My Sex Friend Is My Childhood Friend? - 30-31

Chapter 30: The Meeting on That Day

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Inada hadn’t said anything since then. It seemed the problem with Mahiru’s ex-boyfriend had been resolved…. At least for now. 

I was watching TV at home. Every channel was endlessly covering autumn leaf viewing specials. The mountains on TV were completely draped in fall colors.

“It’s almost Father’s death anniversary.” 

I muttered to myself. This season always reminded me of my father. So, I invited Mahiru to visit his grave. Today, we planned to go to the cemetery and stop by my family home afterward.

Step, step, step

“Nagi-kuuun!”

Mahiru arrived, calling my name from outside the door as usual. I’d probably get a noise complaint soon. I already gave her a spare key, but for some reason, her behavior hadn’t changed.

Oh, right. She was like this in middle school too.  Maya used to come over and call for me from outside.

When I opened the door, Mahiru was there. Today, she had a slightly different vibe. For the grave visit, she chose subdued colors. She wore a beige trench coat over a black dress-knit. The V-neckline and rope-patterned stitching from her collar to above her knees accentuated Mahiru’s beautiful waistline.

Come to think of it, Mahiru usually wears brighter colors.

Lately, I’d been getting to know her better, and sometimes I thought she picked clothes to look cheerful on purpose.

“Your vibe is different today, huh?”

Mahiru swayed side to side as she replied.

“Well, it’s Nagi-kun’s Father’s grave, right? I can’t be disrespectful.”

Her earnestness stirred a taboo-like arousal in me.

“Hm?”

I pulled the puzzled Mahiru inside the entryway, pinned her against the wall, and slammed my left palm beside her head. With my right index finger, I tilted her chin up. As she started to say something, I silenced her with a kiss.

“Ngh…”

Mahiru let out a muffled sound. I turned her around, grabbed the hem of her coat and knit dress with my left hand, and hiked them up. Pressing my left forearm against her back, I made her arch her spine. Unsteady, she braced both hands against the wall, her hips raised.

I roughly pulled down her shorts and while stroking her hip, I whispered a teasing question in her ear.

“Hey, Mahiru, have you been using Denma?”

“Ah! N-No… I haven’t…”

“Hmm, if you’re not using it, can I smell it?”

Mahiru visibly panicked.

“No! Absolutely not! No way!!”

I got a thrill from her reaction. Lowering my tone, I continued teasingly.

“If you haven’t been using it, I can do whatever, right? Be honest.”

“I’ve used it…”

When I asked how often, she said.

“When Nagi-kun is not around… Almost every day.”

Almost every day? What kind of Japanese person are you?

She was more active than I thought. I should try coming home unannounced when she was here then. That could be interesting.

Wait, hold on. Every day… A room with weird mechanical noises and a woman’s voice when no one’s supposed to be there? That could lead to a noise complaint for a whole different reason. That’s not even remotely fun. I need to tell her to tone down the solo play.

Maybe because of Inada, I wanted to be a bit mean. I felt relieved that I could channel my jealousy into desire. Satisfied for now, I started getting ready to leave. But, Mahiru clung to my arm.

“Nagi-kun, hey? Give it to me…”

I put a finger to my forehead, pretending to think. Then, I decided to ask the final blow.

“What do you think about when you do it alone?”

Mahiru turned bright red at my question. As if there could be anything more embarrassing than our earlier conversation…

Pouting and fidgeting, she said.

“Nagi-kun’s… Clothes… That you took off… I smell them while I do it…”

It was the best answer ever. I had to admit, that was some hardcore love. With that, I was fully satisfied and got ready to head out for real.

I left Mahiru hanging. She followed me, puffing her cheeks like balloons, whining out loud.

“That’s mean, Nagi-kun! So mean!”

By the way, there was no way our resident succubus would be satisfied with that. At the service area, she straddled and ravaged me to oblivion. (Ding)

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Chapter 31: Grave Visit

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It took us about an hour and a half by car to reach my father’s grave. Mahiru had brought some rice balls, so we stopped at a service area and had lunch with some fried chicken we bought from a food stall.

Ever since we met, I had done nothing but make her cry. Before I met Mahiru, I never had a deep relationship with any particular girl. Sure, I’d been cornered or even slapped before, but no one had ever cried because of me. With Mahiru though… I felt like I had been making her cry over and over. 

As I was thinking that, our eyes met. Mahiru smiled and held out a piece of fried chicken to me.

“Did you want another one, Nagi-kun?”

She was munching on a rice ball, a grain of rice stuck to her cheek. I picked it off and ate it, then said.

“Sorry for everything.”

Mahiru gave me a puzzled look. Since the incident at the school festival, I had been thinking about it from time to time. I said I’d protect Mahiru. But—

Protect her from what? How? What could someone like me, who had nothing, possibly do to protect her?

my father’s grave was deep in the mountains of Chichibu. We stopped by the family temple to greet them, and they lent us a bucket and other tools. At a roadside stand along the mountain path, we bought fresh flowers and incense. The old lady running the stand was already old back when I came here as a child. She must be a living record of this mountain path, manning this stall for hundreds of years.

That living record smiled and said to us.

“You caught yourself a cute wife. It makes me remember the time your father brought his bride here.”

So that was how it was. Decades ago, my father also came through here with my mom by his side. Mahiru seemed flustered at that comment.

“Obaa-chan, I’m not his wife!”

Yeah, I know that… But it still hurts a little to hear her deny it so directly.

It was about a ten-minute walk from there to the graveyard. We walked through the narrow paths toward the grave. Since we only came once every few years, I could never quite remember where it was.

We finally reached my father’s grave. It sat on a small hilltop, where the breeze blew freely and the view was wide and open. Mahiru and I cleaned the grave and lit some incense. Then Mahiru pulled something out of her bag and offered it.

Mandarins. I hadn’t expected to see mandarins in season this time of year. We both closed our eyes and prayed for his peaceful rest. Mahiru stood a few steps behind me, praying intently.

What was she praying for, I wonder? I pressed my hands together too.

Father had worked as a driver. We weren’t well-off, but he always looked out for Mom. I never hated him, but I couldn’t be honest with him either. When I dropped out of high school and became a shut-in, he would yell at me again and again.

“What are you going to do with your life? Society isn’t as soft as you think it is. Stop relying on others!”

But I would always sulk and think.

『It’s not like I want to be stuck at home. I’m hurting too, you know.』

That was the only way I could see it. Eventually, I started avoiding him altogether. When I was in my second year of high school, my father died in a traffic accident while working. He was a big guy and strong, so I never imagined he’d die so suddenly.

In the end, we never really understood each other. But now, I think I have started to understand him a little. Back then, I pretended to know how the world worked, refusing to admit how weak I was.

That was why… My father, who had seen right through me, probably couldn’t just turn a blind eye on me. He was genuinely worried about me. But at that time, I was far too immature to understand. I couldn’t even be grateful to him. 

Sorry, Father. I was such a bad son. Father… I’ve met someone I really care about. But I don’t know how to protect her. Please tell me what to do.

…When I opened my eyes, Mahiru was looking at me. It seemed like she had been waiting for me to finish.

“Nagi-kun, did you get all your prayers in?”

I replied in a joking tone.

“Yeah, since I’m being overworked by Mahiru, I prayed for the Denma to live a long life.”

I took off running, and Mahiru chased after me, puffing her cheeks in protest. Then I asked her something.

“Hey. By the way, why a mandarin?”

Mahiru stuck out her tongue playfully.

“It’s a secret.”

As we were leaving, I looked back. The backlight hit the hilltop, and my father’s gravestone looked like the silhouette of a broad-shouldered man. I felt something nostalgic stir in me and whispered in my heart:

Father… This is the girl.

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