“All righty, Natsume. Here’s to another successful attack! Cheers!”
After school on Monday, two days after the Painted Heads on Pikes scheme, Kurumi and I held a celebration in the Stargazing Club room, just as we’d planned.
The usual spread was set up on the table—potato chips, cookies, chocolate, a liter carton of orange juice, and two plastic cups.
“It went off without a hitch!” Kurumi said, cheerily tearing open the cookies.
“Yeah. I’m glad, but… You’re not letting it go to your head, right?”
“Not in the slightest. Been a while since we had to sneak around. I was kinda stressed out.”
“Oh, yeah. Not since we made the insult stamps, right?”
Kurumi nodded and devoured a cookie. “Mmph… Yeah, your veranda idea was good. Thanks to that, no one spotted us. Excellent work, Natsume.”
“It was so early, we probably would have been fine even if we hadn’t used the verandas.”
“Easy to say in hindsight. Just take the compliment!”
She was right. I had a bad habit of arguing with anyone who praised me. I was pleased, of course; I really was! I just didn’t know how to accept stuff like that.
Feeling uncomfortable, I reached for a cookie. Kurumi did the same, and our fingers bumped. Then our eyes met.
On reflex, I tried to pull away. But she didn’t let me. Instead, Kurumi grabbed my hand, wound her fingers through mine, and squeezed. Then she smiled, looking thoroughly satisfied.
“…What?” I asked.
“Hmm? Nothing. Never you mind.”
She gave my hand a tug for some reason, then brought it to her cheek. Now my fingers were between her soft skin and that ash-gray underlayer.
Her palm was soft, and the back of her hand was smooth. I felt a sensation, half-ticklish, half-warm, and the information overloaded my brain.
“…You’re gonna get crumbs on your face,” I said.
“No, I won’t. You’ve only touched the individually wrapped stuff.”
This was true, and I was well aware of it.
Did she know that I was just deflecting out of embarrassment…? Kurumi’s face melted, and she rubbed her cheek against my hand. The whole time, she never took her eyes off my face.
A bewitching silence followed, setting off sparks in the back of my brain. It lasted nearly a minute. Then she let go and stood up.
She came right up next to me, her voice somewhere between a whisper and a purr. “Natsume… Let’s make out.”
I looked up. Her eyes gleamed, locked on mine.
“Don’t you want to…?” she asked. “Say something.”
“I’m not…against it, just…”
Kurumi’s hands were reaching for me, like they were trying to get back to where they belonged. My heart longed for her the same way. How could I refuse? I didn’t want to say no. I was lost in the moment.
“Come on, Natsume.”
“…Okay, fine.”
I shifted my chair back, and Kurumi stepped in even closer. Knees together, she sat down on my lap, like I was a knight carrying a princess. Then she twisted her upper body, put her hands around my shoulders, and looked down at me from only centimeters away.
Kurumi put her cat-eared newsboy cap on the table and hooked her hair behind her ears. Looking faintly embarrassed, she wrapped her hand around the back of my head.
“Okay, I’m gonna start…,” she said.
“…Go ahead.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Without further hesitation, our mouths locked together.
“Mmph… Smooch… Ahh…mmm… Natsu— …Mmm!”
How many times had we kissed? We were way past holding back.
The moment our lips touched, our tongues entwined. They reached out to each other, invading the other’s mouth, searching for a place to be. But no force on Earth could make them settle down; they constantly sought new ground, new stimulation. Our tongues were jostling for control of the domain.
It was a passionate, sensual kiss, like one between old lovers.
As our tongues led the way, oxygen deprivation consumed my thoughts. Concerns like reason, instinct, world peace, and even the significance of this kiss all grew hazy and chaotic, driven to the back of my mind. Worries and motives were simplified and forcibly cleared away.
Soon, my mind became incapable of perceiving anything but the wet, sticky sounds of her lips on mine.
“Gasp…that was great, Natsume! Hahh…mmm…mmph!”
Kurumi smashed her lips against mine even harder, and my tongue rose to the challenge. She noticed, and I felt the corners of her mouth turn up.
“Smooch… Mmph… You’re incorrigible, Natsume…”
Her hot breath washed over me, and I thought, Why not? I love kissing you, too.