“That was rather embarrassing…”

Amamiya Tōru walked beside me, holding my hand with a thoroughly disheartened look.
In her other hand, opposite the one holding mine, she carried a stylish paper bag from a lingerie shop. Inside that bag were two sets of underwear and a fluffy hooded loungewear set complete with cat ears.
Naturally, I’d bought them for her; she hadn’t once reached for her purse this time.
　I didn’t mind that at all. I’d simply paid without a second thought, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. That’s just the kind of relationship we have.

Still, I’d picked out some rather nice things.
I’d say my taste in choosing clothes for her wasn’t half bad either.

“Peeking in while she’s changing in the changing room? Mashiro, you’re a complete pervert.”
“What’s wrong with that? It’s me, not some guy with ulterior motives.”
“I’d hate it if a woman had ulterior motives too.”

As she said, while she was trying things on, I did stick my head through the gap in the changing room curtain to see what kind of underwear I’d chosen for her, watching her change.
Of course, I gave her plenty of time, so I didn’t see the parts she really didn’t want me to see.
And even though she says that, I was utterly serious when choosing her underwear; I genuinely had no ulterior motives.
　Cute ones, simple and demure ones, slightly naughty ones.
Watching her, my drowsiness faded considerably. Driven solely by the realisation of how aroused I could become by seeing Amamiya Tōru in her underwear, I kept selecting.

So, towards her trying things on, I certainly didn’t wish for any lucky developments. Seeing Amamiya Tōru blushing properly was refreshing, and I felt I’d gained a little something there, but that was all.

　In the end, the types I bought were two kinds of underwear: “cute” and “a bit naughty”. The simple ones Amamiya Tōru said “I like these” were rejected by me, exercising the payer’s prerogative.
But while I was intently observing and scrutinising her in her underwear, her fidgeting was utterly adorable. Ironically, the underwear that suited her restless self best turned out to be the more modest, clean-cut designs.

　Well, in the end, I still insisted she take two pieces: a cute, pastel pink one with ribbons, and a slightly sheer black lace one.

“Next time you use underwear to tempt me, please wear what I bought for you today.”

Personally, I prefer the sheer black one.
Smiling at her, I conveyed that sentiment.

“Mashiro’s naughty.”
“Yes, I suppose I am naughty.”
“You’ll never see me in my underwear again.”
“Not even if I shower you with money?”
“………”

Amamiya Tōru offered no counterargument.
It felt like confirmation that, as long as I kept piling on the money, seeing her in her underwear – and beyond that – would be possible for me, a fellow woman. A strange sense of elation welled up inside me.

“…Even if I did show you, it’d be the cute one.”
“The pink one? So you thought it was cute too, Amamiya-san. That’s a relief.”
“Well, that’s…”
“…?”

Amamiya Tōru brought the paper bag he was holding up in front of his face, blocking my view of her reaction.

“Pink… was cute.”

The glimpse of her ear was flushed crimson all the way to the tips.

“Are you blushing?”

Was it feigned?
Surely not. I wanted to believe that.
Her mannerisms suggested genuine embarrassment. I didn’t want to think this was calculated too.

Amamiya Tōru said.

“Being with Mashiro somehow throws me off balance.”

I find such words inexplicably pleasing.
Hearing her say that made me realise for the first time that my goal was achievable, and not particularly difficult at that.

　Amamiya Tōru is changing.

We haven’t interacted much yet, but I’m already drawing out colours from Amamiya Tōru.
Just now, I caught a glimpse of red.
I want to see more. I want to make her expressions shift more.

I notice her hand, which I’m holding, feels damp.

A shiver runs through me.

With my free hand, I brush away her mischievous hand covering her face.

“Don’t hide your face.”

The words came out feverishly.

We were in front of a lingerie shop, with plenty of people passing by.
Yet in that spot, only the air around us felt endlessly hot and humid.

Her resistance was feeble.

Amamiya Tōru turned her face away.
But I could still see her lovely face clearly.
She was wearing a properly adorable expression.
It made me happy again.

“Did you imagine yourself wearing that cute lingerie to seduce me?”

She nodded slightly, looking chagrin’d.
Her brow furrowed, her eyes slightly moist.

Though she surely had no such inclination, it stirred a sadistic urge within me.