Chapter 565

When she arrived at the playground, Matsuda was sitting on a swing, rocking lightly back and forth.

Even though he saw her, he didn't wave or say hello. Annoyed for no reason, Miyuki approached at a slow walk.

“You're here?”

Matsuda casually tossed out the words only after she closed the distance to within three steps.

Miyuki nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Nice atmosphere here.”

“You mean you like it?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Have a seat.”

Saying that, Matsuda patted his own knee.

Taking that as an invitation to sit on his lap, Miyuki freaked out.

“S-sit on what...! Why would I sit on your lap, Matsuda-kun!?”

“What are you talking about? I meant the swing next to me.”

“Oh...”

“Are you delusional?”

“...You tapped your knee in the first place...”

“I just did it. Out of habit.”

He didn't even usually tap his knee. What habit...

He was an absolute master at teasing her. Whenever she talked with Matsuda, she always ended up getting swept into his pace.

But it wasn't a bad feeling. In the early days after her return, his teasing used to trigger her stubbornness. Now that she had practically let everything go, she actually welcomed it when Matsuda acted like this.

Why? Because he would take the initiative to advance their relationship on his own.

As long as they both knew they had feelings for each other, this relationship couldn't be broken no matter what.

Feigning reluctance, Miyuki sat on the adjacent swing. As she pushed off with her toes to rock back and forth, Matsuda turned his head toward her and asked.

“Why did you run away earlier?”

“...”

“If you didn't like it, you should have just said so.”

Who said she didn't like it? She had just been surprised...

If she had her way, she would have wanted him to do it more, but she couldn't let that show.

“I-in the first place, you just did that without any warning, Matsuda-kun...”

“Did what?”

“Isn't it your fault for coming inside...?”

“I admit it.”

“Then... are you going to apologize?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Why should I apologize?”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you back because I didn't think there was anything to explain.”

What did he mean, there was nothing to explain?

Was he telling her to take it as, since they had feelings for each other, there was no need to apologize?

Given the circumstances, it definitely seemed that way... She should probably just gloss over it for now.

“A-anyway, be more careful from now on.”

“Fine... I get it. I'll be careful next time.”

“Yeah. Wait...?”

Miyuki, who had been nodding slowly, suddenly froze.

It was right after realizing the true implication behind the words ‘next time.’

She felt like she had been swept up in his pace again, but it wasn't a bad feeling.

Somehow, it made her feel like they had actually become a couple.

Actually, rather than a full-fledged couple, it felt more like the talking stage she had always wished for.

The romantic tension right before two people officially get together... It was probably best to look at it like that.

As long as neither she nor Matsuda tried to rush things forward, they could maintain this kind of relationship for quite a long time.

“Do you come here often?”

Thinking it was quite funny how Matsuda casually changed the subject, Miyuki answered.

“I used to come here a lot.”

“When?”

“Up until... right before middle school?”

Back when she was in elementary school, this place had been her and Tetsuya's secret hideout.

It was far too open to use a grand word like ‘secret,’ but back then, they both considered the playground to be exactly that.

After she entered middle school, her visits became less frequent, and by high school, she almost never came here at all.

Even so, she still tended to come here whenever she needed to have a serious conversation.

From now on, it looked like her partner for those would be Matsuda, not Tetsuya.

“With Miura?”

“Hmm... yeah, I did.”

“What did you talk about?”

“This and that... Things that happened during the day, sharing our worries... When we were really young, we used to build sandcastles every night, too.”

“That's annoying.”

“Huh...? Why is that annoying?”

She feigned ignorance even though she knew he was jealous, and Matsuda just shrugged.

“None of your business.”

“What... Then you shouldn't mutter about it being annoying...”

Right now, Matsuda was probably thinking something along these lines:

That if he had been her childhood friend instead, they would have built up a profound bond by now.

Or maybe not? Was that her own wishful thinking instead of his?

It must be, seeing as she was the one feeling regretful right now.

Standing up from the swing, Miyuki pointed toward a slide in the corner of the playground and the sandbox beneath it.

“Want to build a sandcastle together?”

“Now?”

“Yeah.”

“It's dark out.”

“We can just turn on our Cell Phone flashlights.”

“I'm not really...”

“Come on.”

Cutting him off before he could refuse, Miyuki took the initiative and headed straight for the sandbox.

Then, like a child who couldn't care less about getting her clothes dirty, she plopped right down into the sand.

“Hurry up and sit.”

Did he find it funny that she was patting the spot across from her?

Matsuda let out a soft chuckle and obediently approached.

Then, instead of sitting across from her, he sat down right next to her.

“Wh-what are you doing? I told you to sit over there.”

Unable to hide her sudden fluster, Miyuki scolded him.

But Matsuda just kept a calm face and played dumb.

“When did you say that?”

“Just now... with my hand...”

“Didn't see it.”

“You did see it...! Why are you lying?”

“Because I figured this would be better.”

“What's better about it?”

“The vibe.”

“What vibe?”

“Just a gut feeling. You don't need to know.”

“How can you be so shameless?”

“I've always been like this.”

As they bickered back and forth, Miyuki suddenly realized that his face had drifted noticeably closer to hers.

“What...? What is it...?”

“What now?”

“You're too clos— Ah...!”

Thud!

A soft sensation spread across her back.

Looking up from below at Matsuda, who had just pushed her down, Miyuki's eyes wavered violently.

“Wh-what has gotten into you since earlier...!?”

“What.”

Matsuda was about to lose control.

He was likely acting this way because she had been showing an ambiguous attitude... one that didn't definitively reject him.

“What do you mean ‘what’... why did you push me down...!?”

“I lost my balance.”

“Th-that's ridiculous... Mmph...!?”

Miyuki's breath caught in her throat.

In the blink of an eye, Matsuda had effectively straddled her waist and leaned his face dangerously close.

As she pressed her lips tightly together, Matsuda's hand slowly crept up beneath her chin.

Slide.

Tracing from her neck all the way up to her jawline.

Miyuki's body gave a slight shudder at the soft touch grazing her skin.

They were completely out in the open right now.

It wasn't even that late yet, meaning there was a very real possibility of someone seeing them.

In the past, Miyuki would have been too hyper-aware of that fact to focus on anything else.

But not anymore.

Trying to calm her wildly pounding heart, she simply stared into Matsuda's eyes, not caring in the slightest about where they were right now.

Didn't he literally just promise to be careful next time?

Now he was making her all flustered again.

But well... considering they already liked each other, he couldn't exactly ask for consent every single time he wanted to show affection, so she figured she could let it slide.

Besides, weren't things like this perfectly normal when they were heavily flirting with each other?

Even in the past, they had kissed long before they officially started dating.

So, she should just put her worries to rest.

Having made up her mind, Miyuki slowly unpursed her lips. Taking advantage of that opening, Matsuda firmly pressed his lips against hers.

At the exact same time, his hand traced along her waist.

A wonderfully ticklish and strange sensation bloomed near her ribs, causing Miyuki's body to jolt in surprise, but she quietly accepted Matsuda's tongue as it slipped into her mouth.

Miyuki actually wanted to passionately explore Matsuda's mouth as well.

Just like she had secretly done while he was asleep.

However, she knew full well that the inside of his mouth was cut up.

There was a risk that the wounds could become infected, and if she accidentally bumped them, it would seriously hurt him.

If that happened, there was a high chance that this heavy, intoxicating mood would be ruined. So, for today at least, Miyuki decided to just stay still... and give him only passive reactions.

It came with the added bonus of letting her pretend to be inexperienced, so she figured it was best to hold back her own greed.

Snap.

Having quickly sorted out her thoughts, Miyuki shivered yet again when she felt a dull sensation near her ribs.

Matsuda had lightly snapped her bra strap.

‘A-are you out of your mind...?’

Getting the distinct impression that he was trying to fast-track things, Miyuki wondered whether she should see just how far Matsuda—who was now completely straddling her—was willing to go today, or if she should stop him right here.

The answer came to her immediately.

She had long since thoroughly realized that whenever she tried to take the initiative, things rarely ended well.

Matsuda would surely take action... no, take things exactly as far as he deemed appropriate.

With her absolute faith in him, Miyuki was able to brush aside her lingering anxiety and completely lose herself in the moment with Matsuda.

She had noticed it earlier, but there was a distinct taste of blood in his mouth.

She thought she could taste a hint of sand as well, though that was likely just her imagination.

For some inexplicable reason, it sent a shiver down her spine.

‘Whatever...’

She should stop thinking entirely and just relax her body.

She shouldn't risk ruining things for no reason.

After making her silent resolve, Miyuki surrendered herself entirely to the hazy, intoxicating sensation that was quickly flooding her mind.