Chapter 56 By Ourselves (2)

After cleaning up, Asanagi and I went back to the couch and decided to watch a movie.

In our apartment building, we were required to sign up for an internet connection as soon as we moved in. As a result, we were able to watch exclusive channels including plenty of movies.

Which one do you want to watch, Asanagi?

Whatever you want to watch, Maehara.

There it is, the its up to you answer What about this one?

When I was looking at the TV timetable, I noticed there was a special program titled (Special Program) 12 hours of crocodile movies! There was a list of movies ranging from masterpieces that even I recognized to obscure B-movies.

I love exclusive channels because sometimes they have these kinds of events.

Hm That seems fine, lets watch that. After the shark movie, its croc movies now, its perfect.

I know right?

It seemed that she was interested in it, good to know. Now we had something to talk about at least.

Achoo!

Just as I was about to change the channel, I suddenly sneezed.

I hadnt noticed, but it seemed like the temperature had dropped some more.

Maehara? Youre sneezing, are you okay?

Mm? Ah, yeah, Im fine. My nose was itchy.

It isnt okay If you feel cold, then tell me

I-I was alright until a few minutes ago, you know? Its nothing, dont worry.

Seriously, youre such a pain in the ass

Asanagi then unwrapped the blanket and beckoned me to come over.

Come here, quickly.

Huh?

Dont give me that confused look! Y-You are feeling cold, arent you? Then come here, hurry up!

You want us to share the blanket?

D-dont say that out loud, idiot!

I guess she wasnt trying to tease me, huh?

O-okay sure Excuse m Achoo!

Oh jeez, hurry up! Both of us will catch a cold at this rate, you slowpoke!

I decided to obey her for the time being.

Excuse me.

Mm, make yourself at home~

As soon as I sat down next to her, Asanagi pulled herself closer to me. We huddled inside the blanket together.

U-um, what about we share my scarf too. Let me wrap it around you, turn your face over here, please.

Eh Are you sure?

Dont even try to argue, just do it quickly!

Sure.

I did as she told and she wrapped her scarf around my neck. Now I was wrapped in both a blanket and a scarf, with Asanagi right next to me.

There, now I only need to wrap the other half on my neck

Asanagi, are you actually going to do this?

After wrapping the scarf around my neck, Asanagi started wrapping it around hers too.

Now our necks were both wrapped with the scarf and our shoulders were touching each others.

T-there it is Doesnt it feel warmer?

Yeah sure But dont you think its embarrassing?

Seriously, this was embarrassing as heck.

S-shut up, deal with it. Also, arent we going to watch a movie?

M-mhm Then

I turned my attention to the screen, but of course I couldnt concentrate on it in this kind of situation.

I felt cold a while ago, but now my face was getting warmer and warmer as my embarrassment started to build. I could feel my whole body sweating too.

This wasnt the first time that the both of us were this close, but I couldnt stop my heart from pounding wildly.

I could smell her sweet fragrance since we were so close. Even though we had just finished eating, how could she still smell this good?

This made me self-conscious about my smell. I ate a lot of garlic just now, did I smell like garlic?

What are you doing, Maehara?

Ah, no. Im just wondering if I smell or not.

Ah, glad you noticed. Seriously you smell like sh*t.

Eh? R-really?

Nope.

This f*cker.

Ow ow! Hey, stop pinching me!

Shut up, idiot.

Seriously She noticed that I was nervous, didnt she? Of course she would take the chance to tease me.

Ouchie Sorry, sorry. But seriously, dont worry about it, you dont smell.

Really?

Mhm. Rather, Im worried about myself. Do I smell?

Dont worry about that, you dont smell. Rather, you smell good, I feel blessed.

Huh?

Ah

Crap, I misspoke

Saying it that way made me sound like a pervert

I-I meant, I dont care! Your smell isnt important, right? Rather, lets just focus on the movie, the movie!!

Hehe

W-why are you laughing?

Mm~ Its fine, youre just being honest. You dont need to make random excuses like that.

I thought she was going to tease me again, but it seemed like she was serious about this.

Knowing her, even if I were to pinch her cheek to make her forget about everything, she wouldnt budge.

Thats new. You arent trying to tease me?

No way. I mean, Im probably used to your scent already Do you remember the time when I slept here?

Ah, that time

At that time, she slept in my bed twice. Once when she accidentally fell asleep and once when she slept over.

Even though my bedding was clean at that time, my smell should linger around there. Now I felt bad about it.

I see

Mhm Also, you arent the only one who gets nervous at times like this, you know?

Then Asanagi moved closer to me.

I could feel her warmth through her clothes.

It made me feel even more nervous, but at the same time I wanted to stay like this.

The movie was entering the scene where the man-eating crocodile was fighting with the crocodile hunter, but both of us were focused on each others faces rather than the TV screen.

Hey, Maehara

What is it?

Can I call you Maki?

If thats what you want, Umi

Huh?

Umis face instantly turned red.

Huh, whats wrong, Umi?

Ora!

Ow! What are you doing?!

Maki, youre getting too cocky.

What? Still, you dont need to hit me Youre being unreasonable!

Hehe Yeah, Im unreasonable, got a problem with that?

She was all pouty just a moment ago and now she embraced me in her arms. Seriously, her mood swings were insane.

From being happy to being angry, smiling giddily and getting embarrassed. Her expressions changed a lot in the past few hours.

Though I had to admit that this was what made her cute.

You know, Umi

Mm?

Im going to say this once, so listen carefully.

Eh? Mhm. What is it?

Umi, you know you cant see your own face right now, but

Mhm?

Your face right now Your smile is really cute Even Amami-sans cant match that

!

She thought that she couldnt compare to Amami-san in terms of looks, but that simply wasnt true.

The real Asanagi Umis charm wouldnt lose to Amami-sans.

I wasnt the only one who thought this. Of that, I was certain.

Thats why, be more confident. You should smile more at school too. Im sure everyone will look at you more if you do that.

Hey, Maki.

W-what is it?

When she heard my words, her smile turned to a wry one.

Maki, do you actually love me?

Ugh

I used to make excuses to myself that I liked her as friends, but I guess I couldnt run away from my feelings anymore.

This was the first time Ive felt this way, so I wasnt entirely sure. But my feelings for her were different from the fondness one would feel toward a friend.

In the beginning, we were just friends who hung out every so often, but as we hung out more and more, I got to know more about her and she eventually became a bigger part of my life.

I cherished this girl in front of me. And I wasnt completely sure that my feelings toward her were appropriate for friends or best friends to have.

Still, I really didnt want to tell her about this

N-not really Seriously, what the hell are you on about?

No, no, no. No way thats the case. I mean, really? Your smiling face is really cute Even Amami-sans face cant match that, what else it is if it isnt an indirect confession?

What do you mean?! Thats just a normal compliment!

Liar~ Come on, be honest with me~ Look at my face and say I love you. Cmon~ Or do you want to kiss my cheek too? Go ahead~

Jeez! Stop that! Seriously, Im not happy right now!

Boo Even though Im ready for you. Youre such a tsundere~

Stop poking my cheeks!

After this, Umi continued to tease me until it was time for her to go back home.

The movie was playing, but we had no idea what it was about.

In the end, this Friday went on like every other Friday.