Episode Sixty-Two

So, that’s how it came to pass that I ended up dating a high school girl (a former idol) seven years my junior.

There was someone I absolutely had to tell about this scandalous fact.
Aki-san.
Ibara’s de facto guardian, and the owner of our regular coffee shop.

“…So that’s the situation…”

As usual, in the empty evening café Sereno, after listening to my confession (or confession of sins?) from across the counter, Aki-san ground coffee beans and said, “Hmm.”

“It’s fine, isn’t it?”

“…Th-that’s all?”

“Well, it’s a bit late now.”

Huh.
True enough.

“She’ll be eighteen soon. She should just do as she pleases. It’s not like her parents have said anything.”

“…Um, I’ve been meaning to ask this for ages.”

“What?”

“Ibara’s parents, that is…”

“Ah.”

Her hand stopped turning the grinder lever abruptly.

“Pretty much as you’d imagine. Laissez-faire, neglectful, indifferent…”

“………….”

Aki-san looked at my face and chuckled softly.

“Well, I never knew you could make that face.”

“Eh? What kind of face was I making just now?”

“Hmm. In a word… demonic?”

Demonic?
　Was I really making such a scary face? I hadn’t realised.

“Well, putting family circumstances aside for now. If you’re going to date that girl, you’d better be prepared. It’ll be quite a challenge, you know.”

“…Yes, I suppose so. Being the same sex, and seven years apart. It’ll definitely be difficult in many ways…”

“Hm?”

Without stopping the hands making the drip coffee, Aki-san looked puzzled.

“Ah, no. No, no. That’s not what I meant.”

Not what you meant?

“It’s just my gut feeling, but that girl, when she starts seeing someone—”

The service door swung open from the inside with a bang.
Ibara, in her uniform, spotted me and broke into a bright smile.

“Shigure-san, you’re already here?”

“Yeah, I finished early today.”

“Oh, if you’d said so, I’d have come down straight away!”

She slid across the counter seat to sit right up against me.
Then, like a koala toy you clip onto your arm, she hugged my left arm. Squeezing it tight.

“I-Ibara? What’s got into you, all of a sudden?”

“Because I’m your girlfriend.”

“Eh?”

“I’m Shigure-san’s girlfriend.”

That’s not an answer.
Whilst hugging my arm, Ibara gleefully rests her tiny head on my shoulder.
Suddenly close. Too close.

“No, I said no. Aki-san’s watching. Just, move away.”

“No.”

“It’s not ‘no’.”

“No way.”

Ibara wedged my hand between her thighs, beaming with satisfaction.
Seeing this, Aki-san gave a wry smile.

“I told you. It’ll be difficult.”

Saying that, she placed a freshly brewed coffee in front of me.
A soft, sweet, toasty aroma filled the air.

“Difficult… so that’s what she meant…”

　Not the societal backlash against homosexuality, but more simply that Ibara’s love is heavy, hence the difficulty.
I’d vaguely sensed it, and she’d admitted it himself.
But admittedly, being overly affectionate in public might be awkward. In various ways.
Impressed that she understood so well, I looked at Aki-san, when

“Muu…”

Ibara puffed out his cheeks.

“Shigure-san.”

“What?”

“Even if Aki-chan is beautiful, you mustn’t stare at other women.”

“Stare?”

No, no, no, that’s a huge misunderstanding.
Glancing sideways at the sullen Aki-san, I hurriedly denied it.

“Ibara, what on earth are you talking about?”

“But you were staring at Aki-chan.”

“I was just looking normally, I tell you!”

“Got it? Shigure-san is my girlfriend, you know.”

“You’ve been emphasising that a lot since earlier.”

“It’s a fact.”

“Fact.”

…Fact.
You’re acting a bit childish, Ibara.

“I get it, Aki-chan’s beautiful, so you can’t help but look. But if you want to see a pretty face, look at me.”

She grabbed my cheeks and forcibly turned my face sideways.

“Cute, isn’t she? This cute girl is Shigure-san’s girlfriend. See? You shouldn’t be looking at anyone else, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, cute, cute.”

“That’s a terrible compliment!”

Ibara pouted her lips in displeasure.
Aki-san cleared her throat.
Oh, right. I remembered we were in public (and in front of a guardian, no less!), and my cheeks flushed bright red.

“Ah… well, do try to restrain yourself when other customers are present.”

“S-sorry!”

I gulped down the still-hot coffee in one go and fumbled for my purse.

Even on the way home, Ibara refused to let go of my arm.
We walked the night streets, arms locked tightly together.
Perhaps because it was earlier than usual, Occasionally we passed men returning from work or women walking their dogs, and each time my heart gave a start.
It wasn’t as if we were doing anything wrong, yet I couldn’t shake this sense of guilt. Was it because Ibara was a girl? Or because she was wearing her high school uniform?
To others, we probably looked like close sisters. But that wasn’t the truth.

Lovers.
Lovers, eh.

　I steal a glance at Ibara’s profile.
Her lashes, thick enough to rest a toothpick upon; her large eyes, still ringed with faint shadows; her straight, delicate nose; her cherry-blossom-pink lips.
Her porcelain-white nape; the shadow cast where her skin meets her blouse; the soft curve beneath it, pressed against me ever since we started walking.
She really is adorable.
No matter how many times I look, I could easily lose myself in her. She certainly says so herself, and she’s even cuter than that.
I can’t believe God favoured her.
As I stared intently, our eyes suddenly met.
Ibara tilted her head slightly, as if thinking “Hm?”, then her mouth curved upwards as if she understood something. She leaned her lips close to my ear and whispered,

“Fancy a kiss?”

“──Bah!”

“Alright. Shall I?”

Hmm, she pretends to close her eyes.

“No, I won’t!”

“Ah, wait, actually. I’m putting on lipstick. It’s the new spring release, cherry blossom scent.”

“Wait, wait, wait. I won’t. We’re outside.”

“True. Then we’ll do it when we get home.”

“No! That sort of thing has to wait until after graduation, I told you!”

At my desperate protest, Ibara smiled radiantly.

“It’s alright. You don’t have to hold back.”

Her breath, scented with cherry blossom, tickled his ear softly.

“Because I’m your girlfriend, Shigure-san. Whenever you feel like it…”

Ibara smiled, invitingly.

“Hold on…”

My gaze was drawn to her rosy lips.
Against my will, memories of the first and second times flashed through my mind.
That deep kiss, almost devouring, reaching into her very soul. Unforgettable. An impossible memory to forget.

“Mm-hmm, remembering?”

“S-silly, of course not!”

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying.”

“I am remembering.”

Ibara’s fingertips captured my left hand.
Trailing over my palm as if searching, fingers intertwined.
　Her touch was almost blatant, a slow heat igniting within me.
At the entrance to the residential area. In a place where anyone could pass by at any moment, Ibara’s eyes, bathed in the crimson light of dusk, glistened with a smouldering desire.

“Shigure-san, I want to kiss you. Let me.”

“N-no, you can’t.”

“Just when we get home, then.”

“…I said no, I told you…”

Her fingertips caressed the back of my hand incessantly, robbing my voice of strength.
Dragged along by Ibara’s quickening pace, I climbed the apartment stairs.
My heart ached.
I couldn’t deny it anymore.
In some corner of my heart, I had surely been hoping.