Mandarin Orange, Kotatsu, And A Found Cat

>“What did you buy today?”
“Ah, umm…that’s right.
I bought the ingredients Mashiro asked me to buy.”
“ I see.
Thank you very much.”

As Mashiro thanked me, I felt somewhat guilty.
No, I didn’t lie, but I somehow felt like I couldn’t say anything about the clothes.
I continued to wash the dishes, wondering how I was going to get through to her.
I heard the sound of someone rummaging through a bag behind me.

I quickly turned around to see Mashiro holding up the women’s underwear I had bought her…

“…”

Mashiro was staring at it with a particularly emotionless face.

I never thought it would be the first to be picked up, of all things.
In this situation, I can’t say anything else.

“Is this for…your use, Satou-san?”
“Of course not!”

I was about to throw away the plate I was holding when I made a tsukkomi.
Her feline instinct to be curious about everything was tingling, and she began to fish around in the bag without stopping.
I couldn’t help myself anymore, so I stopped washing the dishes and turned towards Mashiro.
[TLN: Tsukkomi]

“I bought these today for you.”
“You bought these…for me?”
“Yeah.
See, you always wear only that shirt.”

I put aside her underwear for the moment and handed Mashiro the clothes I had bought.
Mashiro stared at the clothes for a while curiously, and then after a while, she unfolded them and fitted them tightly over her current clothes.

“What do you think?”
“It looks good on you.
Mashiro’s cuteness is accentuated.”
“S-Seriously? But is it okay for me to wear…?
“Yeah.
Of course.”

When I am able to take Mashiro out one day, I will not let her go out in a shirtless outfit.
Well, the biggest reason was to stabilize my daily mind…

“So this underwear is also for me?”

“…Y-Yeah, something like that.”

Mashiro stared at the underwear in her hands again, and then compared it to my face.
I watched her with a slight sense of embarrassment.
I can’t find anything to say to her at a time like this.

“Do Satou-san like me in my underwear better?”
“N-No, that’s not what I meant.
I think it makes me feel more at ease…”
“Is that really so?”
“W-Well, yeah…”

To put it bluntly, the idea of being under the same roof with a girl with no pants on was nothing short of unsettling.
I swore to myself that I would never touch Mashiro, but at least my mind was very, very unsettled.

“I understand.
If you say so, Satou-san.”
“Thank you…you saved me.”

For a moment I wondered what would happen, but somehow Mashiro seemed to agree.
Now my life with Mashiro will be a little more peaceful.

As I breathed out a sigh of relief, she took the underwear to her feet and…

“Then I’ll put it on now.”
“Hey, wait! Don’t put them on here!”

…It seemed that peaceful days were still kind of far away.