Volume 4 - CH 31

“…wow, it’s beautiful.”

Yuzuru narrowed his eyes at the night view spreading out below him.

It was not a million dollars view, but it was at least a hundred thousand dollars view.

“I didn’t know there was a place like this nearby.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

This place was an observatory located a short distance away from the apartment building where Yuzuru lived.

It was the anniversary of Yuzuru and Arisa’s engagement.

But it would be tiring for both of them to prepare all kinds of gifts or go out for dinner just because it’s their anniversary.

But doing nothing was not an option either.

So Arisa searched for a romantic place with a beautiful view beforehand.

“…Yuzuru-san.”

Arisa gently took Yuzuru’s hand in hers.

Then she leaned her body closer to his.

Yuzuru also hugged Arisa’s shoulder.

“Arisa.”

“Yes.”

The two of them stared at each other.

Their faces were reflected in each other’s eyes.

Slowly, their faces drew closer.

And then…

Their lips connected.

“…We did it.”

“Yes. …We did.”

Arisa leaned against Yuzuru as if her tension had been released and she had lost her strength.

Yuzuru gently propped her up and sat her down on the bench.

The two of them sat close to each other, without moving.

A silence enveloped the area.

“I’ve been anxious… for a long time.”

Arisa said softly.

“Anxious?”

“…I was wondering if Yuzuru-san was getting irritated.”

“Irritated?　Me?”

Yuzuru tilted his head.

He did not remember Arisa doing anything particularly unpleasant to him.

Unless, of course, it’s a trivial matter of everyday life.

All such things were resolved on the spot.

“No, I mean…”

“Yeah?”

“About something like …we couldn’t kiss at all.”

Arisa said with an awkward look on her face.

It was true that Arisa was too shy to kiss him lip to lip.

However, Yuzuru and Arisa have been dating for …only about two months.

They were both in high school.

“I’m not sure how couples generally progress, but …I don’t think it is that weird, though?”

Since Arisa was Yuzuru’s first girlfriend, he didn’t know what “normal” was.

However, he didn’t feel any discomfort.

‘So this is what it’s like’ was how he intended to feel as he dated Arisa.

“No, but… I  thought guys want to do that, and they like girls who are more proactive… And if the girl is too naive, they might think it’s annoying or something.”

“…Did someone tell you that?”

Ayaka and Chiharu are two names that immediately come up as people who try to interfere in Yuzuru and Arisa’s love affairs.

However, although they may make fun of her, they were not the type of people who would instigate or pressure Arisa to do something like that.

In fact, they would probably tell her to tell them if Yuzuru made any strange demands.

So, the only other thing he could think of was Arisa’s family…

“No… I read it online.”

Arisa replied as she played with her hair.

That’s certainly something that could be found on the internet.

“It’s not like I thought something like that, and you don’t have to push yourself.”

Then Yuzuru inquired.

“…Could it be that you were pushing yourself earlier?”

“No way!　No, I was nervous, but… I also wanted to… do it with Yuzuru-san.”

Arisa replied embarrassedly. 

…Yuzuru was a little relieved to know that she was not forcing herself.

“But right now, more than that is… scary.”

“Yeah, it’s okay. Let’s proceed little by little.”

Yuzuru stroked Arisa’s hair as he said this.

He said this with the intention of reassuring her… but Arisa looked like she was about to cry.

“But… you were going to do that, weren’t you?”

“…what?”

“…um.”

Arisa stuttered a bit and then turned bright red.

“L-lewd things…”

It was Yuzuru’s turn to go red this time.

“N-no way!　No, of course, it’s not that I don’t want to either…”

Yuzuru scratched his cheek.

Yuzuru is also a healthy boy, so it is not that he is not interested in such things.

But…

“It’s a little early for us, I think… I don’t think it’s a good idea to let momentum take over or anything like that.”

He wanted to cherish the first experience.

At the very least, Yuzuru wanted to make sure he had no regrets.

“B-but you were expecting it.. weren’t you? It’s a sleepover. The internet said…”

“No… this time, I just wanted to have a good time with you. Of course, it’s not that I wasn’t conscious of it.”

Yuzuru didn’t have any desire to get such things done during this holiday.

He thought that just being able to spend time under the same roof with Arisa was fun enough, and in fact, it was.

There was still plenty of time left, and he didn’t want to force the relationship to move forward.　

“But… you had it in your medicine box, didn’t you?”

“…medicine box?”

What is she talking about?　Yuzuru tilted his head.

Then he finally remembered that he had a contraceptive in his medicine cabinet.

“T-th… that’s…”

“I knew it… You wanted to do it, didn’t you? But you refrained from doing so… because you were being thoughtful of me…”

“Wait a minute… Let’s settle down for a moment.”

Yuzuru said this in order to calm down Arisa and himself.

He took a deep breath and answered.

“I didn’t keep it because I wanted to do it.”

“..But, didn’t you think that might happen?”

“Yes. But it wasn’t me who was thinking about it…it was my mother.”

“…Yes?”

His mother told him that “You don’t know if that might happen“, so he bought a contraceptive in case it did.

Yuzuru told Arisa honestly.

…Telling his girlfriend that his mother had told him to buy a contraceptive made Yuzuru feel somewhat subtle.

“…So you’re saying that you didn’t buy it out of your own free will, Yuzuru-san?”

“No… Well, I didn’t trust my own rationality, and I bought it just in case, so it’s not like it wasn’t my choice.”

“…But you didn’t buy it because you wanted to do it?”

“Well, that’s true. I didn’t intend to use it.”

When Yuzuru said that…

Arisa gave a deep sigh of relief.

Then she covered her face with her hands.

“…I was overthinking it, wasn’t I?”

Then, slowly, she looked up.

Her face had turned so red that it was clearly visible even in the dark.

“I jumped to the wrong conclusions… I’m really sorry.”

The expression on her face did not show the anxiety she had shown earlier.

“No …I shouldn’t have put it away so carelessly in that place either. I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

“No, it was my fault for looking in the medicine box in the first place.”

We both apologized to each other.

It was my bad, I was in the wrong… The exchange continued.

“No, it’s not. The one at fault is m…”

Yuzuru stopped Arisa’s lips with his index finger.

Then put his hand lightly on her chin.

“…”

Arisa closed her eyes.　

Yuzuru lightly lifted Arisa’s chin.

They met lip to lip.

“Anyway, I can kiss you, right?”

“Yes… of course.”

At Yuzuru’s question, Arisa answered while looking away in embarrassment.

Yuzuru lightly grabbed Arisa’s shoulder.

“…Yuzuru-san?”

Then he hugged her tightly.

And then slowly, over time…

He pushed her down.

“U-um…”

Yuzuru covered Arisa’s lips with his own.

“Not that I want to do it right now, and not that I want to force you to do it, but…”

It wouldn’t be fair to tell this to Arisa.

Yuzuru thought about that but still said it clearly.

“Someday… I want to make love to you.”

Yuzuru stated clearly, looking into Arisa’s eyes.

On the other hand, Arisa’s eyes widened… and her gaze shifted left and right in embarrassment.

Then she looked into Yuzuru’s eyes and answered.

“I am also… hoping that, eventually, we can…definitely make love.”

She clearly stated it admirably.

Yuzuru brought his face closer to Arisa’s again.

Their lips met each other.

“Hey, Mom!　What are those people doing…?”

“Shh!　Don’t look!”

The two of them hurriedly pulled themselves up.

Arisa-chan’s Anxiety Degree: 20% → 0%