The Beautiful Girl Who Asked Me to Pretend to Be Her Boyfriend Didn’t Want to Break up With Me for Some Reason - Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Maid Outfit, Again

“—So, why are you wearing a maid outfit again?”

“I felt a wave of jealousy from Hakuto when the idea was brought up for the school festival.”

“It’s not like I was showing that…”

It’s a sad truth about being a man that I can’t completely deny it.

That afternoon, after we discussed what to do for the school festival, Shirafuji said, “I’ll go get changed,” then disappeared. When she returned, she was wearing the long maid outfit I’d seen once before.

No matter when she wears it, it suits her—because of Shirafuji’s natural attributes.

There’s no way a doll-like girl with such looks wouldn’t look good in it.

“You were so against it before, but now you’re fine with it?”

“It’s fine. Here, the only person who’ll see me is Hakuto. I just don’t like being a spectacle for a large, unspecified crowd. It’s not that I dislike maid outfits or cosplay-like outfits in general.”

“If you did, you wouldn’t have bought a maid outfit for yourself.”

“Exactly. …Of course, if it gets officially decided as part of the festival, I’ll do my role properly.”

“I feel really guilty, like I’m forcing a tough role on you.”

“It’s something necessary to avoid unnecessary resentment, so I’ll endure it. Maybe before, it wouldn’t have mattered, but now there are at least a few people I don’t want to inconvenience. Besides, thinking ahead, it’s more beneficial overall to have the people around me on my side.”

The phrase “thinking ahead” caught my attention, but Shirafuji rarely gives me a clear answer when I ask about things like this, so I didn’t bother.

It’s probably not something that would put me at a disadvantage.

She wouldn’t do anything to betray the trust we’ve built.

“Since I’m already in a maid outfit, should I do something fitting? Last time… it was a lap pillow and ear cleaning, right? As a reward for achieving your test goals.”

“I’m getting a bad feeling about this. Just my imagination, right?”

“I’m not going to forcefully clean your ears. …Actually, now that I say it out loud, forcing an ear cleaning would be really dangerous, wouldn’t it?”

“Seriously. With that in mind, what exactly are you planning to do, Shirafuji?”

When you think of a maid outfit, it naturally brings to mind acts of service.

Setting aside the fact that real maids only exist in high-class households or maid cafés.

When I asked, Shirafuji put a hand to her mouth and thought for a moment.

“If Hakuto wants something, I’ll do anything.”

She said it with a faint smile.

Anything.

So, she really means anything?

“Then first, let’s stop with the ‘I’ll do anything’ part.”

“Isn’t that cheating?”

“You were the one who said it, Shirafuji.”

“…Master is quite mean.”

“Well, you’re the one who made it sound ambiguous in the first place.”

I admit that I can be mean, but it’s not even a fifty-fifty situation here.

“Hakuto.”

“What?”

“I did say ‘I’ll do anything,’ but I wasn’t thinking of anything indecent, you know? What exactly were you imagining? I’m really curious.”

“Trying to corner me with leading questions won’t work. Also, aren’t you just outing yourself right now?”

“I am not.”

The way she gets defensive is suspicious, but I’ll leave it at that.

I don’t want to risk making her sulk.

Especially when she’s in a maid outfit—I have no idea what she might pull.

“Anyway. If I had to suggest something, it’d be like before—lap pillow, ear cleaning, maybe sleeping beside you, or making dinner.”

“The last one sounds the most reasonable.”

“I could wash your back in the bath too. Or better yet, we could bathe together. Then afterward, you could dry my hair, and after that, we could sleep side by side—”

“Alright, alright.”

“Don’t brush it off so lightly.”

“How else am I supposed to react?”

“Just accepting it would solve everything.”

…If we actually bathed together, it wouldn’t solve anything—it would create countless new problems.

“Speaking of which, we’re supposed to be just friends, right?”

“I know we won’t actually bathe together. But aside from that, we already do most of those things. I like it when Hakuto dries my hair, you know?”

“Well, I appreciate that, I guess.”

“Oh, and sleeping beside you is also very welcome. I sleep better that way than when I’m alone.”

“There’s no way… is there?”

That’s something only she can accurately say.

But thinking back to summer break, she did seem to sleep well.

Even though we weren’t actually sleeping beside each other, just having someone else around might have helped.

But if you ask me whether I’d willingly sleep beside her, I’d have trouble nodding to that.

The mix of embarrassment, awkwardness, and the happiness of being wanted makes it hard to outright refuse, which only makes me realize how soft I am.

Shirafuji says that softness doesn’t need fixing, though.

“So, with that settled, I’ll be making dinner tonight.”

“Need any help?”

“Please. I’m not confident enough to do everything by myself.”

“I think you’ve been improving bit by bit, though.”

“I have to, otherwise it’d be a problem. Plus, learning through cooking together seems like the fastest way to improve. Well, that’s not the only reason, though.”

As she spoke, Shirafuji casually settled into my lap as usual.

She leaned against me and let out a relaxed sigh.

She looked completely at ease.

“Is this really maid-like behavior?”

“A close maid and her master—it’s nice, isn’t it?”

…Well, I suppose it’s not entirely off the table.