Chapter 499: Running with Aika

“Can we… Can we stay like this for a while?”

While still giggling and rubbing her face on my chest, Aika silently asked.

We’re at the darker part of the street wherein there was no street light to illuminate. It would take somebody to draw nearer for him or her to actually see that there were two people in this part of the street, entangled with each other.

Although Aika has supple thighs that are almost on par with Satsuki, her body build actually leans on the skinnier side. She’s actually even lighter than Elizabeth.

Except for Ria or Aya, she’s probably the lightest among all my girls. And that’s the reason why I could hold onto her like this without getting my arms tired.

This place was kind of a rich neighborhood, much like our neighborhood so there’s little to no pedestrians walking at this time of the night. Cars occasionally passed by though. However, even if they saw us, most of them wouldn’t mind other people’s business.

“I’d love to. However, don’t you think we’re in an inappropriate place?”

The last time I held her this close was that time when we reconnected again and that was only a few minutes.

Only at this time would we get the chance to prolong it.

Even if they didn’t say it, Akane and Yae were already expecting that I might come home a little later than what would happen if I only walked them all to their house.

There’s no school tomorrow so we would have the night for ourselves and for sure, that was what the two were aiming at.

Honestly, the two whispered before we separated at the train station to ‘take my time’. I thought of reprimanding the two but the train was already about to leave earlier so there was no chance to do that.

Either way, even if they didn’t say it. Given my own nature, I would naturally not make this moment for us to just pass.

“Inappropriate, huh? I’m only hugging you this time. We already did it outside before, remember? You pulled me with you right after my practice.”

Alright. That’s true. But this and that are different from each other…

“That was… because of a special circumstance. That guy, your ex, was waiting for you in front of your club. I couldn’t let you meet him or you might be swayed again given that he’s more diligent and talented than me. Moreover, he also had a goal in life unlike me who’s only driven by my desi--”

Before I could finish my sentence, I found my mouth covered by Aika’s hand.

“Stop! There you go with self-deprecating yourself. When will you change this part of you? You’re always ‘It’s not because of me’, ‘I’m actually inferior’ or ‘There’s no way I can be better’.

Am I always doing that? Perhaps. But I was just stating facts whenever I did that. Right?

“I will accept it if someone else says they’re not talented, not you. Did you think I didn’t see you when you had baseball as your PE? You never got a strikeout! It’s all ‘hit’ and you even hit home run twice! Only at the beginning did you get a flyball! The pitcher of the opposing team was a starter of our middle school’s baseball team!”

“That’s a fluke. That wasn’t a serious match. Moreover, his fielders were all beginners who could rack up errors. They could even drop a flyball.” I pulled her hand down to reply.

Even that was remembered by her, huh? If they put me in the mound back then, she would surely notice that I wasn’t all that great. I was only hitting pitches that were close to the middle and aiming to the spot where the fielder was a complete newbie who couldn’t even throw properly back to the closest base to him.

“Ugh… This guy… You’re making me angry.”

Perhaps feeling aggrieved that I wouldn’t yield to her, Aika began hitting my chest before going back to snuggling to it.

While appeasing the annoyed Aika, I began looking for a place where we could sit and talk or somewhere no one would be able to disturb us before we ran back to her house.

When she felt that I began walking, Aika kept her hold on me and was like a child to her parents.

However, when we passed by a guy who had his jaw dropped upon seeing us, Aika blushed profusely as she began hastily covering her face because of embarrassment. Due to that, she voluntarily got off me and stuck closely instead with her face hidden behind my shoulder.

“You should’ve told me there’s someone ahead.”

“Well, I thought you’re fine with it. Given that you’re the one who jumped in my arms.” I shrugged and that resulted in my arm being pinched by her.

“Ugh… I hate you, Ruki.”

“I thought you love me.”

“I do… I love you as you but I hate you this time.”

“Hmm… That’s confusing. I better just remove that hate, right?”

“If you win against me... That will be erased!” With a coy smile as she tiptoed and planted her lips on mine, Aika then released my arm as she, without warning, started sprinting away from me.

With her giggles being carried by the wind, I watched as the athletic girl instantly gained a gap of 50 meters between us.

She’s cheated… but that’s fine. I already expected that.

Furthermore, this was just like those old times wherein we deepen our bond by running together or racing against each other.

That’s why… to satisfy the girl, I didn’t think twice to chase after her a few seconds later.

“Catch me, Ruki! I will love you more if you do!”

With those words of hers carried by the wind as she continued running without looking back, I steadily shortened the gap between us.

She’s not a sprinter but an obstacle racer. Because of that, even though her form was stable, when it came to flat ground without any obstacle in sight, her speed gradually stabilized to lower than my maximum speed.

Nonetheless, since we’re traversing a path that was most likely her new route when she entered high school last year, Aika was already familiar with every turn or uphill and downhill paths.

And because of that, she maintained her lead until we reached the path closer to our previous middle school. The place we often traversed together.

At that point, I began closing the gap until I reached the point that we’re now running side by side.

“Hi, miss. Are you in a hurry?” I jokingly asked in between my steps which the girl immediately reacted to.

“I hate you, idiot. Let me win!”

Although she shouted all of that in one breath, that made her slow down on her steps, resulting in me gaining the lead.

Looking at her face, she’s already sweating but still, she’s nowhere near running out of stamina.

Because the street where we began our race was immensely farther than our previous route that was starting a park near the school to her house, I had long begun sweating and was closer to running out of breath than Aika.

Moreover, the lesson also burned some of my stamina so… if this keeps up, I would probably lose.

“You said you will love me more if I win. I can’t afford to lose.”

Well, I didn’t really care about the win but seeing her being flustered wouldn’t grow old with me.

Upon hearing that, the girl’s fighting spirit actually stepped up a notch, bypassing me.

However, when we’re about to reach their neighborhood. Aika came to a halt and stood in my path.

As soon as I saw that, I slowed down my pace.

With her arms open wide, the girl with her lips curved into a wide grin enclosed me in her arms as soon as I reached her position.

Fortunately, I reacted immediately or else, we would both roll on the ground.

While we were both catching our breath, Aika stared into my eyes and declared, “I win, Ruki. I finally evened out our score.”

“So this is actually about that, huh?”

“Hehe... I can’t forget that you’re ahead of me with our scores before I graduated… Anyway, I love this, Ruki. Being able to run with you once more.”

Despite that ‘hehe’, Aika actually had a sad look on her face with tears gathering in her eyes. She’s remembering it again. The time when I cut her off.