Will I believe you? This guy With a faint smile on her lips, Juri shook her head, not wanting to speak any further.

She then walked over to the side where the table set was located. Placing her bag on top of it, she pulled one of the chairs and sat down before beckoning at me.

Despite not answering my question directly, that, at least, woke me up from the trance.

With the lantern already lighting up the interior of the cabin, I put the flashlight back before following Juri. I sat next to her, dropping my bag on the table as I tried to rummage for a towel.

Sure enough, my girls packed one for me. Although its not a bath towel, it would be enough to dry us better than our handkerchief.

I handed it to her to dry herself first but instead of doing that, Juri draped it on my hair before tugging at my sleeve, Your head and back are drenched. After I dry your hair, take this off. Youll catch a cold if you keep it on

Yes, maam, I answered playfully. And that earned me a slap on my shoulder. Very lightly though.

Geez. Why are you like this?

Hmm? What do you mean?

This You seem very obedient to follow everything I said yet I feel that its always working in your favor.

Huh? Thats confusing, to say the least. Whats working in my favor when Im being obedient to her? Isnt it just natural?

Perhaps understanding that I got confused by her answer, Juri slid down the towel to my face before adding, I mean, Ive grown too comfortable with you because you always listen to me You wont do anything excessive yet our distance has now reduced to this

Ah. So, shes blaming herself for getting this close to me, huh? Instead of telling me that Im being inappropriate for getting close to her when I still have Satsuki, she diverted that and took the blame instead.

Heh. Why does that sound like me when I was telling my girls to blame everything on me?

Are we actually similar in a way?

Or no. This was just her appropriating her propriety. Because Ive never really acted too excessively with her, she started to believe that shes the cause of why weve grown this close in a short time.

While I cant refute that, I believe its not only you whove grown comfortable with our setup I feel that way as well. You see, every time we meet, youve been nothing but pleasant. I will be honest here. I like everything about you. Even with a towel blocking my face, I uttered my reply sincerely.

With each word I dropped, the towel slowly drifted downwards. By the time I got my eyesight back, the first thing I noticed was Juris head lowered slightly. With only an oil lantern in the middle of the cabin our source of light, its actually harder to make out what kind of expression shes having right now or if shes red and blushing.

You cant say that, Ruki Thats inappropriate. Juri replied. Her voice sounded softer than earlier.

I know it is but youre already aware of it, am I right? Im not just being kind to you You can say that Ive grown comfortable around you. Today, with everything that happened, amplified that. Instead of stepping back, I continued blasting her with my honest thoughts.

Whether it worked on her or not, I had no idea. However, Juri became silent for a minute, dispersing whatever was in her thoughts and our topic. Then she lowered the towel and yanked at my sleeve again.

Take this off now Im more concerned about your health than whatever situation we put ourselves in

Yep. She literally escaped from delving deeper or voicing out her thoughts about me.

Will this be better for us? Not really. Shes just stalling for time. Sooner or later, it will be very awkward for her not for me since Im well aware of where I stand.

Understood. Ill shut my mouth and let myself be spoiled by you.

Im not going to spoil you! This is me repaying you for giving me your jacket.

Sure, sure.

Youre being cheeky again. Thats not cute.

With her lips forming into a pout again, I let out an amused laugh as I started taking my shirt off.

Its not totally drenched but yeah, its wet enough that if I used my body to let it dry, I might go down with a cold later.

I didnt mind getting naked on top in front of her. She already saw me like this last time, after all.

As for Juri I got to see her trying her best to keep a straight face as she began wiping my chest. When she noticed that, she asked me to look away which I obediently followed again.

Although I didnt hear it, I heard her sighing in relief. Most likely, shed be on edge if I continued watching her and lost herself in the process.

Once she was done, Juri immediately handed the towel back to me. Its already cold and partly wet. Thats why here comes the problem Uh Will it still be fine to use this on you?

Im fine, whichever. But Ruki, isnt it you who wouldn't be relaxed if I didnt dry myself up?

This girl

Well, I agree. But I still wont do it without your consent.

Now, youre being wishy-washy. I like youre being considerate but at least balance it out, Ruki Uh I could say the same to myself Haa. Ending that with another sigh, Juri plopped her head down on the table, crossing her arms to cushion it.

Im glad you can see that as well But then again Were like tiptoeing around each other here. Juri I have an idea. Will you hear me out?

Upon saying that, I stopped hesitating and dropped the towel on her head. As I used it to dry her hair before gradually drying up her nape and shoulder, I waited for her answer.

What is it?

Simple. Lets drop all pretense We dont know how long will we have to wait here but if we keep being like this, were just going to torture ourselves.

You mean

Yeah. Whatever is in your head, thats what I meant And, I will start it, if you dont mind.

As soon as I finished speaking, I pulled my hand away from her head, taking the towel off. And while she was still processing my words, I lowered my head, dropping my lips on her defenseless cheek.

It was a swift kiss but it was such a pleasant view to see her widening her eyes before eventually forcing her head down on the table, hiding whatever expression she was making.

A few seconds later, one of her arms reached for my wrist before eventually interlocking our fingers together And while our warmth was getting transferred to each other through the same intimate connection that we shared for most of this day, her subdued voice slipped out and reached my ears, Ruki, Im afraid. I dont want you to regret this. Im already satisfied with everything that we experienced together If this continued I might hate myself for breaking my own rule.

Yeah. Shes extremely conflicted. However, after reaching for my hand, theres no doubt that shes only airing it out for me to hear. Because if she kept it in any longer, itd probably explode inside her.

Its now up to me what to do next from here.

As they say, rules are meant to be broken But if that rule is what I think it is It will be wrong for me to convince you to break it What dont we talk about it and see if we can find a loophole?

Hearing that, Juri immediately rose and faced me. With her face looking a little fierce, I thought she was going to flare up in anger. But as soon as she opened her mouth, that fierceness gradually disappeared before being replaced by a hopeful expression.

Loophole Geez, Ruki. Thats wishful thinking But if its possible then Id like to try that.

Then, without warning, Juri reached for my head and pulled me close to her. I thought she was going for my lips but at the last second, she showed a playful grin before planting it on my cheek, Thats payback