Chapter 469

"Are you starving?"

I stared in disbelief at Miyuki as she silently stuffed yakitori into her mouth. She awkwardly fiddled with her hair.

"It's good, what do you expect?"

"Didn't you eat dinner?"

"I did. But I'm hungry."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Eat a lot, then."

"Aren't you going to eat, Matsuda-kun? Here."

She offered me the last piece of chicken thigh on her skewer.

I chuckled and asked jokingly.

"You want me to eat this and get lost?"

"Why would you say that...! I just wanted to share the experience of eating together with you, Matsuda-kun... You can just eat this and then we'll get a new one..."

Grumbling with her cheeks puffed out, Miyuki looked especially adorable today.

I ought to feel sorry, so why did laughter keep bubbling up instead?

"I was just messing around, but that came out wrong. Sorry."

"You're really mean... Hurry and eat this."

She glared at me, holding out the skewer with a sullen expression.

I could feel her determination to stay like that until I ate it.

Just as she wanted, I pulled the last piece of chicken off the skewer with my teeth. Only then did her pout soften a little as she pulled out a new yakitori.

"You're eating another one right away?"

"Why? Are you going to say something about it?"

What's up with Miyuki? Is it that time of the month?

It was funny how she was glaring at me, afraid I'd tease her again.

"I was just going to ask if your throat was getting dry."

"A little."

"I should have bought some cola."

"You can go buy some now."

"Then get up."

"I can't be bothered."

She had been so enthusiastic while eating the yakitori, but the moment I asked her to get up, her shoulders slumped and she exuded pure lethargy.

Through her wildly fluctuating emotions, I could sense her desire to just lean on me.

"Should I go buy some?"

"No."

"What'll you do if you choke?"

"There's a Drinking Fountain over there."

"How can you drink from that dirty thing?"

"What's dirty? It's clean water."

"I'm not saying the water is dirty, I'm saying the Drinking Fountain's faucet is dirty. Who knows if someone spit on it?"

"Isn't that a stretch?"

There was a guy in this very neighborhood who would do exactly that, so it was hardly a stretch...

The world was full of perverts trying to satisfy their twisted desires.

Miyuki trusted people way too much for her own good.

"I'll be right back, so just wait two minutes."

"I'm going to count to 120, then."

"Why are you so demanding today?"

"1... 2..."

Miyuki counted with her eyes wide open, staring right at me.

It was ridiculous how she let my words go in one ear and out the other to just do her own thing, but her antics were so cute I couldn't help but laugh.

I'd extract the price for trying to boss me around once I got back.

With that thought, I sprinted out of the playground, rummaging through my pockets. I rushed into a Convenience Store that wasn't too far, but not exactly close either, and grabbed some drinks.

"150 yen..."

Before the Convenience Store clerk could even finish speaking, I slammed the money down the second he scanned the items and bolted back to the playground.

"How many seconds?"

I asked, gasping for breath. Miyuki, who was staring in shock with her mouth hanging open, flinched and shook her head.

"I-I don't know..."

She probably expected me to drag my feet and take my time like I normally did.

Otherwise, she wouldn't be staring at me with those wide rabbit eyes.

"Why don't you know?"

"I didn't think you'd actually run... I was just joking... Are you okay? Are you tired?"

Instead of answering, I stepped right up to Miyuki and squeezed her cheeks with both hands.

Then, I pressed my lips fiercely against hers—not hard enough to hurt, but forcefully enough to leave a tingling sensation.

"Mmph...!!"

Her flustered reaction to the surprise kiss was adorable; holding the hand with the yakitori out to the side, she flapped her arms weakly.

It felt like we had gone back to our early flirting days, leaving my heart fluttering with a fresh warmth. I was highly satisfied.

Pulling back, I took off Miyuki's hat as she unconsciously licked her lips.

Then I placed my hand on her head, gently squeezing and releasing my fingertips as if giving her a massage.

Miyuki, who had been staring up at me in a daze, began eating her yakitori as demurely as a bride-to-be at a formal family meeting, completely unlike before.

Her confident attitude was entirely gone, replaced only by a lovely, bashful shyness.

"Don't push your luck."

"....When did I do that... F-first of all, wipe your mouth..."

"Why?"

"Because of the yakitori, your lips..."

"Are greasy?"

"Yeah..."

"I licked them clean, though."

"Why would you lick that, you idiot...!"

"You did the exact same thing. Why am I the only idiot here?"

"I... I was eating the yakitori, so it's fine for me..."

"Since when is there a 'yours' and 'mine' between us?"

"No, it's not about that. It's hygiene..."

"Quiet."

"....Are you staying over today?"

Wasn't I usually the one who said that?

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"Stay over."

"Why?"

"Rub my stomach."

Hearing her say that, I was sure it really was that time of the month.

"Got it. Then go ahead and tell your folks now."

"We can just tell them when we get there."

"It's rude to just show up and say I'm staying the night out of nowhere."

"Matsuda-kun, do you know how many times you've come over...? It's fine."

Asking me if I was going to stay over... acting like it was totally fine now...

It was funny how our positions had flipped ever since the first day I slept over at her house.

It was proof she was taking after me, which even made me happy.

"Hurry up and call them."

"If only you planned your studies this well..."

"Enough nagging about studying."

I pressed my thumb firmly against the grumbling Miyuki's forehead. Taking a large bite off her skewer, she pulled out her Cell Phone.

"You have to rub my stomach until I fall asleep."

"Got it."

"You promised?"

"Yeah, I did."

Satisfied with my answer, Miyuki smiled brightly and called Midori.

It seemed Miyuki had reached the point where she couldn't do without me.

She was completely head over heels, submerged in her feelings for me. It was a very good development.

"Are you asleep?"

Miyuki's low voice tickled my ear.

It sounded a bit like a kitten begging for food, or perhaps just acting coy. Hearing that pleasant tone, I very lightly tapped her lower stomach and answered.

"No."

"Your hand stopped."

"I didn't stop. You were dozing off, so it just felt that way."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Fine. Don't pat it, stroke it."

"Like this?"

As I rubbed her lower stomach at a steady pace, like soothing a stomachache, she shifted and let out a content sigh.

"Yeah, that's good. Are you hot?"

"Not really."

I was actually burning up.

No matter how cool it was outside, indoors was a different story.

Our bodies were pressed closely together, and the rain over the past few days had made the room sticky, trapping an uncomfortable heat.

The lack of an air conditioner didn't help, either.

"Liar."

"Have some trust."

"Because it makes no sense. Idiot."

"Stop swearing."

"When did I ever swear...! Is 'idiot' a swear word?"

"It is."

"Is not."

"Why are you getting annoyed?"

"I'm not annoyed...!"

"Don't get mad."

"I'm not mad either...!"

It was so funny how genuinely wronged she sounded that I almost burst out laughing.

Gently rubbing Miyuki's stomach to soothe her, I spoke.

"Go back to sleep now."

Miyuki squirmed and adjusted her position.

Facing me, she pressed her forehead against my chest. It felt like she wanted something.

"How am I supposed to rub your stomach if you do this?"

"Somewhere else."

"Where?"

"Somewhere else."

"Where exactly? Here?"

I lightly patted the bottom of her hips as if supporting a child. A long breath escaped her nose, tickling my chest.

She seemed completely at ease now that I was doing what she wanted.

She could have just asked me to rub her butt...

Considering everything we've done so far, couldn't she say that much easily?

It was silly how she phrased it vaguely out of embarrassment, but I also understood.

"Matsuda-kun, are you asleep?"

"We just talked, why would I be asleep already? What is it?"

"Just asking."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Alright."

"Should we go somewhere fun tomorrow?"

What did she mean "go somewhere fun" when she was noticeably whimpering, completely unlike back at the playground...

Did the painkillers wear off? Either way, the only answer was to rest well at home.

"We'll see how things go."

"How what goes?"

"Your condition. We'll think about it if your pain subsides."

"You knew?"

"Who wouldn't know when you make it so obvious?"

"I wasn't being obvious."

"That's what you think."

"Why are you scolding me?"

Miyuki seemed to be showing a bit of a Renka-like temper.

Maybe she was just blurting things out because it hurt... I felt bad for her, but the conversation was so amusing that a smile kept threatening to break out.

"I'm not scolding you."

"Okay. Are you tired?"

"Of what?"

"Patting me."

"Not really."

"Then keep doing it until dawn."

"You want me to stay up?"

"Yeah."

"Can I sleep in tomorrow then?"

"No."

"Then how am I supposed to wake up?"

"You'll have to figure that out."

"That's shocking."

"I just copied what Matsuda-kun always says."

She really only did the most adorable things.

I chuckled and kept patting her hip as she threw a leg over my thigh, laying on her side. I spoke what was on my mind.

"Let's stay together for a long time... No, for the rest of our lives."

At that, Miyuki tilted her head up and bit my neck like a vampire.

She often bit me whenever she felt shy.

It was the same now. And this action of hers was essentially a positive answer.

Miyuki vigorously sucked on my neck like a baby nursing from a bottle, but her suction gradually weakened as time passed.

It was proof she was rapidly falling asleep.

After quite some time, Miyuki's mouth slipped away from my neck, and the soft sound of her breathing drifted from her nose.

I thought she'd toss and turn a lot, but she fell asleep faster than expected.

That just meant my embrace was that cozy.

I kept patting Miyuki's hip for a long time after that, closing my eyes as I listened to the rain starting to tap against the windowsill once again.