I liked the city at night. There was something about the way liveliness and melancholy coexisted in the atmosphere that made my heart feel strangely weightless.

Even the dumb ads playing on the giant digital screens above the intersection—annoying during the day—somehow felt easier to accept under the cover of night.

“…Do you want that?”
“Huh? Want what?”

Shouya asked as he pointed at the big screen I’d been staring at so intently.

“Well, I mean, you were staring pretty hard.”
“Oh—no, not really. I don’t want it at all.”
“I see.”

It was 8 p.m. I was in the middle of a date with my boyfriend, Shouya.

Anyone who saw us could probably tell at a glance, just from our joined hands. Still in our school uniforms, the two of us had been aimlessly wandering around the shopping district.

And now, since it was getting late, we were heading back toward the station.

“…We’re coming up on one year, huh.”
“Yeah, we are. But where’s this coming from all of a sudden?”

We’d started dating right after summer break of our first year. I wasn’t really the type to care much about anniversaries, but inwardly, I started to panic a little. I didn’t even remember the exact date.

“Nah, it’s nothing.”
“…?”

What was that about?

Still, thank god. If he’d sprung a “Pop quiz: what day’s our anniversary?” on me, I would’ve died on the spot. I’d better go home and comb through our LINE messages to figure it out later.

“It’s been a year, but we haven’t really done anything, huh.”
“Is that so?”

I tried to play dumb, but… Shouya was right.

We hadn’t even kissed, let alone had sex.

“Every couple’s different. No need to rush things, right?”
“I mean, sure, but still…”

And the reason for that was simple: I’d been very obviously avoiding it.

These days, even middle schoolers probably kiss, but I had stubbornly kept it from getting that far. No—rejection wasn’t even the right word. I just never let the mood get there in the first place.

“Oh, the light changed.”

Just like always, I tried to steer the conversation away by tugging on Shouya’s hand and urging him to walk with me.

But right around the time we finished crossing the street—

“Ritsu, come with me for a sec.”
“Eh—wait, what? Where?”

Suddenly the roles reversed, and this time it was Shouya dragging me along. He moved ahead, glancing around every so often like he was searching for something.

Eventually, we ended up in this rundown little park—or something like it—under a train overpass.

For the city, it was strangely deserted. Though just one street over, there was a row of restaurants, so the distant clamor still reached us.

“…Why’d we come here?”

Ignoring my confusion, Shouya just stared at me.

*—I almost screamed.*

His gaze was sharp. Predatory, even.

“Um… Shouya? My hand… it hurts.”

At some point, we weren’t holding hands anymore. Instead, he was gripping my wrist, tightly.

I tried applying a bit of force, but it didn’t budge at all. Sure, he was a guy, but this was too much of a difference in strength.

“This mush should be fine, right?”

And then I finally realized what Shouya was trying to do.

But realizing it didn’t make my brain work any better, and my arm still wouldn’t move.

His face drew closer. As the distance shrank, my mouth went dry.

Ah… so this is how my first kiss gets stolen.

Resignation.

I’d already given up. There were people walking by not far from us. If I really resisted—made a scene—Shouya would probably back off.

But I didn’t do that. I couldn’t. My body froze, my voice caught in my throat.

“Oh! Kaidou-san!”

…Huh?

A voice rang out—so loud it startled me. It tore through the night without a shred of restraint or awareness of the mood, and the tension in my body began to ease.

“…Yarai?”

Caught off guard himself, Shouya pulled away and turned around.

Standing there in casual clothes was Yarai Tsuzuri.

“Oh! So you’re the boyfriend she mentioned? Nice to meet you—this is our first time meeting, right? I’m Yarai Tsuzuri. We’ve never been in the same class, I think!”
“…Yeah. I know who you are…”

Shouya muttered, clearly thrown off.

Not surprising. He’d just been interrupted mid-kiss—well, attempted kiss.

And the timing had been downright divine. There wasn’t even room for anger anymore.

Shouya was visibly deflated. Like all the fire had been sucked out of him, his gaze wandered off somewhere else.

“…I’m going home.”

With a muttered sigh, Shouya turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Watching his retreating back, I couldn’t muster a single word.

“Did I… get in the way?”

Once Shouya had completely vanished from sight, Yarai-san spoke, sounding unusually meek.

She was smiling, but there was something apologetic in her expression.

“Big time. I honestly can’t believe you picked that moment to call out.”
“…Well, it’s because…”

She dropped her gaze to the ground for a moment. Then she suddenly lifted her needlessly pretty face toward me.

“Because you looked like you didn’t want it.”

Her usual bright and cheerful tone was gone. Her voice was sincere—almost desperate.

Because I looked like I didn’t want it.

“…Did I really have a face like that?”

Saying the words aloud made me realize I was practically admitting it.

But Yarai-san had said it with certainty. There was no point trying to hide it.

“Just… sort of. I mean, I was worried I might be wrong, but by the time I realized it, I’d already shouted.”
“What even is that…”

I couldn’t help but let out a laugh at how ridiculous it was.

Who does that? Even if it looked like I didn’t want it—do you just barge in like that? We’re supposed to be a couple.

And she did it just on instinct? That’s way too reckless.

“Ahaha, finally, you smiled. You’d been making such a scary face this whole time.”
“…Really?”

So that’s how I’d looked. I wondered if Shouya had noticed too.

“Um, that Shouya guy… he is your boyfriend, right?”
“Yeah, he is.”
“Then why did you look like you didn’t want it?”

It didn’t feel like a question directed at me.

Yarai-san just seemed to be voicing a genuine curiosity—something she couldn’t quite make sense of.

“Hmm…”

Her eyes—so clear and sparkling they seemed untouched by doubt—gazed straight into mine. I hated it. When she looked at me like that, it made me feel like some small, pathetic creature.

She took a step closer.

That same sweet scent I’d caught after the opening ceremony teased my nose again.

Her flawless, porcelain face kept drawing nearer. No blemishes, no flaws—so perfect it was almost irritating. Her eyes were wide and round in a way no amount of double eyelid tape could ever replicate. Her nose was tall, almost like a foreigner’s. Her lips were soft and full, carrying a sultry, womanly allure.

Right. I just remembered another reason I couldn’t stand Yarai-san.

Her face was so annoyingly perfect, it pissed me off.

“Hup!”

With a weird little shout, Yarai-san stepped even closer—and then…

“…!”

Something hot and soft pressed against my lips.

It took me a few seconds to register the slight moisture and the springy, supple sensation for what it was—her lips.

“Pha—! Wai-! What the hell!?”

It had probably lasted less than a few seconds.

But unfortunately, my brain did not have the capacity to process that kind of event in real time.

I blurted out some half-coherent mess of words at the girl now touching her lips with her fingertips.

“Well, I thought maybe you just hated kissing. Like you’re a germaphobe or something.”
“Huh!?”
“But, you didn’t make that same grossed-out face when I got close, so I guess that’s not it.”
“O-of course I hated it! You caught me off guard! And we’re both girls!”

Saying it aloud just made my head spin even more—because yeah, she and I were both girls. My brain was officially broken.

“You don’t look like you hated it, though…”

Yarai-san spoke with not even a hint of remorse. If anything, she seemed amused as she casually observed me.

Didn’t look like I hated it? What does that even mean?

No, no, I said I hated it, didn’t I? That should be enough. Hate is hate. How many times do I have to say it?

“Then I guess doing it one more time will clear things up.”
“H-hey! What are you even saying!?”

Ignoring my frantic protest, she took my hand.

But… her touch was gentle.

Her slender fingers slid softly between mine.

It would’ve been easy to pull away—unlike with Shouya. I could shake her off. So I pulled. I pulled… but—

The moment I looked forward again, her face was already right in front of mine. My breath caught in my throat.

Maybe because she’d kissed me earlier, her lips looked slick and indecently moist. Which meant… mine probably looked the same.

I wanted to wipe my lips. But I couldn’t.

Once again, she pressed her lips against mine.

That alone was still fine—No, it wasn’t fine at all, but still.

This time, it was different.

Her tongue was knocking at my lips. *Why is she trying to use tongue?!*

Maybe because I refused to open my mouth, she pulled her tongue back. *Okay, good—maybe if I just stay still—*

Nope. Too naïve.

She’d only pulled away to build momentum. With a new push, her tongue slipped past my lips.

Wet, squelching sounds—the friction of her tongue against mine—seared into my brain.

The fact that we were in a park, in the middle of a busy downtown area, surrounded by people—I didn’t even register it anymore.

I was drowning in Yarai Tsuzuri.

We were only touching lips. That was all. And yet, it felt like she had total control over my body.

“Phew…”

She finally pulled away, exhaling like she’d just finished some big task.

Then she turned to me with a beaming smile.

A pure, dazzling smile—so bright, it almost made me forget how obscene the kiss had been just now.

“See? Kaidou-san, you still don’t look like you hated it.”
“Shu…”
“‘Shu’?”
“Shut up!”

I took off running.

Yes—ran. Full-on escape mode.

I couldn’t go fast because of all the people, but I didn’t care. I just needed to get away from Yarai-san.

What the hell was that? What does she mean, I “didn’t look like I hated it”?

She’s a girl. I’m a girl. And it’s Yarai-san of all people…

Of course I hated it. Of course I did.