Office Event - I Wanted to Kiss You All Day (Asami’s Side)
Wednesday, I got into a fight with Hanamori.
Over something trivial.
I could tell she’d been in a bad mood, but I was tired too, running low on patience myself. Something I’d normally just laugh off, I snapped back at instead, for no real reason.
Neither of us could bring ourselves to be honest and apologize, and Saturday’s company event arrived with things still unresolved.
Arriving at the BBQ venue, the seats were already assigned.
Sitting down, I found myself scanning the area without meaning to.
Ah, there she is.
Hanamori was in a denim outfit with sneakers, more casual than usual.
That, too, is cute.
At last year’s BBQ around this time, she’d shown up all dressed up, a pure white one-piece and high heels. We’d been at the same table that time, and I remember gently pointing out, “There’s a right time and place for these things, even for working adults.”
Wondering if maybe she’d remembered that, my mouth loosened without meaning to.
Before I knew it, my eyes kept following Hanamori the whole time.
Maybe she noticed my gaze, because our eyes met briefly.
I looked away on reflex.
Rika-san was seated next to me.
We made some idle work talk. How our departments were doing, that kind of thing. Simple information exchange.
The whole time, my eyes kept sneaking glances toward Hanamori anyway.
Hanamori didn’t seem to be paying any attention to me at all, laughing happily with Kinoshita-san and other department people.
And of all people, Kiritani-san, her junior, was right there next to her. Ugh, lucky Kiritani-san…
Whoever planned this seating.
After a while, unable to resist, I wandered over to Hanamori’s table, can of beer in hand.
But Hanamori wasn’t there, only Kiritani-san sitting alone, cheeks stuffed with grilled meat, drinking beer with real gusto.
“Huh? …Where’s Hanamori-san?”
“Hanamori-san? Bathroom.”
“I see.”
Standing there with nothing to do, Kiritani-san said, out of nowhere:
“Must be tough for you too, Asami-san.”
“Eh?”
“Putting up with Hanamori-san’s selfishness.”
Kiritani-san had a grinning, delighted look on her face.
“Eh, what do you mean?”
I found myself playing dumb on reflex.
“Come on, sit down.”
Urged along, I sat down beside Kiritani-san.
“Well, cheers.”
We clinked our beer cans together, a small clink.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
“Eh?”
“About you and Hanamori-san.”
Kiritani-san whispered it, giving a sly grin.
Apparently, during OJT, alone in the sales car, they’d gotten onto the topic of relationships and Hanamori had let something slip.
“Well, honestly, I figured it out on day one. You two kept stealing glances at each other, back and forth, back and forth.”
Kiritani-san said it, laughing, keeping her voice low.
Embarrassing. I felt like my face might catch fire.
“Hanamori-san talks about you nonstop even in the sales car, Asami-san. ‘You fell asleep first on our LIME call again last night,’ ‘We fought because we wanted to watch different movies for our weekend date,’ stuff like that.”
…Eh.
“Honestly, I wish someone would appreciate me having to listen to her go on and on showing off about her girlfriend.”
Kiritani-san sighed and continued.
“Whenever she talks about you, she’s always going ‘ugh, so annoying’ or ‘I really hate that about her,’ but her face is grinning the whole time, Hanamori-san.”
Kiritani-san shrugged, exasperated, then added with a laugh, “Well, I do the same thing showing off about my boyfriend, so.”
Right about then, Hanamori came back.
Startled to see me sitting next to Kiritani-san, her eyes widened for a second, then she looked away.
“What were you two talking about?”
Hanamori’s suspicious expression.
“Nothing much~?”
Kiritani-san and I answered in perfect unison.
I exchanged a grin with Kiritani-san.
“What. Getting all buddy-buddy all of a sudden, weird.”
Hanamori shot us both a narrow-eyed glare, alternating between us, and drank her peach chuhai.
Night fell, the sky gone dark.
The venue, well into its drinking, had fully turned into a party atmosphere, laughter and rowdy cheers mixing together. Stepping outside the tent, the surroundings were quiet and dark, like a different world entirely.
I brought dishes over to the sink, and soon after, sensed someone beside me.
Hanamori.
“Ah.”
A small sound slips out despite myself.
Hearing it, Hanamori turns my way.
Seeing her this close after a while.
She’s cute after all.
A stretch of silence. Only the sound of running water.
Facing forward, still washing dishes, I let the words drop quietly.
“…Sorry.”
“Eh?”
“That day. I got heated and snapped at you.”
“…Me too. Sorry, I was in a bad mood.”
“No…”
“It’d just been a while, and I didn’t know how to be honest about needing you.”
After that, we exchanged words, bit by bit. Trivial talk, a small lovers’ spat. Just that, and the tightness in my chest seemed to loosen, smoothly. Our usual rhythm. This is just how we always are.
Finishing the dishes, I shut off the faucet and started to turn away, saying “Well then—”
That’s when—
Hanamori tugged at my hem.
“Just a little more…”
“Eh?”
“No good?”
There was no way I could refuse.
Looking for somewhere we could be alone, we found a shadowed spot behind a cottage a little ways from the sink.
In the dark, the distance between us closed, somehow, before I knew it.
Before I realized it, I’d pulled Hanamori into my arms.
Amid the distant noise of the party, only the sound of my own heartbeat and Hanamori’s breathing rang in my ears.
Hanamori looked up at me, dark eyes glossy.
Unbearably cute.
I lean my face in, our lips meeting lightly. At a distance barely touching.
We laugh together softly.
Our lips part, then Hanamori rises slightly on her toes and presses her lips to mine again, lightly.
Hanamori’s bewitching smile makes my heart pound almost painfully.
Our lips meet again, and this time we both slowly part our lips, neither one leading.
I slip my tongue through the gap, searching for Hanamori’s.
Our tongues touch, hesitant at first, but drawn in anyway, tangling deeper. Running my fingers slowly through Hanamori’s hair, we keep repeating the kiss quietly, but like we’re drowning in it.
Somewhere far off, someone’s laughter bursts out again.
Coworkers’ voices. Colleagues’ voices.
I know. In a place like this. With other people around.
But I couldn’t stop.
When our lips finally part, Hanamori makes a mischievous face and says:
“Couldn’t hold out, huh?”
“…There’s no way I could.”
I whisper it, resting my forehead against hers.
“I wanted to kiss you all day today.”
“There you go again, thinking about that stuff.”
“You too, right, Chisa?”
After kissing a while longer, Hanamori suddenly asks, as if remembering something.
“What were you and Kiritani talking about earlier?”
“Mm, earlier? …Ah. Secret.”
“Huh? What’s that.”
“I heard you show off about me nonstop in the sales car.”
“Huh? I do not show off.”
“Suuure. Getting all embarrassed.”
“You’re one to talk, Asami-san, showing off to Rika-san earlier at lunch.”
“Wha— wait!? I wasn’t…… showing off or anything. Wait, you actually heard that!?”
“Heard every word. I was thinking, what is she even saying, out in the open like that.”
Saying that, Hanamori blushes and laughs softly. A slightly happy, natural smile.
That expression is so cute, I catch her chin and press my lips to hers again.
Kissing, we lace our fingers together, the classic lovers’ hold.
It feels so good.
Other company people around. We might get caught. In a place like this. But I couldn’t hold back.
I really, truly find her unbearably dear.
From somewhere off, I hear a voice: “Alright, wrapping things up soon…”
We gently part our lips.
“We should go.”
“Yeah.”
We hug each other tight once more, then pull apart. Reluctant to let go.
Then Hanamori brings her lips close to my ear and whispers softly.
“The rest, later……”
With that, Hanamori walked off.
Left alone, my heart pounded hard.
*
That night was seriously — well, use your imagination.
Thinking about how Kiritani-san would probably know everything by Monday morning, going into work suddenly felt a little heavy.