“Are you satisfied now?”

As instructed, I stroked the head of Amamiya Tōru, who had buried her face in my chest and wrapped her arms around my back to hug me. Gently, gently, I kept stroking until the strength of her embrace weakened.
Why had she hugged me?
　At that moment, confusion and concern outweighed any joy.
Yet my hand never stopped stroking her. I didn’t interrupt Amamiya Tōru, who kept rubbing her face against my chest.

I simply waited until I truly felt she had calmed down.

“…Right. I’m alright now. Calmed down. Sorry about that, you were in the middle of getting your reward.”
“No, this is more than enough reward for today.”

Reason aside, today’s reward was originally two thousand yen for the right to freely touch her with one hand.
Taking off her clothes was forbidden, and since it was the first time, I doubt I could have gone any further. That said, even if I had pulled her close myself, I don’t think I would have felt the same sense of fulfilment as now.

　Though it was thoughtless, touching her head was my first resort.
I tried to touch her heart with words.
While I wouldn’t say it was the sole trigger, if it contributed to getting Amamiya Tōru to hug me, then today’s outcome was a huge success.

So I declined any further compensation.
I had no intention of asking for more today.
But Amamiya Tōru seemed confused, tilting her head.

“…? Why? It’s fine. I interrupted your reward halfway through with my own selfish actions. Come on, carry on?”

After lifting her face from my chest and adjusting her posture, she was still transparent.
Truth be told, when her face was buried in my chest, I couldn’t see her features. I’d harboured a faint hope that perhaps I might see an opaque, colour-blurred Amamiya Tōru.
　But the face now looking up at me was still expressionless.

Though her expression was unchanged from usual.
It was her actions that were slightly… how to put it.

That…

I know it’s a phrase utterly unbecoming of Amamiya Tōru.

But she seemed… clingy.

　Even now, she offered her head towards me as if saying, “Go on then, finish what you were doing!” Looking up at me. “Stroke me, stroke me.” Like an adorable pet dog.

What emotions were driving her to act like this now?
Inside that shell, perhaps the real Amamiya Tōru was actually bad at being affectionate, yet still yearning for warmth.
　Surely there’s a clear line drawn between the inside and outside of that shell. The Amamiya Tōru who hugged me earlier probably had that line blurred temporarily.

That’s why there’s a difference in interpretation between being hugged and stroking her head just now,
and now letting me stroke her head in return.
To draw that clear line again.

　But I thought.

Just going through the motions of giving the two thousand yen now, stroking her head and ending it there.
That felt like it might actually dampen this sense of fulfilment now.
If she still perceives this as part of the exchange, I want to try something else.

In my wallet, apart from the two thousand yen for her, there’s a thousand yen left.
　Suddenly, I remembered the ¥5,000 worth of QUO cards my grandmother gave me months ago, still unused, tucked away in my wallet.
Basically, even if I detour after school, it’s only to the bookshop, and when I buy something there, I use the book tokens my parents regularly give me. I don’t make detours to use QUO cards for anything else. I’m not the type to go out much.

In short, the ¥5,000 QUO card still sitting in my wallet has no use for the foreseeable future.

　What do you think about this?

“Hey, Amamiya-san. Does the money I give you have to be cash?”
“………? What do you mean?”
“Like, a QUO card, for example.”
“………………. Basically, cash is best. But what? What’s up? Is the two thousand yen Mashiro’s paying today going to be a QUO card?”
“Ah, is that so? Well, the two thousand yen is cash, but I was wondering if it would be possible to give you a five thousand yen QUO card separately and ask for something in return for that.”
“Five thousand yen worth?…… If I were to say it’s special today, what would you want in return?”

Asked that, I pondered what I’d want to do with five thousand yen.
Nothing immediately came to mind, but obviously something other than just stroking my head would be preferable.

Hmm.

　Hmm.

…What if we flipped the idea? What if Amamiya Tōru did something for me that he thought was worth five thousand yen?
The actual content wouldn’t matter; I was drawn to the very idea that someone I’d been chasing with my eyes —Amamiya Tōru— would do something for me, just for me.

So I made the request.
I decided to go with this plan.

Upon hearing this, Amamiya Tōru also began to think.
　Probably first considering whether she should accept the QUO card.
Then what she would do in return. What extent of behaviour she herself could tolerate. She was pondering that.

And so, after a little over a minute.

She said.

“All right. In exchange for the QUO card, I’ll give you something in return, Mashiro.”
“What will you do for me?”

“……… What I want to do.”

Saying that, Amamiya Tōru reached her hand towards my face.
My cheeks were gently cupped by both her hands, tilting my head up slightly, fixing my gaze.

”(……Hm?)”

A situation unlike any I had anticipated.

Gradually, Amamiya Tōru’s face drew nearer.

She knelt on the bed, her beautiful face looming over me as she leaned in.

　When her face was mere inches from mine, her fringe tickled my eyelids.

It was then I realised.
The sweet scent that often wafted from Amamiya Tōru was the fragrance of her shampoo.

Our noses touched.

Amamiya Tōru tilted her head, altering the angle.

This time, it was our lips that touched.