Presents Are Difficult

Minato thought he'd give the present he bought at the shopping center on their way home, but he couldn't do it because he didn't have the chance.

Airi looked at him anxiously as Minato's attitude was suspicious.

"What's wrong, Kujo-senpai? You look strange."

"Ah, that's… Ninomiya, can you give me your hand?"

"Ah? Okay."

Airi seemed to have doubts about Minato's sudden statement, but she reached out her hand without any hesitation.

Now that he came this far, Minato had no other choice but to hand it over. He prepared himself and took out the present.

"Here, a gift."

He thought there would've been a better way to say it, but he was nervous and it turned out to sound pretty crude.

With the exception of Momose, this was too high of a hurdle for Minato, who had never given a present to a girl before.

For the time being, he put the wrapped gift on Airi's hand. Airi then tilted her head as she didn't know what it was.

"Why the present?"

"It's to thank you for everything. I'm always saying thank you, but I don't think that's enough."

"I've already received a lot today, but thank you very much… Can I open it?"

"Ah, sure."

Airi smiled bitterly when Minato said thank you, but she seemed to be happy, and when she opened the packaging, she had a smile on her face.

Even just seeing that face was worth the gift. As expected, it was better to show gratitude in the form of a present.

"Is this a hairpin?"

"I thought it wouldn't be good if it was too expensive, so I bought something normal."

"It's just that it's a problem if you get anything too fancy or expensive."

"I remembered that, so I was really worried."

Minato was troubled that Airi had no desire, so he chose the present based on what he had heard from her before.

Minato was not confident, so he told her honestly, and then Airi laughed happily.

" Fufu , I didn't think you would go this far. This flower is also beautiful–"

After seeing the shape of the flower, Airi's face hardened.

"…Is this flower an iris?"

Airi said in a very soft voice, and Minato could barely hear her.

He wondered if she had said Iris. If Minato remembered correctly, the clerk earlier did say it was a flower called iris.

"Isn't this flower called an iris?"

"Yes, I think it's one of the varieties of Iris."

"I see."

Airi's expression was complicated. It was hard to tell if she was happy, sad, as it was a mixture of different emotions.

It seemed that Minato's gift was a failure. He really didn't know what a good present for a girl should be like.

He didn't intend to make her look like this, so he hated himself for his lack of thought that resulted in all this.

"I'm sorry that it's not a good one. You can throw that away."

"No, I'm not going to throw it away. Thank you very much."

Although she thanked Minato, Airi's expression remained complicated.

"But Ninomiya's expression is strange. If you don't like the present, you don't have to force yourself, okay?"

Minato really didn't mind it if she were to throw it away. Rather, he didn't want her to accept the present just to please Minato.

However, Airi wrapped the hairpin in her hands, as if it was very important, and smiled softly.

"I'm happy with the present, really. Of course I'll accept it."

"But–"

"…Kujo-senpai, is it okay to request the punishment game from the massage?"

She didn't seem to be lying, but he probably had touched something that he shouldn't have.

Minato's words were interrupted by Airi's curt request.

He wanted her to say anything she wanted, as to make amends for stepping in so carelessly.

"Oh, anything you want."

"Can you put this hairpin on me?"

"Me? I would have to touch your hair, is that okay?"

"Yes, that's okay."

"All right."

For some reason, she asked Minato to put it on her. He didn't know the reason, but there was nothing wrong with that.

After asking her permission to touch her hair, he put the hairpin on her silver hair that shone in the light of the room.

"Thank you. Does it look good on me?"

"It looks good on you. It's perfect."

The bright blue color went well with her beautiful silver hair. Minato was glad he went with something small and not something that would stand out.

He complimented her without flattery. Finally, her smile seemed genuinely happy.

"I will take good care of it."

"You know you can throw it away, right? I don't really mind."

"I won't do that. Thank you very much."

"Yeah…"

After that, the conversation died. It was supposed to be the same silence as when they were returning today, but the air was somehow heavy.

"I've always hated iris."

"…I'm really sorry."

When Airi spilled out her words, Minato felt his blood run cold. It seemed that the present was no good after all.

Minato apologized and Airi shook her head.

"No, I said I 'hated' it. You don't have to apologize, and you don't have to worry about it. Thanks to you, I've come to like it a little. Thank you very much."

"I just gave it to Ninomiya because I thought it would suit her."

"Then that's fine. That's enough for me."

Although she had smiled, Minato decided not to touch more on the iris flower.

He felt he had to change the subject somehow, so he started talking about their outing today.

"I asked you on the way back, but did you have a good time today? Momose made sure to take you around a lot."

"It was fun, I think it's the first time I've had such a good time out. Shiori-san's a good person, isn't she…"

Minato was concerned about the fact that it was her first time, but then again, Airi had usually said she didn't want to go out, so he didn't want to mention it too much.

He wondered what would have happened with Momose, but it seemed to have worked out in the right direction.

Just being able to see Airi's face as she looked back happily on the day was enough to say that today's outing was a success.

"Yeah, she's a good one. She's too good to be my childhood friend."

"I don't think that's true. In fact, I would be convinced if you told me that she was a childhood friend of Kujo-senpai."

Airi denied Minato's words with a peeved expression.

He wondered how that would make sense. On one hand, she was a beautiful and bright girl with a good-looking boyfriend, and on the other, was an ordinary high school boy with no distinguishing features.

To be honest, of the three childhood friends, Minato thought he was the most out of the group.

"What makes you so sure?"

"She doesn't go into things I don't want to be asked, and she understands my intentions. Senpai, you're the same."

"I don't know anything about that."

"You're a liar, senpai… You're definitely lying."

Her words sounded like she was angry at Minato, but her tone was gentle. She had the most serene smile he had seen today.