Culture Festival, Day One

The day of the actual culture festival was blessed with clear weather.

The lingering notes of summer had been fading bit by bit. Fortunately, the

temperature that day was pleasant, and it seemed like overheating would not

be a problem, even though their costumes were much heavier than normal

clothes. Amane was happy that he wouldn't be sweating, even with his necktie

tightly fastened.

"It's a little nerve-racking being on the very first shift, isn't it?"

"Well, we'll swap out in the afternoon, so we've got to try our best until then.

You're both here, Kadowaki and Mahiru, so it seems like it's going to be really

crowded."

"Sorry about that. But, you know there's no helping it, so I guess I've already

given up."

They'd finished sitting through the opening ceremony for the students that

was always held in the gym before the festival. Amane was chatting with Yuuta,

who was on shift with him, as they got changed in the waiting room that they

were using in place of a locker room, but…Yuuta was already smiling in a

disinterested way about the whole thing.

Being something of a spectacle seemed to be an everyday occurrence for him;

the only difference was the clothing, so it sounded like he intended to give up

and accept it.

Without meaning to, Amane gave his friend a pitying glance, thinking about

how good looks really did bring unceasing troubles. But when Yuuta noticed

Amane's expression, he smiled a little.

"You'd better be careful, too, Fujimiya. Miss Shiina will be burning with

jealousy."

"Nobody will notice me while you're there, Kadowaki. I'll just stand quietly in

the background, so it'll be fine."

"So you say… Well, you'll probably have more to be jealous of than she will,

huh, Fujimiya?"

"Never mind burning with jealousy, I'm already feeling a chill of anxiety."

Mahiru was adorable, and her maid costume looked great on her. It looked so

incredible that he was worried about some strange man following her around

or sexually harassing her.

He knew that there would probably also be a lot of students visiting the café

to see Mahiru, which, as her boyfriend, he did not especially appreciate. He was

mainly worried that they might give her some impolite looks.

Yuuta seemed to have guessed what was in Amane's heart. With a friendly

smile, he said, "Good luck," and patted him on the back.

They finished changing and headed for the classroom where their classmates

were assembling after finishing most of the final preparations. The students

who weren't there were probably off working in the kitchen.

Itsuki, who was still in his school uniform because his shift was in the

afternoon, checked that his classmates were all gathered, then stood in front of

the teacher's lectern wearing his usual cheerful grin.

"Today is the first day of the culture festival. Honestly, I have no idea how

many people are coming. It's not like we've ever tried this before, but what it

comes down to is that we've got some really popular folks in our class."

Itsuki glanced over at Yuuta and Mahiru.

Both of them were wearing smiled awkwardly. They had probably prepared

themselves for the worst.

"Well, let's go out and do things our way," Itsuki continued. "It'll be a waste if

we don't enjoy this precious culture festival. Whether any customers come or

not, it doesn't matter. To be blunt, I don't think we'll have this kind of time and

energy next year. Second year is the best time to enjoy everything to the fullest.

We'll all be preoccupied worrying about exams next year, I bet."

"People are going to get depressed if you say stuff like that!"

"I feel all gloomy all of a sudden."

"Sorry, sorry! Okay, no more serious talk! Let's go out and have fun at the

culture festival again this year!"

For a moment, a melancholy feeling ran through the class, but with Itsuki's

smile, the atmosphere instantly grew cheerful again. It had been the right call

for Itsuki to act as their leader.

"Oh, right, right, I have a business matter, or like, an important point to note. I

think you all already know this, but we're enforcing a no photos policy in the

café. I'll ask everyone to verbally remind guests at reception, but all

photography is banned. Even if someone asks, you have to refuse. Tell them we

don't offer that service. It'll only cause headaches, okay?"

Of course, they were not offering any photo-taking services, such as the kind

often found at the special cafés that existed in the electronics district in the

center of the city. Ultimately, this was a student culture festival, and they

weren't in the business of selling the likeness of their classmates.

To that end, they had posters stuck up in the café prohibiting photographs,

and a word about it on the side of the menus that were set out on the tables.

Similarly, video recording was prohibited on campus throughout the culture

festival event. Apparently, there had been a stalking incident against some girls

at another school after the students there streamed their events online, so

recordings of any kind had been banned at Amane's school for the past few

years.

When Amane thought about the fact that the world had changed so much

that they needed to ban such things, he got restless. He felt both impressed and

disgusted by technology. At any rate, there were bound to be some people who

didn't follow the rules, so they all had to be on their guard.

"Well, that about does it for the warnings. Things'll be picking up before too

long."

The same moment that Itsuki finished talking, the loudspeaker in the

classroom played a quiet tone, and then the principal began reading

announcements about the culture festival's events.

"All right, let's do our best today and tomorrow, guys! We're aiming to be the

class with the highest sales!"

Itsuki pumped his fist in the air as he shouted loudly and a little impulsively,

and excitement rippled through the class. The students were plenty fired up.

Amane also straightened up again, and Mahiru, who had been standing

quietly by his side listening, smiled demurely and murmured, "Let's do our

best."

As everyone could have predicted, they had customers from the moment they

opened…mainly other students, who had flocked to Amane's classroom.

"The angel effect is scary," muttered one of their classmates, another boy

who was in charge of customer service on the same shift as Amane, named

Yamazaki.

Perhaps he was overwhelmed by the unusual spectacle of a student

exhibition having every seat filled from the very start of the festival. Or it might

be more accurate to say that he was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the

clientele.

Naturally enough, there was no way that their café could handle all of the

customers at once, so they were limiting the number of people who could come

in at one time. But even so, it was no surprise that some of the students were

caught off guard by the level of success.

Every time Mahiru walked down an aisle, she drew stares from all the boys.

Amane's face was threatening to twist into a combined expression of

astonishment, admiration, and annoyance.

He understood the situation perfectly well and had resigned himself to

endure it, but still, an unpleasant situation was an unpleasant situation. From

Mahiru's perspective, she could probably say the same thing about Amane, so

both of them probably felt the same way.

"Well, this is exactly what we expected. Anyway, we have another customer."

In a chiding tone, Yamazaki left to show a customer who had just entered the

café to her seat.

It was the duty of any staff who weren't busy to receive the customers, but

some were trying to request particular servers, which was an issue. They

weren't offering a choice, and Amane thought that anybody who wanted

something like that ought to go visit a real maid café.

The female student who was being shown in just then had probably come

hoping to see Yuuta, but at the moment Yuuta was looking after a different

customer, so she would have to make do with Amane. He felt a little apologetic.

"Please have a seat, Miss."

Amane pulled out a chair and turned to his customer with the smile Ayaka

had taught him. The female student, who had been looking a little

disappointed, stared at him in apparent surprise.

Feeling guilty that he obviously wasn't the person she'd been hoping for, he

showed her where the basket for her bag was and then placed a menu in front

of her.

"Our recommended item of the day is this A set. How does that sound, Miss?"

"S-sure, I'll have that…"

Although Amane had given his recommendation, the menu actually consisted

only of three sets, each combining a baked dessert and a drink. It would have

caused issues if people had only ordered individual beverages, so they had

decided to sell sets instead.

When it came to allergies, the students at reception were advising guests to

disclose any restrictions ahead of time, so that shouldn't be a problem.

To the girl who had placed her order with some hesitation, Amane answered,

"Very well. Please wait here until the items you've ordered are ready." Then he

bowed once with polite movements and went to tell the people working in the

back.

"One A set. We're getting lots of orders, so hang in there, guys."

In the back, Amane's classmates were arranging sweets onto plates and going

back and forth between the classroom and the section of the school kitchen

that their class had reserved. One classmate who happened to be free for a

second raised his head sluggishly.

"Whoa…I just looked at reception, it's crazy."

"Never say die," Amane encouraged him.

"We'll get through it somehow, since we prepared most of the things for our

café before we even opened, but man…"

"We'll get through it, but…"

"…Looking out there, I'm thinking you guys are going to have it rough later."

"Oh yeah? Well, Kadowaki's really in demand, and I do think we're only going

to get busier."

"That's not what I mean, though."

The other student sighed at him, but didn't say specifically what he was

alluding to. Amane didn't really understand, but he figured it wasn't that big of

a deal.

He gave his classmate a look that said he didn't understand what he meant

and got a pitying look in return.

"Also, every time Miss Shiina's come to the back, she's had kind of an

unhappy look on her face."

"What, every time?"

"I think it was because of you."

"I'm stuck serving customers, there's nothing I can do."

"That's also true, but that's probably not the issue."

"I have no idea what you've been trying to say this whole time."

Amane got the feeling that he was somehow being blamed for something in a

roundabout way, but he couldn't quite grasp what. He frowned.

He figured that it was probably Mahiru being jealous, but from the way the

other boy was speaking, it sounded like she might be sulking for some other

reason.

He decided to ask Mahiru about it later, cut off the conversation there, and

carried the order to his table.

An hour had passed since they had opened up shop, but there was no sign of

their customers losing interest. If anything, it was growing.

There had been a steady increase in the number of guests, and the fact that

they were waiting in line seemed to be stirring up people's curiosity. At first

their customers had mostly been students, but gradually they started seeing

more outside invitees.

Though they understandably didn't show the same level of excitement as the

students, here and there Amane could see customers swooning at the

appearance of the staff, who were all attractive young people.

Among them, he also saw some relatively young customers trying to strike up

friendly conversations with the staff, but they were getting the cold shoulder.

"You're awfully cute, young lady."

Mahiru was of course also receiving compliments, but she thanked the

customers with a reserved smile and went right back to her job.

She interrupted the man who was trying to make a pass at her, making it clear

that she had no intention of allowing him to continue the conversation, and

instead repeated her question.

"Have you decided what you'd like to order?"

She sounded like she was reminding him that he was just another customer,

and the way she handled him was the same as anyone else.

"I have decided on my order, but more importantly, you…"

"If you've decided, then I can take your order."

"Um, so after this, if you're free—"

"I'm terribly sorry, but we don't offer those sorts of services. If you've

decided, then I can take your order."

The man was still trying to persuade her, but Mahiru handled him by the

book, smiling all the while. He seemed to realize that he was getting cold looks

from the other staff members and, looking deflated, he meekly gave her his

order.

That kind of thing happened multiple times, leaving Amane wearing a

lopsided smile.

…Looks like it's not just me. Everyone seems to be feeling overprotective.

He sensed that the whole class was working together to keep Mahiru from

facing any danger.

He knew, of course, that she was beloved by their class, but he hadn't

expected her to warrant so much consideration.

"I know that you're worried, but the rest of us are keeping an eye out, too, so

try not to be too tense, okay?"

Amane was secretly marveling at their kindness when Yuuta approached him

with a wry smile, apparently free for a moment.

Girls had been approaching Yuuta all day, but perhaps because he was used

to it, Amane had seen him dodging their advances smoothly.

"I understand that it makes you uneasy, having such a popular girlfriend, but

even you can't be worrying about Miss Shiina constantly, Fujimiya. The rest of

us will support you whenever we can."

"Kadowaki…"

It was at times like this that Amane really appreciated the kind nature of

Yuuta and his other classmates. Gradually, the warmth of that feeling

permeated his chest.

"Well, I don't want my friend feeling bad, that's part of it, but…I also don't

want anyone to cause problems when you're finally healing."

"Healing?"

"The consensus of the class seems to be: Don't pop their sweet little bubble.

No one wants to get in your way."

"Sorry, I don't really get your meaning."

Amane didn't think anyone would blame him for looking at Yuuta with eyes

that said What the heck are you talking about?

He had never known his friend Yuuta to say anything like that, and he didn't

understand exactly what he meant, either. Amane stiffened, and Yuuta smiled

broadly and chuckled in apparent amusement.

"Well, I think I can just say one way or another, that Miss Shiina is loved. I

think I can also say that people approve of you two going out together."

"So you're basically saying we're under observation?"

"Well, I mean, the two of you are always flirting, so people do see that."

"We are not always flirting."

"Oh, come on."

Yuuta turned the same skeptical look back on him.

Amane pursed his lips.

He didn't remember flirting intentionally.

He didn't remember doing it, but he did sometimes touch Mahiru without

thinking about it. And it had probably come across that way many times.

…I've got to be careful.

Otherwise, he might unintentionally mess up some time.

Yuuta saw that Amane had fallen silent. With an amused chuckle, he said

nonchalantly, "Well, I guess it's all good as long as the two of you are happy."

That embarrassed Amane somewhat, and he pressed his lips closed even

tighter than before.

"Amane?"

Amane stepped into the back for a moment, and Mahiru, who also happened

to be in the back, approached him, her eyes beaming enthusiastically.

Feeling his heart throb at her sincere smile, the one she only turned on for

Amane and completely different from her customer service smile, he turned

and greeted her with his own smile that he had reserved for Mahiru only.

"You're not too tired?" he asked.

"I'm fine. Everyone's being so thoughtful…though I was surprised to see

everyone smiling even while they intimidated the people who try to photograph

us."

"Ah. Well, there's already signs that photographs are prohibited, and they're

telling people upfront. If someone ignores all that, then we've got no other

choice."

"Somehow, everyone seems very motivated…"

"I guess so."

Amane couldn't say that it was because everyone was, for some reason,

watching out for them, so he didn't give a straight answer. Mahiru didn't seem

to notice and giggled slightly, in a voice like a tinkling bell.

He wasn't sure whether she didn't realize it, or if she was just used to it, but

for the time being, Mahiru seemed to be preoccupied with the café. She

glanced around at the back of the house.

"The customers are coming in more consistently than I expected, don't you

think?"

"Yeah, I guess it's the bandwagon effect or something. The thing where you

see people lined up, so you want to go in."

"Probably, yeah. Of course, there's also the other thing."

Then she shifted her gaze to Amane.

"…I think that people come in if there's someone here they want to see," she

said. "Listening to the conversations out there, I've heard a lot of that."

"Well, if you're talking about the students, it does seem like a lot of them

would come to see you, Mahiru…"

"…Amane, there are a number of things I need to discuss with you once this

culture festival is over."

"Huh, like what?"

"A number of things."

Mahiru frowned slightly, as if she was feeling dissatisfied about something,

but hiding it. Worried that he had tripped some kind of land mine, Amane gazed

into Mahiru's eyes, and she turned away in a huff.

However, this didn't seem to be a signal that she was angry, but rather a

gesture that came from embarrassment. Her cheeks were faintly tinged with

red.

"…It's not fair, you looking like that."

"Huh…it's about time you got used to it. How many times did you see me like

this during practice?"

"The way you look at others and the way you look at me is just too different.

It's impossible to get used to it."

"Well then we're both in trouble…"

The looks they gave their sweethearts and the looks they gave their

customers weren't supposed to be the same. Even if an incredibly cute female

customer came in, Amane would treat her the same as all the others.

And anyway, he didn't think he would ever meet a person who could rival

Mahiru's cuteness. He thought she looked more adorable than anyone else in

the world, wearing a sulky, embarrassed expression; the kind that she would

only show to Amane.

"You just don't get it, Amane… I won't hand you over just because they finally

realized how good you are."

When Mahiru suddenly changed the topic, Amane cocked his head,

wondering what she was talking about all of a sudden. But she didn't say

anything further, she just slapped her hand against his chest once, as if venting

her anger.

The thing that gave Amane the most anxiety about Mahiru working in the café

at the culture festival was not that she attracted such attention. And it was not

the people who pestered her trying to strike up a conversation because of her

good looks.

It was the arrival of a person who would try to abuse someone else to satisfy

one of the major three desires of human beings.

Just after noon, less than an hour before Amane and Mahiru's shift was over

—

There was a male customer who, from the moment he entered the room, had

not stopped following the female staff with his eyes. Of course, at this café

many customers were there to be waited on by good-looking girls, so that

wasn't unusual.

However, this customer had been looking at them like he was sizing them up,

so Amane had a feeling that they needed to be a little cautious around him.

Amane had just finished delivering a customer's order and was heading back

to the back room with a tray in one hand…when he saw someone else's hand

reach out for Mahiru.

Mahiru had also just finished delivering an order to that man. The moment

she turned around was when it happened. It went without saying that she

couldn't see what was happening behind her.

Amane saw him trying to touch her lower back, which was covered by her

skirt—actually, his hand was headed for her rear end.

Amane took one step forward. Because he was so nearby, Amane was able to

reach out with a relatively relaxed movement, using what he was holding in his

hand.

"Sir, we must ask that you refrain from careless contact with the staff in this

establishment."

Amane had been able to slip his tray between the man's hand and Mahiru's

body before there was any contact. He quietly spoke words of caution, feigning

a gentle tone the whole time.

The expression on his face was genial, but on the inside, he felt like he was on

fire. Even under normal circumstances, he would get a little irritated if he saw

someone hitting on his adorable girlfriend, but that man had tried to grope her.

Mahiru turned around at the sound of his voice and seemed to understand

implicitly from the positions of the hand and the tray what had almost

happened to her. Her face twitched in surprise as she took a step back.

Amane, who had slipped in to protect Mahiru, was wearing the gentlest smile

he could muster.

Once everyone noticed what was happening, the café fell silent. Amane felt

everyone's gazes gathering on them, but he was so angry that he didn't care.

However, at the same time, he was calm.

He had only witnessed a failed attempt, something that the culprit would

have been able to explain away if he tried.

The people around them probably realized that, too. They were staring at the

man's hand, but he hadn't done anything yet. If the man were to say that it was

an accident, Amane would likely have no option but to back down.

But Amane realized there was one thing the man could not explain away,

even if he claimed that he was innocent of trying to touch Mahiru.

"By the way, sir, where is your ticket for admission onto campus?"

He saw the man's eyes go wide at the sudden change of subject.

"Allow me to ask you this question: How did you enter the school grounds?

You don't seem to have an admission wristband."

At their school, visitors were given disposable, yet sturdy, wristbands to wear,

showing they were allowed on campus.

There had been a lot of disturbing incidents in recent years, as well as a rash

of thefts, so during this culture festival period, when a great many people were

coming and going, the students didn't even wear their name tags, but had

lanyards hanging from their necks with cords color coded by school year, and

ordinary visitors wore the wristbands.

Inside the school, there were some staging areas for the students that

outsiders were not permitted to enter. This was also a measure taken to ensure

that no one slipped behind the scenes.

When Amane pointed that out, the man stammered, "I-it got wet and tore

off, so…"

Amane smiled even wider. "How strange. But it was made of waterproof

paper. Also, I believe it should say in your pamphlet that if you lose your

wristband, you are supposed to report it to the main office, because they can

issue you a new one. By the way, who is the student who applied for you to

have permission to come on campus? What is their school year and class

number? I'm sure you can tell me that."

"W-well, I—"

"…It's no use asking, is it?"

Amane put his smile away, and looked over to the café staff who were

watching this all go down.

"Sorry, but would someone go call a member of the student council or a

teacher? I'm sure it's unwise to have uninvited outsiders wandering around."

"We've already contacted someone, and it sounds like the teacher who is

patrolling the festival is on the way."

"Great, thank you."

Amane shrugged with a sense of relief at the quick response and initiative

from Kadowaki, then turned his attention back to the attempted groper with a

smile.

Of course, he was aware that his eyes were not smiling.

"Sir. Without even mentioning your conduct a moment ago, it is an issue to

have unrelated persons enter campus without permission. I'm terribly sorry,

but I believe they will want to speak with you in the main office."

In a detached tone, he told the man what was going to happen. Just as he

finished, the homeroom teacher arrived and approached the man. Amane took

Mahiru, who had been standing off to the side, by the hand and pulled her

away, breathing a quiet sigh.

The attempted groping would be reported, and likely result in the forced

eviction of the culprit. Some of the guys he had served earlier hadn't seemed to

understand why the school had implemented the advance application process,

and their foolishness had astounded Amane.

The applications noted which students had invited which guests, mainly to

ensure that no strangers were invited.

A guest could be identified if they got out of hand, and the student who had

invited them could also be taken to task, so common sense dictated that hardly

anybody would act in an inappropriate way.

Although, hitting on the girls was just barely on the safe side. So as long as

someone wasn't too persistent, they weren't likely to be admonished.

Amane was concerned about how the man had gotten onto campus, but he

assumed they would interrogate him in the main office.

Next year, or possibly even the very next day, people would probably be

obligated to present their wristbands for identification before entering their

café.

The man was saying something, but it didn't have anything to do with Amane,

so he ignored it.

When Amane confirmed that the man had left the classroom with their

homeroom teacher, he looked back at his customer with a smile, as if nothing

had happened.

"My dear customers, I'm so sorry for the disturbance. Please go ahead and

enjoy your tea."

He bowed gracefully and the other staff followed suit and bowed, too, as if to

reassure everyone that the disturbance was over.

Amane made sure that he heard people start chatting again, as they had been

before. Then without a word, he took Mahiru's hand once again and pulled her

toward the back.

"Eh, uh, Amane?"

"We're almost at the shift change anyway, so go ahead and start your break

first. If you wait for me in the back, I'll be there soon to get changed with you."

When he looked at all of the other students surrounding them, assuming they

would have no problem with that, his classmates all waved as if to say, 'hurry

up and go', so he bowed his head a little bit, took Mahiru into the back, and sat

her down in a chair that was there.

He stroked Mahiru's head, noting that she was a little out of it, like she hadn't

yet shaken off the shock of it all. He reasoned that even if they were on the

cusp of a shift change, they couldn't both abandon the floor, so he headed for

the front again.

When it was time for the shift change, Amane headed to the back, where he

found Mahiru still sitting in her chair, looking very small and waiting quietly. In

her hand was a paper cup full of coffee, which a thoughtful classmate must

have given her to help calm her down.

Mahiru noticed that Amane had come back, and the look in her eyes softened

with relief. When he saw that, Amane's eyes also softened.

"Welcome back," Mahiru said.

"Thanks. Have you calmed down?"

"…It really wasn't bad enough for everyone to be worrying about me."

"Of course they're worried. That's normal."

He had pulled her into the back because he'd had a hunch that it was taking

her time to process what happened, and he didn't think his judgment had been

in error.

Mahiru looked just a little bit uneasy. He tried stroking her head again, and

she cast her eyes downward bashfully and sipped her coffee to try to hide her

feelings.

When Amane saw that the contents of the paper cup were gone, he laid his

sweatshirt, which he had left in the back, over Mahiru's lap.

Their school had a central air conditioning system that always maintained a

suitable temperature, but as the seasons transitioned into autumn, it was

getting colder little by little, so many students carried jackets with them. This

time, Amane had brought his sweatshirt, thinking he would get Mahiru to put it

on.

"Here, put this on. You know you'll stand out if you walk around in those

clothes."

If Mahiru went out walking around still dressed as a maid, she would attract

attention, and outside of their café, still photography was generally allowed, so

Amane was ready with the sweatshirt, so that she wouldn't cause too much of

an uproar.

Because of the difference in their heights, Amane's sweatshirt covered

Mahiru down to the thighs, so if she took off her apron, she probably wouldn't

stand out all that much. Mahiru herself always attracted attention, so there was

no helping the fact that her beauty would draw people's eyes.

Once Mahiru removed her apron, obediently put on the sweatshirt that she

had been handed, and had zipped the front all the way up to the top, she

somehow seemed to be in a better mood than she had been a moment earlier.

As she worked very hard to roll up the overlong sleeves, she brought her nose

close to the fabric and sniffed loudly, her lips spreading into an open, broad

smile. Amane wished she would stop doing that. Her warm smile was hard on

his heart.

Witnessing their interaction, Itsuki, who was about to start his afternoon shift,

grinned broadly as he straightened out his necktie, so Amane frowned hard,

which made him grin even more.

Amane felt as if he had somehow been defeated, and put on an even more

sullen face, but Mahiru then batted her eyes and smiled again, so he reluctantly

accepted the stares.

That said, it wasn't like he wanted to continue drawing attention, so Amane

pulled the bag that contained his usual school uniform from his personal locker

in the back. If he took off his jacket and waistcoat first and left them in the

locker, he figured he wouldn't stand out walking down the hallways.

He knew that Mahiru was going to change, too, so he stood up and put her

apron in the locker, then took out her uniform.

"All right, we're out," he said to Itsuki. "Good luck for the rest of the

afternoon."

"Roger! Go flirt to your hearts' content."

"Shut up. And make sure you two aren't flirting inside the café."

He frowned again at the flippant answer, but Mahiru squeezed his hand, so

he couldn't really scowl any more than that, and with a terribly twisted

expression, Amane left the classroom with Mahiru.

When they stepped into the hallway, they could see, as expected, that it was

quite a bit livelier than usual. Even with the advance application system, a great

many guests had turned up, so the crowd was hardly surprising. But the

hallways, which usually weren't so noisy, were crowded and a little bit

uncomfortable.

"So many people," he remarked.

"Apparently more guests were invited than usual."

"Well, if there are this many folks here, I guess that explains how that weird

guy also slipped past the front desk."

Amane had heard that their culture festival had a bigger budget than the

festivals at other schools, so the scale was quite large. That was probably also

why there were a fair number of outsiders who wanted to attend.

When Amane mentioned the weird guy, Mahiru's gaze fell. Amane realized

that he shouldn't have said that, and he squeezed her hand a little harder.

"…You okay?" he asked.

"Ah, y-yes. It startled me, but it was a failed attempt, so…"

Mahiru seemed to realize that he was worried about her, and she quickly

shook her head, but if she were really fine, he didn't think she would have been

making that face.

"Sorry, I should have been watching more closely."

"You were busy, too, Amane. Anyway, I wasn't paying attention, that's what

caused it…"

"It doesn't matter whether you were paying attention or not, guys like that

will always try something. That's why the rest of us have to look out and keep

them away."

Whether she was paying attention or not, some things were out of her

control. And anyway, there was simply no excuse for a vile offense like groping.

Mahiru seemed to be blaming herself for her own carelessness, but there was

no way that it was her fault in any way. The kind of people who would do those

sorts of things would do them no matter what.

"It's not your fault, Mahiru. The idea that attractive people should expect to

be victimized is pure nonsense. Everyone deserves respect, regardless of

gender."

"…Yeah."

"So don't try to blame yourself," he whispered gently.

Mahiru frowned, looking just a little troubled, then pressed her body closely

against Amane's arm.

"…I don't want to be touched by anyone else. Not when you still haven't

touched me that much, Amane."

Mahiru's voice trembled a little as she whispered quietly, so he squeezed her

hand back to comfort her.

They were doing this as they walked around, so they were getting some

bothersome looks from the people around them. But it was well-known

throughout the school that Amane was dating the angel, so it was much too late

to care. Amane himself was still uncomfortable with being looked at, but he was

used to it by now.

"You said I haven't done it much, but I feel like actually I've hardly done it at

all."

"Sometimes when I come to wake you up, you flail at me when you're still

asleep."

"Stop me when I do that, would you? It makes me seem perverted."

When this shocking fact came to light, Amane stared at Mahiru, and saw that

the vitality appeared to have come back into her face. She had been looking

somewhat dejected, but now she was wearing an impish smile.

"I don't think touching your girlfriend's body is perverted, though."

"Even so, I mean…"

"I really don't mind it."

"You probably should, at least a little. I'll definitely touch you."

"Don't you want to touch me?"

"Well yeah, I am a guy, so I want to touch you all over, but it's still too early

for that."

Of course he wanted to touch her, but Amane was well aware that a man's

self-control was a fragile thing, so he had been trying not to touch her any more

than was necessary.

He was certain that Mahiru did not dislike his touch.

If anything, she liked it when Amane touched her. She said that it was

pleasant to share their body heat, and also that it made her happy when he

touched her.

However, if Amane were to touch her the way he really wanted to touch her,

things would likely escalate, so he had to hold himself back.

Whether or not she understood his state of mind, when Amane suddenly

turned away, Mahiru chuckled softly and clung tightly to his arm.

"Please, I need you to understand that I don't dislike it."

"…I know that."

Even though he knew that she granted him that permission because she liked

him, it was bad for his heart to hear her say it again.

Deciding secretly in his heart that once he was able to take responsibility for

anything that might happen, he would be all over her, Amane stroked the palm

of Mahiru's hand in a tickling way, and she smiled happily at his side.