Complicated Feelings

Minato and Kazuma agreed with Momose, and although Airi was reluctant at first, she finally agreed and went out.

From the look on her face, she seemed to be somewhat happy, so she might actually have felt quite happy inside.

Airi was asked to change into one of her few casual clothes and they went to a large shopping mall.

"Now that we've decided to buy Airi's clothes, where should we go?"

Momose, who was leading, asked her in a good mood as she pulled Airi along.

"Um, I think my clothes are enough."

Airi smiled bitterly as she felt bad about involving everyone in her convenience.

Minato would have liked her to enjoy herself without reservation, but her personality made that difficult.

Momose also seemed to understand that Airi was being blatantly reserved, and asked her repeatedly.

"Really?"

"…Then, I want to go and see some cosmetics."

"Okay! Then let's go there first!"

"Eh, ah, stop pulling me."

Airi, who was defeated by Momose's push, said hesitantly. It seemed that there were other places Momose wanted to visit.

Momose grabbed Airi's arm and pulled her along, happy because Airi properly answered.

Momose's tension was quite high. She had been asking Airi to hang out with her for a long time, so she must have been happy to finally be able to do so.

She even left her boyfriend behind with Minato.

"Kazuma, is this okay? Momose seems to be having more fun than when she's with you."

"To be honest, it's complicated, but the most important thing is that Shiori is having fun. I'd like her to enjoy herself to the fullest since she can finally hang out with Ninomiya-san."

The smile on Kazuma's face was half happiness and half sadness.

Kazuma wanted to please Momose, but he didn't want to get in her way when she was having the most fun. So it was quite the complicated situation.

"It's not easy being a boyfriend."

"Yeah, but that's the beauty of it. But when I see Ninomiya-san talking to you, I can't believe they call her an ice doll."

"…You, don't tell her that, okay?"

Minato couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and frowned.

Kazuma said it at a volume that Airi and Momose couldn't hear, but he didn't want them to hear it in case they did.

Minato didn't think Airi wanted to hear about her being an ice doll, and he knew that it would hurt her.

She believed that she deserved to be sworn at because of her cold treatment of boys, but that didn't mean she should be allowed to be verbally abused.

Kazuma seemed to know exactly what Minato was talking about and affirmed it with a snicker.

"Of course, that's obvious. At any rate, I can feel that she's a bit of a wallflower when it comes to me, but I'm relieved to see that she's softened up when it comes to Shiori."

"Well, you're only her classmate's boyfriend, it's only natural for her to be wary of you. However, Momose has softened Ninomiya's attitude so much in such a short period of time. I think that's amazing."

Even if Kazuma had a girlfriend, it was inevitable that he would be a target of caution, but as for Momose, all Minato could say was that she was perfect.

Though she was a little stiff, the face of Airi talking to Momose was different from the doll-like face she had at school, and she seemed like a real, energetic girl.

It should be a good thing that her expression was known to people other than Minato and that more people got to know her better, but somehow, it left Minato with a hazy feeling.

"But I think Ninomiya-san looks the best when she's with you. So don't make such a complicated face."

"What face are you talking abo–"

"Hey, you two, we're leaving!"

"Oops, we strayed too far. Let's go."

Kazuma tapped Minato lightly on the shoulder and encouraged him. Minato wasn't sure what kind of face he had from Kazuma's point of view.

He was going to ask him, but Momose called them over, and the opportunity was missed.

While Momose and the others were picking out cosmetics, Minato asked Kazuma to cover for him for a while and went to the accessory store.

He wanted to thank Airi for everything she had done for him, but he couldn't find anything good, even though he was only looking for something conventional.

Nothing too fancy, nothing too expensive. And if he didn't get back soon, they'd get suspicious.

However, since she had said she didn't want anything in particular, Minato didn't know what Airi would like.

(Hmm… This is kind of eye-catching, wouldn't this be a good choice?)

As he was in a hurry because he didn't have much time, he noticed a hairpin.

The bright blue flower was very beautiful and would go well with Airi's silver hair.

(I found a good one.)

The shopkeeper told Minato that this flower was called 'iris' and bloomed around this time of the year.

The price was reasonable, so Minato had it wrapped and returned to Airi and the others as quickly as he could.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Back at the cosmetics counter, Airi and Momose seemed to be distressed, and Kazuma was keeping a low profile nearby, apparently not wanting to get involved.

"We're having a hard time deciding which hand cream smells better. Me and Airi are having a difference of opinion."

"I said I'd be fine with the regular medicated kind, but Shiori-san said the scented kind would be better."

As a man, Minato didn't think it mattered very much, but as a girl, he guessed it was non-negotiable.

"Why don't you just buy what you like?"

"Airi said it doesn't matter what she likes. Now that you're here, you want her to smell good, don't you?"

"Ninomiya smells good to begin with. And you can't force her to like it… Eh, what's wrong?"

It didn't matter what the hand cream smelled like, because Airi already smelled so good.

It's not that they were usually in close proximity, but as long as they lived in the same room together, Minato couldn't help but smell Airi.

He especially recognized it when he was getting a massage, but he immediately expelled the memory of that moment from his mind.

Anyway, he said that he thought it would be wrong to impose his taste on Airi, but for some reason, Momose exclaimed, and Airi's face turned bright red.

When he thought back to his words, wondering if he had said something strange, he felt embarrassed.

"Ah, no, that's not it. What I meant is–"

"…Kujo-senpai, do I smell that good?"

He tried to deny the delicacy of his comment, but Airi looked up and stared at Minato. The destructive power of a beautiful girl like her was tremendous.

He desperately suppressed the beating of his heart which was getting faster, and replied with a stammering mouth.

"N-No comment. Anyway, sorry."

"No, it's fine, then, which would you prefer, this hand cream or this one?"

Then Airi put the hand cream that Momose had on her own hands and brought it close to Minato's nose. Her hands smelled of sweet strawberries.

It's not that he didn't like the smell of strawberries, but he preferred Airi's sweet flowery smell.

"I personally wouldn't use this hand cream."

" Fufu , all right. Then I'll use the scentless medicated kind."

"Don't go with what I think, just go with what Ninomiya likes."

"I like the scentless one, so I'll get this one."

Minato couldn't honestly say that he preferred Airi's, so he deceptively answered, and Airi smiled happily.

He caught up with her as she started to walk off to the counter, thinking that he should at least do this much.

"No, I'll pay for that. It's my way of thanking you."

"Thank you very much."

She seemed to be in a good mood and easily let Minato buy it for her.

"What's with them? They're flirting all of a sudden."

"I didn't expect Minato-kun to make a face like that."