She was staying over at his place, but it was nothing too different from their daily lives, just that Mahiru was not returning home.
It was Friday, the day Mahiru would be staying over. Everything went normally, other than the fact that Mahiru was a little overconcerned.
As usual, they went to school, the supermarket on the way home, and then home. Everything remained the same until dinner.
But once they were done with dinner, it was different.
"Mahiru, go take a bath. I'll handle the rest."
Mahiru was going to stay over.
Usually, she would return home after they chatted away. On this day however, he intended to have her bath first.
The reason was simple; Mahiru needed a lot of time to clean up, and it would benefit her to get an early bath.
She clearly stumbled once she heard the word bath. She probably was concerned about that.
"Uu, that."
"You'll take a long time to wash your long hair, right? I think you should go first."
"Th-that is the case...eh."
"Anything inconvenient?"
Mahiru stammered, and Amane made sure to sound as gentle as possible as he asked. She bashfully lowered her eyes.
"...E-erm...Shihoko-san, and Shuuto-san, both bathe together, yes?"
"Well, yeah."
"...I-I do not mean for anything else. Nothing else, erm...but I, want to, bath, together."
For a moment, Amane could not react to the trembling teeny-weeny voice of his lover, and stared at her.
Together, as in...
Of course, they would not be wearing anything in the bath.
Naturally, she meant that they would expose everything to each other.
Amane would really lose control of himself if they did this. He believed he would enjoy her tender skin.
Mahiru was being more aggressive than usual, and Amane could not hide how perturbed he was. He scratched his nearly searing cheeks, his eyes wavering around.
"N-no, erm, won't anything happen if we're naked...?"
"Ah, erm...I_I brought a swimsuit. It is fine."
"...You already planned that?'
"P-please do not make me say so."
In other words, one part of the plan to stay over was to bath together. There was a 80-90% chance of it being Chitose's idea.
Mahiru would refuse to do anything she hated, so this request was something she wanted.
She admired how Amane's parents really got along with each other, and probably hoped to experience the manner they naturally bathed together.
Amane was obviously glad to hear her intentions, and that she trusted him.
Despite that, it burdened his heart and sanity too greatly.
"Erm, you mean...you know I'll be touching your body quite a bit, right?"
"...We will have to do so when we scrub each other's backs."
"O-okay..."
"And, I always wanted to touch yours, Amane-kun...I always wanted to care for your hair seriously."
"...I see."
He had been wondering why she took too many belongings. It seemed she brought care products for Amane's hair.
She always wanted to use beauty products on him, like face masks, nagging at how he let his hair dry. Her thoughts were not exactly unexpected.
He never expected her to actually think of bathing with him.
"...Erm, I'll wear a swimsuit too. Make sure it's all peaceful. Is that okay?"
"Y-yes."
"...You sure?"
"A lady does not need to be told twice."
A guy should be sayingthat, so Amane thought, but he did not want to ignore her intentions, since she suggested so after having made up her mind.
Simply put, Amane just had to endure.
He had discovered this side to her, and he too admired how his parents got along so well. He thought that bathing together was a good start, and they should be about to bond better as long as he could control his impulses.
He had stuffed the swimsuit deep into his closet, thinking that he would not be wearing it again after summer vacation ended. He recalled where it was, suppressed his pounding heart, *got it,*and answered so.
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