CH 27

Tik tok tik tok – and the clock on the wall starts to make noise in place of the quiet humans.

I looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the long hand was pointing to the number nine. It seems that this endurance race will continue for another seventy-five minutes. Whether you consider this a blessing or a curse is something I’ll never know.

“………light.”

I’ve become a little more calm, and with my hands on the floor, I look vaguely at the back of Kohinata’s head. Then I realize again the weight and body temperature on my thighs. The body temperature of a classmate, not a family member, not a lover, but someone I just met a short while ago. I wonder if people who have cats or dogs feel this kind of warmth on a daily basis.

Kohinata does not speak because, according to Shizuka san, she is shy.

And Kohinata is expressionless because she lost her father two years ago.

At first glance, the two seem to be related at first glance, but it seems that they have different origins. I guess it was necessary for me to know this fact.

“Maybe Kohinata sees me as a father figure.”

She may be subconsciously trying to fill the hole in her heart that has been left empty. That’s what I thought.

“Maybe my tone and mood are similar to Kohinata’s father’s,”

Or maybe my preachy words might have struck a chord with her.

When I thought about this seriously, I felt the embarrassment and nervousness inside me ease a little.

I thought to myself, If Kohinata wants her father, I shouldn’t be conscious of her as the opposite gender.

Of course, this is a judgment based on my own imagination, and I can’t judge right or wrong on my own. …… I don’t want Kohinata, who has lost her family and is hurting, to experience any more bad feelings.

If there is an astronomical probability that the cute and popular Kohinata is aware of me as a member of the opposite gender, then this decision is a complete mistake,……. I’m not that self-conscious.

“wake you up when it’s time? No need for …… alarms, pretending to be asleep, or any other weird tricks, Kohinata doesn’t really think anything of me.”

I gently combed Kohinata’s hair as if I was her guardian. It was smooth and comfortable to the touch without getting tangled in my fingers.

I consciously undo the protective feelings that had been transformed into a heterosexual affection.

If my affection causes Kohinata’s relationship to deteriorate, it would not be good for her, who is showing signs of improvement. It would also betray Shizuka san, who has high hopes for me.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t think I’d be able to fall in love with the opposite gender so quickly anyway, and I’ll be there for Kohinata until the hole in her heart is nicely filled.”

Thanks to her, I’m losing my dislike for women, so it’s a win-win situation for both of us.

I wonder how long this relationship will last.

I couldn’t come to a conclusion on whether I wanted it to continue or to end soon,…….

☆　☆　☆　☆　☆

“Hey, wake up. 15 minutes to go.”

I shouted into the ear of Kohinata, who was sleeping soundly on my thigh.

In response, Kohinata squeezes her body like a cat. Then, she stimulated my numb legs, and I made a mysterious sound. It was a voice I did not want anyone to hear.

After I had called out several times in this manner, Kohinata, who had attacked me unconsciously by rolling around on my thighs, wriggled herself up. She saw my expression of anguish through sleepy eyes and tilted her head curiously. Incidentally, her eyelids were not even half open.

“I’ll take you home–but wait a minute. My legs are numb.”

I indicated my still-tingling leg with my chin, and she looked at my thigh with thin eyes. Then she looked at my face and looked at my thigh again.

And then, with a blip–a sound effect, Kohinata’s face turns bright red. Her eyelids lifted upward to their limits.

“…………! !”

Kohinata looks extremely flustered and flutters her hands, but she still doesn’t make a sound. And since it’s called expressionless – is Kohinata really expressionless right now, ……? I think she looks apologetic to my eyes.

“Don’t worry about it. I won’t tell anyone, and it doesn’t matter if I lend you my thigh. Besides, with the way the movie was going, you might as well have slept on it.”

I said this with a wry smile, and Kohinata turned her face down and gave a small nod. Then she glanced at the clock on the wall and froze.

Ah, come to think of it, Kohinata didn’t even know about the one-hour extension.

When I told her that Shizuka san had sent me a chat about the extension request, Kohinata again became flustered and nervous. I guess it was because she realized that she had slept more soundly than she had expected.

“Don’t worry about it. And don’t be embarrassed either. Kohinata had been facing the kotatsu the whole time, so I didn’t even see your sleeping face. So, um, could you please do something about your swinging hand hitting my leg with your prickly one?”

When I said this, she looked startled and turned her body away from me. And what did she think? For some reason, she started stroking my thigh with both hands. Why did she do that?

“That tickles too so please stop it! I mean, that one might be painful!”

Hearing my words, Kohinata again looks flustered. Again, her hands hit my thighs.

Thus, I recovered from the numbness with Kohinata’s rough treatment and sent her home safely.