When I finally made it home—after sprinting the whole way back (well, the train was local and slow)—the one who greeted me was my little sister, Shirabe. She gave me a suspicious look as she took in the sight of her older sister drenched in sweat.

“Uh… why are you so sweaty, sis?”
“A lot happened.”
“Weren’t you out on a date with your boyfriend?”
“That’s where a lot happened!”

I ended up shouting, like I was venting everything I’d bottled up. Even calm and collected Shirabe flinched.

I hadn’t meant to startle her. Guilt tugged at my chest.

“Um, the bath’s ready, so…”

Noticing how off I was, Shirabe offered a gentle prompt. What a thoughtful little sister.

“Thanks… sorry for yelling.”
“It’s fine. But when you’ve calmed down… tell me what happened, okay?”
“I mean… maybe…”

I didn’t know if I could.

How was I supposed to explain that a girl kissed me?

And not just any girl—Yarai Tsuzuri.

Sure, Shirabe was my family. We had a good relationship for siblings, if I do say so myself. But even so, that was… a lot.

If she told me something like that, I wouldn’t know how to react either.

I handed her my bag and headed to the changing room.

I slowly peeled off my clothes, dragging out the motions. My undershirt was flipped inside out between my bra and blouse, but I couldn’t be bothered to fix it. Sorry, Mom—into the laundry basket it goes.

I’d always wondered why we bothered filling the bathtub in summer, but today, for once, I actually wanted to soak in hot water.

Still, even as I poured warm water over my head with a bucket, my mind remained foggy.

What made it worse was the mirror in front of me. My eyes were drawn to my lips.

And then—flashback. Yarai-san’s refined face, so close to mine.

“Kh—!”

I almost punched the mirror. That was close. Real close.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down.

I mean, in this day and age, with all the talk about LGBT and genderless identity, girls kissing girls was normal… or maybe not.

It’s not like I have anything against people with those preferences. Their identity is their own, and I don’t plan on criticizing it.

But still… it’s true that two girls kissing isn’t something that’s considered “normal.”

And now I was one of them. I’d been forcibly dragged into that world—by Yarai-san, no less.

…Is she even actually a lesbian?

It felt more like she kissed me on a whim, caught up in the moment or something.

I don’t know. I don’t get it. And that’s what pisses me off.

What really pisses me off is the fact that I’m still thinking about her even now.

I want the old me back. The Kaidou Ritsu from yesterday—the kind of normal girl who was reasonably cute, got reasonably good grades, and had a reasonably cool boyfriend.

While grumbling to myself, I squirted shampoo into my hand—way too much, apparently.

Right. I’d gotten my hair cut.

Which meant I definitely didn’t need this much shampoo.

*I liked it better when it was longer.*

“Shut up!”

Yep. I’d become one of those people. The kind who talks back to voices in their head.

My shout echoed through the bathroom. Honestly, my family probably heard it.

Ugh. Everything sucked.

And it was all Yarai Tsuzuri’s fault.

I swore, right then and there, that tomorrow—I’d track her down and absolutely lose it on her.

It was hopeless.

Lunchtime. I was eating with the usual group, but my eyes had been fixed in one direction the whole time. I hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation at all. Because of that, Yui had been fussing over me nonstop.

The reason went without saying: Yarai-san.

Cowardly me still hadn’t even managed to speak to her—not even once—since lunch break began.

“…Ritsu. Hey, Ritsu.”
“Ah, Yui. Sorry—what is it?”

Before I knew it, everyone else around us had left. Only Yui remained. I glanced down and noticed my bento box was empty. Apparently, I’d been eating on autopilot. How embarrassing. It made me feel like a glutton.

“You okay? You’ve been spacing out all day. And Shouya-kun didn’t show up either.”

She was gently implying that something must’ve happened during our date yesterday.

Now then… what do I do? Would it be okay to tell Yui?

We go to a high school a little ways from our hometown, and she’s the only one here who went to the same middle school as me. Not only that, but we’d been close ever since those days. If anyone, Yui should be the one I could talk to.

…Or so I thought, but my mouth wouldn’t move. No—that’s not it. It’s because it’s Yui that I can’t tell her.

Precisely because she’s the one I trust most, the one I’ve let my guard down around the most—I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

I knew Yui would take it seriously. She’d listen, and she’d offer honest advice.

But I was terrified of showing her this version of me. This not-normal version of Kaidou Ritsu.

“…It’s nothing. Or, well—if you noticed, maybe I’m just a little out of it today.”
“If that’s all, then okay…”

Even after hearing my excuse, Yui’s face still held traces of worry.

But she didn’t press further. If I said I was fine, then she believed me. That’s how much she trusted me.

And lying to someone like that… it hurt.

“But if anything’s bothering you, you can always talk to me, okay? I’m your greatest confidant, after all.”
“You don’t get to call yourself that.”

I gave her forehead a light flick. Yui giggled sheepishly, like always.

But even though talking to Yui like this calmed me down, it wasn’t helping me make any progress.

I glanced toward the far corner of the classroom. As usual, Yarai-san was sitting alone. That was typical of her—at school, she was almost always reading.

She sat by the window, sunlight spilling onto her, making her look radiant—like a princess from some faraway land. Well… as long as she didn’t open her mouth.

Yui must’ve noticed the direction of my gaze, because she suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke up.

“Oh yeah, what was up with Yarai-san yesterday?”
“Yesterday?!”
“Whoa, that scared me.”
“Ah, sorry…”

My voice had come out way too loud, and now all eyes in the classroom were on me. I quickly waved my hands to signal it was nothing, and the stares soon faded.

“D-Did I say something weird?”
“No, it’s nothing. Just a misunderstanding.”

There’s no way Yui could know what happened yesterday—how Yarai-san kissed me. But in the heat of the moment, I’d completely misunderstood what she meant.

Yui was probably just talking about after the opening ceremony—when Yarai-san randomly approached me out of nowhere.

“Yarai-san’s kinda mysterious, huh…”

She said it offhandedly, chin resting on her palm.

I resisted the overwhelming urge to correct her. Mysterious? Try outright bizarre.

“More than that, though—she’s so pretty, it makes you wonder if she’s even human.”
“She’s annoying, right?”
“Eh? I think cute girls are great, though.”
“What about me, then?”
“I like you!”

Talking with Yui really did soothe me—and boost my self-esteem. It always had.

That, and… it made me want to mess with her a little. So I decided to ask a slightly mean-spirited question.

“So, who do you think’s cuter—me or Yarai-san?”
“Ugh, now that’s a tough one.”

She folded her arms and groaned dramatically. Was that really something she needed to think so hard about?

…Wait. If she was seriously debating it, did that mean, in her mind, I was on the same level as Yarai-san? Even if it was just flattery, it still made me kind of happy.

“You’re the cute one. Yarai-san’s the beautiful one.”
“Nice dodge.”
“But it’s true! You’re both too pretty to compare. If I had to say, a flower in each hand is the ideal scenario!”
“Now you’re not just dodging—you’re being greedy…”

Yui gave a sheepish giggle at my jab.

Still… flowers, huh?

I tried hard to blend into the crowd. Meanwhile, Yarai-san was the very definition of unattainable—beautiful and alone, like a flower on a high peak. And yet, she came to me of her own accord.

And I never imagined how poisonous she could be.

“…Hey, Yui. Do you, um—do you happen to have Yarai-san’s contact info?”
“Huh? Well, yeah. She’s in the class group chat, remember?”
“Oh, right…”

I’d been so caught up in my own panic that I wasn’t thinking straight.

“Wait, why? Do you need something from her?”
“Uh… well, I guess… I kinda wanted to ask her what kind of skincare she uses or something…”

Even I had to admit that was a painfully obvious excuse, but Yui didn’t question it for a second.

“Totally get it! Yarai-san’s skin is seriously flawless. That’s what they mean by ‘baby-soft,’ right?”
“…Yeah, no kidding.”

Yesterday, I’d seen her skin up close—close enough to spot her pores, if she’d had any. But there weren’t any. Her skin was pale, smooth, and blemish-free.

“If she tells you what she uses, let’s go buy it together!”
“Sure, sounds good.”

Now I really would have to ask Yarai-san about her skincare.

I mean, I was curious, so it wasn’t a total lie. Two birds, one stone.

And more importantly, it gave me an excuse to talk to her—something I’d been struggling to figure out how to do. This was perfect.

I’d use skincare talk as an opening, get her talking… then confront her about what happened yesterday, and absolutely lose my mind on her.

It’s a flawless plan…