Part-2 Ch-08 Ep-03

 “So, when are you finally going to let me kiss you?”

“Huh?” 

It came up during lunch at a café after the classic date activity of watching a movie.

We had already finished eating, wrapped up the usual post-movie discussion, and drifted into idle chatter. That was when Maki suddenly brought it up, resting her cheek on her hand and gazing straight at me.

“A kiss… you mean?”

“Yeah.”

After my confession in the infirmary yesterday, carried along by the mood, Maki had showered me with kisses. My cheeks, my eyelids, and various other places had all been claimed. It was like a downpour.

And yet, somehow, I had managed to protect my lips. The reason was simple. At the time, I had been covered in dust from the ground and reeked of sweat.

I want her to understand that I am a girl too.

“I’ll wait until you’re mentally ready, Mari. How long should I wait? Tomorrow? Or the day after?”

“That’s not waiting at all, is it? That’s way too much pressure.”

She replied with a smile, but Maki’s eyes were not smiling. She seemed only half joking. If I let my guard down, I felt like I would be devoured whole.

“I’m really glad you’re a girl, Maki. If a guy said something like that to his girlfriend, he’d be in serious trouble.”

“Whether it’s a guy or a girl, moral harassment comments are out, right?”

“If you know that, then why say it!”

She stuck out her tongue and tilted her head cutely, but there was nothing cute about what she was saying. Did she really need to push our relationship forward this fast?

Honestly, I was already happy just knowing that I was dating Maki.

“Hey… you’re not targeting my body or anything, right?”

I asked it as a joke, intending to tease her.

“That too,” she replied casually.

“Huh?”

“You see, I want all of you, Mari. Your heart and your body. I’m looking at you as a romantic partner, not just a friend. If being good friends was enough, we could have stayed close childhood friends without ever bothering to date, right?”

“…”

“The difference between liking someone as a friend and liking them romantically, I think, is whether you want to touch them or be touched by them. I want to touch you. Do you hate being touched by me, Mari?”

Maki stared straight at me. In the center of her pitch-black pupils, my small reflection wavered.

“…I don’t know. But when you touch me, or when you kiss my cheek, my heart races, and I don’t hate it. I’m happy.”

When I answered, she exhaled softly, as if relieved, and smiled. Seeing that made a pang of anxiety run through me. Had I made her uneasy until now?

I think I want to avoid making Maki feel uneasy as much as possible. I want her to always be smiling beside me. I do not want anyone to take her away.

I have finally obtained this happiness, and I am standing at its peak. Yet somewhere within that swirl of joy, a fear of losing it has already begun to lurk. When she asked, “What are you thinking about so deeply?” I answered honestly.

“From now on, people who like you will probably start appearing, so I have to be careful not to let anyone take you away.”

“Because you’re popular, Maki.”

When I let that slip, she said something unexpected.

“I don’t know if I’m popular or not, but I rarely think about the opposite sex. But I do know that you get attention sometimes, Mari.”

“Eh? No, I’ve hardly ever been confessed to or asked out.”

It was not like I was bragging. Until now, I had barely experienced anything resembling youthful romance, aside from being approached once after the sports festival in my first year.

In the first place, I had thought this was a game where Maki was the heroine. As a supporting character, I felt those frivolous events were unnecessary for me.

So I never considered myself popular.

“Ah, of course you’re oblivious,” she said. “Because I turned them down on your behalf.”

“Huh?”

At my startled voice, Maki looked away awkwardly.

“How?”

“In various ways. I pulled some strings.”

Various ways? What did “various” even mean?

“Also, Mari, you’re probably a lot more oblivious to that sort of thing than you think.”

“Are you insulting me?”

“Thanks to that obliviousness, I was able to keep you from being taken by others.”

The way she said it made it sound like she had liked me for a very long time.

“I’ve been wondering this for a while,” I said. “When did you start liking me, Maki?”

“I’ve liked you since we were little. In elementary school, it was closer to possessiveness as friends. But around middle school, I clearly realized it as romantic love. And since then, I’ve always liked you.”

I was surprised by how much longer it was than I had imagined. When she said during my confession that she had liked me for a very long time, she truly meant it.

“So,” she said, “when are you going to let me kiss you on the lips? If you don’t want to, I’ll wait a little longer.”

“…I don’t hate it. But please wait a bit more.”

“Okay. We have plenty of time together from now on. Just knowing that you don’t hate it is enough for me.”

Despite being turned down, she withdrew obediently. Since we were already talking about it, I decided to ask something I had never been able to before.

“Do you like girls, Maki?”

She hummed and crossed her arms, thinking.

After a full ten seconds or so, she finally spoke.

“I don’t know. I’ve only ever liked you.”

My chest tightened involuntarily, and breathing became difficult. Was “this hits hard” the right phrase for a moment like this?

She has never liked anyone but me. I am her first love. Maki is my first love too. But is that really true?

It would be better if Maki only liked girls.

After all, all the capture targets are guys.

If I want to make this time last even a little longer, then from now on, I have to keep breaking flags between the capture targets and Maki.

There are two targets left. And I am pretty sure Godaiin-kun has not given up on Maki yet.

There are still many events ahead. If it comes to that, I will really need Seishuku-san’s cooperation too.

“Hey, Mari.”

Maki wrapped both of her hands around mine, which rested on the table.

“I’ll wait properly. We have so much time to share from now on.”

“Oh, that conversation was still going on?”

“In sickness and in health, until death do us part, we’ll be together.”

“Isn’t that heavy? Hey, isn’t that kind of heavy?”

“Right?”

“No, not ‘right.’ For a high schooler like me, that’s hard to respond to.”

“You should just say ‘yes’ here.”

“Is that really a line you’re supposed to say?”

As we continued exchanging banter like that, Maki’s expression suddenly clouded with unease.

“…After all, is being with a girl… no good?”

“…That’s not true at all!”

“Then give me your answer.”

“Okay. We’ll be together forever. Me and you, Maki.”

“Good. I got your word.”

“You switched gears fast!”

The girlfriend standing in front of me wore a mischievous, slightly mean grin. Even today alone made it clear. When I decided to date Maki, my resolve was probably weaker than hers.

If this turned into the classic couple argument of “who loves who more,” I felt like I would lose immediately, especially once childhood stories came out.

The more I heard, the scarier it got. It felt like tales from our childhood would start pouring out at any moment. On the way home, we walked hand in hand.

With the sunset, which had begun falling much earlier now, behind us, our two black shadows stretched side by side.

When I swung our joined hands and said, “It’s just like when we were kids,” she smiled happily and replied, “Yeah.”

“Then, see you.”

“Yeah, see you.”

We exchanged farewells in front of my house.

I was about to open the gate after giving a small wave when it happened.

“Mari.”

“Eh, what…”

Right there in front of my house, Maki kissed me.

To be precise, it was a kiss on the corner of my mouth, barely missing my lips.

“Nice to meet you from now on, my girlfriend.”

She patted my head, then quickly turned on her heel and left. All the strength drained from my body, and I collapsed into a squat at the entrance.

After that, I stayed there in a daze until my parent returned from shopping.

“…From now on, I’ll work hard to avoid flags.”

My body was completely weakened by Maki and had no strength left, but in my heart, I made that vow firmly.

End of Chapter 8