A Midway Attempt

The air seemed to freeze.

Just as Ichinose Honami was so embarrassed she wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground, Kazehara Tetsu suddenly moved.

He lowered his head slightly.

A faintly cool touch landed lightly at the corner of her lips.

It was very light.

It touched, then parted.

So fast... it felt like an illusion.

Ichinose Honami's eyes flew wide open.

Her whole body froze.

Her mind buzzed, going completely blank.

She had not even processed what had just happened.

Only the faintly cool sensation lingering at the corner of her lips felt unbelievably real.

Kazehara Tetsu had already straightened up.

He turned back toward the jellyfish tank as if nothing had happened.

"The jellyfish is floating up."

He spoke blandly, his voice carrying a trace of barely perceptible amusement.

Ichinose Honami suddenly came back to herself.

She immediately turned her head and stared at the jellyfish in the tank.

The largest jellyfish was slowly drifting upward, nearly reaching the surface.

Blue light reflected in her eyes, flickering back and forth.

Her cheeks grew even hotter.

She raised a hand and gently touched her lips with the back of it.

It was real.

That had not been an illusion.

He... had kissed her.

Ichinose Honami's heartbeat began racing wildly again.

She bit her lower lip, desperately suppressing the urge to smile.

So... it had not been a one-person show.

He had responded.

Even if it had only been a fleeting kiss.

It said more than any words could.

The two of them stood side by side like that, neither saying anything.

At some point, the couple in the corner had already left.

Only the two of them remained in the entire hall.

It was so quiet they could hear each other breathing.

After a very, very