Chitanda Eru sat restlessly, her glimmering purple eyes gazed around the room aimlessly in an attempt to divert her attention away from the bubbling curiosity in her stomach. She wanted the feeling to go away.
Oreki Houtarou sat not too far away from her, his face monotonous as he flipped through a book, his gaze moving along the words on the pages.
He rested his head on the palm of his hand, elbow upon the table, and every so often he would sigh, but only just a little.
Chitanda had become accustomed to studying Oreki, or rather admiring him, as such, and it was moments like these when the silence washed over the room, that made her want to converse with him, and fill the quiet up.
Suddenly, the bubbling curiosity that Chitanda had previously felt only moments ago began to appear again, and much more prevalent this time, it seemed.
She stood up a little bit; having an inner debate with herself whether or not she should disturb Oreki, but with the curiosity within her refusing to subside she stood up fully and decided to open her mouth to speak.
"Oreki-san" She murmured, hoping her voice would be heard.
Houtarou peered up from his book and moved his gaze to her eyes "Hm?"
"I-"she paused momentarily, but if she didn't say it now she would never have the courage to again "I'm a little curious about something" She trailed off, blinking rapidly.
Houtarou raised his eyebrow, and placed his book down, "About what?"
"Rather, I'm very curious about something" she whispered, licking her lips after the sentence. Her nervousness showed, and her tone gave it away. It was very blatant.
"And what would that be?" He replied, quite curious himself as to what Chitanda had to say. He picked up on the fact that her hands were fidgeting with one another, and that her face had become tinted with a slight hue of pink. He wondered what she was so curious about and why she was reacting that way.
She took the moment to walk forward, black hair billowing behind her as she sat down upon the open seat next to him. "Oreki-san, I'm curious as to….." she murmured meekly "…as to what a kiss feels like!" she spoke it quickly, and dropped her gaze to the table, avoiding his eyes the second the words slipped from her mouth.
The sentence took Houtarou by surprise, and he fought back the sudden urge to lean over and kiss her, just to quench her curiosity.
Houtarou's face went crimson at his own impure thoughts, but he shook his head to clear his mind and opened his mouth to speak. "If you're curious about what a kiss feels like, just go and kiss someone" He replied, swallowing audibly, hoping she would catch on and kiss somebody else. He couldn't even begin to handle the thought of Chitanda's lips pressed to his own, then again the thought of those soft lips of hers pressed against somebody else's made him jealous to an even greater extent.
"But I can't just kiss someone Oreki; it has to be someone I'm familiar with, right?" She persisted, her face getting ever so close to his.
He suddenly felt hot, hot to a standard where he felt like he would pass out. "Satoshi, then, I'm sure he wouldn't pass up an opportunity to relieve your curiosity" Houtarou replied, trying his hardest to avoid the inevitable fact that Chitanda probably wanted him to kiss her.
"But Oreki-san, kissing Satoshi would just feel so strange…" She murmured, her eyes fluttering shut for a moment, before they opened once more to stare at him with such intensity.
"Then…if I kissed you, would you…stop feeling curious about it…?" His face turned away from Chitanda's, and he spoke it with a tone so unreadable that he couldn't even comprehend it himself. He was unsure of what he wanted.
"I would" she responded simply.
Houtarou let out a small sigh; he couldn't believe he was actually doing something like this, just for her sake.
But was it truly for her sake only? Or was he so desperately curious about what Chitanda's lips tasted like that he had to inwardly convince himself that it was for her, and only for her?
He returned his gaze to Chitanda, whose lips were slightly agape, and placed his left hand behind her head and grasped softly.
His eyes fluttered shut, as did hers, and they both leaned forward in unison, and in what felt like an eternity but was a mere second or two, their lips collided with soft impact.
Houtarou's lips were soft and warm and Chitanda felt her curiosity fade away, only to be replaced with an indescribable feeling of happiness at the fact that he had been willing enough to do this for her, even though he probably hadn't wanted to.
They pulled away and Houtarou was left with cheeks stained crimson, whilst Chitanda was left with a tinted pink face and a warm feeling in the depths of her stomach.
"I'm going home" Houtarou announced, standing up and walking out, in a hopeless attempt to hide his ever reddening face.
"Thank you, Oreki" Chitanda grinned softly to herself, studying him as he walked away.
Houtarou was lingering in the door frame, and gave a little wave of his hand before walking out completely, his steps echoing from a distance.
Never had Chitanda's curiosity been so fulfilling.