Disclaimer: Don't own Kimi ni Todoke, nor any of it's characters.
Rating: T
A series of one-shots, regarding the steps taken by Sawako and Shouta in their relationship.
"Huh!? You guys haven't kissed each other yet!?"
"W-We're still trying to get used to everything!" Sawako breathed, her heart pounding at the mere thought; she brushed a hand over it. "We- we have a lot of things to think about, and not just for our... dating. And every time I think about trying, I just freeze up!"
"It's nearly been a year since you started dating though!" Chizu said, both with passion and what seemed to be annoyance(?), before settling back with a sigh.
On Chizu's other side, Ayane idly munched on her sandwich, the three of them sharing lunch together. "I should be surprised, but at this point I'm not" she said, before glancing over. "They say that everyone's different after all. Maybe this is your normal, Sawako, and Shouta knows that."
"You think so?" Sawako breathed, both surprised and wondering if maybe she's just too scared.
A little smile. "Yeah" Ayane said easily, munching again. "One thing's for sure though; it certainly isn't my normal, or Chizu's."
Chizu laughed a little. "You got that right, Ayane!"
Oh, that reminds her! She should ask them!
"What is normal for you two?" Sawako asked, curious- they both seemed surprised. "Is that okay for me to ask?"
"It's fine; we were just surprised" Chizu said easily, patting her shoulder- she liked that, feeling warmer. "Me? If I like a guy, I'd hold hands with him right away - maybe take a-a little while longer to kiss him, but I would do it quickly! Or try to!"
Ahhh, for her it sounds so easy! She definitely felt amazed, but tried her hardest not to feel jealous; Sawako didn't want this to hurt their friendships!
"And you, Ayane-chan?" Sawako asked, after a moment.
Ayane gave a little smile, glancing upward. "Well... I'd be okay with kissing a guy I just met today, if talking with him went well" she said, shrugging before eating another bite-
-"WHA!?"
"Hmm?" Ayane breathed, looking at them... then she sweat-dropped at the sight of her (Sawako) and Chizu staring at her wide-eyed, shocked. "What? I said we all have different 'normal' views of kissing, and that was mine; you two don't need to go that far just because I do. Plus, I'd only go that far sometimes."
Woah! Ayane could j-just kiss a guy she just met today!? She's so confident and sure of herself, and so adventurous, even more than Chizu- again she's so jealous that they can do that, while she's stuck being nervous of just a kiss... mmh...!
"Still, Ayane, that's pretty forward! Not just anyone could do that!" Chizu said with awe.
"Heh, I know. But there's no need to make a big deal of it, Chizu."
A sheepish sound, then Chizu turned toward her. "Anyway, Sawako, you-"
She stopped, as Sawako was still caught up in her own thoughts about how she's so nervous, wanting to improve with Shouta but not knowing how. In fact, if she doesn't do something, she worried Kazehaya would lose interest in her because she hasn't kissed him... holding hands could only go so far, sensation wise...!
Even as Ayane looked over too, Chizu opened her mouth to say something, suddenly stopped as if she'd a thought- then she grinned.
"Sawako!"
"Ah, yes!?" Sawako breathed, jolted by the suddenness.
Chizu slipped her arm around her shoulder, holding Sawako closer. "How about this then? A friendly little bet between us" she said with a grin, and Sawako blinked, surprised. "Only if you want to of course; you don't have to do it. Anyway, you try and kiss Shouta on the cheek within the next week, and if you succeed I'll take you and Ayane to someplace super-fun that we haven't gone to yet!"
Sawako was really surprised, even as Ayane raised an eyebrow in interest; somewhere super-fun?
On the cheek... wait-
"Y-You can kiss someone on the cheek?" she asked, not having known that.
Chizu's expression became... different, though she otherwise kept the grin. "Well duh! Couples do it all the time to each other, whenever they're in public, especially those who are comfortable with each other" she said, with this 'interesting' tone. "Though, some might kiss in public anyway. It depends on the person."
Even as her mind reeled from hearing that - t-that's so bold! - Sawako reacted by instinct:
"I- I want to be more comfortable with Kazehaya-kun!" she said in a hurry. "I want to! I- I promise I'll try, Chizu-chan!"
"Good. But don't force yourself if you don't want to, okay? Even a fun hang-out isn't worth you doing that."
"Mmh-hmm!"
Just then, Ayane tugged on Chizu's shoulder to get her attention, then leaned in closer toward her ear - Sawako couldn't hear what Ayane said, but wondered anyway. Chizu jolted and pulled back, rubbing the back of her head and laughing a little:
"O-Of course I have an idea about this, Ayane!"
"...hmm. I hope so."
Huh, Sawako wondered what that meant... she wondered if she should ask them.
"That aside" Ayane added, looking over at her now instead of Chizu. "One other thing, Sawako; try not to tell Shouta about this bet before you kiss him on the cheek. But if you do afterward, make sure you tell him that you wanted to kiss him on the cheek, and that you didn't do it just because of this bet. Otherwise he might misunderstand your reason for wanting to kiss him."
Ah!? Misunderstand!? She can't allow that to happen, no matter how embarrassing this is!
"I'll do that!" Sawako said in a hurry, without even having to think. "Ah, w-would that be okay, if I do?"
"Sure thing."
Later
She can do this... she can do this...!
Sawako squirmed, as her heart was beating so fast, and she felt warmly nervous just standing next to Kazehaya- he stood there, waiting. Somehow, she'd managed to tell him to close his eyes and wait... but if she doesn't do it, she didn't know w-what would happen...
So many thoughts went through her head, as she repeatedly moved her hand toward his cheek, and back again- she thought that maybe this isn't working!
B-But, if she just focused on kissing his cheek...
Heart thumping in her chest, Sawako slowly moved toward his cheek, just barely keeping in the sounds she wanted to make... Kazehaya moved a bit when she got halfway, but it only paused her a little. She wasn't thinking, and so she didn't realize that he could feel her breathing on his cheek, and that's why he'd moved, but it's good that she didn't realize that.
It would've made her even more nervous!
Slowly, eventually, she crossed the distance with her eyes closed... the moment her lips met his cheek, they both reacted, her more strongly than him...
Several seconds later: "Ahh!" Sawako breathed, instinctively stepping back; her cheeks felt even hotter. "I-I-!"
"Wow."
That stopped whatever she was gonna say; Kazehaya brushed the spot where she'd kissed him, eyes open, and he smiled - the sight left her a bit fixated. "That was worth the wait" he said to her, sincere and gentle (and nervous, because of his redder cheeks)-
-inside, a lot of her nervousness just suddenly turned to relief.
He liked it... he really liked it!
Still, because of her relief, Sawako didn't notice until the last second how Kazehaya had moved closer; she jolted, heart beating fast again. He continued to smile at her, before one hand touched her cheek gently, and he- he kissed her cheek, just for a moment!
Even in her surprise/shock, she managed to see Kazehaya's smile... but after a moment, he jolted and seemed shocked.
"Ahh!
Somehow this broke her out of her shock: "W-What is it!?"
"I wasn't thinking when I did that! I didn't even ask if you were ready, or wanted me to; I'm so sorry!"
"B-But you didn't do anything wrong, Kazehaya-kun!"
They were both red in the face, and it took awhile for that misunderstanding to be resolved... it didn't help that they were both surprised. It was only at the end, that she managed to find the time to tell him why she'd kissed his cheek so suddenly - he'd been surprised about the bet, but had been okay with it, after hearing that she really wanted to kiss his cheek too.
He'd wanted to as well, when he returned the favor, and without a bet too... he was amazing.
But e-even still... for awhile, at home, Sawako had just touched her hands to both cheeks, caressing where his hand had been and where he'd kissed her...
She'd been so happy, so content, wishing that she wouldn't wake up from this dream.
Normally, a cheek kiss wouldn't be an important moment, but with these two it is :P Thankfully, the next one is more of the standard type hehe