Mandarin Orange, Kotatsu, And A Found Cat

Chapter 60 Misunderstanding The Cat

After leaving the clothing store, Mashiro was still in a daze, as if her soul had been drained.

The reason for this was probably because she had been talked to by the clerk at the clothing store.
It might have been quite a shock for her, as she rarely had a chance to talk to anyone other than me.

To be honest, I didn’t think she was that shy. If I had known she was, I would have tried to be a little less burdensome around her.
It was fortunate that she didn’t seem to be frightened, but her lack of response when I spoke to her showed no sign of improving at all.

“I’m sorry, Mashiro.”
“Eh…? W-What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t stand the atmosphere, so I apologized, and Mashiro, who had been in a daze until then, regained consciousness.
But she didn’t seem to understand the meaning of my words, and as expected, she replied with a question mark in her head.
Since I didn’t know what exactly I was apologizing for, I couldn’t explain the reason, so I replied, “No, it’s nothing.”

Mashiro looked even more mystified, so I stroked her head to deceive her.
I always feel a mysterious sense of happiness when I’m stroking her smooth hair, so I take the liberty of clearing away my guilty feelings.

“Ah, ah…”

While I was thinking, as soon as my hand touched her hair, Mashiro’s body jumped and she let out a strange voice.
I looked at her face and saw that her eyes were squeezed shut and her cheeks were dyed red. It was the first time I had seen her expression since I met Mashiro.

Normally, she would look a little embarrassed, but I don’t remember her letting out a sound like that.
In fact, it was the first time I had ever heard such a…somewhat erotic voice.

“I’m sorry. Did you not like it?”

I quickly pull away to get some distance from Mero.
It was probably not the right thing to do when she was acting strangely, no matter how much we had grown closer recently.

“…”

Mashiro didn’t return any of my words. In fact, I couldn’t even make out her expression because she kept her face down.
Normally, she would have replied, “No, not at all,” but she was silent without question. The gravity of what I had done made me sweat unpleasantly.

“I’m really sorry. Next time I won’t do it again…”

For now, I bowed my head in deep remorse. Since there was no response, there was no choice but to apologize again and again.
However, a man bowing to a woman in a public place looks like a love affair to a third party.
I could feel the eyes of the people passing by me. I could even hear them laughing quietly, which made me feel uncomfortable.

Naturally, Mashiro sensed the stares and began to look around restlessly, fidgeting.
However, since I had bowed first, I couldn’t go back to my posture before waiting for her to speak.

Mashiro herself seemed to be searching desperately for words as if she knew that there was nothing she could do if she didn’t say something back.
Then, when I couldn’t stand it any longer and was about to move my head a little, her mouth opened as if she had made up her mind…

“I-I like you!”

“…Eh?”

For a moment, I couldn’t understand what had just happened. It took quite a while for my mind to process the words that she had said.
And even though the process was completed successfully, all I could get out of my mouth was a dumb reply.

…Like? Did Mashiro just say that?
A sudden confession with too little context. My brain had already gone blank, and I desperately tried to think back.
However, before I can think any further, I hear a murmur from the people around me.

In broad daylight, in a public place like this, a woman says “I like you” to a man who was bowing his head.
The number of people stopping to look at her had increased, and the gallery had tripled in size.

“M-Mashiro. Let’s get away from here for now!”
“Eh, but…”
“Don’t worry. Here.”

I was getting more and more embarrassed in this situation, so I pulled her hand and started running away from the scene.
There were stares, murmurs, and even whistling from behind me. No, no, no, what’s with the bad vibes? I wonder if there were some jolly foreigners in the mix…

I kept running until I was far enough away from where I had just been that I finally stopped.
I’m not running as fast as I could have, but I was very nervous and my breathing was very uneven.

“Haa, haa…You’ve had a rough time.”
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault…”
“It wasn’t Mashiro’s fault. It was my fault in the first place.”

It was true that it was Mashiro who put the brakes on, but no matter how much she wanted to apologize, she shouldn’t have done it in public like that.
At any rate, both of us were able to cool down a bit after we left the scene, so that was a good thing.
The problem was Mashiro’s statement…

“M-Mashiro. About what you said earlier…you know, the I like you part.”
“Ah, ah. T-That’s…”

Remembering what she had said just a moment ago, she shrunk again and her cheeks began to stain.
My heart was beating faster than ever at her first reaction. I didn’t think it was possible, but could I really take it to mean that?

“A-Are you serious?”
“…Yes. I like Satou-san…to pet my head.”
“Eh…Y-You want me to? W-What do you mean?
“? P-Petting my head…”
“Ahh…”

A voice leaked out.I couldn’t bear to look away from Mashiro, who was looking up at me with a curious look on her face.
H-How wrong I was…! I want to slap myself on the head…but since Mashiro is here, I’ll keep it to myself.

“…I see. That’s in response to my question about whether you didn’t like it.”
“Y-Yes, it is. Is there anything else?”
“No, nothing, nothing at all.”
“R-Really?”

I don’t know what to say, but I can’t face Mashiro anymore.
She answered my questions to the best of her ability, and I wondered how wrong I had been.
Well, for those who were around me at the time, I guess it was inevitable that I would be mistaken…

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t expect it to turn out like that…”
“N-No. But it’s not that I really don’t like to be petted.”
“I know, I know. It’s okay…”

Mashiro reminded me once more as if she felt guilty for having once kept silent.
From my point of view, it was heartbreaking to be confronted with my misunderstanding every time she did so, so I quickly stopped her to interrupt her.