Sleeping Beauty and the Witch’s Holiday. Part 3
“Um, Ibara”
“Hmm?”
“Haven’t you been staring at my chest this whole time?”
“Eh, well…”
I’m thinking about how to legally get to fondle them.
“Come to think of it, Shigure-san, apparently fondling someone you like releases oxytocin, which promotes relaxation, peaceful sleep, and a sense of security. I read it in an online article the other day.”
“Oh, really?”
“So, can I touch them?”
“No.”
“Why⁉︎”
“Because you’d definitely touch them in a weird way, Ibara.”
“I wouldn’t. I’d touch them with pure intentions.”
“It’s not a place you touch with pure intentions.”
“It’s for healing. I’ve got no ulterior motives whatsoever.”
“…And your true feelings?”
“I really want to touch you.”
Shigure-san covered her chest.
It’s Shigure-san’s fault for obediently taking off her underwear when told to.
Besides, it can’t be helped.
Because I like her.
Shigure-san, and Shigure-san’s body.
“I want to touch you. Because it’s you, Shigure-san, I want to touch you.”
Because I like you, I want to feel you as close as possible.
Shigure-san sighed, “Haaah.”
Somehow, it felt like a sigh of excuse.
“…If it’s not a lewd way of touching, then it’s fine.”
“Really⁉︎”
“But no hands under clothes, it’s embarrassing.”
“Ehh?”
“If you don’t like it, we’ll forget this ever happened.”
“Wait, wait, wait. I won’t. I promise.”
“Seriously…”
Slowly, Shigure-san lowered her arms.
“Well then, go ahead.”
The way she thrust her upper body forward, almost as if offering herself, sent a shiver down my spine.
All this is completely unconscious, which makes her even worse. Damn succubus-type older sister.
Excitedly, I reached my hand forward, then suddenly realised.
“Um… what exactly counts as a non-sexy way to touch?”
“I don’t know. Figure it out yourself.”
Her sulky tone, despite being an adult, was adorable. What on earth. I like her.
But the condition was a tough one. What on earth is a non-sexy way to touch breasts?
After only a few seconds’ hesitation, I made up my mind. If she got angry, so be it. I believed she wouldn’t hate me.
“This should be alright, right?”
I leaned my face forward and pressed it into the valley between her curves.
It wasn’t so much pinched as buried – something like that, anyway. Then I took a deep breath right there.
“Hey—”
“Mmph.”
“Your breath… tickles…”
Pretending not to hear, I rub my cheek against her without restraint.
The sensation transmitted through the thin fabric, like solidified water.
Soft and squishy, smelling of Shigure-san, it feels wonderful.
I kind of want to live here now.
The parched part inside my heart is being filled.
“…Hah, ah…”
“Getting sleepy?”
“…No, not yet…”
A lie. Truthfully, I’m already so sleepy I can barely stand it.
Sleepiness chases away the excitement, filling every corner of my body.
Ugh.
I still want to feel Shigure-san.
Why are my eyelids so heavy?
“It’s fine. Just sleep like this.”
“Mm…”
Shigure-san’s hand strokes through my hair.
Her fingertips comb through the strands. I can’t resist the pleasant drowsiness.
I want to stay awake longer.
I need to ask.
Is it because I’m special that she lets me lean on her chest like this, hugs me, strokes my head, and spoils me?
Or is it—
Ah, no. My consciousness is melting into drowsiness.
Goodnight, Shigure-san.
†
After waking from a doze and drifting back, clinging together, it was suddenly almost noon.
“What about lunch? Shall I go buy something, or order in?”
“Hmm, I reckon Aki-chan will make us something soon.”
“That feels a bit… awkward, doesn’t it…”
We sat side by side on the bedside, staring blankly.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah. It really is completely different from when I’m alone.”
“Then I suppose it was good I came.”
“…Still no luck finding a place for Shizuku?”
“Well, it is that time of year.”
“I see.”
I know it can’t be helped, but I can’t deny feeling disappointed.
But this makes it seem like I want to kick Shizuku out of Shigure-san’s house. That’s not what I mean at all.
“…Huh? Did you just call Shizuku by her first name, Ibara?”
“Yeah. We chatted a bit and got along.”
“I see.”
“That’s good,” Shigure-san murmurs.
“Ah, that reminds me. About Shizuku…”
“Hmm?”
“I think I might have figured out why she’s so harsh with you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Probably because she likes Yomi-san.”
Shigure blinked.
“Shizuku likes Runa…?”
“At our school, there’s a picture of Yomi-san displayed in the corridor. She saw it and said it was her ‘idol’.”
“…That…”
Shigure-san placed a hand over her mouth.
“True, she has always been fond of her… perhaps.”
“I don’t know if it’s romantic affection. So, maybe she’s jealous of you, Shigure-san?”
“…………Hmm…”
Huh?
That was a rather ambiguous reaction.
“I don’t think that’s quite right…?”
A polite but clear denial.
I’d assumed she’d agree, so I was taken aback.
“I do think Shizuku looks up to Runa. But I don’t think that means she’s jealous of me.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Well, the timeline doesn’t add up. I went back to my parents’ place with Runa during my first and second years of uni. But Shizuku started acting distant around the time job hunting began.”
Holding up a finger, Shigure-san continued.
“Proper job hunting kicked off around autumn of third year, and by then Runa and I were already on awkward terms. So we weren’t going back to my parents’ place together anymore.”
“I see.”
So that’s what Yomi-san meant by “it didn’t work out.”
It is strange, really.
If Yomi-san was the cause, Shizuku-san should have been rebelling much earlier.
“Hmm…”
I thought it was a brilliant deduction.
Shigure-san gave a wry smile.
“But thank you for thinking about it, though.”
In the end, we ate dinner together with Aki-chan afterwards, watched a film on Netflix, and Shigure-san went home in the evening.
Is her kindness just her personality?
Or is it because I’m her girlfriend, someone special?
Unable to voice the question I held in my heart until the very end, another lonely night arrives.