Chapter 288: Akane's Monthly Visit

"Here. I prepared the two of you a lunchbox."

Before we left the house, Miwa-nee chased after us with two packed lunches in her hand.

I remembered her taking her time in the kitchen. So these lunchboxes were the reason for it.

I took one and put it in my bag, after that my arms, as if it's already a habit, circled around her waist and pulled her in an embrace. "Thank you Miwa-nee."

If before she will at least put up a little resistance, today, Miwa-nee accepted my embrace without fuss anymore.

Akane, whose slight jealousy was roused, took her lunchbox and pulled me away from Miwa-nee before telling her gratitude as well.

Although normally that would spark a serious situation, Miwa-nee just laughed it off as if she's satisfied to see Akane being jealous at how I openly showed her my affection.

On the way to the station, Akane's was clingier than normal. Her slightly perky soft hills were firmly pressed on my arms due to how tight she's hugging my arms.

At first, I thought it was just her way of casting off her jealousy but when we reached the point of where we were supposed to separate, Akane kept her hold onto my arms.

Upon seeing her like this, I pulled her to one of the free benches on the side. I think I can already guess why she's like this.

"What is it? Do you want to come with me to my school?" I asked her as soon as we sat on it wherein she followed after and this time, she's even closer.

"Un. Can I? I don't want to be separated from you today…" Akane pleadingly answered. It's even as if she was about to cry.

Before replying, I put my hand on her face before lightly putting my forehead on hers. Just in case she's just sick or anything.

Perhaps she expected that I'm going to kiss her, Akane closed her eyes and parted her lips. So after feeling her forehead, I still planted my lips on hers to answer that expectation. And that made this silly girl bloom further.

Although her temperature is really slightly higher than normal, instead of confirming that she's sick, I thought of asking her about my suspicion first.

"Akane, is it that time of the month?"

April has already come and gone. The school year started on the 6th of April. Her period arrived during the last week of spring vacation or the week where the calendar changes from March to April.

Now, it's already the first week of May. I guess it came a few days late.

Understanding what I meant, Akane's eyes widened in surprise, "… Husband, how did you know?"

"Of course, this isn't the first time you're like this with me. Every month, ever since your menstruation started, you'll be this clingy even if I keep on pushing you away. Do you think I hadn't noticed it?"

"… I thought you're not looking at me."

"How can I not? I just didn't want to deal with you back then and you know why… However, like you, I was also looking out for your well-being. But being the guy that I was at that time, you hadn't noticed it. In fact, I hadn't even noticed it as well."

When it happened last month, it was before the new school year started. Because of that, she was often at my house. Although I didn't call on her since I'm still the same desire-driven guy back then, Akane would barge in during the day. She's spent most of the time with me even if we're not talking or we're just watching anything the TV was showing. And during that time Aunt Akemi would often knock on my door to check on what we're doing…

However, most of the time, she would see Akane sleeping soundly with her head comfortably settled on my lap.

This silly girl whenever she would feel the pain from it, she would lay down like that and once the pain eased up, she would fall asleep naturally.

"Uhm. Husband, I'm really happy to hear that. Can I kiss you? Can I come with you?"

With her clinginess heightened to this extent, I'm now thinking about how to deal with this situation. It will be chaotic if I brought her to school with me…

"Kiss is still acceptable. However, wife, you have to go to school. I will call during lunch break. Can you wait until then?"

Akane instantly shook her head.

"… That's not enough. I don't want to separate from you today."

This girl… Last night we still had a great night together but now...

I looked at her who already buried her head on my chest.

Haa… I guess now that I will not only deal with her quirks during her period, the other girls probably also have a quirk of their own. I have to get some practice.

"Alright, I'll come with you to your school but Akane, I can only send you until your school gate."

"… Sorry for being unreasonable, husband. Yes, that's enough."

"Don't mention it. Besides, it's time to show our relationship there. However, first of all, let's give them a heads up. It's possible that Yae and the others will not be able to control themselves and run up to me."

That will be a disaster. I will already become a sore thumb standing out with my different uniform. Add this beautiful silly girl next to me as I walk her to her school, that's more than just a sore thumb. We'll be under the spotlight.

However, if more of them show up and cling to my arms or my back, someone might pull out a gun and shoot me or worse, they might hang themselves out of jealousy…

Of course, I'm joking. I know that they know the consequences if our relationships are revealed, but it's better to be wary. And while I'm there, I guess I can see them for a while.

I just have to run as fast as a speedster to arrive on time at my school.

-

-

After deciding on what to do, like I told her, we're now boarding the train to Akane's school.

With every station the train stopped at, more and more students from their school gathered. And upon seeing the girl clinging tightly to my arms, various chattering started to enter my ears.

"Isn't that… the popular first year?"

"Of course, who will not recognize that golden hair? That guy is probably the rumored boyfriend."

"Tsk. So it's true. How is she with that guy?"

"Are you dumb? If you came from the same middle school then there's no way you wouldn't know about the two of them. She's chasing after him ever since then. Everyone thought they would not end up together because that guy was always acting aloof."

"… But look at his uniform."

"It's clear that he's from a different school. Isn't that easily explainable? Although that guy was acting like a hotshot who didn't want to bother with her, when she stopped chasing after him, he felt the loss. I bet he's the one who chased after her this time."

In a way he's right. In the end, I'm the one who chased after her after realizing that she's important to me.

But these senior guys... is gossiping a trend now? No wonder rumors fly fast. Even the guys speed up its flight.

"I see. But damn it! How can I become as lucky as him?!"

"Try jumping in front of a truck."

I stopped listening to their conversation when they started going on a weird path.

Either way, I don't really mind the stares. And the girl that is comfortably resting her head on my shoulder even more so. In fact, she's more than happy to be recognized like this…

Our relationship was now official.

As the train continued to stop at each station, in time, Akane's close friends rode it and instantly found us.

"Akane, is this why you're not replying to our group?" A girl with a ponytail asked as soon as they approached us. If I remember correctly, she's the one closest to Akane and the only one without a boyfriend among her three closest friends.

"Sorry Fuyu. As you can see, it's that time of the month." Akane raised her head a bit before giggling at the girl.

Upon hearing her answer, the three girls instantly reached an understanding. All of them nodded their heads before each of the three tapped me on my shoulder.

Right. For them who were also always with her, they're familiar with how she acted during her period. And most of the time, they could also give me a tap on my shoulder or my back as an encouragement to deal with this silly girl.

However, back then, I don't understand why they're doing that.

"Onoda-kun, this is the first time we will have a conversation, right? But through that girl clinging on you, we're already familiar. Whenever we'll talk about boys, you're always the one she was bringing out." The ponytailed girl, Fuyu said.

Likewise, although I never had any conversation with them, I could recall that I observed the three of them more than once. Through that, I determined that their friendship is real. Perhaps sometimes they will have disagreements but at the end of the day, they're true friends to each other.

"I see. That saves me the trouble to introduce myself." I wryly smiled at them. After that, my hand naturally moved by itself to fix Akane's hair that's already about to cover her hair. "By the way, thank you for looking out for this silly girl. I will only be able to send her until the gate so…"

"We understand. We'll hold her off!" The three answered in concert before laughing.

And upon hearing that, Akane acted as if she flared up and reprimanded her three friends.

In this way, the train ride towards their school continued.