Chapter : 3
Akari’s words echoed through the room.
“Ki… kiss…!? Hey, wait a second! Don’t just say something like that so easily…”
Her cheeks grew even hotter, and the composure befitting a class representative began to crumble.
Her ponytail swayed as she sat up on the bed with her knees drawn in.
The way she tried to put a little distance between herself and Yuu looked strangely cute.
Yuu unintentionally looked away.
“Yeah… you don’t like it, right. It’s okay. If you call my maid, that’ll solve everything. Just leave me alone until after school… I’ll contact them in the meantime.”
His voice was quiet, laced with apology.
The sound of the clock’s hands in the infirmary ticked slowly, and an awkward silence settled between them.
Sunlight filtered through the curtains, illuminating the boy as Akari’s gaze occasionally stole glances at his face.
“…Hmph. Why did you even come to this school? With a condition like that. The prince of the Moon Rabbit People turning into a rabbit at an Earth girls’ school… it’s not even funny.”
Her words were sharp, but concern lingered deep in her eyes. Her sense of responsibility as class representative pushed her forward.
The boy took a deep breath and lifted his gaze.
“Originally… it was supposed to be my quintuplet older brother who came. But a marriage partner was decided back on the Moon, so I came instead. I was honestly scared. Coming to an unknown place like Earth… I told myself it was something everyone goes through and tried my best… but if it starts like this on the first day, no one’s ever going to want to be my bride…”
Akari’s expression darkened slightly.
“So that’s why you said kiss…? Something like that… so easily…”
She puffed out her cheeks, but her eyes never left the boy.
Another uncomfortable silence fell, broken only by distant laughter from students outside the infirmary.
Yuu quickly waved his little forelegs.
“It’s okay. I’ll stay here until after school. My maid will come pick me up, and they’ll turn me back then. I can wait…”
He smiled, but there was loneliness in it.
Akari frowned and stared at him.
“Isn’t it fine to stay like that with everyone? Being a rabbit, attending class, making friends… wouldn’t that be okay?”
There was gentle concern mixed into her words.
He gave a small chuckle and shook his head.
“In this form… I could die from the smallest thing.”
He looked out the window with an expression of resignation and acceptance.
Sunlight through the curtain stretched their shadows long across the floor.
Akari suddenly slapped her own cheek lightly, then turned her determined gaze back to him.
“…Alright. Fine. There’s no helping it… there’s no helping it. I said I would protect you, and I don’t take those words back.”
Saying that, she firmly grabbed his arm.
Her fingertips were slightly trembling.
The warmth of the boy’s body transmitted through her palm, igniting a small flame of resolve inside her.
The boy’s eyes widened.
“Eh…?”
A small storm began to rise in his chest.
His vision was filled with Akari’s face, reflected in her dark eyes.
Her breath came closer, and the quiet air of the infirmary mixed with the faint scent of flowers, tickling his nose.
It was a sweetness like spring nectar that melted the delicate senses of the Moon Rabbit, making his body tremble faintly.
Akari, as if steeling herself, brought her lips toward the boy’s cheek.
Soft contact touched his skin, and their breaths overlapped quietly.
Her lips enveloped his cheek.
The softness spread like cotton candy, gently numbing his nerves, making it feel as if time had stopped for a moment.
From the edge of her lips, Akari’s heartbeat seemed to whisper into him—“It’s not scary, I’ll protect you”—a silent promise that seeped into his chest.
The moment she pulled away, her cheeks were dyed like the evening sun, and the way she looked away while exhaling revealed her inner turmoil.
“T-That should be enough, right? Hurry up and turn back…”
Her voice cracked slightly, embarrassment hiding beneath her sharp tone.
The lingering sensation on Yuu’s cheek remained like petals dancing in the wind, weaving a new thread of connection between them.
But—
Nothing happened. He was still in his rabbit form.
Akari’s eyes wavered with faint anxiety, and Yuu bit his lip apologetically.
“Um… it has to be on the lips…”
His voice was so soft it was like the buzz of an insect, his face turning bright red.
Akari held her head and let out a deep sigh.
“…Geez!”
She raised her eyebrows, then decisively pulled him onto her lap again.
Her fingertips trembled as their breaths intertwined, and her lips slowly drew closer.
They gently touched the rabbit’s mouth.
The boy’s small breath brushed against Akari’s lips.
At that moment, her finger unintentionally touched his tail—lightly stroking the sensitive base beneath the fur.
A surge of electricity-like sensation ran through his body, and he arched sharply.
—This feeling… soft… and hot…
“Hyah…!”
Her finger, almost unconsciously, traced it again—an unintentional temptation that stimulated his instincts.
While their lips remained in contact, a soft white light began to spread.
Radiance filled the infirmary like moonlight pouring down.
It wrapped around his body like mist, the rabbit silhouette slowly dissolving as the boy’s human form emerged.
On Akari’s lap, his body returned to its human shape.
Akari slowly opened her eyes and pulled away.
Their breaths intertwined, hot and sweet—like honey, lingering at the edge of bitten fruit.
Her chest tightened.
Beneath her sharp exterior, the pure embarrassment of a girl spread like a wave of heat.
Their eyes met—red and black reflecting each other. In his eyes, Akari’s anxiety and kindness shone like red jewels; in hers, his pure joy scattered like stars in a black sky.
In that instant, Akari’s face turned violently red, and she quickly looked away.
In her flustered embarrassment, she pushed his shoulder hard, sending him tumbling onto the bed—sheets catching his fall as a breath escaped him.
“Whoa!?”
Yuu let out a small cry, and Akari turned back in panic.
“S-sorry…!”
She shouted, trying to look again.
“D-don’t look this way right now!”
He hurriedly reached out his hand, but it was too late.
There, still caught in the aftermath of the kiss and the touch to his tail, his completely unguarded reaction was clearly exposed.
The sensitive instincts of the Moon Rabbit left him vulnerable—innocent, yet painfully vulnerable and alluring.
A soundless gasp escaped Akari’s throat.
“…Ah, ah, ah…!”
Her class-representative mask completely shattered. Her eyes widened, her face burned red, and her breath grew hot and uneven.
The atmosphere of the infirmary instantly turned heated.
The scent of disinfectant mixed with drifting sunlight particles, and the wrinkles in the sheets wrapped around their shadows.
As if fate’s threads were entangling them, the quiet room transformed into a gently swirling vortex.
What kind of future would this moment weave for them—outside the infirmary door, a distant school bell rang softly, leaving behind a lingering resonance that seemed to turn the page of the story.
