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“Phew… I’m exhausted…”

The first thing I did, right after coming home, was to tumble onto the sofa and breathe a sigh. The sofa was legend grade… so of course, it felt sublime to sit on it.

“Really, you did an incredible job, Alim.”

Mika sat down next to me. Then, she started patting my head.

Come to think of it, isn’t this the first time Mika is stroking my head since coming here?
I guess it is.¹

“Mh… you also worked hard, Mika, didn’t you? Thanks to you, our foes were completely defeated.”
“That’s true, but… since I died in the middle of it, all that magic, which took a full day to painstakingly create, vanished in an instant, didn’t it~…”

Sure, Mika had been meditating constantly for a full day. She was likely vexed, that all the magic power, she’d been working so hard to gather, had gone up in smoke.

“Well, I don’t think we’ll have many opportunities to do that in the future, you know.”
“That would be good, wouldn’t it?”

Mika stopped caressing my head and grasped my hand. I squeezed back in turn.

“Still, from now on, we can take our time together again! Right, Alim?”
“Well… It’ll get busy for around 2 months, you remember? Though we can probably take it slow today.”

When I said that, she made a dissatisfied expression.

“Ah… I see, you’re the hero, aren’t you? Besides, since you were popular from the start as Alim… I guess there’s no other way. Still, I’ll be waiting for you, so…”

She leaned on my shoulders. This time, I caressed her head with my free hand. Nevertheless, it looked like Mika had gotten the wrong idea. Did she think that she wouldn’t have anything to do?

“…Though you’ll probably be busy, too, Mika?”
“Huh?”

Sure enough, I was right. She gaped at me in wide-eyed surprise.
How adorable.

“Well, after all… You’re my sole party member, Mika… and you also played a big role in the war this time, you know? Clearly, you’ll be awfully busy.”
“Wah~… I don’t want to~…” Mika’s expression told me, that she disliked the idea from the bottom of her heart.

At any rate, she changes her expression quite frequently today, doesn’t she?

While patting her head, I suddenly looked at the clock. Before we knew it, 30 minutes had passed, since we came home.

I should probably make dinner soon, shouldn’t I?

“…That’s why we should spend today relaxing! …For the time being, shall we eat dinner? I’ll cook it. What would you like?”
“Woo-hoo! …Hmm, how about Japanese food today…?”
“Gotcha, then I’ll make…”

What should I cook? It’s a meal after winning the war, you know, so something that’d be expensive, if you ate it at a restaurant, right?

Salt-grilled sea bream…? Sushi…? I wonder if something like kaiseki² would work, too?

Wait, we’re both exhausted. We’ve been constantly active for five days, so…
Hmm, in that case… eel! Right, that should be fine. They say, that it gives energy, don’t they?

Great, it’s decided! Let’s make unaju³.

“What do you think of unaju? It’s supposed to give you energy, when you’re exhausted, at least that’s what they often say, don’t they?”
“That’s right! Yeah, that should be fine.”

With that being said, I went to cook. Except for the sauce, to which I paid special attention, it was pretty normal (legend grade) unaju. I lined it up on the table.

“It looks super good, as usual.”
“Eh-heh-heh, right!”

Mika took a bite, right after giving thanks for the food.

“Mh! It’s incredibly delicious,” she exclaimed.
“Thanks.”

Then next, she split off a part of her unaju with the chopsticks and grabbed it. She held her hand under the chopsticks for support and brought them close to my mouth.

“Come on, Alim! Say ‘ah~’.”

I opened my mouth, as she had told me to, and stuffed my cheeks with the unaju on Mika’s chopsticks.

“Nom! …Yep, even if I say so myself, it turned out great, didn’t it?” when I declared my impression, it was Mika who opened her mouth this time. “Huh, you want me to feed you, too, Mika?

She nodded in confirmation.

Same as Mika, I split off a piece, grabbed it and held it up to her mouth. She looked delighted, as she filled her mouth with the unaju on my chopsticks.

“Mmh~, so tasty.”
“Great.”

Some time later, we finished eating and decided to take a bath.

“Then, let’s go into the bath… You can go first, Mika,” I prompted her, but she shook her head.

“Should I go first, then?”
She shook her head once more. Then she looked at me intently, as if she wanted to bring something to my attention.

“Oh… In that case, should we take one together?”
She nodded happily.

“You want to take a bath together with me?
“Hm… well…” she replied, with apparent embarrassment.

…If that’s the case.

“Then, should I… turn into a boy before we go in together?”
“Eh? …Well, I guess that’s fine, too.”

Her reaction was unexpected. I thought she’d call me a pervert or an idiot.

Moreover, if I think about it carefully, I won’t be able to take it slow, will I? Let’s put “turning into a boy in the bath” on hold for now.

“Ah, sorry, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea, after all.”
“What… well, that’s fine. At any rate, should be go take a bath? Freshen up quickly…”

No matter how you look at it, I’m a coward, right? Even so… this reaction of hers.

Perhaps it would go well, wouldn’t it? Before long… No, this evening, we’ll get out of the bath and go to bed together. It should be fine, even if I try to urge Mika on a bit more. As a boy. Though, of course, that would be too embarrassing in the bath.

We did kiss several times, but nothing that went further. Besides, even though I say I kissed her, it was almost every time when I was a girl…

Mika and I… Again, we never know when we’re going to die. I think we should do a bit more than just dating, shouldn’t we? Currently, we’re living fairly comfortably in this world, but you never know what might happen. Death, for example… or a kind of separation that’s even worse. Like being sealed, right?

If such a time came, it might be better if I was more proactive, so I wouldn’t have any regrets.

But essentially… I don’t like acting that way. Personally, I think it’s foul. Moreover, I want to cherish Mika. In that case… Should I stop, after all?

I… I want to try, giving her a f-french kiss…

Is it too early? Am I asking too much, and Mika will end up hating me? If that happens, what should I do? But then again, it’s obviously not cool to say, “please allow me to kiss you from now on”.⁴

Still…

No, while I have both the appearance and sense of mind of a girl, my heart and thoughts are that of a boy. In that case, I should make up my mind and go on the attack. Even more than now. If it makes her uncomfortable and she doesn’t like it, I’ll cool off my head outside and stay away from the house for a while. That should work.

“Alim… what’s wrong? Aren’t we going to the bath?” Mika peered at my face.

Oops, I’ve been brooding for a while, haven’t I?

“Yes, sorry, sorry.”

At any rate, let’s go to the bath. We’ll talk about it later.

TL notes:
While I think that Alim’s concerns are valid, that’s not something to brood over by himself but to talk about with his girlfriend. In the end, communication is key in a relationship, even more so when it comes to trying out new things.

Other than that, it’s cute interactions as usual, when it’s just the two of them.

1. Not sure about that. I don’t think she ever gave him headpats, so that’s what I chose for context’s sake.
2. The original is 懐石. A traditional multi-course Japanese dinner.
3. The original is うな重. It’s broiled Japanese eel on a bed of rice.
4. Not sure if that’s correct. I didn’t really find any better/alternative translation that fit the context.