The faint footsteps outside meant that Suzuran Ayano was still looking for her mother. She knew better than anyone what her mother usually wore and how she behaved.
Unfortunately, Ayano had no idea that her mother and Akimoto Yoichi were locked in a room together.
And the two of them were caught in the bizarre situation of a Blondie and a wife who was about to get divorced.
"Ahem, Akimoto-kun, could you turn around?"
Looking at Akimoto Yoichi, whose gaze seemed a little too heated, Suzuran Mari swallowed her embarrassment and made her request. She covered the chest of her nightgown with one hand.
"Oh, sure. I understand."
Akimoto Yoichi had wanted to carry her bridal-style, but his classmate's mother seemed unable to bear the embarrassment.
Actually, carrying her bridal-style would mean much less physical contact between them.
If he carried her on his back, they'd be pressed right up against each other.
"Is this all right? Do you need me to step back a little farther?" But since Mrs. Suzuran wanted a piggyback ride rather than to be carried in his arms, Akimoto Yoichi didn't mind. "Be a little careful. The floor's still wet."
It seemed Mrs. Suzuran wasn't the kind of adult who liked putting on airs. She was the friendly, easygoing sort of mother who could get along with young people.
Even so, for Mrs. Suzuran, meeting the gaze of her daughter's classmate, Akimoto Yoichi, would be more embarrassing than physical contact.
"Mm, mm, that's fine. I'm getting on now, Akimoto-kun."
Looking at the broad, youthful back before her, still steaming from his recent bath, Suzuran Mari blushed. Swallowing her embarrassment, she rose slightly and climbed onto his back.
Actually, Suzuran Mari wasn't particularly conservative.
That was why both the transparent bathroom glass and the nightgown she wore were rather revealing.
Her usual at-home outfit was a combination of a camisole with lace, as thin as a cicada's wing. They never had guests over, anyway.
A few years ago, Suzuran Ayano used to invite the neighbor, Fukayama Midori, or Fukayama Natsuki over to play, but Fukayama Midori hadn't visited in recent years.
The children had all grown up. It was only natural that, once they reached adolescence, they wouldn't be as close as they used to be.
Fukayama Natsuki was very attached to Suzuran Mari and always listened to her. But Natsuki was a girl, too, so Suzuran Mari never worried about how she dressed around her.
As long as she was on the second floor, she always dressed like this.
Who could have guessed that Ayano would invite a boy over today—and that he'd even come up to the second floor, where the bedrooms were?
Still, during the brief time she'd spent with Akimoto Yoichi, Suzuran Mari had more or less figured out why Ayano had invited him over.
Despite his intimidating appearance, he was surprisingly considerate.
Besides, looking so scary wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
For a woman in her thirties like Suzuran Mari, a married woman who'd spent years alone in her bedroom, it was exactly the kind of stimulation her age called for. At that moment, she was feeling it acutely.
"S-sorry, Akimoto-kun. This old lady's pretty heavy, so don't mind me, okay?"
To hide her embarrassment and put on the mature air of an adult, Suzuran Mari joked.
The mature married woman swallowed her embarrassment and climbed onto Akimoto Yoichi's back. Feeling the muscles throughout his body, she couldn't help but grow warm.
He was strong and smelled very masculine. On top of that, he was using the same body wash and shampoo as she was.
The familiar, heady scents mingled together. Good thing he hadn't carried her bridal-style.
If Akimoto-kun had carried her in his arms just now, he could have looked down and seen her embarrassingly flushed expression. Suzuran Mari was sure she would have lost her composure.
"Old lady? That's a little rude. I actually think you look more like Ayano's older sister, Mrs. Suzuran."
Feeling the soft, fragrant sensation behind him, like a down-filled blanket, Akimoto Yoichi reached back, grabbed Mrs. Suzuran by the thighs, and stood up steadily.
Although his body was that of a high school student, Akimoto Yoichi's mind was entirely that of someone around Mrs. Suzuran's age.
So when he was with Mrs. Suzuran, he came across as very reliable. Suzuran Mari even had the strange feeling that the person carrying her wasn't her daughter's Blondie classmate, but her own husband.
"Akimoto-kun, you're really good at sweet-talking girls. No wonder Ayano invited you over—and even let you come up to the second floor."
"Oh? No boys have been up here before?"
Akimoto Yoichi asked curiously.
"Nope. Since she was ten, Ayano's treated the second floor as off-limits. Even the neighbor, Fukayama Midori, hasn't been up here. Only Natsuki comes running upstairs. You're the first, Akimoto-kun."
Suzuran Mari couldn't help teasing the young Akimoto Yoichi before her.
She was teasing him, but what she'd said was true.
Fukayama Midori was rather timid, and Ayano didn't like having people play in her room. Without Ayano's permission, Fukayama Midori wouldn't dare go upstairs.
Of course, Suzuran Mari's way of dressing had probably played a part, too.
Who would have thought Ayano would keep her childhood friend Fukayama Midori out, yet open the door wide for Akimoto Yoichi—at the cost of losing her own man?
"That's quite an honor. But I only came upstairs because my clothes got dirty and I needed to borrow the bathroom."
Akimoto Yoichi didn't think much of it. It wasn't like he'd get excited over something so minor.
Carrying Suzuran Mari, who'd twisted her ankle, he slowly opened the door. From the second floor, they could hear Ayano's footsteps as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
Relieved, Akimoto Yoichi carried Suzuran Mari out of the bathroom.
The two of them crept toward the room with the open door, where they could see a large bed.
"Oh? Akimoto-kun, aren't you interested in our Ayano?" Suzuran Mari asked with great interest.
"I can't say whether I am or not. That would be disrespectful to Suzuran-san." Akimoto Yoichi's response was impeccable.
He hadn't forgotten that the soft person on his back was Suzuran Ayano's mother. This was hardly the time to casually discuss Ayano.
"I prefer women who are a little more mature, considerate, and smart."
Someone like Ise Yuri—capable and mature.
She didn't come with all the complications of the heroines, and her personality wasn't a trap, either.
That was the kind of woman Akimoto Yoichi liked.
"Y-you're quite bold, Akimoto-kun."
But Suzuran Mari took his words to mean something else entirely.
Mature, considerate, and smart?
Wasn't that describing her? Suzuran Mari was thirty-eight. That was definitely mature—overripe, even.
As for being considerate, she was a mother. Of course she was considerate.
And smart fit, too. Suzuran Mari was a novelist, so she was obviously intelligent.
Her mood, which had just begun to settle, was stirred up all over again by Akimoto Yoichi's words.
"Huh?" Akimoto Yoichi was baffled. He only thought the woman on his back seemed to have misunderstood him.
Her body temperature felt like a boiling kettle, even hotter than before.
Had what he'd said sounded strange? Or was it the effect of the Path of the Blond?
Was it especially effective on women who were married or had boyfriends, making them more likely to take a liking to him?
After fewer than twenty steps, Akimoto Yoichi had already reached Suzuran Mari's room.
"All right, this is your room, right? I'll put you on the bed."
The bedroom, with its curtains drawn, was rather dim. The light from the doorway was just enough to make out the desk and the messy bed inside.
There seemed to be some crumpled paper and odds and ends on the carpet. As he spoke, Akimoto Yoichi headed for the large bed, which took up two-thirds of the room.
He wasn't particularly surprised to see the bed. He'd already seen the bathroom and her nightgown.
"Thank you, Akimoto-kun." Suzuran Mari let out a sigh of relief, too.
Although she was with her daughter's classmate, he acted far too mature and experienced. He wasn't at all like Fukayama Midori, who was so awkward and naive.
For some reason, looking into Akimoto Yoichi's eyes always made Suzuran Mari feel as if she were talking to an incredibly charming, mature man.
Now that she was finally back in her own room, she could at last relax.
"It's all right..." Akimoto Yoichi was carrying Suzuran Mari to the bed.
Just as he was about to set Mrs. Suzuran down, he stepped on something cylindrical.
His toe only brushed against it, and then he heard a buzzing sound from under the blankets, like a little bee.
The atmosphere instantly turned strange.
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