A Reward for the Angel

"Well, guess that's how it goes," Amane grumbled as he looked the list of names up and

down. The rankings for the previous week's tests were out, so Amane had shown up

to check them like the rest of his class.

Coming in at twenty-first, Amane was situated around his usual score. It was a good

enough ranking but hardly a result that stood out. He hadn't found this exam any more

challenging than previous ones, though it was still a relief to see he'd done as well as

he'd expected.

Surprising no one, Mahiru reigned over all the rest from her typical first-place

position. She truly was a genius, but Amane knew perfectly well that she didn't attain

that position without applying herself. Amane had often seen her studying after

dinner. He wasn't about to argue that Mahiru wasn't smart, but he felt confident that

it was the hard work that put her at the top more than anything else.

"Shiina is first again, huh?"

"Of course she is. The angel's on a whole different level."

Such proclamations caused Amane to make a sour face.

"…What's with that look? Was your rank that bad?" Itsuki came over, puzzled by his

friend's odd expression.

Only the top fifty test scores had been posted. As such, Itsuki hadn't come to see his

own score, but rather, to accompany Amane.

"It's nothing. I'm twenty-first."

"Oh? Isn't that better than last time?"

"Only by a little. Gotta consider the margin of error."

"Whoa, you clever people even speak differently compared with us common folk."

Itsuki grinned.

"Yeah, yeah." Amane ignored his friend's sarcasm and turned back to the class

rankings. He knew Mahiru really gave it her all when it came to studying. She didn't

like all that effort to show, however, so she worked tirelessly in secret to make her

success look like it came naturally. Others might've praised her or called her a genius,

but since they didn't know about all the behind-the-scenes struggling, they couldn't

recognize her actual accomplishments.

That must have been an oppressive way for Mahiru to live.

"…I should at least do something," Amane whispered.

"Hmm? What'd you say?"

"Nothing. Come on, let's go back to class."

"'Kay."

"Huh? What's this, Amane?"

Mahiru had gone to the supermarket and returned with dinner ingredients. When

she'd started to put them in the refrigerator, a conspicuously unfamiliar white box had

caught her eye.

"Hmm? Ah, it's a cake."

It was likely that Mahiru already had an inkling as to the box's contents based on its

shape, but she'd gone ahead and asked anyway. Amane had gone to a patisserie that

Chitose talked about a lot on social media to buy the cake.

"…Do you like cake?" Mahiru asked.

"Not really. I bought it for you."

"What? Why?"

"I thought it would be nice as a little celebration, because you were top of our year on

the test. It's to congratulate you."

Mahiru quickly blinked a few times, unable to process that the cake was for her. She

looked quite taken aback.

"B-but I get top rank every time, so it's not really something to celebrate," she protested.

"Well, you're always working hard, so I thought it might be nice to get a reward for

once. It's a shortcake. I hope you like that."

"Huh? I mean… I don't hate it or anything…"

"Great. Have some after dinner."

While Mahiru still looked a bit troubled, Amane cut the conversation off there. He'd

decided that it would be best to act like this was no big deal, since Mahiru always

seemed troubled when people treated her like she was special.

Mahiru was the type of person who would exhaust herself taking care of someone else

but then neglect herself. Amane had never once seen the girl do anything enjoyable

for her own sake, and whenever anyone praised her or showed appreciation, she'd

just redouble her efforts and run herself down.

Simply put, Mahiru was not good at accepting kindness from others. Amane hadn't

known her for all that long, but he was sure that much was true. That's why he wanted

to return just a little bit of the kindness she was always showing him.

Amane smiled again as Mahiru got everything ready in the kitchen and began cooking

for that night.

After dinner, Mahiru put the cake on a plate and brought it over to the coffee table with

a nervous expression. Amane couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"Wh-why are you laughing?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"It doesn't seem like nothing."

"It's fine—stop worrying."

Amane found it amusing that Mahiru was acting so stiff, but his laughter clearly

bothered her. He was supposed to be showing her some appreciation, not making fun

of her, so Amane quickly shut up.

Mahiru set the cake and the coffee she had brought along with it on the low table, then

sat down on the sofa.

Her movements were still slightly stilted, and Amane felt another fit of laughter

coming on, but Mahiru was sitting next to him now, so he did his best to quash the

temptation.

A shy look in her eyes, Mahiru glanced up at Amane.

"Right, so congratulations," he said.

"…Thank you very much. But…"

"It's fine; just enjoy it. You worked hard."

"That's true, but…"

"Come on, eat up. Even you should treat yourself to something nice once in a while."

The deed was done, and the cake was already here. Mahiru couldn't object to that. She

gave a small nod before picking up the plate of cake and a fork.

"Very well, then I will gratefully accept this," she said.

"Please go ahead."

With a nimble wave, Mahiru cut the cake into bite-size pieces with her fork and

cautiously tried some. Amane imagined that girls were naturally very picky about

their sweets, but since he'd gotten the cake from one of Chitose's favorite shops, he

was fairly confident it was a good choice.

He knew his hunch was correct when he saw Mahiru's eyes widen slightly when she

put the cake in her mouth, then the corners of her mouth relax slightly. Usually,

Mahiru's expressions really didn't change all that much, but recently, she'd become a

bit more animated, or perhaps it was that Amane had gotten better at reading her

emotions.

The mellow, carefree face that Mahiru let show as she slowly savored her cake was

one she made only while eating.

"…Hmm? Is something wrong?" She must have noticed Amane staring, and he quickly

looked away.

"No, nothing," he answered hastily.

Now it was Mahiru's turn to stare at Amane. Suddenly, she snatched up the fork again,

as if an idea had just struck her. She stabbed one bite of cake and held it out toward

Amane in a suggestive way. In other words, she was offering to feed him.

"Oh, um… no, thanks, I didn't really want any," Amane protested.

"Really?" Mahiru asked.

"…No, well, um… if it's all right, I guess I'll have some, but, uh…" Amane certainly hadn't

expected this development. At a loss, he reflexively agreed.

A beautiful girl, hand-feeding him cake. For many adolescent boys, it would be a dream

come true. Unfortunately, Amane's shyness prevented him from enjoying the situation

as much as he would've liked.

"You're the one who bought it in the first place, Amane, so you've got to have some,

too."

Mahiru seemed entirely unaware of any of the implications behind her gesture. She

maintained an ordinary, clueless expression as she held the cake out toward his

mouth.

There was no way he could turn her down, so Amane steeled himself and bit down.

An incredibly sugary flavor instantly hit him.

"…This is crazy sweet," he said.

"Well, it is cake."

That wasn't what Amane had really been getting at, but Mahiru remained oblivious.

Sweetness spread through Amane's mouth as he chewed, but he was too preoccupied

with something else to appreciate the flavor.

"…This really doesn't seem weird to you, does it?" Amane questioned in a low voice.

He was practically gagging on sweetness and shame, and Mahiru was acting like this

was all quite normal. Amane snatched the fork from Mahiru's hand and held out a bite

of cake to her in the same way she'd done for him.

Turnabout is fair play, right?

"…Um." Mahiru hesitated.

"Eat it," Amane insisted, his tone surprisingly forceful. Mahiru looked even more

confused. Perhaps knowing that she'd started this, she decided to play along and

timidly took a quick bite. The action reminded Amane of a small bird nipping at

something.

Amane stared at Mahiru as she chewed, and gradually, a change came over her. At first,

she'd just looked entirely bewildered, but as her mouth moved, a slight redness spread

across Mahiru's face. By the time she swallowed the cake, there was no hiding her

obvious embarrassment. Mahiru's usually milk-white cheeks now resembled apples,

and her eyes were shimmering, slightly blurred with tears.

"So what do you think?" Amane asked.

"I-it's d-delicious…"

"Not that. What do you think about being fed?"

Surely Mahiru understood now how Amane had felt earlier, and her eyes shifted down

to look at the floor while she trembled faintly.

"…I feel very much like running away."

"I bet you do. That's exactly the sort of thing that might give people the wrong idea,

you know. Save it for your female friends, okay?" Amane turned away sharply to

emphasize his point.

"Okay," Mahiru replied with a voice that was barely above a whisper.

She'd probably only fed Amane so easily because she trusted him. Mahiru hadn't

meant any harm by it, of course, but it was still troublesome.

A stubborn sweetness still clung to the inside of Amane's mouth.

Guess someone feeling too safe around you can be its own kind of problem.

In the end, Mahiru curled up into a ball next to Amane, looking slightly embarrassed

as she let a small sigh escape.