Chapter 12 - Flirting

"Ah~"

Suddenly hearing the sound ringing coupled with the hot wind blowing into her ears, Sakuragi Otome suddenly felt weird and subconsciously ran a few steps forward.

Then she rubbed her ears and turned around, glaring angrily at the bad guy who was teasing her.

"mo~"

"Oh ho ho~ You started flirting so early in the morning?"

Seeing the faint charm between the two, as if something had happened, Okino Rinka, sincerely happy for them both and happy for herself, covered her mouth and teaased with a smile.

Already extremely shy, Otome Sakuragi's face turned even redder at the comment. She opened her mouth to respond but in the end she didn't say anything.

Instead, she just glanced at Sasaki standing nearby, then lowered her head to smooth out her slightly wrinkled skirt.

Noticing the girl's vague but expectant gaze, Sasaki Fuyumi wrapped an arm around her slender waist, then smiled and nodded to Okino Rinka.

"What's wrong with flirting? It means we have a good relationship."

After saying this, he planted a kiss on the girl's soft, tender, and fair cheek.

"Mua~"

Seeing this almost explicit gesture and action, the smile on Okino Rinka's face rose, but the slow and unhurried footsteps behind her suddenly ceased.

After glancing behind Rinka and winking at her, Sasaki Fuyumi hugged Otome, who was weak and completely lying in his arms, and took the lead in turning around and walking away.

Originally, he didn't care where he disclosed his relationship with Otome, but thinking that Rinka had helped him with many assists in the past, Sasaki was happy to help her after receiving her hint, and by the way, also breaking up Okino Kazuki's useless thoughts.

As for the relationship between the Okino siblings, he had no plans to interfere.

How things develop between them is their business and has nothing to do with themselves as outsiders.

Helping Okino Rinka was more about reciprocating favors and clarifying his relationship with Otome.

As for Rinka's idea of ​​'as long as there is love, it doesn't matter even if he is an older brother', it is better for her older brother to resolve the issue.

But based on his understanding of Okino Kazuki... he may, no, he can't solve it at all...

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Otome, who was trying to stand upright in his arms, brought him back to his senses.

"Hurry, we're almost at school, stop messing around~"

Walking on the streets full of cherry blossoms, looking at more and more students in uniforms, Sasaki Fuyumi did not embarrass the shy Otome in his arms.

After a last squeeze of her waist that felt so good, he let go.

Standing up from the arms that were so hot that her whole body went limp and the good smell made her feel dizzy, Otome Sakuragi caught her breath and took a few steps ahead to calm down before turning around to look at Sasaki walking steadily amidst the falling cherry blossoms.

With a gentle, warm gaze filled with a hint of shyness, she looked at the figure in front of her that she had cared about for a long time.

He was wearing a snow-white cotton long-sleeved shirt underneath, and the outer jacket was the black uniform and trousers issued by the school.

The decent uniform worn on him made him appear to be exceptionally slender and well-proportioned, giving off an elegant and neat impression, different from the other students.

Although she had always found him handsome, after what happened this morning, she couldn't get enough of him.

After looking up and down, Sakuragi Otome, who was very familiar with his appearance, noticed some differences.

Holding her schoolbag in front of her with both hands, Otome slowed her pace and returned to his side, her voice soft and curious:

"Fuyumi, have you gotten taller again? You didn't seem to be this tall before?"

As she spoke, she stood on tiptoe slightly and stretched out her hand to indicate the height difference between the two parties.

Compared to before, Sasaki was taller by about half a palm.

"Eh? Otome is watching very carefully. Are you paying so much attention to me?"

With his arm pressed against her soft shoulder, Sasaki leaned against her and teased in a surprised tone.

Then seeing the girl wanting to walk quickly away from him, he quickly put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a casual explanation.

"It's normal. This age is the prime time for growing taller, and neither of my parents are short."

"You're a head taller than the people around..." Looking up at the boy, who was a head taller than herself, Sakuragi Otome looked around.

And found that the tallest boys probably only reached his eyebrows.

By her estimate, Fuyumi's height must be at least around 180 cm.

In this case, would it be uncomfortable for him to kiss her?

Well if she tiptoed... maybe..

As she mused, her thoughts inadvertently drifted towards what happened in the morning and before she could collect herself, she heard Sasaki Fuyumi whispering embarrassingly sweet words in her ear.

"My height is pretty normal...just a bit taller. Look at this, how much bigger it is than other girls..."..."

Having measured it with his own hands in the morning, he knew just how astonishingly unreachable that blouse was.

He stretched out his hand and poked it lightly, letting the white shirt suck his fingers in.

"Ah~"

With a small exclamation in her voice, Sakuragi Otome felt something strange in front of her, and she quickly raised her head and looked around.

When she found that no one noticed this place, she suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately afterwards, she put one hand in front to guard herself and pinched Sasaki's arm with the other.

Her white and tender face puffed up slightly, and she was as angry as a little squirrel with two pine cones stuffed in it, glaring at the boy who had done something bad:

"You're crazy, it's daytime and we're on the street!"

Facing Otome's tenderness and anger, Sasaki Fuyumi clung to her soft shoulder, smiling and comforting:

"Don't worry, unless the person in front suddenly turned around, how could anyone see it? Besides, there is no one in front of us now."

Pointing ahead where the road turned, the students who were faster than them had already gone around the bend, while the students who were slower than them could not see what was happening in front from behind.

What's more, Sasaki's 'poking' movements were extremely fast.

As long as Otome's movements and expressions were normal, no one would notice what happened between the two.

After all, Sasaki did this action just to tease her, and he didn't deliberately embarrass her.

After all, he did it just to tease her playfully, not to embarrass her.

How could he do it when there were many people?

Especially now that Otome was officially his girlfriend.

"But still, we shouldn't be doing this now..." Otome, who had already looked around and knew that it was exactly what he said, did not simply let him go, but still pinched his arm reluctantly.

But if one looks closely, they would find that she was merely lightly tugging at his sleeve with her thumb and forefinger, without actually touching him.

And because the two of them were stuck together, the girl, making this small gesture was looking like a little girl afraid of getting lost.

"Does that mean I can interpret your words as it's okay if it's not now?"

Taking advantage of his taller stature, Sasaki Fuyumi, who had his arm around Otome's shoulder, lifted it slightly, gently caressing her soft cheek, making her tilt her head so his lips could easily touch her warm earlobe.

After saying these words, the boy, who was half-hugging Otome, could clearly feel her slightly trembling body.

It seems your ears are very sensitive, eh?

After laughing secretly in his heart, he looked at the blush that burned like sunset, gradually spread to the base of her ears.

The light red added a bit of fleshy roundness to the already small and cute earlobes.

Facing such a ripe little ear, Sasaki Fuyumi listened to Otome's slightly heavy breathing, and after a quiet laugh, he leaned down and kissed the hot, cherry-like red earlobe.

"Mmm~?"