Hey, Best Friend. How About A Kiss Today Too? - Chapter 73: "Kiss... please?"

“Kiss… please?”

We walked hand in hand through the quiet residential streets, just Sagiri and me.

I remember when we were younger, the streets used to be livelier with more kids playing outside, but now it’s just the two of us walking along it.

It felt a little lonely, but at the same time, I felt happy to have this moment all to us in our own little world. And that happiness came from hearing it directly from Sagiri.

Well, I was hiding, but even so, it was true that I was falling for her more and more, especially after what I witnessed earlier

We turned right at the usual crossroads together, and after a short walk, we reached my house. Since there were no bikes outside, it seemed like Mom was out, so I unlocked the door and let us in.

We let go of each other’s hands when we took off our shoes, and I led the way to my room. As I opened the door, the familiar sight of my room greeted us with a rush of warm air.

“Wow, it’s hot.”

“Yeah.”

Sagiri, who followed behind me, had the same reaction.

This morning, Sagiri’s mind was preoccupied with being confessed to, so she forgot to open the windows before leaving my room.

I quickly opened the windows, letting in some cooler air from outside. And then, as a bit of a luxury, I turned on the air conditioning. It would take a while for the room to cool down, so I opened the window to kill some time before it was adequate enough for the room to be cooled by the air conditioner.

“Sagiri.”

“Thanks.”

I tossed one of the towels I had been folding from the open drawer to Sagiri. We were both sweaty from the summer heat, and being in a room only made it worse.

With the sound of the wind coming through the window and the hum of the air conditioner as background music, Sagiri and I silently wiped away the sweat from our arms and necks.

“Come on, sit down.”

“But that’s my bed.”

“It’s okay, come on, come on.”

“Wait a second, I’ll close the window for now.”

The newly replaced air conditioner quickly cooled down the room, and the open window served its purpose of providing a light breeze before I closed it.

I didn’t care anymore about what my childhood friend, who was urging me to sit on my own bed as if it were hers, was thinking. So, after closing the window, I sat down on the bed without any further questions.

“Now, me too.”

With that, Sagiri also sat down next to me. The distance between us was minimal, and our arms were close enough to touch, just like on the park bench.

“Finally, a break.”

“You took a break at the park earlier, didn’t you?”

“That’s different.”

Well, it sure seemed different.

Certainly, the atmosphere at the park was different, so I didn’t feel like I was really resting.

“After all, I can’t relax unless I’m in my own room.”

“But this is my room.”

“But Renji and I are best friends.”

“Isn’t that a bit too much of a best friend privilege?”

“Hehehe…”

Sitting on the bed with my legs lightly stretched out in front of me, Sagiri looked at me and laughed joyfully. Her smile was so radiant that it rivaled the sun shining outside.

“Renji?”

“Yeah, sorry. Just feeling a bit tired all of a sudden.”

Maybe it was because it was my own room, but I felt myself relax, and I lay back on the bed.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just feeling a bit drained after a long semester.”

It really had been a long semester, or rather, a long month, no, even just half a month.

After Sagiri kissed me, it had been a whirlwind of a dozen days or so. Undoubtedly, it had been some of the most intense days of my life.

“Well then, me too.”

And it seemed like those intense days were far from over.

Sagiri also slowly lay down beside me, next to me.

Both of us were still in our school uniforms, and since our houses were close by, we could have gone home to change. But instead, we were here, in my bed, lying side by side, as if we were an extension of school.

My classmate, the school’s most beautiful girl, my best friend who had just rejected a confession moments ago, my childhood friend who liked me, was lying next to me.

That was something incredibly, incredibly precious.

“The semester’s over, huh?”

“Yeah, it is.”

Sagiri murmured the same words I had just said moments ago.

“Starting today, it’s summer vacation.”

“You already said that at the park.”

Pale-colored eyes gazed at me from the side.

“I’m happy, you know, about summer vacation.”

“I’m ridiculously happy too.”

Not just her face, but her whole body turned towards me.

“Next week, we have radio calisthenics.”

“And it’s early in the morning.”

I rolled over as well, facing Sagiri.

“We’ll meet everyone at the club and pick up trash by the river.”

“Hasegawa seemed really enthusiastic about it.”

Before I knew it, our legs were tangled together.

“And then, this year too, we’ll go to the summer festival.”

“But only as stafff.”

Our faces were getting closer and closer.

“And then, the vacation will continue.”

“It’s good to have lots of plans.”

Our breaths were mixing as we got closer.

“We’ll be together all through summer vacation…”

“Well, yeah, that’s right…”

For a moment, we gazed into each other’s eyes.

“Together, forever…”

“Together, yeah…”

Her moist eyes slowly closed.

“Kiss… please?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Sagiri surrendered herself to me.

“Mmm…”

“Nnh…”

Our lips met.

It was a kiss with my best friend after being a day apart.

Though it was just our lips touching, for me, who had learned of my friend’s feelings, it was sweeter than usual, more pleasurable than usual, and the happiest I had ever been since we first kissed each other.

“Hey, best friend…”

But today, it didn’t end there.

“What’s wrong?”

After Sagiri briefly released my lips, she suddenly called me “best friend.”

“Um… do it.”

Her subsequent words inexplicably became softer.

“Huh?”

As I asked again, her face flushed red, and she tightly grasped my shirt collar and tie.

“Ca-can you… stick your tongue out…?”

In a trembling, sweet voice, she whispered that.