“Hoshikawa-kun, you actually cald down.”
Sitting curled up on the rumpled down comforter with her arms around her knees, Chouko’s cute face carried a faint hint of gloom.
What a contradictory girl, she thought. Worried he’d do sothing out of line, yet now upset because he didn’t.
“If what I just did counts as ‘calm,’ then please offer heartfelt gratitude and praise to the Angel Hoshikawa in my heart. He worked very hard to beat down Devil Hoshikawa.”
“Hearing it put that way, I suddenly feel a little sorry for Devil Hoshikawa.”
She poked his back with a fingertip, lowering her voice.
“Um… you wouldn’t happen to be really experienced with this kind of stuff, would you? You playboy~”
“Yeah. After what I went through with Nogami-san last ti, I’ve basically been forced to adapt, get ‘tad’.”
(“Nareta” and “nareru” sound identical.)
“Pff, I’m telling Nogami-san her dog’s been sneaking snacks outside.”
She just couldn’t hold the curiosity back anymore. Was there really sothing shady between Hoshikawa and Nogami? Had they already done that?
“Um… you and Nogami-san…?”
“I said last ti at DUMBO, I’ll tell you only if you’re willing to exchange secrets.”
The mont she noticed his glance, she jerked upright as if the soft bed were a tatami mat, sitting formally like a well-trained maiden.
“Ehh? But you already know Kinako’s secret. That’s not fair.”
“The world is unfair.”
“Don’t go saying serious philosophical lines at a ti like this!”
Pouting, she shoved at his back like a cat whose owner had ignored her, soft little paws batting in protest.
“Actually… actually, it’s fine, you know, if it’s you, Hoshikawa-kun…”
“…Huh?”
He turned around, crossed his legs, and sat facing her, trying to decipher whatever strange thing she’d just blurted out.
“L-like… a kiss, or maybe touching… or sothing…”
“You’re serious?”
“Like I’d joke about sothing like that!”
Even so, was Harutaki really that easy a man?
If she says yes, he says yes? If she says no, he backs off?
To hide the wavering in his chest, he clicked his tongue dismissively and pushed her away with a smug hand wave.
“I, Hoshikawa Harutaki, live for saying ‘no’ to stuck-up girls. Want a handso guy’s kiss? Dream about it after you fall asleep.”
Thump.
“Guh… ”
A springy latex pillow smacked him square in the face, knocking his unprepared body sideways onto the mattress with a thoroughly stupid-sounding grunt.
“Hmph. Food served right to your lips and you still play tough… Hoshikawa-kun really is a useless playboy.”
Flushed with embarrassnt, she tossed aside the pillow and relaxed into a casual cross-legged seat. Harutaki couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret.
Why did Ayaka buy pajama pants instead of a nightgown…?
“But, um… because it’s you, Hoshikawa-kun… even if you made a tiny mistake… I think it’d be okay…”
Saying that, she crawled closer, lying on her side atop the creased sheets. She leaned in, close enough for the warmth of her cheek to graze his.
Her grip on his sleeve tightened. Soft warmth touched his face for an instant, then slipped away.
Hotter than Nogami. Springier than Chiaki, he thought.
“If that’s supposed to be a reward, it’s missing four or five centiters.”
Right now, he didn’t dare turn his head to look at her. If he caught sight of a blush under this atmosphere, he’d surrender completely, let her “it’s okay if you make a mistake” topple his restraint and lead them sowhere neither of them was prepared to go.
Pin her down. Kiss her lips. Take off clothes. Beco adults.
If only it were that simple. But he wasn’t looking for a hookup, he wasn’t the kind of guy to do sothing irresponsible.
“I can’t give you my first ti, but… from a different angle… sleeping in the sa bed with a boy for the first ti, you already took that from …”
She hesitated, then added in a whisper barely audible:
“…even if it’s just the side of my face…”
“That’s a cruel way to put it. The boy breathing the sa air as the girl I like wasn’t , ”
“Hey!! You ruined my mont of sincerity!”
Half angry and half laughing, she smacked his shoulder over and over.
“W-what about you, Hoshikawa-kun…? Your… um… first ti or whatever.”
“Sorry. First girl I shared a bed with was Nogami-san. First cheek kiss too.”
Her heartbeat stumbled, she actually forgot to breathe for a second.
It shouldn’t matter to her at all. She liked Onii, not Hoshikawa.
So why… why did hearing about him and Nogami make her chest tighten?
Must be like… when a good friend you click with gets snatched away.
“You and Nogami-san slept together and didn’t do anything?”
She didn’t even know why she was asking.
She wanted to hear secrets, yet also didn’t want confirmation he and Nogami were close. Because if they really beca a couple, with Nogami’s personality, Chouko definitely wouldn’t be allowed to get this close to him again.
It almost made her feel like the ho-wrecking one.
“We didn’t do anything. Not even this close. Just slept back-to-back.”
“…Hoshikawa-kun, you’re so la. Two beautiful girls walk straight into your arms and you chickened out both tis. If it were , I’d go hang myself from a tree.”
This feeling, was she relieved?
She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the faint but strong thump beneath a layer of soft flesh.
He called himself a playboy, every student treated him like one, but in truth, Hoshikawa was gentle. Surprisingly considerate.
Her mories drifted back to childhood, running wild through her palace-like ho, bringing trinkets she found to her great-grandmother to identify their worth.
That spark of joy… even now, recalling it tugged a smile to her lips.
grrrrumble…
Happiness never lasts long.
To hide her embarrassnt, she once again wrapped herself head-to-toe in the blanket, as if she could trap the sound inside.
They’d eaten a rice ball and pudding before karaoke, but that was five hours ago. Hardly enough.
“H-Hoshikawa-kun… do you have anything to eat at ho…?”
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