When Hearts Touch Each Other

After our holiday on the luxury cruise ship, we boarded the bus and returned to the Advanced Nurturing High School.

After that, we spent our days going back and forth between the dormitory life and the zelkova mall, and I think I could call it lazy and self-defeating.

During that time, the number of members I hung out with increased incomparably compared to last year.

There were members of the Ayanokouji group, Sudou, Ike, and other students that I had gotten to know in the beginning, and even Ishizaki, Hiyori, and Ichinose class members that I had started chatting with. All these things continued.

And then...

"Ah, the summer vacation is over today..."

As she sat down on her bed, Kei looked up at the ceiling and muttered depressingly.

My girlfriend, Karuizawa Kei, and I have been having regular secret dates since the second semester in order to keep our relationship open. Today would be the last of these dates.

Although we shared a somewhat uncomfortable time, it was not uncomfortable at all.

If we were just friends, we might have felt rushed to say a few words to each other, or we might have felt somewhat muddled.

"You don't mind if I tell others about my relationship with Kiyotaka tomorrow, do you? ... I'm kind of nervous."

"You don't have to force yourself to tell others, though. I won't take any responsibility if your position in class falls."

"I'm definitely going to tell it. If something happens, Kiyotaka will protect me, so I'm fine. Right?" Kei says it jokingly, but it's unmistakable that she means it.

She is protecting herself by becoming a parasite on a strong host.

I drank my last sip of coffee and sat down next to Kei.

I took her thin hand in mine and she squeezed it gently back. Kei turned to me, looking embarrassed.

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"Kei."

At that moment, I put my own lips on her soft lips.

"Ki, Kiyotaka...."

"Are you surprised?"

"Yes, I was surprised. Mou39 shouldn't you give a little advance notice?. 39 keeping it as it's her trademark. And it's cute.

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I don't answer that question with words, but with actions. I grab her shoulder gently and pull her close. "mmmm....!"

A second kiss. The moment our lips touch, Kei's shoulders bounce upward a little, and I can feel her surprise.

As soon as we parted our lips, she looked at me with eyes that seemed relieved and regretful. 179

"... took me by surprise again."

"Really? I thought it was rather normal."

The only way to learn about timing is to start learning it over and over again.

"At least, my feelings weren't ready yet, and ..."

"Then you think you'll be ready this time?"

"Huh? ... Yeah ...."

Kei nodded her head and closed her eyes, showing a gesture of acceptance, so I kissed her again.

The previous two times they had only touched for about a second, but this time was different.

For five or ten seconds longer.

Then she moved her lips little by little and repeated the kiss like a little bird pecking.

In the flow of time that only Kei and I felt had stopped, ....

The second year of high school, the last day of summer vacation. Kei and me climbed one flight of stairs together, knowing that we were kissing.

The first half of the romance curriculum has been completed, and we are now entering the second half.

From now on, we will live our school lives as lovers without hesitation.

This may get us into no small amount of trouble.

Even so, the two of us will work hand in hand to face the difficulties.

Slowly but surely, one step at a time, just as the seasons change from summer to autumn and from autumn to winter.

Our relationship with each other becomes something indispensable and deeply stained. While repeatedly checking the taste of her lips, my thoughts wandered to the future. As the season of parting approaches, this love affair enters its final phase...

And it's sure to face an extremely difficult ordeal.

When Karuizawa Kei is separated from her host, she must be able to stand alone and look forward. That is the most important thing in this romance curriculum.

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Afterword

Hi, I'm Kinugasa, and the hot season is getting harder and harder to bear.

I'm dreading it now because it's the harbinger of my least favorite season, but I'm fortunate that I don't get angry when I stay at home because of the recent trend of self-restraint. However, I'm sure the kids want to play outside, so I wish there was a way to let them play without bothering others.

But that's where DIY and other skills come in. ...

Yes. I've started off with some unimportant chit-chat, but it was the summer vacation section of volumes 4.5.

The summer vacation when I was a student was a long time ago, but ... I never once thought that I wanted to go back to the past and redo my school days. It's not that I had a bad time, and I enjoyed my school life to a certain extent, but I never had the patience and confidence to repeat the cycle of getting up in the morning, studying, getting a part-time job, and going home! This is the decline.

My eyesight is also deteriorating day by day, and just thinking about what I'll look like in another 10 years is terrifying .... The future scares me too!

Unlike last year, this is a story of a holiday on a luxury cruise ship with no special exams. Ayanokouji and Kei's relationship, and the changes in their classmates.

The new first-year students and the changes in Nagumo and the third-year students.

I think the students have grown a lot since the summer vacation a year ago.

And while the students are growing, the adults who are overseeing them are ....

Now, this is going to be a bit of a spoiler, but did you have any idea who the White Room students were?

Yes, you did, didn't you? I know, the story starts here.

Volume 5 will be the second act of the second year chapter, and I think it will be a big turning point. The next installment will be the start of the second semester and the special exam for each grade.

I hope you enjoy the next volume as much as I did, even though I was surprised to find out that this will be the first time in several books that there will be a special exam for second-year students only.

I hope you enjoy the next volume as much as I do. The world is going through a lot right now, but let's all do our best to get through it.

See you again soon, then!