Yuki Kataoka abruptly sat up. The crepe in her hand slipped with a plop onto the carpet, and cream splattered onto the tip of Kageyama Sora's shoe.
"Senpai Mako..." Her voice trembled, and her eyes grew misty again.
Kageyama Sora watched her shaking shoulders, knowing that Yuki Kataoka was in a terrible state of mind.
Her distress wouldn't just affect her. If it affected Mako Someya, who had already lost, things would only get worse.
With that in mind, Kageyama Sora swallowed. At last, he stopped trying to suppress the emotions surging within him.
He swept an arm around Yuki Kataoka and pulled her into his embrace. The leather sofa creaked softly.
Yuki Kataoka bumped against Kageyama Sora's chest, her nose brushing one of his shirt buttons. It seemed to ease her sadness a little.
For now, the only thing to do was let another emotion cover the one she was feeling.
Kageyama Sora's warm palm rested against the back of her neck, his thumb gently stroking her sensitive skin again and again.
"It's okay." He lowered his head into her hair, his voice low enough to rumble against her ear. "Trust your other teammates..."
Yuki Kataoka started to raise her head to argue, but Kageyama Sora held the back of it.
His calloused fingertips lightly brushed her flushed earlobe, sending a tingling sensation down her spine.
"You know better than anyone that there are winners and losers in a match. Your teammate's loss will only inspire the others to become stronger..."
As if to distract Yuki Kataoka, his breath fanned across her eyelashes. "And right now, you're in my arms. It's just you and me."
His words made Yuki Kataoka go weak. Without thinking, she clutched the fabric over Kageyama Sora's chest.
The commentator's voice on the TV faded into the distance, leaving only the deafening sound of their intermingled heartbeats.
Kageyama Sora's fingertips traced down her slender neck and stopped at the hollow of her collarbone, feeling her hurried breaths.
"Yuki." He suddenly said her name, his hoarse voice seeming almost honeyed.
Before Yuki Kataoka could answer, his warm lips brushed her eye, gently kissing away the last of her tears.
The tender kiss made Yuki Kataoka tremble. Kageyama Sora then kissed her flushed cheek, finally pausing at her quivering lips.
It was a cautious kiss. Kageyama Sora merely brushed his lips against hers until he felt her fingers tighten on his shirt. Only then did he draw her closer.
Yuki's Private Booth
The moment his tongue slipped past her teeth, the air in the booth seemed to grow hot.
Yuki Kataoka tasted a faint sweetness of macarons on his lips, mixed with Kageyama Sora's familiar scent. She felt almost lost in the warmth of it.
Kageyama Sora's hand slid to her slender waist, feeling the warmth of her skin through the thin fabric.
When his thumb brushed her waist, Yuki Kataoka let out a soft sound. It seemed to spur Kageyama Sora on, and he deepened the kiss.
He pressed her back against the sofa, their lips meeting more urgently as their breathing grew rough.
After a while, they finally parted, both breathing hard.
Yuki Kataoka's lips were flushed. She gazed at Kageyama Sora with a dazed look.
Kageyama Sora stroked her swollen lips with his thumb, his eyes filled with intense emotion. "I believe you'll turn things around in your next match."
He looked into Yuki Kataoka's bright eyes and kissed her lips once more. "Take my courage with you and win the victory that's yours."
Yuki Kataoka buried her face in Kageyama Sora's arms, listening to his steady heartbeat. Suddenly, all her failures and frustrations seemed unimportant.
It wasn't that she was so easily comforted. She believed she would win next time—without a doubt.
Yuki Kataoka looked at Ling Xiao with watery eyes.
Her feelings were tangled. She had once taken the initiative with Kageyama Sora, but after Haramura Nodoka told her that fair competition was allowed, she had felt that what she'd done wasn't right and had started keeping her distance from him.
She hadn't expected that, even though she had stopped moving forward, Kageyama Sora would choose to take the initiative.
It seemed the kiss hadn't been the end of it.
Kageyama Sora's palm moved slowly up Yuki Kataoka's waist. When his fingers brushed the hollow between her ribs, he felt her back tense with a shiver.
The cool leather and their warmth mingled. The clatter of mahjong tiles from the TV suddenly sounded harsh, so he pressed the remote control. Silence fell over the booth, broken only by their uneven breathing.
"Yuki..." His breathless voice fell beside her ear as his fingers caught the bow on her uniform collar.
The moment the ribbon slipped loose between Kageyama Sora's fingers, Yuki Kataoka suddenly grabbed his wrist. Her eyes were wet with tears. "W-wait... Not here..."
She meant that here wasn't okay, not that Kageyama Sora wasn't.
It was practically consent.
Kageyama Sora kissed her lower lip, tracing its edge with his tongue until she let out a soft sound and loosened her grip.
He took the opportunity to undo the bow and the top two buttons of her shirt, revealing the pale skin at her collarbone.
His throat bobbed as his kisses traveled down her neck, lingering at the hollow of her collarbone. He caught the scent of strawberry cream mingled with her own.
Yuki Kataoka's fingers moved restlessly. She felt weak from his kisses.
When Kageyama Sora's palm settled at her side, she arched suddenly, her lower back bumping hard against the sofa.
The unexpected movement made them both freeze. She turned her face away, her ears bright red. "That tickles... I bumped myself. It hurts..."
"I don't want to hurt you... So be good and don't struggle..."
Kageyama Sora chuckled hoarsely and gently rubbed the spot where she'd bumped herself.
His tender gesture made Yuki Kataoka's heart flutter. Her tense body suddenly relaxed.
She turned to look at him, tears still clinging to her eyelashes and catching the warm light.
Kageyama Sora's breathing grew heavier.
He leaned down and kissed her again, this time more tenderly and for longer.
Instead of letting his hands wander, he simply held her gently, as if she were something precious and fragile.
Yuki Kataoka slowly returned his kiss, awkwardly reaching out with her tongue and following his lead.
The booth grew warmer, their overlapping shadows falling across the leather sofa.
When Kageyama Sora's fingertips reached the top of her white knee-high stockings, Yuki Kataoka suddenly grabbed his wrist. Her voice held a hint of unease. "Is there a camera in here...?"
Kageyama Sora froze. Seeing her flushed cheeks, he suddenly laughed. He pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on her head. "Silly girl. Of course not."
Then he tightened his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "If you're scared, we don't have to do anything..."
Yuki Kataoka nestled against him, listening to his strong, steady heartbeat. Suddenly, all her hurt and frustration turned into motivation.
She looked up and gave him a light kiss on the lips. "I'm not scared... As long as there aren't any cameras..."
After she'd put it that way, Kageyama Sora wasn't going to refuse her.
She got up, keeping their lips together as she pressed Yuki Kataoka against the sofa.
The leather creased against Yuki Kataoka's lower back. Yet she felt every tiny ridge as if it were tracing a path along her spine, like the edge of a mahjong tile against her skin.
When Kageyama Sora's breath drew near again, she suddenly remembered the day Haramura Nodoka had said they could compete fairly. The three of them had stood in front of the waterfall during training camp, talking about the National Tournament and pursuing love fairly.
"Don't think about anyone else." Kageyama Sora's whisper brushed her ear as his fingers undid her shirt buttons.
Yuki Kataoka felt her heart leap, just like when she drew a winning tile at the table and her pulse made it tremble.
The damp warmth at her collarbone made her arch. In a daze, she couldn't tell whether she was trembling with desire or with the excitement of a decisive moment in a match.
The soft rustle of her stockings sliding down mingled with the faint electrical hum of the muted TV. Yuki Kataoka stared at the crystal chandelier overhead. Its dangling glass beads seemed to turn into mahjong dice, tumbling ceaselessly through her mind.
When Kageyama Sora's warm palm touched her thigh, Yuki Kataoka bit her lower lip and tasted blood.
Her thoughts were a complete mess. She could only think about how nervous and thrilling this was—doing something like this in a place like this...
And with her good friend's boyfriend...
And her friend had allowed it...
No matter how she looked at it, it was strange...
"Yuki..." Kageyama Sora's voice mingled with the soft rustle of fabric, like the rush of tiles being shuffled.
Her fingers instinctively clutched the hem of his shirt...
When his kiss reached her chest, Yuki Kataoka suddenly realized she couldn't give this up for the sake of friendship. She liked it too—not just him, but everything Kageyama Sora made her feel.
Cool air from the vent brushed her flushed skin, yet she felt as if she were soaking in a hot spring. The mist seemed to blur the line between reality and fantasy.
When his fingers brushed the curve of her back, she heard a soft sound escape her throat. It was so sweet and breathy, it hardly seemed to come from her.
Her thoughts drifted between desire and guilt. Haramura Nodoka's smile, the tiles flying across the competition table, Kageyama Sora's heated gaze—all the images shifted quickly through her mind like a shuffled deck.
Hisa Takei's Match
The loosened ribbon fell to the floor like a faded strand of moonlight.
Yuki Kataoka curled up in the corner of the sofa, trembling as she tried to button her shirt. She kept missing the holes.
Kageyama Sora knelt on the carpet and covered her cold fingertips with his warm palm. "I'll do it."
His movements were gentler than shuffling tiles, his fingers moving carefully through lace and cotton.
When he fastened the third button, Yuki Kataoka suddenly caught his wrist, her nails digging into the veins beneath his skin. "Nodoka said before that I could compete fairly... But I still feel awful... I know it's awful of me to say that after what I've done, but I just can't get past it..."
The air went still.
Kageyama Sora brushed his thumb over the back of her hand. "I'll take care of things. For now, don't think too much, okay?"
He picked up the hair accessory that had fallen into the sofa cushions and helped straighten Yuki Kataoka's hair.
"But..." Her voice was swallowed by the hum of the air conditioner.
Kageyama Sora had already stood up and put his clothes back in order.
Then he suddenly leaned down, his nose brushing her flushed earlobe. "Listen."
The sound of a service cart rattled along the hallway, mingling with faint singing from the booth next door.
Kageyama Sora's fingers traced the curve of her shoulder blade, drawing a barely perceptible circle at the base of her spine. "If you don't get dressed properly, someone might find us..."
Yuki Kataoka jumped and sprang to her feet, only to bump into his smiling eyes.
Even after their passion had faded, Kageyama Sora's eyes were still warm enough to make Yuki Kataoka feel as if her soul were burning.
For some reason, she found herself affected by him.
"I'm going to win," she blurted out, her voice more resolute than she'd expected.
Kageyama Sora raised an eyebrow, still smoothing her disheveled hair. "At mahjong, or against me?"
"Both." She caught his crooked tie. The silk brushed against her fingers, making her heart skip a beat.
Before Kageyama Sora bent to kiss her, she saw their reflections overlapping in the mirrored wall.
When their lips met again, Yuki Kataoka heard a happy hum in her heart.
She bit his lower lip and tasted a faint trace of blood. For a moment, she couldn't tell whether she'd bitten him or was reliving a thrilling decisive play at the mahjong table.
After the two of them had tidied each other up and straightened the booth, they left together.
Mako Someya's match had already ended, and things weren't looking good. Kiyosumi High School was in last place.
Hisa Takei's match wasn't continuing just yet, though, since it was now the lunch break.
Kageyama Sora had someone buy food. Then he took it and returned to the break room with Yuki.
Hisa Takei held a teacup, her gaze moving between Kageyama Sora and Yuki Kataoka. Her smile was deeply meaningful. "You were gone a long time..."
Kageyama Sora chuckled and set the pile of food his assistant had bought on the table. "Let me off this time?"
Hisa Takei smiled. "Of course."
After a little chatting, they returned to the match.
Hisa Takei remarked, "That player from Tsuruga Academy is really something. She's obviously an amateur, but she won three hands in a row while Mako was dealer. One of them was even a limit hand."
Kageyama Sora had been with Yuki Kataoka, but he had still managed to watch some of the broadcast. "Could it be beginner's luck, or does she have a special talent?"
Hisa Takei reflected, "Probably both. Since she's a beginner, she doesn't have everyone else's usual assumptions. That might be why she can play in such surprising ways."
Even so, Mako Someya was under a lot of pressure. "I'm sorry I'm handing the baton over to you in last place."
Hisa Takei didn't seem bothered or pressured by her teammate. "It's fine. I'm up after the lunch break. I'll do my best to make up the difference. That's the charm of a team competition."
After the lunch break, the Center Battle began.
With the announcement over the loudspeakers, everyone finished eating and headed back to the competition.
Before you continue