Burning Bright

New Arrangement

Segawa seemed depressed for the rest of the day. Torako felt sorry for her, but she did think that she should at least be allowed to kiss her own boyfriend.

"Hey, Saki... What happened?" Shigeno asked, nudging her friend when she noticed she wasn't eating.

"..." Segawa just stared at her bowl of stew. Her eyes were still a little raw from crying.

"..." Matsumoto, Shigeno, Kurusu-sensei and Torako were concerned.

"What's wrong, Segawa-san?" Kurusu-sensei asked.

"... I'm not hungry," Segawa said. She set her bowl down and walked away.

"She really should eat..." Kurusu-sensei said, worried.

"I'll go get her back," Shigeno said, and she got up and went after her.

"... Did something happen with Segawa-san?" Kurusu-sensei asked Yarai and Torako.

"I... I, uh, think she received a shock..." Torako said.

"A shock?" Matsumoto asked.

"... She wouldn't leave us alone, so I kissed Tora in front of her," Yarai said.

"Huh?" Kurusu-sensei said.

"Is that all? Saki's tougher than that..." Matsumoto said.

"I told her I didn't care if she was watching anymore," Yarai said.

"Oh..." Kurusu-sensei said. 'I see... She lost her ability to stop them...'

"I see..." Matsumoto said, holding her chin. She had come to the same conclusion as Kurusu-sensei. "That would probably do it..."

"We should finish eating so she can come back..." Torako said to Yarai. They only had a little left, so they finished their stew and left the others. They passed Segawa and Shigeno as they were coming back. Segawa kept her head bowed and ran past them.

"Hmm... It' might've been a little too effective..." Yarai said, watching her.

"I hope she's going to be all right..." Torako said.

"... Do you think I shouldn't have done it?" Yarai asked.

"Well... we needed to draw the line somewhere..." Torako said. "Maybe she'll give us a little privacy now..."

"Speaking of privacy..." Yarai said. He led her back to their shelter. He held the leaf flap aside so she could enter first then followed her in. "There's something I want to ask you," he said once they were both seated. He looked incredibly serious.

"What is it?" Torako asked, hoping something wasn't wrong.

"... Can I touch your chest?" Yarai asked.

"... Huh?" Torako said, taken aback. "W-Where is this coming from all of a sudden?"

"It's not 'all of a sudden'," Yarai said. "I've been wanting to ask you for a while now, but Segawa never left us alone, and I knew you wouldn't want me doing something like that while we were someplace anyone might have stumbled upon us. I'd at least like to do that much before they separate us..."

"... But... I don't think there's really anything to touch?" Torako said.

"That doesn't stop me from wanting to try," Yarai said.

"..." Torako thought about it and blushed. "A-All right..." she agreed. Yarai began unbuttoning her sweater. "W-Why are you taking off my sweater?"

"It's in the way," Yarai said. "Don't worry, I'm not asking you to take you shirt off." 'Yet...'

"Oh... okay..." Torako said, relieved.