Volume 4 - CH 2

“…practice?”

“Ye-yes.”

Arisa gave a small nod with a blush on her cheeks.

“Um, to do with the lips right from the beginning… is embarrassing, so..”

“That’s… true, I guess.”

Yuzuru nodded while twitching his cheeks.

And then talked to himself inwardly.

(Ah, I was in too much of a hurry…)

If you think about it calmly, people usually start with lighter skin-to-skin contact.

If you try to kiss her out of the blue, it’s only natural that she will reject you.

(Ah, not good… I didn’t spare a little room to adapt…)

Despite his efforts to act in a relaxed manner, and the fact that he thought he was relaxed…

In reality, he had lost his ability to make calm decisions without realizing it.

“Yuzuru-san?　Is something wrong?”

Arisa called out to Yuzuru, who had fallen silent.　

Yuzuru came back to himself.

“No, I was just thinking… what exactly do you mean by practice?”

Hurriedly, Yuzuru covered it up.

Arisa, on the other hand, answered Yuzuru’s question in a small voice while blushing.

“Well, you know… start with things other than lips, like, say… cheeks.”

Reflexively, Yuzuru turned his gaze to Arisa’s cheek.

It was white, soft, and smooth.

If touched, it would probably be soft and pliable.

“Yes, you’re right. Then… from… cheeks it is.”

Yuzuru embraced Arisa as naturally as he could.

She closed her eyelids as if to accept it.

And…

“A-as I thought, doing it on the face is no good!!”

When Arisa said that, Yuzuru stopped moving.

The cheek that Yuzuru was about to press his lips against was colored red.

Arisa squirmed in embarrassment, then quickly looked up at Yuzuru with a huffed expression.

“No, um… it’s not that I don’t like getting it from Yuzuru -san, it’s just that…”

“It’s okay. I understand.”

He knew that Arisa was simply embarrassed.

…If that wasn’t the case, Yuzuru was confident that he wouldn’t be able to recover.

“It feels like if lips are at an advanced level, cheeks are like intermediate level.”

“Th-that’s right. We’re beginners, so let’s start with the beginner’s part.”

It was not clear whether there really is a beginner or advanced level in kissing generally, but…

That’s how it was between Yuzuru and Arisa.

“But what exactly is …a beginner-level kiss?”

“That’s… um…”

Yuzuru and Arisa, who had little experience in romance, could not think of a place to kiss other than the cheek and lips. 

So they started getting troubled over it…

“That’s right. How about something like this?”

Thinking of something, Yuzuru gently took Arisa’s hand.

Arisa tilted her head puzzledly.

“Yuzuru-san?”

Yuzuru smiled at Arisa and then looked at her white hand.

Even though she usually washed the dishes and did other household chores, her hands were very clean and free of any chapped skin.

Her nails, cut short and neat, shone brightly.

Her slender fingers had not even a single hair on them.

On her ring finger was a shiny silver ring that Yuzuru had gifted her.

It was clear that she had been taking good care of it every day.

To the back of the hand of such a girl as sacred as white snow…

“Ah…”

Yuzuru gently pressed his lips.

Arisa let out a small squeal at the feel of his lips on her hand.

“How about this?”

“This is… fine.”

Arisa turned her face away slightly and said this while keeping one of her hands on her chest.

Then, gently, she turned her gaze to Yuzuru.　

“Um… could you do that again, please? …And this time, after changing posture.”

“Posture?”

Arisa gave a small nod and stood up gently.

She then held out the back of her hand towards Yuzuru.

“Um, I always… admired this sort of thing…”

“Ah… I see.”

Yuzuru stood up and turned to face Arisa.　

Then he got down on one knee and gently took Arisa’s hand.

Yuzuru looked at Arisa and kissed her hand again.

“What do you think?”

“…It’s really nice.”

Arisa held down her bosom with her other hand and replied with a look of ecstasy.

Her eyes were transfixed and her body was trembling with pleasure, a very sensual appearance.

Yuzuru looked at Arisa and kissed her again.

“Mm…”

Letting out a small gasp, Arisa’s body squirmed.

Her legs trembled, and then she collapsed to a heap

Yuzuru gently held Arisa in his arms.

He supported the weak-looking Arisa and slowly lowered her back.

Arisa sat down in a flat seat.

Her knees seem to have given out.

“… Was it that good?”

Yuzuru asked Arisa, who was trembling with her face turned down.

The ears peeking out from her hair were dyed bright red, although the bangs hid her face from view.

“…Yes.”

Supporting herself with both hands and breathing hard, Arisa answered.

Then she slowly looked up.

“Can we continue this another time, please?”

“Okay… But before that, you have to do it too, Arisa.”

Then Yuzuru held out the back of his hand.

Arisa gave a small nod and gently took Yuzuru’s hand.

And slowly, while shivering a little…

She pressed her lips against it slightly.

“How is it?”

“Not bad. What about you…?”

Yuzuru gently narrowed his eyes and answered.

But… it wasn’t enough to give out his knees.

“It’s not bad… for me either.”

Arisa, on the other hand, also seems to prefer being kissed on the back of the hand compared to the latter.

It was not what I was expecting.

She tilted her head as if to say something like that.

“Well, we’ll just have to keep practicing.”

“That’s… right. Yeah, I’ll also look into it.”

For the time being, the practice of kissing came to an end.

Arisa regained her strength and straightened her posture.

“By the way, Yuzuru-san. It’s already cherry blossom season, isn’t it?”

Suddenly, Arisa changed the subject.

Yuzuru also followed up with a nod of his head.

“They’ve already started to bloom.”

It may take a little longer for them to be at their best, though.

The buds are already starting to open here and there.

“Why don’t we go see the cherry blossoms during the spring vacation?　…just the two of us.”

Unusually, it was Arisa’s invitation for a date.

Arisa had her both hands clenched into fists.

“I’ll make you a nice meal.”

“I appreciate that. But…”

Yuzuru scratched his cheek, remembering his plans for the spring break.

“Is it not possible?”

“I have plans for the spring break… My family is going on an overseas trip.”

Every year during the spring vacation, the Takasegawa family would take a trip abroad.

Since the flight and hotel arrangements had already been made, there was no way he could cancel them.

And while spending time with Arisa is important, spending time with family is not something that can be neglected.

“I see… Then it can’t be helped…”

Arisa slumped her shoulders in disappointment.

In fact, Yuzuru was going to tell her that he had plans during the spring break and that he could not go on a date with her…

He regretted that he had hurt her a little, as he had unavoidably turned down her invitation.

“Well, I’m not going to be busy for the entire spring break, so I can free up some days at the beginning and the end…”

“…no, you’ll still have to prepare, right?. I’m sure you’ll be tired when you get back. I can’t force you to come.”

She said, shaking her head.

This was out of concern for Yuzuru, but for Yuzuru who wanted to do cherry blossom viewing with Arisa, it was a little disappointing.

“No, well, it’s not a big issue if it’s just cherry blossom viewing…”

“Let’s do it in April. After Yuzuru-san comes back. In a perfect situation.”

Yuzuru nodded at Arisa’s suggestion.

“Okay. That’s a good idea.”

Cherry blossoms won’t run away…

It was not like you can only go cherry blossom viewing during the spring vacation, although there is a limit to the time of year.

“Still, a trip… huh. Where are you going?”

“New Caledonia this time.”

“…oh.”

Apparently, she couldn’t imagine what kind of place “New Caledonia” was.

Arisa didn’t seem to know what to say and gave a subtle, unpolished reply

“…Um, I’ll be lonely, so could you give me a call?　Few minutes will do.”

Yuzuru nodded in response to Arisa’s adorable request.

“Got it… I’ll miss you, too. And I want to hear your voice.”

“fu fu…”

At Yuzuru’s words, Arisa gave a small smile.

Then she stuck out her little finger.

“It’s a promise, right?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

Gently, Yuzuru and Arisa intertwined their fingers.