The Gal Next to Me Is Trying Too Hard to Make Me Fall in Love With Her
โAmagi-san?โ
โโฆโฆโฆโฆโ
โHey, Amagi-saaan?โ
โโฆโฆโฆโฆโ
โโฆโฆHuh?โ
Subaru cut her meal short and left, saying, โI gotta go draw manga.โ Seemed like Amagi-san had somehow spurred her on.
After that, I delivered fish to my part-time job and stayed up watching TV with Amagi-san, who wanted to jump at the moment of New Year’s. But with ten minutes left until the new year, she fell asleep.
Her lower body was swallowed by the kotatsu, her upper body sprawled out on the floor.
I hesitated a little about whether I should wake her up forcefully, then decided against it.
I could see her getting angry later, yelling, โWhy didn’t you wake me up!?โ But stillโฆ
โFuuuโฆ Sae-kiโฆ mmmphโฆโ
Whatever dream she was having, her sleeping face looked so incredibly happy. I just couldn’t bring myself to wake her up.
Thinking back, this might actually be the first time I’ve properly seen Amagi-san’s sleeping face.
When she stayed over to help with the cultural festival prep, I felt bad seeing a woman so vulnerable and tried hard not to look.
The last time she fell asleep at my place, we’d been talking late into the night, and it ended up being me who passed out firstโwhat a fool I was.
โฆEven now, this is a pretty intense situation, huh.
A girl sleeping without a shred of caution in a single guy’s apartment. She trusts me completely. The fact that someone who isn’t family or anything allows me this much into her world makes me unbearably happy.
โSo cuteโฆโ
I murmured, wanting to see her face more clearly, and gently brushed the hair from her eyelids with my finger.
Long lashes covering her beautiful eyes. A perfectly shaped nose bridge. Lustrous cherry-pink lips.
Knowing it was wrong, I lightly stroked her cheek with my fingertips.
Porcelain skin.
A texture that perfectly suited every onomatopoeiaโsmooth, silky, soft, suppleโto the absolute extreme.
Just seeing her, touching her like this, made the sun shine inside my chest.
It warmed me, made me happy, and my heart sweated with refreshing joy.
โMmmโฆ fufuuโฆโ
โโฆ!โ
She stirred, rubbing her cheek against my hand. Her moist lips parted, her body moved again, and she gently kissed my palm.
As if clinging, as if begging, as if needing nothing else.
I felt heat and moisture near the base of my middle finger. That unique sensation triggered a memory, and the scene from the sauna raced through my mind.
She kissed my forehead, my cheek, my ear, and I kissed her back, peering inside her bath towel.
We nearly died together, and somehow it all got muddledโฆ but man, we did something crazy, didn’t we?
She was beautiful.
Like God had woven petals into threads, she was truly beautiful.
At the same time, my adolescence, my male instincts, flared up like memories burning on kindling. I didn’t want to look at her that way, but my gaze inevitably drifted to her body.
Beneath that dress.
Beyond one layer of fabric, then another.
My hand slipped from her cheek, tracing her collarbone with my fingers. Over her shoulder to her elbow, down her arm to her stomach, moving slightly higherโthen I smacked my own cheek.
No. That’s not okay, Iโฆ!
When Amagi-san was flirting with me, maybe it was understandable to think such things.
But this wasn’t that. She trusted me enough to fall asleepโฆ Wait, touching her like this is despicable! There’s no excuse for thisโit’s pure inappropriate behavior!
โโฆโฆโฆโฆHm?โ
She tilted her head.
For a moment, I thought our eyes met.
โUmโฆโ
โSshhโฆ sshhโฆโ
โAre youโฆ awakeโฆ?โ
โSshhโฆ sshhโฆโ
Her eyelids were firmly shut. Her breathing was peaceful.
Frowning, wondering what that had been about, I suddenly remembered a line.
โAmagi-san, the new year has already started.โ
โSeriously!? Wh-why didn’t you wake me up!?โ
A lightning-fast awakening.
She checked the time on her phone and, realizing there were still three minutes left until the new year, glanced at me before awkwardly looking away.
โYou weren’tโฆ pretending to be asleep, were youโฆ?โ
โI-I really was asleep at first! But then Saeki touched my cheekโฆ Huh? Is this the kind of thing where I get attacked!? I thought, so I figured, well, maybe it’s okayโฆ!โ
โThat’s not โI guess it’s fineโ!โ
She laughed, scratching the back of her head, her face instantly turning mischievous.
โMore importantlyโฆ why did you touch my cheek?โ
โHuh?โ
โYou touched my body too, right? With those lewd hands, all stickyโฆโ
โโฆS-sorry. It wasโฆ an impulse, I guessโฆโ
โYou were lusting after meโก You’re such a bad boy, Saekiโกโ
On this point, there was no room for excuses or arguments. I apologized again, bowing my head. Amagi-san ruffled my hair and purred happily.
“Don’t worry about itโกใWant to do something naughty right now?”
โN-No way!โ
โDon’t be shy โก Hey, wanna touch my boobs? They’re all yours, Saeki!โ
โHey, don’t pull my handโWait, time! T-The new year’s gonna start!โ
โWhoa!! bad!!โ
While we were talking, the countdown to the new year had dropped below one minute.
Amagi-san quickly stood up, still holding my hand, and headed for the front door.
โW-where are we going!?โ
โOutside! Jumping inside the room would bother the people downstairs, right!?โ
Faced with such a perfectly reasonable argument, I silently put on my shoes.
It was hard to believe this was coming from someone who’d been talking loudly on the phone without a thought for me, their neighbor, but whateverโฆ
โOnly about ten seconds left!โ
โIt’s fine, it’s fine! Here we go!โ
Still holding my hand, she bounded down the stairs two at a time.
Having rushed out without any winter clothes, the cold night wind stabbed straight into my body. But her hand was warm, and I desperately clung to it, refusing to let go.
โCome on, Saeki, jump!! Jump!!โ
โHuh, here!?โ
We hadn’t finished descending the stairs yet; about five steps remained.
Leaving me hesitating behind, she leapt first.
Her golden hair danced.
Each strand shimmered, wrapped in the night.
Her retreating figure was beautiful, and the glance she cast my way, beckoning me, was so lovely that I too flung my body into the winter sky.
It was the first time in my life I’d ever jumped down stairs like this.
Back in elementary school, a classmate would hop down the stairs, ignoring the teacher’s warnings, and told me to do it too. I was too scared to try. They made fun of me, and Subaru defended me.
Now, actually doing it, I still felt scared.
But just having her right there made my lips curve into a smile.
I felt like I could do anything.
I could take a step forward without reason, and feel just a little bit stronger.
โWhoops! Whoa!?โ
Amagi-san failed her landing and lost her balance badly.
Landing a split second later, I pulled hard to help her up. But my own body tilted forward too, and we both toppled over together.
Lying on the ground, staring up at the sky, I checked the time on my phone.
The year had turned, and a new one had begun.
โHappy New Year, Amagi-san.โ
โHappy New Year, Saeki!โ
We stood up and brushed the dirt off our clothes, patting them off. A resident returning home on the first floor gave us a strange look, wondering what those two were up to. We gave a slight bow before laughing together with Amagi-san.
โUmโฆ this year, could you please not jump off the stairs? It’s just incredibly dangerous.โ
โDoes that mean you’ll be with me again at the end of this year too?โ
โIf that’s what you want, Amagi-sanโฆ wellโฆโ
That was over three hundred days away.
There was no guarantee Amagi-san would still like me by then.
A faint unease dampened the edge of my heart, but in that instant, she threw herself into my arms with a thud. Her eyes, looking up at me, were shining, hot, and beautiful like fireworks.
โLove youu~~~โกโกโก Not just this year, let’s be together forever and ever, okay?โกโกโกโ
She grinned, revealing her white teeth.
I was so happy, and precisely because of that, I felt a little embarrassed and looked away. Then I looked at her again and nodded.
Our two puffs of white breath mingled, intertwined, and drifted away on the night breeze.
Without looking sideways, straight ahead.
Toward the direction of the rising sun.
Maiban