Chapter 14: CH 14

I think a wedding is going to cost a lot of money, but I want to do it if possible. How much would it cost? Oh, three million yen? That’s too expensive… I wonder if I should start saving up now with some spending money or a part-time job. Oh, but we could also save up for a photo wedding and use the money to buy a new house and furniture. But Yuki’s family owns a construction company, so I wonder if it’s better to have a ceremony. Hmmm, I’ll have to discuss this with Yuki and his family.

While researching marriage expenses this morning, I couldn’t stop my dizzying imagination.

The source of such painful behavior was the declaration of taking responsibility that I had pushed on Yuki-kun earlier.

Originally, I said it as a response to the manager who was talking to Yuki-kun, with the intention of overruling her, but now I’ve completely expanded on it and am having fun fantasizing about all kinds of things in the morning.

“What did you think, Yuki?”

That’s what’s important, or maybe that’s the only thing that’s important.

But I can’t know that without asking Yuki directly, and I can’t ask him, “What did you think?”…

“And I hope Yuki-kun’s cheek was okay.”

It was a little red because I had scrubbed it with a towel.

At that time, I was so worried that I couldn’t help but reach out and touch Yuki-kun’s cheek. I could feel the slightly stiff hair on his cheek, and the hot, sweaty skin was so raw that I couldn’t help but trace my own lips with the fingertip that touched Yuki-kun’s.

I don’t know how many times I’ve had to do this perverted thing, but I plopped down on the desk to hide my burning face again.

Oh my God, my face is getting hotter and hotter, my eyes are watering, my mouth is watering… I look absolutely disgusting right now. I can’t let anyone see me like this.

Still, I look up every once in a while, as if to catch my breath, and look at the entrance to the classroom.

Yuki-kun is not coming back…

I don’t know what I’ll do if Yuki-kun doesn’t show up. It’s definitely my fault, isn’t it? I was jealous because I was impatient with my manager, and I did a lot of things to Yuki-kun on the spur of the moment, but I really wasn’t in a position to do that…

I’ve been feeling very emotionally unstable since this morning. I’ve been having fun fantasizing, suddenly feeling embarrassed, and now depressed…

“Yuki-kun…”

I unconsciously called Yuki-kun, and my face got hot again.

But as if in answer to my murmurings, Yuki-kun came back to the classroom just in time. Souta-kun was there with him. I wonder if they met in the hallway.

Anyway, I was very relieved to see Yuki-kun.

I wondered if Yuki-kun and I would make eye contact again like we did yesterday, but the moment I thought our eyes met, he quickly turned his gaze away from me.

What?… Why? Why? Yuki-kun…!

Was it because I scrubbed him with a towel earlier? Or was it because I said something weird like “I’ll take responsibility”?

When I think that Yuki-kun hates me, I feel so helplessly bitter that I feel like crying at any moment.

Oh, yeah, Souta-kun, who came with Yuki-kun, might know something…!

With a feeling of prayer, I called out to Souta-kun, who sat diagonally in front of me.

“Hey, hey, Souta-kun. It looks like you just came with Yuki-kun. How was Yuki-kun?”

Then Souta-kun sighed in exasperation.

“Yeah, that’s it. You know, don’t lend Yukiya a towel lightly. Even though he is a childhood friend, Yukiya is also a man, and since he is a virgin, he might have some strange misunderstandings and follow you around, right?”

Souta-kun seemed to be angry about something, which was a little scary.

But more importantly, “doutei” means first time…Yuki-kun’s first time…Yuki-kun’s first time…

“I’ve already nailed it, but Kanae, be careful not to get too close to Yukiya just because he’s your childhood friend, or you’ll be misunderstood.”

“That’s a good–what? What’s a nail…?”

I have a bad feeling about this.

“I told him that the towel was purely out of kindness and not for any other reason, since Kanae seems to have someone she cares about.”

What the hell? What do you mean, “someone I care about”? Why are you saying that? If you say such a thing from Souta-kun’s mouth, Yuki-kun will misunderstand me again!

I really wanted to cry, and I was upset with Souta-kun for doing such a thing without permission.

But even Souta-kun doesn’t know what’s going on, and the worst part is that I didn’t realize how I felt…

Feeling depressed again, I turned my attention to Yuki-kun.

I want to excuse myself…

But Yuki was chatting with a girl in a nearby seat – I couldn’t make eye contact with him today, and he averted his gaze at me earlier, and I really don’t like the fact that he’s chatting with another girl…

“Ugggghhh… yugigghhh…”

Unknowingly, I grit my teeth as I stare at Yuki-kun and the girl who are talking.

My heart was filled with black sludge, and I couldn’t stand still with anxiety and impatience, feeling as if Yuki-kun was going to leave me far away.

But class had already started, so I couldn’t go to Yuki-kun’s side.

Despairing over the situation where I couldn’t do anything, I kept stealing glances at Yuki-kun, who I couldn’t reach, and kept accumulating black sludge deep in my chest.

I think it was because of this that I went completely out of control.

“Yuki-kun!”

As soon as class ended and recess started, I rushed over to Yuki-kun, calling out to him in a voice I would never normally use.

Everyone in the class was paying attention to me.

But as I was being driven into a corner by all sorts of things, all I could think about was Yuki-kun, so I grabbed him by the cuffs and pulled him to the landing of the stairs where there was no one around to prevent him from running away.

“Yuki-kun, come here, come here…”

I pushed Yuki-kun into the corner of the landing, and I stood in front of him to make sure he couldn’t escape.

I’m going to be using a strategy that I’ve been thinking about… during class…

My heart was pounding. I’m not so much nervous of embarrassment as I am nervous of what will happen if he doesn’t like me.

“Um… sorry about this morning. Your cheeks, are they okay?”

I swallowed my fear and nervousness and put my hand on Yuki-kun’s cheek.

The morning’s declaration of taking responsibility was ostensibly in reference to Yuki’s cheek, which I had scrubbed, and the plan was to heal Yuki’s cheek, keep him tied to me, and make him aware of me at the same time.

Of course, Yuki, who couldn’t possibly have known that, stayed still with a bright red face and let me do what I wanted to do… I wonder if he was embarrassed by me. If so, I’m glad.

“Yuki-kun, can you bend over for a second?”

And it’s really good that Yuki-kun is so relaxed and at my mercy…

That’s why I do this.

“Phew～ phew～…”

I pucker my lips lightly as if I were kissing him, and blow on Yuki’s red cheeks.

Even scratches and burns are woo-woo, and that’s fine in the healing category.

But it is indeed a bit… embarrassing, no, quite embarrassing. My face was getting hotter and hotter.

When I looked at Yuki-kun with my eyes, I saw that he had a red face and was shaking a little.

What should I do? It’s so fun to see Yuki-kun embarrassed by what I do.

I got carried away and continued to huff and puff at Yuki-kun throughout the break, not even considering my own embarrassment.

Eventually, the bell rang, and I pulled my face away from Yuki-kun, though I was a little sad.

“Ehehe, let’s go back to class.”

I couldn’t help but grin with a sense of accomplishment and embarrassment in front of Yuki-kun, who was dazed with a bright red face.

“Let’s have lunch together today like we promised, okay?”

Also, don’t forget to remind him about the lunch appointment we had yesterday.

I was looking forward to my lunch break now.