2.44: Our RhythmBehind the gym, the air smelled the same as ever, of sun warmed concrete and grass.

  Aoi-chan set her bag down and turned to face me.“We’re going to be working on more basics today.”

  “Pretty please, no more lessons on footing!” I despaired.

  Aoi chuckled. “Not those kinds of basics. We’re going to refine your punches and kicks.”She tilted her head slightly. “This isn’t the kind of thing you can master in a single day. I’ll be drilling you on the basics for the next several months, even as we branch out.”

  I swallowed, then nodded.

  “But,” Aoi added, a spark lighting her eyes, “I’ll also throw you a curveball.”

  She raised her hands. “You’ll be striking and defending at the same time.”

  Then she shifted her stance and beckoned with a small motion of her fingers.“Come.”

  I stepped in eagerly.

  Aoi-chan guided me through a short sequence. It was an actual combo this time!

  A jab, a cross, a low kick. Then, without breaking the rhythm, she showed me how to stop it too, how to catch and redirect those same movements with blocks that didn’t waste energy. Her forearm met mine. Her shin checked my kick. The contact was crisp and direct.

  “Again,” she said.

  We repeated it.

  As we switched back and forth between attacking and defending, my arms started to burn. It was harder than I’d expected to hold both roles in my head at once. Aoi-chan kept the pace slow and patient at first, then gradually let me speed up, stepping in only when I lost control or my form slipped.

  My breathing deepened.

  Her gaze stayed locked on me, sharp and intent in a way that made my whole body want to rise to it.

  “Don’t think,” she murmured. “Feel the timing.”

  I nodded, my jaw set.

  Strike.Block.Strike.Block.

  When I finally nded a clean punch into her guard, enough that she had to shift her stance, I got shivers, feeling warm.

  Aoi-chan’s smile flickered, quick and unmistakably proud.

  “Good.”

  Then she tilted her head slightly.“Now let’s change the pace. Let’s see how you handle this.”

  She used the same movements she’d just taught me, but mixed them up, going faster, then slower, pausing where I didn’t expect it, then accelerating again without warning. She scored hit after hit as I struggled to keep up.

  “Watch my shoulders and hips,” she said calmly. “Those don’t lie. Predict what I’ll do based on how they move.”

  I nodded.

  Over time, I managed to block a few of her attacks… but I couldn’t touch her again.

  After training, my body was tired enough that my legs shook slightly when I swung my leg over my bike’s seat.

  Aoi-chan watched me with a familiar expression… one that she got when she was considering trying something new.

  “You are pinly too tired to pedal tonight,” she said.

  “Nah… I can—”

  Aoi-chan cut me off.“No.”

  She bent down and rubbed my legs from the knees down. They were shaking faintly under her hands.

  “Your muscles are fatigued from all that jumping and spiking earlier before our training, not to mention that we’re trip fatigued,” she said matter-of-factly. “Our kicks put extra stress on your tendons. I’m sure you’d get us home safely enough, but…”

  I frowned. “What are you suggesting? We take a bus?”

  Aoi-chan patted the seat of my bike.“Nah. We’ll still take your bike.”

  My brain stalled. “…Huh?”

  Her eyes gleamed.“We’re switching pces today. Let me spoil you for a change. Just focus on keeping your bance.”

  “Aoi-chan,” I hissed, already blushing. “I’m not as amazing as you. The way you stand on the bolts and ride behind me always amazes me, but—”

  “Tch.” She straightened, completely serious. “You’ve come that far already with your training. You’ll be safe.”

  Then her mouth curved, just slightly.

  “…Or are you scared to try?”

  I stared at her.

  She knew exactly what she was doing, teasing me, challenging me, pushing right at the edge of my pride.

  It snapped.

  “…Fine,” I muttered, my cheeks burning.

  I climbed off my bike, and Aoi swung smoothly into the seat, grinning.“Stay perfectly banced,” she said. “You can lean on me. Actually—” her grin widened and her eyes twinkled, “—I insist.”

  I climbed behind her carefully, settling close.

  Her back was warm through her blouse and bzer and my chest compressed against her in a way that made me feel weirdly happy.

  My hands hovered, unsure where to go. I couldn’t help being shy, even though we’d just spent two nights snuggling against each other in a shared futon.

  She gnced back over her shoulder and let out a breath that sent stray hair in her face swaying with an impish smile.“Hold on tightly.”

  Then she kicked off at full speed.

  “Yai!” I gasped and tched on instinctively. Naturally, my hands nded right on her breasts. The bike wobbled for a brief, arming moment…

  But then it smoothed out.

  Aoi giggled. “Don’t let go now,” she said lightly. “I wouldn’t want you falling off.”

  I blushed, then smiled despite myself, tightening my grip… just enough to feel steadier. It was nothing more than that. Really.

  So soft…

  The bike rolled forward through the gate and out into the street.

  At first, I was stiff, every muscle trying to anticipate the motion of the bike instead of trusting it.

  Then it smoothed out.

  The bance.Leaning into turns.The subtle shifts of my weight.

  It all felt… natural.

  Like my body already knew where to move and how.

  Aoi-chan rode like she’d practiced pedaling with a passenger countless times before.

  And I trusted her enough to let myself lean into it.

  I pressed even closer, and my cheek rested against the top of her head, her ponytail tickling my nose.

  Roses and the sea… and something sweet too…

  My heart wouldn’t calm down, holding her like this. It felt magical.

  She stopped us at Oba-chan’s small corner store, the one with the freezer that always fogged when you opened it on a hot day.I hopped off the bike’s rear bolts and Aoi-chan kicked down the stand before striding inside boldly without a word. I followed a step behind her.

  “Ah—Sumire-chan,” Oba-chan said the moment she spotted me. She was short, with graying hair and a face that always looked permanently unimpressed by teenagers, right up until she peered over the counter at me. The squint softened into the familiar smile she saved just for me whenever I stopped by. “You’re out te again. More practice?”

  I nodded. “Yes. I pyed volleyball today too.”

  “Mm,” she hummed approvingly. “You look brighter tely. Have you been eating properly?”

  I ughed a little. “I think so. Thanks for worrying about me.”

  Her gaze flicked to Aoi-chan, already halfway to the freezer. “Kurobane-chan, don’t get condensation all over my floor.”

  “I won’t,” Aoi-chan replied easily, already yanking the door open. Cold air spilled out in a white puff.

  Oba-chan shook her head fondly. “That one’s always been like this. But you—” she leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice just a bit, “—you’re doing well. I can tell you’re different.” She cackled.

  “How did you know?” I asked.

  “It’s in how you carry yourself. How you move.”

  My chest warmed as I blushed. “I see. So it’s noticeable...”

  She nodded seriously.

  Aoi-chan chose two GariGari-kun popsicles from inside, closed the door behind her, stepped up to Oba-chan’s counter, and paid for them with exact yen coins without even gncing at the register.

  She took the coins and put them into her register.

  “Ride safely you two.” Oba-chan’s lips quirked.

  “We’ll hang out a little out front, if that’s okay,” Aoi said.

  “That’s fine… but don’t worry your parents too much.” She turned her attention to a small television behind the counter, turning up the volume. There was some kind of live action show on it. I didn’t pry, leaving with Aoi.

  We sat outside on the little bench near the front door, the sky turning orange at the edges.

  Aoi-chan tore hers open with her teeth, then looked at it like she was pnning to commit a crime.

  I watched her mouth wrap around her GariGari-kun. As she pushed it deeper into her mouth and the way her tongue moved over the surface, my brain shorted out.

  I wasn’t sure why that affected me so much.

  DOKI-DOKI… BADUMP

  My little voice… that faint, intimate sense of rightness and wrongness, stirred with a curious hum, like it was leaning forward in my skull to watch with me.

  Heat crawled up my neck.

  Aoi-chan gnced sideways at me.

  Her eyes sharpened.

  Then, very deliberately, she took another slow lick across the tip.

  I choked on air.

  “Aoi—!” I whispered, mortified.

  Aoi-chan’s smile was zy and wicked. “What?”

  “You’re—”

  “What am I doing?” she asked, feigning innocence.

  I couldn’t say it out loud.

  Aoi-chan leaned closer, her voice soft enough that only I could hear. “You’re blushing. I wonder why.”

  “N…” I snapped instantly, choking.

  Aoi-chan’s gaze dropped to my mouth. “You’re bright pink.”

  My hands tightened around my own popsicle wrapper like it was a lifeline.

  I tore it open and tried to focus on eating it in a VERY normal way.

  Ignoring her was absolutely impossible because she kept making lewd little slurping sounds with hers… and somehow managed to make it seem like she wasn’t doing it on purpose.

  At some point I caught Oba-chan watching us from the inside.

  When she noticed me looking, she turned her head away quickly, like she’d been caught.

  Then, faintly, through the gss, I saw her mouth move like she was muttering, “Ah… to be young…”

  My face went nuclear.

  Aoi-chan saw it and ughed quietly.

  When we finished, the sun had dipped lower, painting the street in soft gold. The air cooled just enough to make my damp hair cling pleasantly to my neck.

  I stared at the stick in my hand, sad that I’d finished, then blurted, because my heart was too full and my mouth had nothing but stupid things to say, “I wish we could sleep together every night like we did at Shirasuna.”

  Aoi-chan froze.

  Then she turned so fast I almost lost my breath.

  Her cheeks were pink.

  Not the furious kind of pink.

  A genuinely embarrassed pink, considering what she’d just done to her GariGari-kun.

  “You—” she started, then stopped, visibly fighting for control of her voice. “Save that for when we’re married or special events, baka.”

  My chest sank instantly.

  My face fell before I could stop it.

  Aoi-chan’s expression shifted, like she’d punched me by accident.

  “Hey,” she said, quieter.

  I looked away, crestfallen despite myself. “Okay.”

  It felt a little like rejection.

  Aoi-chan clicked her tongue softly, like she was annoyed at her own words. “Not tonight,” she said as her hand caught my chin gently, guiding my face back toward hers. “But… we’ll see.”

  My breath caught and my eyes moistened.

  Her gaze softened dangerously, then she leaned in and kissed me.

  It wasn’t a quick peck, nor was it a teasing brushing of our lips.

  A long, tongue-caressing kiss that made my whole body melt. It felt like the rooftop all over again, only warmer… because we were out in the open, because anyone could have seen us, because the sky was still burning with color and her hands were steady and sure.

  As she kissed me, my grip slipped and the GariGari-kun slid from my fingers, the cold forgotten as my heart jumped.

  DOKI-DOKI… BADUMP

  I kissed her back without hesitation.Without any fear.Without that old, fractured edge.

  Just… want… Passion. More…

  When she finally pulled away, a string of saliva stretching and breaking between us, we were both breathing harder.

  Aoi-chan rested her forehead against mine for a moment, her eyes half-lidded.

  “Mm… you’re so greedy,” she murmured.

  I whispered, “You started it, climbing into that futon with me. I haven’t been normal since then.”

  I snuggled closer, letting my hands wander over her body.

  Aoi-chan’s mouth curved up. “Ah… true.” Our lips found each other again, for good measure for a while, but then, breathless, leaving me feeling weak and needy, she finally pushed away.

  “We’ll be here all night at this rate. I’m sure Oba won’t put up with too much of this in front of her store.” She waved vaguely toward Oba-chan, who was very deliberately looking away, her cheeks faintly pink.

  Aoi-chan stood, slinging her bag over her shoulder, then held out her hand to me with a grin.

  I took it, squeezing her soft hand.

  We walked my bike the rest of the way home in the fading light, our fingers ced, the world quiet around us, just so that we could spend a little more time with each other tonight.

  Tomorrow, the css would vote on who would be our prince and princess for the py.

  For a while all I could feel was Aoi-chan’s hand in mine and the strange, warm certainty in my chest that whatever came next…

  I loved her. She was my whole world.

  Relwing