Chapter Four: “The Princess Wants to Be Chosen by the Prince” — Part Five

Oh no. I did it. I actually did it…!!
I kissed Iori-senpai!
W-well! Well, Iori-senpai kept saying such provoking things!
But still — kissing someone without any kind of consent is genuinely awful, the kind of thing you could get sued for?!

Panicking internally, I peered at Senpai’s face. Her face was completely red.

Iori-senpai, you are far too adorable?!

I was so transfixed by the sheer adorableness that I forgot entirely about my crime, and meanwhile Senpai opened her mouth, stopped, opened it again. Just her lips moving, no sound coming out — she was too shaken to speak.

So… cute…

I couldn’t say just kidding after going this far. That would be a stretch, and frankly a terrible thing to do as a human being.
Which meant the only option was to push, and push, and push until she toppled over, right?!

“Iori-senpai.”

At the sound of her name, Senpai’s whole body gave a small startled jump. She slowly lifted her face, and her eyes had a glassy sheen to them.

“I’m genuinely in love with you, Senpai. The kind of love that means I want to kiss you. And more than that.”

I reached out and gently touched her cheek. The heat of it was proof her heart was pounding.
Iori-senpai really is incredibly adorable.

“So brace yourself, Senpai. I’m going to make you my very own princess.”

Everyone’s beloved prince, the one everyone admired and longed for — that was Iori-senpai.
But that wasn’t all she was. She was also the most adorable princess, mine and mine alone. Every soft part of her was going to belong to me.

“Hey, Senpai. Was that just now your first kiss?”

I traced her lips lightly with one finger. They were thin and soft, and just a little dry.

“…It was my first.”

She said it in a voice smaller than I’d ever heard from her, and let out a slow breath. Her nervousness reached me through the air between us.

That was Senpai’s first kiss.
I took Senpai’s first.
I’m so glad to be alive. I got to be the only person who ever took Iori-senpai’s first kiss.

“W-what about Himena-chan?”
“Hm?”
“…Himena-chan hasn’t… done this with anyone else… right?”

In a small, faintly trembling voice, Senpai was looking at me with something close to a glare.

“…Have you done this kind of thing with other people?”

She looked away from me, lips pressed into a slight pout.

“I haven’t, I haven’t! It was my first too!”
“…Is that so.”

Wait?! What was that face?! Did Senpai just smile, just slightly? She did, didn’t she?!
What do I do. Senpai’s reactions are so adorable at every turn that I’m losing my grip on my humanity.
Iori-senpai, how much further are you going to make me fall?!

Senpai resumed eating, face still red. Her bites were bigger than usual, puffing her cheeks out like a squirrel.

She didn’t get angry.

I’d kissed her out of nowhere, and Senpai didn’t get angry. She just checked whether it had been my first too, and quietly got back to her food.
She was sitting right next to the person who’d kissed her without warning, and just eating her lunch.

That meant she didn’t mind, didn’t it?

“Iori-senpai.”

She finished swallowing everything in her mouth before answering. Yes?
She was clearly trying to act as normal as possible, but her expression was nowhere near her usual self.

“I love you.”
“…I know.”
“But I want to say it even more.”

I gently placed my hand on Senpai’s thigh. She startled just slightly — but didn’t push it away.