"You can't kiss me can you?" When I accepted my childhood friends challenge, she unexpectedly softened and is acting like a love-struck girl [Dropped]

“Hold it in your mouth.”

Ibuki said those words as he put a Pocky stick into Airi’s mouth.

At first, Airi shook her head reluctantly and tried to refuse, looking reluctant…

“…Even if I regret it, I don’t know anymore.”

Eventually, it seemed like she gave in and bit into the Pocky stick.

Then, she stared right at him… with a look that said she was fully prepared.

“I’ll be the winner this time.”

Ibuki responded, aligning his gaze with Airi’s…

And he bit onto the Pocky stick.

And then, almost simultaneously, they both started eating vigorously.

In the blink of an eye, the distance between their lips started to close.

And…

“…..”

They stopped just a hair’s breadth away from each other.

Their lips were less than a centimeter apart.

Their forehead clashed and they stared heatedly at each other.

‘…I’ll be the winner!’

‘As long as Ibuki-kun doesn’t back down, I won’t back down either!’

But none of them made any move.

At this rate, it would never end and they would not get a clear winner.

The result would be a draw unanimously.

‘…I have no choice but to do this.’

‘If it’s come to this…’

They steeled themselves… and then…

—Click

“Airi, Ibuki-kun. Are you both still studying…”

A male voice was heard from behind the door and much to their fear it opened…

Both of them released the pocky from their mouth almost simultaneously and turned towards the door.

Airi’s father was standing there with a confused look on his face as they stared at him without blinking.

“Um… well…”

Airi’s father awkwardly scratched his cheek.

Then, he cleared his throat lightly.

“It’s good that you both are getting along well. Also, do your best with your studies too.”

Saying that, he left instantly.

Meanwhile, Ibuki and Airi exchanged embarrassed glances…

“Shall we continue studying?”

“…Yes.”

And so they resumed studying… After a few hours it was already evening.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

“How is it? Ibuki-kun. Is it delicious?”

“Yes, it’s delicious.”

In response to Airi’s mother’s question, Ibuki smiled and answered.

He was being treated to a feast at the Kamishiro residence.

The plate was piled high with fried chicken.

Fried chicken was Ibuki’s favorite!

…Strictly speaking, he used to love it when he was little, but not to the extent of saying he loved it now.

However, to Airi’s mother, it seemed like fried chicken was synonymous with “Ibuki-kun’s favorite dish.”

Usually when Ibuki was treated to dinner at the Kamishiro residence, it was mostly fried chicken.

“By the way… how about it? Airi-chan’s fried chicken and my fried chicken. Which do you like better?”

“Uh, well…”

Ibuki inadvertently turned his gaze towards Airi, who was picking up her chopsticks next to him.

Airi let out a deep sigh.

“Mom… please don’t ask silly questions to Ibuki-kun.”

“Oh, sorry about that. It was a foolish question, wasn’t it? Hehehe…”

Airi’s mother laughed joyfully.

Meanwhile… Airi tended to respond coldly when it came to this kind of topic.

Of course, it didn’t seem like it bothered her too much.

“Did your studying make progress? Both of you.”

Airi’s father asked them.

For a moment, the events from earlier in the day flashed through their minds.

“Uh, well… we made some progress, I think. Isn’t that right, Airi?”

“Yeah… I think I was able to concentrate reasonably well.”

They nodded with vague smiles.

Airi’s father nodded approvingly.

“I see, I see. That’s good… By the way, Ibuki-kun.”

“Yes?”

“About your recent grades… well, your passing grade and all… if it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me? I didn’t ask through Airi, but… well, if it’s alright…”

He asked with a slightly hesitant tone.

‘Hadn’t he heard through Airi?’ Ibuki wondered inwardly, but he still answered.

“Nothing much has changed…”

“I see, I see. So… an A grade as usual. Mmm… I’m glad to see you are still among the toppers.”

With a contented expression, Airi’s father nodded.

And then…

“Keep up the good work. Take care of Airi in the future as well, please.”

With a slight sense of pressure, he said that.

Ibuki could only nod in response.

Soon the dinner ended without much problems.

Politely declining Airi’s mother’s offer to spend the night, Ibuki decided to head home.

“Sorry about my parents, are they being too nosy…?”

Airi, who had come to see him off at the front door, said that.

Uncharacteristically, she had a somewhat apologetic expression.

“Well, it’s okay. It didn’t really bother me.”

Ibuki replied with a wry smile.

Ibuki’s parents were somewhat similar in that regard.

“Seriously… Do they want you to take after me that much? I think it’s strange to put weird pressure on someone else’s kid… but…”

“Well, yeah… that’s true.”

“I’m asking you pointless stuff too…”

Airi’s grumbling continued.

She seemed to have pent-up frustration about the relationship between her and Ibuki and their parents.

“Anyway… saying you’ll stay overnight… isn’t it a bit much to plan on having you sleep in my room? We’re not kids anymore…”

Back when they were in elementary school, they frequently had sleepovers at each other’s houses.

The frequency dwindled when they entered middle school, and since becoming high school students, it hadn’t happened at all.

…Of course, even though they were childhood friends, they recognized that having a boy and a girl spend the night under the same roof, no matter how much of childhood friends they were, wasn’t really a great idea.

“…This is getting long, isn’t it?”

Muttering complaints, Airi then touched her lips with her hand, looking somewhat embarrassed.

She regretted having rambled on with such a boring, long-winded story.

“It’s alright, don’t worry about it.”

Ibuki answered shortly. And then…

“Oh yeah. Speaking of which…”

“…What is it?”

Scratching his cheek, Ibuki brought up something he had just remembered.

“…I like your taste better.”

Airi’s eyes widened in surprise.

Then, she blushed slightly…

“It’s only natural. …What a silly question.”