Beautiful Barking Tsundere

Chapter 28

Original Author: ひのはら (Hinohara)
Date Submitted to Kakuyomu: 2021/10/03

Perhaps Ema's heart feels a little lighter after confessing everything. Tonight, she falls asleep before Aira.

Aira runs her fingers through Ema's beautiful silky blonde hair.

She heard about Ema's past.
After doing wrong, she relied on cigarettes to escape her feelings of guilt.

She is afraid of trusting people and forming a special bond with anyone. Can Aira help heal her wounds after everything that happened to her?

"Ema..."

She stares at her beautiful brown eyelashes.

"So pretty..."

Even after learning everything, Aira's feelings for Ema do not change.

She wants to heal this lovely woman and protect her from all that would ever hurt her.

She wants Ema to be happy.
She wants Ema to experience a fantastic love that will allow her to let go of all the things that torment her.

And if there is a chance, Aira would like to be the person Ema experiences that love with.

It may not be possible.
At the very least, it will be difficult.
However, Aira doesn't want to give up before even starting.

"...Okay."

She lies down next to Ema and gently kisses her on the cheek.
Aira smiles at the fluffy sensation as her heart fills with feelings of love.

Wanting to protect this woman who has become afraid after being hurt so much, she gently wraps her arms around Ema's body.

After getting up early on a weekday morning, Aira uses a whisk to blend the contents of a bowl.

Inside the bowl, there is pancake mix, eggs, and milk. After everything is soft and fluffy, Aira grabs the spatula.

She fries the batter into two pancakes and then neatly puts them on a plate.
She smears some margarine that was melted in advance and adds some chopped strawberries on top.

Finally, she drizzles maple syrup to complete the dish.

While she's feeling a sense of accomplishment, Ema wakes up and greets her.

"Good morning. The weather is gorgeous today..."

Aira glances at the clock and sees it's time for her to leave, so she grabs her school bag while removing her apron.

Aira already ate an onigiri made from leftover rice earlier, so the pancakes are all for Ema.

"Well, time for me to go to school."

Gathering her courage, Aira stands on the tip of her toes and gives Ema a kiss.

Ema seems a little stunned, perhaps not expecting that first thing in the morning.

"To make sure that you don't smoke."
"Ye-yeah..."
"I'm leaving now."
"Have a safe trip..."

On the way to school, she remembers the kiss and begins to blush.

It's true that she doesn't want Ema to smoke, but Aira's personal desire to kiss Ema motivated her more.

She made pancakes in the morning because she wanted to make Ema happy.

Ema was plagued by remorse and fell into self-loathing. That's why Aira wants to do anything she can to cheer her up, even if it's just by a little.

What is the first step in getting the person you love to love you back?

Of course, there's self-improvement and interacting with the other person but in the case of Ema, there is one challenge that must be overcome.

In order for Aira to win the affection of the person she loves, she must first make Ema forget about her past partner.

She racks her brains, but no good ideas come to mind.

She would have been better off if she focused on her studies instead.
Since this is her first time in love, there's still much that she doesn't understand.

"Next... Hoshimiya."

The math teacher calls her, but she was so busy thinking about Ema that she hadn't been paying attention to the lesson at all.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening..."
"That's rare for you. Make sure to focus during class."

Considering how Aira had been up until now, it's unthinkable that she would space out in the middle of a lesson.

When she thinks about Ema, nothing else registers in her mind.

Is this what it means to be in love?
Now ruled by her feelings, she has lost her ability to remain calm and make rational decisions.

After all her classes ended, Aira begins packing her bag.
The three-day weekend will be starting tomorrow so Aira wants to go somewhere with Ema, but Ema said that she'll be busy streaming.

As a popular VTuber, she gets especially busy during holidays and weekends.

Aira knows that can't be helped, but that doesn't prevent her from feeling lonely.

At the same time as she lets out a sigh, she overhears the conversation of some nearby male students.

"Today is the day Usami Koneko-chan's goods go on sale, right?"
"Let's get to the store early."

Aira doesn't normally talk to those boys.

They're meek during class and Aira had witnessed them being forced into errands by some of the more outspoken girls on several occasions.

Each time she witnessed it, she warned the girls to stop but Aira doesn't know if the same thing is still happening when she isn't watching.

"Hey, do you like Usami Koneko?"

When Aira approached them and asked them that, they get nervous and their eyes wander.

Maybe it's due to her flashy appearance, but the meeker students often get scared of her.

"...Ye-yes."
"What do you like about her?"
"She has a nice voice, she's good at games, and her stories are interesting... Also, during chats, she's always caring and..."
"Idiot! You're completely outing yourself as an otaku."

Hearing all of that puts Aira in a good mood.

"You've got good taste."
"Eh..."
"I like Usami Koneko as well."

Strictly speaking, she likes Ichijou Ema, whose voice brings life to Usami Koneko.
Hearing the person she loves being praised makes her feel as happy as if it was herself getting praised.