Cherish
Your hand brushes mine
And a thousand sensations seduce me

I sighed for about the tenth time that day as another girl blocked my path.

"No." I said before she could even ask, and side-stepped her in order to proceed downstairs.

As I reached the first floor, I stopped and recalled something this morning…

I had told Arisato that I usually stayed in this area during Mondays and Fridays after school. It's not like I was expecting her to take the offer, since I'm pretty sure she has friends her age to hang out with, if not club activities. Plus, Mitsuru had asked her to join the Student Council, so she's probably busy right n-

"Senpai!"

I swiftly turned around, just in time to meet Arisato's cheerful smile greet me as she reached that last step of the stairs.

"Arisato…" I nodded in acknowledgement. "Are you going home?"

The smile remained on her face, and I expected her to say something like "no, I'm headed somewhere" but instead, she asked if I wanted to walk home with her.

I sensed the other students looking our way, as if waiting for my response, and from the looks on their faces, they probably expected me to reject her – but this was Arisato, the leader of SEES.

"Okay," I said, my lips automatically curving upwards to form a smile. It just shows whenever I'm speaking with someone I'm acquainted or comfortable with. "Then do you mind if we stop somewhere on the way? There's something I'm in the mood for."

"Sure." She chirped, walking alongside me. I took small glances at the girls glaring at her, but Arisato simply continued humming a tune I'm not familiar with while half-skipping and half-walking next to me. The action caused me to smile a bit – it was a pretty amusing sight.

I was pretty much at peace on the way to the strip mall, thankful for the quiet atmosphere. I had thought of Arisato as someone like Takeba, since they got along pretty well, and I've seen how Arisato is with other people too.

She's surprisingly quiet with me though, seemingly content in listening to her music. Not to mention that she isn't prodding me for a conversation, nor is she starting it.

It was a really nice change.

I stopped walking when we reached Hagakure Ramen, and I turned to her, seeing if she was alright with this, and to my shock, she didn't stop at all and just went on inside, stopping to look at me, the smile still on her face. "Coming senpai?"

"A-ah, right." I followed her, and to my relief, the place wasn't as crowded as it usually was.

We got ourselves a table, and I watched as she picked up her portable player, looked at it for a while with a smile I couldn't understand, before pressing a button and letting it fall and hang around her neck. She lifted her hands up to pull off her earphones, and then raised her head to meet my gaze.

"You're okay with the special, right?" I ended up asking, inwardly slapping myself for not even asking her first.

"Yep." She grinned, and I looked towards the cook to order us both an extra-large. "Can I order some appetizers too?"

"Haha, yeah. Eat as much as you'd like." I told her, amused. "Physical strength is everything. Your skills are truly remarkable…" I trailed off for a moment, seeing her looking back at me, listening to every word I said. "But…" I could have sworn my voice hitched. "…They won't be of any use if you get exhausted easily." I finished, unsure if that was what I had really meant to say, or just ended up saying because of her stare.

I never really got a good look at how bright her eyes were, and how those crimson irises suited her so much.

When our food came, I couldn't help but look at her as she snapped her chopsticks in half and declared an "Itadakimasu" before digging in.

I followed her actions a little while later, enjoying her company.

I finished ahead of her, and when she was done with her own meal, I was pretty amazed.

"Amazing, you completely polished that off."

She gave me a tiny smile, and that was enough for me to know that she wasn't doing too well. To test it out, I asked if she was up to going for another restaurant.

From the way her eyes widened and how she bit her lower lip, I already knew she couldn't eat another bite, but I wanted to know what she would say given this situation.

"A-Another meal? Let's go!"

I inwardly sighed. So she was the kind of person who would do anything if she knows it would make the other one happy, huh? Heh.

"Are you sure? You don't look so well." I pointed out, pushing the amusement I felt in the back of my head. Because even if I was a bit happy that she'd go that far to please someone, I wasn't at all thrilled at the idea that she'd forget about herself. With that, I sighed and closed my eyes. "Don't let yourself suffer just to be friendly, seriously…"

"E-ehehe… sorry senpai…" she stuck her tongue out at me. "I just… well, I didn't want to disappoint…"

I can understand that. I didn't like the idea of disappointing someone either – but those… girls are an exception.

"You must have a really small stomach." I ended up saying, not knowing why I seemed to like poking fun at her. "If you don't eat right, you'll never grow stronger."

I know it appears as if I'm treating her like a little kid, but I can't help it…

"Why are you glaring at me like that?" I almost laughed. "I'm not Junpei. I won't go easy on you just because you're a girl. Mitsuru was the one who recommended you to be our leader, but I thought you'd be best in that position too." Her eyes almost lit up in an instant, and I could feel a faint smile tugging on my lips. "…So, do your best and do a good job, okay?" I said, aware of how my voice had gotten unusually soft. "Our… lives are on the line too after all. And of course, we'll do our best to back you up. You're not the only one who's going to be trying hard out there."

My smile faltered when she gave me one of her own. "I'll be counting on you then, senpai."

…It's the only way for me to keep whatever these strange feelings are in check.

"W-Well, since we're done eating, I guess we should go back." I stood up and stretched a bit. "Let's get a quick jog in to help settle our stomachs."

Once more, to my surprise, she immediately smiled and stood, afterwards, grabbed my wrist and led me out of Hagakure.

By the time we were out of the Strip mall, she had let go and sprinted, yelling back to me to catch her if I could.

It took a while for me to snap from my thoughts, and when I finally made my legs move, I was able to catch up to her in no time, even taking the lead for a few short seconds before slowing down a bit to cheer her on.

I couldn't explain why I felt so free that time, it wasn't my first time to jog, yet it felt a lot more fulfilling…

But that's not what bugged me all the way back to the dorm, rather…. The feeling of her hand on mine earlier was still lingering in my head, even as we went to Tartarus.