Chapter 8: When Hearts Touch WHEN OUR HOLIDAY aboard the luxury cruise ship was over, we got on a bus that brought us back to the Advanced Nurturing High School. Afterward, I spent my days going back and forth between the dorms and Keyaki Mall. I felt like I was spending my time in such a carefree way that even I would say I was being lazy and self-indulgent. Since I had arrived at this school, the number of people I spent time with had increased to a level that couldn’t even begin to compare to what I’d had last year. I had things going on now that, if you’d told me about it last year, I wouldn’t have believed you. Besides the members of the Ayanokouji Group and Sudou and Ike—the guys I made friends with from my early days at school—there were now people outside of my own class, like Ishizaki and Hiyori, that I spoke to. And, eventually, I’d even started having conversations with some people from Ichinose’s class too. And also… “Sigh, I guess summer vacation really ends today, huh?” muttered Kei with a melancholy air. She sat down on the bed, falling into it with a poof as she hit the mattress. My girlfriend, Karuizawa Kei, and I were regularly having secret dates for the time being, since we were planning to make our relationship public once the second semester started. That meant that today was the last secret date before we were going to do so. Even though the time we were spending together right now was kind of dull, it was by no means unpleasant. If we were just friends who had known each other for a brief time, then we might have felt rushed into having a conversation, or we might have been feeling a little awkward about this situation. “So, starting tomorrow, it’ll be okay for me to tell people about my relationship with you… I’m kinda nervous,” said Kei. “There’s no need to force yourself to tell people,” I said. “I’m not going to take responsibility even if you lose status though.” Page 287 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
“I’m definitely telling people. Besides, if something happens, you’ll protect me, Kiyotaka, so I’ll be fine. Right?” She said it jokingly, but those were unmistakably her true feelings. By attaching itself to a strong host, a parasite was able to protect itself. I took the last sip of my coffee and then sat down next to Kei. I took her delicate hand in mine, and she gently squeezed mine back. She looked over at me shyly. “Kei.” At that moment, I pressed my mouth against her soft lips. “K-Kiyotaka…” “Surprised?” “Y-yeah, I was surprised. C-couldn’t you have given me…like, a little advance warning or something?” Rather than words, I answered her question with action. I grabbed her shoulder gently and pulled her in close. “Mm…!” A second kiss. The instant our lips met, Kei’s shoulders jerked up slightly, and I could tell she was surprised. I quickly pulled away from her lips, and though she looked relieved, I could also see in her eyes that she seemed reluctant to have stopped. Page 288 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
Page 289 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
“…You got me with another sneak attack,” she said. “Really? I thought it was relatively normal,” I replied. The only way for me to learn the correct timing was to repeat it over and over again. “At least, I still hadn’t gotten my feelings ready for it…” “In that case, do you feel ready for it this time?” I asked. “Huh? …Yeah…” Kei nodded. She closed her eyes and gestured like she was ready, so I kissed her again. The previous two kisses only lasted for about a second, but this time was different. It was longer, about five, ten seconds. Little by little, we began to move our lips, kissing repeatedly, like little birds pecking. As time flowed around us, it felt like everything had stopped except Kei and me… It was our final day of summer vacation as second-year high school students. Kei and I learned more about kissing and we had taken things one step higher— together. Page 290 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
Page 291 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
The first half of the curriculum of romantic love was over, and we were now entering into the second half. From now on, we were going to spend our days at school with our heads held high as lovers. By doing so, though, we might find ourselves wrapped up in no small amount of trouble. Nevertheless, the two of us would take each other’s hand and face the difficulties ahead. Slowly but surely, we’d take it step by step, just as the seasons changed from summer to fall and from fall to winter. The relationship between us would, eventually, feel indispensable to us; in time, as it was colored by our emotions, we would come to feel we could not do without it. Even as I tasted Kei’s lips over and over, my thoughts automatically drifted to what was to come. Before long, when the season of farewells approached, this romance would enter its final phase—it was obvious that an extremely difficult ordeal lay ahead. When Karuizawa Kei was cut off from her host, she would have to stand up and face forward on her own. And that was the most important part of this curriculum about romantic love. Page 292 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
Postscript HELLO THERE, it’s Kinugasa—and it’s really tough for me right now as we’ve entered an extremely hot season. I am trembling with fear, because this is basically an omen signaling the coming of my most despised season. However, I’m fortunate in the sense that there’s a recent trend toward selfrestraint, so I can stay home without people getting angry at me. Still, having said that, I’m sure that my kids would love to play outside, so I wish there was a way to let them play without bothering other people. I guess that’s where my DIY skills and stuff can come in… Well, anyway, I started this off by mentioning trivial stuff, but yeah, Volume 4.5 was a summer story. My summer vacations from back when I was a student were so awfully long ago now, but…while people often say that they wish they could go back to the past and redo their school days, I’ve never once thought that. It’s not like there was anything particularly bad about it, I did have fun at school. But I absolutely do NOT have the patience or the confidence to repeatedly go through the cycle of waking up in the morning, studying, working a part-time job, and then going home. This is decline. My eyesight is getting worse day by day, and even thinking about what it’ll be like after another ten years is terrifying… The future is scary too! Unlike last year, this is a story about a vacation on a cruise ship where there were no special exams. It’s also a story about changes in Ayanokouji and Kei’s relationship and changes in their classmates. Changes in the new firstyear students, and in Nagumo and the other third-years. I think that the students have shown tremendous growth, compared to summer vacation last year. And in contrast to the students who are growing, the adults supervising them… Now then, this is a little bit of a spoiler, but were you able to guess who the White Room students are? Yes, I’m sure you’ve got a good idea. I know. The story begins from here, right? Staring in Volume 5, the year-two arc of the story will enter its second act, and I think it’s going to be a major turning point. The next volume will be the start of the second semester, and there will be a special exam separated by grade level. I was surprised when I Page 293 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
realized that this was going to be the first time in a while (at least in several volumes) that there was a special exam that was only about the second-years. I would really be happy if you enjoyed the upcoming volume as well. There are various difficulties out there in the world right now, but let’s all do our best to get through it, everyone. Well, then, I hope can we meet again soon! Page 294 Goldenagato | mp4directs.com
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