At the entrance, the heel of a loafer tapped lightly against the door.
Amamiya Tōru’s hands tightened around my neck.
Gently, gradually, the pressure increased.

“I don’t understand anymore. My head’s been all jumbled up since earlier, and I don’t understand why I’m doing this.”

Her expression was indeed transparent, but it was the transparent kind with moist eyes.
　She seemed unable to cry like she did at school, even though she wanted to. I think it’s because this place —her home— has become an ingrained part of the environment that forces transparency upon Amamiya Tōru.

That’s why the Amamiya Tōru of now is incomparably more ambiguous than before.

“Amamiya-san…”

She’s squeezing my neck so tightly I fear it might leave marks. I couldn’t breathe, my vision blurred. My face grew hot against my will.
Tears streamed down unbidden, and though it was disgusting, saliva dripped from the corner of my mouth.

“Hey, Mashiro, tell me? What should I do? Since I brought Mashiro here, I never felt anything until now. Suddenly, part of me thinks I don’t want to live here alone anymore. If Mashiro pushed me away, saying I’m being silly, then maybe these clingy thoughts of mine would disappear. So say it. Mashiro, leave me alone again before it’s too late.”

Consciousness begins to blur.
I want to say something to her, but she’s lost in her own world, her grip on my neck remains tight, not even allowing me to make a sound.
Gradually, my vision starts to sparkle and shatter.

　And then―――.

“Eh? ………Mashiro?”

The world went dark.

◆

The sensation of my cheek being squished and pinched.
The weight on my stomach.
My neck stinging.

And then, my left arm – bearing the white line I’d never shown anyone – was stroked.

I woke up.

“Ah, Mashiro, awake?”

The first thing to come into my blurry, sleepy vision was Amamiya Tōru straddling me.
Traces of tears were faintly visible around her eyes.

Well, mine were too, I suppose.

“Amamiya-san, could you move aside a moment?”

My voice was raspy, probably from being squeezed so hard.

“Er, sorry. Mashiro.”

She lifted her bottom off my stomach and stood up, apologising.
I’d been lying on a futon.

“Sorry, Mashiro.”

Amamiya Tōru apologised to me again.

That…

What exactly was she apologising for?
　For choking me unconscious?
Or for this situation where I now feel a chill?

When I woke up, I was in my underwear.

The top was mine, but for some reason, the bottom had been changed to the sheer black underwear I’d bought for her.
The cheap orange bargain bra and the sexy-looking knickers were a mismatch, making my current outfit look utterly ridiculous no matter how you looked at it.

“…Why am I dressed like this?”

I asked Amamiya Tōru, who had now regained her composure.
I had nothing but a bad feeling about this.
And though I’d tried not to think about it, the cut on my left arm – which I’d been discreetly hiding with my right hand since earlier – had undoubtedly been seen by her.
The trace of my magic had been exposed to someone.
I felt a slight shock at that, followed by mounting irritation.

　Amamiya Tōru lowered her gaze to the left, uttering her words awkwardly.

Her expression was almost blank, yet the hint of remorse was proof my understanding of her was growing.
Well, that didn’t matter right now.

I despaired at the words she spoke.

“Well, Masiro’s clothes got dirty…”
“…?”
“Um, I did wash them by hand earlier, and they’re hanging out to dry now.”
“…Did I wet myself?”
“…Er…”
“So I wet myself. Even though I’m a high school student.”

So that’s what it was.
I’d been strangled by her and lost consciousness. Apparently, I’d also made a mess of myself in the process.

“So that’s why you took them off?”
“Yeah. …Er, I wiped it properly, so don’t worry about that part.”
“So you saw everything, then…”

What should I do? I feel like crying my eyes out right now.
Embarrassment and all sorts of feelings are welling up inside me. I wish the ground would swallow me whole.
Seeing me blushing like this, Amamiya Tōru asks me something else, looking even more awkward.

　About this magic on my left arm.

“Um, so, Mashiro—”
“………Yes?”
“What’s that wound?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you do it yourself?”

Surprisingly, she asked straight out.
I hesitated over how to answer.
Of course, this was what people called “self-harm”. But I didn’t want her to think I was doing something bad.
　For me, this is salvation.
A magical ritual that wipes unpleasant things from my mind.

“We all have things we don’t want others to see, don’t we?”

I replied thus.
It was also my response to what she’d said to me earlier at the entrance: “I didn’t want you to see me like this.”
In other words, today we’d both touched upon parts we didn’t want to touch. We’d overstepped.

“It’s my fault for pushing you today, isn’t it? I’m sorry. But today, I’d be grateful if you could just look at this scar and avoid probing any further.”

Amamiya Tōru said nothing, merely nodded.

Right then, I had something else I wanted to say.
Part of me also wanted to change the subject quickly.

“Amamiya-san, despite the circumstances, let’s begin today’s compensation.”

Amamiya Tōru, startled by my swift change of pace, questioned me with his eyes.
Was I not going to address the series of problems from earlier?
Was I not going to hold her accountable for physically hurting me by choking me?

“I don’t have much money. But today, I’ll give you thirty thousand yen.”

The sheer magnitude of that sum.
The price suddenly inflated.

It seemed this finally conveyed what she meant to me.

That she would pay for all the harm she’d caused me, through this compensation.

“First, please undress, Amamiya-san.”

It would be unfair for only me to be in my underwear, wouldn’t it?
　I stared at her, conveying that meaning.
Amamiya Tōru hesitated for a moment. But perhaps judging the thirty thousand yen fee and my reasoning to be fair, she finally began to undress too.

Surprisingly, once she decided to undress, she seemed to lose all shyness, and in no time she was in her underwear like me.
I resolved that if there was a next time, I would undress her with my own hands.

“What would you like to do first?”

I spread my arms wide.
Ready to accept anything, I stared intently at her underwear.
We hadn’t discussed doing this beforehand, yet her underwear was the cute pastel pink set I’d bought for her.
The bra cradled her perfectly shaped breasts. A hint of cleavage visible there.
My gaze drifted downward.
　Unlike my own protruding, flabby belly, hers had a beautiful, clearly defined curve. A tight, very pleasing to the eye waist.
And then below that―――.

As I tried to look there, my view was blocked by skin colour.

Blocking my view was her collarbone area.

I shared yet another hug with Amamiya Tōru.
　And this time, there was more skin on show. Warmer and more pleasant than usual.

“Mashiro, you’re naughty!”

Her arms wrapped tightly around my back, pulling me close.
Her distinct complaint whispered in my ear made my cheeks relax.
It felt good. Our slightly sweaty bodies felt even better pressed together.

“You’re the one who took off my knickers while I was asleep, weren’t you, Amamiya-san? Believe it or not, I’m actually still a bit shy about this sort of thing, you know? And then you went and said you’d wiped me… ………
You’re the naughty one, Amamiya-san ♡.”

As if exacting revenge, I conveniently whispered lewdly into her ear, right in front of me.
Adding a little ♡ at the end, even. Trying to sound all sultry.

Huh, that’s odd.

　Somehow, I start feeling even more naughty.

It seems Amamiya Tōru feels the same, as we both start sweating more.

Haa, haa.
Even though we’re just holding each other, our breathing grows heavy.
It’s our first time for both of us, our bodies overcome by excitement.

Sweat trickles down Amamiya Tōru’s neck.
Seeing it, I absentmindedly extend my tongue.
　I gave it a quick lick, wondering if even her sweat tasted salty.

Perhaps my action flipped a switch.
After I licked her sweat, Amamiya Tōru seemed to lose all restraint, pushing me down.

She straddled me, her bottom on my stomach.

Through my blurred, excited vision, I just stared at her face, flushed crimson from the heat.
　Her vision must be blurred too.

And surely our faces were both melting, overcome by this stifling humidity.

Words were unnecessary.

Just her face coming down.
With an utterly, completely melted expression.

Was I like that too?

Finally, I smiled.

Amamiya Tōru bit my lip.
　Her tongue mingled with mine.

Honestly, it was our first kiss.

It was far too intense for a first time, Amamiya Tōru.