Chapter 1:
Close Contact! A Day in the Life of Aijo Rentaro!
FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD AIJO RENTARO WAS WALKING around town. There were few words to describe what he was feeling—but “over the moon” was as close as language could get. He was about to go on a date with the love of his life.
Dear reader, for today’s excursion, let us trace his footsteps over the course of a single day.
Saturday, 9 a.m.
“Hope you haven’t been waiting long, Hakari!”
Rentaro came running to the entrance of the clock tower in the shopping district. The young lady he had arranged to meet was already standing there.
“Heh heh, I only just got here. Don’t you worry!” she said with a dulcet smile. Her name was Hanazono Hakari, and she was Rentaro’s girlfriend.
As Rentaro paused to get his breathing steady, Hakari stared intently at his face.
“Hm?” Rentaro scratched his cheek, puzzled. “Is there something on my face?”
“You’ve got the same handsome eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth on you, Rentaro-kun. You’re still the hottest guy in the world!” She smiled gently; one could practically hear the hearts trailing at the end of her sentence.
“Ngh!”
Rentaro clutched his chest on pure reflex, feeling as if his heart were about to explode. Fortunately for him, his heart throbbed at a steady rhythm, and it did not, in fact, burst into tiny pieces. If that degree of stimulation was enough to destroy him, he would have stopped functioning a long time ago.
“Wanna get going, then?”
With supreme nonchalance, Rentaro took Hakari’s hand and started walking.
Hakari’s breath hitched slightly. “Of course!” She squeezed his hand in return.
They walked along for a while, hand in hand. Feeling her small, soft hands against his skin was a joy. Eventually, they arrived at their destination: a cat café.
“I stumbled on this place not that long ago and fell in love with one of the kitties here!” said Hakari.
Yes, coming here had been her idea.
When they took their seats, a cat immediately climbed onto Hakari’s lap. “Oh, look! They’re already cuddling up! See, Rentaro-kun? This one looks just like you!”
“I-I guess?”
The subject in question didn’t appear to be quite convinced, although the cat certainly did have the thick eyebrows and determined gaze that one would associate with Rentaro.
“Goooood little kitty.” Hakari gently stroked the cat’s back.
Rentaro watched her with fond eyes. “This is kinda embarrassing. It’s sort of like you’re petting me…”
Perhaps it was because Hakari’s earlier words still rang in his ears. Rentaro scratched his cheek, which had reddened ever so slightly.
Seeing her boyfriend so flustered, a somewhat mischievous smile lit up Hakari’s face. “Heh heh.” She leaned forward. “I’ll give you a good petting too!”
When Hakari stroked his head from across the other side of the table, Rentaro stiffened for a moment in mute shock. Before long, however, he relaxed under Hakari’s touch. Her slender fingers combed through his stiff hair, tickling him slightly. Neither of them spoke.
Just as they were enjoying themselves, however…
“Eek?”
Because Hakari had changed her posture, the cat on her lap also went on the move…right into her skirt. There, it started licking Hakari’s inner thighs.
“Ahh!” Hakari let out a cute shriek. “My goodness, what a cheeky little thing!”
She promptly accosted the audacious feline and started stroking its forehead, scowling all the while. Although she wore an expression of stern authority, her thoughts were an entirely different story.
Eh heh heh heh heh heh. Being licked by a cat that looks like Rentaro-kun is just like being licked by Rentaro-kun himself—in fact, this makes me want to ask him to lick me even more, and in all kinds of places too!
Hakari pictured Rentaro licking her in a very naughty spot, her imagination running wild. Her cheeks flushed, her breathing turned ragged, and her heart pounded relentlessly. Her breasts rose and fell whenever the cat rubbed against her underwear. It took all of her self-restraint to stop herself from moaning. And then her drenched honeypot… (The author has omitted any further description to avoid having to change the book’s rating.)
Saturday, 12 p.m.
Eventually, Hakari bid Rentaro farewell, saying she had practice to attend. Rentaro’s next destination was a space in front of the local zoo. When he arrived at the rendezvous spot, a girl with blonde pigtails was already waiting for him.
“Hi there, Karane! Hope you weren’t here long!”
“It’s not like I was waiting for you or anything!”
The girl who had immediately gone full tsundere was Inda Karane. She was also Rentaro’s girlfriend.
“Wanna get going, then?”
Rentaro, who was used to Karane’s mode of communication by now, mentally translated what she said to “Don’t worry. You didn’t keep me waiting at all.” Then, he took Karane’s hand and started walking toward the zoo’s entrance.
She stiffened for a moment. Then, after a pause, she let out a “Hmph.”
Judging by the fact that all she did was turn her slightly flushed face away, she certainly wasn’t averse to his touch.
Then, at the park…
“Hmph… It’s kinda cool, I guess. Strong and imposing. That tough, thick-looking skin makes it look like some old relic.”
“Yeah, rhinos are strong and cool.”
“Hmph… The waddling is cute. It’s kinda agile and beautiful when it swims too.”
“Penguins are great whether they’re in water or out of it.”
“Hmph… The way it goes around with bamboo in its mouth, it’s sorta like a cute, fluffy toy.”
“Pandas are so cute that you’d think they were the result of an alien intervention or something.”
That was how the date went. Karane toned down her prickly side with each enclosure they visited, and Rentaro watched her, smiling.
“Oh, it’s the petting zoo,” he remarked. “Do you wanna stop by, Karane?”
“Well, fine, if you’re that insistent!”
“Yeah, I really wanna go! Come on!”
Although it was Rentaro’s suggestion, it was actually Karane who had been staring fixedly at the sign. He merely gave her a gentle push of encouragement. Karane knew that too, although she was unable to show it honestly. Seeing her attempt at nonchalance made Rentaro swoon.
“Hey, it’s a bunny! They said you’re allowed to cuddle it! Hey, Karane, you try it too!” He egged her on.
“Hmph…”
Karane picked up the rabbit as if she had no other choice, her attitude one of long suffering. Once she’d lifted it, however, her eyes started sparkling. She handled the creature carefully, as if it were made of glass.
“It’s so soft and fluffy…” mewed Karane.
“Yeah, so cute.”
“The way its nose twitches is so adorable. And if you listen carefully, it sounds like it’s humming. What a fascinating little guy.”
“Yeah, so cute.”
“It smells faintly of grass. I can’t get enough of it!”
“Yeah, so cute.”
All of a sudden, Karane whipped her head to the side, away from the rabbit, scowling. “But it’s not like I think that way!” She must have exhausted her entire soft side.
Looking away from the animal, however, meant that her gaze fell elsewhere…right on Rentaro’s eyes.
“Yeah, so cute.”
“Ngh?!”
It was at that moment she discovered that Rentaro had been looking at Karane and calling her cute the whole time.
“Bunnies are cute, but the way you dote on them is the cutest thing in the galaxy. I want to watch you do this forever, Karane.”
“Wh-what…?!”
Karane’s face turned bright red at Rentaro’s frankness. Before long, she reached her limit. She seized Rentaro in a frontal embrace.
“I-I’m so happy,” she whispered, her true feelings reflected in her actions. Yet, as the seconds passed, her grip tightened. “But it’s not like I think that way!” she exclaimed.
“Now it’s a girlfriend petting zoo!”
For his part, Rentaro seemed nothing but grateful. Turning a lover’s embrace into a bear hug was very Karane, after all.
Saturday, 3 p.m.
Karane parted ways with Rentaro, saying that she had plans with a friend. Rentaro headed off to his next meeting spot: the library. In front of the building stood a small girl, fidgeting restlessly.
“Were you waiting long, Shizuka-chan?”
The girl turned her head in Rentaro’s direction. Her unruly hair jolted adorably in mute surprise.
‹I, too, arrived presently.›
The girl who used a text-to-speech app to repurpose lines from books as a proxy for her own voice was Yoshimoto Shizuka. She was also Rentaro’s girlfriend.
‹Let us sally forth.› ‹To Shangri-la.›
With his smiling girlfriend in tow, Rentaro entered the building. “Is there anything that came out this month you’d recommend?” he asked when they reached the new arrivals section.
‹You may entrust it to my capable hands.›