“I’ll go get some tea, so just sit tight and wait here, Kaidou-san.”

Yarai-san handed me a floor cushion. Since there weren’t any chairs, she was probably telling me to sit on the floor with that.

“Ah, yeah. Don’t worry about me.”

I watched her leave, closing the sliding door behind her with one hand. Once she’d gone, I settled down and took a look around the room.

So this was Yarai-san’s room…

Compared to mine, it was clearly smaller at a glance. A study desk and bookshelf took up most of the space. I didn’t see a bed, so she probably slept on a futon. That was unexpected—I had imagined she’d be the type to sleep in a canopy bed.

The room had an old-fashioned feel to it, for better or worse, but somehow it still smelled nice.

I usually wasn’t a fan of the unique smell that other people’s homes had, but Yarai-san’s room at least wasn’t unpleasant.

Still, it felt oddly hot in here. When I checked, I saw there was no air conditioner. There was an electric fan, but the breeze was weak, and it looked pretty old.

“Ah, sorry. It’s hot in here, isn’t it?”

Yarai-san returned just as I was eyeing the fan. Her timing made me feel guilty, like I’d been silently complaining.

“It’s not much, but here—want one of these?”
“Thanks.”

She handed me one of those old-fashioned tube ice pops. The one I got was blue—probably Blue Hawaii flavor. Hers was pink, likely strawberry.

“Here goes!”

With a cheerful exclamation, Yarai-san snapped her ice pop cleanly in two. Despite looking delicate, she was surprisingly strong.

Not to be outdone, I put some strength into my arms. I tried… and tried… but it wouldn’t break?

“Let me do it for you.”

Yarai-san casually took the ice pop from my hands and snapped it in half in an instant, as if mocking my struggle.

“Since we’re at it, here—you can have this one. Let’s share.”

She held out half of the Blue Hawaii and half of the strawberry to me.

“…Thanks.”

I took it and brought the Blue Hawaii half to my lips. The cold, unmistakably artificial sweetness hit my tongue. How long had it been since I last ate one of these? I couldn’t help but get a little sentimental.

“Nomph… mmm!”

Yarai-san had bitten into her ice pop with impressive gusto. She didn’t seem to care in the slightest about looking refined or ladylike.

I mean—honestly, it looked kind of obscene.

With a mouthful of ice, she crunched away with loud, crisp bites. If it was cold enough to make her wince, she could at least eat it more slowly.

“Hey, Kaidou-san, did you know? Apparently, with these ice pops, the colors are different but the flavors are actually the same.”
“Huh… like shaved ice?”
“Wait, shaved ice is like that too?”
“…So you know about ice pop trivia, but not shaved ice? That’s… something.”

Talk about lopsided knowledge.

“But still, it’s kind of amazing how just changing the color can make it feel like a totally different flavor!”
“Yeah, I guess so.”

Truth was, they actually used different flavorings for each color, so it wasn’t just the color that changed. But looking at Yarai-san, so innocently delighted and childlike in her surprise, it felt too tactless to point that out. So I just went along with it.

“Kaidou-san, look, look!”
“What?”
“Bleh—”

…Huh? Why was she sticking her tongue out at me?

“My tongue—did it turn blue?”

She added that clarification as I stared at her, confused.

“Ah, I see. I thought you were randomly trying to provoke me or something.”
“No way! Why would I try to mess with you?”
“…I mean, you *have* been messing with me.”

Actually—right. I’d nearly forgotten why I came here in the first place. I wasn’t here just to eat ice pops.

I came to prove something.

That Yarai-san’s kiss meant nothing to me. That it didn’t make me happy in the slightest.

“Bleeeh?”

She was still showing me her tongue, totally unfazed. Sure enough, it was blue. So what? Who even gets excited about that—elementary schoolers?

Her tongue flicked slightly like a snake’s, tinted faintly blue, but still a soft, pretty pink.

That was the tongue… that had slipped into my mouth and licked me all over…

“—”

Just remembering it made me tremble with humiliation. And now, I was about to face it again.

Not that it mattered. It wasn’t like kissing Yarai-san made me feel anything but disgust.

“Put your tongue away. It’s rude.”
“Okay.”
“And… we need to talk.”
“It’s about the kiss, right?”

She said it like it was nothing. She was so nonchalant that it made me feel like the unreasonable one for being angry. Even though the one acting weird here was obviously her.

“There’s no time to waste, so let’s just get it over with. Then I’m going home.”
“Aww, already? If you’re going home, then the kiss should be right before you leave.”
“Shut up! Just quit whining and do it!”

No matter how much I snapped, Yarai-san just kept that same carefree smile and gave a lazy “Okaaay” as she stepped closer to me. With her came that soft, pleasant scent that filled the room—but now it was stronger, more concentrated.

But… what were we even doing, exactly? Who was supposed to initiate this time? Was I supposed to kiss her? Or was she going to do it again, like before?

Turned out, my hesitation was pointless—Yarai-san slipped her arms around me without warning.

…Why was she hugging me? You don’t have to hug someone to kiss them.

Unlike last time, it wasn’t just our faces that were close—our whole bodies were pressed together. No—crushed together.

Our chests pushed up against each other, soft and pliant.

Yarai-san’s chest… was big. I’d always thought mine was pretty sizable too, but this was on another level.

As that pointless thought ran through my head, her beautiful face closed in on mine.

I couldn’t breathe. And I needed to, because a kiss was coming. I should’ve taken a breath.

No exaggeration—I was completely wrapped up in Yarai-san.

“Okay, I’m gonna do it, alright?”

As she spoke, her warm breath washed over me.

“—Kh. Do whatever you want.”

Why did she have to say it out loud like that? Couldn’t she just do it without warning? Was she trying to make me more aware of it?

Ugh, my heart was so loud. But no—that had to be her heartbeat. We were pressed together, so of course I could hear hers. It had to be hers.

Because there was no way I was the one getting flustered.

“Nnh—”

Yarai-san’s lips pressed against mine. A soft sound escaped me before I could stop it.

Her lips felt warmer and more damp than last time. That made the kiss feel thicker, more intense.

As we kissed, her hand gently slid up and down my back. The motion itself was no different from how a mother might soothe a child—yet somehow, it sent a prickling charge through my brain.

“Mmm—hey, don’t try to slip your tongue in.”

Just as she tried to push her tongue into my mouth again, I pulled back in a hurry.

A thin string of saliva stretched between us. I quickly swiped it away.

“Why not?”
“What do you mean, ‘why’? There’s no need to go that far.”
“But if I don’t do it the same way as before, how am I supposed to tell whether you hate it or not?”

…That logic somehow made both perfect sense and no sense at all.

“That’s why—”

With those words, she pulled me in tighter. I’d never hugged another girl this closely before, but Yarai-san was so soft all over… I guess this was what people meant by ‘feminine.’

“…Just a little then.”

I muttered as I reluctantly relaxed my tightly sealed lips. Not because I was giving in—obviously.

I just figured that if I didn’t give her something, she’d never let me leave.

Because this was Yarai-san. The type who didn’t really do things like restraint or consideration. So, it couldn’t be helped.

“Ehehe, thanks.”

Before I could even ask what exactly she was thanking me for, her lips were already back on mine. Her tongue followed right behind, slipping in without hesitation.

It tasted like that ice pop. So much for romance. I had a feeling she was probably thinking the same thing.

With wet, smacking sounds, Yarai-san explored the inside of my mouth like she owned it.

The sensation was unmistakable—warm, soft, textured—nothing else could feel like a tongue. She dragged it along every surface, from the roof of my mouth to the inside of my cheeks.

And then, our tongues met. The tips bumped and poked at each other, almost like they were kissing too.

Taking full advantage of my immobility, Yarai-san wound her tongue around mine without hesitation.

“Mmph—nnhh!”

I couldn’t breathe. Seriously, I couldn’t breathe.

I tapped on her back in a panic to signal her, but she must’ve misunderstood—because instead of easing up, she intensified the kiss, her tongue sweeping over mine even more fervently.

And she kept caressing my back. Actually—one of her hands had made its way down to my butt. What was she, a dirty old man?

She grabbed a full handful of it, and I really wished she wouldn’t. I was already self-conscious about how big it was. But I couldn’t even say anything.

My head, my mouth, my whole body—everything was burning up. There was a dull ache pulsing in my lower abdomen.

I was close to my limit.

“Nnchh—yaaa… Yarai-sa—mmn… enough!”

I struggled to resist, gasping for breath, and finally, finally, Yarai-san released my mouth. Though she was still clinging tightly to me.

“Say cheese!”
“Huh?”

Her phone was suddenly in her hand, the back camera pointed straight at me. The moment I realized what she was up to, it was already too late—I didn’t even have time to turn my face away.

*Click*—a fake shutter sound rang out.

After glancing at the photo she’d taken, Yarai-san gave a satisfied nod and finally let me go.

“W-What? Why did you take a picture?!”
“I just wanted to capture some objective evidence.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No matter how much I say it, you keep insisting that you hate kissing me, right?”
“Of course I do. Because I do hate it!”
“Still gonna say that… after seeing this?”

That was when I saw it—Yarai-san’s first truly wicked smile. I hadn’t known she could even make a face like that. It didn’t match her usual air at all—there was something languid and sultry about it, something that strangely fit her looks a little too well.

But I didn’t have time to dwell on that.

My eyes dropped to the phone screen she held out to me.

And there it was—a girl with flushed cheeks and eyes melting with a dazed, dreamy look.

A face that didn’t even seem like my own… and yet, it was unmistakably me.

“You really think you can keep saying you hated it, looking that happy?”
“N-No, that’s—!”

I didn’t want to admit it. That I’d kissed another girl—Yarai-san, of all people—and made a face like that.

But now that she had the proof right there in her hand, how could I even deny it?

Wait—was I… enjoying it?

I didn’t even know anymore.

No—no, that can’t be right. This wasn’t—this is—

“Fine, fine! I admit it! The kiss felt good. But that’s just a physical reaction, okay? You get that? It doesn’t mean I was happy about it!”
“Hmm.”
“Hyah!”

Yarai-san’s finger traced slowly down my back—and just that made a sound escape me that I’d never made before.

“And this? You hate this too?”
“O-Of course I do…! Ngh, s-stop, I said I don’t like it!”

She paid my protests no mind and continued with the featherlight touches.

Worse, her movements started to take on a clearly suggestive rhythm.

Her fingers trailed up and down my back, as if searching for the spot where I reacted most—and once she found it, she started teasing it over and over, deliberately.

I could barely hold myself upright. My body gave in, and I slumped forward—my face ending up resting against Yarai-san’s chest.

And what a chest it was—generous in every sense, it cradled my head like it belonged there.

Even as another girl, I couldn’t help but think… wow. It was kind of blissful. No wonder guys lose their minds over breasts. For the first time, I actually understood.

Still, if I sometimes noticed people staring, Yarai-san must get it ten times worse. Not that she ever seemed to care what others thought, anyway.

After that, she kept toying with me for a while longer.

When I finally lifted my head—feeling more than a little reluctant to leave the comfort of her chest—I had no idea what kind of face I was supposed to make.

“Did that feel good?”
“Eh? W-Well… I guess, sort of…”

Wait, why was I answering honestly?! That would only encourage her!

But then she gave me this soft, goofy little smile, and somehow I felt like… maybe it was fine. Like I’d just done something kind.

“…Hey, can I use the bathroom?”

I didn’t really need to go. I just needed a moment to calm down.

“It’s down the hall, to the right.”
“Thanks.”

I slid open the fusuma and stepped into the hallway.

That’s when I heard it.

*Clack*—the sound of a door opening. Not the sliding kind from Yarai-san’s room—this was the front door.

The door opened and someone entered.

“Oh?”

A surprised voice called out as someone spotted me.

She was stunning—like a model or an actress, a woman who radiated glamour. And her face was unmistakable.

“You must be one of Tsuzuri’s friends?”
“Ah—yes, hello… Sorry for the intrusion.”

It was Yarai-san’s mother.