"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] - Chapter 4 - Her Thoughts...

“……I love you.”

“I love you too…”

—The first kiss they shared had a bittersweet taste…..

“Hmm…”

As she was reading a manga that contained monologues and conversations like that, Airi let out a somewhat bored sigh. She closed the manga and lazily lay down on her bed.

“It wasn’t really bittersweet, though…”

Airi muttered to herself… and touched her own lips.

Just a few hours ago, she remembered that she had kissed her childhood friend. Her cheeks slightly reddened when she thought of those moments which had left a huge impact on her.

“…It was a bit improper, wasn’t it?”

She shivered slightly, letting out a warm sigh.

For Kamishiro Airi, Kazami Ibuki was not an older brother figure—absolutely not!… Rather he was more like a younger brother.

And she had kissed that same younger brother.

She had crossed a line she shouldn’t have crossed.

In response, Airi felt a slight sense of guilt and taboo… And an undeniable excitement.

She experienced a thrilling and sensual pleasure that sent shivers down her spine like electricity was coursing through her whole body.

The fact that she lost her balance when her legs felt weak was indeed true.

“But it wasn’t anything significant.”

She would never kiss her childhood friend again.

No, she must never do it again.

Airi murmured to herself as if reminding herself of that fact.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

During dinner…

“Hey, hey, Airi-chan. Have you kissed Ibuki-kun recently?”

“Wah—?! *Cough…Cough*” 

Taken aback by her mother’s abrupt question, Airi choked on her food.

Her gaze wandered around the dining room in confusion, and her face blushed faintly.

“W-What’s with the sudden question…!?”

“Oh well… I was just wondering if there had been any progress. It’s been a while since you started dating, right?”

It seems that her mother didn’t know about today’s events and was asking out of genuine curiosity.

Airi breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest.

“There’s no way I would do something like that with Ibuki-kun. Besides, we’re not even dating… Don’t ask such silly things.”

Airi turned her face away and said in a cold voice.

On the other hand, Airi’s mother let out a small sigh.

“Enough, Airi-chan… Why don’t you treat Ibuki-kun properly? If you continue like this, someone else might take him away from you, you know?”

“Take him away? By who?”

“It’s obviously other girls. Look… Ibuki-kun has become more and more handsome lately. He’s tall, smart… Don’t you think everyone will start paying attention to him?”

He was cowardly and a crybaby.

He was also physically weak, unable to do anything without her.

But… That’s a story of the past.

Unbeknownst to her, Ibuki had surpassed Airi in terms of height and other physical aspects.

He had developed a solid and masculine physique, and his previously feminine appearance had become more masculine in a good way.

And now he was smart too…

Airi knew very well that there were quite a number of girls who harbored feelings for Ibuki. They just didn’t show it because of the existence of Airi herself. That was the impact she had on his life that no girl dared to approach him in the first place.

“First of all, Ibuki-kun is not mine, and I don’t have any feelings for him. He’s just a childhood friend. Whoever Ibuki-kun chooses to date is none of my business.”

Airi pouted and turned her cheek away as she said so.

“You’re not being honest, huh?”

Airi’s mother sighed in exasperation.

Then, Airi’s father, who had been reading the newspaper, raised his head.

“Airi… What exactly are you dissatisfied with in Ibuki-kun?”

“…I’m not dissatisfied with anything, really.”

Furrowing her eyebrows, Airi answered what was on her mind.

From Airi’s perspective, the current Kazami Ibuki had no noticeable flaws.

And she had no complaints about their current relationship either.

“So, it’s fine the way it is. Well, if Ibuki-kun were to apologize and ask me to date him… that would be a different story, you know?”

If  that were the case, she might consider it.

Airi said those words, her spirits were sky high.

She didn’t really like Ibuki… And she didn’t knew what Ibuki thought of her.

Airi maintained that stance in a narcissistic manner.

““Sigh…””

Both parents let out a deep sigh in response to their daughter’s words.

And soon after dinner…

“…Yeah, I don’t really like Ibuki-kun or anything.”

Airi, who had returned to her room, murmured in a small voice.

Like a heroine in a shoujo manga…

Does he make her heart race? Does she feel fluttery?

Does she want to kiss and be kissed?

Does she get jealous of other girls?

To someone who was like a younger twin brother for her.

To that boy who used to be a crybaby, a coward.

Falling in love with a childhood friend?

“It’s impossible.”

If it were the childhood friend who was pursuing her, that would be one thing.

But for her to pursue her childhood friend, that was completely impossible.

“So… it’s just my imagination. A momentary lapse. A misunderstanding… I was just nervous.”

Airi gently touched her own lips.

Until the heat in her body subsided and her heartbeat calmed…

Airi repeated to herself, over and over, many times.

—Six years remain until the unconsciously connected couple becomes a married couple.

The road is still long…..

☆☆☆☆☆☆

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TL : Zenon#4120