Chapter 48
A hat, spare clothes, shampoo, body wash... and even the underwear she had slyly hidden.
As Miyuki began organizing the things she'd brought with her, I pointed to the wall-mounted storage cabinet.
“Put them in there. The corner spot is empty.”
“Can I put the shampoo and body wash in the bathroom? And my face mist... and lotion...”
“Why not just move in?”
“L-last time I came, I couldn't do my skincare properly, so my skin was all dry...”
I gave a small chuckle at Miyuki, who was muttering to herself in embarrassment, and said,
“Doesn't matter. Put them away.”
“Yeah...”
After bustling around and finishing everything, Miyuki took a shower and came out, then sat on the futon I'd laid out, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them.
Rocking back and forth as though she were sitting in a rocking chair, she gauged the condition of the tatami that had gotten wet from the rain last time.
“Matsuda-kun, is all that dry...?”
“Yeah.”
“I see... What a relief. Should we connect my phone to the TV and watch a movie?”
“Sure.”
“Or do you want to watch a variety show?”
She was cute, chattering away as though trying to dispel her awkwardness.
After roughly towel-drying my wet hair, I sat comfortably beside Miyuki.
“What do you want to do?”
“Just... anything...”
Miyuki watched my reaction, repeatedly pressing the back of her own hand for no reason.
The atmosphere was rapidly becoming risqué.
Did she realize that she was the one creating that atmosphere?
I looked at Miyuki, who couldn't hide her awkwardness, then buried the back of my head in the pillow.
The breeze caused by my abruptly lying down aired out the stagnant atmosphere around us.
Perhaps Miyuki had the same thought, because her tense expression softened considerably.
Lying beside me, Miyuki reminisced about the past.
“If Matsuda-kun hadn't saved me from that molester at the end of last semester... what would our relationship be like now?”
We'd have ended up dating somehow.
Why? Even if we'd missed that event, I would have approached her again.
I shrugged as though it were nothing important.
“You wouldn't have been able to see me this semester.”
“Why? Because Matsuda-kun got expelled?”
“No. Because they found a drowning victim at Isshiki Beach.”
When I obliquely reminded her of the time I had saved her, Miyuki let out a weak laugh.
I caught the wrist of the hand she tried to use to shove my shoulder and set it down in the space between us before continuing.
“I'm kidding, but things would've been just as bad as before, if not worse. Maybe you would've reported me to the professor and gotten me kicked out.”
“I...?”
“You always wanted me to get expelled.”
“That's true, but...”
“What if I got expelled now because I got caught up in some strange incident?”
“I'd stop it.”
Miyuki answered without hesitation, her eyes filled with determination.
Quite surprised, I asked,
“Really? Even if I were the one at fault?”
“The Matsuda-kun you are now wouldn't be the one to do anything wrong first, but even if you did, I'd stop it. You can just listen to me nag you afterward...”
I had expected her to take my side, but I hadn't imagined she would say something like that without even hesitating.
It was an incredibly satisfying answer. The corners of my mouth stretched into a grin all on their own.
A smile curved at the corners of Miyuki's eyes as she watched me.
With a slightly triumphant expression, like someone who had won a duel, she turned her gaze toward the dim staircase beside the kitchen and asked,
“But don't you use the second floor...?”
“The walls slope inward, so it's cramped.”
“How cramped?”
“You have to crawl around on your stomach.”
“Then it would be good just for sleeping...? If we moved the bedding up and slept there on a rainy day, the atmosphere might be nice...”
“We'd hear every sound of the rain hitting the roof. Let's sleep there next time.”
When I once again left open the possibility of sleeping together, Miyuki couldn't hide her fluster.
“W-who said we were going to sleep there...? I was just saying it might be nice...”
“Were you getting ahead of yourself?”
“Yeah... Completely...”
I nodded slowly, then shifted until I was right beside Miyuki.
Miyuki drew her arms up against her chest and curled her whole body inward.
I moved close enough for our noses to almost touch, then said,
“Were you?”
With a meaningful smile, I asked again what she had meant.
“.....”
“I asked if you were.”
“Hnn...”
Miyuki suddenly let out a nasal whine.
Perhaps she liked the sound of my voice, which had dropped so low it had become husky.
I raised one hand and stroked the side of Miyuki's still-damp hair as though combing it.
Then, just as the tension began to leave her eyes, I slipped my hand through her long hair and began caressing her pale, slender neck.
“.....”
Miyuki seemed not to realize what sound she had just made.
She merely nibbled at her lower lip as though tormented, staring at me with glistening eyes.
Feeling mischievous for no particular reason, I called out to Miyuki in a playful, impish tone.
“Hey.”
“Hm...?”
“Hey.”
“.....”
“Hey.”
“Oh, whyyy...!”
Miyuki pouted in an irritated voice.
Perhaps she was angry because the pleasant atmosphere was about to break.
As her face began to twist into an annoyed expression,
Swish.
When my thumb brushed across her lips, she let out a startled gasp.
Savoring the mint scent that rushed into my nose, I lightly flicked Miyuki's lower lip.
“Don't.”
She was trying to stop me with a face that had instantly turned bright red, but that was merely a token refusal.
Miyuki liked these displays of affection.
And she liked my smoldering gaze even more.
“What movie do you want to see tomorrow?”
“Anything...”
“Anything except that.”
“.... Let's check the showtimes and choose...”
“Since it's the weekend, should we book in advance?”
“It's an early-morning showing, so I think it'll be fine... The movie theater in our neighborhood only has standard screens, so... it'll probably be empty...”
“We just need to get there before ten, right?”
“Yeah... Probably...”
While still flicking Miyuki's lower lip and chatting about this and that, I leaned in when I caught her swallow.
Not toward her lips, but toward her slender neck.
“M-Matsuda-kun...! What are you doing...!”
Miyuki was startled and tried to push my head away, but the moment I began kissing her neck, she stopped moving altogether.
After quietly letting me kiss her for a while,
“Ah...!”
she suddenly let out a breathy moan and trembled.
Then she wrapped her arms around my head and exhaled sharply through her nose, tickling the crown of my head.
I deliberately made the kissing sounds louder, and she seemed to be getting more aroused little by little.
“Hoo... huff...”
Miyuki soon pressed her lips to the crown of my head and began blowing air over it.
She wasn't expressing affection for me. She was trying to calm herself down.
Our feelings for each other were growing more intense by the moment.
After lavishing attention on her neck alone, I pressed my pursed lips to her thin skin and sucked it into my mouth.
A twitch.
Perhaps the sensation of her skin being pulled was unfamiliar, because Miyuki's body jolted sharply once, and the strength in her arms briefly gave out.
Taking advantage of that opening, I lifted my face from Miyuki's neck and placed light kisses on her lips, the bridge of her nose, and her forehead.
“Haa... haa...”
Miyuki's cheeks were completely flushed, and her unfocused eyes turned toward me as she let out labored breaths.
She looked as though she couldn't properly regain her senses.
I grinned at her, then checked the kiss mark I had made.
Blood had pooled slightly below the center of her neck from the pressure.
It was a small area, but it would probably spread a little by tomorrow.
It looked like her uniform shirt would barely cover it.
Her skin was delicate, so it would probably last about a week. I wondered if she would get angry when she saw it.
“Did it hurt?”
At my gentle question, Miyuki's eyes filled with puzzlement.
So it hadn't hurt after all. Good thing I had sucked gently.
I got up, turned off the living-room light, and lay down beside Miyuki again.
Miyuki, who had been panting as she tried to calm her arousal, grabbed the hem of my clothes and said,
“Don't go... Who said you could go...?”
She didn't mean ‘Don't go.’ She meant ‘Don't stop,’ didn't she?
Amused by Miyuki's clumsy way of expressing her feelings, I placed my hand on her waist and began stroking it gently.
“Hng...”
It was the same thing I had done last time.
But unlike then, when she had demanded to know what I was doing, this time Miyuki merely squirmed.
Convinced that I could take things further,
Swish.
I slipped my hand inside the T-shirt she was wearing.
As I stroked her narrow waist up and down as though tickling it, a soft, heated sensation traveled from my fingertips straight into my mind.
“Eek...!”
Miyuki's waist contracted as she let out a short cry.
The hand clutching my clothes began to tremble, and rapid, ragged breaths leaked from her mouth and nose.
While carefully observing Miyuki's condition and caressing her waist and lower back, I heard rustling from below and pulled my hand out from under her T-shirt.
Then I placed that hand on Miyuki's fidgeting leg and patted it.
Slowly, in a steady rhythm.
Perhaps my actions calmed her down.
Miyuki, who had been panting, gradually steadied her breathing, then buried her face against my chest.
I gently stroked the back of her head and asked,
“Were you really startled?”
Her head shook from side to side, then immediately began nodding frantically.
She seemed embarrassed enough to die.
The physical affection aside, my gentler-than-usual tone probably played a significant role in that reaction too.
I pressed and kneaded the mark I had left on Miyuki's neck until she had completely calmed down.
Then, before long,
“Ken-kun...”
my name came from Miyuki's lips.
It had been a long time since I had heard my first name instead of my surname.
She must have liked the intimate physical affection we'd just shared more than she let on.
“Are you listening...?”
“I'm listening. Go ahead.”
“I need to use the bathroom...”
“Go ahead.”
“I'm hungry...”
“Want to eat something?”
“I'm sleepy... I want to sleep...”
Seeing her ramble while poking my abdomen, I knew what she wanted.
I let out a weak breath through my nose, lowered myself, and turned to face Miyuki.
Then I brought my lips to hers and pressed them lightly against hers.
Just as I was about to end the kiss, a tongue slipped between her moist lips and touched the inside of my mouth.
I twitched at the completely unexpected action.
Realizing my reaction, she quickly withdrew her tongue,
“Hee...”
then let out a pleased laugh, clung tightly to me, and wrapped her arms around my waist.
As if telling me not to go anywhere, as if telling me to stay close to her.
‘What are you?’
Could it be that Miyuki was training me?
I entertained that thought for a moment, then wrapped my arms around Miyuki's head when she let out a languid yawn.