Hey, Best Friend. How About A Kiss Today Too? - Chapter 5: “You've Seen Me Naked Too.”

“You’ve Seen Me Naked Too.”

I don’t understand my childhood friend. I don’t understand what best friends are. I don’t understand Sagiri’s thoughts.

It’s a problem that bothers me day and night, but in student life, such situations come in various forms.

“Hey, Renji. Let me carry some more, okay?”

“I’m fine. I’ll just take the feelings.”

“Mmm.”

During lunch break, Sagiri and I, as class committee members, were carrying printouts for the next class from the staff room to the classroom.

The world history teacher was a person with quirks, distributing multiple sheets of his own summary to each student in addition to the textbook every time. It was an impressive enthusiasm, totaling over a hundred sheets by a simple calculation. By the way, “summary” seems to mean presentation materials or something like that.

I thought normal materials would be fine, but given the intense infiltration of foreign words in today’s globalized world, there’s probably no helping it.

That being said, after receiving my refusal, Sagiri, who was carrying about twenty percent of the bundle, seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

“Even though you don’t know my feelings…”

“Did you say something?”

“Noo~? Isn’t it just your imagination, Renji?”

“Hey, stop, don’t kick, it’s dangerous!”

Persistently targeting my right calf with her toes, Sagiri, carrying about twenty percent of the bundle, was acting out her dissatisfaction more through actions than words, as she always did when she was unhappy with me.

…Normally, she calls me by my first name Renji, which is normal.

“Hasegawa-kun said that a beautiful girl’s kick is a reward!”

“Don’t you think that if you’re a beautiful girl, anything is allowed?”

That’s probably just a minority opinion. I won’t deny it, but I’m starting to worry about Sagiri’s future, speaking confidently about it like common sense. I wonder if her selfishness will accelerate; she’s not the type to cause trouble for others, but still.

For now, I’ll deal with Hasegawa later.

“Come on, stop kicking on the stairs. It’s really dangerous.”

“Okaay.”

At least she listens well in situations like this.

Going up the stairs, I let Sagiri go ahead and followed behind her. Both hands were occupied, making her vulnerable in various ways. In various ways…

“Seriously, these kinds of places…”

“Did you say something?”

“Renji, you seem like you’ll peek at me from below.”

“Wh-who’s going to peek!”

“You’ve seen me naked too, haven’t you?”

“Stop making statements that create misunderstandings! It’s a story from when we were kids!”

What is she saying at school?!

Worriedly glancing back up the stairs, I followed Sagiri, who had taken the lead. She was about twenty percent shorter than me, but when she’s persistent, it’s hard to resist.

“Hehh~, always thinking about perverted stuff again?”

“I-I’m not thinking about it!”

“Eh? Renji, haven’t you noticed that when you think about weird things, you blink more?”

“I-is that so!?”

“Hehe, just kidding!”

“You, I swear!”

I was being teased by my childhood friend, who caught me off guard.

But this time was pleasant.

I might be saying it in a strange way, but I can’t find a more appropriate word, so I’ll compromise. It’s not in a weird sense, definitely not.

“But you easily show it on your face, right? Shy Renji is really cute.”

“Ugh…! W-well, look ahead while walking, it’s dangerous!”

“Okay, we’ve finished cli—”

In an instant, Sagiri’s body slipped.

“Sagiri!!”

—Bararatt!

The documents I hastily tossed scattered and fell down the stairs with a sound.

“Geez, I just said, and you…”

“Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah…”

I hugged Sagiri’s shoulders from behind, supporting her as she seemed about to fall. Even though her body has grown, she’s still the same in situations like this.

“Renji, the printouts…”

“Hm? Oh, they should be fine if we pick them up. More importantly, I’m glad you’re not hurt, Sagiri.”

“…Again, doing that.”

Unofficially called summaries by no one but me, they were documents and materials.

On the other hand, Sagiri, still embraced by me, was looking down. She’s kind, so she’s probably feeling guilty, thinking it’s her fault the documents got scattered.

This is a chance for a clever joke… Ah.

“But, we need to pick them up…”

I thought it was a chance.

“It’s not something you need to worry about. Because we are—”

Today, yesterday, and the day before yesterday, this is the strongest move you can take to fight back against your childhood friend who is being taken advantage of.

“—Best friends, right?”

Smiling like that, I patted Sagiri’s head while her hands were still occupied.

Smooth and silky, her long hair felt good to the touch. It must be troublesome to dry.

“…”

Anyway, it worked!

I was able to counter-attack my childhood friend, who had been playing with me for the past few days.

Come on, Sagiri, don’t make a sound—.

“…Uaau.”

—What’s with that cute voice?

“…W-well, I’ll go ahead!”

With a swift motion, Sagiri distanced herself and started speaking in a weird way.

“Th-thanks! And thanks again! Uh, thank you!”

“Why did you say it three times!? Hey…”

Embracing the documents against her chest, Sagiri expressed her thanks with slightly changed intonation and then ran off.

“…It’s different from what I expected.”

I didn’t expect such a cute reaction. I didn’t think I’d find Sagiri cute like this… right now?

“…I-I guess I should pick them up.”

I picked up the scattered summaries to divert my thoughts and returned to the classroom, finding that lunch break had ended.

If we were to talk about what happened afterward.

“Hey Akahori, did something happen with Yakumo-chan during lunch break?”

“…N-no.”

Until after school, Sagiri didn’t show her face again.