Chapter 7 - The Angel's Proposal
“Golden Week’s pretty soon, huh?” Amane muttered quietly, gazing at the calendar on the shelf.
April had been a busy month, and he had been preoccupied with moving up a grade and Mahiru’s big push to be friendly with him even at school. So before he knew it, the end of the month was fast approaching, and Golden Week, highly anticipated by students and adults alike, would soon be upon them.
Amane didn’t particularly dislike his studies. Actually, if asked, he would say he enjoyed them. Going to school was a little bit of a hassle but not any great hardship, so he wasn’t necessarily all that thrilled about the break. He simply thought it would be nice to have some more time to relax.
Unlike last year, this year Mahiru would be with him for Golden Week, so he wouldn’t be bored.
Chitose had already claimed one of the days of his break for “taste testing at Mahiru’s cooking class,” so far from boring, his vacation promised to be eventful and probably difficult.
“Another long break is coming up…,” Mahiru muttered.
“Yep, but is it me or do you not sound too thrilled?”
“It’s not that I don’t like breaks. I was just wondering how I’ll kill the time.”
Apparently Mahiru felt similarity. Both of them were homebodies, and they hadn’t made any plans to speak of.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m happy enough to get a break, but I don’t really have anything to do.” Amane hadn’t fallen behind in his schoolwork or anything, so he didn’t feel like he needed to go out of his way to pack his vacation with studying.
He didn’t have an especially strong desire to partake in his hobbies of walking or reading, and it wasn’t like he needed to make plans for those anyway. Same with video games. He really didn’t have any plans.
“…Amane, are you free over the break?”
“I guess I am.”
As things stood, all he had planned were his day as a taste tester for the impromptu cooking class and going to karaoke at some point with Itsuki and Yuuta. The break was a whole week long, so his schedule was still wide open.
He was about to say he’d most likely be relaxing at home, when he noticed Mahiru staring up at him.
“What’s the matter?”
He met Mahiru’s gaze and saw that she looked like she had something to say. She reached for her smartphone, which was on top of the table.
More accurately, she reached for the phone case.
Mahiru’s phone case was the wallet type with spots to keep cards and such, and from one of the card slots, she pulled a small plastic bag with a zipper.
Inside it were a number of folded slips of paper, and Mahiru took one of them out and opened it up to show Amane.
Before he even had time to recognize it, he was looking at one of the DO ANYTHING YOU SAY coupons he had given her a little over a month earlier.
Mahiru held out the coupon, decorated with an illustration of a bear that Amane personally thought he had drawn quite well, and looked up at him pointedly again.
“Can I use it?”
“You can ask me to do anything you like.”
“…Over Golden Week, I want one day with you,” she said timidly. “I want to go shopping, and hang out, and whatever else I request. All right?”
Amane let out a quiet laugh. “Come on, I would go shopping and stuff with you if you asked. You don’t really need to use a coupon for something so simple.”
She probably wanted him to get all dressed up to take her out, but he would have done that for her anytime, so he didn’t think she had to go to so much trouble.
He laughed at her using her request for such a trivial thing, but Mahiru shook her head with an earnest look in her eyes.
“Since I’m using the coupon…I get to ask for anything I feel like on that day.”
“I-if you insist, that’s fine, but…what are you planning to make me do?”
“…C-carry my bags.”
“Yes, yes, as you wish.”
He was tempted to crack a joke about her making him carry super-heavy bags, but Mahiru just nodded. Even Mahiru, who was at heart an indoor person, sometimes enjoyed going on an outing, and if she wanted him to accompany her, he intended to do just that, as much as she desired. Besides, it was sure to have its benefits.
Although Amane would have preferred not to start a fresh wave of rumors about Mahiru’s mystery man, life would be dull if the fear of rumors kept them from going anywhere.
“So where do you plan on taking us?”
“Ah, I—I haven’t decided yet, but—”
“You haven’t decided…?”
“…I mean, I’m not sure what kinds of places you like, so…”
“Huh, me?”
“Well, if we’re out together, I thought it would be nice to pick a place we could both enjoy. Is that all right?”
No one in the world could have refused Mahiru as she grabbed hold of his sleeve and looked up at him imploringly.
Amane’s breath caught in his throat, and his eyes darted about in confusion. Then he roughly brushed back his hair and let out a small sigh.
“…I was just planning to go along with wherever you wanted to go, Mahiru, but well…in that case, there is one place I’d like to go.”
It was difficult for him to go in alone, but it was someplace he always wanted to try going at least once.
“Where is that?”
“Promise not to laugh.”
“I won’t laugh.”
“…A cat café.”
That’s right, a cat café, filled to the brim with adorable cats.
Amane liked animals a fair amount, but of course he wasn’t able to keep a pet in an apartment and could only admire animals in magazines or other people’s pets. But he was too afraid of what people might think if they saw a single guy going to an animal café. He was just too embarrassed to go.
However, if Mahiru was with him, he could go without worrying about other people’s stares following him. They might stare for other reasons, but he felt like he could at least enter a café without reservations if Mahiru was by his side.
Besides all that, Amane also thought Mahiru would look very cute playing with cats, but of course he couldn’t say that out loud.
“…Well, I th-thought that if we were together, I wouldn’t be embarrassed. Do you mind?”
“N-no, not at all! All right then… Let’s go together, shall we?”
“…Yeah.”
Amane couldn’t hide his nervousness. He felt both grateful and awkward that Mahiru had accepted his request. She giggled softly, and heat began to creep up Amane’s face. Quickly, he changed the subject.
“What should we do after the café?”
“After that, we’ll go shopping together, and…ah, I want to try going to an arcade. I’ve never been to a place like that.”
Amane was not surprised to hear that the aristocratic Mahiru had never been to a game center. But she was apparently interested, so in that case, he was more than willing to take her to one and teach her the ropes.
The last game center he visited would probably have gotten a new shipment of stuffed animals she would like by now, and it would be fun to win them together.
“All right, sounds like that’ll be good. We’ll go to a cat café, eat lunch, go shopping, and go to a game center, okay?”
Amane sighed with relief once they had settled on their schedule for the day, and Mahiru looked up again so he could see her face.
“Yep, I’m really looking forward to it.”
He nearly stopped breathing when she looked at him so bashfully.
“I can’t wait for the break to be here,” she added quietly, and to Amane, it sounded like she was looking forward to their outing from the bottom of her heart. She hugged the cushion tightly, clearly in a good mood.
Amane was momentarily stunned by her sweet smile. He could feel his heart pounding. “…Me too,” he managed to reply hoarsely.
The surprise attack from the angel really made his heart ache.
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