The promised day.
Until this day arrived, I continued exchanging emails with Shota. However, communication would always stop at night and resume properly in the morning.
[I’ll reply when I can!]
[I just spent the night as usual.]
Why does communication cease at night?
Only Shota knows the answer, but since we made this promise, I can’t pry too much.
Above all, if I can see Shota, I won’t ask for more right now. I just want to meet him, to touch him first, to be fulfilled by him, and to taste moments of happiness with him in this space.
And so, I arrived at our secret meeting place before the agreed time, eagerly waiting alone for Shota’s arrival.
[I’ve arrived first.]
[Got it! I should be there soon, but the road’s a bit congested, so I might be a few minutes late…]
If the road’s congested, it’s unavoidable, and besides, we’re squeezing in this meeting between work. It’s natural for things not to go exactly as planned.
[Don’t rush, just be careful on your way.]
That was my reply to Shota.
[Thank you! I’m almost there, so please wait! @ippei…]
…Hmm? What’s this email?
Even though it should be from Shota, the email address at the end isn’t the one Shota currently uses.
A mysterious email with the address [@ippei].
I-Ippei…?
W-Who is this Ippei…??
Could it be… Shota’s real name…?
*Knock knock!!*
As I was distracted by the mysterious email, I was suddenly startled by a knock on the driver’s side window, and I quickly turned my gaze. What I saw was Shota’s perfectly sculpted face with his short black hair neatly styled, just as beautiful as ever.
Ah… Yes, that’s right…
This is Shota’s face, which never fails to make my heart race.
Just seeing Shota’s smiling face instantly reminded me of everything I had forgotten.
“Can I sit in the passenger seat?”
“Yeah, come on in.”
Shota climbed into the passenger seat in response to my invitation with a beaming smile. The car, now with Shota in the passenger seat just like before, was filled with a fresh and sweet scent, transforming into the space I had longed for.
“I’m sorry for making you wait!”
“Haha! It’s okay; just seeing you makes me happy.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Hehe… I feel embarrassed, but I missed you too!”
“Tfjt, wf abb.”
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* * *
Cr atf jma fcvfv, j rkffa alwf ecobivfv, vloofgfca ogbw atf olgra alwf, jcv Vtbaj gfrafv tlr tfjv bc ws rtbeivfg, mbcalcelcu ab rceuuif eq ab wf.
I gently ran my fingers through Shota’s perfectly groomed black hair, and needless to say, it smelled incredibly good. It was my favorite scent, and I realized once again that it belonged to Shota.
“Hey, Shota?”
“Yes? What is it?”
“There’s something I want to ask you.”
“Huh? Is it about me?”
Ippei… I couldn’t help but be curious about this. Maybe it’s something he doesn’t want to be asked about, and I don’t want others to know his real name or where he lives either.
But right now, I want to know about Shota.
It’s okay to take it one step at a time, to build our relationship every time we meet, and to slowly unravel the threads. So, I put my feelings into words and asked him about them.
“Ippei…”
“…Huh…”
“Is your real name Ippei?”
“W-Why… how did you know…?”
It was a perfect guess. The character Ippei seemed to be his real name.
“I felt something strange about the email I received earlier.”
“Oh, um, where could it be…”
I slowly picked up my phone and showed Ippei the mysterious email.
“…Look, here.”
“Oh no, this is happening again… The addresses occasionally get oddly linked, and it ends up showing this address too…”
“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to know…
Due to the email glitch, Shota’s real name was accidentally revealed, which he didn’t want to know. If I were in the same position, I’d definitely feel uncomfortable.
“Well… I’m glad it was Ryo-san who found out.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, if it’s you, Ryo-san, then I don’t mind if my real name gets out.”
“O-Oh…?”
“My real name is written in kanji characters, pronounced [Ippei]! Nice to meet you again…!”
Shota’s real name is Ippei.
Now, I’ve learned something about Ippei, which touches my heart. So, I should also properly tell Ippei my real name. That’s just common decency, I feel.
“Thank you for telling me. Then, I’ll tell Ippei my real name too.”
“Huh, what do you mean now…!?”
“Haha! My name isn’t that far off. My real name is Yuta, spelled with the characters ‘gentle’ and ‘big’ to mean ‘kind and big-hearted’.”
It was the first time. It was the moment when I, who had only sought physical intimacy, exposed my real name for the first time.
I want Ippei to know.
If we can continue getting to know each other more and more, I’ll be happy with just that…
“Is it okay for me to know something like that?”
“No, I actually want Ippei to know.”
“…I’m so happy… Thank you very much!!”
“Also, let’s drop the honorifics, okay?”
“Yeah, I’m happy about that too! But, you see, because of my job, it’s hard for me to stop using them… So, if it’s okay, could we gradually ease into it?”
“Haha! That’s fine! But, you know, you drop the honorifics during intimate moments, don’t you?”
“Wh-What! You’re such a jerk, Yuta-san!!”
Even when teasing, Ippei is adorable.
And, we both couldn’t hide our smiles.
I hope these ordinary days continue. I wish for the enjoyable moments in this space to continue into the future. That’s what I hoped for.
It has been two weeks since our meeting.
We continued exchanging emails, and every time I received a reply from Ippei, I couldn’t help but smile.
[Hey there, have you had lunch properly?]
[Yes, I did! I had the pork cutlet set!]
[Going heavy for lunch, huh? lol]
[Do you know about that app that was released the other day?]
[Yes, I do! I installed it too!]
[Haha! Let’s show each other next time we meet!]
We exchanged such trivial emails and wished to meet each other at a convenient time, but due to our work schedules, we couldn’t meet every time.
At the same time, a strange phenomenon continued where I couldn’t recall Ippei’s face from my memory alone.
Why is that…? Even though I enjoy interacting with Ippei so much and want to touch and know more about him, I can’t recall his smile, his serious expression, or even that beast-like face at all.
While I was troubled by this phenomenon of being unable to remember his face despite our enjoyable exchanges, we managed to meet for the third time by coordinating our schedules.
In our usual space, we passionately sought each other, and as we spent sweet post-time together, I was taken aback by Ippei’s request.
“Hey, if it’s okay with you, could you give me a cigarette?”
“Sure… huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ippei, do you smoke!?”
“I don’t usually, but I used to… I just feel like smoking now for some reason.”
He was impeccably clean, and with such a pleasant scent, I assumed he would be completely unrelated to something like cigarettes.
“Here… the fire.”
“Thank you… Ah, it’s delicious…”
I lit the cigarette he held in his mouth, and Ippei drew in the smoke with apparent contentment.
While I found it surprising, on the other hand, with each email exchange and every time we met in person, I felt the joy of getting to know Ippei bit by bit.
And yet, as night fell, the emails suddenly ceased to arrive. Despite trying to get used to it, whenever the emails stopped coming, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of loneliness, as if the connection with Ippei had been severed.
“Kuro… I wonder why that is?”
*…Meow?*
“At night, I don’t receive any emails from Ippei… I wonder why that is.”
*Meow…*
This loneliness strikes at night.
Just having Kuro by my side makes me happy, yet here I am, clutching my phone, harboring a faint hope that maybe I’ll get a reply.
Still, perhaps I should be grateful just to be able to get to know Ippei little by little through the emails we exchange during the day.
And I absolutely don’t want to sever the connection with Ippei, who envelops me gently in that pleasure, filling both my heart and body.
I hope someday I can convey these feelings to Ippei… With that thought in mind, another deep night passes with just Kuro and me.
