The forest school is over, and the last big event of high school life finally became just the graduation ceremony.
For those taking the university entrance exams, that would also be a big event in their lives, but it didn’t concern the three of us much.
It seems Yamato has decided not to go to college… I wonder why? I couldn’t get a reason from him, and he just dodged the question as usual…
Still, there are about two months left for the three of us to enjoy high school life together in these uniforms…
After the winter break, once the one-week commute ends, the period of home study until the graduation ceremony begins.
And then, the last time we’ll all meet is almost at the graduation ceremony… It’s too soon… Way too soon!
I wanted to enjoy my high school life… That’s what I thought, thanks to my best friends, Yamato and Shun.
Thanks to them, the enjoyable days pass by in the blink of an eye… It’s delightful, but… At the same time, it’s lonely…
And my feelings for Yamato…
As a liar who can’t confess my love to Yamato, I still love him deeply.
Day by day, those feelings swell, and when I miss Yamato, I wrap myself in his clothes or blanket at home, and my body starts releasing pheromones on its own…
My body just craves Yamato desperately…
Even though it’s not mating season, these emotions leak out uncontrollably… Every time I take suppressants…
I can feel my body changing more and more…
Love, so precious, so dear…
But I don’t want to get caught in this lie; I want to stay like this…
I’m so confused now…
But time waits for no one…
The season has turned to December, and despite the cold, I pedal my bicycle forward. Yamato is still behind me, unfazed by the chill.
In this time when the cold seeps into your bones, Yamato wraps a pitch-black scarf around his neck to brave the weather.
And as always, Yamato wears the black-rimmed glasses that he won’t return to me…
Maybe I should just give them to him already… But I want to know the truth before I do…
Come to think of it, Yamato is full of mysteries too…
He won’t return to me the black-rimmed glasses.
‘What’s yours is mine.’
The future is still uncertain.
And he won’t leave me…
I decide not to dwell on the unclear feelings that might arise…
Because if I did, I feel like I wouldn’t know what to do next…
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.
Aera jr P kjr ibra lc ws atbeutar, Tjwjab weaafgfv rbwfatlcu.
“Teab, la’r mbiv…”
“Pa’r frqfmljiis mtliis abvjs.”
“Tfjt. Yt, ys atf kjs, atlr rmjgo lr jmaejiis 100% rlix, sbe xcbk?”
Let, la’r 100% rlix…
Let?! 100% rlix?!!
Lbiv bc j rfmbcv!
Qtja’r klat j tlut rmtbbifg kfjglcu j 100% rlix rmjgo?! Tbe mjc ufa j rmjgo obg ilxf 1000 sfc! Qtb cffvr j rlix bcf?!
“Eh? I-I’d be too afraid of getting it dirty to wear something like that around my neck!”
“Hahaha! No way! There’s no way I’d wear something like that!”
I can’t help but smile as Yamato laughs innocently while telling a lie…
If only he could laugh away my lies like this… It would make things so much easier…
With all these thoughts swirling inside me… Our days continue to pass by.
* * *
One day in December.
Shun seems to be full of energy today as well, and he seems to be nurturing his love for his girlfriend smoothly.
He proudly shows off photos of them together that they’ve taken and boasts to Yamato and I…
Is this what people call being lovey-dovey??
And then, in one of the photos on Shun’s phone, Yamato and I couldn’t believe our eyes…
“Sh-Shun!! C-could you f-flick to the left…?!”
“Huh?… Oh, here!”
When he flicked at it, what appeared was… a photo of Yamato and me sleeping with our heads pressed together on the way back from the forest school…
“Sh-Shun! W-were you watching?!”
“I was going to talk to you guys, but you looked so happy sleeping soundly, so I took it! I’ll send it to your phone later!”
I was so embarrassed that steam could practically come out of my face… W-was I sleeping with that kind of expression?!
And not only that, I had leaned my head against Yamato’s hedgehog a little bit…
Yamato was also embarrassed, as he couldn’t even retaliate against Shun as he was busy petting the hedgehog…
I guess you could say our current battle power is 0?
And then, as usual, Shun adds insult to injury with his teasing.
“Which one of you is going to make the move? Hurry up and start dating already!”
“Ugh…! It’s not like that!”
Huh… I’d usually be in sync with Yamato… Why can’t I hear Yamato’s voice…? What’s wrong, Yamato…?
“Y-Yamato?”
“…Ah! Sorry, sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment.”
Yamato doesn’t seem like himself… I’m also bewildered by his behavior… With my lack of flexibility, I can’t help but show my confusion about what’s different from usual…
Maybe Shun felt like he intruded too much on us because he sincerely apologized, saying sorry! And with that, the situation seemed to settle down, but…
Still… Yamato… Something seems off, doesn’t it?
And then, that night…
I couldn’t help but be concerned about Yamato’s behavior during the day… In just that moment, he seemed to be deeply lost in thought… I still can’t grasp his true intentions…
At that moment, a notification popped up on my phone, and when I opened it, it was from Yamato.
[On Christmas Eve… If you’re alone, will you accompany me?]
Christmas Eve, huh? Yeah, yeah!
I’m alone, so of course, I’d be happy to go with you!
Huh…? Hmmm?!!
Wha-what?! I-Is this…!
An invitation for a date?!!
And on… Ch-Christmas Eve with me…?!
I couldn’t contain my happiness as I came back to my senses at being invited on this sacred night.
Shun also mentioned spending Christmas Eve with his girlfriend, but I never imagined I’d get to spend it with Yamato…
I’ve been desperately trying to hide my feelings, but when an invitation comes from someone I love, I can’t bring myself to refuse it.
Rather… I want to create even more precious memories with Yamato…
[If it’s okay with you, I’ll go with you!]
I replied to Yamato like that, and once again, I found myself wanting to be enveloped in Yamato’s scent…
* * *
Before I knew it, it was the last day of the second term.
Tomorrow marks the start of a short winter break, and at the same time, it’s Christmas Eve…
The day to spend the holy night with Yamato…
Just thinking about it made me incredibly happy… That’s why some days felt short yet long because of it.
“Let’s meet here again with smiles after the New Year!”
“Of course! Yamato and Shun, have a great New Year too?”
“Yeah, Yuto, you too, alright? Shun, don’t overeat during New Year’s, okay?”
We bid each other farewell for a while with such trivial conversation exchanged.
* * *
And the long-awaited Christmas Eve arrived.
It’s my first Christmas Eve spent with someone I love…
I’m feeling even more excited than usual, and last night, I couldn’t sleep because I was so restless.
I guess I’m still like a child…
With that excitement, I made sure to prepare well so I wouldn’t succumb to the cold, and hurried to the meeting place where Yamato awaited.
The meeting place is a large shopping mall that’s also a symbol of the city.
Outside that shopping mall, there’s always a huge Christmas tree displayed every year, and it’s become a meeting spot for lovers and friends. We had decided to meet there with Yamato.
It’s almost like we’re lovers, isn’t it… No, no! Don’t think such foolish things anymore!
Even as I think that, the joy of being able to spend time with Yamato overwhelms me, and my cheeks naturally loosen.
And then, what caught my eye was the sight of the large Christmas tree and, under it, Yamato wearing black-rimmed glasses and a pitch-black scarf wrapped around his neck…
“Yamato! Sorry to keep you waiting!”
“Yuto, you’re late.”
“…Huh?! Oh, darn, I’m five minutes late…”
I was too excited and ended up being a little late… Yamato poked my forehead with his finger.
“Ouch! That hurts!”
I was rubbing my forehead, and Yamato just smiled.
“Come on, let’s go!”
At that moment… Yamato took my hand with momentum… and while holding hands, we began to run towards the large shopping mall…
We looked at clothes together as we debated whether something suited us or not…
Yamato got excited when we found two cute octopus keychains in the UFO catcher at the game center…
After managing to grab both of them and giving one to me, Yamato smiled and said, “Now we match,” squeezing my heart tight and making my cheeks blush…
When we got a bit hungry, we went to the food court and decided to order parfaits instead of cake since we wanted something sweet…
Yamato would always playfully snatch a banana from my banana chocolate parfait, saying “What’s yours is mine,” and I would retaliate by stealing a strawberry from Yamato’s strawberry parfait… He’d scolded me, but it quickly turned into laughter…
The time spent together was so enjoyable that it felt like our bodies were melting with happiness, but it passed by in the blink of an eye…
I want to be by his side more…
I want to laugh with Yamato more…
If only time could stop…
I had been wishing for that alone…
But God didn’t allow our happiness to last…
