from behind.

…It might be Luna.

Luna actually loved physical contact. I was sure she would cling to me from behind and ask “Guess who?”.

I believed she was in high spirits due to the date. But it was slightly embarrassing in public. I felt bad for her, but I would be laying in wait.

Therefore I went as far as to keep feigning ignorance while waiting for the right moment.

“Guess…”

“Wait a—”

Abruptly turning around, I extended my arm with attitude to stop her, but… a squishy sensation spread on my palm and I inadvertently stopped my words.

A voluminous breasts that didn’t fit into my palm. A bewitching “Mm…” moan. And both my eyes fell on Hijiri’s appearance with red cheeks.

…Ah, it wasn’t Luna. I would have never guessed that Hijiri would try a Guess-who. Actually, didn’t I do something offensive right now?

Completely taken aback by the unexpected situation, I froze up with my hand still on her breast, whereupon Hijiri didn’t show any signs of anger and opened her mouth softly.

“You really love breasts, Shinobu-kun…”

Yeah, in the current condition with my hand on her breast, any words of denial I could utter would without doubt only sound empty. I wanted to pull my hand back from Hijiri’s breasts and apologize at once, but

“Uhm, Shinobu-kun, how does… my breast feel?”

Without time for me to stop her, Hijiri overlaid both hands on mine with still red cheeks and showed a worried expression after leaking another sweet moan.

“They aren’t as big as Luna-san’s, but do they still feel good?”

To be frank, it was awesome. The elasticity of her plump breast was pleasant on my palm and it was quite seductive how the breast softly changed shape on my and Hijiri’s hands. When I nodded back shortly to her question, Hijiri smiled relieved.

“I’m glad. So I wasn’t the only one, who felt good…”

…These words already cracked my reasoning. It was dangerous at this rate.

I felt uneasy like that, but it seemed that Hijiri had no plans to continue this any further too, as she likely was worried about people’s eyes. A bit regretful, she tried to remove my hand from her own breast— At that very moment.

“…Sh- Shinobu-san, Hijiri-san, what are you doing in a place like this?”

Suddenly a soprano voice that resembled a crying voice sounded.

While feeling all the blood leaving my head, I turned around together with Hijiri, whereupon there stood, like expected, Luna with teary eyes.

Instantly, I hastily removed my hand form Hijiri’s breast and warranted.

“Th- This isn’t what it looks like, Luna! Don’t get the wrong idea!”

“He’s right, Luna-san! Please don’t get a weird misunderstanding! It’s just an accident!”

“…Is that true?”

With still teary eyes, Luna asked doubtful.

“You both looked kind of happy, you know?”

“W- Well, I’m a boy after all. It’s true that I considered it a lucky accident. Sorry, Hijiri.”

“No, there’s no need for you to apologize, Shinobu-kun! It’s all my fault! The manga I borrowed from Kaoru-san yesterday had a Guess-who scene! I believe it was wrong for me to try mimicking something untypical for me!”

Apparently Hijiri was quite agitated. She hastily talked on and on.

“I was certainly happy too! When Shinobu-kun touched me, my chest got hot and I considered his hand warm, big and pleasant! I’m aware that I did something bold! But I never planned to do anything funny! I just—”

“S- Stop, Hijiri. We’re in public. You better stop now.”

“Th- That is right, Hijiri-san. I understand very well that it was an accident. Do not worry anymore, okay?”

Each of us cutting into Hijiri’s words, me and Luna rested our hands on Hijiri’s shoulder mostly at the same time, whereupon she turned bright red, as she noticed that she was making an unnecessary coming-out, and looked down.

“…Sorry. All I do is so embarrassing.”

“No, you don’t need to apologize either.”

“Shinobu-san is right. Actually I was thinking of doing Guess-who too. Just like me, you could not suppress your anticipating for the date, right? So do not get depressed and let us enjoy the date.”

“…Okay. Thanks, Shinobu-kun, Luna-san.”

When she raised her head, her cheeks were still red, but Hijiri was showing a smile.

Attracted by that, Luna and I smiled faintly as well and then, to enjoy our date at once, we took the train— to a certain sports center with a skating ring.

Entering the center, Luna sparkled her eyes with “It is my first time at skating”, but after putting on her ice-skates, her eyes started flickering with anxiety and right now she was standing indecisive in front of the skating ring.

“Uhm, Shinobu-san, I sometimes trip on even grounds, but… will I be fine here?”

“You’ll be fine. No problem. I’m sure your bottom will fulfil it’s role as a cushion.”

“Sh- Shinobu-san! My bottom is not that big! Please take a closer look!”

“…Sorry. I was joking. Please forgive me.”

“Shinobu-kun honestly apologized at once!?”

No, Hijiri, I can understand your surprise, but look at that well-formed bottom lightly pushed out to me. Even if I wanted to continue the joke, words wouldn’t come out.

I replied so to Hijiri at heart, then shifted my gaze back to Luna and suggested.

“If you want, I can teach you how to skate.”

“…Shinobu-san, you can skate?”

“Of course. Even if I don’t look like it, I was… the older brother of my sister, who was once called the Ice Fairy!”

“Ehm, Shinobu-kun, that’s not something to be proud of, you know?”

“Well, you know. As Kaorun said it, I usually have a slippery mouth, so I should be good at skating too.”

The instant I went with the flow and threw out some self-destructive joke material to distract, Luna and Hijiri gently petted my head. Now I seemed really pitiful. After shrugging my shoulders lightly, I changed my tone into a bit more serious one.

“The jokes aside, I was skating a few times before at least. So I think I should be able to teach Luna. What about you, Hijiri?”

“Yeah, I can skate too, so let’s teach Luna-san together.”

After confirming that Hijiri nodded with a smile, I softly reached out my hand for Luna.

“Here, when you hold my hand, you won’t trip. For now let’s try a run.”

“Right. Let’s start with getting used to the ice at first.”

When Hijiri too reached out her hand in agreement with me, Luna took our hands, albeit a bit nervously, and hand-in-hand we three headed into the skating ring.

By the way, the ring had a diameter of about thirty meter and when Luna, still pulled by Hijiri and my hands, slid on the ice for some time, the tension gradually vanished from her expression and she slowly started to smile.

“How’s it, Luna-san? Quite fun, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It is really fun. But Hijiri-san, please do not let go yet, okay?”

“…Luna, if I carelessly let go now, would you get angry?”

“Sh- Shinobu-san! Do not say something so scary! Please stop!”

When I asked half-teasingly, Luna clung onto my arm while tears dwelled up in her ears, whereas Hijiri showed a wry smile and rebuked me softly with “Stop it, Shinobu-kun”.

Well, while such a thing happened, I let go off Luna’s hand for a test after she calmed down, whereupon to my surprise…no, calling it surprisingly might be rude, but against my expectations her good athletic senses made her not trip even once and she slid normally on top of the ice.

On the other hand, Hijiri, who watched over Luna together with me a bit apart, widened her eyes a bit and then leaked a voice of admiration.

“Luna-san is impressive. Even though it’s her first time…”

“Heh, I no longer have anything to teach her.”

“Uhm, why are you sounding like some old man?”

“I just wanted to say it once. Don’t worry about it.”

“Fufu, I see. You’re such a joker, Shinobu-kun. Really cute…”

…Being called cute really made me bashful. I should change the topic quickly. While scratching my cheek, I shifted my gaze towards Luna.

“Oh look, Hijiri. Luna has the knack of it. She’s even waving now.”

“You’re right. She looks a bit frolic— Mh? Huh? Doesn’t her face look kind of pale?”

“…It certainly is pale. And for some reason, she has even teary eyes.”

Suddenly we felt something amiss, whereupon Luna trembled her voice faintly with still teary eyes.

“Shinobu-san~ Hijiri-san~ Like I thought, these skates do not have breaks, do they?”

“D- Don’t tell me, you can’t stop?”

“That is right! Please help me! I am a bit scared!”

Luna sent us a SOS in a panicked sate. She had quite the speed and it would be a disaster if she crashed into the boards. I spread both my arms right away.

“Lu—”

“Come here, Luna-san! I’ll catch you!”

…Aw, everything I wanted to say was stolen by Hijiri.

Now my spread arms were kind of pointless.

While I felt a bit awkward and my cheeks got hot, Luna drew near to Hijiri with quite some drive. In regards, Hijiri properly caught her in her arms— or so she planned to, but it certainly was impossible on the ice.

She lost her balance on the spot and fell down together with Luna. But seeing as she perfectly absorbed her fall, she most likely was unharmed.

But, in a different meaning something outrageous happened to them.

Hijiri was laying face-up. Luna was taking a posture of hanging over her. Their big breasts were perfectly laying on top of each other, each changing shape squishy. Moreover the instant Luna moved, Hijiri leaked a bewitching voice.

“Mm… Luna-san, if you move like that… Ahh… Stop…”

“I am sorry, Hijiri-san… Fuhn… I cannot… Hahn… stand up properly…”

While Luna desperately tried to stand up on the ice, her breasts, different from her intention, pressed down even more strongly and slowly rubbed left, right, up and down.

“Yah… Don’t, rub… there… Ahn…”

“No… Mha… It is not… Uhn.. on purpose…”

Contrary to Luna’s efforts, the four breasts seductively turned with undulating sways and sometimes the girls trembled their bodies with a shiver.

It was a scenery I would like to remember— But it wasn’t the time to stare like that. The nearby other skaters started to make some ruckus too. Returning to my senses, I approached Luna and Hijiri at once and softly reached out my hand…

Afterwards, Luna quickly got better as the practice paid off and after we enjoyed some skating together, we took a late lunch at a family restaurant. Then at the end of a few minutes of rocking in the train, we visited the aquarium next.

Getting entry with the tickets from my mother in our hands, we went inside together.

Upon that, the interior was shrouded with a wondrous, blue atmosphere and I could confirm couples here and there. Then Luna and Hijiri stopped in front of a nearby fish tank, where each of them were fascinated by the swarms of sardines swimming in it.

An individual small swarm of sardines crowded together and looked like single life-form. Sparkling like a glittering jewel, their figures moved vividly and fast.

I was inadvertently captivated as well and Hijiri too leaked a sigh of admiration.

“Amazing…”

“Yeah, they look really delicious.”

“Well then, Shinobu-san, shall I make fish for tonight’s dinner?”

I carelessly ended up making a foolery like Elni, whereupon Luna replied with a smile. I actually had wanted her to retort, but for now I decided to keep the joke going.

“Then I want fat tuna Sashimi.”

“If you give me a kiss, then yes.”

“…Sorry. I was selfish. Also, please retort already.”

Luna smiled roguish.

When I lowered my head, Hijiri giggled with a “You don’t hold a candle against Luna-san” comment. I didn’t deny it in particular and after leaving the sardine swarms behind us, we slowly walked around in the aquarium.

Luna sparkled her eyes while watching the colourful tropical fishes, whereas Hijiri took a subtle distance from the scary looking deep-sea fishes

“They’re swimming so happily.”

and gave the deep-sea fishes a smile.

Luna’s expression changed frequently and when I was fixated on her before I noticed it, I suddenly felt a gaze on me and turned around… Hijiri was looking at me somewhat sadly.

“What’s wrong, making such a face? Could it be, you’re feeling sick?”

“Ehm, that’s not it. I was thinking that you’re kind…”

“Mh? Of course I am.”

Hijiri sounded somewhat diverting, but she really didn’t seem to be unwell. I replied to her with a firm nod.

“I don’t grow tired of watching Luna and you too looked kind of scared of the deep-sea fishes just now. Sorry, but that was a bit funny.”

When I told her so partly joking,

“…So you were properly looking at me too…”

Hijiri softly took my hand after mumbling quietly.

There Luna noticed my situation too and imitated Hijiri by taking my other hand with an animated voice.

“Shinobu-san, your hand is so big and warm.”

“Yeah, it’s a bit rugged and the skin is thick, but I like Shinobu-kun’ hand.”

“I like it as well. I would love to hold it forever.”

“Yeah, that would be nice…”

While talking so, Luna and Hijiri showed a smile.

…My hand had, like Hijiri said, thick skin due to my martial arts practice and some small scars stood out as well. Despite that both of them said they like it, which made me embarrassed, but I couldn’t dare to pull away my hand.

Their heat I felt through the palm slowly suffused my heart.

Around us were various fishes swimming in the blue fish tanks. We three just quietly walked through the peaceful atmosphere while holding hands.

…That alone made me happy right now.

Suddenly I harboured the impossible dream of never letting go of these hands. I was seriously hesitant to let go off only one of either hands and I couldn’t help but wish to keep their warmth on my palms forever…

After going around in the aquarium, we decided to go watch the dolphin show, which we saved as a last entertainment. We got onto the show grounds and sat down in the front row, then the event started after a while, whereupon the cute dolphins showed themselves and Luna and Hijiri smiled spellbound together.

“The dolphins are so cute.”

“Indeed…”

“Did you know? Dolphin is spelled with ‘Sea’ and ‘Pig’ in Kanji. I wonder why with pig?”

“Just why are dolphins so incredible cute…”

“It’s a mystery…”

“Uhm, girls? Please listen to me, okay?”

Actually, don’t exclude me. When I embraced a kind of bitterness in my heart, Hijiri and Luna continued their talk while still ignoring me.

“Reminds me, I wilfully asked my father and mother to let me keep a dolphin as a kid, which quite troubled them.”

“You did something like that?”

“It happened when I was really small. It should have been obvious, but I was depressed about not being able to keep a dolphin, so Kaoru-san made me a dolphin plush toy. I was really happy about that and I still keep that plush toy preciously.”

“I knew it, Kaoru-san is really kind. She resembles Shinobu-san a bit.”

“You think so too, Luna-san?”

Not noticing how I frowned, Hijiri heartened up her voice a bit.

“Bad at expressing her own feelings honestly, shy and trying to brush off things with a joke. She’s the spitting image of Shinobu-kun in these points.”

“Their cool sides are also alike.”

“Yeah, right. Also…”

While saying so, Hijiri and Luna had fun talking like this while ignoring the dolphin show.

…Didn’t they want to watch the show?

I inadvertently tilted my head in contemplation, but interrupting them would be tactless. Before I noticed it, even I had forgotten about the show and was smitten by Luna and Hijiri’s smiles, whereupon I suddenly could confirm a dolphin finishing a high jump at the edge of my vision with a huge splash.

At this rate, the girls would get wet.

For now I should get Luna— when my thoughts reached that far, my body momentarily stopped moving.

…Why was I trying to cover Luna? Did I think Hijiri would be fine by herself? Hijiri certainly was athletic. She might be able to dodge with her intuition in this situation.

But this spontaneous decision… tightly corded up my chest.

If in the future, I would have to let go off just one hand that I was holding earlier and could only protect Luna, I would—.

Various thoughts floated in the back of my brain in mere moments. I was hesitant and faltering. But in the end, my extended hand didn’t pull Luna closer…I stood covering in front of the two of them with both my arms spread, then I felt a cold sensation on my face in the next moment.

…Likely because of the season, but the drops of water running down my cheeks were unusually cold.

It might be that I got a divine punishment, because I kept taking a vague attitude. While I leaked a silent sigh, Luna hastily stood up.

“Shinobu-san, are you all right?”

“Geez, I totally turned into a sexy wet T-shirt model.”

I hid my feelings with a wry smile. Contrary to Luna, who worried pulled out a handkerchief, Hijiri averted her eyes for some reason.

“…It turns out like that after all…”

She spun her words with a fragile voice.

Her whisper didn’t reach my ears and she remained at her place, not intervening with us at all when Luna wiped my cheeks with her handkerchief. She simply clenched both her fist like she was enduring something and just smiled somewhat forced.

…I didn’t know what she was thinking, but her expression resembled a crying face and without finding words to tell her, the dolphin show ended at some point. And after the show, we parted from the aquarium without holding hands under the evening sun that started to show up…

There were hardly any other passengers on the train back home, so it cruelly quiet and somewhat lonely. I could hear the clattering of the train and Luna’s calm sleeping soungs.

She must have been tired from playing around. Luna was leaning her cheek against my shoulder and Hijiri continued to look out of the window wordless, but suddenly she said isolated.

“…Shinobu-kun, thanks for today.”

“Mh? Why so suddenly?”

Hijiri quietly replied to my nonchalant question without taking off her gaze from the window.

“It was really fun. Until now I never thought I would get to hang out with my crush and a precious friend like this, so it’s like a dream… It was truly enjoyable.”

Despite her calm tone, I couldn’t see her usual dignity on her profile.

“…But, one day you’ll wake up from an impossible dream, ending it. Even though I knew that for a long time already…”

Blurring her voice faintly, Hijiri shifted her gaze to me after a long silence.

“Actually, at the time of the water splash at the dolphin show, you… actually wanted to cover Luna-san, right?”

“…What makes you think that? I wasn’t really—”

“You don’t need to be considerate to me.”

Softly cutting into my words, she showed another smile through tears.

“I noticed it at the splash. I was watching you. Because I love you, my eyes always chased you. Therefore I can tell, at whom you were looking… I knew long before… yet… I…”

Biting on her well-formed lips, Hijiri cast her eyes down.

“Sorry, Shinobu-kun. I would like you to keep up with my selfishness for a little bit longer…”

A modest request leaked from her trembling lips. Before I could answer it, there was an announcement in the train. We had to get off at the next station. Having lost my timing, I closed my opened mouth, whereas Luna rubbed her eyes and said, as she woke up from the announcement just now.

“…Excuse me for falling asleep. Where are we right now?”

“We’re just getting to our station. So it’s better you stay awake.”

“Yes…”

Even while replying to me with a nod, Luna still looked sleepy and was kind of absent-minded, but she seemed to have completely woke up when it was time to get off the train. Also, Hijiri showed nothing of her earlier expression and continued to chit-chat with Luna happily.

At that time, Luna’s cell phone suddenly rang from her pocket.

Upon that, Luna pulled out the cell phone with widened eyes, mumbled “It is from the Manager” and doubtfully answered the call after excusing herself from us.

Judging by the word Manager, the call must be from that pervert.

“…Hello, Luna here… Eh? Is that so? Yes… I am at the station right now… Ehm, please wait a moment.”

Temporarily removing the cell phone from her ear, Luna looked at Hijiri and me.

“What’s the matter?”

“Well, it was a call from my part-time job. Two people who are supposed to have a shift today are absent with a cold. And if possible, she wants me to fill in now…”

“Then I guess you better go, Luna-san.”

Hijiri gently declared to Luna, who was checking our reaction.

“We have no more plans and even if we hang out some more, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy it, since you’re worried about the job, right? Let’s end today’s date here.”

“…You are right. I understand. Thank you.”

Replying to Hijiri with a smile, Luna pressed the cell phone against her ear again and after ending the call,

“Then I will head to the restaurant now. Shinobu-san, Hijiri-san, let’s go on a date again.”

Luna headed for her part-time job by leaving these words behind. On the other hand, Hijiri waved her hand small while seeing her off.

“….Another date, huh.”

Leaking a faint whisper, she smiled somewhat sad.

Afterwards, Hijiri quietly bid me farewell, turned her back to me and walked away.

But for some reason, her back appeared cruelly small and until that appearance completely vanished from my vision, I remained standing there…

* * *

—I would like you to keep up with my selfishness for a little bit longer.

I couldn’t get Hijiri’s words out of my head. The whisper hinted at an ending. I believed that Hijiri already noticed my feelings.

Almost a week past since that date.

In that time, weird rumours spread at school like always, but I approached Hijiri normally and in the short time between periods at least, I continued to face my emotions to reply to her feelings.

However, I probably should put an end to it at this point. Keeping this up any longer might just hurt Hijiri instead.

Sunday evening. Hijiri was in the living room of our house. Apparently Elni was going to show off the magic tricks she learned lately, so she invited Hijiri over.

By the way, Luna was at her part-time job and Machina announced her abstention by saying “I don’t to become the guinea pig for Elni’s magic tricks anymore” with a weary expression. In addition, Kaorun seemed to have other plans and the Elni in question was preparing in her room with Nazuna and her friend Miichan, so right now I was alone with Hijiri in the living room.

Amidst that, Hijiri sat on the sofa together with me and tilted her head while pressing her index finger against her cheek.

“Still, why did Elni start to learn magic tricks?”

“Ah, apparently she did it, so she can teach Nazuna.”

…I’ll put off telling her my feelings until after the magic trick show.

It might be better to bring it up when I escort her home.

While thinking so at heart, I answered her question.

“Nazuna’s friend is going to run for the student council and Nazuna was entrusted with the election campaign, where she’ll to use the magic tricks.”

“Magic tricks for an election campaign? What can I say… Th- That’s unique.”

“Why don’t you speak out what you thought: It’s weird.”

“B- But, it does have impact. You know, most people won’t know about the candidate, so it’s important to make an impression. Besides, Nazuna-chan is cute. I would give her my vote.”

“No, it’s not like Nazuna herself is running for the election. She’s just a supporter. I just hope she won’t make a bad impression and trouble her friend…”

Even while I said that, I wasn’t actually worried that much. Nazuna was fundamentally liked, no matter how she screwed up. If needed, her friend could stop her too, so it should be fine.

When such thoughts crossed my mind,

“Speaking of the student council elections, our own are about to start too.”

Hijiri suddenly said so, then raised a matter with “Actually,”.

“I’m invited into the student council election too.”

“Invited… for a support speech?”

If that was the case, I got the feeling that she better pass on it.

I predicted that when a beauty like Hijiri stood on the stage, no amount of support could prevent the actual candidate from going under instead, unless having a charm on Machina’s level.

I showed a wry smile upon imagining it, whereupon Hijiri shook her head a bit and replied.

“Shinobu-kun, not for a support speech, but as a candidate. Sorry, I was a bit imprecise. The other day, the current student president asked me to become the successor.”

“…You’re amazing as always.”

Well, Hijiri was popular and respected at school and even had a strong sense of responsibility. I believe she could become the ideal student president.

“But what are you going to do about it? Will you run for it?”

“…I turned it down once. There’s the matter with my job and even club activities. I don’t know if I’ll get elected, but if I do become the student president, I’ll have less time to be with you. That’s why I turned it down. But the student president still hasn’t given up and keeps passionately asking me, so I’m a bit lost.”

Less time to be with me.

A small pain ran through my chest upon hearing these words.

Things might get somewhat awkward and it might even be hard to stay as friends like before when I speak out my answer.

If my time with Hijiri decreased like this… it would be tough after all.

I reached out my hand for Hijiri with these feelings.

“…Student president or not, I’ll always help you out, no matter what happens.”

“Yeah, thanks, Shinobu-kun.”

When I petted her head with the sentiment of wanting to stay as friends, Hijiri smiled somewhat sadly and leaned her cheek against my shoulder, albeit a bit hesitant.

“…It certainly does feel good. You’re the only one who pets my head like this outside my family, Shinobu-kun. If possible, I would like to stay like this forever…”

Even while softly narrowing her eyes, the sadness didn’t vanish from her expression.

When I continued to pet her head nevertheless, there was a knock on the door of the living room to change the atmosphere here and a girl with a warm-hearted aura showed up by saying “Excuse me”.

She was Nazuna’s best friend, Miichan aka Sakurai Mizuki-chan.

That she, who helped Elni prepare, came here might mean that they finished their preparation. But Elni and Nazuna weren’t with her though. While I tilted my head perplexed, Miichan got teary eyes for some reason as soon as she noticed us.

“A junior should have it’s own charming point…”

Convincing herself like that and tightly clenching her fist, she approached me and quietly sat down besides me, then she leaned her cheeks against my shoulder like Hijiri, albeit hesitant.

“Ehm, Miichan? What’s up?”

While tilting my head once more, I tried petting her head with my free hand for now, but for some reason Miichan dropped her shoulders dejected.

“Uhh… The patting is completely different. Just like between an adult and a child. Would I have gotten a different petting if I were tall as Hijiri-san and had big breasts like Luna-san?”

Leaking bitter words, Miichan looked envious at Hijiri.

By the way, Hijiri and Miichan met once before.

It was before the sports festival, when I went out together with Hijiri and Minami after they made me cross-dress. There I ran into Miichan and her friend Tamaki. And apparently Miichan held a strong admiration for Hijiri, but also a quite thin rivalry.

“I also want to become a cool and dignified grown-up woman like Hijiri-san.”

There she showed a warm-hearted expression, miles away from dignity. Still continuing to pet her head, I opened my mouth softly.

“That aside, Miichan, did you guys finish the preparations for the magic show? Where are Elni and Nazuna?”

“Ah, yes. All arrangements are done… I think, but it seems Elni-san isn’t mentally prepared yet. She was reading a book about magic tricks together with Nazuna and told me to go ahead. But I believe the two of them will come down soon.”

“…Can I get my hopes up?”

“O- Of course!”

Contrary to her reassuring tone, Miichan averted her eyes for some reason. Seeing her reaction, I shrugged my shoulders lightly, whereas Hijiri showed a bittersweet smile while shifting her gaze towards Miichan.

“Mizuki-chan, Elni asked me with ‘I’ll show you some magic tricks, so tell me your opinion about them’, but is that for Nazuna-chan’s support speech? Does Nazuna-chan really plan to show magic tricks at the support speech when we give our thoughts on it?”

“It is a really fantastic idea, isn’t it! Elni-san is amazing. Arisugawa-san, the candidate who asked Nazuna-chan for the support speech, raised a happy scream too with ‘I‘m speechless!’ after hearing about the magic tricks.”

“W- Was that really a happy scream?”

Changing her bittersweet smile into a wry one, Hijiri asked reserved, whereupon Miichan replied with a nod.

“Arisugawa-san said ‘Nothing less from my rival! I did not think of that! Now the seat of the student president is practically mine! Oh~hoho!’ with her usual loud laugher. She was really happy.”

…That girl was a bit stupid too.

When a somewhat rude thought like that crossed my mind, I suddenly remembered.

If I was right, Arisugawa-san’s first name was Chihaya and she was the girl, who picked a quarrel with Nazuna at the sea side school. Reminded me, Nazuna was quarrelling with Chihaya-san at the department store during summer vacation, but unknown to me they got closer and became good friends?

While I tilted my head yet again, this time Elni and Nazuna showed up in the living room, as their preparations were finally done. Nazuna looked kind of worried and in regards, Elni greatly puffed up her chest with confidence.

“Thanks for the wait! The Goddess is here! The other day a fortune teller comforted me with ‘It’s just a simple fortune telling, so don’t worry about it’! Therefore I’m not worrying about it at all!”

“You are so wild, Elni-san!”

“So cool, Elni-chan!”

Miichan replied with loud applause to Elni. Nazuna showed a smile. In contrast to them, Hijiri intensified her wry smile.

…I didn’t know what horrible things the fortune teller told Elni.

But apparently the person in question really didn’t worry about it. Nazuna held out the silk hat she had hidden behind her back and Elni put it on without hesitation. She pulled out cards from her pocket, shuffled them cool and dived them into two stacks on the table, then she shifted her gaze towards Hijiri.

“Okay Hijiri, I’ll show you an impressive magic trick now. Pick any card you like. After you confirmed what card it is, put the card back without showing it to me.”

“O- Okay…”

Still with a wry smile, Hijiri drew a card on Elni’s instructions and I casually snuck a peek at her hands. Mhm, the card was an ace of hearts. When Hijiri put the card back after confirming it’s kind, Elni combined the two stacks of cards and shuffled them quickly. Then she handed Hijiri a single card along with a fearless smile after spreading the cards.

“Fufu, the card you drew… was this one, right?”

“…Eh? Ah, yeah! That’s actually right! H- How did you know? You pulled off an amazing magic trick so let’s put back the card now.”

As soon as she looked at the presented card, Hijiri averted her eyes and lapsed into fast-talking. The instant I snuck another peek at her hand with a doubtful feeling, Hijiri quickly pressed the card against her voluminous breasts

“Y- You can’t, Shinobu-kun! Please don’t look!”

“What’s the problem. Not like you’re losing anything from it.”

“Still, you can’t! I can’t show it to you!”

“…If you’re that against it, I certainly…”

“Give up already?”

“Nah, it actually makes me want to see it even more.”

“D- Don’t touch it! Stop it, Shinobu-kun! Please! Don’t look!”

“Hehehe, resist some more, ‘cause that turns me on.”

Making suspicious kneading movements with both my hands, I cracked one of my usual jokes, whereupon Elni, who had watched quietly so far, stared at me and mumbled isolated.

“Somehow, when I’m just listening to you two, it sounds like Shinobu is a pervert that is forcefully doing something lewd to Hijiri against her will. Just like a beast.”

“…I’m unexpectedly wild, right?”

Cracking another joke in desperation, I casually reached out my hands for Hijiri.

There Hijiri turned bright red from the commotion, so I could easily snatch away the card from her hands, but

“Ehm, Elni, Hijiri drew the ace of hearts. Not this is four of spades.”

Dropping my gaze onto the card, I reluctantly pointed out the mistake, whereupon Elni hung her head dejected and seeing that, Miichan and Nazuna raised an encouraging voice.

“Do not worry, Elni-san! Everyone makes mistakes!”

“Just like Miichan said! It’s okay, Elni-chan! This falls under warming up! Don’t worry about it and show the next trick!”

…Would it be all right to continue with the next one, even though her warming up screwed up already?

I inadvertently wanted to interject like that, but retorting now might be indiscrete. Elni tilted her head with “Strange. It worked with Nazucat…”, then somehow got her enthusiasm back and pulled out silver-glittering handcuffs from her pocket this time.

…It were trick handcuffs, right? For that, they looked quite well made. Completely different from the plastic toy model. I couldn’t tell the difference to real ones. After spinning these handcuffs around with her finger, Elni opened her mouth triumphant.

“Okay, these handcuffs in my hand are genuine ones, who are as sturdy shackles as they appear. Once you put them on, the only way to remove them is with the keys. Next I’ll show you a magic with these handcuffs. Okay, that cool person over there, could you come over for a bit?”

“Looks like it’s my turn.”

“No. Sorry, Shinobu, but I didn’t mean you, but Hijiri.”

“…Damn, I screwed up.”

As Elni replied with a serious face, I felt bad for interfering and readily pulled back.

There Hijiri stood up in response to Elni’s beckoning.

“Ehm, what should I do— wait, Uwah! Wh- What are you doing?”

Midway in the sentence, Elni put the handcuffs around Hijiri’s right hand with a click and next she pointed at her straight.

“Hijiri! You always hide a Japanese sword in your bamboo blade pouch! I arrest you on the charge of violating the weapon control law and being a sullen pervert! Give up yourself!”

“I, I’m not a sullen pervert! Wh- What’s this all of the sudden! To begin with, I need my sword for my job, so I properly have a license for it!”

…Exorcists like Hijiri were allowed to carry swords?

While my interested was piqued a bit, I fleetingly shifted my gaze, whereupon I saw the profile of Miichan, who faintly frowned. She might have gotten sceptic about Hijiri carrying a sword. Miichan placed her hand onto her chin with an unusual serious expression.

“…It certainly needs a bit of drama like this for the magic show at the support speech. The similarity to Mag*-san made it funny. What do you think, Shinobu-oniisan?”

“I think Ma*y-san is really funny.”

Apparently my fear was ungrounded. Miichan changed her expression into a smile. When I replied to her with a vague smile, Elni faced me and beckoning once again.

“That natural Gigolo over there, come over for a bit.”

“Now that was rude.”

While giving a soft retort, I stepped forward, whereupon Elni put the handcuffs around my left hand wordless.

Mhm, in no time I was tied to Hijiri with handcuffs. The chain of the handcuffs was rather short and a faint fragrance of flowers hung in the air next to me. It was a nice fragrance, but it was awkward and unsettling.

“…Elni, I didn’t do bad, did I?”

“No! You stole something very precious! My heart!”

“Want it back then?”

“D- Don’t give it back! It would ruin the story! For now put it into a vault or something!”

Turning around somewhat hurried, Elni threw a glance at Nazuna with attitude, as she still planned to keep up the play.

“Judge Nazucat! Your verdict for these two criminals please!”

“—Guilty!”

Nazuna judged us guilty with a smile. Hearing that, Elni shouted undauntedly.

“Judge Nazucat! I ask for a review of the verdict!”

“Still guilty!”

“Judge Nazucat! I’ll give you snacks!”

“Nevertheless guilty!”

“Judge Nazucat… I love you.”

“I love you too! But they are guilty!”

“Muh! I see that you insist on guilty no matter what, Judge Nazucat!”

“Well then, acquitted of charge.”

…What a fickle mood. While I became totally astonished, Hijiri smiled with “Nazuna-chan is really cute…” and Elni pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket with a side-glance to us, quickly covering the handcuffs with it.

“Okay, somehow I managed to get you acquitted, so I’ll remove the handcuffs with my power now!”

“…How do you dare to say that, when you selfishly handcuffed us!”

“With my mouth.”

“Oh my, what a cute mouth— Not! Good grief! Even making such a cute face! Whatever, just take them off already.”

“Leave it to me! I’ll free you from the handcuffs with my magic! 1, 2, 3!”

Along with a super energetic call, Elni stripped off the handkerchief with attitude.

But, my vision fell onto… the still locked handcuffs.

“H- Huh? That’s strange.”

Tilting her head perplexed, Elni clattering fiddled with the handcuffs, as she was looking for a way to unlock them, but the shackles didn’t come off from Hijiri and my hand.

Upon that, Elni lowered her head apologetic.

“…Sorry. Looks like I failed again. I can’t get the handcuffs off with the magic trick. So I have no other choice but to use the key.”

While showing a somewhat bitter expression, Elni reached her hand into her pocket.

She must be searching for the key. Elni rummaged through her pocket, search in her breast pocket next and then searched her pockets again, turning pale in the end.

“H- Hey, why are you getting pale? Don’t tell me you lost the keys?”

“…I’m afraid so.”

The instant Elni said so isolated, Miichan and Nazuna approached Elni panicked as soon as their face turned pale.

“E- Elni-san, did you really lose the keys?”

“Not good, Elni-chan. If the keys are gone, who’s going to remove the handcuffs? At this rate, Brother and Hijiri-oneechan will be tied together forever.”

“…I would love that.”

Different from the confused girls, Hijiri mumbled quietly.

She was smiling, but her profile looked rather sorrowful…which made me be at a loss for words for a moment. But the other girls were here. I breathed out a bit and decided to behave like always for a little bit longer.

“Ehm, Hijiri, that’s certainly a bit troubling, isn’t it? Think about it. How are we going to take a bath like this?”

“…Indeed, I might not be able to wash your back like this.”

“No, no, before that, we can’t even take our clothes off because of the handcuffs. And there are other problems. What about sleeping?”

“I think it’s better to sleep together in this season. It keeps you warm. If you like, you can use my arm as a pillow.”

“…To be honest, I don’t want to bring this up, but, well, what about the toilet?”

“I, I’m sure we can somehow manage by both closing our eyes and covering our ears…!”

“No way. Sorry, but return to your senses.”

There was no need to force yourself to the extent of turning bright red like this. I leaked a wry smile and shifted my gaze from Hijiri to the handcuffs.

“Okay, it should be possible with this kind of opening. Gimme a sec. I’ll dislocate my joints a bit and do something about the handcuffs.”

“…Your joints?”

“Yep, the novel I read before wrote about it to remove handcuffs. I’ll try it out on this occasion. First I dislocate the metacarpals and proximal phalanxes. The small finger, then the thumb and middle finger…”

“St- Stop! Hold it, Shinobu-kun! I can’t let you do something so painful alone! To begin with, these are trick handcuffs, right? There should be some kind of mechanism to take them off! Isn’t that so, Elni!”

Stopping me, who was trying to dislocate my joints, Hijiri sent Elni a hopeful glance.

But, Elni just squeezed herself apologetic after all.

“I’m really sorry. I forgot how to remove them. But I borrowed the handcuffs from Kaorun, so she must know how and might even have a spare key.”

“…Moreover, if it’s her, it seems like she could even lock pick it.”

But apparently Kaorun had some other business and sadly wasn’t here.

“For now, I’ll try calling her just in case.”

After giving Elni an agreeable response, I pulled out my cell phone and decided to call Kaorun. Upon that, the call connected surprisingly fast and I could hear Kaorun’s voice right away.

“—Here a sudden question: Where am I right now?”

“In my heart, forever…”

“Uhm, please stop that, since it sounds like I am dead.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know the correct answer. Tell me where you are.”

“—I am Kaorun. Right now, I am behind you.”

“For real…”

It wasn’t unthinkable for Kaorun. I turned around to check… but I only made eye-contact with Nazucat. She tilted her head puzzled with “What?”.

“Meh, you’re not behind me. So much for getting my hopes up.”

“You had your hopes up!?”

A surprised voice raised through the phone, then a faint sigh reached my ear.

“…Shinobu-sama, this is not a horror, so it troubles me if you wish for me this much. Please retort properly. Incidentally, I am on my way back from a job right now, but unfortunately I stuck in a traffic jam, so I do not know what to do with my boredom and hot body. Since you already called, please talk to me. Perverted topics are okay too.”

“I didn’t call you to have some lewd chatting. I’m in a bit of a pinch right now.”

“You do not know what to do with your lust?”

“Nope. I’m handcuffed to Hijiri right now. And we can’t get these handcuffs off.”

“…Lewd stuff right off the bat, I see. This delusional situation is possible in my opinion. That said, are you the type that wants to put on handcuffs? Or rather the type that wants to be handcuffed?”

“Neither. ‘Cause I don’t need handcuffs.”

“I see. In other words, you want to say ‘Even without handcuffs, I catch women with my great charm’. Such wonderful shackles— well, the jokes aside, what do you mean you are handcuffed? What happened?”

“Yeah, actually…”

Kaorun stopped her joke and corrected her tone, whereupon I explained the circumstances. When I hung up the phone after talking with Kaorun for a while, everyone looked at me awaiting.

“…No good. According to Kaorun, the mechanism of the handcuffs might be broken. She seems to have a spare key, but she’s stuck in a traffic jam. It’ll take some time until she’s back.”

When I told everyone the contents of the call with a shoulder shrug, Miichan and Nazuna frowned baffled together.

“Th- Then it means Shinobu-oniisan and Hijiri-san will be handcuffed together for a while? I am a bit envious— No, this is a serious problem.”

“Yeah. I’m sure Mom, Luna-oneechan and even Machina will get the wrong idea upon seeing them like this. Specially Luna-oneechan might get a shock and cry.”

…I didn’t want Luna to cry. And it was annoying to have my mother or Machina misunderstand too. It mostly likely would take a lot of trouble to clear up the misunderstanding.

“Hijiri, for now let’s retreat into my room. It would be bad if Luna and the others see us.”

“Y- You’re right. Let’s hide until Kaoru-san is back.”

As it was a precarious situation, Hijiri coloured her expression with tension.

There Elni suddenly raised a flustered, small voice.

“G- Guys! Trouble! It’s Machina!”

“Ehh!? Now!? Let’s run, Shinobu-kun!”

Hijiri reacted quickly on Elni’s words. She either forgot about the handcuffs in her agitation or it was a conditioned reflex, but she instantly turned on her heels and started running with attitude at the same time.

…Normally that wouldn’t have been a problem.

However, I couldn’t keep up with Hijiri’s speed.

My handcuffed hand was suddenly powerful pulled jerkily, so I lost my balance and my feet even tangled up, so I fell down while dragging Hijiri with me. Along with a loud noise, I felt two big, round swellings on both my cheeks. The squishy sensation on my cheeks were pleasant.

But, these were without doubt Hijiri’s breasts. As soon as I noticed it, I straightened up my body right away.

“S- Sorry in various ways, Hijiri! Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine. What about you? Sorry for running all of the sudden.”

With no signs of anger, Hijiri looked at me worried. Her finely chiselled features were at a close distance. When my heart beat accelerated inadvertently, Elni raised another small voice.

“There’s no time for this, Shinobu, Hijiri! Hurry up and run! I’ll distract Machina!”

Calling out to us, Elni then stepped on the floor of the living together with Miichan and Nazuna. My eyes chased the direction, into which the girls turned to, the accordion curtain that separated the dining kitchen and living room. Through it’s cap I could fleetingly confirm Machina’s appearance. Badly enough, she was approaching into my direction doubtful.

“Hey, what’s the ruckus about? I heard that Elni is showing magic tricks, but is it that funny? As I was her test object before, I can say it’s another fail—”

“M- Machina! Don’t come over here! Stop there!”

“She is right, Machina-oneesan! It is dangerous here!”

“Definitely don’t come over! Stay there, Machina-chan!”

Closing the distance in no time, Elni, Miichan and Nazuna stopped Machina with fast-talking. Machina apparently still hadn’t noticed us, as our laying on the floor was in her blind spot or we were hidden by the girls, who stretched themselves.

“Hey, are you hiding something? Why can’t I come over? If you’re doing something, let me in too.”

“Sorry, Machina! It are pressing circumstances! Please, don’t come!”

“It is quite complicated! Stop, Machina-oneesan!”

“Really sorry, Machina-chan! I’ll explain later! So for now, don’t come over!”

“…What the. I don’t know what’s up, but in the end, you’re keeping me out of the loop. Saying ‘Don’t come’ all together is too much!”

“M- Machina, no, you don’t need to cry…”

“I’m not crying! I’m used to this after all! I’m perfectly fine! Don’t say weird things, Elni!”

Contrary to her words, Machina looked incredible sad.

…Sorry, Machina.

While mumbling so at heart, I exchanged glance with Hijiri, who had an apologetic expression, then we snuck out of the living room.

Following, we approached the stairs with still sneaking steps, whereupon the front door opened with the worst timing and Luna showed up with a smile, as she came back from her part-time job.

“Ah, Shinobu-san, Hijiri-san, I am b…”

While saying a greeting, Luna froze up midway in that while still smiling.

Her gaze was fixated on our handcuffs. Okay, for now let’s wipe away the cold sweat and deal with it composed.

“Luna, listen calmly. I’m sure you’ll understand. There are really complicated and pressing circumstances to this.”

“Yes, I understand. Do not worry.”

Against my expectations, Luna nodded unaffected and trembled her lips faintly while still looking at the handcuffs.

“That, is a wonderful bracelet.”

…Luna perfectly averted her eyes from reality. Her eyes were somewhat empty too.

“But I must say, I having quite the weird dream. Shinobu-san and Hijiri-san are being handcuffed together, that is quite maniac. I have to wake up soon.”

Showing a dry smile, Luna headed for the living room with staggering steps.

Then I could hear the heart-rending voices of Machina and Luna saying “Sister! Listen for a bit! The others are so mean!” “Fufu, don’t worry, Machina. Everything is a dream.” “…Uhm, why are you about to cry too, Sister?”.

…I was quite concerned.

However, if even my mother were to see me like this, the ruckus would only increase. I felt sorry for them, but I left Luna and Machina to Elni and the others and swiftly headed together with Hijiri to my own room.

…I wondered if Elni and the others were managing well.

I was a bit worried, but hesitant to carelessly show up in the living room, I waited in my own room for Kaorun’s return together with Hijiri.

During that, I once more checked the handcuffs. But in the end I didn’t discover the mechanism and had Hijiri help me with my exorcist training upon her recommendation, so right now the talisman I manipulated was dancing around in the air of my room.

While watching that talisman, Hijiri smiled a bit.

“You’re amazing, Shinobu-kun. Normally at takes a year, or at least half a year at best to make a talisman work… You indeed have a talent for exorcism. There might not be much that I can still teach you.”

“No, that’s not true. I still can’t do any field work.”

“That can’t be helped. I said so earlier, but it takes time to master talismans. Then you also need knowledge about exorcist and devils, plus martial arts. It usually takes three years of training to become an exorcist. You might get it done earlier, Shinobu-kun, but still…”

Hijiri closed her mouth with her sentence unfinished, but even though I considered it strange, I let the flying talisman return to my hand and decided continue the talk.

“Well, the exorcist training is quite fun, so I’ll take it easy. But you say I have a talent for it, huh… I can’t really tell that myself, but personally I wanted a talent for martial arts instead.”

“Speaking of, you attended your grandfather’s Dojo as a kid, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right, but I actually fled from it once. Unlike my grandfather, father and Nazuna, I don’t have a shred of talent for martial arts, so I was compared to them and made fun of, which was bitter… So I fled.”

“Despite that, you always tried your best, right? You returned to the Dojo, got many scars on your body and kept working hard without giving up…”

A slight hesitation. While Hijiri tried to link to her interrupted words, I got a certain premonition.

She might be trying to ask for my answer. Then Hijiri broke the short silence by beginning to talk.

“Why did you start to get exorcist training, Shinobu-kun? I know that you’re obsessed with strength. But why do you seek strength that bad?”

“…Because I have someone I want to protect.”

The feeling I would speak out from my mouth would surely hurt Hijiri.

But, I couldn’t stop anymore.

I didn’t want to deceive her anymore.

“I didn’t return to the Dojo, which I fled once, to inherit it, but because I wanted to become strong, so that I could at least protect that someone, my beloved person.”

“…I knew it.”

Putting on a calm smile, Hijiri quietly leaked the words.

“When you said the other day that you have no intention to take over the Dojo… No, I already somewhat noticed it before that. Who you were looking at, who you were thinking of, who you wanted to protect… Actually, I knew. But, I still…”

Faintly trembling her voice, but not breaking her soft tone,

“thought that I could change it, so I repeated the weird seductions to get your attention…But it was no good. In the end I only caused troubles for you and could not change anything…”

She leaked a faint sigh and clenched her fists a bit.

“Your desire for strength isn’t normal. That’s obvious, because the person you want to protect, your beloved one… isn’t normal either…”

Fixing her grazed voice, Hijiri looked into my eyes and asked about my answer.

“Your beloved person is… Luna-san, isn’t she?”

“Yeah. I love… Luna.”

I finally spoke out my answer. It made Hijiri’s eyes blur faintly. But she never showed any tears and just created an earnest smile, uttering words of apology.

“Sorry. I’m sure my confession troubled you. You’re very kind and treat me well. You were always trying your best not to hurt me and kept going along with my selfishness, but sometimes you looked really painful… I’m really sorry.”

“…There’s no need for you to apologize.”

“No. I selfishly dragged you around and caused troubles for Luna-san too. I have to put an end to that now…”

The smile she was showing forcefully was faintly creaking and her voice trembled even more. Despite that she shed no tears from her blurred eyes and continued her words gently.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine when you tell Luna-san your feelings. It’ll definitely go well. I’ll… support you. I’ll make them… accept you two. From now on, I’ll always… always… be on your side, Shinobu-kun…”

Her trembling voice sounded just like a crying voice.

“Thanks.”

The moment I spoke out that mundane word, I noticed that my voice was greatly grazed too.

I wanted her to be by my side from now on too. But, let’s stay as friends— How would she take these words? Even if I told her these words, it might only hurt her.

So I couldn’t find any words despite wrecking my brains and while a heavy silence hung in the air, Hijiri cast down her face at some point and just fixed her gaze on the handcuffs.

…What would happened to our relationship when these handcuffs were removed?

Time went on while I held a worry that I couldn’t shake off and later, Kaorun came over, removing our handcuffs all too easily.

I got the feeling that my bond with Hijiri would be lost at this rate.

Hijiri waved her hand a bit on the leave. Her profile was really sad and the worry in my chest grew stronger. But unable to reach out my hand, I only watched her going away…

* * *

The school classroom into which the evening sun shone.

Giving the few students, who were still there and chit-chatting happily, a side-glance, I was just watching the darkening sky absent-minded while sitting at my desk.

Machina sitting next to me didn’t say anything in particular and was quietly reading a book. She most likely was waiting for me to stand up to go home.

Even while a part of my brain thought so, I continued to watch the evening sun unchanged, whereupon the door of the classroom was opened with a clatter.

When I fleetingly shifted my gaze, there was Asada and upon seeing me, he showed a smile and called out to us with a casual tone.

“Oh, how rare to see you both still here, Nanjou, Orangelo-san.”

“I’m just at the good part of the book. I can read here in peace.”

“…Reading? Hee… And even a book about magic tricks. It’s surprising that you’re reading such a book, but actually you’re just waiting out of worry for Nanjou, right? He’s a bit strange lately. I cannot help but worry too.”

Along with his words, Asada brought his face closer and stared at me with a serious face. He was quite close. It was disgusting how the breath of the pervert hit my cheek. Unable to hold back, I replied with a serious face as well.

“…You have the face of a pig.”

“I get that a lot.”

“You actually get!?”

“Anything wrong with that! Who cares! At least let me have my fun of being called a pig by a S&M Queen in my dream!”

“Hey, hey, you’re strange not just today, but every day. I can’t help but worry too. Go to the hospital at once!”

After cracking our usual hard jokes, Asada lightly clapped my shoulder and softened his tone a bit.

“Anyway, what’s up with you, seriously. Could it be you got scared of Gogyou-san’s fan club at this point? I told you before, but you don’t have to worry about it.”

Clapping my shoulder once more to reassure me, Asada took a peek at my face.

“You know, lately Gogyou-san seems busy and has been taking her distance from you, right? So the fan club has calmed down recently. Now’s a good time. Leave everything to me.”

“…I don’t know what you’re up to, but don’t be too reckless. And don’t do anything weird. Lastly, your face is too close, so disappear this instant.”

“Fufu, I just love this Tsundere side of yours, Nanjou…”

Getting away from me and mumbling to himself, Asada called out to the remaining classmates in the classroom, as he had business with them, and then left the classroom together with a couple of them.

…I was a bit curious about what Asada was scheming.

However, the pressing matter right now was the relationship between Hijiri and me. Asada was thinking that Hijiri was taking her distance from me because she was busy, but that wasn’t the actual cause.

Hijiri indeed looked busy these days. But, it happened right away she heard my answer. When our eyes meet, I could have a simple chat with her, but it wouldn’t be for long and Hijiri usually turned her back to me.

It was just like we had returned to before our close contact.

Normally Hijiri was always surrounded by students and the focus of the conversation, where it was hard for me to enter that circle unless I had some business.

I was sure that I could talk to her because she stayed at my side.

So the envious of everyone and the anger of the fan club might be understandable.

However, it was pathetic how I only became painfully aware of Hijiri’s popularity again after there has been a distance to her. I made a wry smile and leaked a sigh at the same time, standing up with dropped shoulders.

“Machina, let’s go home.”

When I faced her while hiding my feelings, Machina nodded small and quietly closed the book she was reading.

After leaving the school together with Machina then, we peacefully reached our home road, whereupon the dark evening sky had been covered by raining clouds before I noticed it and a somewhat eerie thunder sounded.

“…Sounds quite close.”

“Indeed. Let’s get home before it starts raining. I don’t like thunder.”

“Oh, you’re scared?”

“I wouldn’t say scared, just not comfortable with it. I only have bad memories with thunder. Because in the past my father was struck by lightning in the mountains and was about to die…”

“Didn’t you also tell me at the seaside school that Bram nearly died drowning in the sea?”

“My father is always close to death. Like he was struck by lighting the moment he said ‘Lightning rarely hits anyone. It’s nothing to be feared as long as it doesn’t hit. To begin with, a devil shouldn’t be scared of lighting.’ and eventually made my mother worry and cry. He’s useless in so many regards.”

Before I noticed it, it had become a grumbling about the old man. Machina puffed up her cheeks dissatisfied with “I write him a letter, but he doesn’t reply at all and even if he does…”.

Actually I wanted to insert an agreeable response to her grumbling now.

But when the thunder reached my ears once more, I suddenly remembered that Hijiri was bad with thunder as well and Machina’s voices gradually grew distant…

Reminded me, the night I spent at Hijiri’s house after running away from Machina’s home cooking, there was a thunder like this too.

In the end, I got to stay the night at Hijiri’s house on that day. Then Hijiri was scared of the thunder, came to me and before I noticed it, I was sleeping together with her in the guest room. In the morning we were found and teased by Kaorun, which was a bit troubling, but more so it was fun.

The memory floated loosely in the back of my brain.

Could I make more such memories from now on?

What if my distance to Hijiri grows further and I’ll only be able to see her in my memories while her existence becomes something of the past one day…

“Mh? Shinobu? What’s up?”

When I inadvertently stopped, Machina tilted her head doubtful.

“…Sorry, Machina. I have something to do. Go ahead of me.”

“Something to do? But I’ll start to rain soon. Does it have to be now?”

“I can’t postpone it. I know you specially waited for me… Sorry.”

“I, I was just reading a book.”

While flushing her cheeks faintly, Machina reached into her bag and pulled a folding umbrella out of it, holding it up to me.

“Here, take it. I’ll take your bag, so hand it over. I won’t ask what you have to do, but if it gets late, make sure to call, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

Saying my thanks and taking the folding umbrella from Machina, I handed her my bag and ran back on the street we came from, albeit feeling sorry for her.

At this time Hijiri should be at the Kendo hall for club activities.

Hijiri seemed popular with the girls from the Kendo club as well, so she might not need my help. It was quite likely that someone would extended a helping hand to Hijiri, who was afraid of the thunder.

But, still, when I thought that she might need me, I couldn’t stop my feet and when I passed through the school gate and arrived at the shoe lockers, there surprisingly stood Hijiri, whatever happened to her club activities. She had a somewhat pale face and I called out to her, albeit a bit hesitant.

“Yo, what are you doing here? What about club activities?”

“…Shinobu-kun?”

When she noticed me, Hijiri widened her eyes a bit, then answered the question quietly.

“I allowed myself to leave club activities early today. Same question at you. Did you forget something?”

Hijiri smiled awkward. I replied to her reserved.

“Not quite, but… if you like, want to go home together? Since there’s thunder and all. I’ll escort you home.”

“…Thanks.”

Nodding while still smiling, Hijiri lined up next to me and together with her I headed for the school gate. However at that point it finally started to rain, so I spread the folding umbrella from Machina and while walking shoulder to shoulder with Hijiri under the small umbrella, I asked softly.

“Hey, you didn’t tell your club members about your fear of thunder?”

“Yeah. Because it’s pathetic and I don’t want them to worry…”

“I see.”

She didn’t want anyone to worry, but when I stayed at her house, she properly relied on me. She acted spoiled with me.

The moment I thought of that, my heart became hot.

The thunder sounded from somewhere far away again and the rain got louder. Meanwhile I started talking.

“Somehow, it’s been a while, since I have been together with you like this.”

“I’m a bit busy lately. I decided to run in the student council election, so I think I’ll still be busy for a while.”

“…Student council election, huh. Then it can’t be helped. You have to prepare after all.”

Even while speaking out these words… my chest hurt.

Even though she said she wouldn’t run for the election, since it would decrease the time together with me…

Inadvertently I tightened my grip on the umbrella.

There Hijiri looked at me worried.

“Shinobu-kun, don’t just hold the umbrella over me. You’ll get wet.”

“It’s fine. Wet is sexy.”

Indeed, the folding umbrella was small and to trying to keep Hijiri dry, my shoulder got wet. But I cracked an usual joke unbothered, whereupon Hijiri showed a soft smile and gently clung onto my arm.

“With that, you won’t get wet.”

“Yeah, and it’s warm. Thanks.”

I felt a gentle warmth on my arm. This warmth moved my heart and unable to hold them back, my feelings overflowed.

“…Hey Hijiri, can we go home like this again? Talking together, playing with everyone, going out somewhere… Can we be together like before?”

Words filled with my feelings.

Hearing that, Hijiri suddenly stopped and after a long silence, in which she was thinking about something, she bit onto her lips and looked down, saying quietly.

“…Thank you for everything up till now, Shinobu-kun.”

The words Hijiri said sounded teary and a bad feeling befell my chest.

“Thank you for not getting scared of me. Thank you for helping Kaoru-san. Thank you for calling someone like me ‘cute’.”

Tightly hugging onto my chest like on a bitter farewell, Hijiri trembled her voice.

“I was happy that you petted my head. You always told me the words I wanted to hear. You’re really warm. But, I…”

Her greatly trembling voice came to a small standstill.

“—I can’t stay at your side, Shinobu-kun.”

Along with these words, Hijiri’s voiced started to get filled with sobbing.

“If I stay by your side like this, I’ll surely cause you troubles. I don’t want that. I don’t want to trouble you by pushing my selfishness onto you again. That’s why I can’t… stay by your side anymore.”

Along with these sad words… the warmth vanished from my arm.

“I’ll be fine. I have Kaoru-san. I can handle things myself. The person you want to protect is Luna-san, right? You can’t concern yourself with the selfish me any more than this.”

“Hijiri—”

“Stay away!”

Hijiri denied the hand I reached out with a voice filled with tears.

“It’s okay. I really will be fine. You don’t need to concern yourself with me. You have a lot of charming people around you. You’ll be fine, even without me.”

…The cold rain poured down on Hijiri, who got away from the umbrella.

With no time to confirm whether the water on her cheeks were rain drops or tears,

“Bye, bye, Shinobu-kun.”

Hijiri turned her back to me and rushed away alone.

My extended hand hung in midair and I was unable to chase after her back. From that day on, Hijiri completely separated herself from me…

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