I pat Shihoâs head and whisper the words to her.
âIâm sorry I made you feel lonely, okay?â
Then she smiles with a small, beaming smile.
âEhe⦠I was lonely, but since you patted me, Iâll forgive you. I feel so happy. My heart is hot and my body is warm.â
Although it was already the end of September, Shiho was still slightly sweating. The cheeks are bright red and her breath is somewhat hot.
âHey, Iâm going to open the window, okay? Otherwise, Iâm going to melt away like this.â
Saying this, she slightly shifted the curtains and opened the window.
A cool breeze comes into the room. However, Shihoâs face remained red.
Thatâs how excited she must be.
Will there ever be another girl in the future who will be so happy just to be touched by me?
No, I donât think so.
I can assure you of that. Thatâs how much Shiho cares about me.
âBut it pains me to think thatâs why youâre leaving again todayâ¦. Hey, Kotaro-kun? Would you like to be my pet? It comes with three delicious meals. And Iâll take good care of you and walk you every day.â
âWell, thatâs a little â¦â
Youâre kidding, right?
Well, letâs just call it a joke. Shiho is a very affectionate person, so she might be thinking about such things.
âBut yeah, Iâm sad that I only get to see you until curfew every time. I want to talk with Shiho more, too.â
âReally!? Then, thenâ¦, Kotaro-kun, will you buy a smart phone too? Iâve been looking forward to it for a long time, you know. I want to have a lot of communication with Kotaro-kun. I want to keep in touch with Kotaro-kun.â
When I think back, Shiho seems to be enjoying herself in the âexchange diaryâ that is going on in class. I am sure she has many things she wants to convey via smartphone as well.
âBut I ⦠see? Itâs a bit of a hassle, isnât it? So I couldnât say much about it because I thought that if Kotaro-kun bought a smartphone, I might constrain him.â
Shiho certainly didnât say much about such things. She did say something along the lines of, âWhy donât you get a smartphone?â I didnât expect her to be so eager.
She seemed to be concerned about me in her own way.
âI understand that you may be busy at the moment, but will you buy â¦â¦Â one after the festival is over? Will you call and text me a lot?â
âYeah, right. I was thinking of buying one soon too. After the festival is over, we can go shopping together.â
I nodded, and instantly Shiho stood up.
âYay! Ufufu, thanks. Now I can finally get some attention from Kotaro-kun in the eveningâªâ
She jumped up and down as if excited, and now she jumped on me.
âOops.â
I hurried to catch her and fell straight onto the bed.
She clung to me tightly, rubbing her cheek against my chest.
Her face was still bright red.
She looked like a boiled octopus.
ââ â¦â¦â¦â¦ ââ
We embraced each other silently for a little while.
Shihoâs body is small and looks like it will shatter as easily as glass, but â¦â¦ itâs hot, soft, and smells good.
She buried her face in my chest and said in a muffled voice.
âIâm so nervous I think Iâm going to get a nosebleedâ¦. I donât know if Iâll be able to sleep today.â
âNo, youâre going to have to get some sleep, okay? If you are late or miss class any more, you might not be able to advance to the next grade with us.â
âThatâs no good. I want to be in the same class as Kotaro-kun. â¦â¦ But it would be nice to be Kotaro-kunâs junior. I think it would be great if I could call you Senpai âª.â
That would certainly be cute, butâ¦
âBut Iâm going to miss our time together.â
âThatâs true. Then Iâll have to study hard. Iâll call you at night and you can teach me a lot, okay?â
âAs long as itâs something I understand, Iâm happy to help.â
âEh? Iâll call you even if you donât understand. Letâs talk a lot.â
âThat sounds like fun, too. Well, I donât think I can study.â
âUfufu, thatâs also a great way to learn, isnât it? Thatâs what you call it.â
âThe best part, yeah.â
âThe conversation is very simple and soothing.
Shiho is fine, although she looks a little sad.
She is no longer having a hard time like she did during the overnight learning program.
Shiho is happy that she was able to break off her relationship with Ryuzaki without incident.
Really, Iâm gladâ¦â¦Shiho is not in Ryuzakiâs romantic comedy right now. She is outside the story, taking it easy.
Iâm in the annoying position and involved in a lot of things, but Iâm more than happy that â¦â¦ sheâs happy.
Well, the story without her tends to be all valleys or â¦â¦ heavier overall than I imagined.
But thatâs fine. Thatâs good. Shihoâs happiness is my only wish.