The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten Compete Edition

im as

much, and there were always a lot of sulky looks when he was around.

”Oh wow, looks like Yuutas as popular as always, ” Itsuki observed.

”Looks that way, ” Amane answered dully.

”You don seem too interested, ” Itsuki prodded.

”Well, its not like we
e friends or anything; weve barely ever spoken. So why should

I care? ”

It wasn as though Yuuta was mean or ever messed with Amane. They had nothing to

do with each other, so Amane honestly did not care. He knew that he was in the

minority there, but he couldn bring himself to envy Yuuta the same way all the other

boys did. More specifically, Amane knew that Yuuta was so far out of his league that

envying him was pointless.

”Typical Amane. What, you don get jealous now? ” Itsuki asked.

”Oh, should I be like Wow, Im sooo jealous of his populaaarity, huh? ” Amane mocked.

”That was pretty good. ” Itsuki guffawed.

Amane looked over at Yuuta, who was wearing a brilliant smile and basking in

feminine adoration. Even Amane had to admit that Yuutas athletic body and

handsome face made him look just like a prince. In fact, some girls had taken to calling

him that.

Yuuta rewarded the girls passionate gazes and shrill voices with another radiant

smile and waved back at them. He really knew how to cultivate a following.

”Well, he sure is popular, no arguing with that, ” admitted Itsuki.

”I know. The other guys can contain their jealousy, ” Amane said.

”Ha-ha. But the girls are real energetic, too. ” Itsuki only had eyes for his girlfriend,

Chitose. He had no interest in other girls, so he saw the Yuuta issue as everyone elses

problem. Chitose wasn the least bit interested in Yuuta, so Itsuki probably didn

spend much energy thinking about him.

Weve got a prince and an angel… This school has a lot of people with cringey nicknames.

Come to think of it, I wonder if Mahiru the angel ended up getting enough rest. Amane

hadn seen her leave her apartment over the weekend. It was good she was resting

comfortably, but he still wondered about the state of her injury.

Amane stealthily scanned the field with his eyes. His class was sharing the field with

Mahirus, so she shouldve been there. Without too much effort, Amane spotted her.

Even in a crowd, the angel was easy to pick out. She hadn changed into gym clothes

and wasn practicing with the rest of her class. Evidently, she was sitting out today.

Amane was sure that he was not the only boy staring at Mahiru, who sat there looking

small and quiet. Though they were far away from each other, their eyes met suddenly,

and when Amane shifted his gaze around awkwardly, he saw a small smile pass over

Mahirus lips. Since she was looking toward Amane, that meant she was also looking

toward the rest of the boys. Each of Amanes classmates took the smile for their own,

nearly inciting a riot.

”Did she just smile at me?! ”

”No way; must be me! ”

”This is our chance! Weve gotta impress her! ”

”The prince is hogging the spotlight. ”

To think that Mahiru could cause such excitement with just one meager smile… Amane

didn know whether it was because she was that amazing or because the boys were

all that simple.

”…Buncha morons, ” Itsuki muttered. Hed apparently been thinking the same thing.

Amane chuckled. ”Well, if we don wanna fail gym class, wed better get moving, too. ”

”Whats that, Amane? The angels heavenly gaze got you all riled up, too? ”

”No, nothing like that. I told you, Im not interested. ”

”Well, guess Ill drop it, then. Since you don care and all. ”

Itsuki seemed like he was about to start boasting about how great girlfriends are,

likely citing his own personal experience, but Amane was quick to brush him off.

”Yeah, yeah, ” he said. He spared one more glance in Mahirus direction and smiled

wryly.

”Thank you for what you did the other day. Heres your parka and sweatpants back. ”

That evening, when Mahiru brought him his portion of dinner, she was carrying a

paper bag in addition to the plastic container. Amane could see at a glance that the

parka and pants he had loaned her a few days ago were folded neatly in the bag.

”Mm. Hows the ankle? ” he asked.

”The pain is already mostly gone. Ive decided not to do any exercise until its completely

healed, ” Mahiru replied.

”Thats for the best. Looks like you
e sitting out gym class, too. ”

”Yeah. ”

Mahiru had decided to play it safe and not participate in gym, and Amane figured it

was probably the right thing to do. Her ankle didn look like it was hurting her

anymore, but she still slightly favored that leg when she walked, indicating that it was

not yet entirely healed.

As Amane was nodding at the girls sensible decision, he thought back on the days

gym class and smiled suddenly. ”You know, you
e really amazing, Miss Angel. With a

single smile, all the boys were practically bursting with excitement. ”

”I told you to stop calling me that… And its not as if I like that kind of attention. It

really bothers me, you know, ” Mahiru said.

”Well, who wouldn get fired up when a beautiful person looks at them? You know,

the girls started shrieking today, too, when Kadowaki waved at them. ”

”…Kadowaki… oh, that super-popular guy? ” Mahiru didn seem to be too interested in

the prince. Actually, it seemed like she didn even recognize his name. Amane had to

describe him a bit before Mahiru realized who he was talking about.

Yuuta wasn as popular as the angel, but he was a fairly well-known boy in their grade,

so Amane was surprised that she didn know who he was.

”You
e not interested in him? ” Amane asked.

”Not particularly. We
e in different classes, and weve never really spoken, ” Mahiru

replied.

”Hmm. The other girls go bananas for him, though. They can get enough of the cool

dude. ”

”Well, he does have a handsome face. But we don talk; we don have any connection.

So I don really care. ”

”You
e so candid about things like that, ” Amane observed.

”Well, if looks are so important, don you think its strange that you don like me? ”

asked Mahiru.

”Oh, so you do realize how beautiful you are? ”

Mahiru was quite right in what she said. Beauty could be the spark that ignited greater

affections, but it was rarely the sole source of love. Amane agreed with that, just as he

agreed that Mahiru was very pretty. It was certainly a surprise to hear her say that

herself, though.

”I know that, objectively speaking, Im considered very attractive, and I do work hard

to maintain my appearance. Its only natural. Given how often people make a big deal

about my looks, I can tell what they think of me even if I don want to know. ” Mahiru

didn seem to be boasting in the least.

She was certainly being honest about how much effort she spent on her appearance.

Mahiru had always had a good-looking face, but clearly she was not content to coast

by on natural good looks. Her hair was like a radiant halo, befitting her angelic

nickname, and the luster of her skin was also always perfect, without a single blemish.

Her hands didn get chapped, even when she was doing housework, and even her

fingernails were beautifully polished. The gentle curves of her body spoke to a wellbalanced figure that had likely taken some effort to cultivate.

”Im going to say something straight up, so don get mad at me…, ” Amane began, ”but…

you don seem to be embarrassed by all this praise. ”

”Id get annoyed before Id get embarrassed if someone wouldn stop flattering me, ”

Mahiru answered curtly.

”Guess being beautiful has its own struggles. ”

”Still, beauty does have its advantages, so I suppose I shouldn complain. ”

”You say that like you wouldn know… ”

”What? Would you rather I bashfully say Oh, no, thats not true!? ”

”No, as someone who knows what you
e really like, that would be weird. ”

”Exactly. Honestly, I don see the point in putting on an act like that in front of you. ”

”Glad to hear it. ”

Mahiru had only recently dropped her public persona around Amane, so if she

changed back now… Amane could feel goosebumps prickling at the thought of facing

the distant angel he saw at school rather than the girl he was gradually getting to

know.

In the end, things between the two of them remained as they were.

Amane looked at the food container hed been handed. There was actually more food

than usual. The container was packed with several side dishes, each one a large

portion. Rather than leftovers, it was more like Amane had been handed a fancy boxed

lunch.

”Todays quite the smorgasbord, ” he said.

”Because you took such good care of me, ” Mahiru replied.

”I told you not to worry about that… Oh, there are croquettes in here! ” Amane could

never say no to croquettes.

Croquettes were frequently sold a la carte but could be a big pain to make yourself. As

such, you could consider them the pinnacle of home cooking. After steaming potatoes,

mashing them, stirring in saute ed beef, onions, and more, and then forming the

patties, you had to completely chill them, then add batter and fry them. It was a very

involved process. Even Amane, who rarely cooked anything, had watched his mother

make croquettes and had decided never to make them himself because they were such

a pain.

”Well, I had them already made and chilling, so I only had to fry them, ” Mahiru

explained.

”Is that why theres fried chicken, too? ” asked Amane.

”Thats right. ”

Living alone, Amane didn get to eat a lot of fried dishes, so he was grateful for the

handmade food. Of course, they were best when they were freshly made, while the

coating was still nice and crispy, served with hot rice.

”…Sometime, Id like to try them straight out of the oil, ” Amane muttered.

Mahiru had packed the fried chicken into the container after letting it cool, perhaps

for hygienic reasons. So no matter what, Amane would need to warm the food back

up. Though fried foods could be restored to a crispy texture via a toaster oven, it still

wasn the same as eating the stuff fresh. Amane had no doubts that Mahirus cooking

would still be delicious, of course, but it would probably be even better right from the

pan.

Amane hadn meant to whisper what he had been thinking; his desire had simply

leaked from his lips. Unfortunately, hed said it loud enough that Mahiru raised her

eyebrows a little.

”Are you inviting me over? ” she asked.

”Thats not what Im saying at all! Its already too presumptuous of me to share your

meals. ” Amane hadn meant it that way at all, and he shrugged and vehemently denied

it.

Mahiru brought a hand to her mouth and directed her gaze downward. She seemed to

be mulling something over and did not make eye contact with Amane.

”…Your share, ” she finally said.

”Huh? ”

”Let me cook at your place, and we can consider that as part of paying for your share

of the food expenses. ”

Mahirus sudden proposition left Amanes mouth hanging open in shock.

The accidental mention about eating the fried foods fresh had been more of a sardonic

wish than anything else. That Mahiru had actually considered and agreed to it left

Amane completely bewildered.

Normally, who would think of going into the home of some boy they didn know all

that well to cook dinner? Maybe it would be more efficient to cook at his place rather

than bring the food over after, but he was a member of the opposite sex, and it wasn

like they were close friends. Wouldn doing that make Mahiru uneasy?

”You definitely don need to do that; Ive already received way more than I could ask

for, way more than I deserve… Aren you worried about your safety? ”

”If you try anything, Ill crush you. Hard. No mercy. ”

”Ack, you
e scary! I felt a chill. ”

”Well, I don suppose it will come to that. You already know what the risks are, and

Ive decided you won do anything. You know how popular I am at school, right? ”

”Even supposing I did try something, itd be the end of me. ”

Mahiru was vastly more popular than Amane, and on top of that, everyone saw her as

this delicate girl, so if word got around that Amane had so much as thought about

doing anything inappropriate to her, he was sure hed never be able to set foot on

school grounds again. Amane was not so foolish or so unprincipled as to try something

knowing that it would mean, at best, social ruin. He wasn interested anyway.

”Besides…, ” Mahiru added.

”Besides? ” Amane asked, urging her to continue.

”You
e not even the right type for someone like me, ” Mahiru asserted with a straight

face, then suddenly smiled.

”And what if I was your type? ” Amane pressed.

”First of all, I believe you were the one who insisted on talking to me. And then wanted

nothing to do with me. ”

”And that won you over? ” Amane asked.

”I mean, it told me that you
e harmless enough, ” Mahiru explained.

”Uh, thanks, I guess. ”

Whether that was a good thing or not, Amane couldn deny it was true. After all, he

had never had any intention of doing anything with Mahiru in the first place. One thing

was certain, however: Amane was not going to pass up the chance to enjoy a freshly

made meal. He accepted the title of harmless guy and gained the privilege of sharing

dinner.