quote:

: “Ah, yeah. Anything is fine."

: “Very well."

Yuri sets the temperature on the kettle to 200 degrees.

: “Now it's time to get the teapot."

: “You really do this properly, don't you?"

: “Of course...I shouldn't do any less when I'm making tea for others."

: “Even if I'm not an expert on tea or anything...?"

: “Huhu. In that case, you'll only be even more impressed."

: “Ah...perhaps I will!"

Yuri fetches the teapot and begins measuring the tea leaves. To my surprise, she even starts humming a little to herself.

: “You must be in a good mood now..."

: “Is that so? I was letting it show...and you noticed. I was doing a bit of thinking...and I decided that I would try expressing myself a little bit more. It turns out it's not very hard for me to do...when it's you who's around, anyway."

: “Ah...that's great, Yuri! Just don't push yourself too much."

: “You're always worrying about me, Mitayo...it's very endearing."

: “That's..."

Yuri wasn't kidding...I don't even know if I can keep up with this...! I watch Yuri pour a cup of tea for each of us.

: “Mitayo, I have another request: do you mind if we sit on the floor today?"

: “Eh? Why's that?"

: “It's a little bit easier on my back...I can read with my back against the wall rather than bending over at my desk."

: “Ah, sorry, I didn't realize."

: “No worries. I just have back pain fairly regularly, so I do my best to manage it."

: “Is that so? I wonder why that is..."

: “It's most likely because my--ah--m-my..."

: “Your posture, right? Always hunched over like that while reading..."

: “Yes! I have terrible reading posture! So that's why we should sit on the floor."

: “Fair enough. I'll go ahead and get the book."

I retrieve the book from my bag.

: “Ah, I have some chocolate as well..."

It's a bag of small chocolate candies. I take it, since it'll go well with the tea.

Yuri and I then sit against the wall, teacups at our sides. As if in sync, we assume the same reading position as last time, each holding one half of the book. Except this time...our bodies are even closer to each other.

: “I can't see too well..."

: “--!"

Yuri slides closer until our shoulders are touching. How am I supposed to focus on reading like this...?! Yuri was always kind of cute, but...when she's being less apprehensive, it's almost more than I can handle!

: “Your teacup..."

Yuri hands me my teacup. Holding it with my hand that's not holding the book, I end up in a position that makes it even harder to focus. Because now I need to worry about making sure I don't accidentally touch her chest...! Meanwhile, Yuri hasn't noticed a single thing. She wears her intense reading expression, and I can only presume the world around her has faded away. I use all of my willpower to focus on reading.

After a few minutes, I finally manage to relax a little. I put the teacup between my legs and fumble with the chocolate wrapper.

: “Ah, sorry..."

I briefly let go of the book to finish opening the wrapper.

: “You can have as much as you want."

: “Ah, that's...that's okay, I won't take any..."

: “Eh? Are you sure?"

: “Well...if I touch it, then it might get smudges on the pages..."

: “Ah, you're right...I didn't even think about that. My bad..."

: “No need to apologize. I'll hold the book, okay?"

: “Are you sure...?"

: “Of course."



She holds it so that I don't have any harder of a time reading from it. But as a result, her left arm is practically resting on top of my leg.

: “Well, in that case..."

Yuri is already totally focused on reading again. I take a chocolate candy and pop it into my mouth. Then, I take another chocolate...and I hold it up to Yuri. She doesn't even look away from the book. She simply parts her lips, as if this situation was completely natural. But that means I can't stop here! I apprehensively place the chocolate in her mouth. Just like that, Yuri closes her lips over it.

: “Eh...?"



: “Did...did I just..."

Yuri looks at me like she needs to confirm what just happened.

: “U-Um...Mitayo..."

: “S-Sorry! I guess I shouldn't have done that..."