It's Friday.
　Today is the day of delivery to the Minami family.
　
　It's a day to be healed by Amana-chan, and although I would normally be excited about it, in my heart I was troubled by the return of the favor that seems to be directed at Maou.
　It's somewhat better after consulting with Kurone, but it's a serious choice that will affect not only your own life, but theirs as well... it's never a good thing to take lightly.

　After all this time, when on earth did Marao fall in love with me?
　At least it's later than when the rumors of a relationship started before.
　Otherwise, I wouldn't have reacted so coldly to the question of going out with him, even if it was just a joke.

　Regardless of the time of year, if I accept their feelings, will that guy become my girlfriend.......
　If that's the case, then he's the first person I've dated since I turned 26.

　........It's no good to think about the future when you haven't even confirmed whether the favor is real or not.
　I finally realized how greedy human beings are, and I sighed from dismay at my simplicity.

'Onii-san. Is Kyoumo being haunted?
'What?　Oh, I'm sorry, okay?　I couldn't help but sigh.

　As I was thinking about this, I worried about Amana, who came out to pick up my luggage.
　This is not good.
　I have to concentrate on my work right now.

　However, I can't help but relax when I see Amana in front of me.

"If you're tired, I'll help you!
Oh, thanks.

　I take advantage of the most delightful suggestion and bend my knees down so that I can easily reach her.
　Soon after, Amana's small, soft palms are placed on my head and stroked with a slow, gentle hand from side to side.

'Alright~. I'm always very happy to see you, Gokurosama.''

　Aaahhhhh~ I feel soothed~.
　With just this, I feel as if the fatigue and worries that had been piling up in the back of my mind are being melted away.

　In the past few days, I was troubled by my relationship with Mao, and the effect of this is immense.
　As usual, Amana-chan is amazing.

''Dere-dere to another person's daughter.......were you really tired this time?

　As I was feeling such admiration, Amari came out of the door leading to the living room.
　She was dressed in a suit, as if she hadn't just returned from work in a short while, and was directing a dumbfounded gaze at me.

''Wah, evil...''
I'm not done with you yet.
Oh, yes.

　I tried to get up in a hurry, but Amana stopped me.
　This is good, there was a proper time limit........

　How much time is up to Amana-chan.

　Amanashi, who was jittery-eyed until a moment ago, also looks apologetic and lowers her eyes when she sees her daughter going along with her selfishness.
　I got her mother's permission, so I was able to pet her until she was satisfied.
　I can't help but feel that she was treated like my favorite stuffed animal.

　After a while, Amana-chan finished stroking me and, perhaps satisfied, she said proudly, "See you later, Onii-san! I told him and then went back to the living room to do my homework.

　I looked off my little back, wanting to watch her grow up from now on, and met up with Amari again.

''So ... what happened at work?''
"Huh?

　Just because I was expecting my frustration to be blown away by the exchange with Amana-chan, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the words that came out of Amari's mouth.

'There's no point in playing dumb. It's obvious that you're less energetic than usual, I can tell by looking at you.''
Oh, oh...

　I feel like he said something salacious and outrageous.
　I'm sure it was just in my face.
　Yeah, I'm sure it probably was.

'If you have any problems, I'll listen to you. I'm always helping you with Tenna, and please don't hesitate to talk to me.
What?

　Without any room to reply, I was in the form of talking to Tenashi about my problems!
　My body shakes with the intimidation of not being allowed to say no, even though I have a beautiful smile on my face that would make anyone's eyes glaze over.

　I decided to confide in him, giving up on the idea that there's no other choice but to talk about this.

　However, the concern that Amari pointed out to me is what kind of relationship I want to have with Marao.
　It's also about the privacy of people who aren't here, and it's necessary to muddy the waters to some extent.

''Well before I tell you what's troubling me, there's something I want to ask you, Tenashi.
What is it?
Well, you see...







　What would you do if you found out that you were being favored by the opposite s*x you're close to at work?
What...?

　After hearing my question, Tenashi had a dumbfounded expression on her face for a moment.......

''Yes!''

　I started to get red in the face and greatly upset.
　I think I should have told him to talk to me, but honestly, I let it slide that I would have a similar reaction if he asked me the same thing.

I won't bore you with the details, but I just found out about their feelings in an unintentional way. Oh, but I'm not sure, just because I was told by people around me, rather than by myself, that it was like that.......
Oh, really, I don't understand...

　It's kind of awkward... well, it's like a roundabout way of asking for relationship advice, and it's hard to tell me to understand the situation right away.
　From there, I explained what happened, and also told him that we currently have no contact outside of business contact.
　After I finished speaking, I crossed my arms and waited for Amari's hesitant response, and she gave me a somewhat uneasy look.　

''Wa-san........are you thinking of dating that person?''
''Well I don't know. Honestly, I've never done anything like this before, so I don't know what to do.

　Amanashi's question is probably a reasonable one.
　In fact, Kurone asked me what I wanted to do, and no matter how much I consulted with her, it was me who would give the answer.
　But in the end, it's hard to shake the hesitation.
　If this is the case, I should have regretted that I should have been more proactive in becoming romantically involved when I was a student.

I'm sure he doesn't know what to do about it either.
What...?

　I couldn't help but ask back at the answer that was unexpectedly announced.
　Me and Marao are the same...?
　Why bother with a relationship when the other side might like me?

　But the reason I was strangely convinced by that single word was because the speaker, Amari, was wearing an expression of almost sympathy.
　It's as if she was overlapping with herself.......I felt such a strong persuasive power.

''Knowing that the person you love has someone else important to you, then it's just hard to love them any more. And so to give up, you're trying to treat them as you normally would, but on the contrary, you're being too conscious of it.
....
I'm afraid that because of that, things became even more awkward and uncomfortable for me... and if we fought, I didn't want to return to our previous relationship... instead of expressing my feelings, we became insulated. I think it would be much, much more painful than confessing and being rejected.

　I don't have a definite proof.
　However, that being said, what I remembered was the tears I saw when I argued with Mao.

　At that time.........do you mean to say that Maou realized her broken heart?
　I don't know.
　

　Still.........

'As long as you're involved with someone, all sorts of problems in relationships will always accompany you, but if it really doesn't matter, you won't care if it's awkward. In the first place, the act of 'worrying' is an indication that you are dealing with the subject, and whether it is friendship or love, as long as you are worried, you are thinking seriously about your relationship with your partner.
Yeah, I hope so...
'Absolutely. Because I believe it is.
...the "three trees".

　Amari told me that it wasn't wrong to keep worrying.
　Just that much is enough for me to see a glimmer of light in the dark cloud that spreads before me.

　What I should be thinking about right now is not going out with Marou or anything like that.　
　

'Thanks, Amari.
''If it's okay with me, I'll talk to you again. It's kind of dangerous since you seem to hold it in your arms and hide it.
Ha ha. I'll keep that in mind.

　Together with a thank you for the consultation.
　I made up my mind to do so, and I went back to the rest of my deliveries....