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“What are you looking at?”

While I was relaxing in the living room, sipping coffee and flipping through an old photo album, Ibuki called out to me after finishing her evening stream.

“An old album. Want to take a look too, Ibuki?”
“Let’s see… Whoa, these are from before we even started elementary school, right? Why do you even have these?”
“Your mom sent them over. Feels nostalgic, doesn’t it?”

The album was filled with photos of both me and Ibuki from when we were still little, each one accompanied by a short note. Ibuki was, of course, still cute now, but in those photos, her innocent charm as a young child made her so irresistibly adorable it was almost painful.

“Hey, Ibuki—do you remember this?”
“Remember what?”
“This photo. I think it was around the time you used to get sick a lot.”

It was a snapshot taken of her sitting on the bed with a sullen expression, while I hugged her tightly. A comment written by Ibuki’s mom was scribbled next to it.

‘Ibuki-chan, who’d been in such a bad mood, looks so happy now that her beloved Yukino-chan came to see her!’

There were countless memories I shared with Ibuki, but the ones from our early childhood—when our bond grew especially deep—remained vivid, never losing their color over time.

“Was this the time you said you’d stay with me forever?”
“You remember?”
“Of course I do. I was so happy, there’s no way I could forget.”

Saying that, she sat down beside me, rested her head on my shoulder, and closed her eyes. I did the same, and just like that, those memories from the photo came back to me—as clearly as if they had happened only yesterday.

“Ibuukii-chaan! I came to play!”
“Yuki-chan. You came again?”

It happened before we were even in elementary school. My childhood friend, Ibuki-chan, used to get sick all the time, and she was bedridden almost every day. I was constantly worried about her.

“Do you have a fever today too?”
“Not right now. But daddy and mommy told me to stay in bed anyway. I can’t even play games, it’s so boring…”
“I see…”

I had never caught a cold before, so I couldn’t really understand how hard it was for Ibuki-chan. If I could, I would’ve taken on her pain for her—but since I couldn’t do that, all I could do was stay by her side.

“I’m so tired of this… Why do I get sick all the time?”
“Ibuki-chan…”

When Ibuki-chan suddenly started crying on the bed, it felt like she might just disappear, and I couldn’t bear the thought of that. I threw my arms around her and held her tightly.

“Don’t cry, Ibuki-chan…”
“Let go.”
“Ibuki-chan…?”

Normally, if I hugged her, Ibuki-chan would hug me back just as tightly. But this time, she grabbed my shoulders and forcibly pushed me away.

“Don’t be nice to me. You’re just going to stop being my friend too.”
“Why…? What do you mean…?”

I couldn’t believe I was being rejected by the Ibuki-chan I loved so much. Huge tears welled up and rolled down my cheeks. But Ibuki-chan, sitting right in front of me, looked even more hurt than I did—her face was streaming with tears—and I just couldn’t bring myself to move away like she asked.

“I said, let go!”
“No! I won’t leave you, Ibuki-chan! Why are you saying stuff like that?!”

With my face a mess of tears and snot, I batted her hands away and pulled her trembling little body back into my arms.

“Why would you say something like that?”
“Because… because…!”

When I asked again, Ibuki-chan finally began to speak in a tiny voice while clinging to my chest.

“I’m always sick… I’m always stuck in bed, and I can’t even play with anyone. Being friends with me is boring… All the kids at kindergarten said they hated me. I thought we were friends, but they all ended up hating me…! So if you’re going to end up hating me too, then I don’t want to be around you.”
“What the heck is that…”

Up until then, my mind had been full of sunshine and rainbows. I honestly believed everyone was friends and got along. I didn’t dislike anyone, and maybe I really was getting along with everyone. But learning that the person dearest to me—Ibuki-chan—was being hated by everyone changed everything. My whole worldview shifted in that moment.

I weighed my childhood friend Ibuki-chan against all the other kids in kindergarten, and even as a child, I made a clear decision about who mattered more to me.

“I’d never, ever stop liking you, Ibuki-chan.”
“You don’t know that. You might end up just like the others too, Yuki-chan.”
“I won’t. I never will.”

Back and forth we went—arguing over whether I would stop liking her or not. The frustration of not being believed by the person I loved so much kept growing. And being the impulsive child I was, I ended up doing something outrageous just to make her believe me.

“If I do this, you’ll understand… Right? …Here goes!”
“Huh!?”

I climbed up onto Ibuki-chan’s bed, pushed her down, and stole a kiss from her—completely out of nowhere.

“W-Why…? You’re only supposed to kiss someone you really like…”
“I do! I really like you, Ibuki-chan!”
“B-But… we’re both girls…”
“That doesn’t matter! I love you, Ibuki-chan, and I love you so much I’m never going to leave you. I’m going to stay with you forever!”

Saying that, I showered Ibuki-chan with kisses, over and over again, trying to convey just how strongly I felt. And maybe because I kept repeating it so many times, she finally understood. She believed me at last—and from that day on, the bond between us became even stronger than it had ever been before.

“I remembered way too much……… What the hell was I even doing…”

Along with the flood of nostalgic childhood memories came a piece of black history I’d completely buried. A ridiculous act that now seemed unthinkable. Reckless behavior with no thought for consequences. Back then, before even realizing what romantic feelings were, I’d done something so absurd it made me want to curl up and disappear. So that’s when Ibuki and I had our first kiss… back in kindergarten. I’d always assumed we were both still inexperienced.

“Your face is super red, Yukino.”
“It’s nothing…… I just remembered something weird, that’s all.”

Ibuki looked totally unfazed, so she probably didn’t remember any of that old stuff. I was honestly relieved she didn’t remember five-year-old me being a kiss-happy menace exclusively toward her.

“Oh yeah, Yukino.”
“Yeah?”
“Wanna pick up where we left off from when that photo was taken?”
“Huh…?”

With a mischievous, devilish grin, Ibuki leaned in close and whispered right into my ear.

“You don’t remember stealing my first kiss back then?”
“You… you remembered?!”
“Of course I did. There’s no way I could forget that. Don’t you wanna finish what we started?”

Her lips were so close to my ear, I could feel the warmth of her breath—and that alone made me tremble. I hadn’t been expecting her to tease me like this at all, so I froze up, unable to come up with any kind of response.

“Hehe… I’m kidding. Still, you’re even redder than before—Yuki-chan, you’re too cute.”
“Could you not give me a heart attack…”

She never used to make jokes like this when we were little. But now, if she kept teasing me like that, my fragile heart wouldn’t be able to take it.

“Honestly… When did you turn into such a little devil?”
“Sorry, sorry. …We’ll pick up where we left off another time, okay?”
“What?!”

She wrapped an arm around my waist and made a kissing sound right by my ear, and my body jolted reflexively.

“Because your birthday’s coming up soon, right? Just wait till then.”
“Th-that’s… okay, fine…”

My birthday falls on December 24th. Christmas Eve, of all days. It’s only a week away now. I had a feeling Ibuki might be planning to propose to me on that day. When I quit my job, she invited me out for a birthday date—and told me not to even think about job hunting, because she wanted me to be a full-time housewife.

At the time, I’d laughed it off as a half-joke. But if she was saying we’d “continue where we left off” on that day… then maybe she really meant it. It was starting to feel real now. So real, I could only look down with my face flushed bright red, completely speechless.

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