Episode 20: [Yuri Friends] Wrapped in Those Hot Lips.

I traced the curve of Hiyori’s cheek with my thumb, and let my finger slide down the line of her nose.
And then — my finger was drawn, irresistibly, toward those defencelessly parted lips.

(…they look soft.)

My index finger made contact with her lower lip.
A pliant, springy give, and warm dampness.
With a little pressure, the lip yielded easily, reshaping itself around my finger.

I traced the fine vertical creases of her lips slowly with the pad of my finger.

The lips that had been pecking at mine just moments ago.

The lips that bewildered me every time we kissed.

Now just a sweet little object, to be toyed with by my fingertip.

(…she doesn’t seem like Hiyori at all.)

…Right. This was revenge.
I was always the one made to do as I was told — surely this much couldn’t hurt…

Steeped in that strange sense of superiority, somewhere between revenge and possessiveness, I got carried away — and tried to push my finger between the gap of those lips—

Snap.

“…Huh?”

My fingertip disappeared into a warm darkness.
Hiyori, who had supposedly been asleep, had taken my finger into her mouth.

“…?! Hiyo, ri…!?”

I tried in surprise to pull it back.
It wouldn’t come free.
Hiyori’s tongue moved, slick and slow, coiling around my finger, refusing to let it go.

Chu, chuu…

The suction of soft inner flesh against my skin, and the rough, grazing drag of her tongue across my fingertip.
In the quiet room, a wet, warm sound rang out.

“Mm…?! St-stop, let go…!”

Hot.
So hot — the blood in every part of my body felt close to boiling from my fingertips outward.

Several seconds passed, or what felt like an eternity.
With a soft release, Hiyori opened her mouth.

My freed fingertip trailed a silver thread that stretched slowly and snapped.

“…Mm. That was delicious.”

Hiyori opened her eyes, slow and languid.

“…W-were you… awake?”
“You kept touching me, so I was playing along. Letting you have your fun.”

Hiyori licked her wet lips with the tip of her tongue.

“Touching the hair, poking the cheek, and finally the lips. …Maya, you’re bolder than I’d have thought. Naughty.”
“N-no! There was some fluff on you, I was trying to get it off…!”
“Hmm? …Well, whatever.”

Hiyori sat up and stretched once, long and easy.

“Your finger was delicious, Maya.”

I went scarlet and could do nothing but clench my damp fingertip tight in my fist.

“…You know.”

Hiyori worked my clenched fist open and wound her fingers through my wet ones.

“Sucking your finger just made me want more. …Maya, come here.”

“…………?!”

“…………”

“……”

◇◆◇◆◇

On the way home.
We walked side by side along the road to the station.
The dusk was closing in, and our two shadows stretched out long, overlapping from time to time.

No conversation.
But on the fingertips of my right hand, the heat of the inside of Hiyori’s mouth still clung, and the damp sensation of it wouldn’t leave.

(…tomorrow’s the start of the weekend.)

The thought drifted through my head, as if from nowhere.
Today was Friday.
No school tomorrow, or the day after.
Which meant no reason, no obligation to see Hiyori.

Over two full days until Monday.
Time free of this heat.

I glanced sideways at Hiyori walking beside me.
She was flicking at something on her phone, looking entertained.
As I watched her profile, words escaped me without my meaning them to.

“…Hey, Hiyori.”
“Hm?”

Hiyori turned her face toward me.

“About tomorrow…”

Are you free?

If you wanted, maybe we could…

The words that had risen to my throat, I swallowed back down at the very last moment.

(…wait. What was I about to say?)

My feet stopped.
My heart lurched with an unpleasant thud.

“…Maya? What about tomorrow?”

Hiyori tilted her head, puzzled.
Looking at those guileless eyes, my chest tightened.

“…Never mind. Nothing.”

I looked away and gripped my bag strap tight.

“It’s the weekend tomorrow, so… I was just thinking, finally I won’t have to look at your face. That’s all.”
“…Ahaha. That’s brutal.”

Hiyori laughed lightly, shoulders shaking, and tapped mine once.

“…Hmm. Is it. Well then — make sure you enjoy the break properly. …After the weekend, let’s play loads again.”

At the ticket gates.
Hiyori fluttered her hand in a wave and disappeared into the crowd.

“…………”

I was left alone in front of the gates.
In the noise of the crowd, I couldn’t move until her retreating figure had been swallowed entirely from view.

(…what was that.)

I looked at my right hand’s fingertips.
The spot where Hiyori had bitten softly, moments ago.
Still hot. The slick sensation of it felt as though it had soaked in so deep that washing would never shift it.

(…‘“Are you free tomorrow?”‘…)

I recalled the words that had risen to my throat and pressed both hands over my own head.

“…Am I an idiot.”

The words came out before I could stop them.

Because it was absurd.

We weren’t friends.

She was an enemy who held something over me.
Someone who’d blackmailed me with a video, forced this Yuri Friends game on me, put her hands on me without asking — a genuinely terrible person.

If I didn’t have to see her over the weekend, that was lucky, wasn’t it?
I should be glad. Finally, some time to myself…

Shouldn’t I.

And yet.

Why had two whole days without seeing her been the thought that came to me?

“…Something is wrong with me.”

Getting kissed and touched every single day had started corrupting my brain.
The power of habit was terrifying.

An abnormal situation had been quietly swapped out, without my noticing, for the ordinary.

“…I’m going home. Sleep and forget.”

I set off as though fleeing.

But.
At the ticket gate, I found myself glancing at the calendar on my phone.

Saturday. Sunday.
Empty white space, no plans.

That blankness looked, somehow, just a little wider than usual.

“…Ugh, this is the worst…”

I slapped my own cheek with a sharp crack and started walking at speed.
Pretending not to notice the nameless heaviness in the back of my chest.