My Boss, A Clear And Perfect Beauty Who's An Elite Police Bureaucrat, Turns Out To Be My Sweet And Doting Childhood Friend Who Loves Me Dearly At Home. - Chapter 55

Proud Girlfriend

The word “cohabitation” made Shinichi uneasy. “Cohabitation” is a word with a strong nuance of members of the opposite sex living together as lovers, as opposed to mere room sharing.

“Maho… I…”

“But the problem has already been solved. I have no intention of hiding my relationship with Shinichi.”

In front of Kana, Maho declared herself to be Shinichi’s childhood friend. That probably meant she had no intention of hiding it in front of other police officers, either.

While that in itself wasn’t a big problem, the fact that they were living together would eventually come out, and Maho might even intend to declare it.

“But are you really okay with it?”

“Shinichi is an important childhood friend. It’s fine to go around saying we live together.”

“Th-that’s embarrassing, so please don’t…”

“Are you embarrassed to live with me?”

Maho puffed out her cheeks, looking a little sullen.

In a hurry, Shinichi waved his hands to the side.

“No, I didn’t mean that… I mean, it’s embarrassing to be talked about…”

“I think I can be a girlfriend to be proud of.”

“G-girlfriend!?”

Maho, perhaps having let the word slip accidentally, blushed and shook her head from side to side.

“N-now, that was… uh… not that I want to be Shinichi’s girlfriend… but if Shinichi wants me to be his girlfriend, I don’t mind…”

Maho blurts out incoherently.

Shinichi was flustered, too, and eventually decided to change the subject.

“U-um, about Rikako-chan…”

“Ah, you ran away. Shinichi, you’re so lame…”

Maho complained, her face turning red.

But it’s troublesome if he doesn’t run away. Shinichi’s heart is already racing from being hugged by Maho, and if he hears talk of “becoming a girlfriend,” he can’t stay calm.

(I can’t run away or else I might end up pushing Maho down…)

Shinichi thought about this and then took a deep breath.

“If Rikako-chan finds out that we’re living together, wouldn’t that be a problem? I have a feeling that Rikako-chan will definitely find out that her cohabitation partner is me…”

“It doesn’t matter if Rikako knows.”

“Eh? But you hid it from Rikako-chan the other day, didn’t you?”

“I’ve decided not to hold back with Rikako.”

Maho said clearly.

(Not hold back? What does she mean…?)

Shinichi thought that Rikako would hate him, but surprisingly, she seemed to want to see him.

He didn’t quite understand the situation between Maho and Rikako, but there were other issues at hand.

Maho stared at Shinichi intently.

“You still feel guilty about Rikako’s case, don’t you?”

“…Yeah. I think I’ll regret abandoning Rikako-chan for the rest of my life. Maho, I can’t live with you when I’m such a person.”

Shinichi couldn’t nod to Maho’s suggestion of living together because of the past incident. Rikako was kidnapped, and Shinichi silently watched. Maho blamed Shinichi and then cut ties with him.

No matter how much Maho wanted Shinichi now, or how much Shinichi wanted to cherish her, the past couldn’t be changed.

However, Maho shook her head.

“The past isn’t Shinichi’s fault. You don’t have to worry about it. It’s my fault.”

“But…”

“Besides, Shinichi, you saved me, didn’t you?”

“But that doesn’t cancel everything out. I—”

Shinichi still felt he didn’t deserve to live with Maho. Even if Rikako didn’t hate him, it didn’t change the fact that he left her with a wound that would never heal.

He also worried that he might not be able to protect Maho. That was very frightening.

Negative words were about to spill out.

But Maho, still hugging Shinichi, gently brought her moist red lips close to his face.

A soft, warm sensation. Shinichi didn’t understand what had happened for a moment.

He realized he had been kissed only after Maho had stepped back a few paces.

Maho, her face bright red, pointed her finger sharply at Shinichi and glared at him.

“Don’t misunderstand! That was a thank you kiss!”

“A thank you…?”

“It’s a thank you for saving me… Thank you, Shinichi.”

Maho said that and shyly leaned in close to Shinichi again.

She buried her face in Shinichi’s chest.

Meanwhile, Shinichi was the most flustered he had ever been.

(A thank you…? A kiss…?)

This is Japan, where people don’t normally exchange kisses as a greeting like in the West.

But Maho insists it was “a thank you.”

Maho clung to Shinichi.

“It was my first time…”

“Eh? Does that mean…”

“It was my first kiss.”

Maho had said she never had a boyfriend, so it wasn’t surprising, but still, it was a shock.

Was it really okay to give away her first kiss as a thank you…?

When Shinichi said that, Maho pouted and said, “But…”

“I’ve always intended to give my first kiss to Shinichi since a long time ago.”

“Eh?”

“Anyway, Shinichi, you’ve done something so important that you deserve the first kiss of me, a neat and perfect elite beauty… You understand?”

Maho looked up at Shinichi with a happy smile.