Hey, Best Friend. How About A Kiss Today Too? - Chapter 12: "Is it just the two of us now?"

“Is it just the two of us now?”

As expected, or rather, as anticipated, she really went all out. Should I praise her for that effort? No… I should have forcibly made her take off those clothes. I’m regretting it now.

“Sensei! Yukumo-san collapsed!”

During the fourth-period physical education class, Sagiri collapsed due to heatstroke. She persisted in wearing winter clothes throughout the scorching summer, and even during PE, while other classmates wore polo shirts and shorts, she was the only one in a full tracksuit with the zipper firmly pulled up to the top.

“You really…”

“But…”

And now, she was being taken care of in the air-conditioned infirmary. She took off the tracksuit, now wearing a polo shirt with the buttons open. It seemed she didn’t bring shorts, so she rolled up the hem of the tracksuit to her knees and took off her socks.

“Can you eat lunch?”

“Yeah…”

Feeling guilty for my childhood friend who dropped her shoulders, I forcibly changed the topic. It’s now the fifth period after lunch break. As she completely collapsed during lunch break, I was sent or rather forced to come here as a class representative.

In reality, this should have been the job of the health committee member, but Yuzuru, who is supposed to be the health committee member, was absent due to a summer cold, and the other health committee member, the big guy Hasegawa, insisted that I should go. As a result, I ended up coming.

I’m grateful because I was genuinely worried about Sagiri. I’ll ask Hasegawa to show me the notes later. That guy’s handwriting is messy…

“Hey, Renji, aren’t you eating either?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I’ve been here during lunch break. Well, Sagiri, you were sleeping soundly, though. Don’t worry about it. Thanks to you, I could skip class and have lunch.”

“Sleeping soundly… I wasn’t snoring, was I!?”

“You… don’t know? When you nap, well… sorry, forget I said that.”

“What, a lie…? You’re lying, right, Renji!? Do I snore!?”

“Sorry, it’s a lie.”

“Ugaaah!!”

Alright, success. My childhood friend is kind, so if she thought I didn’t have lunch because of her, she would have felt bad. I got to see her nostalgic reaction, and it’s all going well.

“Sorry about that. But don’t scream. Despite recovering, you still collapsed, and more importantly, this is the infirmary.”

“It’s your fault… Or rather, no one else is here now…”

“Even so. Forget about the delinquent teacher who entrusted the care of the students and went to smoke.”

“Uwaa…”

I remembered the smile of the negligent female teacher who said something incomprehensible like, “It’s fine if it’s an e-cigarette,” and left. I immediately hired a mental janitor to clean up the mess in my mind.

“Is it just the two of us now?”

“Just eat.”

“Yessir!?”

Feeling like she might say something strange while glancing at me, I swung a chop down on her head in a counter-like manner. I secretly got nervous seeing her teary eyes and the way she clasped her head with both hands.

“Renji , you are quite formidable today…”

“You’re just weakened.”

Or rather, what are you fighting against? Am I the one you’re fighting?

“…It feels nostalgic, doesn’t it? Like this.”

“…Recently, I’ve been tossed around by you all the time.”

“Not that. I meant, me collapsing, and Renji taking care of me.”

“…Ah.”

Now that she mentioned it, it was true. Because recent memories were too vivid, the past became somewhat vague. But in the past, we used to sit like this, with Sagiri on the bed and me on a chair, talking.

To make sure my childhood friend, who couldn’t come to school often, wouldn’t feel lonely, I recounted the day’s events every single day. She used to laugh whenever I exaggerated in my stories, and that made me happy.

…Those days were fun.

“Now you’ve become strangely energetic, and because of that, you’re pushing yourself too hard and collapsing.”

“W-well, that’s… partly your fault too, Renji.”

When I teased her like in the old days, an unexpected counter came flying at me. No good. Whether it’s Saturday or today, when I see the bashful Sagiri, I can’t help but be conscious of the Sagiri from the past.

“S-sorry about that…”

Even though I told her to forget it, my childhood friend brought back those memories. Feeling embarrassed, I decided to divert the conversation by eating the bento box in front of me.

“If you’re apologizing so sincerely, then I… huh?”

That became the trigger.

“Renji, there’s rice on your face.”

“Hm? Where—”

In the next moment, my tie was pulled with a strong force.

“Mmm…”

“Nngh!?”

Then, right in front of me, there was Sagiri’s face with closed eyes, and she kissed me again.

“H-Hey… that’s dangerous!”

In a sudden turn of events, my thoughts panicked, and I ended up expressing my anger inappropriately.

“…Hohhaha (I got you).”

Sticking her tongue out playfully, she showed me the rice grain that she picked up on her tongue. Faced with this situation, I could do nothing but remain silent.

“You’re so vulnerable, you know?”

With an intentionally exaggerated motion, she lifted her face, making the movement of her throat clearly visible.

“Thanks for the meal, best friend.”

In her triumphantly smiling face, I couldn’t find the strength to argue.