He stood nervously in the hotel room as he waited for
her to come out.

"Would you like to sleep with me?" she had asked,
as if the idea was a common subject during any
everyday conversation.

It is not as if they were strangers.

He had been a long-time employee in the music
shoppe her family owned and would often be
summoned to the Kotobuki household to tune
Tsumugi's piano.

Oh dear, that sounded euphemistic.

He really would go to tune the piano.

Tonight, however, he was the person in charge of
making sure the instruments and equipment were
ready for the performance.

The young musician came out of the bathroom wearing
a long, pink, cotton nightgown and a playful grin that
seemed almost childish.

"Have you ever done this before?" he asked as Mugi
pulled back the blankets.

"I used to do this all the time with my father when I
was younger."

He backed away in shock upon hearing this. To his
horror, there was more to the story.

"Sometimes he would be away and the butler or maid
would do this instead. That was nice, but it just
wasn't the same."

He began to wonder if he really wanted to go through
with this.

Mugi jumped happily under the covers and patted the
mattress with her left hand as a sign for him to join
her.

"Aren't you coming in?" she asked with a smile on her
face.

With little choice, he cautiously got under the blankets
next to the young Princess of the Highlands.

Mugi hugged his left arm and rested her cheek against
his shoulder.

"My father would sleep next to me a lot when I was
younger. He would usually read to me first and he
would stay next to me all night. Even if I was sick or he
was busy, he would always make time for me, but
when I turned thirteen, he said I was too old for this
sort of thing. It's so comforting having someone in bed
with me. It feels so peaceful."

The blonde-haired girl drifted off and the young man
suddenly realized the severity of his situation.

"Hee, hee...jello."

"Jello?"

He wondered what would happen if anyone,
especially her father, found out that he was actually
able to sleep with Tsumugi Kotobuki.