With Friends

"What is the meaning of this, Minato?"

The prajna in front of him questioned.

Momose called Minato without honorific, it had only happened once before in the past. That was when Momose was really angry.

However, Minato didn't understand why Momose was angry.

"What do you mean?"

"How could someone like Minato treat Ninomiya-san like this?"

"I don't remember doing anything so horrible?"

He thought that he usually cared for Airi and didn't remember doing anything she didn't like.

When he answered that he really didn't know, the look on Prajna's face in front of him became even scarier.

"You make her clean your room, prepare your bath, do your laundry, cook your dinner, don't let her go anywhere on her days off, and she has almost no clothes. Now, shall we hear your excuse?"

"That's… Now that you mentioned it…"

When someone else explained Airi's current situation to him, it became clear that it was not even at the level of hard labor. No matter how he thought about it, it was already out of line.

It was completely Minato's fault, so he got down on his knees to Momose.

"I'm truly sorry."

"You're apologizing to the wrong person."

Indeed, it was to Airi that he owed an apology.

"Ninomiya-san, I'm very sorry."

Although they had discussed it thoroughly and made a decision, no matter the outcome, he was sure that he had been spoiled by Airi.

When he turned to her and got down on his knees, Airi hurriedly denied it.

"Why are you apologizing? The two of us talked it over and decided that I would do the housework. In addition, not going out on holidays and not buying clothes are things that I decided on my own, so there is nothing wrong with you. In fact, Kujo-senpai repeatedly asked me if I was okay and worried about me. I have a lot of gratitude for that."

"But I was the one who was spoiled by having Ninomiya do things for me like that."

"I did it because I wanted to. I don't think of it as an obligation, and I've never felt bad about it. Please, I beg you, raise your head."

Minato finally raised his head as Airi begged him in a voice that sounded like she was about to cry.

Momose, who was looking down at Minato next to him, let out a big sigh.

"Fuu~ For now, I apologize for my hasty assessment of the situation. So, can you please explain the situation to me?"

Momose, who had been watching Minato and Airi arguing, opened her mouth, and apparently her anger had subsided.

After that, Momose lowered her head as Minato and Airi explained to her what their daily life was like.

"I see, I get it. I'm sorry, Minato-kun. I assumed I went crazy."

"No, you don't have to say anything like that. It's totally my fault."

"As I already said, it's not your fault, Kujo-senpai. I made my own decision."

"No, but even so–"

"Yes, yes, that's enough, you two. You're back to where you started."

Kazuma, who had fled to the front door, came back before they knew it and immediately cut in on the conversation.

"So, Minato and Ninomiya-san have mutually agreed to share the household chores, and have no complaints. Is that correct?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

Minato was going to say that he tried to do the chores at first and that he still felt bad about it now, but he didn't want to complicate things.

He didn't know what would happen if he provoked Airi and she brought up the massage. And rather, if that subject is brought up, Momose was sure to get angry, no questions asked.

He breathed a sigh of relief that all he had to explain to her was his housework and how he spent my days off.

The misunderstanding about the housework was cleared up, so Momose took over the conversation from Kazuma.

"Then, clothes are next. Are you sure about this, Ninomiya-san?"

"No. I don't really want it, and I don't have anyone to go out with."

"What about Minato-kun?"

"I can't go out with Kujo-senpai because it'll cause trouble for him."

"Trouble for me? Why is that?"

Airi's expression became cloudy.

There was nothing wrong with going shopping. In fact, Minato would gladly carry her bags as a thank you for all she had done for him.

He understood that Airi didn't want to go out because she didn't want to attract attention, but he wondered why Airi thought it would cause trouble for Minato.

"If people find out that you're with me, there will be trouble at school. I don't want Kujo-senpai to get into trouble because of me. And I don't want to bring it up if I can help it, because I think the people at school who will be asking me about the situation are too troublesome."

"So it's okay if Minato-kun doesn't get into trouble and the topic isn't brought up?"

"Is there such a way?"

To be honest, he didn't think there was any way to do that, because if there was, Minato would have already done it.

"There is. We can go out with the four of us, me, Kazuma, Minato-kun, and Ninomiya-san. I'm Ninomiya-san's classmate, and I brought my boyfriend and his friend with me. In addition, we've known each other since childhood, so it shouldn't be too strange for us to be together."

Momose proudly stated her point. She tried to become the link between Airi and Minato.

It's true that it didn't seem to be that strange

However, Airi seemed unconvinced and shook her head.

"That's going to cause trouble for Momose-san. I'm sure there will be a lot of people asking you to introduce them to me."

"That's not true. If someone wants to get to know Ninomiya-san, they should talk to you themselves. I won't introduce someone who wouldn't say anything to you but tries to get close through connections from friends like that. Though, I can't really speak for others since I've been following Minato-kun's footsteps…"

"But, you have a lot of friends, Momose-san… I'm not good with crowds."

"I see. Then let's just hang out with ourselves. It's just me, Kazuma, and Minato-kun, how about that?"

It might take some explaining, but it would solve almost all the problems that might come up. If Minato is asked about the situation, he could simply say that he knew Momose.

If people ask him to introduce them to Airi, he could just tell them to talk to Airi themselves like Momose. In the first place, Minato only had Kazuma and Momose as his best friends, he had no problem with being envied and ostracized.

The only other thing that was worrying was Momose, who would probably have the hardest time. Airi must have noticed it too, because she looked at Momose with concern.

"Are you sure about this? You'll probably be resented a lot."

"Resented? By who?"

"Everyone. If only one person gets close to me, and we reject everyone else, no matter how you look at it, it's going to create a lot of hostility."

"As I already told you, if someone wants to get along with someone, they should talk to that person themselves. In fact, I'm talking to Ninomiya-san like this, and I think it would be better if everyone did the same. That way, Ninomiya-san can make friends with people who she thinks can accept her. If there are people who don't like me because I don't introduce them to Ninomiya-san, then they can hate me all they want. Moreover, you don't do things that your friends don't like, isn't that obvious?"

"…Me? I am your friend?"

"Of course you are. Nice to meet you, Airi!"

"Ah… Nice to meet you, Shiori-san."

It was just a matter of time before Momose was able to do so. She was able to understand Airi's circumstances and became friends in a way that was acceptable to her.

Perhaps she was moved by being called a friend, but Airi's voice trembled and she turned her head down.

"Airi is so cute! You know, I've always wanted to be friends with you!

"Eh? Why are you approaching me?"

"Well, there's only one thing girls do when they get to know each other!"

"Kyaa!"

Momose, who seemed to have always wanted to be friends with Airi, lost her patience and hugged her.

The intertwining of the two beautiful girls was a feast for the eyes.

"Kujo-senpai, please help me!"

Minato had been neglecting it for a while now, but Airi didn't seem to be able to forcefully pull it off, so she raised an eyebrow and asked Minato to do it.

It was already out of hand. Kazuma also shook his head in disbelief and went to stop Momose.

"Oi Momose, stop right there."

"Shiori, don't try to engage in excessive skin-to-skin contact the moment you get to know each other."

"Ouch. I'm sorry, Airi."

"Ah, yeah…"

Kazuma lightly smacked Momose's head when she was about to go out of control.

Momose, who had calmed down, then spoke up.

"Okay, now, let's all go shopping together as a sign of our friendship!"