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I don’t even know when it started—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5soe5BBmXH
this quiet, growing love I have for Kouichi.
When we were little, I always thought of him as my younger brother.
He was always quietly by my side—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWntDjO5NFC
picking up my fallen hair clips,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPrld1qjgf
handing me a handkerchief when I cried.
I thought he was smaller than me,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSIg9VW5dW
someone I had to look after and protect.
But at some point—he had grown taller than I was.
When he walked beside me,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLba1HJQEVI
his shadow stretched longer, broader.
His voice had deepened.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVhXsdsRV4V
His eyes had grown more still.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6uW2INaWt
And he no longer nodded at everything I said—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquOetAzIjJ
he had learned how to say “no.”
It was in that moment I realized—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotCVlypGVp
I could no longer see him as a younger brother.
Because he had become… a man.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPuOLoOpLX
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When he stands too close, I blush.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYy4rzLv81X
My heart skips.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYIg5B9GFk
Even just meeting his eyes makes it hard to breathe.
If I go a whole day without seeing him, I get restless, unsettled—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpPX7F9Jgn
and my mind keeps replaying his face, his voice, over and over.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXPpQKlz1X
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And whenever I do see him,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDE7ufcjlcw
my gaze can’t help but follow him—
From the tousled strands of his hair,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWenQUsMU4
to his long, dark lashes,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWlMuoR2TP
to the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathes.
Even the light texture of his skin under the sun,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fGeKQjKAo
the curve of his shoulders… and—
That tiny mole on the right side of his neck.
And then…19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSrJJ6B8Tc
there’s his Adam’s apple.
It moves slightly whenever he talks or swallows—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFIgEWDoUL
and every time,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWaG2cQoACU
I find myself wondering what it might feel like19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6EeGR8krq2
if I brushed my fingertips across it.
Sometimes, I even catch myself staring at the shape of his lips.
He doesn’t have to say anything—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbALZWxCTF7
and still, I can’t help imagining:
If one day, those lips pressed against my skin…19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMkUItoDde
my forehead,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4etbrazmI
my ear,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrExqlyASlf
the back of my neck…
And finally—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGp7n0usOGO
if they pressed against my lips—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9LC48eQIZ
what would that feel like?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wEkoPA6GC
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It’s like a melody.
A melody I accidentally heard the beginning of,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUf7DjEkviW
and now can’t stop listening to.
It’s not loud,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxoTdfxLyWR
but it loops endlessly inside me, quietly—
And before I realized it,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYBbIDcm1p
I was already too deep to escape.
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That day, he was driving me to school.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSflgvVmXg
It was supposed to be just another ordinary morning.
Until a little girl suddenly dashed into the street—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVUv5cjaVz
and he hit the brakes.
The tires screeched against the road,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZJct5XtE7
and the car jolted violently.
19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHU2vizrcNR
Before I could react—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiZEGNZbvl
his left arm reached across me,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoG1ePtfFq
blocking me protectively across the chest.
Just two… maybe three centimeters more,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHLAUuJvHa
and he would’ve touched me.
That wide hand hovered there, fingers slightly spread,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHs0W7tQQ4N
knuckles sharp and veins faintly visible.
It was so close I could almost feel the warmth of his fingertips—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFirvuYKfqI
and the tremor in the air between us.
His hand was still trembling.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPCmPglUw3
Almost imperceptibly.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUe4cCXFgZC
Not out of fear—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaZIr30db4
but from the lingering adrenaline, the instinct to protect.
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And me?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVz7mIfnWS
I was already blushing to the tips of my ears.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQUuoAqvvP
I felt like lightning had struck me.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuYB0Db7IE
I couldn’t move an inch.
“My lady, are you alright?”
His voice was so gentle—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiZPdsaQUG
it felt like it could shatter every piece of armor I wore.
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I quickly turned my face to the window,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWSyHI5PjJ
trying to hide the heat in my cheeks and the chaos in my chest.
“I-I’m fine…”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6oT1BroUED
The words came out in broken fragments,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIYwTk473o
caught in my throat.
I tried to sound calm,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWH8hdiFDB
but I couldn’t ignore that hand—
The hand that had nearly touched me,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz75ZkEDOTW
and somehow felt even more overwhelming than if it had.
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My heart was in a mess,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡraxSlUJY4r
but deep down, in some tiny corner of me, I couldn’t help wondering:
How long has it been since he last touched me?
The last time we held hands was when I was twelve.
He was ten.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKYBdtZsaV
We were playing hide and seek in the garden.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87ulkZ2rcJ
He grabbed my hand, sweaty and small, and said:19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Flg5mOWaj
“Don’t worry. I’ll pull you along.”
His hand back then was soft and a little damp, still a child’s.
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But now…
I snuck a glance at him.
That hand had long since grown—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKPaZWgVs5
broad and steady, joints defined,19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXobsXZcCn
carrying the quiet strength of a man.
If I were touched by these hands now…19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDzr6L7HHU
Would they still make me feel safe?
Or had they changed—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDDBQwSoOG
become something irresistible?
Would his touch still comfort me… 19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57lMJwe4qP
or stir up something I’m not ready for?
I couldn’t say it aloud.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOHvicEbAg
I didn’t dare look at him again.
I just let those chaotic, greedy, and shamefully yearning thoughts19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiu5DxFWKVT
rise like waves in my heart—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiGCodzHhj
rippling out in silence.
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It was a touch that never crossed the line—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvArtjG6pFd
but deep down, I quietly longed for it to.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CQBwfKU7D
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and then Add to home screen.