Volume 6 - CH 10

“… Just to be clear, is this one handmade, too?”

“Of course.”

Arisa nodded vigorously, puffing out her chest.

What Arisa brought was a strawberry shortcake.

The actual ‘Happy Birthday’ text was drawn with strawberry jam on top of white cream.

“You can have as much as you like, okay?”

“That would be nice… but, you know, I’m not confident that I can cut it up well…”

“Yes, I understand. Please tell me as much as you want, okay?”

Arisa cut the cake as large as Yuzuru requested…

For some reason, she got up and sat down beside Yuzuru.

“Eh, um… Arisa?”

“…excuse me”

Arisa took a fork in her hand and scraped off a bit of the cake.　

“Here, aah~…”

“Aah~…”

Yuzuru did as he was told and opened his mouth.

The taste of sweet cake immediately spread in his mouth.

“How is it?”

“Y-yes… delicious.”

“Good to know.”

With a smiling face, Arisa brought the cake to Yuzuru’s mouth.

Despite feeling embarrassed, Yuzuru obediently ate it.

However, it was not possible to have it fed to him endlessly.

“… Arisa, it’s time for you to give me back my fork.”

“Ah, yes…”

With a slightly regretful expression, Arisa handed Yuzuru the fork.

Using the fork, Yuzuru whittled the cake and…

“Arisa, aah~”

“Eh?”

“Here… don’t you want some?”

“I-I do!”

Arisa exclaimed and opened her mouth wide.

Yuzuru put a piece of cake in her mouth.

“How is it?”

“…I think I did a good job.”

Shyly, Arisa beamed.

The two continued to feed each other cake after that.

Now, after the meal…

(…it went off without a hitch.)

Relieved, Arisa drew a sigh of relief.

Although she still hadn’t handed over the present… it was safe to say that Yuzuru’s birthday party was almost a success.

(…Yuzuru-san also seems to be pleased with it. It was worth wearing)

Arisa muttered as she looked down at her maid outfit.

The bust was a little slack, the skirt was a little short, and wearing a maid outfit in the first place was a challenge and embarrassing for Arisa…

From the look on Yuzuru’s face, it did not seem that he thought it was strange.

And that’s when Arisa realized.

She still hadn’t heard Yuzuru’s thoughts on it.

“…master.”

Arisa called Yuzuru…

And she hugged him, pressing her own breasts against his chest.

“U-um… Arisa?”

Arisa asked Yuzuru, who showed a puzzled look on his face.

“I haven’t heard any impressions yet.”

“I-impressions…? A-ah !!　S-sorry… it’s cute, it looks great on you.”

“I see.”

For the time being, Arisa decided to be satisfied with those words.　

She was embarrassed to ask for specifics about how she looked good because that would be too embarrassing.

Besides, it was obvious from his attitude how good she looked in Yuzuru’s eyes when she was dressed in a maid’s outfit.

(…I’ll forgive him for stealing glances at my bosom.)

He’s a person who totally can’t help it.

thought Arisa, putting herself on the shelf for having gone to the trouble of wearing clothes that showed her cleavage.

“I’d like to take a closer look, is that okay?”

“Sure, but… what exactly do you want me to do?”

“Just stand up for now.”

Yuzuru told her to stand up.

“Is this okay?”

“Can you do a twirl, a turn, something like that?”

“Let’s see… like this?”

As she was told, Arisa twirled her body, using one leg as an axis.

Then she felt her skirt lift up softly.

She hurriedly held her skirt down.

Arisa felt her face heat up slightly.

She glared at Yuzuru.

“…was that your aim?”

Arisa lowered her voice and questioned Yuzuru.

Yuzuru shook his head from side to side in panic.

“N-no! I-I didn’t mean to peek inside!” 

…If he was lying, he wouldn’t have been so flustered.

Arisa reassessed that she was at fault for having done it too vigorously in the first place.

However, there was one thing she had to confirm.

“…You saw inside, didn’t you?”

“That’s, well…”

Apparently, he had seen it.

Arisa’s body became burning hot.

(…I guess I’ll take that as a blessing in disguise.)

Fortunately, her underwear for the day was safe to be seen…

It was one of Arisa’s particular favorites and also a new one.

“…by the way, how was it?”

“W-what do you mean, how was it?”

“Well, since things turned out this way, I thought I’d ask you what you thought of it.”

Since he saw it anyway.

Arisa resumed her stance and asked Yuzuru.

Yuzuru had a puzzled look on his face, but…

“…I thought you looked good in black as expected.” 

“I see.”

“Do you usually wear garter belts…?”

“N-no…, I matched it with my maid’s uniform.”

Arisa gently rolled up her skirt as she said this.

She bought a garter belt to try it on to match her maid’s outfit.

The first time she put it on, Arisa’s own impression was that it was surprisingly not too bad to wear.

“Did you buy it along with the maid uniform?”

“Yes.”

This was one of the uses of Arisa’s salary.

Since she would get an allowance to buy normal clothes, she decided to buy unusual clothes.

“Speaking of purchases…Yuzu-Master!　I have a present for you.”

Arisa said and brought a present for Yuzuru from the kitchen.

It was decorated with stylish wrapping paper and ribbons.

“Please… open it.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Yuzuru uttered a small thank you to Arisa…　

And he carefully unwrapped the ribbon, unwrapped the wrapping paper, and opened the box.

“Is this …lotion?”

“I thought about it a lot, but I thought a safe birthday gift would be something that you could use on a daily basis and that would also be consumable. Please use it after shaving or after your bath.”

At first, Arisa thought of giving an accessory or something similar, but it was also important to make sure that the decorative item would suit his taste.

If Yuzuru did not like it, it would be a nuisance.

Besides, he would have to be careful about how he kept the things that would remain afterward.

Since birthday gifts were given to each other every year, she thought it would be nice to have consumable items that could be used on a daily basis.

One of the choices was lotion.

Even Arisa could tell if the lotion was good or bad.

“I see… it is a good opportunity, and I think I’ll use it from now on.”

Yuzuru said and carefully put the lotion back in the box.

“By the way, Arisa… I’d like to express my gratitude if that’s okay.”

“…gratitude, is it?”

“Yes. Come over here and have a seat.”

Arisa did as she was told and sat down in front of Yuzuru.

Then Yuzuru gently put his hand on Arisa’s shoulder.

A jolting sensation ran through Arisa’s body.

“Can I?”

“Y-Yes…”

Yuzuru slowly pulled Arisa closer to him.

His hands rested on her back and the back of her head.

Gently, Arisa closed her eyes and…

She then felt a soft sensation.

A thrill ran through Arisa.

(Just a little more…!)

I want it to be long.

I want something deeper.

Arisa thought so…

But slowly, Yuzuru’s lips parted.

“Thank you, Arisa.”

“…yes, you’re welcome.”

Arisa smiled, yet…

She felt a little disappointed.