Alice asked Haru to walk around the forest of the Tootsuki Academy, even though it was late at night.
"Geeez! There are too many mosquitoes!" Alice cried when her arm was bitten by the mosquito.
Haru caught the mosquito on Alice's arm, and it left a black and red mark from the dead mosquito and the blood that was sucked from Alice's body.
"Is it itchy?" Haru asked.
"Um, it is so itchy!" Alice looked at her arm that was held by Haru with a light blush on her face and then pointed her arm with her finger. "Look! There is a little bump on the place that was bitten by the mosquito!"
"Aren't you the one who asks to walk around here?" Haru was speechless since this girl was the one who asked him to walk in the forest.
"But... but... the mosquito is too naughty..." Alice knew that she was the one who asked him to walk around since she was still feeling excited after she won the championship, but she couldn't calm down since she was about to tell her feelings toward... Cough! Cough!
"Wait a moment, let me take care of this." Haru tapped the little bump on Alice's arm that was bitten by a mosquito, and suddenly it returned back to normal.
"Huh?"
"Hold my hand, and you won't get bitten by the mosquito," Haru said and offered his hand.
Alice wanted to ask how Haru was able to cure the little bump on her arm, but she quickly forgot about it when she saw him offer his hand but was she going to reject it?
Of course not, right?
Alice held Haru's hand naturally as if it was something obvious to do. 'How big.' It might have been her first time to be able to feel his hand so long, and she had to admit that it felt good. She felt that she was being protected, and at the same time, she felt quite envious of Erina, who was able to hold his hand all the time.
"Where do you want to go?" Haru asked.
"Well..." Alice thought for a moment and said, "How about we go to the place where Kiviak is buried?"
"........" Haru was speechless and asked, "I wonder whether that place is still smelly."
"It shouldn't be, right?" Alice smiled and said, "Well, even if it's smelly, we take a bath later, right? Let's go! Let's go!"
Looking at Alice, who was smiling, Haru was also affected and smiled. "Well, let's go."
As the two walked, they talked about a lot of things. From their first meeting, Kiviak and a lot more things that they had done together.
"We're lucky that there wasn't a problem with Kiviak before," Alice said with a sigh, especially when she thought that someone might be able to get botulism.
"If someone gets botulism, it is because they use eider rather than auk," Haru said.
"Even so, it's so smelly!" Alice said with a laugh.
"It's so smelly." Haru nodded and agreed. He didn't think that he would cook kiviak again in the future since it didn't really taste good, and someone also needed to eat it from the anus of the auk bird, which was pretty much unique.
"Will you make something like that again?" Alice asked curiously.
"Kiviak?"
"Um."
"Probably not." Haru shook his head and said, "It's hard to get the ingredients, it takes a lot of time, and there's also a danger of disease, but I might try other fermentation food."
"Oh? What kind?" Alice asked curiously.
"I haven't thought about it yet, but surstromming might be good," Haru said with a smile.
".........."
Alice rolled her eyes before she laughed.
"Why were you laughing?"
"It's just it's fun to be with you, Haru," Alice said while looking at Haru, but this time, she didn't show her usual smile. Rather, she showed a sincere expression on her face.
"Yeah, I have fun being with you too, Alice." Haru also gave a sincere response, and he had to admit that it might be her first time to see her show such an expression.
They looked at each other with a smile before they continued to walk.
"Are you sure you want to go to the place where the kiviak is buried?" Haru asked.
"What's wrong? You don't like it?" Alice asked with a mischievous smile.
"It isn't that I hate it, but don't you think that place is strange? That place is also like a grave. What's so good about that place?" Haru asked.
"Grave..." Alice murmured, then looked at Haru with a smile. "Grave is a good place, right?"
"Good place?" Haru's lips twitched.
"Yeah." Alice nodded, then said, "It reminds someone that we won't be in this world forever, and we will die someday. Also..."
"Also?"
"I also want to remind the person that I love that I'll only stay with this person till I die, so I won't forgive this person if he dares to break up with me so suddenly," Alice said while raising her fist, aiming it toward Haru, ready to punch him anytime, if he said something strange.
"..........."
"The guy that you fell with is so lucky," Haru said after a moment of pause.
"Of course!" Alice showed a smug expression and said, "He's so lucky that he can get a beautiful girl like me to confess to him!"
"Yes, yes, he's so lucky."
As they walked, they had arrived at the spot where they buried the kiviak in the past.
"The hole has been closed," Alice said.
"Of course, if we don't close it, the smell will spread everywhere," Haru said.
"Say, Haru, can I ask you for a gift?" Alice asked.
"Here?" Haru was stunned.
"Here." Alice nodded without hesitation.
"Sure."
"Close your eyes a bit and try to lean forward," Alice said with a smile.
"........."
Haru sighed, then closed his eyes and leaned forward, but his neck was pulled, and he was kissed directly without any preparation!
"........."
'If it was someone else, they might fall down directly...' Haru thought in his heart as he opened his eyes, looking at Alice, who kissed him with a shy expression.
Alice didn't have experience, so she pulled her lips away after she kissed him for a moment. "It didn't taste like kiviak."
'Isn't that obvious?'
"Do you want to taste something better?" Haru asked.
"Hmph! No way!" Alice crossed her arms and rejected. However, she kept winking at him as if trying to give him a message to confess to her.
"You want me to confess?" Haru asked directly.
"Huh? Is that something you should ask me?" Alice was dumbfounded and then complained. "Come on! You're the guy! You should be the one who confesses to me! I even bring you to the grave-like place rather than a romantic place, you know? So at least, let my dream be confessed by the guy that I love to be granted!"
Haru looked at Alice and said, "Alice, I love you."
"Oh? Why do you love me?" Alice asked with a smile.
Haru wanted to smack this stupid girl's head. "If you kiss me again, then I'll tell you."
"Well, it can't be helped since you begged me. I'll kiss you reluctantly." Alice closed her eyes, and she was so eager to be kissed, but then her forehead flicked. "Ouch! It hurts! What are you doing?!"
"You haven't replied to my confession yet."
Alice's face was so red, she was so shy, but then she looked at him with a bright smile and said, "I love you too, Haru."
There was hesitation anymore, and they kissed each other. The place they kissed might not be the most romantic place, or rather, it might be the worst place ever since they were in the middle of a forest on the place where they buried the kiviak, but even so, they wouldn't forget about this confession for the entire life, or rather, it was impossible to be forgotten since it was so unique.
Alice had to admit that kissing tasted amazing and understood why Erina was so addicted to it. Still, even if their kiss tasted like a kiviak, she might feel addicted to it since she was kissing the person that she loved.