"Mmm! The melon is delicious too! Ryouta, do you want to try some of Airi’s peach and matcha?"
"N-No! More importantly, the indirect kiss!"
"Oh, are you the type who worries about that kind of thing, Ryouta?"
"Anyone would! You're using my straw!"
"I don't really mind, though...?"
Airi Miyama was a natural airhead, for better or worse. She was the type whose sense of caution and discomfort completely vanished once she became friends with someone.
No, no—even if that were the case, you should still be wary of an indirect kiss with the opposite sex! Normally!
"I don't mind at all when I swap drinks with Yuria or Rui-chan, so I just did it without thinking. If it bothers you, Ryouta, I'll give it back?"
"No, no, it's fine. Please, keep it."
"Why are you being so polite all of a sudden?"
The melon and matcha frappe was handed back to me from Miyama.
(M-Miyama’s used straw... Plus, she used it after I did... This is an indirect-kissed straw.)
What would happen if my lips touched the same straw that Miyama’s soft-looking lips had just been on?
I had lived for seventeen years.
To think that an Indirect Kiss Chance with a busty beauty like her would descend upon someone like me—someone who hadn't even had his first kiss yet.
I swallowed hard and prepared to take a sip of the melon and matcha frappe... but then.
"Hey, what are you two doing?"
A familiar gyaru voice rang out from behind me.
Even without turning around, I knew exactly who it was just from the presence of those thighs.
W-Why... why was Yuria Ichinose here?
"Oh, Yuria! What’s up?"
Miyama spoke to her with her usual cheerful attitude, though she seemed a bit flustered.
"What do you mean, 'what’s up'? I saw you from outside. I saw this guy about to take back the drink Airi just finished, so I had to step in..."
Ichinose’s sharp, piercing gaze stabbed right through me.
"This is confiscated! I’m drinking it."
"Ah..."
Ichinose snatched the frappe from my hand and polished it off in one go.
(My... Kiss Virgin graduation... denied.)
"Anyway, why are you two acting so friendly at Snoto? Between the Ryouta-calling this morning and now this, are you guys dating or something?"
"No, no! Ryouta was just treating Airi to a frappe as a little thank-you."
"A-A thank-you? Is that true, Ryouta?"
"Eh? Oh, yeah. Pretty much... Wait."
R-Ryouta!?
W-What are you doing, Ichinose?!
I hadn’t noticed it at first, but Ichinose had naturally started calling me Ryouta, too.
"Whatever... Airi, we’re going home."
"U-Uh-huh."
With that, Ichinose turned on her heel and marched out of Snow Tops.
"Ryouta, thanks for everything! See ya!"
"O-Oh..."
Miyama looked a little confused, but she hurried after Ichinose and left.
(My first-ever after-school date with a girl... and it ended just like that...)
Left alone at Snoto, I sank into my thoughts, feeling incredibly awkward.
Suddenly, my phone buzzed with a LIME notification.
『Ichinose: Sorry, it looked like Airi forced you to treat her. Also, I’m going to call you Ryouta from now on. You can call me Yuria, too.』
It seemed Ichinose had mistakenly assumed Miyama had pressured me into paying, and she had gone out of her way to apologize.
That misunderstanding was convenient for me, so I didn't mind that part—but why was Ichinose doing the "Ryouta-calling" now too?!
On top of that, she said I could call her Yuria...
"And I’m supposed to go to a movie with her the day after tomorrow... Seriously, how is this going to turn out?"