Chapter 44: I Want to Tease the TS Girl Because She’s Acting Restless

Mahiro ended up temporarily joining the team as a member!

Since he officially became part of the group, we told him to start using the team room too.

Honestly, it helps a lot. I mean, Mahiro’s skill can use all kinds of abilities as long as the duration is short, right?

That’s seriously overpowered.

Yeah, that part’s fine. Totally fine.

"Ugh, Sora-chan… why are you petting me?"

"I’m taking my frustration out on you."

"Why!?"

I aggressively ruffled Mahiro’s black-and-gray hair.

Seeing Nagisa-kun and Mahiro shaking hands earlier had left me feeling strangely restless. …I didn’t really understand why, and honestly, I didn’t want to think about it too deeply.

So, to get rid of that weird feeling, I decided to mess with Mahiro a little.

…Aren’t the tips of his hair kind of damaged?

Maybe it’s because he keeps fidgeting with it all the time.

"Sora-chan, um…"

"Hm? What?"

"No, uh…"

"Huh? What is it?"

Mahiro kept acting like he wanted to say something, only to stop halfway through. What the heck? Now I’m curious.

Annoyed, I poked his cheek too while I was at it.

"Hyah!"

…Okay, maybe I should stop after hearing a noise like that.

"So what were you trying to say?"

"Hyuugh—"

"Ah, sorry."

The sensation had been oddly fun, so instead of just poking him, I accidentally ended up pulling on his cheek.

It was fun, okay?

"So, what was it?"

"Um… about Shinozaki Nagisa…"

"Nagisa-kun?"

"I was wondering if maybe… you like him."

"Ahhh, so Mahiro noticed that too."

Hmm. Does everyone seriously care that much?

Does it really look that obvious from the outside?

Honestly, I do think I like him quite a bit.

But I always thought Yuri probably felt the same way too. At least, that’s what I assumed… though maybe it’s different.

That’s why I kind of wanted to try becoming that sort of relationship and confirm it for myself… but when I joked about it, he threw the joke right back at me instead.

…And there’s also the issue of whether I’d really be okay with being in that kind of relationship with a guy.

"Well, um… you looked kind of jealous the other day…"

"Ahh, I see."

Wait, so that restless feeling was jealousy?

…Nah, I still don’t really get it.

Alright, let’s go back to basics. First, I’ll tease Nagisa-kun a little and sort out my feelings that way.

I’ve already bullied Mahiro enough for one day.

Still, being around Mahiro doesn’t make my mental state spiral. There’s no way I’d end up emotionally dependent on this kid.

…Though I still have no idea whether it’s okay to comment on the bandages peeking out from under his long sleeves.

I almost did something similar myself once. But since I can heal my own injuries with skills, I figured I’d probably end up taking it too far, so I stopped.

…Well, putting that aside. Time to begin!

"Naaaagisa-kun~"

"Huh— wah!?"

I wrapped my arms around him from behind with full force.

Kisa and Reina’s eyes widened.

As for Hohana, she outright recoiled.

But right now, I didn’t care. I could feel the warmth of his body wherever we touched.

A soft, gradual warmth.

"…Sora-san, what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"Uhhh, an experiment?"

"You’re not just being clingy?"

"I am not clingy."

…No, maybe I am. This kind of thing calms me down.

I feel like I heard somewhere that hugs help relieve stress. Maybe that’s what this is.

Thump.

My heartbeat suddenly sped up.

"…Sora-san?"

"What?"

"Can you let go now?"

"Nope."

Nagisa-kun didn’t get flustered anymore like he did at first. Kind of disappointing.

…What am I even doing? I’m suddenly getting embarrassed. Maybe I really am unstable.

And the fact that Nagisa-kun calms me down this much is weird too.

Then suddenly, I felt a hand touch mine. Nagisa-kun had quietly taken my hand in his.

"Sora-san, is that enough now?"

"…Mm."

Before I realized it, I’d already nodded. My face felt hot.

Maybe this physical contact is the only thing keeping my heart together right now.

Because moments like this make the emptiness inside me disappear.

If I had to put it into words… maybe this is what people call "dependence."

Thinking that, I quietly held onto the warmth of his hand.

◇◇◇

"And that’s what happened."

"I really have to wonder why you keep coming to me for advice every single time."

"I could ask Hohana too, but she’d definitely tease me."

"And you naturally excluded Kurokawa Kisa completely. Understandable, though."

After vaguely becoming aware of feelings that might actually be love, I ended up consulting Reina.

Because of that, even during the Connect Link that normally stabilized me mentally, I still felt strangely unsettled.

"So I thought, ‘Alright, I’ll exercise to stabilize my mental state!’ but now I’m wondering if that’s even the actual problem."

"Hmm. So when you’re around Saizono Mahiro, who’s more emotionally unstable than you, you feel calmer."

"Could you maybe phrase that differently?"

"But it’s basically true, isn’t it?"

"…Yeah, I guess."

The reason I feel stable around Mahiro is because he doesn’t make me anxious the way everyone else does.

Honestly, he seems even more unstable than I am.

The others never make me think, I need to hold myself together for them. They’re all way more dependable than me.

But Mahiro’s different.

Someone definitely has to pull him back up.

What an ugly side of human nature. Feeling relieved when you see someone worse off than yourself.

"Honestly, you should just take your time healing your heart. It’s not something you need to rush."

"Yeah, but… we still don’t know what’ll happen with the Fourth Deep Calamity Disaster."

The next time I deploy, I’ll probably be using this power at full force.

It’s not like Curse Seeker skills are affected by mental state, but the power I gained after becoming Abaddonized is unstable, so there’s no telling what could happen.

Maybe that’s why I’ve been panicking.

After all, it’ll probably happen soon.

"Then why not just fully indulge yourself and rely on Shinozaki Nagisa?"

"…Yeah, but…"

"Dependence, whatever. If it stops you from ending up half-dead again, then that’s better."

"It’s not better for me, though."

"Because it’s embarrassing?"

"…Well, yeah. That’s part of it."

"Oh?"

Sigh… I still don’t want to admit it.

Maybe I’ll just keep forcing mental stabilization through Mahiro and somehow hold out until deployment.

"Still, if you end up completely dependent on Shinozaki Nagisa, it’ll be a shame that I won’t get to spoil you anymore."

"You overwhelmingly beat him when it comes to comforting people anyway, so wouldn’t that be fine?"

"If you keep saying weird things like that, I’m turning you into my body pillow."

"Please don’t."

…Though honestly, I think everyone already spoils me way too much.