Touching Her Legs

Morishita Ran leaned against the edge of the desk, gripping the bottle of chilled tea in her hand. Her gaze rested evenly on him, plainly waiting for him to step forward. There was no provocation or teasing on her face—she was simply waiting for him to come over and do it.

His ears heated up first.

"Morishita Mom, are you serious, or are you just messing with me?"

"If I said it, I mean it."

Her tone did not fluctuate in the slightest, no different from when she said, "You bought the right tea."

Kiryu Yume took a deep breath, closed the door, and walked toward her.

He stopped half a step away. She was noticeably shorter than him; looking down, he could see the swirl of hair at the crown of her head. Her wet hair had not fully dried yet, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible soap scent—clean, soft with a trace of moisture.

She looked up at him without avoiding his gaze.

He crouched down.

Her lounge shorts barely covered the middle of her thighs. The exposed skin was covered in a faint mist of moisture, glowing warmly under the light. Her knees were round, her calves softly curved, and her slender ankles rested lightly against the floor.

His gaze lingered for two seconds, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"...What are you looking at?"

"You told me to touch you."

"I told you to touch me, not stare at me."

Kiryu Yume looked up. She was gazing down at him over the top of her glasses, the faintest curve at the corner of her lips. Her expression was entirely that of someone observing an experimental subject.

He reached out.

His fingertips touched the outside of her calf first. It was warm, carrying the soft heat of freshly washed skin. The texture was smooth. He pressed lightly against it without applying force, letting only his fingertips rest over that patch of skin.

She did not move.

He could feel her skin sink ever so slightly, then spring back. There was none of the muted sensation of fabric through stockings—this was real body heat, real texture, and the faint pulse of blood vessels beneath her skin.

His heartbeat slammed against his chest, each beat heavier than the last.

"...You really touched me."

The soft warmth still lingered on his fingertips. He muttered quietly, "You were the one who suggested it."

"Mm, I did tell you to touch me."

Silence fell.

His fingers stayed there for three seconds. They did not slide, nor did they touch her a second time. They simply remained pressed there. Then he slowly withdrew his hand. Still crouching, he looked up at her.

"Morishita Mom."

"Mm."

"What exactly are you thinking?"

Morishita Ran looked down into his eyes. She paused for a few seconds before speaking. "I was wondering how long you would touch me, what you would say afterward, and what expression you would make. Now I've seen it all."

She had long been used to taking note of every subtle crack in his composure. And only in front of her was he unable to hide such straightforward little reactions as the reddening of his ears.

"...Satisfied with the experiment results?"

"Not bad. You were more restrained than I expected."

She unscrewed the tea bottle and took a sip, then screwed the cap back on. Her movements were slow. Condensation on the bottle slid through her fingers and fell to the floor, so softly it was nearly inaudible.

He stood up, but the heat in his ears had not faded.

"You're nervous." Morishita Ran's gaze landed on the tips of his ears, her tone flat.

Kiryu Yume instinctively turned his face aside. "I'm not."

"They're completely red. You can't hide it."

"...You really do observe closely."

"Every time, you look away before I can look at you. This time you didn't, so I looked a little longer." Morishita Ran shifted the tea bottle to her left hand and raised her right, touching his earlobe with her fingertips.

The cool sensation against his skin made his shoulders jerk back.

"It really is hot." She withdrew her hand, her tone even. "Confirmed."

The instant her fingertips began to pull away, Kiryu Yume reached out and caught her wrist.

His grip was very light, only stopping her halfway through withdrawing it. The place where her wrist bone protruded was unexpectedly delicate, and her skin was cooler than her calf. Beneath it, her pulse fluttered once.

He did not think much about it. His mind was still caught on that cool touch from moments ago, and he reached out as if possessed. By the time he realized what he had done, his palm was already pressed against her skin.

Morishita Ran froze.

The fingers holding the tea bottle suddenly tightened, and another string of droplets slid to the floor. Her eyelashes trembled rapidly, so quickly it was almost impossible to catch.

She looked up at him, and for the first time, the calm in her eyes wavered. The tips of her ears quietly flushed against the pale skin fresh from her bath, hidden behind her hanging hair—easy to miss if one was not paying attention.

He said nothing. He held her wrist for one second, then let go.

The air seemed to slow by half a beat.

"...What does that mean?" Her voice was lower than before, giving away no emotion.

"It doesn't mean anything." Kiryu Yume's Adam's apple bobbed as he forced his voice to remain steady. "You confirmed yours. I confirmed mine."

Morishita Ran glanced at him. Her gaze no longer held its usual calm, nor any teasing. It had plainly wavered, but before it could settle, she forced it back down.

She looked away and took another sip of tea. Even the coolness in her throat could not suppress the heat in her ears.

"...You really are something."

He did not reply. He only watched her quietly.

She walked past him to the desk. Her gaze swept over the lens cap on its surface, and she reached out to pick it up, turning it over. Her fingertips rotated it halfway, and for some reason, her movement paused for half a second.

"Shizuku."

"Mm. It belongs to the girl I bumped into during the day."

"You haven't returned it yet?"

"She ran off too fast. I couldn't catch up."

Morishita Ran placed the cap back on the desk and casually added, "Doesn't sound like a common name."

Her tone was flat, making it impossible to tell whether she was curious or something else.

"...What do you mean?"

"Just saying."

She turned and leaned back against the desk again, bracing herself with both hands and tilting back slightly. Her bare legs were fully exposed before him once more.

"Haven't you seen enough?"

Kiryu Yume did not hurriedly look away as he had before. Instead, he stepped half a pace closer. Lowering his eyes, he slowly drew his gaze up from her ankles and settled it on her face.

"You deliberately stood like that. Wasn't it for me to look?"

She tilted her head slightly, as though she had not expected him to say that. The faint ripples in her eyes stirred, and in the end she only said, "If you think so, then so be it."

"...You win."

"Win what?"

"I don't know, but you win."

The corner of her lips moved. It was so brief it barely counted as a smile, but he caught it.

"Your answers today are more interesting than usual. A reward for you."

She pulled a soda-flavored lollipop from her pocket, unwrapped it, and held it to his lips. The candy stick tapped against his lower lip—the exact same gesture as last time.

He opened his mouth and took it in.

The soda flavor burst across his tongue, its fizzy prickling sensation like his heartbeat crashing wildly just moments before.

"Morishita Mom, just how much candy do you carry around in your pockets?"

"Enough."

She withdrew her hand, folded the wrapper, and tucked it back into her pocket. Picking up the tea bottle, she walked two steps toward the door, then stopped.

"Oh, right."

"Mm?"

"What I allowed just now was an extra privilege. Next time, if you stare without warning, I'll snap the back of your neck with a rubber band. I won't be gentle."

"...But you clearly said I could touch you."

"What I said was, 'It's not like I can't let you touch me once.'" She turned her head slightly. "Now that you've touched me, the terms have been updated."

Kiryu Yume stood where he was, the candy in his mouth, watching her back.

She pulled open the door, then looked back at him once more.

"Today's report is finished. See you tomorrow."

"What report?"

"Observation notes specifically recording every one of your flustered moments."

"...You really wrote that?"

A trace of amusement hid in her eyes. "I'm kidding."

The door closed. Her footsteps receded down the hallway, followed by the faint sound of a lock turning next door.

He stood there for a while, then bit through the candy in his mouth. Sweetness mixed with fizz spread across his entire mouth.

He walked over to the desk and sat down. Picking up the lens cap, he looked at it again. The coldness of the plastic was entirely different from the soft warmth that had been in his palm moments ago.

The room was quiet. The scent of soap mixed with a trace of mint tea, so faint it was nearly impossible to grasp.

He took out his phone. His fingertips felt a little unsteady as he typed a single word into the search bar.

Shizuku.