Chapter 61: Now, It's Mai's Turn!
There was an old saying: when a man pursued a woman, a mountain stood between them; when a woman pursued a man, there was only a thin veil.
Some truths seemed to survive every era.
After all, if a famous actress willingly threw herself into your arms, could you really resist?
Saku didn't know about other men.
He certainly couldn't.
Mai hadn't merely come over to hug him either. Taking advantage of the moment, she turned sideways and settled onto his lap, wrapped both arms around his neck, then rested her head against the hollow of his shoulder.
Her pleasant fragrance, carrying the faint scent of warm sweat, drifted into Saku's nose.
Saku immediately grew awkward and tried to shift away.
Unfortunately, every time he moved, Mai became uncomfortable.
"Stop moving around, okay?"
Mai reached out and poked his flushed cheek with one finger. Saku was clearly flustered enough that even his breathing had grown uneven, and she spoke with a somewhat languid, seductive charm.
"If you're not uncomfortable, then I won't move."
Mai's cheeks immediately reddened.
She understood perfectly well what he meant.
Still, she endured the embarrassment.
"I-It's... fine."
At the very least, this proved she still had plenty of charm, didn't it?
"What happened to you?"
Saku looked at her strangely.
"Why are you suddenly so clingy?"
Mai pursed her lips but obviously couldn't tell him the real reason.
If she admitted she was jealous of Utaha and Michiru, she'd also have to explain how she'd known about what happened while she was away.
That would risk exposing the fact that she could hear his inner voice.
"What?"
Mai rubbed her cheek against him like a spoiled cat.
"We haven't seen each other in ages. Can't I be a little affectionate?"
"Huh?"
Saku blinked.
"Don't we video-call all the time?"
「I didn't expect Mai to have such a clingy side. Sigh... maybe I'm simply too outstanding.」
After thinking it over, Saku could come up with no other explanation.
Mai ignored his shameless self-satisfaction and continued nuzzling against him.
The soft, spoiled affection left Saku restless, yet there wasn't much he could do about it.
"Saku-kun."
Mai finally raised her head.
"I want to stay here for a while."
"Can I?"
"Well..."
Saku glanced around his room.
"It's not impossible, but we're kind of out of bedrooms."
The detached house wasn't particularly large.
Aside from his own bedroom, the other two usable rooms were already occupied.
If Mai moved in as well, Saku might genuinely end up sleeping on the living-room sofa.
"Do you want to share with Utaha-senpai or Michiru?"
"No, no."
Mai immediately shook her head.
"I'm staying here."
Then, at long last, she climbed off Saku and walked toward the bed.
She crouched, reached underneath, and pulled out a pink suitcase.
"See?"
"I already brought my clothes."
「Mai, you planned this from the beginning?!」
「If you wanted to move in, did you really have to take over my room? Are you seriously planning to make me sleep on the sofa?」
Utaha: 'What?! She's kicking Saku onto the sofa? Wonderful. As expected of my dear sister-in-arms. What a perfect assist. Now all that's left is for me to make my move.'
Michiru: 'Wouldn't sleeping on the sofa make Saku cold? His back might hurt too. Maybe he could stay in my room instead?'
Saki: 'Three?! There are three of them now?! Damn it! I haven't even gotten to live with Saku yet!'
Shino: 'Stop complaining. There are only two walls between your houses. Even if you asked to move in, why would anyone agree? You have your own home and can go back whenever you want.'
Mai had no idea what the other girls were thinking.
But as the official "girlfriend," she felt it was necessary to establish the legitimacy of her position.
"Ahem."
She cleared her throat.
"Saku-kun, I'm not trying to steal your room."
"What I mean is..."
Mai hesitated for a fraction of a second.
"We can sleep here together."
Saku froze.
"...You're serious?"
For a moment, he genuinely wondered whether he'd misheard.
He hadn't put any points into some mysterious Charm stat.
So why did he suddenly feel like he'd evolved into a succubus in reverse?
They hadn't even known each other that long.
Now she wanted to share a bed?
He knew people in this country could be rather open-minded about romance, but wasn't this progressing a little too quickly?
If Saku didn't have memories from his previous life and already know Mai's general personality, he might've started wondering whether she always behaved like this.
It wasn't as though anime lacked heroines with outrageous romantic settings.
Our Dating Story: The Experienced You and The Inexperienced Me came to mind immediately.
And that wasn't even touching some of the more extreme gyaru heroines he'd seen.
His thoughts raced before his eyes returned to Mai.
He didn't say anything.
His expression said plenty.
"Buu-buu!"
Mai adorably mimicked the sound of a buzzer and crossed both arms in front of herself.
"We're only sleeping together."
"No lewd stuff!"
Despite saying it firmly, Mai's own heartbeat was accelerating.
She had once considered simply moving much faster with Saku.
Later, however, she'd changed her mind.
Mai wanted romance to unfold naturally.
First they should deepen their feelings for one another. Then, when both were genuinely ready, the relationship could progress on its own.
That felt like the proper path.
The problem was that Saku was far too popular.
Worse, the other girls were much more aggressive than Mai had expected.
So she needed to accelerate the pace a little.
Sharing a bed was already going very fast. If she went all the way right away, she was afraid Saku would stop cherishing her once he'd gotten what he wanted. Therefore, maintaining this sense of distance was probably the optimal solution for now. Of course, the main reason Mai was in such a hurry was to guard against Kasumigaoka Utaha.
At least the other girls possessed some sense of boundaries.
Utaha was different.
That woman was far too proactive.
Whether Mai called it striking first or simply securing her position, she felt she needed to take another step forward with Saku.
Otherwise, someone else might catch up.
Or worse, overtake her around the outside.
And there was still that conglomerate family's second daughter watching from the sidelines.
"Ahem."
Saku cleared his throat twice and deliberately adopted a solemn expression.
"Mai-senpai, I should warn you about something."
"My sleeping posture is terrible."
「Better establish an excuse in advance. If we're sleeping together and I accidentally bump into you or something, you can't blame me afterwards, right?」
「Hehehe. I really am a clever little devil.」
Mai stared at him speechlessly.
'Yes.'
'You certainly are a clever little bastard.'
"That's fine."
She hesitated.
"I... don't mind."
「Wait, Mai, you're actually serious? The meat's already right at my mouth — how could I not eat it? Would I even be human then?」
「Setting everything else aside, my little brother is invincible!」
Saku was only talking big, though. He had no real intention of doing anything.
Respecting the other person's wishes was what mattered most.
If Mai didn't consent, he absolutely wouldn't force anything. If he actually forced it, this book would be over. Besides, he was the big brother — the little brother didn't get a vote.
Mai could no longer bring herself to face him.
She turned around and began arranging the bed instead, making sure to put some of her belongings in place.
She liked Saku, but that didn't mean she had no boundaries of her own.
At most, she'd let him get some hands-on satisfaction — anything beyond that was absolutely out of the question. Even if they did go all the way someday, it wouldn't be in this place. People were living right next door, and who knew whether the soundproofing was any good.
Seeing that Mai had stopped paying attention to him and was busy transforming his bed into their bed, Saku didn't think much more about it.
He turned back to his computer and resumed working.
...
In the next room, Kasumigaoka Utaha was miserably pacing across the floor.
She had never imagined Sakurajima Mai would move this quickly.
They were actually going to share a bed.
That rate of progress was terrifying.
And based on her understanding of Saku, there was no way this man could withstand Sakurajima Mai. Once the two of them had truly gotten to know each other deeply, it would be hard for her to wedge herself between them.
'No.'
'That doesn't mean anything.'
Utaha stopped herself and shook her head.
She had to calm down.
They were just getting to know each other deeply, that was all. That didn't count for much.
She repeated that thought to herself several times until she'd practically hypnotized herself, and finally settled down.
Then her eyes sharpened.
"Anyone can offer themselves up for free."
Utaha bit lightly at her fingernail as determination flashed through her eyes.
"Besides, Saku's school trip is coming up soon."
A faint smile appeared.
"Which means it'll finally be my turn."
She had already decided that she wanted this man.
Even if her opponent was a famous actress, Utaha had no intention of giving him up without a fight.
…