And this installment is why our lovely story is rated T. I'm not getting sued, thank you.
He invites her over to his house one evening, and she doesn't have a clue how it happened—one minute they were wondering about Takuto and making plans to visit Mitsuki, and the next they were kissing and rolling on the floor.
She knows what's about to happen.
Even as she responds forcefully to his kiss, her hands are clenched into fists on the floor and she realizes that scared doesn't even begin to cover it.
When she finally gets her lips free from his, she manages to choke out, "Izumi—" and then breaks off and shivers violently as she feels his hand, heavy on her thigh, and she's so frightened that she doesn't know what to do.
"Izumi," she whispers, her voice barely audible. Her eyes squeeze shut. "Stop."
It takes him a few seconds, but he gets up off of her and lets her sit up and take a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry," he finally says.
"Don't say that," Meroko replies. "It's not your fault. It's just—I'm just not ready for that." She fixes him with a pleading look. "You…understand, right?"
"Of course. If you're not ready, then I understand. Whatever you want, Meroko."
She nearly melts when she hears these words and sees the look on his face—so selfless. It makes her want to give him what he wants—to let him dive into her and worry about it later.
But no. She can't. She knows that rushing into something that she's not ready for isn't the way to go. No. This time, she's going to do things right.
Meroko-chan has finally had a breakthrough. And even Izumi-kun. As much as I love those two together, it takes them a while to realize that relationships involve talking, too. If you don't talk through the hard parts, you can't get to the fun.
And no, that was not a sex joke. Good grief.
RRE.