Chapter 23: The Angel was overwhelmed by Vigor

Napping was a common instance.

She was in a warm room with heating on, and just had lunch. These two conditions were prime for her to fall asleep.

Does she usually sleep in a boy’s room? For a moment, he had such a thought, but since she had deemed him as a harmless person, Mahiru might have accidentally fallen asleep.

She could not be blamed for this though. It was boring to wait foolishly without making a sound, and some things just happened.

The reason why he had his head cupped was because his mom Shihoko barged into his room at this moment, and witnessed her in this state.

Truly, there was a misunderstanding.

If he was in someone else’s shoes, Amane too would have misunderstood, thinking that they were on such good terms, she could be sufficiently careless to sleep in his room.

His face twitched as he glanced aside at his mom, and found her eyes dazzling as she stared at Mahiru. “Oh my oh my.” so her heart started to blurt out, or perhaps he was just over imagining things.

“Oh dear Amane, you found such a cute girlfriend! You really can’t be underestimated!”

Kyaa, she squealed with a voice unfitting of her age, and his head started to ache.

She had completely misunderstood, and was completely excited.

Typically, no parent would be that excited to see her son bring a girlfriend home.

But she was being so excited, and one reason was definitely because she loved cute things.

Well, it was true Mahiru had the appearance of a really pretty girl.

She was completely defenseless as she slept, her usual facade shed, and most importantly, her expression and actions clear to see.

The speckless face was in a relaxed, peaceful state.

He was used to it, but every time he saw Mahiru, he found her pretty face exquisite, extremely adorable.

The innocent sleeping face was so defenseless, so adorable that he had the urge to pat it.

The way she hugged Amane’s cushion strongly whetted the kind of desire Amane really did not want to openly talk about.

The girl was so pretty that Amane, who was on familiar terms with, had to admit so, and Shihoko assumed she was the son’s girlfriend (for the moment).

It was likely this was the reason for her excitement.

“So you didn’t want mom to enter because your girlfriend is inside? Goodness, you’re becoming a man before I know it!”

“Not at all! Absolutely not! She’s not my girlfriend, not anything!”

“Ahh, you don’t have to find excuses now, you know? Mom’s not going to object to anyone you choose, Amane.”

“Eh no that’s not the problem here! We’re not dating! Not at all!”

“You say you’re not, but she’s in your room, you know?”

“That’s because you suddenly popped by! You would have misunderstood even if she’s in the living room!”

“Well, the main issue is that if you never intended to, you wouldn’t have invited a girl into your house. If the girl doesn’t like you, she wouldn’t be in your house, right?”

Upon being pointed out, he tried to retort, but could not think of any.

As Shihoko had mentioned, Amane normally treats his house as his own territory, and would not willingly invite others in.

Initially, he let Mahiru in because of the turn of events, but ever since that, leaving aside the cooking, Amane let Mahiru into his house because he was interested in her personality.

Well, I can say that I like her.

Her appearance aside, Amane really was fond of the girl Mahiru.

She had a conflicting personality she typically would not show in school, vicious, blunt, and yet dishonest; she looked aloof, yet she loved to care for others; she never minced her words; whenever the unexpected was pointed out, she would panic and show a look befitting her age; a few rare times, she would show an innocent smile. At this point, Amane felt these were all of Mahiru’s charms.

It could not be described as love, but at the very least, he found her to be a really attractive girl.

“I like her as a friend, but don’t think it as love for the opposite gender. Also, she doesn’t have interest in me.”

They were not so close for him to agree with Shihoko. To be honest, Mahiru might not be happy about being misunderstood, that she had feelings for Amane.

“Oh my, you can’t say that though? You’re not getting a little uppity just because you think you understand the complex feelings of a girl, are you?”

“How many times, mom, must I tell you we don’t have that relationship…Shiina, please, wake up…”

Even after saying all he could, Shihoko kept talking about romance, and Amane could only put his hand on his forehand.

He really wished Mahiru could wake up earlier, really.

“Nn…”

Amane’s prayer might have worked, or perhaps she woke up because of the commotion.

Mahiru slowly lifted her eyelids, making a sweet sound as she lifted her face.

Her flax-colored hair slid off her shoulders.

Her caramel-colored eyes were blurry and moist, such defenselessness left Amane unable to stare at her.

She looked up at Amane with sleepy eyes, probably aware that she was not completely awake, and he averted his eyes slightly.

“Shiina, forget about how you fell asleep, please help me clear up this misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding…?”

“Hey hey, girlfriend, your name?”

A fluffy looking Mahiru reflected on the meaning of those words, and Shihoko approached her without restraint, grinning away like a goody-goody.

Mahiru herself was confused after waking up, and faced with such an unfiltered smile and cordialness, her eyes were looking flustered.

“Eh, e-erm.”

“Nice to meet you. It’s important to introduce each other, you know!”

“Eh, M-Mahiru Shiina…”

“My, Mahiru-chan, such an adorable name! I’m Shihoko, you can call me by my name.”

Mahiru was pressed into giving her name, and she looked towards Amane, giving the “Save me, Fujimiya-san” look. Amane himself was hoping that someone else would save him however, and because he could not help, he shook his head to refuse.

He knew his mom really well, that once she lost control, there’s no stopping her.

Seeing how there’s exceeding interest, it appeared she wanted to have a full conversation with Mahiru for the first time.

Though she might not have noticed that the important Mahiru was looking troubled.

“E-erm, mother.”

“Oh! So you’re recognizing me as mom?”

“Fujimiya-san！”

“Fujimiya may refer to Amane and me. Hey, Amane.”

“Mom, you’re troubling Shiina.”

“Amane, you can’t be calling your girlfriend by anything other than her name, you know?”

Amane frowned, for Shihoko really was not listening to him, but Shihoko did not appear to mind as she continued to grin away. She was either a bold one, or thick skinned at least.

“E-erm, Shihoko-san.”

“Wha~t?”

“Actually, Fujimiya and I-I,”

“Which one are you referring to~?”

“…I-I do not have that kind of relationship with A-Amane-kun.”

Mahiru was clearly flustered by Shihoko’s taunting words, but she did her best to deny it.

With Shihoko prompting, Mahiru said his name after much trepidation, shooting a few looks at him. Shihoko in turn beamed away now that she got Mahiru to call Amane’s name.

“Oh, will this be how the relationship goes in the future?”

“Eh, e-erm, that is not.”

“Oh dear, am I being a third wheel over here?”

“E-erm, please let me explain! I do not have this kind of relationship with Amane, kun. Just eating together. Amane-kun cannot cook after all.”

“You make a good bride, Mahiru-chan. Our Amane here has to live alone without knowing how to do housework. If this is so, please continue to support him.”

“Ah, that.”

He felt Mahiru was doing her best.

But it was impossible to fend off against Shihoko’s momentum and explain what was going on.

Shihoko’s eyes were glittering more than ever once she knew Mahiru had been dropping by regularly, cooking for him, eating together with him.

At this point, Amane could not stop Shihoko. The only one who could would be his father Shuuto.

“…Give it up, Shiina. My mom’s not going to listen once she gets all excited.”

“That…”

Amane was at the point of enlightenment, and could only give up and explain, staring slightly at his mom who was out of control.