Chapter 182 – Children and Adults

I left the changing room ahead of Umi and waited for her to finish changing.

Thanks to my perseverance, I managed to restrain myself, but I still felt hot for some reason. Was it because of the hot water?

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep well tonight…"

If this was my home, I could do various things to calm myself down, or maybe if I could be alone with Umi in our room, we could just continue with our plan, but Riku-san would be with us, so that wasn't an option.

"Yo, did you wait long, Maki? I'm kinda thirsty, is there any juice in that vending machine?"

"There is."

We had some juice from the fridge in our room, but there were a lot of uncommon drinks at this vending machine. The price was a bit more expensive than usual, but it was worth it.

"Maki."

"Hm?"

"Rock, paper…"

""Scissors!""

I went with rock and Umi went with paper.

I lost the game and I had to buy her some juice. I mean, I didn't mind, but taking me by surprise like that was unfair.

Should I propose a best of three? …Nah, I wasn't that petty. I took out a 500-yen coin from my wallet.

"Which one do you want?"

"Hm… This fruit milk looks good, I'll take that. What about you, Maki?"

"The coffee milk, I guess. I don't know why, but all the drinks here caught my eye, especially the milk ones… Is it because of the bottle?"

"I feel you."

We each bought a bottle and sat down on the sofa together and sipped our drinks slowly.

The cold drink washed down my throat and entered my body that had been feeling hot since I got out of the bath.

"Can I take a sip of that, Maki?"

"Sure, can I take yours too?"

"Go ahead."

"Thanks."

We exchanged our bottles and took a sip.

The banana flavor inside the drink was pretty strong, but the orange and apple flavor complemented it very well and made the drink taste unbelievably good.

"Somehow we started doing this kind of thing naturally, huh?"

"Right? It's as if those times when I was shy about an indirect kiss was a lie. Then again, we kissed each other often, so it's only natural that we stopped being shy over this."

It had been half a year since we started dating and we had grown comfortable with each other.

Back when we first met, we used to hang out only on Fridays, but before I knew it, we started going to school together and visited each other's houses more often. Now, we managed to get along well with each other's families.

From an outsider's perspective, it was probably hard to believe that we got this far in a mere six months.

Considering my situation last year, it felt like everything was a miracle.

"Maki, what do you think will happen if we stay together like this for a long time?"

"I wonder… M-Maybe we'll start a family together?"

It was a long way off before that could happen, but I hoped that we would eventually reach that future.

Rather, I had to reach it, or else, I doubt that I could get another chance like this with another girl.

"My first boy friend became my first lover and finally became my husband? It's such a perfect sounding story to the point that it sounds like a joke…"

"Do you hate a story like that, Umi?"

"No, I love it. Even though I'm like this, I'm a pure maiden at heart, you know."

"Sure, whatever you say."

"Hehe… That's why, no matter what happens, I'll never let you go, okay?~"

As I took a quick sip of my drink, she pulled her body closer to mine.

The effect of the cold drink that managed to calm me down was completely nullified because of her actions.

Seriously, we were such a hopeless couple.

"Maki."

"What is it?"

"Nothing~"

"…Jeez."

"Hehe… I'm your girlfriend, right? Isn't it normal for a girlfriend to randomly call her boyfriend's name like that?"

Like I said, if this was my house, we would continue our flirting like usual and gradually lose track of time. But this wasn't my house.

Two footsteps were approaching us.

"Oh my, are we interrupting you two?"

"Shizuku-san, Riku-san…"

"…Yo."

It had been an hour since we left our room and came here, so they probably had finished talking and decided to check on us.

"Look, I don't care what you two are up to, but quickly go back to our room. I won't be able to take a bath if you loiter around like this."

"Don't worry, he's just worried about you two, that's why he is acting like this. It's his idea to check up on you after all."

"…You have loose lips, you know that?"

"Hehe, I know~"

Shizuku-san somehow managed to make me think that Riku-san was cute.

His words and actions were harsh, but he was actually a caring and kind person by nature. Though the person himself didn't seem to be aware of it. He was a good older brother.

Since I was an only child, I didn't have anyone to compare him to, but I would love to have him as a big brother. 

"Well, I guess we've been out for too long, Umi, so let's go back and let Riku-san relax on his own."

"'Kay. Don't worry, I can read the room. I know that the two childhood friends want to take a relaxing bath together, so I won't be in the way."

"Wha? What are you on about?!"

We left Riku-san whose face was as red as a tomato and quickly returned to our room.

The last thing we saw of him was him hanging awkwardly cocking his head while Shizuku-san giggled beside him.

"They get along really well, huh?"

"Of course, they are childhood friends after all. I hate to admit it because it's him, but seeing them like that… I guess this is what an adult romance looks like, huh?"

"When you think about it, we're still children, huh?"

"Yeah. We're just flirting without a care in the world… But, you know what, Maki?"

She squeezed my hand.

"I think I prefer things the way they are."

"…Me too."

Since I was lonely, I wanted her to pamper me and I wanted her to only look at me.

Having thoughts like that was a privilege reserved for children like us.

We didn't need to rush our progression. Things like adult romance could wait until we were adults.

Therefore, let's enjoy our childish love for as long as possible.

Such thoughts appeared in my head after seeing Riku-san and Shizuku-san's lonely smiles.