Chapter 18: Stumbling into School

[🎉 Shoutout to Fabrice & Hunayn for joining patreon. Thank you very much.🤗]

Five minutes later, Hikari Nakamura glanced at Shinomiya Natsuha, who lay slumped in her seat like a puddle of jelly. It suddenly dawned on him just how effective the Silver Tongue skill really was—far more useful than he'd anticipated.

Even though his past experience only involved being tricked into a kiss by Mira-sensei when he was younger, he still managed to take complete control of the situation with Natsuha, leaving her utterly helpless from start to finish.

But, to his surprise, this girl, who he'd pegged as more… experienced, had responded with an innocence that suggested she was completely new to this.

Sensing Hikari's gaze, Natsuha quickly turned her flushed face away, avoiding eye contact. Her skin glowed with a soft, reddish hue, especially on her delicate face, which now resembled a ripe apple.

Her mind was a whirlwind of confusion, and her body felt weak. She couldn't understand why she hadn't rejected Hikari's request for a kiss. Normally, she would have outright refused or even scolded him, but the moment he suggested it, she felt drawn to him—almost as if she were under a spell.

'What… what just happened?' she wondered, unable to process her own actions.

'Is it because he's so handsome? Have I… fallen for this guy?'

'No, no, absolutely not! There's no way I like this jerk.'

Her mind raced, and her heart felt conflicted. She was supposed to like her childhood friend, Yuuta Yamano, not this guy.

'But why did the kiss with Hikari feel so… nice?'

'Oh no, Yuuta… I'm so sorry… but it felt so good...'

Natsuha covered her face, torn between guilt and pleasure.

Hikari, watching her reaction, couldn't help but ask, "Was that… your first kiss?"

Natsuha tightly gripped her skirt and, blushing fiercely, nodded. "O-of course it was! I used to be the student council president.There's no way I'd do something so improper."

Hikari raised an eyebrow at her, skeptical.

'She looked like she enjoyed it more than I did, rolling her eyes back several times. How can she say something like that with a straight face?'

Women really are natural-born liars.

Natsuha, realizing how much she'd revealed during their kiss, suddenly felt too embarrassed to speak.

Hikari broke the silence again, asking, "But aren't you childhood friends with Yuuta? Didn't you two make some kind of promise? You okay with this?"

Natsuha, her face turning even redder, stammered, "I-it was just to repay your favor. You're the one who asked for it first!"

Hikari said nothing, simply staring at her with a blank expression.

Her heart started racing, and she blushed harder under his gaze. 'Ugh, he's right. It was my fault for jumping at the chance.'

Flustered, she added in a low voice, "W-well… let's just say it was practice… practice for Yuuta." [T/N: -_-]

"Yeah, that's it! Since neither of us has any experience with love, unlike you, I thought I'd get some practice in so I'd know what to do when the time comes with him."

Hikari nodded thoughtfully, 'Yup, definitely a true anime protagonist move.'

Practice for her childhood friend? No normal person would say that.

'Anyway, Yuuta, don't blame me for this. Your childhood friend volunteered for the practice. I was just testing my new skill.'

When the taxi pulled up at the school, Hikari jumped out first, followed by Natsuha, who quickly paid the fare, still red-faced.

As they stood outside the closed school gates, Hikari sighed.

Clearly, after beating up Oga Masaru and dealing with the situation at Yukino Mifuyu's apartment, they were very late.

Forget homeroom—by now, even the first period was probably almost over.

The school gates were firmly shut. Entering through the front was out of the question.

Natsuha, realizing the situation, turned to Hikari in a panic. "Hikari-kun, what do we do now?"

Despite her naughty side, Natsuha had always been a good student at heart. She'd never been late before, especially since she used to be the student council president. Now she didn't know how to handle being locked out.

"I can't just go home either. If the teacher calls my parents, I'm done for."

"Follow me," Hikari said, not wasting any time as he led her toward a section of the school's outer wall that was slightly shorter than the rest.

Though short was relative—the wall was still about three meters high.

Natsuha stared in shock as Hikari casually leaped up, grabbed the ledge, and gracefully propelled himself over the wall in two quick moves.

"See? Easy."

Natsuha looked up at him in disbelief. "W-what about me?"

"Grab my hand."

Natsuha instinctively reached up to take his hand.

Whoosh!

Before she knew what was happening, Hikari had pulled her up onto the wall.

The next moment, Natsuha realized she was sitting precariously on top of the wall, looking down at the ground below.

"Ahhhh!!!"

Panic set in as she stared at the drop below, and she let out a terrified scream.

Despite it being a fairly normal height, standing up there made it feel much, much higher. Natsuha had never climbed over a wall before, and her legs felt weak, as if she might wet herself from fear.

"Stop yelling! Do you want the security guards to find us?" Hikari scolded, glaring up at her.

Natsuha clutched the edge of her skirt with trembling hands, trying her best not to faint.

"H-Hikari-kun, you jumped down… w-what am I supposed to do now?"

"Just jump. I'll catch you."

"I-I can't! It's too high!"

"Just jump already! I'll catch you, NOW!" Hikari urged, clearly not in the mood for more delays.

"O-okay…"

After spending the whole day relying on Hikari's help, Natsuha decided to trust him one more time. Squeezing her eyes shut, she gathered her courage and leaped.

In her mind, it felt like she was flying through the air in a dramatic Olympic high jump.

But from Hikari's perspective, she simply tumbled off the wall like a poorly tossed sack of potatoes.

Nevertheless, he caught her easily.

Soft and fragrant, Natsuha's petite body landed squarely in his arms.

Perhaps from the fear of falling, she immediately wrapped her arms and legs around him, clinging to him like a frightened octopus.

The position was… let's say rather intimate.

...

"Natsuha, it's been several minutes. You can let go now."

Feeling Natsuha's body pressed up against him, Hikari sighed. The way she had latched onto him reminded him of a rather forceful soccer player crashing into someone—except with a far softer payload.

He had half a mind to give her a red card for excessive body contact.

Reluctantly, Natsuha loosened her grip, sliding down from Hikari's arms and landing on the ground with shaky legs.

"S-sorry! I just got scared and…"

Natsuha mumbled her apology, still a bit wobbly.

═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═

patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator

🥰 Support the translation and help me grow.🤓

Read upto 20 Extra chapter in Patreon