The Story of A Beautiful Girl I Rescued From An Attacker Who Became My Seatmate. - Chapter 21

“I’m scared, you know. I want you to stay with me today.”

As I looked at Kirishima, who pleaded with me using upturned eyes, my mind was divided. There were two conflicting thoughts in my head: one was the idea of sleeping together to reassure Kirishima, who had been attacked, and the other was the ethical dilemma of whether it was appropriate for a boy and girl of our age to sleep together.

“Hey… Is it really not okay?”

“Umm… it’s fine.”

When she looked at me with those eyes, no guy could refuse. I almost reflexively agreed, but I wondered what would happen tonight.

With that in mind, I tried to study geography. Of course, I couldn’t concentrate at all.

“…Shall we sleep?”

“Yeah.”

We had been studying in the living room, but there was no reason to stay up late at night, so we decided to sleep earlier than usual.

Normally, Kirishima would have gone to sleep first, but today she stayed awake with me. The reason was because she said, “I’m scared of being alone… Can you stay with me?”

So, for Kirishima’s sake, I made the decision to go to bed early. After all, we had school tomorrow.

“Okay, I’ll go get the futon.”

“Huh?”

I immediately tried to get the mattress and comforter to lay on the floor in my room, but Kirishima looked puzzled. Why?

“Um, what’s wrong?”

“Well, I want to sleep in the same bed.”

It seemed that Kirishima desired to sleep side by side. The moment I heard that, my mind was filled with question marks.

“Please. I’m scared when I’m alone.”

“Fine. But please don’t cling onto me since I agreed.”

Kirishima wouldn’t let me go and hugged my body. It would be great if various things weren’t pressing against me.

“Well, I don’t mind sleeping together, but what about you, Kirishima? Do you have any resistance?”

“No.”

She answered immediately. I wonder if she’s okay, given this lack of crisis awareness.

“Oh, alright. Shall we go to the room then?”

“Yeah!”

Kirishima answered with a beaming smile. Now I’m starting to worry if I’ll be able to sleep peacefully tonight.

In the end, we ended up sleeping in the same bed. My bed was attached to the wall, but I slept on the side attached to the wall, while Kirishima took the side next to the door.

“I’ll turn off the lights.”

Lying down in the darkness, I operated the remote control placed by the pillow and turned off the lights. By the way, there was a wonderful fragrance, which made me feel uneasy for some reason. But I couldn’t let that bother me. Kirishima trusted me like this.

“Thank you for today, Kouji.”

“Huh? W-what’s wrong?”

Out of the blue, Kirishima hugged my back as I lay down. Not only that, she called me by my first name. My heart instantly started beating faster. Just having a beautiful girl hugging me is enough to make me quite nervous, but calling me by my name puts a strain on my heart. It’s definitely a happy thing, but…

“At first, I intended to keep the situation at my house a secret deep in my heart. You know, I always acted cheerful in the classroom, right?”

“Yeah, you did…”

“That’s why I couldn’t tell everyone about this. But I never thought things would become so serious.”

Well… yeah. Nobody would expect to be stabbed from behind or suddenly attacked on the way home.

“That’s why I’m grateful to you, Kouji. You’re my hero, you know? You protect me, shelter me. You’re the only person who gives me a sense of belonging.”

Kirishima speaks intermittently.

“So please, don’t abandon me. Right now, you’re my only place to belong. I don’t know what would happen to me if you were to leave me.”

Saying that, Kirishima tightened her embrace even more. I suddenly felt an urge to stroke her head.

Perhaps it was because Kirishima’s words slightly overlapped with the image of my younger sister from the past. My sister also went through a period of mental instability, and I remember comforting her by sleeping beside her during that time. However, sleeping with my sister and sleeping with Kirishima are psychologically quite different.

“Don’t worry. I won’t abandon you, Kirishima.”

While stroking Kirishima’s head, I answered with a half-asleep mind.

“Thank you, Kouji. I’ll definitely repay this debt.”

“Yeah, please do.”

My consciousness sank into deep darkness at that moment.

“I love you, Koji.”

Whispering those words, Kirishima also drifted into sleep. Of course, within his chest.