Chapter 28 – The Angel and Her Christmas Plans

“Christmas plans? None at all.”

Once she was done washing the dishes, Mahiru sat on the sofa, and answered immediately.

He had expected her to have a girls gathering or something, but it seemed she had no such plans.

Perhaps it was due to the surprised look on Amane’s face, but Mahiru stared back at him, looking dumbfounded.

“Most of the girls I interact with have their own boyfriends, and I refused any male who invited me out. I do not have any plans at all.”

“The guys cried huh?”

Mahiru’s defenses were exceptionally stubborn when she was outside, and those boys who had some faint hope in inviting her out could only swallow their tears against it.

Amane felt amazed that they dared to invite her out. He would not have dared to invite out the Angel if he had no self-confidence. He was really impressed with the optimistic fellows for trying their luck.

“…Do they really want to spend time with me?”

“If they’re lucky, they can get closer to you.”

“For what reason?”

“To put it, well, dating?”

“Why do they want to date me?”

“…They want to do this and that with you after that.”

“Impure motives?”

He quietly said a prayer to all the rejected boys, “Ah, but.” and added on,

“Not all the guys are like that, so don’t be too suspicious. You should be able to tell what kind of stares they’re giving you.”

“I guess so. Not all are being so uncouth. You are not one of them, no, Amane-kun?”

“I’ve never looked at you with impure eyes.”

While he often thought she was cute, and did have thoughts of patting her head at least, he had no intention to do anything more.

After all, if he wanted to, Mahiru would have realized way beforehand, and ostracized him.

He got to sit next to her because he was a harmless boy. If he showed even the slightest bit of lechery, she would leave him.

He never really had a wish to have a girlfriend, and to him, his hunger was more important, so he had no intention to ruin this relationship.

“I guessed so. You did not have interest in me from the beginning.”

“Well.”

“And so you can be trusted.”

“Really grateful for that.”

For a boy, he could not accept how he was trusted like this, but he was not displeased to be deemed a safe boy for the time being.

“…So, since you are asking about my Christmas plans, what about yours, Amane-kun?”

“Hmm? Ahh, Itsuki and co will be here on the 24th. Not too different from usual, but we’ll be a little late for dinner, so I want to tell you this beforehand.”

Finally, they got back to the original topic, so he explained once again. She nodded in apparent understanding.

“I understand. Do call for me once the Christmas party is over, and I shall drop by to cook dinner. I shall make preparations before then.”

“Oh, sorry about that.”

“I am fine. Please have fun.”

“…You won’t feel lonely?”

“I am used to, living alone.”

He felt his heart ache a little when she answered as though it had nothing to do with her.

Her face showed a bitter smile of self-reproach, probably because she was suddenly reminded of her parents.

“…Ah, erm.”

“What is it?”

“…It’s a really rude request, but even if you can’t make it on the Eve, can we stay together for Christmas, like this?”

For some reason, this proposal had him really embarrassed.

He had no special intent, but a typical invitation for Christmas had a special connotation to it.

Amane really did not mean anything.

He just did not want to see Mahiru looking alone with her head lowered.

In response, Mahiru blinked her eyes.

“Together? To do what?”

“Eh? Ah, nothing special actually, sorry.”

Once this was pointed out, Amane could not bring himself to invite her.

There was no way they could have gone out together, considering the troubles caused if he was spotted by others.

The only option would be to stay at home, but there was nothing that could really pique Mahiru’s interests.

They could only choose to stay together and do nothing, but the vibe would be extremely awkward.

*I guess it might be better for both of us to spend our time away from each other…*right when he was about to retract his previous thought, Amane found Mahiru staring at him silently.

“…Then, I want to play, that.”

Unexpectedly, Mahiru was looking really enthused.

Her slender finger was pointing at the television.

Or to be precise, the game console inside the TV board.

Mahiru had been around the past few nights, and Amane never switched on the game, but she looked really interested, “Well, I have never tried that…” She muttered her little wish.

It was utterly surreal for a boy and girl to spend Christmas together, playing games, when they were not lovers.

“No, well, it’s not like you can’t…I guess some games are fine.”

“We cannot?”

“No, not that we can’t.”

“Then, that should be good.”

“Y-yeah.”

*Is that nough…*so he wondered, but since this was her wish, he decided to do whatever he could to fulfill it.

At the very least, he hoped to bring a little joy to her. He had been in her care all this while, and she never actually requested anything. He was fine with letting her play some of his games.

“Well, who cares about Christmas, let’s just spend the time as it is.”

“I guess.”

Mahiru made a little smile that Amane dared not look at directly, and he nodded, nonchalantly turning his face aside.