Episode 36: I Want to Know Sora-san Better
I… just kissed Sora-san…!?
Our lips slowly parted. Sora-san, cheeks faintly flushed, stared straight at me.
“Hey, Ruri.”
“Y-yes?”
“Have you ever kissed that childhood friend of yours?”
“Eh? N-no, never…”
Maria and I are friends. So of course we’ve never kissed.
Though, if I’m being honest about that logic, Sora-san and I are technically just friends too…
“Hm. What about anyone else? Möbius-san, Miyuki-san?”
“N-no, never! I mean, when would an introvert like me even end up in a situation where I’d kiss someone!?”
“Just did, though.”
Sora-san’s right hand reached out and touched my cheek.
“You just kissed me.”
“Th-that was…”
Why did we end up kissing?
Normal friends don’t kiss.
—But Sora-san had said do something special, so…
That was the “special” my simple brain had landed on.
“How was it?”
“H-how was it, um…”
“If I said let’s do it again, would that be too much?”
Sora-san’s eyelashes trembled. For some reason, she looked incredibly lonely just then.
Lonely. Is Sora-san… lonely?
“If it’s too much, show me. Through your actions.”
Her face moved close again.
I’m going to kiss Sora-san again.
My head was still a mess, and I still had absolutely no idea how any of this had happened.
But running away from Sora-san, who was gripping my hand tightly like she was seeking out warmth — that was never an option in me.
I closed my eyes and waited for our lips to meet.
This is something special.
Something to do, precisely because it’s special.
Something clicked quietly in the corner of my mind.
Maybe that was the sound of something changing.
◆
“…We should get going. It’s about time.”
“Ah, yes…”
Still wrapped in a somewhat awkward atmosphere, we left the studio together. Outside, the sky had gone completely dark.
Is it really okay to just head home like normal, after this?
The shock of the kiss still hadn’t left my head, and I had no idea what to do.
Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed Sora-san’s hand on impulse.
“What?”
“U-um! I was thinking, maybe today, staying together a little longer would be nice!?”
“…Ruri, seriously, you…”
Sora-san let out a sigh. But she didn’t try to shake my hand off.
Sora-san telling me to “do something special.” Kissing me again. That lonely expression on her face.
All of it feels like it means something.
And if it means something, I want to understand what.
“I—I really do want to know you better, Sora-san… and, and get closer to you too…!”
I don’t even remember how I got close to Maria — she’s been by my side since before I have memories.
I’ve been coasting on that friendship for so long that I genuinely don’t know how you’re supposed to grow closer to someone new.
But maybe that’s true for Sora-san too.
And if that’s the case, maybe we can just figure out our own way of doing it together.
“I—I mean, come on, we’re partners, aren’t we!?”
Running away because I don’t know how to move forward would mean nothing ever changes.
So even without knowing, I decided I should just push forward anyway.
“…Want to stay over at my place tonight?”
“I—I’ll stay!”
Sora-san nodded, and she looked happy doing it — I’m pretty sure that wasn’t just my imagination.