Episode 20: Could It Be… You’re Asking For It? ※
Morning. I woke to the sound of the alarm.
When I sat up, something heavy and dull pressed down on my shoulders.
The other side of the bed was cold.
Stepping into the living room, I found a small mounded shape on the sofa.
Yuno, curled up small, sleeping soundly.
I found myself drawn in, peering at her face.
Long lashes. Skin pale enough to look translucent. A sleeping face as innocent as a child’s, and yet there was a faint shadow of tiredness beneath her eyes. It pricked at my chest.
Had she gotten back late last night? She should have just slept in the bed.
…Or had she slept out here to avoid waking me?
Considerate, for someone so young — what an idiot.
No — maybe I’m the one making her feel like she has to be considerate.
A slow, steady breathing sound filled the quiet room.
I reached out gently and stroked Yuno’s head. Soft hair slipping through my fingers.
She was sleeping so soundly, and her shift probably didn’t start early, so there seemed no need to wake her.
I crept quietly to the kitchen. Sat at the table and ate a breakfast of nothing more than cereal with milk.
The solitary breakfast that had been ordinary just months ago now tasted, somehow, flat.
＊＊＊
At the office, through the morning meeting, and shut into the president’s office.
From ten, an online meeting with a client.
Working through the key items one by one —
“Then, I’ll leave it there for today.”
I closed the screen and glanced at the clock.
Eleven.
Yesterday… it had been around this time the cleaner — Yuno — came.
Even with the data in front of me, my eyes kept drifting toward the door. Enough times that I found it pathetic, even by my own judgment.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Excuse me. Cleaning service.”
Yuno came in, pulling her cart with a rattle.
My heart gave one sudden, thudding beat.
We’d only spoken the night before, and yet something oddly nostalgic, oddly long-awaited, spread slowly through my chest.
The same grey cap, jumpsuit, and mask as yesterday.
When our eyes met, Yuno’s narrowed softly.
Her mouth was hidden. And yet I could tell — she was smiling.
The corner of my own mouth nearly loosened in response.
I hurriedly furrowed my brow, covered my mouth with a hand, and cleared my throat. Put on my computer glasses and stared at the screen, feigning indifference.
Yuno began cleaning, quiet and methodical.
The sight of her small frame moving diligently around the room struck me as strangely brave, and something ached, slow and warm, in my chest.
And at the same time — yesterday’s everything came bubbling back up.
The warmth of her body drawing close. The kiss in the night. That line, whispered into my ear.
A sultry air about her that was impossible to reconcile with the artless, guileless Yuno I knew day to day.
…There I go again, thinking strange things.
I needed to concentrate. Next term’s planning, the hiring situation, entry into the new project — a mountain of things demanding thought, and yet.
Yuno crouched slowly near my feet. Right there, pulling out the bin.
Before I knew it, my mouth had opened.
“…Good work last night.”
Yuno looked up at me from under the cap.
The moment that upward glance entered my field of vision, my chest started up, loud and unruly. I looked away on reflex.
“Yeah. Night shifts really do leave you sleepy after… the building at night was kind of scary.”
“The night shift… maybe you should quit it.”
“…Why?”
A small pause, then she pressed further.
“Were you lonely at night?”
Yuno tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing into a sharp little crescent. Cute, but with a faint meanness to it.
“…It’s not that. With how things are these days, security isn’t great, and I just think it’s dangerous for a teenage girl to work alone at night, that’s all.”
“Ahah, I see. You’re sweet.”
I’d ended up needlessly talkative. Embarrassing.
Yuno gathered the rubbish with businesslike, efficient movements.
I adjusted my glasses and went back to the chat tool, kept typing. Conversation died, and the room filled only with the dry rustle of the bin bag and the clatter of the keyboard.
Then — I sensed Yuno had come to stand right behind me.
Yesterday’s closeness flashed through my mind in an instant.
Could it be…
Thud. My heart gave a heavy beat. My whole body throbbed with a sudden pull.
This is — anticipation.
Even I understood that much about myself.
Contrary to that, Yuno simply, quietly, began wiping down the shelf right behind me.
— She wasn’t doing anything.
What is this.
Yesterday she’d come this close during work hours without hesitation.
And last night she’d kissed me like that, straddled me, and then stopped halfway just because her shift started.
What is that. What is she.
Irritation built, quietly, layer by layer.
And yet my body, honestly, kept aching, and I could feel the wetness gathering, slowly, in secret.
“Right, president’s office is done. See you.”
Yuno turned on the spot and started preparing to leave the room.
Tug.
Before I knew it, still seated in my chair, I’d caught the sleeve of Yuno’s work uniform.
Completely without meaning to.
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
Yuno peered down at me, puzzled.
I caught myself. What was I doing.
“…Nothing.”
My voice came out, pathetically, in a scrape.
I turned my face away. And still couldn’t let go of the sleeve.
“Heh, you’re strange. Well, I’m off.”
I tugged again. At Yuno’s sleeve.
“Eh — what? What’s wrong?”
Yuno laughed softly.
Then, after a brief, considering pause, she brought her face close to my ear.
Close enough to feel her breath, she whispered, low:
“Could it be… you’re asking for it?”
She drew back slightly, looking into my face.
Innocent, and yet unnervingly sultry eyes. Looking straight at me, only straight at me.
I couldn’t say anything, and looked away. My face was hot. I could tell, even myself, that I’d gone bright red.
“I mean, you’re the one who said not to during work.”
Yuno laughed, soft and amused.
It was humiliating.
I couldn’t say anything more. I let my eyes drift, downcast, and pressed my lower lip tight.
But I still couldn’t let go of the sleeve of her work uniform.
“Ahah… what is that. Cute.”
Yuno murmured it like a sweet exhale, then said, “Well, I guess I have no choice.”
Chair and all, I was pushed toward the wall.
Still seated, Yuno loomed over me, leaning her arm against the wall.
She slowly pulled off the disposable glove on her right hand.
Bare now, thin white fingers tipped my chin up gently.
Yuno pulled her mask down to her chin, and smiled once, briefly, at close range. One corner of her mouth lifting in that bewitching expression.
The depths of her eyes weren’t smiling.
The next moment, her lips closed softly over mine.
Pliant. Warm.
I pushed my tongue in, as if begging for it.
Yuno answered in kind, winding her tongue around mine. Deeper. Deeper still.
Soon the wet sound filling the room thickened, became something indecent — a slick, sucking sound.
Our ragged breaths mingled.
Every time our lips met again, every time our tongues twined deeper, my head went hazier, melting further.
I’d begged for it myself, during work hours — that guilt was spinning round and round inside me.
And yet, before long, I couldn’t think about anything at all.
Every time I kissed Yuno, it felt like something — an aphrodisiac, a drug — was being poured straight into me.
Every touch left me wanting more.
Wanting more, always
Deep inside, heat had begun to gather, slow and thick.
“Nn… fh…”
A sweet sound slipped out before I could stop it.
It felt good——
Knock, knock, knock.
“Excuse me.”
Click.
“President, about this afternoon’s negotiation——”
The kiss stopped dead. Our lips parted.
Yuno and I turned toward the voice at the same moment.
“………..Eh?”
Standing in the doorway of the president’s office — eyes wide open —
was Matsuyama.