"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 7 - The Aftermath...

“What should I do, Ibuki-kun…”

Airi held her chest down with both hands while still straddling Ibuki.

The slight bulge that had been pushing up the fabric was slightly crushed.

“My heart keeps pounding…. And I can’t stop it.”

“…Airi.”

She was blushing profusely and her eyes were moistening, Airi slowly peered into Ibuki’s face.

Her red, plump lips drew closer to Ibuki’s lips.

“Ibuki-kun…”

With a voice filled with warmth, Airi called out Ibuki’s name.

“It’s impossible.”

Ibuki said calmly, his expression unchanged.

A flicker of annoyance briefly crossed Airi’s face.

“Do you think I’m joking?”

“Yeah.”

“But…”

“Because it’s your second choice.”

Just a moment ago, Ibuki had just shown Airi how it’s done.

Even if she did it exactly the same way, it wouldn’t work on Ibuki.

“…Why won’t it work on you!”

“Hmm?”

“It’s boring!”

Airi shouted, puffing her cheeks as if to assert her displeasure.

Then she lightly tapped Ibuki’s chest with both hands.

Despite successfully retaliating against Ibuki, it was a failure.

Whether it was embarrassing or because things didn’t go her way…

Airi, like a spoiled child, complained to Ibuki, saying it was “boring,” while giving him a light shake.

“Even if it’s a lie, it’s okay to be deceived, right? Even I…”

“Well, sorry about that. Airi-san, you’re not very good at acting”

Ibuki said with a mischievous smile.

“Leaving aside whether you like me or not, your performance before was quite impressive. I thought you took my words seriously and got embarrassed… You almost fooled me.”

—Puff! [SFX for imaginary smoke over her head]

Airi’s face turned bright red.

It seems she was really embarrassed after all.

To cover it up, she tried to pass it off as all acting.

“I-I’m not embarrassed! It was all acting! Those cheap words can’t make any difference to me!”

She still wanted to believe it was all acting.

But even though she vehemently denied it with her face turning red and desperately insisted on it, she lacked persuasiveness.

“Well, anyway, a kiss is not that big of a deal, right? If you want to, why not give it a try? Well, for someone like you, Ibuki-kun, who’s a bit of a pervert, it might be different…”

“If it’s not a big deal, then why don’t you give it a try?”

“Huh…”

Airi froze at Ibuki’s words.

Ibuki, feeling confident, had a smug smile on his face.

“I don’t really care. If it’s not a big deal for you either, then you can do it, right?”

She probably won’t be able to do it anyway. Thinking about that, Ibuki provoked Airi.

Meanwhile, as Ibuki had predicted, Airi averted her gaze.

“N-No… It’s true that it’s not a big deal. But that doesn’t mean we should take it lightly…”

“Hmm.”

“Well, I understand. So, that’s your plan, right? You’re quite the pervert, Ibuki-kun…”

“Well, how you perceive it is up to you.”

Ibuki said to Airi, intending to convey that message.

In response, Airi turned her face away from Ibuki.

Her profile was flushed red, even up to her ears.

“Then, I guess I’ll interpret it as you being a perverted brat, Ibuki-kun…” 

But before she could finish, Airi tightly gripped Ibuki’s clothes.

And she stared sharply into his face.

“Just as you wish, I’ll grant it.”

“…You don’t have to force yourself, you know?”

“What? Are you getting scared now?”

With her face still red, Airi smirked.

It seemed like she believed that if she pushed, Ibuki would back down.

But if he backed down here, it would be his “loss.”

“No way! Kissing you is no big deal… It was the same last time.”

“Hmph… Well, well then, I’ll do it. Is that okay?”

“I’ve been saying that from the beginning, haven’t I?”

“Is that so? Well then… I’ll do it. Don’t move. And don’t even think about looking away. If you show any sign of hesitation, I’ll know you actually hate it.”

“You’re taking a long time getting your mind ready. Are you sure you don’t actually hate it? You don’t have to force yourself, you know?”

“What? Are you getting scared? Just so you know, it means nothing to me.”

“Then hurry up. And… don’t you look away either. If you do, I’ll assume you’re embarrassed.”

“I… I understand. But… don’t close your eyes either!”

“You too!”

“I… I’ll do it!”

“Then do it!”

As Ibuki shouted loudly…

Airi, as if determined, slowly brought her face closer.

Her fairy-like, adorable appearance, her plump and sensual lips, came closer to his.

Ibuki kept his gaze fixed on her, never averting his eyes from her sapphire-like gems.

Airi, too, never looked away and Ibuki’s face was reflected in her pupils.

And then…

—Click

The sound of the doorknob turning was heard clearly by them and they stiffened on the spot.

“Airi-chan! Ibuki-kun! I bought a cake…”

Ibuki and Airi both froze for a moment…

And then, in unison, they turned their attention to the source of the voice.

There stood a woman with the same hair color as Airi.

It was none other than Airi’s mother.

She, too, stood there with her mouth hanging open, just like Ibuki and Airi…

“…I’m sorry.”

She closed the door immediately.

Ibuki and Airi unintentionally locked eyes.

Airi’s face was still flushed…

And without realizing it, Ibuki’s face had also became hot.

“…I’m sorry.”

Ibuki stood up eagerly, and Airi stepped back to give him space.

Then she awkwardly averted her gaze.

“No… it was my fault.”

Ibuki slowly stood up as well and absentmindedly scratched his head.

There was an awkward silence for a while.

And then…

““That…””

Their voices overlapped.

Making the situation even more awkward.

“…Um, please go ahead.”

“No, from Airi…”

“It’s… it’s not a big deal.”

“The same goes for me…”

However, if they continue to yield to each other, it won’t lead to a resolution.

“…Even if nothing had happened.”

“Yeah.”

“It shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

“Y-Yeah, I think so too… If we caught a cold, we might pass it to each other.”

“It seems tooth decay can be contagious too.”

“Yes, yes. We should avoid it as much as possible.”

“That’s right, yeah. Even if we like each other, we shouldn’t do it.”

“That’s true! Kissing is just… something’s wrong with it!”

“It’s just an exchange of saliva.”

“It means nothing. It’s just unhygienic!”

Kissing is not something they should do.

That was what they concluded, in other words trying to run away from the situation.

However, for a while after that, the two couldn’t look at each other.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

After Ibuki left the Kamishiro Household…

“Arghh! I can’t read it!!”

—Bang! 

Airi covered her face in front of the shojo manga she borrowed from her classmate.

She thought that since she borrowed it, it was her obligation to at least read the first volume… but she couldn’t make any progress.

“Oh, for crying out loud…”

Airi gently looked through the gaps between her fingers and directed her gaze to the open page.

There, it was precisely the scene where the female protagonist was being forced into a wall slam and then kissed by her childhood friend.

The young man was saying lines that seemed familiar — which happened a while ago — to the female protagonist.

“Th-This embarrassing thing… Those who write it, those who read it, and those who actually do it, there’s something wrong with them!”

Airi turned her face away, closed the manga with a thud, and tried to calm her racing heartbeat by taking a deep breath.

When she realized that a few moments ago the same thing happened with her, Airi’s face was bright red due to embarrasment.

“I-I’m frustrated…!”

Airi twisted her expression in frustration.

She couldn’t forgive what Ibuki had done to her.

She couldn’t forgive Ibuki for making her embarrassed and then acting nonchalant about it.

“…It’s irritating!”

That’s why…

It’s not like she started seeing Ibuki, her childhood friend, as a man.

It’s not because she projected herself and her childhood friend onto the characters in the manga.

—It definitely wasn’t about love or anything like that.

“I should vent this grudge… For now, I guess I’ll search for manga or light novels that virgins would like.”

Airi began to devise her revenge plan.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

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TL : Zenon#4120