CH 56

“D..do I have to do it after all?”

“Yes! Of course! We’re in a relationship now, so we should do it.”

“I-I understand.”

It was the first time we held hands properly since we started dating.

But I still could not get used to it. My face always seems to get red.

I felt miserable, but I squeezed Kaede’s hand. Her small hand squeezed it back.

“Then let’s go.”

“Yes!”

“The vacation went by quickly, didn’t it?” I said,

“I know, but I’m having fun at school too, you know?”

“Really? Isn’t it always normal?”

”Surprisingly, many people don’t realize how much fun that normality is.”

“There’s still a long way to go,” said Kaede with a triumphant look on her face.

However, Kaede often received a lot of stares, but this time I think they were looking at me as well.

Then, for some reason, Kaede puffed out her cheeks.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, I mean…… don’t get mad at me, okay?”

“Yeah? I am not, though.”

“Since Ren-kun cut his hair and became very cool, I wondered if there would be people who would be interested in you. …”

“I-Is that so? That’s not true.”

Being told by Kaede that I’m “cool,” my mouth naturally loosened up in embarrassment and happiness.

“Ren-kun!, you don’t even realize how cool you are!”

“Eh, s-sorry?”

Look at the miffed and angry Kaede. She looked like a cute small animal.

“You might be worried, but I have you, Kaede, I’ll properly decline if anyone tries to make advances on me.”

“I am not worried about you, Ren-kun. I know you take good care of me.”

“I cherish you.” 

She turned away. I noticed that her ears were red when she turned her face sideways.

“No, that’s not it, I did that on my own…”

“Ah, could it be that you are jealous, Kaede?”

“N-No! I’m not…jealous”

“Haha, you’re so cute.”

When that “cute” compliment came out in the open, Kaede punched me warmly.

It’s so not fair that she looked cute even doing that.

Or rather, I realized that if we kept doing this kind of thing, we would be late for school, when we get there.

“It’s not fair, Ren-kun, you say things like that so casually.”

“It’s okay. We’re dating.”

“Yes, it’s fine, but you can’t say that to anyone but me, okay?”

“Do you understand?”, she covered my lips with her index finger.

I couldn’t resist. I put my arms around Kaede’s back and gently embrace her, running my fingers through her silky blonde hair.

The moment I hugged her, she smelled fluffy and sweet, and unfortunately I couldn’t savor the feeling of two soft things, which was a pity.

“Hiya?! W-What are you doing!?”

“Please …just a little more.”

“I-It can’t be helped.”

Kaede also wrapped her arms around my back and hugged me back.

This little bit of happiness was amazing.

“L-Let’s go! Ren-kun”

“Yes.”

I’ve learned that I couldn’t hold back a little bit if I did this every day.