After deciding to give up, I became popular

"...I want to help you wash," the angel said earnestly.

Originally, I thought Mahiru was asking for my consent, but I didn't expect that although she was very polite, she unexpectedly and clearly insisted. Therefore, Sou Aikawa obediently sat down on the chair due to her imposing manner.

It feels like I'm being led by the nose without realizing it...

While thinking about this, Mahiru had already come to stand behind him, holding the comb she brought.

"I've always wanted to take care of your hair myself."

Mahiru began to comb his hair, the nervous look on her face also slightly eased down, or rather, gradually dyed with a joyful color. Sou Aikawa noticed that she had probably triggered some kind of switch.

Although this is better than being tense and stiff all the time, Mahiru sometimes becomes too engrossed and invested when it comes to Sou Aikawa's matters, so Sou Aikawa had a premonition that this time would be no exception.

As far as he's concerned, being too concerned only makes the body's reaction more unbearable. Only a peaceful atmosphere like this can drive this space and situation out of his consciousness, and Mahiru's movements are very careful and considerate. Just lying on her lap and having his hair stroked is enough to fall into a sound sleep. If she gently takes care of his hair like this, it must be very comfortable.

Sou Aikawa also had such plans in his heart, so he simply closed his eyes and entrusted everything to her. At this moment, a chuckle came from behind.

"You've suddenly relaxed," she noted.

"Yeah, since you said you'd help me wash, I thought I'd let you do as you please, because I know you'll wash me very comfortably," Sou Aikawa nodded, as if affirming her.

"I will try my best to meet your expectations." The angel seemed very happy to be asked like this, answering with a smiling voice, and then carefully and slowly combed his hair.

"First, use a comb to remove excess dust and debris, then rinse well with hot water. This step is very important. Your hair is very short, so you may not need to do it to this extent."

"I see, I'm too lazy, so I never comb my hair before taking a shower."

"Because your hair is short and doesn't get tangled easily, so you probably don't think about combing it. My hair is very long, so it's easy to get tangled, and this step is indispensable."

"Being able to maintain such beautiful hair despite its length must take a lot of effort."

Sou Aikawa opened his eyes and looked through the mirror. Mahiru's hair was much longer than her waist, full of luster and without split ends. The smooth surface possessed the beauty that all girls would yearn for.

He thought admiringly that it must be hard to maintain such hair.

At this moment, a soft chuckle came from behind.

"I naturally have good hair quality, so it doesn't take much effort to take care of it... but I do pay attention to it, after all, if the hair is beautiful, it will look better no matter what clothes you wear," the angel said with a somewhat helpless voice.

"You really are a girl," Sou Aikawa retorted, because he seemed to have heard someone say that girls are always confident, regardless of whether their hard conditions are good or not. This seems to be fully reflected in a certain country.

"Because I want to be proud of myself," the angel nodded seriously.

After Mahiru finished speaking, Sou Aikawa glanced at her combing her hair and picking up the showerhead, understanding that she was going to rinse with hot water, and gently closed his eyes.

But Mahiru also gently reminded him: "I'm going to rinse with hot water."

Then she turned on the hot water and began to rinse Sou Aikawa's hair.

"You need to wash this area well first. When using styling products, it's best to wash off part of it in this step."

"Yes, yes, yes, I will next time." Sou Aikawa's voice seemed quite serious, but in his heart, he still felt that boys don't really care that much. But no matter what, this kind of lecturing angel is really very cute.

"Really... listen properly," Mahiru pouted, somewhat unwilling, "It's rare that you naturally have good hair quality, if you pay more attention to maintenance, it will become even better."

"But doing these things every day feels like a lot of trouble," Sou Aikawa sighed.

"You can't be lazy," the angel muttered helplessly, "Really."

Perhaps in the process of washing hair, the emotions of tension and shyness subsided a little, the awkward atmosphere between the two disappeared, and the conversation returned to its usual state.

"Anyway, when we take baths together in the future, these habits should naturally develop, so let's just leave it at that for now."

Sou Aikawa felt that doing the maintenance that Mahiru mentioned every day was a bit troublesome, so he blurted it out out of laziness, but Mahiru, who was helping him rinse his hair, froze.

She froze behind him for a full ten seconds before finally thawing, and reached for the shampoo, working it into a lather. This scene flashed in the mirror.

"That... Angel-san?" Sou Aikawa was a little concerned about her silence.

"Naturally saying that kind of thing is exactly where your problem lies."

"Huh...?" Sou Aikawa was a little puzzled, not knowing what was suddenly wrong.

After Mahiru worked up a lather, she gradually smoothed it on Sou Aikawa's hair, her cheeks flushed.

Was he overthinking it? It felt like her movements weren't as delicate as before.

"I'm very happy, but you're no longer qualified to say anything about Aunt and Uncle."

Sou Aikawa vaguely understood Mahiru's meaning, and realized what he had just said a step too late, his face flushing.

After all, the sentence just now seemed to be an invitation to "take baths together in the future," so it's no wonder the angel suddenly fell silent.

"If you don't zip up your mouth, I'll be very troubled."

"I'll be careful," Sou Aikawa said somewhat awkwardly.

The feeling of shame that had finally subsided reappeared, so both of them blushed, and then only focused on silently concentrating on washing their hair.

Before long, Mahiru seemed to have skillfully completed the hair care steps.

After the hair was completely cared for, Mahiru showed a slightly hesitant look and took out the bottle with body soap written on it.

"...That, uh... the body, too."

Sou Aikawa understood Mahiru's meaning, and then felt his body start to stiffen.

After washing the hair, the next step is indeed the body, but he didn't expect Mahiru to say she would help wash the body as well. She did say she would help him wash his back, but no one would take that seriously, right...

No, washing the back shouldn't be a problem, like scrubbing... Yes, if I understand it as scrubbing, I can accept it a little more, Sou Aikawa started to hypnotize himself.

"That... that, ah... you, you don't have to force yourself?" But Sou Aikawa still tried to remind the angel.

"I, I'm not forcing myself!? That... this... I can do this little thing too, uh... of course, please wash the front yourself... I, I'll only wash the back..." The angel stuttered, even without looking at him, Sou Aikawa could feel her shyness.

"You, you being willing to do that is good enough," Sou Aikawa's tone also paused.

In any case, if she helped wash the front as well, things would become very bad, so Sou Aikawa immediately agreed to what Mahiru said and lowered his head first.

Then the shyness that had subsided earlier gradually surged up again, coupled with the expectation of breaking free from the range of control, causing his body to heat up.

Mahiru kept rubbing the body soap bubbles on his back with a foaming net, making the sound of fabric rubbing.

Sou Aikawa deeply realized that a bathroom with only the sound of breathing and rubbing bubbles is very awkward and unbearable.

"...Then, excuse me..."

Mahiru seemed to have rubbed the bubbles well, and said in a timid tone, and then a soft and elastic touch gently transmitted to his back.

"..."

This is not good, Sou Aikawa thought, he seemed to have overestimated his self-control too much.

Extra: Request for Touch (Angel Arc, Part 2)

Of course, Sou Aikawa also knew that this was naturally the feeling brought by the delicate foam of the body soap, but in this place, and in this close-range situation wearing a swimsuit, it made him wonder for a moment if a bountiful fruit had touched him. This is probably the nature of men...

In short, the touch of the bubbles gently spread on his back. He felt itchy, although Mahiru carefully wiped his back, he still felt a little anxious and uneasy, perhaps more because of her cautiously applying the foam. After all, Sou Aikawa himself would not wash so carefully when taking a bath, especially the back, most of the time he would just fumble around with a towel and be done with it, so he couldn't get used to this feeling.

"Sou's back is really broad..."

After applying it to a certain extent, Sou Aikawa, whose back was full of foam, heard the angel's soft murmur.

"Uh, maybe it's because I'm taller?" Sou Aikawa explained. In Japan, his height of nearly 1.8 meters is indeed very tall. Compared to him, the angel is completely a small one, very cute, and it's almost the most adorable height difference.

"And boys should definitely look broader, right?"

"No, that's not the reason." Shiina Mahiru shook her head and explained softly, "It's just because it's you, so it looks broad... because I always rely on this back."

Near the shoulder blades, Sou Aikawa felt a palm gently press down.

"Do you remember? When I twisted my foot, you carried me home." The angel's tone was gentle and soft.

"Yeah, I remember a little, it was when you went to save a cat and got hurt, right?" Sou Aikawa began to recall. At that time, he thought the other party was too silly and cute. Who would think of saving a cat trapped in a tree? The key was that she twisted her foot because of it, but in the end, the cat ran away by itself, leaving her alone sitting blankly on the edge of the flower bed.

"Actually, I was really happy at that time, although I didn't express it clearly..." The angel began to tell him her true feelings.

"Because you couldn't think of a way, and you looked very helpless," Sou Aikawa nodded, which was one of the reasons why he decisively went up to help. On the other hand... it was also a great opportunity for him to contact her, so he was also very happy.

"You will always find me—I think so now. No matter what difficulties I face, you can always find me in time and appear by my side." Mahiru's palm on his back began to slide gently, and then wrapped around his chest.

In this way, the distance between the two was officially reduced to zero. The angel kept a close posture, resting her cheek on Sou Aikawa's shoulder.

Sou Aikawa's body suddenly stiffened, because after feeling the softness and volume on his back that the bubbles obviously couldn't compare with, his breathing became a little rapid.

"Ah... as long as you're willing... I will carry you and support you no matter what... and I said I would always be watching you, I definitely won't disappear..."

His brain had actually begun to be a little confused. On the one hand, he felt that Mahiru was clearly elaborating on her inner thoughts, and it was precisely when she was talking about serious matters. On the other hand, he also felt that this posture was really too hot... Although the angel should still be wearing a swimsuit, the actual feeling transmitted had long been blurred, and it was no different from experiencing it naked.

"Yeah." Shiina Mahiru responded softly, but was still carefully feeling his reliability.

"..." Sou Aikawa felt that he should remind her. "That being said, it would be a little difficult to carry you in this posture. It would be a great help if you could separate a little more..."

He was naturally hinting that she had already touched him, but Shiina Mahiru's body only trembled violently, but she didn't mean to let go at all.

"It doesn't matter, even if you don't carry me, I hope to always be by your side. I won't push all the burden on you... because we want to move forward side by side."

"..." Sou Aikawa felt her determination.

In fact, their daily life had already shown this. Originally, Sou Aikawa himself actively requested to provide all the food expenses, etc., and Mahiru only needed to be responsible for cooking and cleaning. But later, it gradually evolved into her paying half of the expenses, and she took over the housework and cleaning, and in the end, it became more suitable to call her "housekeeper" than "helpful neighbor."

"..." After thinking for a long time, Sou Aikawa felt that he should respond to the other party, no matter what the thoughts were, the important thing was to respond.

But it seemed that the angel's desire to confide was far greater than his.

"And... Mairyo said—if you do this when staying over, you will be very happy." The angel's tone was soft, and seemed to have a bit of shyness.

"..." Sou Aikawa was silent again.

It wasn't that he felt that he had been tricked by his own sister, but on the contrary, he felt that she really knew her older brother well—he was really happy!

Seeing that he was silent, the angel thought that he had begun to have dissatisfied emotions towards his sister, so she hugged Sou Aikawa's body again as if to comfort him, and persuaded: "Mairyo only gave me advice, and I wanted to do it myself."

"Ugh..." The more obvious voluptuous feeling made Sou Aikawa groan.

He really didn't dislike her closeness; on the contrary, he quite enjoyed it. However, he was indeed restrained by a shackle called "self-control," though it was currently being severely weakened.

Moreover… perhaps he wasn't wrong. Mahiru's clinging wasn't accidental but deliberate, possibly to erode his reason and endurance.

Has my little angel really turned into a little devil? Natsukawa Subaru wondered secretly.

"I, I understand… but you should let go quickly, because this is also difficult for me… or rather, I don't want to become an overloaded internal combustion engine before taking a bath…" Natsukawa Subaru's tone seemed somewhat uneasy.

It would be nice to shamelessly enjoy it, but unfortunately, he didn't have the leeway. He was already doing his best to maintain his rationality. But clearly, there were still topics to continue, and he didn't want to be seen as someone truly desperate, so he wanted to separate slightly to let his mind and body cool down. However, he didn't expect that as soon as he finished speaking, the angel-like girl would obediently let go of him.

Mahiru, reflected in the mirror, seemed embarrassed afterward, squirming and shrinking.

He didn't know whether to call her bold or timid. Watching her hug his shoulder and moan "Uuu…", Natsukawa Subaru couldn't help but think, if she was going to be shy, she shouldn't have done that in the first place.

But for Natsukawa Subaru, the relief he felt after Mahiru let go was stronger than his embarrassment, and he began to have the energy to tease her.

"I'll take care of the rest myself. You can do your own maintenance."

"Okay…" The angel-like girl shrank her neck.

"You look like you have an opinion?" Natsukawa Subaru raised his eyebrows and began to become assertive.

"No, it's not that I have an opinion… um, I should say I was mentally prepared, so I'm a little disappointed…" Mahiru blurted out her true feelings.

"Oh? So you thought I was going to… do what in this place?" Natsukawa Subaru continued to press.

"Th, this… I thought you were going to help me wash my back…"

Natsukawa Subaru had already guessed this answer, because anything else would have deviated from the angel-like girl's personality.

"I didn't say I wouldn't help, did I? Besides… you were the one who suggested taking a bath together… or do you not want me to help you wash your back now?"

"I, it's not that! I was just thinking… that… you clearly don't want to touch me." The angel-like girl's eyes became somewhat resentful.

Natsukawa Subaru almost choked. He glanced at Mahiru with a subtle look, which only made her face turn even redder.

"B, because… Suzushiro-san said that her parents often help each other bathe…"

"Wait! This is the first time I've heard of this!" Natsukawa Subaru widened his eyes.