Consultation After Summer Vacation

It was the last day of summer vacation and school would start tomorrow.

Minato had finished his assignments long ago, so he was in no hurry, and neither was Airi, who was relaxing beside him.

Since the summer festival until today, the relationship between Minato and Airi had not changed in any particular way, although there had been a short pause.

He wondered what would happen, but her attitude did not change at all, to the point of being disheartening.

As a result, he couldn't ask about the thank you, and kept a delicate distance, neither getting any closer nor further away.

Nevertheless, they would still need to discuss what to do tomorrow.

"Hey Airi, I know you said we're going to get closer outside, but what exactly should we do?"

"Hmm… For now, let's start having lunch together. I think I'll eat with Minato-san and the others."

Basically, Minato and Airi would use the school cafeteria.

Convenience store lunches were more expensive than the school cafeteria, and the contents would be the same regardless of what was prepared. They had talked about this many times before, but stopped because they couldn't let anyone know that they were both close.

And although Minato often ate with Kazuma, Kazuma had many friends, so it was not every day for them.

Also, when Kazuma was there, Momose was almost always with him. However, before the summer vacation, Momose was so attached to Airi that the three of them didn't eat lunch together much.

All four of them would use the school cafeteria, and since they could act together, it would be a good first step and a good place to start.

"Sounds about right."

"Right? So if being with Minato-san at lunchtime is no longer a problem, the next round will be after school."

"Another potential rumor starter… Well, the next best thing would certainly be that. After school, I guess we'll just have to split up and come home."

He didn't mind meeting up with Airi in the evenings, but he couldn't let people know that he was living with her.

Although they were family and had done nothing wrong, they would not be looked at in a good light.

When he told Airi that it would be better if they parted ways with Kazuma and Momose in the evening and came home separately, she gave Minato a nod, as if she felt the same way.

"That's a good idea to start with. The problem, or rather the tiring part, is that our house and Shiori-san's house are slightly apart."

"I guess that's where it gets complicated…"

Kazuma's and Momose's house and Minato's place of work were quite close, so they sometimes went home together when he had to go to work.

However, since Minato's house and their house were slightly far from each other now, it would be a long way to go to and from school.

When he smiled bitterly at the thought that it would be troublesome, Airi gave him an apologetic sinking look.

"Ultimately, even if Shiori-san and the others aren't there, it won't be a problem if just Minato-san and I can act together in the evening. We can't keep bothering Shiori-san and the others, and those two have their own relationship."

"Yeah, we can't have Kazuma and Momose stay with us all the time, we can't bother them that much."

It wasn't like he had always been with Kazuma and Momose all the time.

Even if it was to get closer to Airi outside, he couldn't ask them to take care of him from start to finish, and the two of them had many friends besides Minato.

He didn't want to cause a rift in their friendship as a result of Kazuma and Momose forcing themselves to adjust to Minato and Airi.

So Minato believed that he and Airi should be able to act together at some point.

As he was feeling heavy-hearted, thinking that it would be really hard, Airi bowed to him.

"I'm sorry, I've never been very involved with my surroundings…"

"No, when you put it that way, it would have been better if I hadn't looked so weird alongside Airi."

They had talked about this at the summer festival, but if anyone were to blame for this situation, it would be Minato.

In the end, it all came down to one thing, "Why is she with such a mediocre senior?" That was all there was to it.

He knew he could get hurt, but he couldn't change the way his face looked.

"If that's the case, as I said before, let's say the two of us are to blame. Besides, Minato-san listened to my request, so that's enough for me."

As he chuckled, a soft voice reached his ears.

Airi's request was what Minato wanted, and if he looked worried and downcast, she would worry, so he should indulge her here.

"Thanks"

"I'm the one who should be thanking you. …If this was going to happen, I should have gotten to know the boys a little better."

When he heard her muttered words, an ugly, black feeling arose in his heart, and Minato frowned.

Although he didn't intend to bind Airi or monopolize her, he didn't feel good about the idea of her being friends with another man.

"…Wait, give me a second. I don't want to imagine it too much. But, I'm not trying to tell you not to get involved with other guys or anything."

" Fufu , I'm sorry, that was too mean. Don't worry, you're the only one I want to be with."

Airi's face broke out in happiness at Minato's jealousy and possessiveness.

The smile on her face and her affirmation of Minato's feelings made him feel even more sorry.

"Sorry. I'm disgusting, aren't I?"

"No, not at all. To be honest, I'm happy. We both agreed to do this, so please don't worry about it."

"Yeah."

"Then, let's suffer together and do our best together."

With that, Airi leaned in closer to Minato and stroked his head.

The gentle smile and gentle touch of her fingers at close range was heartwarming.

Although he knew he was going to have a hard time from now on, Minato's face broke into a smile as he was happy that she accepted him.

"Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. Please be more indulgent."

"…Even though you said so on the day of the summer festival, we didn't do anything special until today."

Even though Airi said she would spoil him that day, she didn't do anything more than that until today.

However, a question came to his mind as to why she was comforting him in this way.

Then she smiled that mischievous smile she normally had when teasing Minato.

"You don't usually do excessive skinship when you don't need to, do you? But if I have to indulge you, I'll do it without hesitation."

From the way she said it, it seemed like she would do everything in her power to spoil Minato if something happened to him.

Indeed, Minato and Airi were roommates for now, so it would be strange to be spoiled or stuck together for no reason.

He wondered if it wasn't excessive for them to be close to each other on a regular basis, or for Minato to pat her head or stick his back to her, but he didn't want to say anything because he would feel lonely if they were separated now.

Instead, he spoke in return to Airi, who was smiling debaucherously at Minato.

"Then I'll do what I can to help Airi if she needs anything. Don't be hesitant, okay?"

"Yes, I won't hold back. I'll spoil you and let you spoil me."

It wasn't going to be easy, and there would be hard times ahead. But Minato's heart wasn't clouded with anxiety. In fact, it was radiant.

As Minato stared at the girl stroking him, who was the reason for it, the night of the last summer vacation ended as the two smiled towards each other.