The café was bustling with far more customers than the last time I’d been here, likely drawn in by the limited-time cake.
At a corner table we were guided to, Kiritsuki was sitting close enough for our shoulders to brush, diligently flipping between a textbook and notebook, guiding me through test prep with meticulous care.
“Hmm, maybe assuming the direction of velocity first is what’s making the equation so messy. In this case, you won’t know the direction until you do the calculation.”
Kiritsuki jotted down notes in the physics textbook with cute, neat handwriting, while simultaneously sketching diagrams and equations in her notebook.
“The law of conservation of momentum pops up everywhere, so you’d better get a solid grasp of it now.”
“…Don’t say it like it’s some kind of recurring guest star.”
“Well, my older brother’s got a stash of past exams he’s tackled~”
“Oh… right.”
As I started working on a problem, Kiritsuki’s gaze shifted from the notebook and textbook to my face.
Honestly, I’d feel less rattled if she were staring at my half-finished notes instead.
Despite the odd discomfort, I tried to focus on the equation.
“Hey, looks like no calculation errors. You can do it when you try!”
“Nah… This is my first time studying with a friend, but I’m understanding this way better than in class.”
“Well, duh. Teaching one person at their pace is totally different from teaching the same thing to dozens of people at once.”
Mid-conversation, Kiritsuki took a sip of her cappuccino and let out a small sigh.
“The more people you’re teaching, the more it depends on the students’ ability to keep up.”
When she put it like that, I couldn’t help but nod in agreement.
“Himura-kun… this isn’t just about studying, but what do you think is the biggest difference between people who succeed and those who don’t?”
It was a tough question, but an answer came to me surprisingly quickly.
“Motivation… maybe. For whatever it is.”
“Hmm, we’re mostly on the same page. I’d say it’s the step before motivation—interest, I guess. Kinda obvious, but even if you’re bad at something, if it catches your attention, it sticks with you. You love what you love, right? That’s how it works.”
Being interested sparks curiosity, a desire to learn more, and drive.
Comprehension and memory tend to follow naturally if you keep at it.
“By the way, changing the subject for a sec…”
“Hm?”
“Oh, but first, I’m gonna order some cake.”
“…Alright, let’s take a break then.”
I ordered another iced tea and put away the textbook and notebook.
“So, about that thing…”
“Yeah?”
“Himura-kun, have we ever met somewhere before this year?”
I vaguely recalled Kiritsuki mentioning something similar before.
Something about knowing someone with a similar face or whatever.
Lately, her staring at my face seemed to stem from that lingering curiosity.
“Nah… I don’t think so, outside of high school.”
I genuinely had no clue.
Nothing came to mind.
Back in elementary or middle school, I was too busy to notice my surroundings, so even if we had met, I wouldn’t have registered it.
The only faint possibility was her mention of being at last year’s summer festival…
But even Kaori slipped under my radar until she confessed, so there’s no way someone I didn’t even know back then would’ve noticed me.
“…I’m gonna touch your hair for a sec.”
Kiritsuki’s hand quietly reached out, brushing my bangs aside, and my partially hidden eyes met her gaze head-on.
“…This is kinda embarrassing, what’s the deal?”
As her beautiful eyes locked onto my face, my cheeks started heating up for no reason, and I gently shook my head to brush her hand away.
“Hey, wait! I was this close to figuring something out!”
After what happened with Hino Hana, I really wished she’d stop doing things that make me hyper-aware like this.
Not that I could say that to Kiritsuki—she wouldn’t even know what I was talking about.
“No need to get shy about it. If you fixed that intense stare of yours, your face is actually pretty cute. Come on, give me a smile—c’mon, a big grin!”
My stare’s that bad? How do I even fix it? And why does Kiritsuki look like she’s having so much fun? My face isn’t that entertaining.
“If we’re friends now, that’s enough, right? Whether we met before or not doesn’t really matter.”
“Can’t help it—I’m curious!”
“Here’s your order~”
“Oh!”
I took the cake we ordered and sipped my iced tea, savoring the aroma of the tea. Meanwhile, Kiritsuki was about to dig into the limited-time cake with enthusiasm…
“Meh.”
Kiritsuki’s brows furrowed slightly.
“…Yeah, it happens sometimes.”
“No, seriously, try it.”
With that, she scooped up a piece of the seasonal blueberry cheesecake with her fork and held it out to me.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about the taste, so I took a bite as she offered.
It seemed like there was some citrus fruit mixed in.
“…The citrus is overpowering the blueberry. A little would’ve been fine, but this is clashing.”
“Right?!”
She looked thrilled to have her opinion validated, but despite her complaints, Kiritsuki kept eating the cake.
She didn’t seem fazed at all, so I tried not to think too much about it… but it looked like she wasn’t the type to care about things like indirect kisses.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t help but notice, and my eyes kept drifting to her lips.
Figuring we wouldn’t get back to studying for a while, I forced my gaze out the window.
“Oh.”
“Hm?”
“Ah, sorry, I just spotted Tomiya.”
At my words, Kiritsuki turned to look outside too.
Seeing Tomiya reminded me vaguely that I’d missed out on hanging with him on a makeup holiday because of my injury.
But Kiritsuki’s attention wasn’t on Tomiya—it was on the younger girl walking beside him.
“Whoa, he’s heading home with Hachijou-san! First time I’ve seen them actually acting like a couple.”
Both of them were in the baseball club, so their late practices meant I rarely saw them together, and even for Kiritsuki, who was also in a sports club, this seemed to be a rare sight.
“She’s seriously cute, isn’t she?”
Kiritsuki’s murmur was met with my silent agreement.
And that’s exactly why I felt bad for Yamabuki.
Lately, every time I spent lunch break with Yamabuki, she’d compare herself to Hachijou-san and get all gloomy, which made me think of Hino Hana.
“I didn’t tell her this, but…”
“Hm?”
“Sakuna’s just been coasting on her childhood friend status, too scared to make a move… I knew back in middle school that Hachijou-san was working hard to get Tomiya-kun’s attention, so this outcome feels kinda inevitable.”
What matters is whether you take action.
Even a small step to draw someone’s attention or feelings toward you can bring you a huge step closer to making love work.
“…Hey, Kiritsuki.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve got something I wanna talk about—”
From there, I laid it all out to Kiritsuki, holding nothing back within what I could share.
I couldn’t mention the dancer stuff, but I explained everything about my relationship with Hino Hana and what happened before and after the sports festival.
“…So that’s what went down.”
After hearing the whole story, Kiritsuki responded with a breezy tone.
“You don’t need to stress about it.”
Fork in her mouth, she continued with a serious expression.
“At the sports festival, when Hino Hana saw you getting along not just with Kaori but with me and Sakuna too, she decided to make her move, right?”
That’s what I thought too, but if so, it’s a massive misunderstanding on Hino Hana’s part.
“She didn’t say ‘go out with me’ or ‘be my boyfriend,’ right? It’s more like she was saying, ‘Start seeing me as a girl from now on,’ yeah?”
“…Probably.”
“She probably knows you’re the type to shy away from this stuff. But the fact that she’s got you all flustered means she’s pretty cunning, huh?”
I couldn’t deny it—she had me hyper-aware, and the fact that she’s kept her distance since then might be part of that strategy.
“Himura-kun?”
“Wha—?!”
Kiritsuki’s face suddenly got way too close, and I jolted back in surprise.
It’s not unusual for her, but why does she always get this close?
“If it’s bothering you that much, why don’t you just go talk to her?”
“No way, I wouldn’t even know what to say.”
“Don’t be so pathetic…”
Pathetic or not, it’s impossible.
“Himura-kun, what do you think of her? Hino Hana, I mean.”
“What do I think?”
“You said you admired her, but that wasn’t in a romantic way, right? Still, the fact that her confession’s got you this shaken means you think she’s kinda nice, don’t you?”
“…Well, I never thought of her romantically before.”
“But now you do, right?”
That’s… I don’t know.
I don’t dislike that Hino Hana has feelings for me, but I can’t wrap my head around why she’d like me at all.
The reason we got involved was because of the kagura dance, but that’s not why she likes me.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have said the practice was just an excuse to be alone together.
“Why would Hino Hana even like someone like me…”
“Hmm, I don’t know why Hino Hana likes you, but…”
Kiritsuki took a sip of my iced tea and let out a small breath.
“You’re usually so cool, but your smile’s super cute. When I open up to you, you start showing your vulnerable side. You complain a lot, so I feel like I’ve gotta help you out. That’s what I like about you.”
“Uh… wait, what?”
I couldn’t help but stare at her, thinking I must’ve misheard.
But she just smiled and kept going.
“I think it’s that fragile vibe you’ve got. It makes me feel like I’ve gotta be there for you.”
I was ready to brush it off as a casual comment, but one line in there felt like something I couldn’t just let slide.
Should I ask her to repeat it or let it go? As I hesitated, Kiritsuki let out a small chuckle, like she couldn’t hold it in.
“Pfft, you don’t have to make that face. One person liking you or two doesn’t change anything.”
So it wasn’t a misunderstanding after all.
“Oh, right.”
Now what? My head’s already spinning from all this.
“You said earlier, ‘If we’re friends now, that’s enough,’ right? That it doesn’t matter if we met before.”
“…Yeah.”
“Well, I do care. Because I’m not satisfied with just being ‘friends.’”
With a mischievous grin, Kiritsuki downed the rest of my iced tea.
Letting out a small phew, she leaned in to peer at my face again.
“Alright, break’s over. Let’s get back to studying for the test until, like, seven.”
That was fine by me, but I doubted I’d be able to focus on studying now.
And so, we studied until it was time to leave, but it wasn’t until we were walking out of the café that it finally hit me.
That indirect kiss… was it on purpose?
☆Afterword──────────────────
Don’t run, Aoi! Stop escaping from the rom-com!!
That’s the vibe! ☆3000 achieved. Thanks so much.
Unlike Hino Hana from another school, when the girl sitting right next to you says something like that, there’s no running away, right?
Noticing she got beaten to the punch and acting immediately—Kiritsuki’s got the nerve to criticize Yamabuki for a reason.
