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Chapter 5 - My Useless Besties.

Today's a completely ordinary day.
In the midst of a noisy school lunch break.

Haru: "That's why I'm saying just confess already, Hikari!"
Hikari: "I can't! It's way too late now. I missed my chance!"

Lunchtime with the usual suspects.
Haru, sitting across from me, is practically shouting, criticizing my indecisiveness.
Ooh, criticizing my indecisiveness, kinda sounds like a rap lyric.

Haru: "Even if you say it's too late, you only started liking him recently, no?"
Hikari: "Yeah, kinda... Up until middle school, I didn't think of him that way at all. Actually, it wasn't until high school that I started noticing him."
Haru: "Oh, that was after he went to a different school, right? Then, why don't you just say something like, Only after we were apart did I realize... how much you mean to me, and then, I dunno, just push him down or something?"
Hikari: "No, no, we're not even apart! I still go over to his house every day!"
Haru: ".......That's the part you rebuke?"

Haru, who's in the track team and great at sports, is the most popular girl in our friend group. Probably because of her... let's call it her un-girly, straightforward personality.

Yuki: "Hikarin, you're such a late bloomer, you know that? Even though you're popular and get confessed to all the time!"

Then Yuki, sitting on my left, jumps into the conversation, while playing with her bangs.

Haru: "What, is that true, Yuki? Hikari's really that... popular?"
Yuki: "Just last month, there was a rumor you turned down Tachibana-senpai, the star of the basketball team, Hikarin."
Hikari: "Hey, cut it out, Yuki! Stop spilling people's personal information so casually!"

Yuki, on the other hand, is super girly, not very popular with the girls... but the boys love her, and she's annoyingly well-informed about everyone's love lives.

Yuki: "Hey, is he really that handsome? That childhood friend of yours?"
Hikari: "...Just normal."
Yuki: "Then why don't you go out with someone else? Wouldn't one of the guys who confessed to you be fine?"
Hikari: "...I'm loyal, y'know."
Haru/Yuki: ""(......So cute)""

My childhood friend has no idea about my feelings for him.
......But within our girls' group, I end up sharing every little detail about it.

Haru: "Then go after him more aggressively, Hikari~!"
Yuki: "Yeah, yeah! And if you can't confess, just go with the flow and, you know, invite him for some fun instead~."
Hikari: "Wait! Didn't you just skip like three whole steps?!"

Not too long ago, we had a sleepover at my place, and, of course, the topic turned to love. I ended up casually mentioning Ta~kun, and ever since then, it's basically become my daily duty to give updates on my love life.

Haru: "Whoa, whoa, that's a bit much. Hikari here hasn't even kissed anyone, let alone that."

Yep, once again, Haru is loudly broadcasting my lack of experience for the entire classroom to hear.
I wanna die.

Yuki: "Hey, Hikarin, are you really not interested in that kind of stuff at all?"
Hikari: "No! ..................Maybe a little bit."
Yuki: "There it is, a perfect example of outing yourself!"
Hikari: "B-but that's way too advanced for me! Can we at least start with step one, please?!"

And thanks to their clever leading questions, my closet perv level is now being broadcast to the entire class
I wanna die. Again.

Yuki: "Hey, Ayachin?"
Haru: "Let's hear another one of your mature insights, Aya-sensei~"
Ayami: "Hmm? What's up?"

And so, in the final ten minutes of a lunch break that had already spiraled out of control...
We three turned to the last member of our group, who had been quietly munching on her sandwich next to me.

Haru: "Didn't you hear? Hikari said she really wants to learn about kissing."
Hikari: "I didn't say that! I mean, it's not like I'm not interested, but still!"
Ayami: "Kissing, huh? Hmm... how many years has it been since my last one?"
Yuki: "Ohhh, so Ayachin's been on a dry spell?"
Hikari: "Wait, Aya-chan, when was your first kiss...?"

Aya-chan's the calmest out of the four of us and has this kind of laid-back way of talking that gives her a mature vibe. Whenever she shares her experiences, she just sounds so convincing. In a way, we all kind of look up to her.

Ayami: "Alright, so what do you wanna know about kissing? How to make the first move? How to get the other to do it? How to do it? Or, how to get done?"
Hikari: "Geez, Aya-chan, you're always so intense..."

When she looks at me with those deep eyes that seem to see right through everything, as a clueless girl with too much curiosity, I have no way to fight back...

Hikari: "Uh, um, well, basically... is it true that your first kiss tastes like lemon!?"
Yuki: "......Are you quoting some 80s era rom-com manga?"
Haru: "......Wow, Hikari, just how sheltered are you?"

......Once again, I messed up.

Ayami: "The taste, huh? Taste... hmm, let's see......"

But no matter how much I mess up, Aya-chan -- who's way more experienced than me -- justs tilts her head her head and gives me an honest answer.

Ayami: "Honestly? It just tastes like whatever you had in your mouth right before. So, maybe pop some breath mints beforehand."
Hikari: "Don't ruin my romantic fantasies!"

......It wasn't the answer I was hoping for, but hey, at least she gave me something.

Ayami: "But really, besides that, it just tastes like saliva. Think about it, sometimes you think your own saliva smells bad, right? So, it's better not to have high hopes about taste or smell, okay?"
Hikari: "Stop making it even worse!!"

Seriously, that's not the answer I wanted at all!

So, what's that supposed to mean? I eat dinner at Ta-kun's house half the week, does that mean if we kiss after dinner, we'll just taste the same?
Ugh, is that disappointing or is it kind of reassuring?

Hikari: "So, so then... what's good about kissing?"
Ayami: "Oh, maybe it's the way the tongues feel? I mean, since it's a touch between mucous membranes, it might feel pretty nice..."
Hikari: "Why do you always take it in that direction?!"
Yuki: "Huh? But come on, Aya-chan, when you lick around your mouth with your own tongue, you don't feel anything, no?"

Huh? But why is Yuki, who made fun of me for having no experience, trying it out too?

Ayami: "That's what's weird... I wonder what the difference is? Maybe it's about what's already inside versus what's coming in?"
Hikari: "Sorry, I'm totally lost."
Ayami: "Um, it's like being invaded, but we're invading too. Maybe it's that thrill of the struggle, and the other person's tongue feeling way rougher and more foreign than my own."
Haru: "Wait, Aya, do you actually put your tongue in?!"

Huh? But why is Haru, who's usually (omitted), looking completely freaked out and trembling?

Ayami: "Hmm... but yeah, I guess this kind of feeling is something you can't really understand unless you've experienced it yourself"
Hikari: "So, in the end, just asking about it is pointless... huh."

And so, after being thoroughly teased and played with by the three of them, I was about to wrap up this fruitless lunch break without gaining anything useful.

...but...

Ayami: "Oh, but you know, I might have a way to make it a bit clearer for you."
Hikari: "Huh? What is it? Tell me!"
Ayami: "Alright, just do exactly as I say, okay?"
Hikari: "Uh... okay...?"
Ayami: "Alright, Hikari, open your mouth a little. Say ahh."
Ayami: "Okay, now don't move, alright?"
Hikari: "Uh... huh?"
Ayami: "Okay, I'm putting it in, alright? Ahhhn..."

............Wait, what?

Hikari: "W-wait, wait, wait! Don't put it in, nooooo!"

............
............

I'm Shirasaka Hikari, sixteen years old......

......and I almost had my first kiss stolen by classmate.