He totally changes the way he's walking suddenly and I definitely know I made the wrong choice.

Damn it.

Still, it really isn't that far to our shop and use my foot to slide open the back door the way I've done since I was a kid.

"Ma! I brought dinner! And a f-friend!"

Fuck.

I set the food down on our table as carefully as I can manage, and mumble rapidly towards the floor as I do so, before my ma shows up.

"Hey, Naoto-kun, I didn't mean nothin' by carrying everything myself, you know? I don't, definitely don't think about you... that way, I just wanted you to know that."

Ma comes in and she's got this fuckin' grin on her face that makes me scowl.

"Hey, ma. You 'member Shirogane Naoto-kun? The, uh, the detective from that one time?"