“…Practise?”
“Y-yes.”
Arisa gave a small nod, her cheeks flushed red.
“Um… starting with the lips is… too embarrassing, so…”
“Yeah… that’s… fair.”
Yuzuru nodded, scratching his cheek.
Then, inwardly, he muttered to himself.
(I rushed it…)
Thinking about it calmly, people usually start with lighter forms of physical contact.
Trying to jump straight to a kiss—of course she’d pull back.
(This isn’t good… I wasn’t as composed as I thought…)
He had meant to act with patience, and believed he had been…
But it seemed he’d lost his level-headed judgement without even realising it.
“Yuzuru-san? Is something wrong?”
Noticing he’d gone quiet, Arisa spoke up.
Yuzuru snapped back to himself.
“No, I was just thinking… about what you meant by ‘practise,’ exactly.”
He hurriedly covered it up.
Arisa, still blushing, answered in a small voice.
“Well… um… instead of the lips, maybe we could start somewhere else… like… my cheek, for example.”
Almost reflexively, Yuzuru’s gaze shifted to her cheek.
It looked soft, smooth, and pale.
If he touched it, it would surely feel plush and yielding.
“Yeah, that sounds good. Then… let’s start with your cheek…”
As naturally as he could, Yuzuru drew her gently into his arms.
Arisa accepted it, closing her eyes.
And then—
“On second thought, the face is a no!!”
At her sudden outburst, Yuzuru froze.
Her cheek, the one he’d been about to kiss, was flushed a deep red.
Twisting shyly, Arisa fidgeted—then suddenly looked up at him in alarm.
“N-no, it’s not that I dislike you, Yuzuru-san, it’s just…”
“It’s alright, I understand.”
He knew she was simply embarrassed.
…If that weren’t the case, he wasn’t sure he’d recover.
“If lips are advanced level, then cheeks are more like intermediate, right?”
“Y-yes. Since we’re beginners, we should start with something for beginners.”
Whether there really were beginner or advanced levels to kissing was debatable…
But between the two of them, that was how it worked.
“Still, what exactly counts as a beginner-level kiss…?”
“Well… um…”
Other than lips or cheeks, neither of them could immediately think of another place to kiss.
They both hummed in thought, puzzling over it.
“Ah—how about this?”
As something came to him, Yuzuru gently took Arisa’s hand.
She tilted her head in confusion.
“Yuzuru-san?”
He smiled at her, then lowered his gaze to her hand.
Despite doing housework like washing dishes, her skin showed no signs of roughness—beautiful and well cared for.
Her nails were neatly trimmed and glossy.
Not a single stray hair on her slender fingers.
And on her ring finger, the silver ring Yuzuru had given her gleamed.
It was clear she took care of herself every day.
To the back of that hand, as pure as fresh snow—
“Ah…”
Yuzuru softly pressed his lips against it.
At the touch, Arisa let out a small sound.
“What do you think?”
“This… is okay.”
Arisa turned her face slightly away, one hand pressed to her chest as she answered.
Then she timidly shifted her gaze back towards him.
“Um… could you do it one more time? …But this time, in a different position.”
“A different position?”
Arisa gave a small nod and quietly stood up.
Then she extended the back of her hand towards him.
“I’ve… always admired this kind of thing…”
“Ah… I see.”
Yuzuru stood and faced her.
Then he knelt on one knee, gently taking her hand.
And once more, he pressed his lips to the back of it.
“How is it?”
“…It feels wonderful.”
Arisa held her chest with her free hand, answering with a blissful expression.
Her eyes melted, her body trembling faintly with the sensation—it was a strangely alluring sight.
Watching her, Yuzuru kissed her hand again.
“Nn… ah…”
A soft breath slipped from her lips as her body quivered.
Her legs trembled, and then she collapsed as though her strength had given out.
Yuzuru quickly caught her.
Supporting her limp form, he gently helped her sit down.
She ended up seated on the floor, legs folded to one side, as though her strength had completely drained away.
“…Was it really that good?”
Yuzuru asked, looking at her as she trembled with her head lowered.
Her face was hidden behind her bangs, but her ears, peeking through, were bright red.
“…Yes.”
Supporting herself with both hands, breathing unevenly, Arisa replied.
Then she slowly raised her face.
“Please… do it again sometime.”
“Alright. …But before that, you should try it too.”
With that, Yuzuru offered the back of his hand.
Arisa gave a small nod and gently took it.
Then slowly, her body trembling—
She lightly pressed her lips against it.
“How is it?”
“Not bad. …What about you?”
Yuzuru answered with a faint smile.
Though… not to the point of his legs giving out.
“For me… it’s not bad either.”
Compared to being kissed on the hand, Arisa seemed to prefer receiving over giving.
As if it wasn’t quite what she’d expected, she tilted her head slightly.
“Well, we’ll keep practising.”
“Yes… we will. I’ll look into it as well.”
For now, their practise session came to an end.
Having regained her strength, Arisa straightened her posture neatly.
“By the way, Yuzuru-san—it’s already cherry blossom season, isn’t it?”
She suddenly changed the topic.
Yuzuru followed along with a nod.
“They’ve just started blooming.”
It might still be a little while before they reached full bloom,
but here and there, buds had already begun to open.
“During spring break, would you like to go flower viewing? …Just the two of us.”
It was a rare invitation—from Arisa.
She clenched her fists slightly as she spoke.
“I’ll make something delicious for us.”
“That sounds great. But…”
Yuzuru scratched his cheek, recalling his plans for spring break.
“Is it… not possible?”
“In spring, I’ve got plans… My family is going on an overseas trip.”
Every year during spring break, the Takasegawa family would travel abroad.
Flights and hotels were already booked, so cancelling wasn’t an option.
And while time with Arisa was important, time with his family mattered too.
“I see… then it can’t be helped…”
Arisa’s shoulders drooped in disappointment.
Originally, Yuzuru had planned to bring it up himself and explain he couldn’t go on a date—
but it had ended up sounding like he was rejecting her invitation, and he felt a pang of regret.
“Well, it’s not like I’ll be gone the entire break… I could make time at the beginning or end.”
“…No, you’ll have preparations to do, won’t you? And when you get back, you’ll be tired. I can’t ask you to push yourself.”
Arisa shook her head.
She was being considerate—but Yuzuru couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed himself.
“It’s just flower viewing, though—nothing that demanding…”
“Let’s go in April. After you return. When you’re in perfect condition.”
At her suggestion, Yuzuru nodded.
“Yeah… that sounds good.”
The cherry blossoms wouldn’t wait forever—
though the timing was limited, it wasn’t as if they could only go during spring break.
“By the way… this trip—where are you going?”
“This time, New Caledonia.”
“…Oh… I see.”
Judging by her vague response, she couldn’t quite picture what kind of place it was.
She seemed unsure how to react.
“…Um… I’ll feel lonely, so… could you call me? Even just for a little while.”
At her endearing request, Yuzuru nodded.
“Of course. …I’ll feel lonely too. And I want to hear your voice.”
“Hehe…”
Arisa let out a small laugh.
Then she held out her little finger.
“It’s a promise.”
“Yeah. A promise.”
Gently, they hooked their fingers together.
