Who’s Spoiling Whom?

"…What are you doing?"

Mahiru looked at him suspiciously when she arrived to make dinner.

Amane was just cleaning up the cardboard from a package that had

suddenly arrived courtesy of his parents.

The look in her eye that said This wasn't here yesterday was only

natural, Amane thought, but he was just a passive recipient who also had no

clue about this.

It was plain to see that the package was oversized for Amane. The thing

was the right size to push up alongside a low table, and when he struck it

gently, it made the rustling sound of little pellets faintly rubbing against one

another as they fell.

"It came from my parents, as a congratulatory gift for making it to the

next school year. Have you never seen one before?"

The unsolicited package contained a big beanbag that took up tons of

space. A huge cushion, big enough to sit on, of the sort that he had seen

advertised on TV and the internet.

Beanbags had been quite popular for several years, and Amane thought

they were common knowledge, but Mahiru didn't seem to know about

them.

"Well, I've heard rumors about them for a while. It's like an evil sofa

that sucks you into a vortex of your own depravity and idleness once you sit

down, right?"

"What kind of overblown rumors have you been hearing?"

Though he was a little taken aback by her describing the beanbag as a

sinister object or whatever, he knew that the cushion was indeed supposed

to feel so nice that once you sat down, you'd lose the will to move, so he

couldn't necessarily refute her statement.

This particular beanbag was rather long and large enough for two people

to sit on it at once.

It was obviously too big for just one person. Clearly, Amane was not

meant to sit on it alone.

I can feel them pressuring me to sit with Mahiru…

He was sure that otherwise, his parents would have sent something a

little smaller.

Sure enough, a long time ago, by which he meant when he was in

middle school, Amane had told his parents he wanted a cushion like this

one. But they had rejected his request, since at that time he had been

incredibly lazy and had slacked off in all sorts of ways.

They must have thought that wasn't an issue anymore, though Amane

expected that the reason why he wasn't lazy anymore was because Mahiru

was by his side.

With an exasperated sigh, he put the dark blue slipcover onto the

beanbag and then stared at it.

He would have appreciated it if they'd asked him if he had any space in

his home before sending such a bulky object. But they seemed to have been

counting on the fact that his room had been tidy when they had checked in

around New Year's and that Amane wouldn't let it get cluttered with

Mahiru around.

"…This is really huge, isn't it? Will you put it in your room?"

"I think that's the only option. I don't have much in my room, so there's

space for it, but Mom always does things like this out of the blue, geez."

For now, he had gotten the beanbag out of the packaging and pulled the

cover on, but there was no way he could leave it in the living room. He had

just barely gotten it in there for the time being by moving the low table out

of the way.

For better or worse, Amane's bedroom contained a bed, a desk for

schoolwork, a small bookshelf, and nothing else. A beanbag of this size

would make it a little difficult to open the closet, but it would fit.

"Shihoko always commits when she decides to do something, doesn't

she? Even so, it's awfully big."

"…Sure is."

"It's so big you could probably lie down on it."

If Shihoko had been there, Amane could have imagined her saying,

"Why don't the two of you sit on it together?"

A guy and girl sitting close together on something like this would be too

much. Everyone knows that.

While Amane was thinking up comebacks to say to the imaginary

mother cackling joyfully in his head, he looked over at Mahiru and saw her

staring intently at the beanbag.

He could tell from the way she talked that she had never seen a real one

before, but it seemed to have caught her interest.

Her eyes, which always had a gentle light behind them, were more

animated than normal. They sparkled brightly, revealing her curiosity. She

was buzzing with impatience.

Mahiru slowly extended a hand toward the big beanbag…and withdrew

it before she could touch it. She was probably being mindful not to touch

other people's belongings without asking.

"…I put the cover on, so wanna sit?"

"Ah!"

She seemed so restless that he suggested it without thinking, but he got a

little shriek in response.

As far as Amane was concerned, if Mahiru was that interested in the

beanbag, then she should go ahead and just try it. That's what he had been

thinking when he made that suggestion, but she was so openly flustered that

he worried he had actually said something weird.

"N-no, um, I—I appreciate you offering, but…the owner should enjoy it

first."

"You look like you want to sit on it, and I'm not worried about all that.

I'm sure my mother sent it hoping you would sit on it, too, so if you want to

sit, go ahead and sit."

"Ah, um…i-is it really all right?"

"I wouldn't say that if it wasn't. I don't really mind who uses it first.

You seem curious, so I'd rather have you try it out first."

"O-oh…w-well then, I'll take you up on that."

Mahiru said she wouldn't hesistate, but she approached the beanbag

timidly, seeming to hold back as best she could. Then with some hesitation,

she lowered herself onto the cushion.

It made a little rustling sound and contorted into a different shape to

envelop Mahiru's dainty body.

She must have felt strange sitting so much lower than she would on a

normal sofa. Mahiru blinked several times in surprise and looked down at

the beanbag beneath her.

After that, she wriggled around to adjust the way she was sitting, then

stood up and sat back down again.

After checking the way she sank slowly into the beanbag, she leaned her

body weight as far back as she could and stretched out like she was going to

take a little nap. In a livelier voice than usual, Mahiru mumbled, "This feels

amazing."

Amane was pretty sure she hadn't said those words for him to hear.

Mahiru seemed to have immediately fallen captive to the shifting

beanbag's allure. She rolled around, searching for the most comfortable

position.

Thank goodness she wore pants today, Amane thought earnestly as he

watched her.

She had thrown herself down on the beanbag with complete abandon, so

if she had been wearing one of the voluminous skirts she usually had on,

even if it had been long, he might have been able to see her underwear.

As he watched Mahiru enjoy the beanbag, Amane felt quite sated, even

though they hadn't eaten dinner yet.

Mahiru was overwhelmingly adorable on the occasions when she played

around and showed her childish side, and Amane couldn't help but smile as

he watched her. But then, whether she realized what he was feeling or not,

Mahiru looked at Amane and beckoned to him.

"You might as well get on here, too, Amane. Come here."

He was sure she was inviting him with the best of intentions, wanting to

share the fun and comfort of the beanbag, but if he sat down next to Mahiru,

their bodies would definitely stick together.

No matter how dainty and small Mahiru was, or how big the beanbag

sofa was, if the two of them sat on it together, they would never be able to

keep their distance.

"N-no, I…I think I'll hold off."

"…You don't want to?"

"Th-that's not it, but, um, it's just, how do I put this…uh…"

He tried to come up with a good reason for refusing, but when Mahiru

peered up at him in confusion, he lost the willpower to say anything.

The devil inside him whispered problematically in his ear, "It's basically

like cuddling, which you do all the time, so it shouldn't be a problem,

right?" He groaned, but…he gave in to Mahiru's pure good intentions and

his own desires.

Once I sit down, I'm sure Mahiru will see the reason why I'm so

reluctant.

He took a seat beside her.

Both the nice feeling of sinking down into the cushion as the beanbag

hugged his body and the warmth and scent of Mahiru beside him

overwhelmed his senses.

The feeling of his body sinking into the beanbag was a little different

because Mahiru was there, but even so, he could tell how nice it was. He

could understand why so many people wanted a beanbag, just from the

feeling of sitting on that one.

But at the moment, he was distracted from the sensation of the beanbag

sofa by Mahiru beside him, her guard completely down.

"Isn't it incredible? It molds perfectly to your body!"

"…That's definitely true."

"Seems like it would be fun to relax here. You could read a book or

watch a movie… If you took it easy, I bet the hours would just fly by,"

Mahiru mumbled in a soft and somehow intoxicated-sounding voice.

More relaxed than she had been earlier, she leaned lightly against

Amane and sighed.

Even though she had been saying something really adorable, for some

reason it came off a little sexy, which Amane attributed to the fact that he

could feel her body heat.

"…Well, how can you help it when it feels so nice? That's why I don't

want to sit on it. I just know it'll ruin me."

"Heh-heh, I understand how you feel. When it feels this nice, it

immediately makes you want to slack off."

Amane's lips threatened to soften into a smile at these unexpected words

from Mahiru, who was normally so disciplined. But she was leaning against

his shoulder and nuzzling her cheek against him in apparent delight, and he

couldn't let himself get lost in the moment.

He knew that she probably didn't mean anything by those fawning

gestures of hers.

She often headbutted him to hide her embarrassment, but this time she

was leaning her whole weight on him, her body almost melting into his, and

snuggling up against him to boot.

A fragrance wafted up from her hair that was both sweet and refreshing.

He knew that she had showered earlier because they'd had gym class

that day. It was quite the temptation for Amane to take in that scent from so

close up.

He glanced down at Mahiru, and through the gaps in her gently flowing

hair, he could see the smooth, milky-white nape of her neck. He swallowed

loudly as he basked in her radiance.

Amane couldn't tell whether Mahiru, who looked so loose and relaxed

that she might have been in heaven, had noticed his stiffness or the sound

from his throat.

Mahiru glanced up at Amane and put on a languid smile that made her

look even more angelic than usual, then leaned heavily against him again.

…I'm spoiled, in so many ways.

He knew that he needed to say to Mahiru that they would need to get up

and fix dinner soon.

But he didn't want to ruin this moment of pure bliss with words, nor did

he want to pull away from her warmth, so Amane swallowed the quiet

words when they rose to the surface and buttoned his lips tight.

That night, they had instant ramen for dinner.