The Story of Waking up With My Beautiful Childhood Friend and Realizing We Had Spent the Night Together - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: What did you say?

“—I like you.”

“…Huh?”

It was just an ordinary evening.

I came home from school, changed, and read some manga, just relaxing.

Soon, my childhood friend, who lives next door, came over to make dinner, and we ate together.

A routine that had been repeating for years.

It was so uneventful, I sometimes wondered if this was really what my youth should be like.

But then…

“…What did you say?”

I couldn’t believe the words I just heard and asked her again.

Sitting across the table from me, my childhood friend had the same unreadable poker face as always.

“I told you, I like you.”

She neatly arranged her chopsticks and looked straight at me.

Long eyelashes, big eyes.

Shiny black long hair and an unbelievably small face.

…She was, as always, a wastefully beautiful girl.

And she was fully aware of it, often flaunting it, which was annoying.

…No, forget that.

“…Hmm.”

I crossed my arms. I needed to calm down a little.

She said she liked me. But what does “like” mean? Does she mean like, or love? Or maybe “gap” (a small emotional distance) could be it.

No, maybe “like” here is some sort of code word.

Maybe she wanted something from me but couldn’t say it directly, so she used a roundabout way of saying it.

She had always been a girl whose thoughts I couldn’t understand, but still, we’ve been childhood friends for over ten years.

If I wracked my brain hard enough, I should be able to figure it out.

Look into her eyes. Focus on her breathing. Observe everything, from her eye movements to the shift of her body’s center of gravity.

Think. What is she asking from me…!?

My thoughts were accelerating. An unprecedented focus. I was definitely in the “zone” now.

And finally, the answer I came to was—

“—I don’t get it.”

That’s all I could say. I mean, seriously, what’s with this “like” thing?

She’d never acted like this before. It’s completely out of nowhere, and now she says this?

Please explain. I stared at my childhood friend’s face, and she sighed deeply.

“I love you. In English, it’s ‘I love you.’ Okay?”

“…O-okay…”

I hadn’t misheard it… but I kind of wished I had.

What’s with this sudden development? I didn’t see this coming. Just a moment ago, everything was normal.

Dinner with my childhood friend. Her usual delicious homemade meal.

We’d been doing this since middle school.

So why all of a sudden?

“…Uh… What’s going on? Did something happen?”

I decided to ask her the situation. I’d figure it out if we talked. After all, we are the top of the primates. We have language, after all.

She nodded a little.

“Today, you got confessed to, right? By one of the girls in your class.”

“…Huh?”

Confession.

That made me remember.

Yes, it’s true that she confessed her feelings to me at school today.

She was pretty close to me in class. She was fairly cute, and more importantly…

“She had big boobs.”

Yes, really soft and firm… wait, no!

“Wait, how do you know?”

“Why? Well, I guess most of our class knows by now.”

“…No way.”

The terrifying network of high school gossip.

Thanks to the internet and social media, a person’s privacy spreads faster than lightning.

Once something’s out there, there’s no taking it back. A second in the dark. This is the scary part of the information age.

“I also know you turned her down.”

“Ah, yes.”

Yeah, I definitely turned her down. With a heavy heart.

It took a lot of mental strength for a high school boy to reject a confession from such a cute, well-endowed girl.

If I could turn back time, I’d do it differently. I can’t believe I rejected her…

“So, I thought it was getting serious.”

“…I see… are you serious?”

Seriously?

I tilted my head, and she sighed again.

“You’re going to get taken, you know? You need to hurry.”

“Ah…”

I see. She must’ve gotten anxious after hearing about the confession I’d gotten, especially since I had never had any interest in girls before.

But seriously, how many guys have confessed to you? You’ve probably had confessions from like 80% of the guys in the whole year. Are you some kind of idol?

“Well, I get it.”

“Yeah.”

“So… what now?”

…What should I do in this situation?

We’re childhood friends, almost like siblings… or maybe like an older sister and younger brother?

But now, all of a sudden, this?

Shouldn’t there be some kind of order to things?

“Your response.”

“…Huh?”

“I confessed, so now you have to answer.”

“Ah…”

Yeah, that makes sense. If someone confesses to you, you should answer. It’s a duty.

There’s no way around it. I straightened up in my seat.

“…Uh… I like you too. Please take care of me.”

“Mm.”

She nodded. …Eh? Is that it?

I was dumbfounded. No way.

Is this what it’s like when you start dating? Isn’t there supposed to be more to it? Like some kind of passionate declaration, like “I love you, Romeo!” “I love you too, Juliet!” Or something with more intensity, energy, or momentum.

Isn’t that important? Is this how it just casually starts?

“…So, are we dating now?”

“Yeah.”

“…So, are we boyfriend and girlfriend now?”

“Yeah.”

Yeah… Okay, I don’t really get it, but she’s my girlfriend now.

I looked at the face I’d seen more times than my own family’s.

Probably seen it more times than I’ve eaten rice… okay, I exaggerated a little.

But no matter how many times I look at it, I never get tired of her beauty.

Her big, jewel-like eyes. Her smooth nose. Her small, shiny lips.

…I still can’t get used to it. Why is she so unnecessarily beautiful? Damn it.

She should become an actress or something. But I’ll never allow her to do any love scenes.

“Well, I guess… take care of me from now on.”

“Yeah.”

She nodded, then, for some reason, stood up from her seat.

…Huh? Is this it?

I mean, I’m fine with it. But now that we’re dating, shouldn’t there be a bit more…?

As I was thinking that, she suddenly walked around the table and stood right in front of me.

She was looking down at me, the most stunning beauty, and I, with a silly expression, was still sitting there.

Her hand reached out, and I thought she was about to slap me, but it wasn’t that.

She gently caressed my cheek and lifted my chin with her fingers.

…The famous chin lift.

And then—

“…Mmm.”

“…!?”

Her soft lips pressed against mine.

Then, I heard a couple of soft sounds, like smooches.

…Huh? What is this?

I didn’t understand. Her lips were so soft.

I felt my intelligence dropping. I couldn’t think anymore.

She kissed me for about ten seconds, and then…

(…!?)

I finally snapped back to reality. Wait, that was a kiss.

I tried to pull away in a panic, but—

“Mmm…”

She grabbed my cheeks, holding me in place. I couldn’t pull away.

And she—

“Mmm…”

“Mmm…!?”

She pushed her tongue in. Unbelievable. She started licking inside my mouth.

The sensation was new. It was wet, and it tasted sweet.

This was my first kiss. I think it was hers too.

But this was way too much. This can’t be right…!

“…Mmm—!…Mmm!” (Translation: Hey, let go for a second!)

“…Mmm.” (Translation: No.)

No, don’t say “no.” You just made my mouth all wet. Damn it, this feels good.

She kept kissing me for what felt like thirty minutes, and then—

“…Phew.”

She finally pulled back from me.

“…Huff… huff…”

I couldn’t even breathe properly, and I was out of breath.

She looked at me, out of breath too.

“…I’m going to do this every day from now on.”

“…Every day?”

I vowed to master nose breathing by the next time.

But for now, it seemed like she was satisfied.

I was relieved, but just for a moment.

“…Ah…”

She let out a small, almost involuntary sound.

I looked at her, and for some reason, her face was red as she stared at a particular spot.

Huh? What’s going on? I followed her gaze and…

“…Ah.”

There it was, a mound.

Then, I realized my mistake.

—Crap. I’m wearing sweatpants.

If I had been wearing jeans, I could’ve hidden it. But sweatpants? Not a chance!

The mound was very noticeable, and she was staring at it, expressionless.

…Please don’t stare at it. It’s your fault too.

“…”

“…”

We both looked down, embarrassed, and the mound still wasn’t going away.

“…Did it excite you?”

“…Well.”

Well, yeah. Of course it did. Getting kissed like that, especially by my childhood friend who is so unbelievably beautiful.

“Is that so… then I guess it can’t be helped.”

“Yeah, well…”

I don’t know what “it can’t be helped” means, or what “yeah” means in this context.

But I just want to be alone right now.

I got up from my seat, trying to go back to my room.

“…?”

“Eh…?”

She suddenly grabbed my hand.

The same hand we’d held countless times when we were little.

But it stopped around the time we entered middle school.

It was smooth and a little cold.

When was the last time I held her hand?

“…Let’s go.”

“Eh…”

Where? Before I could even ask, she started pulling me.

We went to my room, and she led me to the bed.

And then…

…Chirp, chirp.

“….”

When I woke up, it was already morning.