Hey, Best Friend. How About A Kiss Today Too? - Chapter 24: "Wh-what... just now?"

“Wh-what… just now?”

Even at night, while sleeping, and in the morning, my childhood friend’s face and voice lingered in my mind. It was just a kiss. A kiss, just like always. But that kiss was so pleasant… just recalling that moment was enough to fill my mind with desire.

It was unbelievably pleasurable. Of course, I’m talking about the kiss.

“Lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone, lust be gone…”

“No, it’s scary, idiot.”

“…Hasegawa, huh?”

“Who else, Bakahori.”

“It’s Akahori! Don’t mix it up!”

“That’s a normal reaction, isn’t it, you…”

When I lifted my face from the desk, there was the big guy Hasegawa reigning over me.

I checked the clock. It was 8:20. There was still time until homeroom.

I looked to my side. An empty seat. It seemed like Sagiri hadn’t arrived yet.

“What’s up, Akahori? Are you still worried about Yakumo-chan?”

“What!? Wh-wh-wh-what are you saying!?”

“You’re totally worried, huh?”

“I-I’m not worried!!”

“Why don’t you try looking in the mirror once?”

“…Is it okay with my smartphone instead?”

“Don’t really check! Don’t try to have fun. Why are you occasionally so calm?”

I’m always calm, right?

I was just a little distracted thinking about the kiss with my best friend, so most of my thought resources were allocated to that.

Kissing is mysterious. Even though it’s lips meeting lips, in that moment, depending on the mood, the feelings you experience change. This might already be a form of communication, a non-verbal body language. So, maybe people in other countries kiss as a form of greeting.

In other words, there’s a possibility that Sagiri kissing me is also a part of a greeting.

Yes, even if it’s just a greeting, there are plenty of reasons to do it every day, and after saying it’s a reward… then blushing and becoming shy afterward…

“Until when are you going to look at your own face with your smartphone?”

“Is my face really like that…?”

“Don’t you usually look at it in the mirror?”

Hasegawa, that’s not the issue.

Kissing means your face is being looked at closely. Sagiri always closes his eyes, but being the one receiving, I can’t help but look at his face. Closed eyes, long eyelashes, well-shaped thin eyebrows, a straight and tall nose, a beautiful girl.

To not feel embarrassed whenever Sagiri looks at me, I need to train my facial muscles.

Whenever he looks at me…?

“Haahhh…”

“Your emotional state is pretty unstable today.”

“Even recently, you’ve been like this, Hasegawa.”

“Why are you only normal when you counter me?”

This is bad. This is really bad. I’ve been vaguely aware of what I’m anticipating since the other day. But more than that, I wanted to see Sagiri’s face sooner.

This is an addiction. Due to a childhood friend addiction facilitated by kissing, I find myself thinking about Sagiri all the time. If I meet her in this state, I don’t know what I might end up doing. If I make a mistake like yesterday, it’ll turn into a really difficult situation.

Something, something to distract my mind…

“Ha, Hasegawa, you…”

“What’s it now?”

“You seem surprisingly calm…”

“I’m starting to feel like I should take you to the hospital even if I have to punch you.”

Consider the difference in physique. It was a tense moment when the well-built big guy clenched his fist right in front of me.

The classroom door creaked open.

“Go, good morning, everyone.”

Just hearing that voice made my heart skip a beat. Her dignified voice seemed to be stifled as if something was blocking it… huh?

“Eh, Sagiri caught a cold!?”

The one who noticed the change in the number one beauty of our grade and raised her voice was none other than our dear Self-Expression Research Club president, Yuzuru. Sagiri, wearing a white mask either due to a cold or for preventive measures, was immediately apparent even from a distance.

“Wha-wha-wha… I, I gave Sagiri my cold!?”

“No, it’s okay. I’m fine. Breathe, everyone, breathe.”

Yuzuru, leading the concerned girls in the class, including Sagiri, dealt with them cheerfully. It was very much like Sagiri to handle this with lively banter without causing discomfort to others.

Leaving that aside, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“…Ah.”

As she tried to sit next to me, our eyes naturally met. Even though half of her face was covered by the mask, hier eye movements were clearly visible. Her eyes widened the moment they met mine—perfect timing.

“R-Renji… G-Good morning…”

“Y-Yeah… Sa-Sagiri… Are you… okay?”

The conversation was ridiculously awkward, as I was overly conscious.

“Sagiri-chan, caught a cold?”

Interjecting into the conversation was the man called Hasegawa.

“N-No, I’m fine. Just a bit…”

A bit, as she glanced at me. …I’ve experienced this before. Last week, because of an unavoidable circumstance, I accidentally saw Sagiri’s chest, causing her to wear winter clothes in the summer. And this week, a mask. Yesterday, after a different kind of kiss, her behavior became strange. There’s no other explanation.

“Is that so? Well, if anything happens, let Akahori know right away.”

Bringing me into this, again, was the man named Hasegawa.

“Well, Akahori seems weird too. Sagiri-chan, did something happen with Akahori and you yesterday?”

“H-Hasegawa!?”

Meddling to the point of saying unnecessary things—that’s the man called Hasegawa.

But Sagiri would probably just casually dodge such questions. With an elusive personality like his, he’s beyond the top in the school.

“I-I don’t knoow?”

…Sa, Sagiri?

That wasn’t the same soft voice as before, but rather a voice that flipped due to extreme agitation.