Chapter 19: 6.1

「I think I pushed myself a little too hard...」

　After homeroom class.

　Chihiro, who is slightly dizzy, took his bag and stood up from his seat.

　His body become like this because of his cold and the strenuous exercise he had done, which made him nearly exhausted.

　...And so, he thought to himself that he should just go home and go to bed.

　As he walks down the corridor and leaves the school building with wobbly legs.

　A few moments after passing through the school gate, the pocket of his uniform vibrates.

　It's Maria, who's calling.

[Izumi-kun, are you the type of person who doesn't feed the fish you catch?]

　Her voice was calm, but somewhat frustrated.

「Eh, umm... What are you talking about?」

[I'm talking about why are you leaving without telling me?]

　*Sigh*, the sound of a sigh coming through the speakers.

　Apparently, Maria is in a bad mood because he didn't tell her or anything. Even though she said so, Chihiro didn't know what else to do.

　After all, it would have been wrong to say goodbye in the classroom if they didn't want to be seen, and it would have been too obvious to send an email saying that they were going back to the dorm alone. So why?

　Thinking so, he is at a loss for a reply.

[Just come to my place]

「Y-Yes」

　Maria ordered him in a brusque tone, and he agreed without thinking.

[Okay. All right. See you around]

　The call then disconnected immediately after being told in a cheerful voice.

　What on earth is going on?

　While tilting his head, Chihiro stopped and turned around. It's a bit of a detour from here to Maria's apartment, but it can't be helped at this point.

　He wondered where Maria had called from.

　And as he wasn't sure if she was planning to talk with her classmates or make a detour, he headed for her apartment at a rather slow pace.

　When Chihiro arrived, Maria is already at the entrance of the apartment.

「Sorry, did you wait for me?」

「No, I just got here」

　After a loverly conversation, they went to the room together.

　Of course, the room looked exactly the same as it did when they left in the morning. Chihiro never expected to be here again, so soon.

　After putting their bags on the floor of the living room, Maria smiled and looked back at Chihiro.

「Well. I forgot to give it to you yesterday, so I'll give you a duplicate key while I still have it. Um, where did I put it...?」

「A duplicate key?」

「Yeah. Wouldn't it be inconvenient without it? You'll probably use this place when I'm not here」

　She said and started looking for something.

　It's good that she is enjoying herself, but Chihiro felt that she is being hasty in many ways.

「I mean, can I come here without the owner?」

「Of course, you can. You can come to sleep, to shower, to eat. I'm more than happy that you use it as you like」

　It seems Maria treated Chihiro as if they are a couple living together.

　Well, based on the contract Chihiro had made with her, they were more than lovers. If he thought about it that way, it wasn't unnatural.

「Oh, there it is. Here」

　*Clink* a duplicate key is placed in Chihiro's palm. A key ring with two stones, one black and one white, was also on it.

　With this, he could open the entrance to the apartment and the door to the room.

「...Thank you」

「You're welcome」

　Chihiro squeezed the key and thanked her.

　The fact that a girl is giving up her private space is a bit disconcerting, but he understands that this is not the time to turn in the key.

　He hopes he doesn't end up not using the key after all.

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「Well, I'll leave you to it」

　And so, he received the duplicate key. Now he doesn't have to ask her to meet her every time he wants to talk to Maria.

　But, if he's done with his business, he should go to his dorm.

「Wait」

　When Chihiro about to walk into the corridor, Maria grabbed his neck.

「I'm not done with you yet」

「...Eh?」

「Eh, what's so surprising?」

「No, I mean... I'm sorry, I'm a little tired today. I'd like to get some rest if I can」

　Chihiro said apologetically, and Maria's expression softened when she heard that.

「...Oh, of course. I'm sorry. Well, you can use my bed for now. I finished making the bed while you were in the shower this morning」

「Oh, yeah... Yeah?」

　He nodded and then stopped.

　But he's not getting it. Or rather, he's not on the same page with her. So, he spoke...

「Oh, then. As the business is done early, I'd like to go home」

「Eh?」

　Maria tilted her head curiously.

　Her jet-black eyes peered into his face, and his body instantly felt hot. Whether she noticed it or not, she said in an indifferent voice.

「You want to take a nap, don't you? If that's the case, don't waste your time going back and forth to the dorm」

「...Oh, you mean I have to come back here?」

「Yes, after all, you want to "do it" again, don't you?」

　Maria said it with a straight face.

　Even with his still-working mind-reading ability, Chihiro couldn't sense that she was lying or teasing him. Of course, having spent the day yesterday, he thought he understood that she had this kind of personality.

　"What should I do?", he thought.

「Hey. Maybe you didn't think about it?」

　As she said that, Maria's eyes widened, as if she had finally sensed the discomfort in Chihiro's attitude.

　She puffed up her cheeks in a cute way, and started to say something unladylike.

「If you are planning to touch yourself, I'm not happy about it」

「No, I didn't mean to do that」

「Then make love with me」

「Well, that's a choice」

　Is there no choice to do neither?

「Because I'm going to die if you don't take care of my urge」

「...You won't die. I mean, it's not like we do it every day」

「But I don't want to miss it every day」

「No, don't bring up such a rare case」

　As they argued, Chihiro began to lose track of what Maria was doing. He even noticed that his tone of voice was becoming rude.

　He was going to get angry.

　When he looked at Maria, the beautiful black-haired girl was muttering, "That was a good abuse".

　This is a rare case, but anyway.

　Chihiro tried to organize Maria's argument in his mind.

　It wasn't that big of a deal, but their values were so different that he couldn't catch up with her otherwise.

「So, Maria, you mean... you want to do it now?」

「Yes. Every day if you can, or as many times a day as you can. I mean, you have a slave but you wouldn't say that you don't want to, would you?」

　That's, uh, true.

　It's a pity that last night's one and only encounter with Maria was the end of the story, but it's something Chihiro would like to avoid if at all possible. The reason is that he was too tired from the dodgeball game to think urgently about his relationship with her.

　Also, because of Maria's uncommon thinking, Chihiro is lacking in the effort to understand Maria's thinking.

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