One day, on a weekend— The shampoo Mahiru used daily was on the verge of running out, so she went shopping for more, and while she was out, she went to the salon she always visited for a trim and a hair treatment. She was on her way home when she stopped by a café for a rest, and she spotted a familiar face in the corner. Since it was a weekend, there were many people in the café, so she had been looking for an open seat and ended up spotting her acquaintance. But she was unsure whether she should say anything to him. If it had been Chitose, then Mahiru would have called out without thinking twice, but, well…although Mahiru recognized this person, Amane’s friend Yuuta, he wasn’t someone with whom she’d ever had much contact, so she hesitated. I wouldn’t exactly say we’re close, after all. Mahiru hadn’t yet gotten a good handle on what sort of friends they were, so running into him in a café like this was awkward. Honestly, Mahiru mostly thought of Yuuta as a friend of Amane, Itsuki, and Chitose. Of course, when she ran into him, she was perfectly capable of talking to him normally, but if someone had asked her if Yuuta was her friend, she would have had a hard time saying yes. She still felt a little bit of distance between herself and Itsuki, after all, so that was even truer for Itsuki’s friend Yuuta. He was like a friend of a friend, and even though she knew he was not a bad person, she wouldn’t exactly say they were close, either. They didn’t have the kind of relationship that made her feel obligated to go out of her way to speak to him when she saw him out and about. As she stood there, holding her tray with both hands, she wondered what to do. Then she realized she was blocking the way for the customers around her, and though she was hesitant, she walked over to the Yuuta, who was sitting at a two-person table, quietly reading a book. “Mr. Kadowaki, good afternoon.” “Huh? Ah, Miss Shiina, hello.” She spoke to him unassumingly, and he looked up, a bit flustered, probably surprised to hear his name all of a sudden. Since it was the weekend, Yuuta was dressed in casual clothes, and Mahiru was struck by how handsome he was. When he lifted his head, the girls around them made a bit of a commotion. They didn’t quiet down when he exchanged his expression of surprise for a gentle smile. Mahiru imagined he must have also had a hard time with that sort of thing. “Are you out shopping today?” “Yes, I came in here for a little rest and spotted you, Mr. Kadowaki.” She shook the shopping bag that was hanging from her wrist a little bit to show him, and Yuuta nodded in understanding. “I see, you must be tired. Do you want to sit across from me? It doesn’t look like anywhere else is open.” “Thank you very much. In that case, I will accept the seat.” Though she felt a bit shameless about it, she took him up on his kind offer and sat down in the seat across from him. Considering the level of popularity the two of them enjoyed at school, it was probably a little risky to be sharing a table at a place like that. There was no guarantee that there weren’t any other students from the same school around them. Unfortunately, not only were there no other seats open, but when Mahiru looked around at the other tables, none of them seemed likely to become free anytime soon, so Mahiru decided it was unavoidable. Mahiru set her tray down on the table and paused while Yuuta smiled and pulled all the loose-leaf paper spread out across the table over to his side. He had a textbook and a pen case out as well, so he had likely been studying on his own at the café. “Mr. Kadowaki…it looks like you have a break from club activities today. Were you studying just now?” “Yep. I thought about doing it at home, but my older sister was being annoying.” “Your sister?” Come to think of it, she had heard from Amane in the course of conversation that Yuuta had a sister, but she was surprised to hear him say she was disruptive enough to get in the way of his studies. She didn’t know anything about his family, but she had a really hard time imagining any older sisters of Yuuta, who was so composed for a high school student and who had such a gentle disposition, would have personalities that annoyed him. Mahiru blinked sharply several times, and Yuuta smiled wryly. “Hard to believe, huh?” He continued, “…It isn’t really something I should talk to another girl about, but… You see, when a guy has a bunch of sisters and they gang up on him, it creates this situation where he’s simply no match for them. He gets overwhelmed by sheer numbers and has to listen to whatever they say…and get pushed around. A lot.” “Well, I suppose that’s how some families can be.” Mahiru was, of course, an only child—though her mother had likely had another child outside of her marriage—and didn’t understand the feeling of having sisters. Or rather, she still hadn’t quite grasped what a normal family was like, so she wasn’t sure what kinds of roles older sisters and younger brothers would normally play. She’d heard about family hierarchies and that sort of thing, but she didn’t really understand. “I’m sure it’s different for every household, but in my family, my sisters are pretty aggressive, so…” “Heh-heh, you’re a gentle and kind person, Mr. Kadowaki, so I’m sure you do all you can to grant your sisters’ wishes.” “I guess you could put it that way.” “I always think it’s best to phrase things in a positive light.” At any rate, it was probably true that Yuuta was annoyed by his situation, but Mahiru reasoned that even if she was agreeing with him, it wouldn’t be polite to say anything negative about his sisters, so she chimed in with praise for Yuuta instead, which he answered with a slightly uncomfortable-looking expression. She didn’t sense any ill will from Yuuta toward his sisters, and they didn’t seem to bother him that much, so her choice had probably been the right one. “Well, if I stayed home, I’d get stuck doing some odd job or another, but at the same time, I wasn’t feeling serious enough to go study at the library, so I came here to get a little breathing room.” “I see.” She understood what he was trying to say, but it didn’t quite compute. “Was this the right place for that?” When she glanced at the tables around them, she could see the young women there were repeatedly looking over and talking to each other in whispers. She wasn’t interested in listening in on each and every conversation, but she figured they were probably saying something about Yuuta. He also seemed to guess what Mahiru was implying, and he put on a thin smile. “Mm, more or less. I’m used to that by now.” “You must have a hard time of it, too.” “Ah-ha-hah, not nearly as bad as you do.” “In that case, I have to confess that I’m used to it, too, you know?” “Guess we both have it tough, huh?” “We certainly do. It’s a real problem.” In cases like this, Mahiru and Yuuta were two of a kind. They would both smile bitterly if anyone mentioned it, but these two people, who were called by the nicknames angel and prince, were both good-looking individuals. At least, they both always had to put up with the opposite sex making a fuss over them, and they both often had to deal with stares and getting chatted up. Looking at Yuuta’s present situation, Mahiru reasoned he’d had similar experiences. The main difference was that while Mahiru had deliberately been putting on her act, Yuuta was probably just being himself. He didn’t seem to have a hidden side to him like she did. “Miss Shiina, I can tell this stuff makes you uncomfortable, doesn’t it?” “Oh, but I didn’t say that—” “I didn’t say anything about it, either.” “Heh-heh.” She’d always thought they had a lot in common, and now she could see their personalities were similar as well. Yuuta probably wasn’t as scheming as Mahiru was, but she also didn’t believe everything about him was so neat and tidy, or that there wasn’t anything about him that he kept to himself. However, it was true he was discreet about it. Mahiru smiled, willing him not to press the issue any further, and Yuuta also gave her a gentle smile. “Well, we’re never going to feel at ease as long as we keep sizing each other up like this, so let’s give it a rest. Besides, I’m sure it’s true you have all sorts of troubles of your own, Miss Shiina, so let’s say we both have it rough and leave it at that.” “Let’s do that.” Though she felt somewhat relieved Yuuta had realized it wouldn’t be good to probe any further and had stopped while they were ahead, her main reaction was to reiterate to herself that she could never let her guard down. Yuuta got along with Amane, and he was a cautious person who kept to himself, so Mahiru knew he wouldn’t be a problem. And from what she had seen of him at school, she thought that, at the very least, he did have a wonderful personality. He had kept their secret even after running into her and Amane on their date over Golden Week, and he had always treated her amicably, regardless of her angel persona, so she could tell he was a very nice person. The fact she was still on guard was probably just a matter of habit. Mahiru had always thought Amane was the one who was bad at getting along with other people, but maybe she was really the one who had the most trouble with it. Because Mahiru fundamentally didn’t trust other people, she had always acted the part of the angel, hanging veil upon veil to keep everyone at bay, so no matter what she did now, she probably would never come to trust Yuuta completely. She didn’t dislike him, but she didn’t know him very well, and that made him a suspicious individual—was her general train of thought. Unaware of Mahiru’s internal calculations, Yuuta was looking at her with the same gentle smile as always. “Miss Shiina, were you out with Miss Shirakawa today?” “No, I’m on my own today. Chitose said she had plans with Mr. Akazawa, and it’s not like we go out together every time anyway.” Certainly, Chitose was her closest female friend, but they didn’t do everything together. Chitose, being who she was, had lots of other friends, too, so she hung out with those other girls and spent time with her boyfriend, Itsuki, as well. Mahiru had actually heard in advance about Chitose’s plans for the day, so she hadn’t even asked her. Going out to buy hair care products wasn’t something that was worth asking her to come along for anyway, and Mahiru was wary about intruding on Chitose’s time with her boyfriend. “Ah, Itsuki did say something about that. I just have this image of you that you’re always with Miss Shirakawa.” “Heh-heh, but we haven’t been hanging out all that long, you know.” “Maybe it’s because she makes such a strong impression? Whenever Miss Shirakawa sees you, she rushes over shouting your name, after all.” “She sure does. She keeps me company a lot.” The friendly Chitose did things like that a lot and was always eager to see Mahiru, so it must have seemed like they were very close. It gave people the impression they had been good friends for many years, but Mahiru had gotten to know Chitose only from the beginning of that year. In truth, not that much time had passed since they’d met. “You look like you’re such good friends, but I guess not all that much time has passed, huh? I was in a different class than either of you during our first year, so…how long have you been friends?” “We started hanging out around the beginning of this year, I suppose.” “Ah, so it hasn’t even been half a year yet.” “I’m incredibly grateful she’s been spending so much time with me since then.” Even Mahiru had no clue why Chitose was so taken with her, but she had been saved time and time again by Chitose’s straightforward, cheerful, friendly attitude. She was a little too energetic sometimes, but that was part of her charm. “Miss Shirakawa seems really taken with you, Miss Shiina. I hear about you all the time from her.” “…What has Chitose been saying now? Geez…” She’d never imagined Chitose had been talking about her to someone like Yuuta, and against her better judgment, she chided her friend even though she wasn’t around to hear it. Mahiru showed Chitose sides of herself that she would never show Yuuta, so she was incredibly worried that word of her behavior had leaked out. But Yuuta was looking at Mahiru the same way he always did, so she wanted to believe Chitose hadn’t put any funny ideas in his head. Mahiru internally resolved to caution Chitose casually about her big mouth later as she sipped her mostly cooled café au lait. But Yuuta was watching her intently with a gentle look in his eyes. “…It’s surprisingly easy to talk to you, you know.” “What do you mean?” She answered him with a question after moistening her lips, and Yuuta was evasive for a moment. “Hmm, how can I put this?” Then he said, “Well, this is kind of strange for me to say, but it’s not like you’re particularly good friends with me, right? To you, I’m probably more like a friend of a friend, and given that relationship, I assumed we’d have a hard time striking up a conversation.” Mahiru hadn’t even considered that Yuuta himself might have been anxious about the same things. After she blinked dramatically several times, she noticed he had an apprehensive, awkward, and uncertain look in his eye, and he was wearing a soft smile, so that made the little bit of wariness that had welled up inside her settle back down. “Well, it would be a lie to say I wasn’t reluctant at all, but I think I know you well enough, Mr. Kadowaki, so…” “I’m so happy you approve of me. I was sure you didn’t care for me very much, Miss Shiina.” “Didn’t care for you?” “Ah, maybe that’s not quite it, more like, you were avoiding me because you thought it might be a hassle to associate with me maybe?” Mahiru should have expected as much, but Yuuta was an intelligent person who was sensitive to the opinions and attention of others. Both she and Yuuta had resisted getting close to one another because they were each certain it would only cause trouble. Of course, she was not interested in him, so the biggest reason was that getting involved with him seemed like it would attract unwanted attention. If the two of them—Mahiru, who was so popular with the boys, and Yuuta, who was so popular with the girls—started getting along, it wasn’t hard to imagine the tidal wave of jealousy that would sweep over them. It would certainly cause both of them a headache, even more so than usual. Mahiru wouldn’t have even considered sitting with Yuuta like this if he wasn’t already friends with Amane. And Yuuta must have likewise decided not to invite any trouble, and to keep his distance out of a desire not to add any unnecessary anxiety to their lives. It must have been precisely because Yuuta also understood the stakes that he’d never made contact, even though they’d both been given similarly embarrassing nicknames. Though for Mahiru, the idea that, just like her, he simply wasn’t interested in her had some appeal. “I see. I can certainly see why you would be apprehensive about that, but that still doesn’t give me a reason to dislike you on a personal level, Mr. Kadowaki.” “…I guess that’s true.” “I think both of us were keeping an appropriate amount of distance, given that strange rumors would start flying if we didn’t, but I never particularly thought about you one way or another is the thing.” She was most definitely staying slightly on guard and thinking she couldn’t get too comfortable around him. But she didn’t find his personality unpleasant, and if anything, she thought he was just the type of person that she liked. At least, as far as chatting went, Mahiru found Yuuta pleasant enough despite her misanthropic tendencies. “Thanks very much for that.” “Actually, I thought you were the one who had a negative opinion of me, Mr. Kadowaki.” “That’s not true at all.” “I’m glad to hear that, but…” She knew he’d also been avoiding her, because of their popularity. But Yuuta’s attitude hadn’t ever changed all that much, even when other people weren’t watching them. Also, sometimes it felt like he was a little awkward around her, so she’d thought there might be some reticence toward her from his side. His frowning eyebrows told her she hadn’t exactly hit the nail on the head, but she’d said something he wasn’t expecting, and now he wasn’t sure what to say. She was once again aware she had misunderstood something, and she sighed quietly. “By the way, is it okay for you to sit here having coffee with me?” “What?” She received this curious question while she sat there lamenting that she still had some maturing to do. She answered him in her natural tone of voice, and he looked startled, so Mahiru cleared her throat and asked again, “What do you mean by that?” Yuuta put on a troubled smile that was different than the one he had on earlier. “I mean, do you have to hurry over…back to Fuji…to that guy’s place? I’m wondering if you could stay for a while.” He had avoided saying Amane’s name, mostly out of consideration for their surroundings. But Mahiru would have preferred he hadn’t asked in the first place. The question almost made her spill the café au lait she was nursing. She looked carefully up at Yuuta, trying not to let him sense how shaken she was, and she saw that, for some reason, he was wearing a puzzled expression. “Wh-what gave you that sort of idea?” “Uh, you’re always together, right?” “Wh-why—” “I mean, I can tell just by looking at you guys… Given the way you behave, it’s obvious to anyone who sees you. You’re together all the time, so…” She had already explained to Yuuta she’d been going over to Amane’s apartment to make meals, and he understood they were very close, but she hadn’t expected to hear he thought they were always together. Sure, Mahiru was often at Amane’s place. She hung out there so often she now thought of it as her own home, and she spent her time there even outside of meal times. Amane had never prevented her from doing so and had always accepted her presence, so it had become normal for her, but it was a big shock to have it pointed out by someone a little further removed. And then, to have it pointed out again that people knew just how much she loved Amane, made Mahiru nearly groan in distress. She only barely managed to maintain her composure. She decided not to dwell on whether she was really managing to keep up appearances. “…I’m really not…o-over there every day.” “But you’re over there pretty frequently. You seem to go about six times a week.” “I won’t deny that. After all, we split our groceries, so that means we eat most meals together.” “So it’s only reasonable you’d be together, huh?” Yuuta nodded earnestly. Mahiru had already dropped her reserved demeanor and glared at him just a little with her natural expression. “…Is there something you’d like to say to me, Mr. Kadowaki?” “Ah, there’s not anything in particular I’d like to say, but…ummm, if I have to say something, it’s that you’re much more animated now than you are when I see you in school.” “Isn’t everyone like that when they’re among friends?” “But it also seems different than when you’re with Miss Shirakawa.” Mahiru couldn’t say anything in response to that. Instead, she pressed her lips together. As if to set her at ease, Yuuta waved his hand lightly, with a soft look in his eye. “I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life or anything. I simply wondered if it wouldn’t be better for you to spend your time with him instead of me. He won’t get jealous?” Apparently he was trying to express his concern in his own way, but the stress made Mahiru’s heart skip a beat. She would have liked for him to just stop talking. …Jealous? Never. Actually, Amane never got jealous of the people around Mahiru. That was how his personality had always been; he wasn’t one to feel jealousy toward people who had nothing to do with him. The one getting jealous was always Mahiru. “…It would be easier on me if he did actually get jealous, I think,” she admitted. “Ah-ha-ha!” “If you were in his position, do you think you would get jealous, Mr. Kadowaki?” “Hmm, it’s kind of a strange question to bring up, but I don’t think I would get jealous. And I think if I told him you’d gone out for coffee with me, he’d pretty much shrug it off.” “…You know him very well.” “Has anything like that ever happened?” “I’ve talked with Mr. Akazawa before, just the two of us. But he was much more suspicious I might have said something out of line than he was jealous or anything.” “That sounds just like him.” “Though it’s good he doesn’t really get jealous of other people.” “If anything, it seems like you’re the one who gets worked up about things, Miss Shiina.” Faced with someone who seemed to read everything that was on her mind, Mahiru thought that perhaps Yuuta was someone she couldn’t handle after all… That was how it made her feel. Yuuta was totally unlike Amane, who was surprisingly frank and honest in spite of how calm he usually was, or Itsuki, who was oddly perceptive despite joking around all the time. Yuuta kept his thoughts concealed behind a smile, and he was shrewd, the type of boy who could be trouble if you made an enemy of him. Though Itsuki was also someone she didn’t quite mesh with, his obvious loyalty to Amane explained his behavior and helped her accept him—even if it was hard for her to decipher his thoughts at times. She turned a probing eye on him, but when her gaze fell on Yuuta, he gave a nervous chuckle. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to poke fun at you. I just meant to say that it’s easy to tell you’re deeply involved with him, that’s all.” “…Is it that obvious?” “Yeah.” When he agreed instantly, she put a hand to her cheek and sighed softly. “I guess we’ll have to be more careful. It’s not good to be so obvious yet.” “Not yet, huh?” “Yes, not yet.” “Then I hope the right time comes for you soon.” Perhaps because of Mahiru’s suspicions, it sounded to her like there was a hidden meaning behind his words, but Yuuta himself probably meant it as a genuine expression of support. She was perfectly aware of her habit of regarding others with suspicion, so she tried not to make too much of it. Be that as it may, his thoughts were still hard to read, so she narrowed her eyes a little and said, “…This is rude of me to say when you’re right here in front of me, but has anyone ever told you it’s hard to tell what you’re thinking?” “Don’t people often say that about you, too?” “Heh-heh, they do, behind my back.” Indeed, Mahiru wasn’t in a position to be criticizing Yuuta. When she put on her angel mask, Mahiru was kind and polite to everyone. However, she knew some people didn’t appreciate her goody-two-shoes act, and they talked behind her back about how her beauty was only skin-deep. There was nothing she could do about that. Mahiru was used to people bad-mouthing her. For all the praise she got from other people, she also had to endure an enormous amount of jealousy, envy, and resentment. People had started whispering behind her back after she’d settled into her angel persona, but that didn’t mean there weren’t some people who deliberately let her overhear them insulting her when she was alone. She understood that the more brilliant she was, the stronger her light shined, and the deeper the shadows it would create. For exactly that reason, she had never tried to do anything about that negative aspect of things, and she’d never expected it to change. Without letting her expression slip, and without saying a word, she just smiled back at Yuuta, trying to express that she was used to that treatment by now, and she had accepted it as a part of life. Yuuta had been smiling, but his expression clouded over. “So you know they’re talking, huh?” “Yes.” “…I feel like you’ve got it harder than I do, really.” “I’m used to it.” Really, it was probably not good for her to grow accustomed to such things, but it had become far too ordinary, and she considered it part of her everyday life. It had become commonplace. “Well, don’t pay it any mind. Or what I mean to say is, I wouldn’t know what to do if they came after me.” “I’m not foolish enough to pour oil on the fire.” “Thank you for your discretion.” Mahiru was grateful Yuuta stopped there, considering his own popularity. He also seemed to understand perfectly well it took more than a sense of justice for things to turn out all right. “Before things get too difficult, you’d better have a proper conversation with your man,” he said. “You might be right. I’ll give it some thought.” She accepted Yuuta’s advice, but as long as things didn’t get too bad, she didn’t intend to turn to Amane for help. Even so, she was grateful she had someone to turn to, and she could tell Yuuta’s recommendation came from a place of concern, so Mahiru nodded and then finished the rest of her café au lait, which had gone completely cold. After parting from Yuuta and finishing some additional shopping, Mahiru went home, or more accurately, she went back to Amane’s place. It was early evening, and she saw he had diligently set about preparations for dinner, which filled her chest with a steady warmth. Amane was doing his best preparing the vegetables while looking at the recipe Mahiru had left for him. Apparently he hadn’t noticed her come in, as he was busily running around the kitchen on his own. She watched him measuring things and staring down at the recipe, rustling the apron he had only recently started wearing as he worked, and her overwhelming love for him made her mouth curl into a smile. “I just got back.” When she called out to Amane, who was working so diligently, she saw him jump. He turned smoothly toward her, and the moment their eyes met, Mahiru grinned and Amane frowned apologetically. “Ah, welcome home. Sorry, I was concentrating, and I didn’t hear you come in.” “I bet you were. I can tell just by looking!” She had absolutely no intention of criticizing him; in fact, it tickled her when she saw Amane had started getting dinner ready on his own, and instead of being annoyed, she was filled with feelings of delight and happiness. “You really could have waited until I got home. I sent you a message saying I was on the way, you know?” “I wasn’t looking at my phone, sorry. But it makes it easier on you if I do all this first, right?” When Amane smiled and said he’d figured prep would take some time that day because some ingredients needed to be pickled, an indescribably ticklish and happy feeling welled up inside her. Though he had initially left all the cooking up to Mahiru, Amane had started regularly lending a hand and had even started cooking on his own, thinking ahead like this. Amane’s growth was amazing. If the Amane from six months earlier could see him now, his legs would go out from under him. “Thank you very much,” she said softly to Amane, who had been incredibly thoughtful so she could enjoy her outing. Amane looked amused. “That’s usually my line, you know.” Thinking about how that was one of the things she loved about him, she set her purchases down on the sofa. Then she tied up her hair and went back to the kitchen, where Amane was working, only to see Amane staring at her for some reason. “Is something wrong?” “No, your hair’s just even silkier than usual today. I mean, it’s always silky, but it’s, like, particularly glossy or something.” “…Did I tell you where I was going today, Amane?” She’d told him she was going out shopping, but she didn’t think she’d said anything about going to the hair salon. If he had known she was going to the salon, he would have expected to see a difference in her hair. But without knowing about her visit, he could have known only by observing her very closely. Mahiru never failed to look after her hair on a regular basis, so getting hair care at a salon didn’t change anything dramatically. The quality of her hair was better than usual, but if anything, it was an improvement only in the texture. “Huh? No, I didn’t want to pry, so I didn’t ask where. It’s just, when you were putting it up just now, it seemed a little neater than usual or, like, real smooth and pretty.” “You’re almost unbelievably observant.” “…Ah, so you went to the salon? That makes sense.” He seemed to grasp where she had gone that day after she confirmed her hair quality had improved, and he praised her without getting too carried away. “It looks pretty.” Mahiru refused to meet his eyes and quietly muttered. “Thank you very much.” Amane didn’t seem to take any particular notice of the change in Mahiru’s expression. As he looked at the recipe stuck to the refrigerator, he chuckled. “I think it’s about time I go, too.” She wasn’t sure whether she should be impressed by Amane casually voicing his awareness of that fact, or whether she should complain that it was so typical of him. Mahiru kept her mouth shut as she wondered, her heart pounding strangely as she stood next to Amane, washing her hands. While she appreciated the sight of Amane, who had totally gotten used to cooking, performing the prep work perfectly, Mahiru checked the next step in the recipe and then peered into the refrigerator. “Did you have fun on your outing?” In response to his question, coming softly from off to the side, Mahiru smiled slightly. “Yes, sometimes it’s nice to go walk about on my own.” “That’s great. It seems like you haven’t been going out much lately.” “Well, I’m really more of an indoor person, so I don’t go out unless I’ve got an errand to run, you know. I guess I don’t really have much energy for finding reasons to go out.” “Ha-ha, I get that. I also don’t go out without a good reason.” “You’d prefer to watch a movie or play a game at home, wouldn’t you, Amane?” “Right, right, I’m more laid-back.” Amane was even more of an indoor type than Mahiru was, but on his days off, he didn’t stay locked inside all day. Instead, he hung out with Itsuki and the other boys or went for a run. The boys tended to do fairly active things when they hung out, too, so he wasn’t necessarily a total couch potato. “By the way, I ran into Mr. Kadowaki today. We talked for a little while.” “Did you? I guess there weren’t any club activities today. What was he up to?” “…You were right.” Of course, Mahiru’s words weren’t for Amane, but instead directed at someone who wasn’t there. “It’s kind of a strange question to bring up, but I don’t think I would get jealous. And I think if I told him you’d gone out for coffee with me, he’d pretty much shrug it off.” She recalled what Yuuta had said at the café and realized Amane had just responded exactly as Yuuta had predicted. It made her feel weirdly frustrated somehow. “Hm, what’s up?” “Nothing. I just happened to run across him while he was studying at a café, and we shared a table; that’s all. He said his sisters would push him around if he went home.” “Ha-ha, I’ve heard they can be a handful. It must be really terrible, for Kadowaki to say something.” As his friend, Amane knew more about Yuuta than Mahiru did, but he didn’t seem to have actually met Yuuta’s sisters, and he was smiling in amusement as he imagined it. “…Is something wrong?” Amane must have noticed Mahiru was lost in thought, and he spoke to her in a tone of concern, so she shook her head slowly. “…How do I put this…? Mr. Kadowaki is someone I can’t let out of my sight, I think.” “Did Kadowaki do something?” “No, it’s just, since we’re similar types of people…when we were together, there was this strange tension in the air…” There was no way she could say she thought there was something shady about Yuuta, so she was deliberately ambiguous, and she softened what she had felt that day as she described it to Amane. Amane seemed more or less convinced and signaled his understanding, “Ah, like you were feeling each other out?” “We both have our reputations to consider, so I’m sure we did it automatically, but it was still scary.” “Sure, I get that, but Kadowaki’s a good guy, for sure.” “I know that! It’s just, people who are unconditionally nice scare me. People who do things that have no merit for them personally are harder to deal with than those who are after some reward.” Without a doubt, Yuuta was a good person. He was the type of person who naturally made Mahiru suspicious, but she could tell he wasn’t a bad person. Although he was difficult to read, she believed he was a decent guy. But for Mahiru, who had gone through her life without letting anyone get close, putting her full trust in him was a step too far. She knew he was thoughtful and he had a keen personality and he had been very supportive about her relationship with Amane. But she still found herself trying to read into his hidden side, without even knowing whether or not he had one. “I understand what you’re trying to say, but I don’t think you really need to be on your guard so much about that.” “I already know that, but…” It was in Mahiru’s nature to be vigilant anyway. “Well, if he’s not your cup of tea, I don’t think you have to force yourself to hang out with him. I wonder if I should watch myself a little around him, too?” “Oh, no, I didn’t mean to say that I dislike him. But…” “But?” “…He just…gives me pause.” For some reason, the high degree to which Yuuta understood Amane gave her a bad feeling. As far as Mahiru knew, Amane and Yuuta had been hanging out only since the start of the new year, so she was surprised he had developed such an accurate picture of Amane in such a short time. And even though she knew Amane didn’t belong to her, she felt like Yuuta had usurped her position as the person who understood Amane best, and it really bothered her. “You get a bad feeling about him?” “I don’t know if it’s bad exactly… I’m just being selfish. I don’t dislike him or anything like that.” “All right. Well, some people just don’t have chemistry. There’s no helping that.” “But…it’s like, you know, Mister Kadowaki knows you really well, for no real reason.” Amane cocked his head curiously at her. “He does?” “He does.” “…Why are you sulking?” “I’m not sulking.” As she added the seasonings Amane had apparently measured out in advance to the pot, Mahiru tried to convince herself she was not feeling even the tiniest bit jealous of Yuuta.
Chapter 170
32 min read