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Hitoshi and Shoichi-senpai both ended up giving me the exact same present, but apparently they had made their choice after having heard the new rumors. If they had tied that rumor to me, then obviously there was nothing I could do about that. What was amusing at this point was that all the condoms I now had in my possession had been given to me by someone else.
Shoot, what should I do? Should I hide them in my room somewhere? I never thought I’d have to even think about such a problem.
“You look kind of tired, Yoshin,” Nanami said.
“You too. You look drained,” I observed.
“Yeah, there was some stuff going on this morning,” she muttered.
“Yeah, me too. Stuff in the morning,” I returned.
We then looked at each other and heaved a heavy sigh.
We were currently in Nanami’s room, and I was visiting because she had told me she wanted to celebrate my birthday today. Tomoko-san and Saya-chan had also wished me happy birthday a little while ago.
Tomoko-san had asked if I wanted to join them for dinner to celebrate, but I declined; my parents were leaving work early today. Apparently Nanami’s family was going to celebrate my birthday with me on a different occasion, though, which made me feel undeniably grateful.
Today, Nanami was bundled up in several layers, given how cold it was outside. She was wearing fuzzy, pajama-like loungewear on top...and yet she was wearing super short shorts on the bottom, displaying a generous amount of thigh.
I thought about this every time, but I was always impressed by girls’ determination to wear short skirts and similar fashion items even in winter. Even when the weather was super cold, they still chose to forgo coverage on their legs.
When I asked Nanami if she ever got cold wearing those kinds of outfits, she told me she managed through sheer force of will. She then asked me to touch her thighs because they were cold—and when I did, I was genuinely shocked by how icy her skin felt. And it shocked me, too, that Nanami asked me to touch her thighs without any hesitation.
Ever since Hawaii, Nanami seemed to be less and less reticent about physical contact. That, of course, meant that I had to be more wary about it myself.
Though I couldn’t touch her breasts, in Hawaii or Japan.
Anyway, back to Nanami today. She was still looking pretty tired. Apparently she had been ambushed by other girls in the morning, interrogated by girls from the other classes at lunchtime, and then peppered with questions from girls in the year below on the way home.
She seemed even more burnt out than I was. I’d only been questioned by Hitoshi, Shoichi-senpai, Teshikaga-kun, and just a handful of other people.
If anything, Teshikaga-kun seemed like he’d already had his first experience. His reaction seemed to suggest as much. That was a delicate topic, though, so I shouldn’t be the one to bring it up.
“Rumors are really something, huh?” I let out.
“Yeah. I guess we just have to deal with it. Everyone loves this kind of relationship stuff,” Nanami said. She then added, self-deprecatingly, that before she and I started going out she loved talking about relationships too. Maybe all of this was reminding her of her past behavior.
I myself had never been interested in rumors, so this occasion simply reminded me of how scary they could be—and how important it was for me not to be irresponsibly swayed by them.
I also pretended I couldn’t hear the occasional comment that suggested I refrain from actions that would lead to such rumors getting started in the first place.
Though Nanami wanted to spend one-on-one time with me for my birthday, we didn’t expect to be so tired out, so she and I were just sitting in her room without doing much. After a while, though, Nanami approached me, sidling up to me as though she wanted me to pay more attention to her.
The fuzziness of her loungewear, combined with the touch of her leg on my hand...felt indescribably pleasant. How was Nanami’s skin so smooth, anyway?
It feels so different from mine. Oh man, this is so comforting. I must be super tired or something.
“Should we try the snacks we got?” I suggested.
“Snacks? You got that much?” Nanami asked. She tucked herself into my side, tilting her head to rest on my shoulder, her soft hair brushing against my cheek.
Though it broke my heart for us to separate, I had to pull myself away from Nanami in order to grab my school bag. I opened it...and felt, once again, slightly overwhelmed.
My bag was filled not just with textbooks, but with an astonishing number of little snacks as well. I had thought my bag still had some space to spare, but now it was filled to the brim. If the teacher had seen these snacks, they would probably have been confiscated.
I guess I should start by taking them all out.
“Wow, there are so many,” Nanami murmured in awe.
All lined up, the snacks really did look impressive.
There was everything, from slightly high-end chocolates and Japanese-style sweets to an assortment of cheapie items. All told it was a mountain of snacks I would never think to buy for myself. I had gradually accumulated them as gifts from multiple people, so I hadn’t realized until now just how many I had gotten. I’d have to return the favor on everyone else’s birthdays too. I should also learn my classmates’ names and faces already. I was still a bit iffy on some of them.