[REWRITE] The promise

At moments like these, whenever I'm thinking of too much at once, I'm able to admire the beauty of the outside world. I enjoyed the calm night breeze and the quiet wind flowing through my hair, the rustling of the trees and the twinkling of the stars. It's nice and warm, not too humid and not too dry.

Chiori seemed to enjoy herself in a different way. She had wrapped herself around my right arm, her tits bouncing up and down happily against my arm while she hummed in delight. I found myself oddly enthralled by her behavior. If I were to stare too long at her fox-like smile, I wouldn't be able to look away from her.

"Hey, hey, it's been a while since we walked like this, right?~" She asked in a playful, almost sickly sweet tone. I couldn't help but curl my lips at her childish display.

"Come on, it's been a month or two at most. I'm already being quite lenient here."

If it were up to her we'd be stuck like magnets half the time. I'm trying not to push her away too much, but I can't exactly treat her the same way I did when she was still a kid.

"Still too longgg!" She said, puffing her cheeks at me. "It's not like you have anyone else that can do this with you anyways."

Even if I tried, I doubt she'd allow that to happen. She has a tendency to be very protective of me. Besides, it probably wouldn't feel as soft on my arm, so I'll allow that remark to slide.

"There will be a day you'll find another guy to do this kind of thing with. When that time comes, it wouldn't be good to have weird rumors going about."I said sternly, mimicking the tone of voice my dad would use on my whenever he gave advice.

"Never, never, never ever happening!" She yelled out in frustration.

"Okay fine, fine. It's just a what if." I tried calming her down to not get the entire neighborhood to wake up.

We walked in silence for a moment, she was visibly upset at me yet refused to let go. It's difficult to deal with her whenever she acts like this. I suppose it's partially my fault that her attitude has become like this. Always afraid of making her sad or lonely, I sort of let her do as she pleased, and always tried to appease her wishes. I just hope that with a little more time, and by finding the right person, she comes around to see things from my perspective, or at least will want to set a few boundaries.

"Hey..." She spoke softly, "do you still remember our promise?"

My body froze up. It's as if she read my mind. The way she looked at me, with that serious expression meant she likely wouldn't let me weasel out of the question or play dumb. To make sure I couldn't up and leave, she tightened her body around my arm.

"The details of it are a bit hazy. But basically, it was you and me against the world, right?"

"I honestly thought you would have forgotten by now." she giggled nervously after saying that.

"You don't mean to tell me I've been married to you all this time?"

"Haha, no, but... I just don't want you to get rid of me. I don't want to do this with anyone else."

I felt embarrassed hearing that. I averted my eyes from her intense, serious gaze.

"Haa, you're really making life difficult for me here." I sighed, leaning my shoulder against hers. "Chiori, I'm not ever going to throw you away, okay? I've promised it before and will promise it again as many times as needed."

"In that case, it's fine right... to stay like this?"

She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace, whispering these things to me in a warm, endearing voice. As I stood still, enjoying the warmth of her body and the lavender smell wafting from her hair. If only for a split moment, with a girl as thoughtful, kind, beautiful, intelligent and adorable as her, isn't it fine to indulge her wishes just a little more?

Yet I know that such an idea would lead down to the worst decision I could ever make. Those thoughts vanished as quickly as they appeared, stuffed back into the recesses of my mind.