“No way…” Yui-san stared at him, her face bewildered. But it soon vanished when her lips formed a smile. “I can’t believe she managed to hide her first kiss from me… I’m kinda impressed.”

“She doesn’t remember,” Taiyou said, too embarrassed to look the girl in the eyes. “Please, don’t tell her. I couldn’t face her if she remembers…”

Yui-san opened her mouth, but then sighed, scratching her head. “Fine, fine. But you owe me.” He nodded right away. She looked between the boy and the door of Tsukiko’s apartment. “Hey, Taiyou, tell me one thing. Do you like Tsukiko?”

He widened his eyes and looked down, feeling his cheeks burn. “Yes,” he barely managed to say due to his embarrassment. “I like her a lot.”

“Wait, since you’re a kid, I need to clarify this.” Yui-san leaned closer to his face. “You mean like her as a friend or as a girl that you wanna kiss again?”

Taiyou’s his face burned even hotter. “I… wanna… kiss her again…” His voice came out so low he wasn’t sure the girl had heard him. But then Yui-san chuckled.

“Way to go, Taiyou. You have more guts than most guys on my school,” she said, slapping him on the back. “I’ll be honest here. You two would make a good couple. In fact, you two are so close I’m surprised you’re not dating yet.”

The comment made him happy, but also made Taiyou feel a stab in his heart. “I… I don’t know if she feels the same,” he mumbled. “Even though she kissed me, she doesn’t remember. It might be because of the rice sake…”

The girl bit her lips and after a long time, she sighed.

“Since you told me this, I’ll tell you a secret. But you have to promise to keep it to yourself, got it?” After he nodded, she looked around, making her no one was hearing them. “Last year, during new year’s eve, we, I mean, me, Tsukiko and a few other girls got a little drunk on amazake. As we drank and talked, the conversation ended up on dating and first kisses…” she trailed off, her face red. Yui-san closed her eyes and went on, “some of us ended up kissing each other… But Tsukiko, even though she was almost as drunk as me, didn’t kiss anyone, saying first kisses were important and she would never do it because of sake… Do you get what I’m saying?”

Taiyou understood what her words, but for some reason, his mind wasn’t connecting the dots. The girl realized and sighed.

“I mean even drunk Tsukiko didn’t go around kissing people!”

The boy widened his eyes as he understood. Suddenly his heart felt lighter and he smiled. But before he said anything, Tsukiko opened the door.

“I’m ready! Let’s go!” she said, panting a bit. “Hey, why are you two so read?”

Taiyou and Yui-san exchanged glances before turning to her. “No reason,” he said, avoiding her eyes.

“We were just chitchatting… about you,” Yui-san said with a sly smile, her face back to its normal color.

“Ah!” Tsukiko raced between them and opened her arms before Taiyou, as if shielding him. “Stop spreading lies about me to Taiyou-kun!”

“Who said I told any lie?” Yui-san looked pass Tsukiko and winked at him. Under the girls’ eyes, the boy showed a strained smile.

“Tell me what you said,” Tsukiko demanded.

“It’s a secret.” Yui-san turned around. “Right, Taiyou-kun?”

“What? No way. Tell me.”

“Come on. I’m starving.” Yui-san walked towards the elevator.

“Wait a minute! You’re not walking away from this conversation!”

“Watch me.”

Tsukiko and Taiyou headed after Yui-san. The girls’ argument still went on for a while, but the boy barely paid attention. Before he caught himself glancing at Tsukiko’s lips from time to time.

I can’t believe I told Yui-san about the kiss, he thought, his heart beating faster as he remembered. But she said we would make a good couple. The idea of dating Tsukiko was too much for him, but even so, he wanted to kiss her again, to make her happier than ever.