Perhaps finally recognizing what’s happening, Coach Ayu’s eyes lowered to stare at our joined hands. She then looked at me, a puzzled expression occupying her face. Her laughter stopped and it took more than a minute before she could respond to me.
As I watched her fairly amusing reaction, my lips curved into a smirk. Let’s call it getting back at what she did. Or teasing her for convenience’s sake.
It’s her turn to be impatient or, if not that, flustered maybe?
I continued feeling up her rough hands, squeezing and caressing them while listening to her response.
Well, her palms being rough was a clear evidence of how hardworking and passionate this woman was towards boxing. And for the years to come, it would stay that way. Perhaps, she would be like Hisa-jii. Opening her own gym in the future.
“That’s right. He’s the one who suggested this. He is too fond of you. You know, he probably saw a champion in you.”
That old man… I guess that just meant he still hadn’t given up on recruiting me. A champion? I’m a far cry from that. Besides, my decision will not change.
I’d rather watch Sena’s career and support her from the side than stand in the ring myself.
“I’m not even close to being one, Coach. By the way, is that the only reason why you specifically have me walk Sena home?”
“Of course, there’s more. But first, let go of my hand.”
With the matter of testing my patience out of the way, Coach Ayu finally pointed out what’s making her giddy. I didn’t stop caressing her hand after all. If I had a third hand, I would probably snap a shot of this seemingly invincible woman’s current reaction.
“I don’t wanna. Who knows? I might get pinched again. I’ll hold onto these until we finish.”
I tightened my grip on her hand to further annoy her.
At this point, I admit, I’m now teasing her. But who could blame me? Her reactions were irresistible…
But this further proved my guess from last week… Coach Ayu likes me.
I wonder when that started?
“You… Stop flirting when you already have a girlfriend!”
“I’m not flirting, though. Coach, this is prevention.” I shamelessly answered.
“Prevention? Yeah, right. Who are you trying to fool?”
“No one. If coach thought differently then that’s not my fault, is it?”
Coach Ayu alternately looked at me and our current physical connection. Following that, her shoulders drooped and she heaved a sigh, “You’ll be the death of me.”
“Don’t worry too much. Think of it as me massaging your tired hands.”
“It’s not tired.”
“Massaging your admirable hands.”
“That’s flirting.”
“Massaging my beloved coach's hands.”
“That’s sexual harassment.”
“Then… coach, why not pull your hand away? Just like what you did earlier.”
That’s right. She’s not pulling her hand away. Not once even when she told me to let go of her hand. It’s like she wanted me to pull my hand out instead.
Or this woman was just doing this intentionally.
With my eyes clearly observing her, the woman in front of me was undeniably too different from the Coach Ayu that I’ve known ever since joining this gym when I targeted Sena.
If she’s this lovely, why couldn’t she get her own man?
Ah… Who am I asking? I’m the one she likes after all. This isn’t me assuming it. It’s undoubtedly presented before my eyes.
Perhaps, this was also the reason why she’s always getting annoyed whenever I was telling her to get herself a man.
“… Stop pushing my buttons, Onoda-kun.” With her fully flustered expression, Coach Ayu defeatedly whispered. Even when I pointed it out, she chose to ignore it.
And upon seeing that, the urge to further tease her somehow heightened. Instead of just holding her hand, I began filling the gaps between her fingers with my own.
And while doing that, I had her look me in the eye. “I’m not doing that. Let’s move on to the more important discussion, coach.”
She gulped down. Her eyes filled with anticipation for my next words.
I meant the other things we ought to discuss but what I did probably pushed her mind into cloud nine. The meaning she derived from my words was different.
By the time our fingers successfully interlocked together, Coach Ayu's grip tightened and she impatiently stood up or rather leaned forward.
With the table separating us, that’s the quickest way to reach her goal. And given that she had a clear aim in her mind, it only took a split second before I felt her rather dried lips pressing on mine.
It happened too quickly that I failed to calculate this outcome. I pushed her too much with my teasing that it eventually resulted in this… she failed to hold her feelings back.
It overflowed and burst out of her.
Considering her routine, her palms shouldn’t be sweating at this moment but surprisingly, it’s slowly drenching my palms. It’s cold and she’s visibly shaking from nervousness.
She’d probably collapse if I pushed her away.
Furthermore, Coach Ayu was clearly inexperienced when it came to kissing. She only kept it pressed on mine. However, that didn’t end with that. Her mouth opened slightly and her head tilted to the side. Perhaps copying the kiss often depicted in some forms of media, Coach Ayu was trying to overlap our lips perfectly.
Is this okay? What about my plan of not being involved with her? Of only seeing her as a reliable older sister?
Earlier, I held the thought that this meeting wouldn’t be personal. I mean, I’ve known her for a long time and she’s someone who could separate personal issues from her work. I could even recall the times she scolded me for putting forth my personal bias towards Sena whenever I would train that girl.
But then, I made it this way. I pushed her so much that she dropped everything and just went for it… What happened was definitely my fault, there’s no doubt about that.
I have to own this blunder up. How though?
Seconds quickly passed and our lips remained connected. Coach Ayu’s shakiness also stopped at one point. From time to time, we’d both open our eyes to check at each other before moving ever-so-slightly. In the end, I responded to her kiss and took the helm from her. The simple kiss deepened and her dried lips became moist once more.
Two minutes later, Coach Ayu slowly pulled her lips back, ending the kiss that was initiated by her. Her eyes then opened and stared at my face carefully. Perhaps she’s trying to see if I was repulsed by what she did or if I was disgusted. When she didn’t see that from my expression, Coach Ayu flashed a relieved smile before sitting back down on her chair.
“What happened… It will be best for us to not talk about that. Don’t you think so, Onoda-kun?” After pulling her hand out of my grasp, Coach Ayu beat me on addressing it. And that’s even when her lips still glistened from the trace of our kiss as well as her face still as red as an apple.
“Are you sure, Coach?” That’s the only appropriate response I could think of. Instead of saying okay and treating it as if nothing happened, it’s a lot better to clear what’s the real score between us.
“Right. That’s enough for me. Treasure Sena, Onoda-kun.” Coach Ayu then exhaled and turned around…
When she faced me again, any traces of what happened had already disappeared from her face.. And she opened up the next topic that’s clearly pure business.
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