V2 - Chapter 17

Volume 2 - Me, Her, and that Feeling’s Name

Chapter 17

How long had we been holding each other? At some point, our tears had stopped.

Feeling thirsty, Chinatsu and I pulled away from each other. Losing the warmth we had shared felt unbearably lonely.

Even though we were so close, I couldn't help but laugh a little at the thought. Chinatsu seemed to have the same thought, as she smiled slightly.

I felt like everything would be okay. Nothing had changed, but after crying so much and now being able to smile naturally, I was sure we would be fine.

The drinks I had prepared were already cold, but we drank them anyway to quench our thirst. After all that crying, it made sense that our bodies craved hydration.

For a while, the only sound was us drinking. It was already late at night, and both inside and outside were wrapped in silence. Breaking that silence, Chinatsu spoke up, "Hey." I nodded, "Yeah."

It felt like we understood each other with just that. It seemed like everything we needed to say had been conveyed when we hugged and called each other's names. But that might have been an illusion, so we needed to follow the advice of those before us and put things into words.

We both knew what needed to be said. Either of us could have started the conversation.

Chinatsu spoke first. Her words were—.

"Can I kiss you?"

"...What?"

Her words were so unexpected that I felt like slapping myself from earlier. I hadn't even considered those words coming out of her mouth. 

When caught off guard, people really do make such ridiculous sounds, I thought, listening to my own voice as if it belonged to someone else. Chinatsu tilted her head and asked, 

"Do you not want to?"

"It’s not that I… don’t want to….”

I was at a loss for words. As Chinatsu gazed at me, the meaning of her words finally sunk in, and I blushed like an embarrassed girl.

"Then let's do it—there’s just something I need to confirm."

Chinatsu was bold. No matter what anyone said, the beautiful girl in front of me was undeniably bold.

"Nhn..."

Her perfectly shaped face leaned in at a slight angle, and with a sweet scent, her soft lips touched mine. 

—Our second kiss was gentle, with no awkward clashing of teeth.

Slowly, Chinatsu pulled away. Nodding as if confirming something, she murmured, 

"As I thought, I like you, Hajime."

She was straightforward. And her eyes were subtly asking me what my feelings were. Still, my answer was already decided.

"I like you too, Chinatsu… ah, but maybe mine’s a bit different."

"...?"

"You see, I thought that my feeling’s name was 'like.'"

"Hmm."

"I've thought a lot about it, felt a lot, and sometimes tried to keep it from overflowing.”

"Hmm."

I couldn’t express myself as clearly as Chinatsu could. And it felt like the words I managed to strung out were excuses. But Chinatsu nodded at my words, as if they were the most important thing.

That’s why, I decided to put all my feelings into words—.

"I love you."

I confessed.

"Ah…"

Chinatsu's already large eyes widened even further, and a breathless voice escaped her lips. People might say it’s just high school love or that I’m just caught up in my first romance. But I felt like just saying I liked her wasn’t enough. And at that moment, I thought Chinatsu felt the same way.

"Honestly speaking, I didn’t understand love or liking someone, or just romance in general... but how do I put this… I just thought that this felt right."

Haha, I let out a laugh, feeling embarrassed, I scratched my head and looked down.

"...Ah, geez!"

I heard her voice, closer than her previous words. She lifted my chin, forcing me to look up, and kissed me again. This time, it was a bit rougher, longer, and slightly deeper.

"...Kana-san said..."

Breathless, face flushed, Chinatsu spoke as we pulled apart.

"Huh?"

"She said that if you want to kiss someone and end up wanting more and more, what you feel is real... if it’s not, you’ll get tired and feel nothing after doing it."

"Haha... then I guess it’s real for me."

"...Yeah."

This time, I initiated the kiss. After being kissed three times, I finally managed to kiss her on my own the fourth time. My patheticness felt like a part of our relationship.

I didn’t know what was real or what was not. I forgot who said romance was filled with secret desires while love was filled with sincerity.

But what I did know was that no matter how many times we kissed, the feelings in my heart wouldn’t disappear.

Chinatsu already had a place in my heart. And I had a place in hers.

"Hey, Chinatsu."

"Yes, Hajime?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"...Yes, I'd be happy to."

Chinatsu quietly shed a few tears at my words and smiled as she answered. These tears were different from the ones she shed before. The day we learned the names of our feelings, our relationship also changed its name.

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End of Volume 2 - Me, Her, and that Feeling’s Name

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