You're Standing Too Close

Yukino glared at him fiercely. "What are you saying! You're the one who caused all this trouble, okay? And now you're telling me this?!"

"That's true, it's all thanks to you guys for making me so popular."

Shuya felt sorry for himself and sighed.

"Don't do that, I feel like throwing up."

Yukino clutched her chest uncomfortably.

Shuya didn't care about her reaction and said, "You don't like lying, so just go for it. If it really doesn't work, I can help. I'll just tell Mai- chan that you're already my girlfriend."

"Who wants to date you? I'll talk to her myself... It's also time to properly advise her to stop bothering you."

Yukino refused to admit defeat.

"Hey-hey."

Shuya smiled ambiguously, "Give up. Even so, you can't have me all to yourself. You still have your sister and the others."

"... You're really out of your mind."

Yukino didn't want to talk to him anymore and turned back to eat her own bento.

Shuya cautiously pulled the chair closer. "It looks delicious."

"I won't give it to you."

Yukino alert.

Shuya looked over with sparkling eyes, and Yukino eventually gave in, feeling uncomfortable.

"Alright, stop with that idiotic look in your eyes."

Yukino had no choice but to pick up an omelet and stuff it into his mouth to get rid of him.

Shuya, having achieved his goal, grinned and said, "You really do care about me."

Why do you always talk so flippantly?

"Because it's fun to tease you."

Shuya felt a headache coming on as soon as Yukino said that.

That's enough.

She rubbed her forehead and sighed, "Tell me, what will it take for you to leave? I want some peace and quiet—I'm not referring to Teacher Hiratsuka."

She wanted to think quietly for a while and didn't want to pay attention to Shuya.

"Hmm..."

Seeing her reaction, Shuya knew she was nearing her limit, so he decided not to tease her any further.

When handling affairs, one must strike a balance between tension and relaxation; one cannot push too hard.

So he readily agreed, "Okay, give me a kiss like Mai did and I'll leave."

"... Can."

Yukino thought to herself that they had already kissed several times, so one more time wouldn't make a difference.

... Just consider it as if it were chewed by a dog.

She roughly grabbed Shuya's tie and yanked it hard. The moment he leaned in, she raised her face and kissed him without hesitation.

Then Shuya surprising happened: her soft tongue slipped into his lips and intertwined with his.

Huh? Wait a minute, wasn't this supposed to be a kiss? How did it turn into an adult kiss?

Shuya kept saying "kiss," trying to show the difference between the two, but it seems Yukino didn't understand his way of expressing it.

She mistook it for a kiss.

But... isn't that even better?!

Shuya didn't stand on ceremony and hugged her waist, responding passionately to her initiative.

A few minutes later, Yukino released him, panting, and asked, "Is this okay?"

Shuya took the opportunity to explain, "You've got it wrong, it's not this... uh-huh?!"

Yukino had no patience to listen to him finish speaking, and assuming he was going to change his mind, she didn't bother arguing with him and shut him up again.

In the empty clubroom, Yukino and Shuya kissed again.

After they parted again, her face was flushed and her eyes were filled with bright tears.

She gasped, "Huff... huff... is this... okay this time?"

So I said no.

"Enough, shut up!"

"Uh-huh?!"

Shuya wanted to explain, but Yukino pressed herself against him again, forcefully silencing him once more.

Three kisses, taking about ten minutes.

Shuya's kissing skills are quite proficient, which is fine, but Yukino's inability to breathe properly makes things difficult for her.

She gasped for breath, her voice trembling, "This, this is good enough now! Just give me something decent!"

"..."

Shuya had enjoyed her giving him away three times, and he was quite satisfied.

He pinned Yukino down before speaking, "Calm down, you've misunderstood."

What misunderstanding?

Yukino's tone was blank and innocent.

"The kiss I was referring to was just a light kiss on the lips, nothing as intense as yours, you're so annoying..."

Shuya smiled shyly.

Upon hearing this, Yukino's expression became quite interesting.

She trembled for about ten seconds, then slapped Shuya across the face—and her face contorted in pain.

She covered her hand, angrily saying, "You, you, you! Why didn't you say so earlier!"

"I've always said 'kiss,' but this is different from kissing. Yukino- chan, on the contrary... why do you think Mai- chan and I are kissing like that?"

Shuya grinned mischievously, "Could it be that you're the one who's lewd, so everything you see is lewd?"

Yukino was so angry her brain was trembling.

Seeing the situation was turning sour, Shuya quickly retreated to the doorway. "Then I won't stop you from having lunch. See you later!"

He was already far away when he finished speaking.

Section 597, 555: Too close.

Seeing that Yukino hadn't caught up, he stopped at the end of the connecting passage:

"Hey, I didn't expect today to be my lucky day. Yukino- chan is quite proactive, isn't she?"

Shuya knew that Yukino probably wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible, which was why she did this.

But it's easy to understand why she would kiss someone she doesn't like.

It's no secret that Yukino has feelings for him.

If it weren't for that, when Shuya forced a kiss on her in the room, she exploded and there would have been no chance for her to have normal contact with Shuya afterward.

In other words, their relationship will not change in any particular way as a result.

Well, you can't say that. Yukino will at least be embarrassed and angry for a day or two (lol)...

Shuya saw Yukino again in the Service Club room after school.

She showed no outward signs of anger, but secretly glared at him fiercely.

Shuya always felt like a kitten was baring its teeth at him, but he wasn't angry at all; in fact, he felt he could glare at her a little longer.

Yukino Yuigahama grades, and the results were alright. Yukino reluctantly accepted the results and planned to start studying again in a couple of days.

To be honest, the final exams aren't too far away. Today is the last day of Itsuki, and the final exams will be here soon.

If you fail the final exam, you'll have to take extra classes during summer vacation, and I'm sure Yuigahama doesn't want that either.

It's a pity that she understands the truth, but when she heard about tutoring, she ignored him and pretended to be stupid.

Yukino was in a bad mood and didn't have the patience to comfort her; she just kept her head down and read her novel.

However, Shuya could tell from her empty gaze that she was clearly not focused on the novel.

There's no need to guess; she's definitely thinking about Mai.

Mai was one of her few friends, and she was always considerate of her feelings. She absolutely did not want to cause a rift between the two of them because of Shuya.

They had always had an unspoken understanding that neither of them intended to take things further with Shuya.

Therefore, when Yukino learned that Mai and Shuya's relationship had progressed, her heart was shaken violently.

But at the same time, she felt a sense of relief.

Although it wasn't her intention, the fact remains that she and Shuya did some ambiguous things.

She felt guilty for not mentioning these things to Mai.

She always felt that this violated their unspoken agreement, and was a betrayal.

After hearing Shuya say that he and Mai had kissed, she didn't want to admit it, but she did feel a little relieved...

This feeling, in turn, deepened her sense of guilt.

In short, Yukino was extremely conflicted.

(Why do I happen to be attracted to this kind of person...?)

Yukino felt angry with herself.

Thinking of this, she took a deep breath and slammed the novel shut.

"!"

Hikigaya was startled and flinched.

"?!"

Yuigahama was unhappy with her pretending to be stupid.

Shuya the swimsuit group. After hearing the sound, he looked at Yukino and asked, "What is it now?"

"Shut up, you scumbag."

Oh dear! A new nickname has appeared!

Shuya smiled slightly, not minding at all.

Yukino stuffed the book back into her bag, her voice colder than usual. "I'm going back now."

Shuya asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

"It's none of your business."

Yukino hurriedly left the clubroom.

"Oh no! Does Xiaoxue hate me?! But I really don't want to have to go to tutoring right after my exams!"

Yuigahama let out a scream.

Hikigaya glanced at Shuya: "I don't think this has anything to do with Yuigahama."

"..."

Shuya ignored Yuigahama, stroking his chin and thinking, "Emmm, Yukino- chan isn't going to go and confront Mai- chan, is she?"

... Probably not. After all, they're such good friends. If Shuya hadn't been so confident in himself, he'd probably think they were having a lesbian relationship.

These two probably won't be facing off.