The Girl Who Sweats Easily And The Boy With Bad Posture - Chapter 84

“Ugh! Seriously I can’t believe you!”

When he came back into the living room, he smelled like my shampoo.

I specifically said to use my dad’s shampoo.

“I told you, I’m really sorry.”

Naoyuki was toweling off his hair, apologizing nonstop.

Hearing my loud nagging voice, my Mom came from the kitchen.

“You know… if you keep making a fuss over every little thing, you’ll get dumped.”

Unable to watch any longer, she gives Nao a helping hand.

But he always says the same thing at times like this…

“Ah… but I’m the one at fault, so…”

Then my Mom said…

“No, Asou-kun!! …You have to clearly say what needs to be said. …You think everything is fine as long as you apologize, don’t you?”

“…Eh?”

At my Mom’s words, he gasped for a moment. Mom then continued speaking to Nao.

“This girl, you see… if you don’t properly scold her, she gets carried away… and she’s stubborn too…”

“Mom!!”

I’m not going to survive if she keeps talking like this.

I raised my voice to cut her off.

“What? Mai… I’m just speaking the truth, right?”

Mom’s stare pierced into me. She didn’t have to say it like that.

Even so…

“…That’s not… um… I mean… Mai-san…”

He opens his mouth to speak.

“Mai… Mai-san is… sensitive… and very easily hurt… that’s why… I…”

He had kept his head down awkwardly until now, but now he looked into my Mom’s eyes.

Then…

__I want to protect Mai-san.

For an instant, time stopped.

Only the sound of the air conditioner echoed through the room. A few seconds felt like an eternity.

It was my Mom’s laughter that broke the silence…

“Fufu… ufufufu… hehe… ahahahahaha!”

“Mom?”

She laughed so hard I seriously wondered if Mom had lost her mind.

Naoyuki, the one who said it, looked completely confused.

“Haaah, that’s just too funny.”

“What do you mean funny?!! I mean… even I… well… I was surprised too!”

When I glared at Mom, she waved her hands quickly in dismissal.

“No, that’s not what I meant… Mai… the fact that he feels this deeply about you… it makes me happy as your mother.”

Then Mom stroked my head. It felt like her eyes had a bit of envy in them.

“….You’ve always been kind of self-centered, so I worried about you… Just like how I used to be.”

“Eh?”

Mom turned to face Nao…

“Asou-kun… my daughter… she’s clumsy, short-tempered, and stubborn, but… please take good care of her.”

“…Yes…”

I felt like Mom was smiling more gently than I’d ever seen before.

What was that?

I couldn’t explain it well, but… it didn’t feel like Mom’s usual face.

“Well then… I guess it’s time to fry the chicken… this auntie is probably just in the way anyway.”

With that self-deprecating comment, my Mom disappeared into the kitchen…

Or so I thought.

“…Mai, you can be all lovey-dovey all you want, but your dad’s going to be home soon, so you better be careful.”

She turned only her face toward me and gently warned me.

“Wa… what are you saying… I’m not going to do anything like that!!”

When I flat-out denied it, Mom chuckled with a “fufu’ and faded away.

“…Nao.”

“…What?”

“Thank you.”

Once we made sure Mom was gone, I pressed my lips to his.

__Nao, thank you… I love you.

Chapter length 1397 characters.