Translator: Reflet

  Editor: ryunakama

  “Alright, looks like everyone’s gone.”


  “I see, so that’s what it’s like when no one is here.”


  “Yeah, the wings come out when they’re nearby and vice-versa.”


  “How very convenient.”


  “I actually expected a pair to still be hiding there.”


  He grinned as he looked at Sakura.

  “I am glad that no one is plotting misconduct.”


  “Yeah, what a shame.”


  It was clear that they understood each other from the way they talked.

  “Now then, everyone’s gone, so…”


  “So?”


  “How about a kiss?”


  “Oh?”


  Sakura made a beautiful smile, but her eyes had narrowed. It was one of those times when someone smiles but their eyes contradict it.

  “Are you perhaps starving for something?”


  “Might be more proper to say that I was encouraged by my initial success.”


  “You are desiring seconds, then?”


  “I mean, I’d go for the buffet if I could.”


  “You glutton, you.”


  “That’s just the kind of man I am.”


  He said, gazing straight at Sakura.

  His eyes said everything.

  He wanted to kiss her. More and more.

  He wanted the same kind of kiss as before, and he wanted to go further.

  His eyes showed that he was serious about it.

  Sakura seemed to falter for a moment. She secretly held her breath, not able to immediately respond.

  It was working, thought Taiyou. He stared at her some more, piercing her with his gaze.

  “…Could you tell me just one thing?”


  “Sure, just name it.”


  “Why was there a need to make sure everyone leaves?”


  “Because I want to concentrate on you.”


  “Concentrate?”


  “You could also say ‘focus’, I suppose.”


  “Is that so.”


  Sakura quieted down. Taiyou stared at her.

  Time passed by.

  This was a time in which they merely stared at each other silently.

  Eventually, Sakura closed her eyes. Taiyou felt a slight shock. It was a silent reply, but one that made it clear she had accepted his advances.

  Before he could revel in his victory, however, one thought crossed his mind: why? He had to stop himself from blurting it out.

  It was just so unpolished.

  What was needed right now was not words such as that. It was just Taiyou’s gut feeling.

  He softly grabbed Sakura’s shoulders, slowly overlapping their lips.

  Their lips touched one another.

  The same sensation as earlier transmitted from lip to lip.

  As usual, her lips were cool and chilly, but now there was one additional aspect: the quavering was gone, replaced by a certain firmness. Whatever had been there during their first kiss had now gone away.

  He stopped the kiss, softly embracing her.

  He had braced himself to be potentially rejected, but instead of resisting, Sakura simply accepted it.

  So for a brief moment, he embraced her.

  “…So you aren’t going to ask?”


  “Ask what?”


  “If I enjoyed the kiss.”


  “Nah, that would make me sound like some old yakuza.”


  “Oh? I was under the impression that you were a ‘bed’ yakuza.”


  “Well, that’s just their opinion.”


  “Is that so?”


  “Would it be alright if I did it another time?”


  “I refuse.”


  “Oh, how unfortunate.”


  The next moment after he said that, he suddenly felt his lips covered.

  Taiyou was shocked.

  This time, Sakura was the one who had kissed him.

  Taiyou closed his eyes, calmly accepting that.

  He focused on the pure sensation of their lips, trying to take in her presence.

  “Well that was a surprise. I totally thought you had rejected me.”


  “I only rejected you giving the kiss.”


  “Ah, I see. Then shall I initiate the next one?”


  “Go ahead.”


  He kissed her.

  “Can I do it again?”


  “I refuse.”


  She kissed him.

  “Now my turn.”


  They kissed like they were playing pretend.

  He kissed her, she kissed him.

  The two of them took turns kissing.

  At length, they began to talk less and less, and it became less and less clear who kissed whom. That was just how glued their faces were, pressing against each other.

  Still, this was only a surface kiss. Yes, the heat was on, but they did not move beyond that.

  They repeated that same kiss over and over again.

  “You are good at kissing, I see.”


  “No way. I just like it is all.”


  “You…like it?”


  “Yes, kissing. I like it”


  “You speak like someone from South America would.”


  “Yeah, but they have Christianity pervading throughout that entire area.”


  “Oh? You don’t sound very positive about that. Do you not have a religion?”


  “We got plenty of goddesses strolling around here. Why go elsewhere?”


  “You call them goddesses, but here you are trying to tame one. What a horrible person you are.”


  “Well, the majority of them over here are unmanageable, so I haven’t bothered to tame them.”


  Even after kissing this many times, the relationship between Taiyou and Sakura did not change. Their conversation was sometimes coherent and incoherent, clear and opaque.

  It was as if this represented their relationship.

  And just like that, night turned into day.

  They conversed in idle chitchat, practically forgetting what the other had said seconds after.

  Then, as if remembering, they kissed again. Taiyou gave a kiss, and then Sakura would return it.

  From there, they would go on to once again chat.

  In between their chats, they would kiss.

  Chatting, kissing, kissing, chatting.

  They just repeated it over and over again.

  Taiyou said nothing and asked nothing that would disrupt this moment, because he could feel that one mention of these things would provoke a rejection.

  The other reason was that it was simply too unromantic to say.

  So a night full of chatting and kissing turned to dawn. The two of them were still touching as they fell asleep.