Houtarou followed her request and lowered his head. He immediately felt a moist sensation.
He was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Maya to be so proactive. She grabbed his tie and kissed him boldly.
This was truly a gyaru, wasn't it?
"Anyway, that's that." Maya carelessly wiped the tears from her face, seeming to accept being rejected, "The, the date ends here, and I feel satisfied. However…"
She suddenly hugged his arm, made him lower his head, and moved closer.
For today's date, Maya had carefully applied makeup. Usually her gyaru style was more vibrant, but now she looked more natural, which made her appear cuter.
There's not much to say about this — she was naturally attractive, so she was cute.
She carried a faint scent of jasmine, though it wasn't clear whether it came from shampoo or perfume.
And now Maya was approaching him.
"Hey… does Oreki-kun actually like Karuizawa?" As she approached his ear, she suddenly lowered her voice.
Huh? Why would she say something like this now?
But Maya continued, "She just said she was leaving, but I know she's actually in the bushes right now. I've known for a while that she likes Houtarou."
Perhaps because they had kissed, she now called him by his first name.
"And she probably had some selfish intentions, and I also know that Houtarou doesn't like me." Her tone had a moment of disappointment before quickly changing to that of a little devil, "But I stole the first kiss of the boy she likes right in front of her. I think I've gotten my revenge."
Here, "right in front of her" obviously meant knowing that Kei was hiding in the bushes.
Wait. Was Maya kissing him just now... actually to get revenge on her own "friend"?
This move surprised even Houtarou.
"Besides, Houtarou, you held hands with Kei at the movie theater, didn't you?" Maya added, "I saw it."
She stated these terrifying words in a calm tone… Terrifying.
So she knew about what happened at the movie theater all along while pretending otherwise.
This meant both he and Kei were completely in her grasp.
Houtarou felt once again that girls were creatures beyond his comprehension. The experience points from Kikyō were woefully insufficient.
After delivering these chilling words, Maya stepped away from him.
"Well, I'll be going now." She announced loudly, clearly intending for Kei to hear.
And that's exactly what she did, making Houtarou breathe a sigh of relief.
But after taking just two steps, Maya turned back, "Actually... up close, Houtarou, you're really handsome."
She rushed back, placing both hands on his shoulders, clearly wanting another kiss.
This behavior confirmed Houtarou's initial analysis — Maya simply wanted his body.
Despite his refusals, she managed to kiss him three more times before he finally shooed her away.
After Maya had completely left, Houtarou turned toward a corner in the bushes. He deliberately made loud footsteps in that direction, but no response came.
However, with his exceptional physical abilities, he could hear the accelerated heartbeat of someone hiding there.
"No need to hide." Houtarou said, "I know you're there... so you really are here."
He bent down, parted the grass with both hands, and found Kei crouching with her head in her hands.
"..." Having been discovered, Kei was speechless.
"Since everything's fine, let's head back." Houtarou said, "The date ended early, so we don't need to visit the aquarium this afternoon."
Kei: "..."
Really? It's as if I didn't just witness all that with my own eyes...
"Aren't you going to ask why I'm still hiding here?" She lowered her hands.
"I'm not made of wood." Houtarou replied, "I generally understand."
"So you understand a girl's inner turmoil?" Kei stared at him accusingly, "You just kissed Maya seven times, didn't you?"
"..."
So you were watching the entire time, weren't you? And you counted one more kiss than he did himself.
"I suppose so." Houtarou maintained a calm response.
"So it was your first kiss? You gave your first kiss to Maya?" Kei continued to question.
No, no, no, aren't you more concerned about the seven kisses just now?
Houtarou knew he was in trouble when he heard this inquiry. He was well aware of her strong feelings for him. He had always rejected her, saying he wanted to focus on school and didn't want to date.
But now, during this gap, he was kissing another girl.
Hmm... This was definitely going to cause trouble.
"Yes."
Houtarou felt there was no point hiding this. If she wanted to see, she could see. She even counted seven kisses, so he might get away with one, but seven?
Simply merciless. Not even superpowers could hide it.
"But that was your first kiss, your first kiss..." Kei seemed about to explode.
She suddenly wondered if Houtarou's first kiss might not have been lost had she not followed along.
Or perhaps she should have just honestly waited for him to graduate. But now... she suddenly found herself becoming the losing party.
Had it ended before it even began?
"I don't think it's a big deal." Houtarou said. By now he had recalled the teachings of the angel Honami.
He felt panicked because he lacked experience. Which meant, with insufficient experience, doing it a few more times would solve the problem.
So while Kei was still crouching, he smoothly lowered his body.
"Kei..."
"Hmm?"The girl was startled, then felt a momentary sensation lingering on her lips.
Houtarou observed that the face of the girl in such close proximity was turning increasingly red, all the way down to the base of her neck.
Time froze for Kei as shock widened her eyes. Houtarou's kiss sent electricity through her body, leaving her frozen with lips parted, her mind struggling to process what had just happened.
To Houtarou, this kiss differed from Maya's bold approach. With Kei, despite their awkward crouching position in the bushes, there was a natural rightness to the gentleness. Her soft, trembling lips tasted faintly of strawberry ice cream.
Seconds stretched like eternity in the silence, broken only by rustling leaves and distant park conversations. He heard Kei's quick breaths and his own pounding heart.
Her face flushed crimson down to her neck and ears. She tried speaking several times but remained speechless, fingers unconsciously touching her lips as if to verify what had happened.
Though Houtarou maintained outward calm, his racing heart betrayed him. This impulsive act was unlike his usual calculated behavior, yet he felt no regret.
Till they parted.
"That's better, right?" Houtarou said, then tried to help her up from her crouching position.
Maya had been quite mischievous just now, deliberately chatting with him about other topics, forcing Kei to keep hiding in the bushes. During this time, her legs had probably gone numb.
"Ahhh—" But at this moment, Kei completely lost it, "No, not good... what are you doing?!"
She really exploded!
"My first kiss, my first kiss was in a toilet-like crouching position!"
???
Houtarou was surprised. So that's what you're concerned about?
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
However, the effect of the first kiss was remarkable.
Although he felt like he got the short end of the stick helping Maya with her scheme, at least Kei stopped making a fuss.
But she was more reserved and didn't ask for 5 more kisses like her friend had... what a shame...
Seeing it was about time, they returned to the dormitory together.
However, as everyone could see, they maintained a purely platonic relationship. They entered the dormitory lobby one after another, then took the elevator in separate batches.
Splash Splash—
It was now September. The weather had started to change, but Houtarou took a cold shower directly.
His state wasn't quite right. He found himself very excited.
He had kissed girls. And not just one.
From his Precognitive Dreams, he knew he would date Kei but marry Suzune. And future Kikyō would be promiscuous. These revelations were surprising, but not unacceptable.
However, after experiencing Maya, his thoughts had been shaken.
He discovered that kissing one girl is kissing, kissing two is also kissing, and most outrageously — he didn't dislike it. Rather, it felt like opening a new door.
In other words, when he first saw himself cheating with Kikyō in his Precognitive Dream from 10 years later, he hadn't found it strange.
Could it be that he actually thought such a life wasn't bad?
Now he was troubled by his own views on marriage. Could he consult others about this?
It was embarrassing to talk to Honami about such matters.
And Rokusuke?
That guy would probably say, "Oh, you're interested in this? Sure, join me in becoming men who shoulder the future, and I'll help you resolve it", or something like that.
Was there anyone reliable to consult?
There was. The current Student Council President, Manabu, was very reliable. But this kind of matter probably couldn't be answered by him.
Someone like Manabu would probably be faithful to one person. He wouldn't understand why anyone would want to cheat.
After some consideration, Houtarou went to the track field after showering.
He ran 20 laps, leaving the track team stunned and wanting to quit their club, before returning to the dormitory.
After showering again, he decided to sleep.
The reason was simple.
〖 Do you want to use Precognitive Dream? 〗
'Yes!'
Using a Precognitive Dream, with the future Suzune as the target.
Considering he had done something not quite proper, Houtarou decided to consult her.
It was also a form of... confession.
⍟⍟⍟
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