Chapter 393: Mashiro is Mashiro
Chapter 393: Mashiro is Mashiro
“Then… move out to live alone.”
Mashiro said this to Iida Ayano, but her stubborn gaze still clung firmly to Himekoji.
It hadn’t shifted from him since she entered the room, as if Himekoji was her entire world.
“Hmm, okay. Then, shall I come get you tomorrow morning?”
“Now.”
Mashiro clenched her hands over her chest. Her face was expressionless, her voice as quiet and flat as ever.
“Now? So suddenly? It’s already very late tonight.”
“It’s fine.”
Mashiro nodded, speaking in a voice almost too soft to hear.
“I’ll gather my things.”
…
Hiratsuka-sensei left.
Himekoji sat with Miss Iida in the living room, waiting for Mashiro.
They waited for about half an hour.
“Shiina, are you ready?”
Miss Iida couldn’t help but urge her. The night was deep; any later, and getting a taxi wouldn’t be easy.
No response came from Mashiro’s room.
“I’ll go check.”
Himekoji finally couldn’t sit still any longer and stood up.
Perhaps afraid of disturbing her, or perhaps just feeling guilty, Himekoji crept cautiously towards Mashiro’s bedroom, trying not to make a sound.
He stood at the door, which pushed open easily.
The scene inside was unexpected yet predictable: clothes and daily necessities were scattered everywhere in the room.
“I knew it would be like this…”
Himekoji’s mouth hung open slightly, astonished. He then shook his head and spoke to Mashiro.
“Let me help you pack?”
If left only to Mashiro, she couldn’t even manage the simplest packing task.
That’s just how much of a life idiot she was!
Which was exactly why it was impossible to just leave her alone. Why she needed his constant concern.
And soon, this Mashiro was going to live by herself in a hotel…
Would that really be okay?
Mashiro, who sat on the bed, did not refuse Himekoji’s help.
Seems she recognized the fact that if she tried to help, she would only make the luggage messier. So she stayed on the bed quietly, silently watching Himekoji.
The tan suitcase lay open on the wooden floor. Himekoji neatly folded clean clothes, underwear, socks, packing them into the suitcase, each category separate.
Shampoo and body wash wouldn’t be necessary; the hotel would provide them. Even if not, Ayano had said she would handle it.
It took Himekoji about fifteen minutes to finish packing everything. Compared to Mashiro’s efforts earlier, his efficiency was heaven next to earth.
During that time, the two didn’t say a single word.
While busy packing, Himekoji hadn’t noticed anything. But as soon as he was done, the oppressive stillness in the room became instantly noticeable.
A suffocating feeling settled in.
He unconsciously wanted to say something.
“Shiina, do you have anything else you want to put in?”
Annoyed with his earlier attitude, perhaps wanting to make amends, Himekoji made an effort to talk gently.
Mashiro, still sitting on the bed, stared at Himekoji for a long time.
“Akito.”
She finally answered.
“Huh?”
Himekoji didn’t understand at all at first.
“Put Akito inside.”
Only after Mashiro added this explanation.
Himekoji froze instantly.
It didn’t sound like a joke.
And Mashiro never joked. Not that she wouldn’t; she genuinely didn’t know how.
“I want to put Akito inside.”
“I want to pack Akito into the suitcase and take him away.”
Her voice was soft, ethereal. Yet, her hands were gripping the bed sheet tightly.
This subtle, almost invisible action gave her words a surprising power.
Himekoji’s heart trembled inexplicably.
So why… was he wavering again…?
The scale that had already tilted towards Nanami always tipped shamelessly, without any bottom line, towards Mashiro at times like this.
“Physically speaking, I won’t fit in, will I?”
Himekoji replied like this.
If forced in, this adorable suitcase might break.
He felt like he was probably smiling at this moment.
Although it wasn’t guaranteed to be a good-looking smile.
“Put him in, spiritually.”
Mashiro seemed to suggest a solution.
But this solution was way too abstract.
“How do we do that?”
“Akito wants to.”
Mashiro’s gaze was serious. Not the kind that was slightly cute, but strangely bearing a pressure.
Perhaps displeased with Himekoji’s earlier attitude?
Of course, Himekoji was also unhappy with his own earlier attitude and wanted to fix it.
His attitude had been awful, his tone too harsh. Realizing already that he hurt Mashiro, he felt guilty too.
So he really began thinking about a solution.
When he saw the phone Mashiro had placed on the table, inspiration struck.
“I got it!”
“Hmm?”
Mashiro cast a puzzled glance at Himekoji with her clear, crystal-like eyes.
“Lend me your phone.”
Himekoji picked up Mashiro’s phone and sat on the bed, right beside her.
He started the camera.
To fit them both into the shot, Himekoji leaned a bit closer to Mashiro.
“Akito?”
“One, two, three, say cheese!”
With a “click,” the shutter sounded.
Afterwards, Himekoji looked at the phone screen.
In the photo, he wore an ordinary, plain expression. Mashiro looked caught off guard, slightly startled, her still-a-bit-foggy eyes wide open. She appeared both cute and amusing.
“There, saved it.”
Himekoji chuckled softly and turned to Mashiro next to him, reporting his task done.
“This… no.”
But Mashiro suddenly covered the phone screen with her hand.
She seemed embarrassed, likely after seeing the strange expression on her face in the photo.
“I don’t know? I think your expression is nice. Pretty rare, isn’t it? Perfect for keeping.”
“Mmm, erase it.”
Disagreeing, Mashiro puffed out her cheeks almost instantly like a sulk, demanding,
“Take another one.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll do it.”
Himekoji secretly sent the photo to his own phone, then directed the camera lens at the two of them again as Mashiro requested.
“One, two, three, say cheese!”
At the exact moment the picture was taken, he felt a soft, warm touch on his cheek.
“Click!”
The very next second, the shutter clicked.
Himekoji looked at Mashiro, thinking “What did she just do?” Mashiro unusually turned her gaze elsewhere, acting like it had nothing to do with her.
But that act was pointless, because Himekoji held the newly taken photo as proof.
Himekoji looked down at the phone screen.
What was on it—
Mashiro, her eyes closed, kissing Himekoji on the cheek. Himekoji’s mouth was open in surprise, making him look pretty dumb.
“This one’s good.”
“This one is definitely not good!”
“But Akito made such a weird face.”
“Exactly why it’s no good!”
Besides, what if someone saw this by accident?
Are we some stupid couple?
Eh, wait!
A…a couple?
“I want this one.”
Mashiro reached out and pulled the phone directly from Himekoji’s hands.
What surprised him more was that Mashiro must have learned how to set wallpapers sometime earlier. She set that photo as her wallpaper.
Mashiro looked back at the screen, finally showing an expression of complete satisfaction.
It was like sunshine after rain.
“Um, Mashiro…”
Himekoji took a deep breath then.
If he was going to say this seriously, now was the best time.
Only now could he properly, accurately tell Mashiro how he felt…
“What?”
“Me… I’ve never thought of Mashiro as a problem.”
Himekoji’s expression was serious, but nervous too. Once wasn’t enough; thinking this, he opened his mouth again to emphasize,
“Me… I’ve never seen Mashiro as trouble.”
“Not before. And never will later.”
“Mashiro isn’t trouble. Mashiro is Mashiro.”
…
…