Amane woke up to see the fabric of Mahiru's one-piece dress.
It seemed he rolled about when he was sleeping, and turned his face towards Mahiru.
And because of that, he had a fine whiff of the conditioner, along with Mahiru's natural milky scent, resulting in his face searing as a result.
He felt it was unbecoming of him to keep staring at a person's belly, so he turned his face up tentatively, before seeing her looking down at him with a merciful look.
Uh oh,so he thought. It appeared Mahiru was more blessed than he thought, and the curves were more emphasized as he was looking up, which left him awkward.
"Awake now?"
"...Yeah."
"You slept well."
Mahiru giggled. She seemed elated rather than mischievous, as happy as a mother watching a lively child sleep.
Amane was overwhelmed with the urge to roll about while the merciful look Mahiru continued to pat his head.
Though he was not embarrassed about any unsightly sleeping look, he was sheepish about how Mahiru was patting him with such a doting face. He did not dislike it; on the contrary, he was enjoying it.
"...How long did I sleep?"
"About an hour or so."
"Sorry."
"It is fine. I do enjoy stroking your hear, Amane-kun."
"...Really?"
Mahiru continued to enjoy the feeling of Amane's hair, and the latter dared not look at her, instead averting his eyes.
"You dislike it, Amane-kun?"
"...I wouldn't have slept if I disliked it."
"Really? You can enjoy this however you want."
"...Don't say it as and when you want it."
"Why?"
"...Anyway, just don't."
I'll misunderstand, you know?Of course, he could not say that, so he kept quiet. Mahiru tilted her head in confusion, but her hand did not stop.
"Well, I do like to pat, or be patted by you, Amane-kun."
So don't say this so openly...
It appeared Mahiru had no other intent.
She probably was trying to convey that she really yearned for physical contact, due to her family reasons, and that she would feel relief whenever she was patted on the head. One could assume from those words however that Mahiru had feelings for Amane, and that she would feel blessed to be patted.
"...If you say that, I'll sexually harass you."
"Sexually harass?"
"I'll touch your body."
"Where?"
"Wh-where...of course...don't make me say it."
It was obvious without saying that a male would want to touch certain female parts.
Amane's face naturally turned beetroot, and Mahiru blinked a few times. She then seemed to have an idea, "Ahh." for she nodded away.
"You want to touch, Amane-kun?"
"...Only if I'm dating her, and that she agrees."
"So you will not do anything, Amane-kun."
"Shut up."
"Fu-fufu, Amane-kun, you really are gentlemanly."
"You're noisy."
"This is what I like about you, Amane-kun."
Mahiru giggled away, and Amane felt a shortness of breath.
She did not mean anything.
Surely she was saying that she liked him in the sense that he was a good man, not in the romantic sense.
Despite knowing this, Amane felt his heart ache.
The lap pillow alone would have caused much misunderstanding. With her doting on him so much, even he would wonder if Mahiru had feelings for him.
She certainly had feelings for him, to some extent, but he did not know what those feelings were, and how deep. He was delighted and yet worried, his heart likely on the verge of annihilation.
"Thanks for that."
He barely eked out this answer, rolled away, and turned his back on her.
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