Part-3 Ch-01 Ep-05

The conversation I had just had with Seishuku-san left my chest feeling faintly unsettled.

There were still capture targets remaining, and even if events did not unfold precisely according to the scenario, vigilance remained essential. I believed I had grasped that fact completely.

Yet we had already formed connections with them. Trying to avoid becoming involved with them as much as possible would be difficult.

"It's difficult, huh."

Leaving aside Inuino-kun, who was in a different grade, Nitobe-sensei was our homeroom teacher; if anything, I wanted to rely on him as well.

It was truly beyond my control.

The only thing I could probably do was to hold firmly onto the reins of Maki's heart.

After a while, the sound of the chair beside me being pulled out once more caused me to look up; Maki had returned and was now sitting down next to me.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Huh? No earphones today?"

"Ah, for some reason, I felt like I didn't need them today."

"Really?"

Maki said that, then rested her cheek against her hand on the desk and gazed at me.

On Maki's desk, only her bag had been placed; there was no indication that she was about to retrieve any textbooks.

When I glanced at the clock in the library, I saw that complete dismissal time was drawing near.

Ah, it was almost time to go home.

When I looked more carefully, the number of students still lingering in the library had grown sparse.

While closing my textbook and beginning to tidy up, I opened my mouth.

"Hey."

"Hm?"

"Lately I've been wearing earphones, right? Um, is it actually better if I don't?"

"Eh? Why?"

She responded with an unexpectedly blank, puzzled expression.

At that reaction, I felt flustered, wondering if I had been overthinking things, but I still managed to stammer out, "No, I just thought maybe I was making you hold back or something."

From the looks of it, it seemed to have been an unfounded worry.

I felt a little relieved, when Maki tilted her head.

"Hmm, ah, well……"

After thinking for a moment, Maki murmured in a small voice, "………I guess I am holding back. In a way."

"Eh."

The instant I heard Maki's words, a sense of "oh no" surged up inside me.

"Ah, but it's not what Mari is thinking——"

"So it really was like that."

"Hm? What do you mean 'really'?"

"I really was making you hold back."

"Ah, no, that's not——"

"No, it's okay. Maybe I was neglecting you, Maki, just because I couldn't concentrate properly myself."

"No, not really."

"It's fine. Don't hold back like that."

"Hold back……"

"I don't want you to have to hold back anything when it comes to things involving me."

Even I was surprised by how earnest my voice sounded. Maki, hearing those words, also widened her eyes in surprise, her mouth falling open as she froze.

I didn't want her to hold back. Those words came straight from my heart. If someone was going to accept Maki's distorted love, her heavy love, her selfishness, all of it, then I wanted it to be me.

No one else; just me.

Even so, since I was still not a fully mature adult, the things I could do for Maki's sake were limited.

When I took the hand she had placed on the desk, her body jolted with a small twitch. Instantly, the warmth of Maki's hand rose another degree, growing noticeably hot.

"……Ah, um, in that case, then," Maki began shyly.

"Yeah? What?"

"Come here……"

She stood up from her seat, gave a small beckoning gesture, and called me over.

Wondering what it was about, I gathered my things and followed her; she led me deep into a corner of the bookshelves where no one ever ventured.

The characteristic silence of the far-back shelves in the library, with their dusty, slightly musty smell.

In that space where time and air both seemed to have paused, it felt perfectly suited for a secret conversation, so I braced myself, thinking there must be something important she wanted to say.

"Maki, so what exactly nnh!?"

Before I could finish asking what was wrong, my entire field of vision was suddenly filled with Maki in an instant.

When I bumped back against the bookshelves by the wall without realizing it, she pressed her lips against mine with no possibility of escape.

"Wha!?"

When I instinctively pushed her away, she pulled back surprisingly easily and said while scratching her cheek in embarrassment, "Ah, sorry for startling you."

"It's not 'sorry'; what was that all of a sudden?"

"Um, lately when you were wearing earphones, I kept glancing at your profile……"

"Yeah?"

"And then my body started feeling all itchy and restless, and I really wanted to touch you, so……"

"Hoe?"

"So please," Maki murmured, "if I don't have to hold back, is it okay if I do a little more?"

Being asked with such a feverish, dazed expression made it difficult to refuse.

"Nn."

The next touch of her lips came tentatively, as if testing my reaction.

She moved as though pecking at them, then took my upper lip into her mouth, exploring and savoring every subtle motion.

This is school, right? In the school library; what if someone comes?

My mind teetered on the edge of panic at the thought, yet since I had accepted Maki's request, I hesitated to push her away outright.

While I was allowing her lips entry in that manner, something slippery slid into my mouth.

It was Maki's tongue.

Instantly, a sweet, tingling electric current raced from the crown of my head down to the tips of my toes, sending a delicious shiver through my entire body.

Even though it remained shallow, the way it invaded the mucous membranes inside my mouth threatened to rob me of all consciousness.

This is bad; I might not be able to stand anymore.

My strength drained away, and my back, which had been leaning against the bookshelf, slowly slid downward.

The hand I had used to push against Maki's shoulder turned into one clinging to her for support.

Maki parted our lips with a soft "chu" sound, looked at my face, and laughed, saying, "Mari looks like she wants to do even more."

At that moment, embarrassment welled up so powerfully that I almost cried.

"Ah, sorry sorry, don't cry."

Perhaps noticing my loosened tear ducts, Maki drew my head into her embrace.

"Nn, it's okay."

While I loosely wrapped my arms around the back of Maki as she clung to me, I finally realized: so this is what holding back means.

Please give me back the worries I had earlier.

The school intercom was broadcasting an announcement urging students to leave.

Here and there, the sound of "pachin, pachin" rang out as some of the library lights were turned off.

The musty smell of the bookshelves that had bothered me earlier was no longer noticeable; instead, my chest was filled with Maki's scent.

What a nice smell, I thought while inhaling Maki's fragrance. The person herself, still clinging to me, was rubbing her cheek against mine in a gentle grinding motion.

Is this like being marked by an animal right now? I thought idly about something trivial.

Ah, I really don't want to give her to anyone. Not to Inuino-kun, not to Nitobe-sensei. Not to anyone else. Now that it had come this far, I was definitely going to make it all the way to graduation without letting her go.

So that I never had to release this body temperature, this scent.

In the sparkling light of the setting sun pouring through the window, the edge of my vision caught Maki's hair shining brightly. The dust particles floating in the air around it looked like glittering scales drifting down.

She looks like an angel.

I really thought so.

If there was a girl this angelically beautiful in our class, everyone might end up falling for her.

While stroking the hair of Maki, who showed no sign of letting go as she clung to me, I thought: there are still so many things I have to work hard at in third year of high school too.

End of Chapter 1