Chapter 180: Fighting Spirit
Chapter 180: Fighting Spirit
“Why?”
Mashiro asked, blinking.
“There’s no why! Just put it on when I tell you to!”
Himekoji snapped, handing the underwear to the girl.
“Akito told me to get dressed quickly.”
Though her face showed no change, her words sounded like a faint complaint.
“That doesn’t mean skipping something this important!”
Mashiro showed no gratitude for Himekoji’s kind correction. Unwillingly, she bent forward slightly, sliding her feet into the underwear right in front of Himekoji’s eyes.
The girl’s actions were so natural, Himekoji even forgot to look away for a moment.
Pulling up the underwear, Mashiro lifted her torso, then, with her hips slightly raised, slid her hands under her skirt. Slowly, carefully, she pulled the pink fabric up towards the important spot.
Then, inside her skirt — an unseen space to Himekoji — her hands wiggled. After a few seconds, she seemed satisfied, adjusted her skirt, and pulled her hands out.
“Y-you! You! You!”
“Me?”
Mashiro tilted her head, oblivious.
“You’re way too careless!”
“Akito became strange suddenly.”
“You’re the strange one, seriously! What if I saw a lot?!”
Mashiro looked down at her skirt.
“Did you see?”
“I didn’t! But you still need to be more careful!”
Nevermind seeing or not seeing, just the image of hands moving around under her skirt was enough to spark bad thoughts. It was awful.
“Wow, geez… Shouldn’t you be more aware?”
What if this happened at school, or somewhere else when he wasn’t with her? What would she do?
“It’s fine.”
“Completely untrustworthy!”
“Akito will think of something.”
“Don’t just plan to have me fix things before they even happen! Honestly, I wish you’d doubt me a little! So, can’t you try to solve things yourself?”
Ignoring the grumbling Himekoji, Mashiro probably got bored. She turned her head away.
“Akito?”
“What now?!”
Himekoji’s voice was predictably harsh.
“Food is ready.”
…
The atmosphere at the table was weird.
Nanami’s eyes kept darting between Himekoji and Mashiro’s faces. Her serious detective-like expression was no joke.
So, Aoyama Nanami really thought she was some super detective?
To break the awkward silence, Himekoji spoke pointlessly.
“Ah, Aoyama, your cooking’s really good. Almost as good as mine.”
Though it sounded boastful, Himekoji actually had the skills. His “Housekeeping Gigolo” perk was pretty OP.
However, Nanami showed no appreciation for Himekoji’s somewhat genuine praise. She just gave him a super annoyed look.
Then, she turned directly to Mashiro.
“Speaking of which, Mashiro… why did you pick that exact time to shower? And letting that total pervert see you like that… is that really okay?”
Nanami frowned seriously.
Between small bites of food, Mashiro tilted her head just a little bit cutely.
“Not okay?”
“Of course it’s not okay!”
Somehow, Nanami seemed angry.
“Himekoji! You explain!”
Eh? Why suddenly toss it to him?
“Explain what?”
Himekoji was stunned.
“Why Mashiro was showering at that exact time, and why you just happened to be outside the bathroom to steal her underwear… oh! Right! And you totally saw everything!”
“Stop emphasizing the ‘exact time’ thing!”
Himekoji felt like Nanami was looking at him like a dangerous criminal. It was stressful.
“Just now, Shiina called for me. Didn’t you hear it too?”
“She called for you to eat her… steal her underwear?”
Nanami gripped her chopsticks like a weapon, glaring across the table at Himekoji, who tried to look innocent.
“Well, no…”
“So there, see?”
Nanami scowled.
…
Wait, no. Looking at the feeling at the table now…
Why did guest Aoyama Nanami suddenly act like the lady of the house?
Himekoji couldn’t follow the situation at all.
The meal finally ended. Himekoji quickly grabbed the excuse of taking Mashiro to the publisher to escape.
Hmm. Why was he the one escaping? This was his house.
“I’ll come too.”
Nanami followed them right to the genkan and suggested this herself.
“No, no need!”
Himekoji waved his hands fast, refusing.
“My bike only fits one. It’d be a hassle with Aoyama along. So please, stay and watch the house? Take care of Hikari!”
Though Hikari completely ignored Nanami, her original owner. “Taking care” wasn’t really possible.
“Hmm. Okay then.”
Thinking it over, Nanami finally accepted the plan.
“Oh, and you shouldn’t carry passengers on the back of the bike!”
After a brief daze, remembering something important, the girl hurriedly called out to Himekoji and Mashiro who had already stepped outside.
“I know.”
Himekoji’s casual response came from the doorway.
“So meticulous…”
And a soft mutter so quiet it would be completely missed if you weren’t listening carefully.
…
After starting high school, since the school was closer to home, Himekoji rarely rode his bike anymore.
He swung his leg over the bike. The moment he gripped the handlebars, a strange feeling washed over him, like it had been years since he last rode.
He remembered back in middle school, this old bike was his trusty, handy way to carry girls.
Well, maybe not thousands of times, but definitely dozens of trips, easy.
Of course, that was purely counting the number of trips.
If you counted the actual number of different girls he carried? That number dropped significantly.
Hmm… if he recalled correctly… probably… only Eriri?
Plus, he hadn’t even carried his favorite Imouto!
But there was no need to feel down.
Now, Mashiro would be the second one!
Going from 1 to 2 was double the progress!
…
“Shiina, get on.”
Mashiro obediently and silently did as told.
“Hang on tight, don’t fall off.”
As he said this, Himekoji pushed hard on the pedal, officially setting off.
Mashiro wrapped her arms around him.
The warmth of the girl spread over Akito’s waist and back.
Mashiro looked delicate, but her body was surprisingly soft. Maybe because she’d just bathed, her body was warm and gave off a comforting, pleasant scent.
His heart seemed to give a sudden thump.
“Don’t cling so tightly! You’ll make it hard to control the bike and we’ll crash!”
He quickly spoke up, sounding like he was warning Mashiro.
“Akito is always saying selfish things.”
“Me? Selfish?”
Akito wondered if he’d heard wrong.
“Mm, very selfish.”
“You’re the one being selfish, Shiina! Gah, I wish there was some trustworthy government department to judge which one of us is actually right!”
No, wait… government departments usually can’t be trusted, can they?
Akito mentally complained to himself right after saying it.
…
To distract himself from the soft warmth pressed against his back, Akito had no choice but to peddle furiously.
The bicycle, starting to move, sped up after going down a slope.
The wind rushed over his lightly sweating skin, feeling irresistibly nice.
It was the tail end of spring now, summer was coming.
The pale sky was covered with thin clouds, stretching far into the distance.
“So, Shiina.”
“Hmm?”
“Do your best with drawing manga.”
“Mm.”
Akito felt Mashiro’s arms wrapped around him squeeze a little tighter.
No, maybe it was just his imagination.
“Akito too.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll cheer for you.”
Cheer for him?
Completely unprepared for Mashiro’s words, Akito had no idea how to respond.
It was probably the first time someone had ever said “cheer for you” to him. Or “good luck,” he supposed.
Somewhere deep inside his chest, a sudden warmth bloomed. Despite trying to keep a straight face, a look of sheer delight spread across it uncontrollably. He hadn’t known before how wonderfully encouraging, how heartening it felt to have someone cheer for him, support him.
He pushed down on the pedals with all his might.
This time, he clearly felt it. To avoid being thrown off by the sudden burst of speed, Mashiro leaned her body forward, pressing even closer against him.
Their bodies were pressed tightly together.
…
…