Chapter 5:

The Colorless Cage (3)

My First and Last Kiss Was With You


I sat at my desk, staring out of the window as usual. Tsubaki-sensei was giving her needlessly convoluted lecture as usual.

Ten minutes later, the bell rang. As usual.

But still.

As usual as it was, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I’d forgotten something.

Whatever, it’s probably yesterday’s homework.

“Yo, Eiji!” Nakajima Daisuke greeted me with a friendly clap on the shoulder. He was the self-proclaimed “leader” of my usual friend group.

I gave him my usual smile as I placed my textbooks in my bag. “Hey, Daisuke. What’s up?”

“Wanna hit up the usual place? Souta and Yuki are coming.” He nudged me. “And Aoko, too.”

He’d spoken as if she’d be an incentive for me to go, but I wasn’t sure why. I mean, Nakamura Aoko was my childhood friend, but that was all there was to it.

Well, maybe not all. She was cute, upbeat, and her smile always managed to brighten my day. Even with her personality aside, she had one hell of a body thanks to her club activities, and her sun-kissed skin was just the cherry on top.

After all, everyone knew that I preferred dark chocolate over white.

Anyway, we hung out every day at the usual place. It was a...

I frowned. What is the usual place?

And besides, since when did I have so many friends...? Is...

“Hello in there! Earth to Eiji!” Daisuke’s booming voice brought me back to reality. He was waving his hand in my face like an orangutan on meth.

“Yikes man, don’t just suddenly go full zombie on me.”

I swallowed. I wasn’t exactly sure what to tell him, so I just said something in the affirmative and listened to him talk. I mean, I couldn’t just say “Sorry, but I forgot everything about you guys, teehee~”, right?

I wasn’t really paying attention to what Daisuke was saying, but it probably didn’t matter. Everything he said was pretty much going over my head as I fruitlessly racked my brain for any recollection of our time together.

Eventually, he kind of picked up on the fact that I was zoning out, and then the two of us just sat there in silence. It wasn’t an awkward silence, though. It was more of a friendly silence. I mean, we’d hung out for ages.

Right?

“Oho, there’s your childhood heartthrob.” Daisuke smirked as the door of our classroom slid open and Aoko stepped through.

“O-Oi! She’s not my—”

“Yahoo~! Didja miss me, Eiji~?” Aoko’s chestnut brown hair bouncing up and down as she waved to us vigorously while approaching. Her hair wasn’t the only thing that bounced.

There was something else. A big something else. Something elses, even.

Her breasts. Her knockers. Her massive honkers. Her enormous boobalicious beauties. Her—

I coughed. What the fuck am I thinking?

“...Y-Yeah, a little.” I chose to distract myself by answering her rhetorical question.

A mischievous grin danced on Aoko’s lips as she leaned closer, peering at me with the eyes of a predator.

“Oh? What’s this? Someone’s a little more daring today!”

I slid my gaze to the side, my head turning in tandem as my cheeks took on a rosy tint.

“Look at these two lovebirds! Really, Aoko? No greeting for me?” Daisuke interjected.

While the two of them exchanged a bit of friendly banter, I sat with a relaxed smile as we waited for our other two friends to show up. I was glad that I always had friends who stuck by my side.

The sun had only begun to set when the five of us left the classroom. Yuki and Souta took a bit longer as usual due to their club activities, but it was something that we were already used to. At least, that’s what I gathered.

We were walking through the hallways, laughing and chatting as usual. Eventually, we reached the school’s front door.

Was I... always this happy? Honestly, I felt guilty for having these thoughts. These were my friends who had stuck with me through thick and thin. We hung out every day and shared in our triumphs and follies.

But still, I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing something.

And then—

—I saw her.

She was there just across the hallway.

It was barely a sliver of a glimpse, but I was sure of it.

Long black hair, pale skin like liquid moonlight. Grace that defied worldly limits.

She was absurdly beautiful.

And just like that, she had disappeared from my sight, like a bright flame flickering out as she rounded the bend.

I winced as a lance of pain shot through my head, causing me to sink to my knees.

...Ichika.

An image flashed in my mind, but it wasn’t something that I could possibly remember. After all, you could only remember something if it was a memory, and I had never met someone so beautiful before.

I had never met Ichika.

...Right?

“Holy shit, Eiji! You good, man?” Daisuke was there by my side. His warm touch caused my headache to fade away like snow in sunshine.

But it hadn’t dispelled that image from my mind. The crystal clear image of someone I had never met before.

“Y-Yeah. I think I’m gonna pass on hanging out today... I’m not feeling great.”

Daisuke nodded a few times after helping me up. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. You were zonin’ out a bit earlier.”

I simply nodded. It was only now that I noticed my entire body was shivering. Was it fear? I didn’t know. I didn’t want to know.

“Aoko, stay with him, yeah? Give us a ring if somethin’ happens.”

And just like that, Aoko and I were left alone.

“Um... Shall we go to the infirmary?” Aoko asked, her voice gentle with concern. “I’m sure the nurse will know what to do!”

Again, I nodded.

Aoko looped her arm around mine, a cheerful smile adorning her face despite my plight. Her bountiful chest pressed against my arm.

And it was only then that I knew something was terribly amiss. I mean, not remembering the moments I’d shared with my friends was a problem, but... There was something far, far more concerning.

Just when the hell did Aoko have breasts this big?