IA let go abruptly. “I’m sorry. That was inappropriate of me.”443Please respect copyright.PENANACDIuuCaM56
Yukari croaked, “It’s okay.” She felt as if her skin was on fire. She took a few deep breaths and wiped her tears away.443Please respect copyright.PENANAC7z5buUFqI
IA tapped her fingers rapidly against the steering wheel. She looked down at her lap with drooping eyes and sighed.443Please respect copyright.PENANAyPvjpfL0sR
“Are you okay?” Yukari asked.443Please respect copyright.PENANAmxnoorL1X3
IA’s eyes grew and she lifted her head, putting on a smile.443Please respect copyright.PENANADD6fofMejn
“Of course I am. You’re here, aren’t you?”443Please respect copyright.PENANAlxR23PMiAG
This comment sent the warmth from Yukari’s skin to her heart. She smiled and turned her head, covering her mouth.443Please respect copyright.PENANAfaUXibjWPm
IA started the car and continued driving as if nothing had happened. Yukari had gotten used to the speed at which she drove by now, but she remained on the lookout for speed limit signs and reminded IA of them whenever they passed one. IA slowed down a bit.
"Please don’t be upset when I ask this, but why do you drive so quickly?” Yukari asked.443Please respect copyright.PENANAWX3IKLA1GV
IA chuckled. “I don’t know. I’m just always so excited to get to a different place that it kind of takes over me. If you weren’t here to bring me back to my senses, I don’t know what I’d do.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAI7DgO1df5G
Yukari’s smile grew bigger.443Please respect copyright.PENANA1AGOP3zjRB
At the apartment, IA wiggled her fingers for a while before taking a book off her shelf.443Please respect copyright.PENANAEhgEwH62Jl
She immediately returned it to the shelf. Then she took it out again.443Please respect copyright.PENANAmArIeEcGzz
“Okay, this one’s… Don’t judge me.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAcCkA7HFKjb
She handed it to Yukari while turning her head with her closed eyes scrunched up.443Please respect copyright.PENANAdm18rn9rs1
Yukari gulped. It was a pulp novel that appeared to be translated into Japanese. The cover had two women in lingerie, one brunette lying on a bed and the other, blonde, sitting behind her with a mischievous expression. In the corner of the room they were in was a table with a coat and a magnifying glass on it.443Please respect copyright.PENANAMki8sAgYQO
IA’s cheeks turned red. “Don’t get the wrong idea! It’s more than just love scenes. I wouldn’t show it to you if it was just that since, you know, that would be kind of weird. It’s a really intriguing mystery and has an interesting romance between the detective…” She pointed to the brunette. “... and the femme fatale she suspects is the murderer.” She moved her finger to the blonde. “It’s surprisingly good for a pulp novel, but the cover makes it a bit of a guilty pleasure. It has some more mature scenes but they’re not that often.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAPAVwxE1rgh
Yukari’s chest began to hurt from her heart pounding too hard. She nodded and held the book against her chest.443Please respect copyright.PENANA84wtJlJR4Z
“I’ll give it a go. I’m eighteen, so I think I can handle it.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAlOfbzB9v5V
“Good.” IA’s eyebrows were furrowed as if she felt guilty about something. “If you feel uncomfortable reading it, you’re not obligated to read the rest. You can just return it to me and we can forget I ever lent it to you.”443Please respect copyright.PENANA8vZFk8S6jv
“I said it’s fine.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAVHYI9XgVuF
The two fell silent, just standing there and looking away from each other. 443Please respect copyright.PENANA6qw2IX8Jos
IA gulped loudly. “Okay. I hope you enjoy reading it.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAuBTqYBsJyb
Yukari nodded and bowed before leaving the apartment. 443Please respect copyright.PENANA7PELP2yC6A
As she headed home she passed Roro’s house and frowned. Her own eyebrows furrowed with guilt, but she continued walking.443Please respect copyright.PENANA5WwvmhTyO3
When she finally made it home, she had dinner with her family. After that, she put her pyjamas on, lied down in bed and stared at her ceiling. One question tugged at her mind.443Please respect copyright.PENANAH9GR2HH2fI
‘Would it be wrong for her to date me?’443Please respect copyright.PENANAa1AwYyjNb4
There was no age issue, at least in terms of the law, as IA was twenty-two and she was eighteen, but Yukari was still a student at the school IA worked at. Then again, it wasn’t like IA was her teacher or anything like that. 443Please respect copyright.PENANAW3CdfILi32
She remembered what IA said.443Please respect copyright.PENANAS4oyfbzbUf
"That was inappropriate of me.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAEuEwewKZJS
Yukari sighed as Roro’s face popped into her head. Was that breakup all for nothing? 443Please respect copyright.PENANAzCmfZP4OXw
She shook her head. He wouldn’t deserve to be led on like that. 443Please respect copyright.PENANAGP7onrq2NA
She opened the book and began reading it. Some parts of the novel were awkwardly worded, possibly as a result of a bad translation, but the mystery was as engaging as IA said it would be. 443Please respect copyright.PENANAaJaWz7h7iY
When Yukari made it to the first love scene, her entire body went hot. Clunky wording aside, the scene was undeniably attractive to her, and she pictured IA as the blonde girl on the cover as she read the scene. Eventually, she dropped the book and fantasised on her own, the scenario in her mind getting more and more explicit.443Please respect copyright.PENANAfZZVYKDHhY
When she was done fantasising, she continued reading until Roro’s frightened face entered her mind, convincing her to do homework. After that, she read a bit more until she went to sleep, which was around 11 or 12. It took around half an hour for her to fully fall asleep as the mystery of the novel consumed her mind.443Please respect copyright.PENANAwtuRtbTArw
As soon as she woke up, she read some more before her mother yelled at her to have breakfast and go to school.443Please respect copyright.PENANA3X02vaynJc
She shoved the book in her school bag and did as her mother said. During class she kept getting distracted, trying to piece together the clues presented in the novel. She stared at Roro in the seat next to her. He looked back at her and frowned before turning his head and murmuring something she couldn’t hear. She felt her heart sink. 443Please respect copyright.PENANAIf1KbvaFxu
When lunch started, she took her food with her to the library, saw the ‘no food’ sign and ran outside. She sat under a bridge from the classrooms to the club rooms and opened the book. 443Please respect copyright.PENANAVw4xAc6LfA
She managed to get near the end. She was so close, and the answer to the mystery was only a few pages away-443Please respect copyright.PENANADNH2iIbBvR
And then a teacher walked up to her. He was tall and had eyebrows so thick it felt as if he could crush someone with them. She hid the book behind her back and the teacher scowled at her.443Please respect copyright.PENANAI36ApqxFWP
“Show me what you’ve got.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAdOQxgQJPoZ
Yukari groaned but complied, her hands shaking as she held the book up. The teacher raised an eyebrow. 443Please respect copyright.PENANAjM1rxZfV1Y
“Come with me to the Principal’s office.”443Please respect copyright.PENANA3RoGzZp7fZ
“I-It’s not what you think! It’s a mystery novel!”443Please respect copyright.PENANAlT5mWzemoa
“Nice try.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAbe25RgIbnQ
Yukari stood up, trying her best not to cry. She followed him to the Principal’s office, which was inhabited by a short man with a toupee. The teacher handed him the book and the Principal’s eyebrows jumped through the roof. Yukari lowered her head and bit her lip.443Please respect copyright.PENANA8JyYgJvrKo
“This is… I’ve never seen a girl bring this sort of material to school before. I’m going to have to call your parents.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAbYxY5fy9tS
Yukari cried, “They don’t know! Please don’t tell them!”443Please respect copyright.PENANAMZOQyp4Dcc
The Principal shook his head. “This is very concerning. Now, where did you get this book?”443Please respect copyright.PENANAOv0xbfhxPl
“That’s…” IA’s pearly white smile jumped into her mind. “I bought it.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAFyHwpjE4At
“And you brought this book here because…”443Please respect copyright.PENANAhfzXMbixLJ
Yukari turned her head and scrunched up her eyes. 443Please respect copyright.PENANAqItDdtbTfb
“I wanted to get answers to the mystery in the book. It’s a murder mystery. Look at the magnifying glass on the cover.”443Please respect copyright.PENANA3PoOHApv4A
The Principal stared at the cover, trying to keep himself from smiling.443Please respect copyright.PENANAiHoMd6EISD
“I’ll have to confiscate this.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAjuKXH1LS1X
“For how long?”443Please respect copyright.PENANADXNojtltNt
“I don’t think a girl like you should be reading something like this.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAkOYEjtnubD
“But… please…. I’m really sorry. I won’t bring it in again.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAjA5raLIwF4
“Well, since this is your first offence, I guess I can give it back at the end of the week.” He ran his thumb against the cover. “Yes, a week should do. You’ll have learnt your lesson by then. I’m still going to have to call your parents. Come here after school for a meeting. And if you try to leave school before then, I think this book will look nice on my shelf.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAV041I9W1DP
Yukari bowed and left. She headed to the library, finishing her food on the way.443Please respect copyright.PENANAnfNpyk9cD8
“IA, can I talk to you about the book?” 443Please respect copyright.PENANAlXCBB2owjm
IA nodded, leading her to the librarian’s office. Yukari took a deep breath and bowed again.443Please respect copyright.PENANANsdgvtCSa0
“I’m really sorry.” She explained what happened.443Please respect copyright.PENANAnkyoELqUDf
IA’s eyebrows were furrowed as she rubbed the back of her neck.443Please respect copyright.PENANAqr5ZvoH2BD
“I… I see. The one who should really be sorry is me. Giving you that book… how inappropriate of me. Should I… stop giving you these books? I went too far. I knew this was a bad idea.” Yukari noticed that there were bags under IA’s eyes. 443Please respect copyright.PENANAKBH53CN74n
Yukari raised a trembling hand up to IA’s cheek.443Please respect copyright.PENANAv2kbLsTUhA
“It’s okay. I… I don’t want to end the time we’ve spent together. I do hav something to tell you, though. Hopefully it won’t end… whatever it is we have.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAr07TsOiYCu
IA turned away and took a book off the shelf, her breaths ragged. 443Please respect copyright.PENANALE6pYIm9la
“I know what you’re going to say.” She and Yukari spoke at the same time. “You’re straight and feel weirded out by me giving you these books.”443Please respect copyright.PENANATXNPioHdTz
“I like you. Could we maybe, I don’t know, go out for coffee sometime?”443Please respect copyright.PENANALuZr8MQsLU
IA dropped the book and whipped her head around.443Please respect copyright.PENANADgOsPHSxA1
“Could you… repeat that?”443Please respect copyright.PENANACfMFm93EWv
Yukari’s cheeks went pink. “Well, I like you. You know that breakup with Roro? It was because I liked you more. You kind of made realise that I’m bisexual. I was thinking… maybe we could go out somewhere. I get it if you don’t want to! You probably want to keep your job. But we could keep it a secret if you want. But, you know, if you don’t want to… that’s cool… I’ll act cool as a cucumber. Cool as ice. Cool as… What am I saying?”443Please respect copyright.PENANAaklcn9Abbw
IA grinned and giggled, her eyes welling up with tears. She wrapped her arms around Yukari and started to cry on her shoulder.443Please respect copyright.PENANA9P7WVLiluh
“Thank you. Thank you so much!”443Please respect copyright.PENANA3ff8Ke2M5i
Yukari patted her head before stroking her hair.443Please respect copyright.PENANA6peNatRcWA
“I-Is that a yes?”443Please respect copyright.PENANAuo29YwPyyZ
“It has to be secret, though. Are you sure you want to worry about keeping secrets?”443Please respect copyright.PENANAjsNWYBbcjv
Yukari chuckled. “So long as I don’t do anything as stupid as bringing a dirty book to school, I’ll be fine. By the way, please don’t spoil the ending. I didn’t get to finish it.” She released a short gasp. “Wait, can I tell Roro if he starts talking to me again? He already knows I like you and I know he won’t tell anyone.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAcuH9U9VKcZ
IA frowned and let go. “I… I guess. No one else, though. Not even your parents.”443Please respect copyright.PENANACguukSwpAB
Yukari eyes widened. “Oh god, my parents. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow since my parents are probably going to drag me home after this meeting. Thanks for reminding me.” Both her body and her voice shuddered as she shook her head like a dog trying to rid its fur of water after a bath.443Please respect copyright.PENANAvC0BDWKYT2
IA took several books off the shelf and made a pile of them, giving them to Yukari, who stared at her with one eyebrow higher than the other.443Please respect copyright.PENANAFGIgJ5bYZu
IA winked. “We have to keep this a secret, right? Don’t want to arouse suspicion around me taking you to my office.”443Please respect copyright.PENANAKto6Rcjhyj
Yukari nodded with a smile. She turned towards the door and breathed slowly. She took a few moments to appreciate the moment she shared with IA before having to deal with her parents. For a few more seconds it was just her and the ghostlike librarian who became her girlfriend.
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