Chi... Chiba...
W-what... what happened? J-just now...
The breath she had been holding slowly escaped. Lying on the bed, Yukina's eyelashes trembled slightly before she slowly opened her eyes. Two blushes quietly appeared on her cheeks, adding a touch more shy charm to her delicate beauty.
Then, one hand—a hand wrapped in snow-white bandages faintly stained with blood—slowly touched her smooth forehead.
Even now, her forehead seemed to retain the sensation of those smooth, gentle hands brushing over it. The spot they had touched tingled faintly.
He... he...
Then, a smile slowly appeared at the corners of her lips. As the honey-sweet sensation in her heart gradually spread, it finally became a sweet smile. Paired with her crystalline, ruby-red face, though she was only eleven or twelve, she was already incomparably lovely.
Knock, knock, knock!
Just then, the hand wrapped in snow-white bandages, which had been repeatedly rubbing over the spot Chiba's hand had touched, suddenly stopped.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Are you awake, Yukina?"
Then came Kushina's voice.
O-oh no!
Teacher Kushina... saw me!
At that call, she abruptly sat up in bed. The sweet smile at her lips instantly froze, while her cheeks seemed to turn even redder.
In truth, she had already woken up the first time Kushina called her. But when her hand touched that familiar face beside her and Chiba's unique scent reached her nose, she had been so startled that she instinctively shut her eyes again. For some reason, she had pretended to be asleep.
Then, as Kushina's footsteps approached, aside from her heartbeat growing faster and faster, she pretended to sleep more and more convincingly.
Later, when Kushina left, she had intended to "wake up." But Chiba unexpectedly took a deep breath and woke up, so she could only continue pretending.