Chapter 35
@@
Dazed...
Miyuki, who had been staring at the star stickers attached to the ceiling with bleary eyes, slowly sat up when she heard a mosquito buzzing by her ear.
After her head lolled forward like a zombie, she felt her senses begin to return.
“.....”
Matsuda... was gone.
Had he gone downstairs?
Come to think of it, he seemed to have said something to her while she was lying down, then lightly flicked her forehead...
Miyuki, who had been rubbing the exact center of her forehead, suddenly brought her hand to her lips.
“Ah...!”
Her kiss with Matsuda had vividly come back to her.
Thump! Thump!
Her heart, which had seemed to have stopped, began pounding wildly in an instant, and her face grew hot.
A faint mint scent lingered in her mouth.
Mouthwash... Right, this is the taste of mouthwash.
When she had been talking with Matsuda, and when their lips had met, she had noticed the distinctive scent of mouthwash coming from him.
And then Matsuda’s tongue had come in, and...
“Aaaaa...”
The soft, moist sensation of his tongue gently brushing over her teeth.
Remembering it, Miyuki didn’t know what to do with herself from embarrassment and buried her face in the pillow.
In any case, the aftertaste of the mouthwash Matsuda had used seemed to remain in her mouth.
But mouthwash...
Had he really gone to the bathroom before coming into the room so he could do something like this?
Had he asked her to show him around her room because he intended to kiss her from the start?
‘No...’
Matsuda brushed his teeth fairly diligently.
Even after eating lunch at school, he always did so unless he was pressed for time...
She had brushed her teeth too, before Matsuda spoke with her father in the living room.
Most people who cared about cleanliness brushed their teeth after meals.
So let’s not jump to conclusions like this.
Besides, hadn’t she sensed that something risqué would happen today, too?
It wouldn’t be right to blame Matsuda.
In fact, she had no grounds to blame him at all.
Why? Because she’d had countless chances to refuse and never did.
Of course, she had been scared.
She had felt a vague fear because she had never kissed anyone before, and seeing Matsuda’s stern expression had made that feeling even stronger.
That was why she had planned to refuse if Matsuda came any closer, telling him not to.
But the moment Matsuda sincerely apologized, she relaxed, and her heart began pounding as she started to anticipate something.
[I’m sorry, Miyuki.]
Replaying Matsuda’s apology in her mind, Miyuki clutched the pillow so tightly she could barely breathe.
His voice was already low, but when it grew even lower, it sounded incredibly pleasant and made her feel emotionally at ease.
It was strange.
That her emotions could change just from someone’s voice.
But then a question suddenly occurred to her.
What... had Matsuda felt while kissing her?
Surely he hadn’t tasted the food she’d eaten for lunch and felt disgusted, right?
“Aaaaaaa...!”
Miyuki let out a muffled scream into the pillow, crossed her legs, and kicked at the bedsheet wildly.
She suddenly felt as though Matsuda really might have been disgusted.
Even though she had brushed her teeth... not much time had passed, so the lingering taste of food must still have remained in her mouth.
No, that’s not it.
All she could taste on Matsuda was mouthwash.
Then her mouth must have tasted only of toothpaste, too.
As Miyuki tried desperately to compose herself, she suddenly remembered that she had eaten melon right before kissing him.
‘Ah, that’s right...! Melon...!’
Miyuki jerked her face away from the pillow, and her expression turned miserable.
If she had eaten melon immediately after brushing her teeth, the taste might have mixed with the lingering toothpaste flavor and created something bizarre.
That meant it had been completely... ruined.
‘This is driving me crazy...’
For some reason, she felt pathetic, as if her mind were filled with nothing but negative thoughts.
Overwhelmed by the absurdity of it all, Miyuki unconsciously licked her lips with her tongue, then startled at the mint flavor appearing again.
“Ah, seriously...!”
She voiced her frustration aloud, sat cross-legged on the bed, and slowly closed her eyes.
Think positive thoughts.
Right, think about what it felt like to have her first kiss ever.
“.....”
Miyuki’s shoulders began to tremble.
Her cheeks flushed as her body temperature rose rapidly.
The corners of her lips twitched naturally, and she couldn’t sit still because she was so restless.
Sweet.
The rapid pounding of her pulse, racing in a pleasant direction, only strengthened that impression.
But she felt that it hadn’t been a proper kiss.
Maybe that was because she had been so flustered while doing it.
She might have to try it one more time with a clear head to know for sure...
As Miyuki imagined various things with her face bright red, a thought suddenly flashed through her mind.
‘What are we to each other...?’
Looking back on the time she had spent with Matsuda, theirs definitely wasn’t an ordinary relationship.
The fact that they had even kissed seemed to mean that he had feelings for her...
But it didn’t seem as though they were officially dating, either.
After all, Matsuda had never once told her that he liked her.
Ordinarily, couples started dating after one of them confessed.
Of course, there were cases where people naturally became a couple without saying anything, but those were extremely rare. For most people, a confession was essential.
Matsuda, who always said whatever he wanted, certainly wasn’t afraid of confessing that he liked her...
Was he confused about his own feelings?
It was true that Miyuki had never told Matsuda that she liked him, either...
But that didn’t seem to be the only problem.
The first problem that came to mind was how they addressed each other.
She called Tetsuya by his first name, but called Matsuda by his surname.
Matsuda, who had watched this from beside her, might have concluded that she still wasn’t close enough to him.
‘Or is he just playing with me...?’
Matsuda was tall and handsome, so he must have been involved with plenty of women.
Even if he had improved a lot by now, there was still a chance that, given how recklessly he had lived in the past, he considered her nothing more than a way to kill time.
“.....”
It was entirely possible, which made her feel miserable for some reason.
Let’s not go as far as indulging in such excessive fantasies.
At any rate, just as you have to cast the bait properly to get a bite, the real issue seemed to be her own ambiguous attitude.
Since she had already decided to go out with Matsuda today, she would stay with him and observe his reaction.
And if his reaction was good...
If it was good...
‘I don’t know...! Let’s just go...!’
Click...
Miyuki was about to get off the bed, vigorously shaking away her confused thoughts, when the door hinge gave a quiet click. She was so startled that she screamed.
“Aaaah!!”
Kana, who had been trying to sneak in like a thief, was startled out of her wits.
“Aaaah!! What is it!? What’s wrong!?”
After confirming that the person who had appeared before her was her older sister, Miyuki angrily shouted.
“Oh, Sis! Why are you coming in without knocking!!”
“No... I thought you were sleeping...”
“Sleeping...? At this hour...?”
“Yeah. That’s what Matsuda-kun said. He said you looked tired, so he came downstairs alone?”
“Ah...”
He must have gone downstairs because she had finished kissing him and then stared blankly at the ceiling.
So that was why he had flicked her forehead. She hadn’t responded even when he spoke to her.
After calming her startled nerves, Miyuki asked,
“What about Matsuda-kun? Is he talking with Dad?”
“No, he left.”
“What...? Why...?”
Miyuki was left dumbfounded.
Kana looked at her as if she were strange and answered,
“What do you mean, why? He stayed for an hour after coming downstairs. It was only natural for him to go home.”
An hour...?
Had that much time already passed?
Had she really been spacing out so completely that she hadn’t even noticed how much time had gone by or heard a car starting?
This was driving her crazy.
‘But what if he just left like that...!’
They had decided to go out together... Wasn’t he being a little too much?
Of course, he had probably been considerate after seeing her current condition... but she needed to ask him about it.
Although she wasn’t sure she could actually confront him.
Miyuki let out a deep sigh and asked,
“Why did you come here, Sis...?”
“To borrow a book. You know that novel I was reading last time?”
“It’s there. In the far left corner of the bookcase.”
“I’m taking it?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll let Matsuda-kun know you’re awake. He seemed really worried.”
“Okay...”
Miyuki answered weakly and was about to lie down on the bed again when a thought flashed through her mind, making her jerk her head up.
“Contact...? How can you contact Matsuda-kun?”
“Ah... I got his phone number.”
Kana waved the phone in her hand proudly.
Miyuki’s face contorted grotesquely.
“Why did you get Matsuda-kun’s phone number?”
She had absolutely no idea what was going on.
Watching Miyuki’s eyes grow twice as large, Kana said,
“He was really cool at the beach. He takes initiative, and he’s polite... So I got his number because I wanted to contact him.”
Did that mean she was interested in him?
What kind of ridiculous situation was this?
Miyuki, who had been standing there with her mouth hanging open, suddenly came to her senses.
“B-but Matsuda-kun is exactly the type you hate...? He has no manners and does whatever he wants...”
“He seemed well-mannered. He listened, too... Didn’t you see how he acted toward Mom and Dad today?”
“That’s... That’s only because he was in front of adults...! With me, he just... makes sarcastic remarks... and teases me all the time...”
Why was criticism of Matsuda spilling out of her mouth?
Why was she trying to imprint a negative image of Matsuda on her sister?
What was she so afraid of?
This made her look completely pathetic and sly, didn’t it?
She felt so pathetic she could die.
“He’s only like that because he’s joking. Still, you’re serious about everything, so you might have taken it seriously.”
Despite Miyuki’s guilt-ridden words, they didn’t make the slightest dent.
This was pointless... and it only made her feel sorry for Matsuda.
Her feelings were in turmoil.
She felt a little hurt, or perhaps angry.
‘Why did he have to give her his phone number...!’
“Anyway, thanks for the book. I’ll read it.”
Miyuki, who had been grumbling inwardly at Matsuda, heard Kana’s words and stretched out her hand.
“...Come to think of it, I was going to read that. Give it back.”
Now annoyed, Miyuki deliberately acted spitefully.
Kana’s expression filled with bewilderment.
“What are you talking about...? You can’t take back something you gave someone.”
“I haven’t given it to you yet. I was only going to lend it to you.”
“Why are you being so childish...? Are you a little kid?”
“Just give it to me.”
“You’re not going to read it right now.”
“I’m going to read it now. I’m bored.”
Kana let out a hollow laugh as if she were dumbfounded, then tossed the book in front of Miyuki.
“There. Happy?”
Miyuki opened the first page and answered without even looking at Kana.
“Yeah. Now leave. I need to concentrate.”
“Good grief... This is absurd...”
After Kana left the room grumbling, Miyuki placed the book beside her pillow with a toss, then flopped backward onto the bed.
Her temper flared.
He’d set the mood and kissed her, and then...
Kana asked for his number, and he happily gave it to her?
Did he like every woman he saw?
What an idiot Matsuda was!
From Matsuda’s perspective, was kissing just some casual act he could do with anyone?
Had he really not changed his old ways?
Had he really been playing with her?
Her insides boiled with anger.
To put it bluntly, Kana had become interested in Matsuda because of the attitude he had shown her.
If Matsuda had been as arrogant and overbearing as he used to be, Kana wouldn’t have asked for his phone number.
No, she wouldn’t even have been able to meet their family in the first place.
Without even realizing who he had changed for...
“This is ridiculous, seriously...!”
Her head was telling her to hear him out first,
but her heart was telling her not to forgive Matsuda.
And right now, Miyuki was siding with her heart.
Miyuki deeply furrowed her brow and immediately grabbed her phone.
As she was about to run out of the house, she caught sight of the book beside her pillow and stopped.
“.....”
She couldn’t help feeling guilty that she had been so insistent about getting a book she hadn’t even intended to read.
In the end, she left the book in front of Kana’s room, knocked twice, and only then left the house.