Chapter 6: Shopping for Angel Clothes

Um.

How did it come to this? Did I do something?

Before I realized it, Murakumo-kun was carrying me bridal-style and running again.

I wasn’t trying to run away or acting weird or anything… I think?

And yet, after parting ways with Koharu-chan and Nozomu-kun and walking for just a short while, he suddenly scooped me up.

I can see where this is going. I can, but still.

I'd like to know why this is happening.

We arrived at Murakumo-kun’s house and entered his room.

As usual, I was tossed onto his bed—wait, what?

Instead, he gently lowered me to sit on the edge of the bed, took off my shoes, then sat right next to me, close enough for our shoulders to touch.

What is this? What? This is worse in its own way.

Normally, he’d throw me onto the bed, strip off his own clothes, end up stark naked, then start undressing me too—but this? What kind of mood swing is this?

While I sat there frozen with anxiety, wondering what was going to happen next, he whispered in my ear:

“Let’s pick up where we left off.”

With that, he took a lock of my hair and sniffed it.

Where we left off…? I thought for a second and then remembered.

Oh, right. Back when we were with the others, I told him, “Not in a place like this,” and he replied, “Then later.”

I hadn’t meant it like that, but he clearly took the opportunity to twist my words.

So now he’s decided that it’s fine since we’re at his house. Right. I get it now.

While I was thinking about that, he kept petting my hair, combing his fingers through it, smelling my scalp, and rubbing his cheek against it with a look of utter bliss.

Petting and finger-combing I can deal with. Cheek rubbing… I’ll let it slide.

But smelling my scalp? Absolutely not!!

“Stop sniffing my head!”

“It smells good.”

He didn’t seem the least bit bothered by my protest. Wrapping an arm around my shoulder, he grabbed my head and held it in place so I couldn’t move. Then he buried his face in my hair and continued inhaling deeply.

To be completely honest, back when I was a guy, I liked the scent of girls’ hair too, and yeah, I might’ve wanted to bury my face in it the same way.

But being on the receiving end… knowing he could probably smell me, it was just… unbearably embarrassing.

And of course, me blushing and squirming just seemed to egg him on.

He took deeper breaths, louder on purpose, like he was savoring the moment.

Please stop!!

Ignoring my face turning beet red, he shifted his focus.

Next came… my ears.

He lightly traced the outer rim with his tongue.

“Hyah!!”

The unexpected sensation made me yelp.

Apparently encouraged by my reaction, he took my earlobe in his mouth and gave it a soft nibble.

“Mmh… ngh…!”

It tickled. It felt weird. But just a little bit nice too. That was the worst part.

“Tastes good.”

That was all he said, before rolling my earlobe with his tongue, giving it a gentle suck, and then moving on to attack the other ear.

By the time he finished with both sides, I was in a completely flustered state.

But he wasn’t exactly composed either.

After finally pulling his mouth away from my ear, he muttered:

“…I can’t hold back anymore.”

Afterward, Murakumo-kun walked me home.

And during dinner, my mom said:

“You were out later than usual today. Something happen?”

The expression on her face had a faint, teasing smirk.

She probably wasn’t really worried. She just assumed something happened and was fishing for details.

Something did happen, right from the beginning…

“We were just hanging out—me, Murakumo-kun, and two friends. We were chatting at a café, and time kind of got away from us.”

“Today, huh?”

“That’s not what I meant! I mean, that’s why I got home late today!”

“Ohhh. I see, I see. Well, I’m glad to hear you’re making friends. You should be grateful to Murakumo-kun for that.”

I mean, my first day of school was a total disaster, and she was definitely worried before I left that morning. In that sense, yeah—it really is a good thing.

Maybe I should thank him properly at some point.

Though… the fact that it’s him makes it annoyingly hard to do.

“…Thanks for the meal.”

Putting my hands together, I said my thanks for the meal, started clearing the dishes, and was about to head back to my room when—

“Make sure you use protection, okay?”

“Pffft!!”

I spat out involuntarily.

My reaction was basically an admission of guilt.

“Oh my, that reaction—seriously, be careful.”

Crap. I walked right into that one. Now what do I say?

Option 1: “I know, okay!” → Sounds like I am using protection?
Option 2: “That’s not it!!” → Suspicious. Might make Mom worry even more.
Option 3: Play dumb → Implies there’s a good chance I’m not using any?

And so—I chose… to ignore it.

Well, technically, by the time I was still debating my options, I had already left the living room.

At that point, going back just to react to it felt like digging myself in deeper, so I headed straight to my room.

Honestly, probably the worst possible choice. But what could I do?

Saturday. Today’s the day we’re all hanging out—Koharu-chan, Nozomu-kun, and that guy.

After breakfast, I was lounging around the living room when the doorbell rang.

Most likely, that guy—Murakumo-kun—had come to pick me up.

Time to get going, I thought, standing up and heading to the front door… only to find Murakumo-kun already deep in conversation with my mom.

“Going somewhere just the two of you today?”

“No, we’re meeting up with two others—my friend and his girlfriend, who’s also one of Haru’s girlfriends, technically.”

“Oh!? So it’s a double date?! Not bad, Murakumo-kun. Take good care of my daughter, okay?”

“Of course. Leave her to me.”

What is with him? He only ever speaks this fluently when he’s talking to my mom. Freakin’ fake.

“Murakumo-kun, sorry for the wait! Let’s go already!”

I wanted to pry him away before he could say anything more unnecessary, so I rushed him.

“No need to rush. You could’ve taken your time.”

My mom said that like it was no big deal, but I ignored her and gave Murakumo-kun a shove, urging him toward the door.

“Alright then, I’ll be taking Haru with me.”

“Take care, you two~”

And just as we were stepping outside, my mom suddenly called out like she’d remembered something.

“Oh, right—Murakumo-kun, what’s your first name?”

“It’s Kiriya.”

“—Eh!?”

SLAM!

She looked like she was about to say something else, but I shut the door without even noticing, and we left the house.

We waited at the station plaza, our meeting spot. I sat on a bench while Murakumo-kun stood silently in front of me.

Back when we first started hanging out, that silence felt awkward. But now, I’d gotten used to it—this calm, peaceful kind of quiet didn’t bother me anymore.

It felt natural. Just having him there.

Before long, Koharu-chan and Nozomu-kun arrived together.

“Sorry to keep you waiting! …Wait, you two are early! It’s not even time yet.”

“That’s just how Kiriya is,” Nozomu said, pointing at Murakumo. “Always gets to places early and waits. Doesn’t look like the type, though. Sorry to keep you, Haru-chan.”

“You sayin’ that like it’s a bad thing.”

“Nah, I’m complimenting you! Just take it, man.”

“You two are early too. Still ahead of schedule.”

“Well, I had to text and call to get him up. No way I’m letting him sleep in.”

“Hey, I was already up before the call.”

“Uh-huh, suuuure. You sounded freshly awake to me~”

“Come on, I was totally up! Right, Haru-chan!?”

“Eh!?”

“Whoa, don’t drag Haru-chan into this! …Wait a sec—you weren’t with her this morning, were you!?”

“No way! I’m joking! Seriously—right, Haru-chan?”

“Ehhh…”

“Don’t pull her into your dumb bits! Kiriya-kun, say something to him!”

“Haru’s mine. I’m not sharing her with you.”

“Okay okay, I get it, Kiriya. I was kidding!”

Caught in their bickering-but-fun routine, I couldn’t help but smile. Despite the chaos, it was a good time.

“By the way, Nozomu—what do you think about Haru-chan’s look?”

“Hmm… I was getting used to it, but now that she’s out of uniform, yeah—definitely still looks like a guy.”

“Right!? It’s such a waste! She’s got amazing raw material to work with!!”

“Totally. Alright, change of plans. You good with that, Kiriya?”

“Yeah. That was the plan from the start.”

“…Wait, what? What plan!?”

I had no idea what they were talking about. But clearly, something had been decided without me.

Did I do something wrong again??

“Alright then! That settles it. Haru-chan, we’re going shopping! To buy you clothes!”

Koharu-chan clapped her hands sharply, announcing it like it was the final word.

“Eh? Ehhhhh!?”

Just like that, it was decided—we were going shopping for clothes.

And not just any clothes—my clothes.

The ones I had on now were just old T-shirts and shorts from middle school. My newer clothes had gotten too small and ended up being repurposed as pajamas.

I never cared about fashion. Sure, I’d gotten used to the school uniform, but I still felt weird about wearing girls’ clothes.

So yeah, I figured—middle school T-shirts and shorts were good enough.

But surrounded by all three of them—especially with Koharu-chan and Murakumo-kun closing in on me with pressure—I realized one thing very clearly:

I had no right to say no.