First, Yuzuru took Arisa’s hand and kissed the back of it.
As expected, her body gave a small shiver.
“Do you like it?”
“Y-yes…”
Arisa squirmed faintly.
It was obvious she liked being kissed on the back of her hand.
Perhaps all her strength had left her—
Arisa leaned her entire body against Yuzuru.
Supporting her gently, Yuzuru softly stroked her beautiful hair.
Fine strands caught the sunlight and shimmered.
Pure, almost mystical—so beautiful it felt almost divine—her hair slipped smoothly through his fingers.
Yuzuru gathered a lock of it and lightly brought it to his nose.
Sniff, sniff.
The soft scent of shampoo and conditioner filled him.
“Y-Yuzuru-san…?”
“What about this?”
After whispering softly into her ear—
Yuzuru pressed his lips against her pristine hair.
Gently, as if sandwiching it between his lips, he drew it slightly into his mouth.
“Ah… ah…”
A warm breath spilled from her glossy lips.
When Yuzuru gently squeezed her hand, Arisa gripped back tightly.
With her other hand, she clutched at his clothes as if clinging to him.
Meanwhile, Yuzuru threaded his fingers through her hair, drawing her closer.
Before they knew it, Arisa had buried her face in his chest, while Yuzuru held her from the front in an embrace.
“I love you.”
“…I love you too.”
Slowly, naturally, step by step—
Yuzuru moved from her hair to her ear, placing soft kisses along the way.
Arisa clung to him tightly, as if pleading.
Then he kissed her trembling cheek.
“Y-Yuzuru-san…”
With slightly reddened eyes, Arisa looked up at him.
Then she gently brought her face closer.
Her moist, glossy lips—
pressed softly against his cheek.
Blue eyes and green eyes met.
Yuzuru moved his lips closer to hers—
—
—
“Y-Yuzuru-san…”
With a firm push against his chest, Arisa stopped him.
When Yuzuru came back to himself, Arisa’s face was bright red, her body trembling slightly.
“…Did you not like it?”
When he asked, she shook her head quickly.
“N-no… that’s not it…”
Arisa looked away from him.
Then she carefully glanced around.
“Um… we’re… outside…”
“Huh? Ah… right…”
At that, Yuzuru scratched his cheek.
He had completely forgotten they were in a public place.
Looking around, he noticed a few people quickly avert their eyes.
They had been seen.
“Sorry.”
“N-no… I also forgot, partway through…”
Even as she said that, Arisa’s ears were bright red.
If not for the fact they were in a park—a public, outdoor space—
Yuzuru’s lead hadn’t been entirely wrong.
At the very least, right up until the last moment, Arisa had been willing.
(I rushed it…)
Another mistake.
…In truth, while Yuzuru tried to act composed as he led Arisa, he himself had no experience with women other than her.
There wasn’t much he could do about that.
(…Should I ask a professional?)
A professional.
In other words—Soichiro.
…Though that raised another question: just how far had that scumbag gone with his childhood friends?
Yuzuru grew a little curious about their romantic progress, but decided not to think too deeply about it—it would just make things awkward next time they met.
“Yuzuru-san… Yuzuru-san?”
“Huh? Ah—sorry, Arisa. What is it?”
Only when she called his name did Yuzuru snap back.
Arisa, still flushed, tugged lightly at his clothes.
“Um… shall we get going?”
It seemed she wanted to leave as soon as possible.
…Understandably, she was embarrassed.
And Yuzuru felt the same.
“Yeah… let’s.”
The two quickly began packing up.
(In the end, we didn’t really enjoy the cherry blossoms…)
On the way home, walking side by side, Yuzuru muttered inwardly.
That said, he had good food—and got to see Arisa looking adorable.
Dango over flowers.
No—Arisa over dango.
Meanwhile, Arisa herself—
“…”
Perhaps still embarrassed by what had happened earlier, she remained quiet the whole time.
Her cheeks were still faintly red.
That said, she didn’t seem angry—and her bashfulness was cute in its own way.
Yuzuru figured she’d return to normal soon enough and didn’t worry too much.
As they continued walking—
“Oh.”
“My, my.”
“Oh?”
They ran into Yuzuru’s friend, Ryouzenji Hijiri.
There was a shopping bag in the basket of his bicycle.
“Come to think of it, your house is around here, right?”
“Yeah… you two on a date?”
“Something like that.”
It seemed Hijiri was on his way back from shopping.
Inside the bag, snacks and chocolate treats peeked out.
“Hm…”
Hijiri stroked his chin, thinking for a moment.
Then he made a suggestion.
“If you’re not in a rush, want to stop by? I can at least offer you some tea.”
Come to think of it, Yuzuru hadn’t visited Hijiri’s house in quite a while.
Every year, members of the Ryouzenji family—including Hijiri—came to greet the Takasegawa family, but Yuzuru rarely went the other way.
It might be nice, for a change.
And besides—
“What do you think, Arisa?”
Arisa had never visited the Ryouzenji household.
Since she would be marrying into the Takasegawa family, it might be a good idea for her to show her face there at least once.
…Of course, if she wanted to focus on their date, Yuzuru wouldn’t push her.
There would be plenty of chances in the future.
When asked, Arisa gave a small nod.
“Yes… we’ll gladly accept your offer.”
And so, they ended up stopping by the Ryouzenji house on the spur of the moment.
