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What a day! It began with a simple walk to school for everyone and ended up with a fight against the Serpos and healing one of those aliens. The discovery of the connection between cow milk and the blood of Mr. Mantis Shrimp was quite clever. And now as the four members of this group made their way back to Seiko’s house, Aira Shiratori couldn't help but feel one of those burning desires of hers once more. Perhaps it was the need of warmth, given the chilly air that pestered her body, or maybe it was just seeing Ken Takakura all taken aback by the sight of the UFO taking off a few minutes ago. Maybe it was a combination of both! All that to say, Aira felt a tingling up her spine and to her lips every time she glanced over to Ken. Momo Ayase calling this boy Okarun still didn’t process in her mind. Why not call him by his perfect name?
“Would it be cool if I spent the night with you guys? My dad is out of town and I’d much rather be around people after all the trauma from today,” Shiratori asked, with as much respect as she could muster to Seiko.
“Yeah, sure, whatever, just don’t be noisy. I already have to take care of these two, don’t need another annoyance to the list,” Seiko Ayase responded with her usual carefree attitude, gesturing back to Momo and Ken.
The agreement to let Aira stay gave way to a sigh of grievance from Momo, but she was just happy that the day was nearly over, making her brush the negativity aside. Aira was glowing with happiness as she fell into step with Ken, her arm nearly brushing against his as they walked.
“Quite a day, huh,” Ken said. He was more so talking to Momo on his opposite side, but Aira felt it directed at her, the poor girl.
“I’m just glad I could spend it near you,” Shiratori responded, making Ken turn to face her instead of Momo.
“Oh, uh, yeah, it’s great to have new friends,” Ken responded, trying to control that fire in the pink haired girl by using the term friend.
He couldn’t.
Upon returning to the house, the three teens joined forces to beg Seiko to buy them new school uniforms. Having lost their previous ones during their battle with the aliens earlier that day, the embarrassment of it was still palpable in each of their minds. Seiko made Momo earn it through another form of embarrassment, which made Aira laugh a ton at the sight. Momo was forced to do an impression of Hiroshi Abe, deep voice and an awkward stance, her hair tied up awkwardly to add insult to injury. After that ordeal, Ken made his way to the guest room, having decided to stay the night before Aira had even asked to. Changing into his pajamas quickly, he laid down on the not-so-comfortable bed, which was still better than what he had back at home.
“Why is my life so crazy so suddenly? Everything is changing, and I can’t keep up,” Ken thought to himself as he stared up at the wooden ceiling.
As he started to remove his glasses for the night, about to place them on the stand next to the bed, a light knock hit the door to the room. Ken put his glasses back on and sat up, not sure who was at the door at this time. He felt everyone should be in bed too.
“Come in,” Ken responded to the knock, a soft voice as he was feeling tired after all the energy he used up today.
The door creaked open to show the figure of Aira standing in the doorway, also in her pajamas and a sad look on her face.
“Oh, Miss Shiratori. Did you need something?” Ken asked, hoping this wasn’t another incident starter like they had during lunch earlier.
Without a word, she walked in slowly, closed the door behind her, and finally looked Ken in the eyes. Her eyes had a glow to them in the dark lighting.
“I… I wanted to apologize to you… about earlier,” Aira finally answered after an uncomfortable silence, clenching the hem of her pajama shorts in fists. She was so nervous.
“It… it’s okay, Miss Shiratori, I understand it was a weird day. I think it’s best we just try to forget as much as we can,” Ken responded calmly, feeling relief wash over him from the apology.
Aira walked closer, asking if it was alright to sit on the edge of the bed with a gesture of her head. Ken nodded, and as she sat down, he adjusted himself to sit on the edge next to her, leaving a decent amount of space between them.
“You were right about me. I am romantically awkward, I have no experience outside of what was in my dad’s den, and it made me come at you like a freak,” Aira spoke softly, her face blushing with embarrassment. She held her hands together tightly in front of her.
They just sat there in silence for a while, Ken not wanting to say the wrong thing, and Aira not having much else to say in terms of an apology. Ken readjusted his glasses before he spoke once more, taking a deep breath before he spoke these important words.
“I won’t say that I’m not at least a little interested, you just startled me. The most beautiful girl in the school suddenly confessing to a guy like me, I felt it was a trap on the inside, so I fought back,” Ken explained, bringing Aira’s eyes back to looking at him. He seemed to be shaking a little as he revealed the inner confession, almost like he was confessing it to himself as well.
Aira scooted closer, leaning her head on his shoulder as softly as she could, taking his hand in hers, holding it firmly to quell his nervous shaking. Ken felt his breath even out. He hadn’t realized until now that he hadn’t taken a breath since he started talking. Once more, they stayed in silence for a good amount of time, although there was peace in this silence, an awkwardness felt before slowly dissipating. They let themselves live just in the moment, appreciating each other’s warmth in the moonlight shining into the room through the window.
“I understand why you felt like it was a trap, I haven’t exactly been the best person to be around,” Aira spoke in a whisper, just loud enough for Ken to hear. “All of it was so sudden…. I think I was just worried Momo would get to you first.”
Ken felt his face warm up with a blush. The reminder of Miss Ayase had him wrapped up in this moment and the moment he and Momo shared in the nurse’s office. Super cute. He had never seen her look at him like that, and his heart had raced so fast, especially as Momo looked at him directly. She really was super cute, just as that jerk of a classmate had stated before, even if he was wrong in everything else he said. When these thoughts flooded, usually he was the even faster to stifle them down into a void; she was his first friend, he couldn't feel that way. But with experience after experience alongside her, he no longer felt the need to beat the blush downward. Ken let go of Aira’s hand after that, though he didn’t want to be too rude a scoot away, letting her head still rest on his shoulder.
“Did I say something wrong?” Aira responded to the loss of his hand in her’s, feeling an emptiness the moment she lost that contact.
“No… I just… don’t want to lead you on and make you think this means we’re together or something,” Ken responded a little louder than he meant to, worried she got the wrong idea and he messed up.
“Oh… I’ll leave you alone, then. Sorry for bothering you, Master Takakura,” Aira spoke softly as she started to stand up from where she was seated. Ken caught her wiping away a little tear that was threatening to leave her eye. “Have a good night.”
Crap!
As Aira made her way towards the door, Ken stood up, but remained silent up until Aira reached for the door.
“Wait, Miss Shiratori,” Ken said once again, louder than he expected which made the pink-haired girl turn back slowly to him. “I… need to say something… but I don’t know how to.”
Aira smiled slightly, letting out a mini laugh that was barely more than a single breath as she slowly approached Ken. She took his hands into hers, entangling their fingers, as she looked at him with a bigger smile now, her glowing eyes like daggers of love.
“Just tell me the best way you can,” Aira spoke softly.
“I… think it would be mean of me to not give you anything. You clearly care about me more than I could ever ask for,” Ken started, needing to take a deep breath before his next statement. “If you still want to… I’ll let you kiss me one time before we try to move on.”
Aira’s face was beet red now, and she nearly squealed from the excitement she got from this permission, but she knew it wouldn't be smart to overreact.
“One kiss, and that will be it,” Aira agreed to the deal, licking her lips to make sure they weren’t the slightest bit dry.
“Can we not tell Momo, though? We had a slight falling out when she thought we were making out before, and I had to work hard to gain her friendship back,” Ken asked with a serious face, making sure Aira understood this wasn’t negotiable.
“She’ll never know,” Aira responded in a hushed whisper, her voice a poor attempt at being seductive. She still wasn’t skilled at this.
Ken gulped anyway. Even with the sloppy attempt at a romantic tone, he still felt a warmth growing even more in his face and chest. He closed his eyes to show he was ready, gripping her hands more firmly, still feeling an overwhelming nervousness. Aira leaned in close, her lips only a few inches from Ken’s, her warm breath hitting his lips to signal that she was close.
“I’m not experienced with kissing, but I promise I’ll do my best,” Aira whispered, closing her eyes now.
Connection. Lips pressed so softly that Ken didn’t process that they were there for a second, but when it did process, fireworks. They shared their breath as their lips parted to make their connection stronger, moving like a slow dance. Ken’s hands let go of Aira’s, making their way to wrap around the small of her back, her arms wrapping around his neck. She had a good idea of what it should look like from the magazines and videos she had found in her dad’s den, but the inner feelings were beyond what she could have guessed, beyond just feeling the other’s lips. The other feelings were definitely not expected. They parted lips to take a breath, staring into each other’s eyes like the world around them didn’t exist.
“For a first kiss, that was actually pretty good,” Ken said softly, still holding her close.
“I know you said just one kiss. But does it count as two if I do it again right now?” Aira asked as she pressed her forehead against Ken's forehead.
“I… think that would be fine,” Ken responded, not really wanting to let go just yet.
“Then… can we also get comfortable?” Aira asked while nudging her head in the direction of the bed.
“Woah, hey!” Ken moved back, holding his hands out in a defensive position. “Only a kiss!”
Aira let out a cute chuckle, brushing a strand of loose pink hair behind her ear as she does. The light from the window still shined against her eyes, glowing like a siren’s call.
“No no no, I was just saying get more comfortable for our kissing,” Aira responded, putting her palms against Ken’s outstretched hands to calm his nerves that were on fire.
Aira took one hand in a hold as she began to lead the boy to the bed, sitting them down like they had before, only this time very close, so close their breath collided against each other’s lips. It was a familiar yet still frightening feeling. Aira took his glasses off gently, a smug smirk on her face as she did, which showed Ken that she wanted an even closer contact this time. It didn’t take long for that gap to close, soft but so urgent, a chase of stronger connection as they melted into the lip lock. Neither knew how to lead the actions, so it was clumsy, yet that made it even better for Aira because she knew this truly was both of their first kiss. Perfect. Only parting to take breaths, the kiss lingered for quite a while. Both knew not to push it past the connection they already had, keeping boundaries where needed. Once it was over, panting was the only sound either of them could hear as they caught their breaths.
“I think that will be enough,” Aira spoke after a peaceful silence, unwrapping her arms from Ken’s body. “Thank you for that, I won't forget it, but I promise to not bug you anymore with my feelings.”
“I would really appreciate that… and I did enjoy this… I am happy we have an understanding,” Ken responded, much less shy then he usually was.
Aira put his glasses back on, giggling a little, and stood back up when she finished, booping his nose with her finger.
“Goodnight, Master Takatura,” Aira said with a little bow. Turning around and heading out of the little guest room, she closed the door after stepping out.