A Pretty Girl Has Her First Kiss Stolen By an Equally Handsome Classmate - Episode 1.9

Friday, February 4

“Come in.”

I was invited into Mizuhara’s room.

It was an especially cold day, and I exaggerated my shivering as I stepped inside.

The small folding table was already set up, and cushions were prepared.

“What should we do? If we’re studying together, what should we work on?”

“Anything but memorization, please.”

According to Mizuhara, she preferred to study subjects that required memorization alone in a quiet place. Since we could help each other, we decided on math and pulled out a chart-style workbook.

For Wakaba, the chart book was something she only touched before a test, but Mizuhara had already worked through several problems.

Whenever I got stuck, I asked Mizuhara for help.

Even though Mizuhara was the one who wasn’t attending school, I was the one asking all the questions. I started to worry that I had distracted her too much.

“Sorry, I kept asking all the questions.”

“Teaching helps me study too, so don’t worry about it.”

If Mizuhara was okay with it, then I guess it was fine.

“See you next week,” I said, smiling as I left Mizuhara’s room.

Friday, February 11

Responding to Mizuhara’s request to sit by the window, we sat side by side at the counter seats facing outside.

I turned to her, ready to start a conversation, but she was simply staring out the window.

We placed the order number on the table and waited for our drinks to arrive.

“You know, Mizuhara, you’re kind of like a cat.”

“Haha, that might actually be an insult to cats.”

Distant and hard to reach, like a proud feline.

“And you’re like a big dog, Wakaba.”

“Wait, what?! Oh, and—hey, you just called me without honorifics!”

Mizuhara stopped adding “-san” to my name.

The shock of it made me forget all about the cat-and-dog comparison.

“What? Would you rather I call you Kaede-chan?”

“N-No! Just Wakaba is fine.”

If Mizuhara started calling me “Kaede-chan,” I’d be too embarrassed to talk.

Besides, I wasn’t the type of person who fit that kind of cute nickname.

“What have you been staring at this whole time?”

“Outside.”

“Are you watching something? Is it interesting?”

“Not really.”

If it wasn’t interesting, then I wished she would look at me instead.

I let out a small, playful huff and turned to stare out the window too.

We watched people come and go for a while, but nothing particularly interesting happened.

I glanced back at Mizuhara, about to complain, only to find her face suddenly very close to mine.

“Whoa!”

“What? Do you want my attention?”

She smirked, clearly amused at catching me off guard.

She totally did that on purpose.

“Wakaba, your neck is a little red here.”

“Oh, that? Uh, I burned it with a curling iron.”

“Hmm, it really does look like a hickey.”

She casually traced her fingertip along my neck.

Maybe because it was such a sensitive spot, even that light touch made my body flinch.

Trying to act natural, I grabbed my vanilla shake and took a sip.

“Mizuhara, do you think we could meet up on a day other than Friday?”

“Nope.”

She easily dodged my question, waving it away.

“This is how I like it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just once a week, for a few hours.”

She took a sip of her matcha latte and looked back out the window.

“I like this special time.”

What was she looking at?

What did her eyes see?

There were still so many things I didn’t understand about Mizuhara.