Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093093152263860/episodes/16818915110321053942
The final week of August.
The lingering heat of summer still hung heavy in the air as I arrived at Toka’s house once again today.
“Ah, Ryo-kun, good morning!”
Former national beauty queen Toka lay sprawled on her bed in her pajamas, fiddling with her phone. Completely defenseless… no, she didn’t even seem to aware that I’d entered the room. I guess it’s a sign of trust, but today, that’s a huge problem!
“Toka, hurry up—”
“Ryo-kun, look at this!”
“Hm?”
Toka beamed as she showed me her phone screen. It displayed a photo of her clinging to my arm. One of the pictures from our recent trip. Objectively speaking, it was so utterly cheesy it made me cringe just looking at it!
“This is us, Ryo-kun and me, during summer break.”
“I can see that, but…”
“Can I post this photo on SNS?”
“Of course not!”
Asahina Toka is currently obsessed with her phone’s camera. I get it, but she’s like ten laps behind the times with this obsession!
“Really? I can’t? I just want to show off my boyfriend.”
“I said no! Who the hell are you trying to show off to!?”
“Everyone in the whole country.”
“I am not exactly boyfriend material you can brag about!”
“You are!”
Toka turned away, looking sulky.
As someone still in training and now also her official manager, I had no choice but to reject that proposal. Because Asahina Toka’s SNS was getting way more attention than we ever imagined!
“You are getting tons of job offers in DMs.”
“No way~”
Followers kept increasing daily. Work offers from companies kept pouring in one after another. Everyone should know Toka is retired, but because she showed her face herself, requests started coming from all over.
My job lately has been to politely decline each one. I could just ignore them, but I don’t want to limit Toka’s future… or so I tell myself.
“Anyway, SNS is over for now! Or rather, hurry up and get ready!”
“Ready?”
“School starts today! You can’t be late on the first day of the second semester!”
“I forgot.”
She forgot? No wonder she has no sense of urgency. Knowing Toka, I figured she’d take forever to get ready, so coming early was the right call.
“Ryo-kun, fix my hair.”
Toka sat up from the bed and crouched down in front of me. In her hand was the comb I’d given her someday.
“You can do it yourself now, Toka.”
“Hurry up, it’s your job.”
“Guh.”
In the end, I took the comb and gently brushed Toka’s hair.
Has her hair grown a bit? Her bangs were almost covering her eyes, looking a little bothersome.
“Toka, don’t you have any hairpins?”
“Hairpins? Why?”
“Because your bangs are about to get in your eyes.”
“Maybe there are some in that box over there…”
“That box?”
Toka pointed to a white box, slightly smaller than a lunchbox, sitting on the floor. What’s this? I don’t remember it being here until recently. I reached out and pulled the box closer.
“Is it in here?”
“Yeah. My fashion stuff is in there.”
“Fashion stuff?”
“This is my makeup pouch. I bought it recently. I kind of had one before, you know? But I thought I’d try getting a proper one.”
“Whaaaaaaat?! That Toka started carrying a makeup pouch?! That lazy Toka?!”
“My boyfriend is being incredibly rude.”
“Well, it’s just so unexpected…”
“Because I want Ryo-kun to tell me I’m cuter.”
“Huh?”
“I want Ryo-kun to tell me I’m cuter.”
Toka fidgeted with her fingers, looking up at me with those eyes. It felt like a total foul.
“…Well, I already think you’re plenty cute.”
“It doesn’t mean anything unless you say it out loud.”
“Huh, right here and now?”
“Right here and now.”
Stared at intently, completely cornered.
No choice… I have to say it…!
“…Toka, you’re cute.”
“Mm.”
“You’re super cute.”
“Mm.”
“You’re the cutest in the whole world.”
“That’s going too far.”
Toka smiled contentedly and leaned her head against my shoulder. Damn, my heart’s about to overheat on the very first day of the second semester.
“Well then, how about I try a hairpin today?”
Saying that, Toka swept her bangs aside and pinned them back with a pure white floral hairpin. Seeing more of her forehead than usual felt incredibly fresh. With Toka’s looks, it’s really unfair how anything she wears suits her perfectly.
“Does it look good?”
“It looks good.”
“Ehehe, keep training me to be more to your liking, Ryo-kun.”
“I think you’re using the word ‘training’ wrong!”
“Not at all.”
To be honest, going back to school after the break was a little scary.
With all the commotion, I was nervous about how the people close to me would react to Asahina Toka. I’d already declared we were dating… Just imagining the class’s reaction made my stomach hurt.
But I had to push through…! Because I wanted Tohka to have a normal student life.
“Alright, hair’s good! We’re gonna be late, so get changed into your uniform now!”
“Ryo-kun, help me take this off—”
“It’s embarrassing, do it yourself.”
“It’s embarrassing for me to have Ryo-kun take it off too…”
“Then don’t say it!”
◇
“We’re gonna be late!”
“Ryo-kun, hurry up! Look, I can’t tie my tie!”
“Mouu! Come over here!”
Toka and I pushed and pulled our way to the front door. She was the one who started dawdling right before school, even though she was the one saying hurry up! I quickly stood up the collar of Toka’s shirt and grabbed her tie.
“Ryo-kun, hurry up, hurry!”
“Got it, got it! Don’t move!”
She kept urging me on even though I was desperately trying to tie her tie. When my fingertips lightly brushed her shoulder, I felt Toka lean her body forward slightly.
“Ryo-kun, could you look a little closer?”
“Closer?”
Not really understanding, I did as she said and moved my face closer to the knot. Then, I felt Toka’s lips at a distance where I could feel her breath.
“I love you.”
Just like that, Toka gently tilted her body and lightly touched my lips. Along with the surprise, a sensation like something tightening deep in my chest shot through me.
“Hey!”
“Mmm… just a little…”
Soft and warm. The unexpected kiss made my mind go completely blank, and my body froze. The chaos at the entrance, the tie knot—everything became irrelevant. Toka was so close I could barely breathe. Though her lips touched mine only for an instant, the heat lingering deep in my chest was extraordinary.
“Wh-what are you doing?! We’re gonna be late!”
“Hehe, if you tied my tie every day, Ryo-kun, we could kiss every day.”
Toka grinned contentedly, lightly squeezing my hand.
Damn it, my heart was pounding so hard I couldn’t tie it properly.
I squeezed her hand back as we both put on our shoes.
Stepping outside the front door—finally, our first day back for the second semester had arrived.
Even before we reached the school gate, the stares from everyone around us were already painful. Classmates we passed on the way to school, even kids I didn’t know, stopped in their tracks to catch a glimpse of Toka.
“Hey, is that Toka-chan? No way…”
Whispers like that drifted over.
It kinda pissed me off. She’d been around before, you know? Word of the cultural festival and her social media buzz had apparently made Asahina Toka even more popular around here.
“Asahina san! Can I have your autograph?!”
The moment we passed through the school gate, a crowd instantly gathered around Toka, shouting things like that!
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