Only to You
Ryly's ears twitched in pure disbelief.
“ … What?”
“This. Let's eat together.”
Meaning, the ice cream, let's eat together?
Well, we can share it.
But there's no way to divide it properly. No plates, no spoons, nothing. Just a big chunk on the cone and wafer.
There was a half-baked idea that came to mind, but I immediately wiped it away. This couldn't possibly be right. If the other person was a sane kid, they wouldn't even think of something like that.
So I asked.
“ … In what way?”
I had no idea myself, so tell me. Admitting ignorance and asking was the correct attitude.
“Over there, sit on the bench.”
“Okay.”
“Sit side by side.”
“Got it.”
“Put it between us. We'll take turns licking it.”
Ah. So the kid wasn't sane after all.
Ryly held back the shout, breathing deeply first. Ranting blindly wasn't good. The somewhat grown boy spoke calmly.
“You think that's a normal way to do it?”
The words came out as if from a tattered textbook in the orphanage, distracted by the calm, but it didn't matter.
Sugar nodded proudly.
“There’s no other way.”
“Ugh… khuh… what the…”
It was hard to breathe. It felt like my insides were about to burst. My body was overheating from stress.
“Why? It’s not like we can’t do it between friends.”
“Do friends do this…? Hey… you… let me ask you this while we’re at it… do you do this to other kids too?”
“Other kids?”
“The orphanage… other kids.”
“Ah.”
She seemed to be asking something weird. Sugar blinked.
“No? I only do it to you?”
Second attack.
This time, my breathing hitched for a completely different reason.
Kuk. Keuh… I clutched my chest and caught my breath. My cheeks were already flushed, on the verge of boiling over.
Sugar tilted her head, wondering why her friend was acting like this, then snapped her fingers as something clicked.
She smiled without forgetting.
“Ah, I wish you only did it to me?”
Finally, it exploded.
“W-what-what-what kind of-so-sound-is-this?! I’m only tolerating it because it’s you! If you did this to anyone else, they’d have screamed and run away long ago! I asked because I was worried about how you’d look!”
Um, stable flavor.
Enjoying the reaction, Sugar thought about it too.
She definitely didn’t do this to other kids. There was no point in teasing broken toys. The immediate, sharp reaction from this boy was fun.
Soft kids got soft teasing, tough kids got tough teasing. There was no grand reason behind it.
Plus, she trusted him the most, stuck with him the most, and got the most entertaining reactions.
There was no one better to tease using her “girl” advantage. Just him.
Taking care of him was the same.
She treated him warmly as much as she teased, because he was a precious friend, so she was extra kind.
That was why there were times when the teasing turned into warm behavior.
Of course, she did it more often without thinking about it.
Fundamentally, it was done unconsciously. Because that mindset had been ingrained, the behavior came out as naturally as breathing to this kid.
Even now. She just wanted to share it with a pure, good heart. Like a mother sharing with her child. So she suggested it.
But when such intense reactions came back, how was she supposed to tease without it?
“Hmm…”
Looking at the boy who was rambling to hide his embarrassment, she smiled smugly.
“You thought that, Tommy? You wished it was only to you?”
“Ugh… eeek… aaaah!!”
“Calm down, calm down… the ice cream’s melting. Let’s go quickly. Right? It’d be sad if all the ice cream I got for you melts…”
Immediately changing her expression to a disappointed face, the boy suppressed his anger and followed with his face still flushed bright red, creaking along. He always acted tsundere, but his actions were always kind.
-Idiot.
Sugar secretly stuck out her tongue and led Ryly to the bench.
Truly, teasing kids was the best.
***
A bench in a quiet corner.
If you sat quietly, you could feel the breath.
It was originally an ice cream with a sweet scent. Mixed with the milk ice cream aroma, it would melt your nose.
With her mouth shut and frowning silently, the wet, slurping sounds came from in front. The sound of licking.
With the ice cream between them and faces close, all of this was natural.
“Not eating? It’s melting over there.”
Sugar spun the ice cream she was holding to change direction.
Meaning, the part Sugar had been licking came to Ryly.
“It’s a waste… you can’t just throw away something precious.”
Another wet slurping sound echoed.
It was unbearable to listen to. Looking ahead, there was an ice cream with a clear lick mark.
“Ugh… eeugh…”
When she trembled, the sound stopped.
“Tommy… you still don’t want to eat?”
Downcast eyebrows. Eyes gazing blankly.
Something kept poking at her heart. She didn’t know how to express it, but it kept stimulating her.
Ryly clenched his fists to stop himself from lunging forward and took a deep breath.
It was correct that she had gotten it for him out of worry. Even though she usually annoyed him, her heart was kind. Whether it was a prank or something, the fact that she had brought him out today was kind.
So, a little. Just a little.
She needed to at least pretend to eat.
She stuck out her tongue slightly.
But with only 1cm extended, there was no way to reach the target. No matter how she wiggled her tongue, it only tasted air.
Meanwhile, Sugar gently brought the ice cream closer.
“ …!”
Ah.
It was sweet.
It couldn’t be this sweet.
The sudden sweetness sent a chill down her spine.
Grasping the trembling hand as if she had a fever, she swept her tongue from bottom to top once.
The ice cream—the part Sugar had licked—melted onto her tongue.
Once she did that, the second wave of guilt lessened. She could move her tongue more to make it sweeter than before.
Something fluffy bloomed in her mind. Her focus was only on the tingling sensation on her taste buds, and she couldn’t think of anything else.
-Thud, thud.
While inwardly worrying if her heart would be heard by the girl right in front, she saw a smile.
It was a smile without any mischief.
Just purely praising the kid. It was like she was happy that he was eating so nicely.
“ … Good.”
Shame surged up.
She wanted to run away somewhere.
Suppressing that feeling tightly, she closed her eyes tightly.
“Now… now it’s done… you… you eat it all…”
“Eh? You didn’t eat a few bites.”
“I ate a lot… now it’s enough…”
Swallowing the saliva that came out made it sweet. It was because the ice cream that had seeped into her tongue mixed with it.
When she was lost in aftertaste and trembling, Sugar ate the ice cream entirely in front of her without a word, chomping it down at an incredible speed. Before she could even blink, she stuffed the cone and wafer into her mouth.
It seemed she had been slowing down just to eat with a friend.
“Mmm, delicious.”
Whether it was because the ice cream was tasty or because her friend’s reaction was tasty.
Or maybe both.
She just smiled satisfied.
***
She had adequately watched the sights and eaten snacks. She had done all the fun things to do.
Things like the mini Viking she had seen in her previous life, or the sky view with the mage. There were many attractions, but since they had no money, it would be for next time.
So, the way back to the orphanage.
“Are you okay? You still look dizzy?”
As the afternoon progressed, the crowd kept growing. Ryly, who had already depleted his mental strength from dealing with Sugar, complained of dizziness.
Because he avoided crowded places. It was still an unsuccessful, shy appearance. He didn’t want to show this side to the outside world.
He had endured it a lot until now. So, holding his churning stomach, Sugar led him into a quiet alley.
“Sorry… I didn’t know you’d get this sick…”
“ … It’s fine.”
Without any bad feelings, she blurted it out. Sugar looked around.
“Wait a second, let me see if there’s a place to rest.”
“Where would there be such a place in this kind of place…”
No matter how she tried to dissuade him, he disappeared on his own. And then he appeared again in an instant.
“There? Over there.”
“What?”
When she followed, there was a small shop.
Small and old. But it was clean, as if well managed. On one side hung a small wooden sign that read “White Wood Shade”.
“What kind of shop is this?”
“It looks like a general goods store. The inside is better than outside. Let’s take a breather here.”
“If I go in, they’ll probably just kick us out.”
“Don’t think too negatively. There was an old lady earlier, right? You can say, ‘My friend is having a hard time, so I’ll rest for a moment.’”
“My head’s like a flower field…”
Even if she lived in the slums, she didn’t know everything.
No matter how much richer the north was than the south where Ryly was born and raised. They didn’t make the orphans work or starve them.
Anyway, the treatment of orphans and the poor didn’t change.
With a lot of past grievances, Ryly unconsciously gave her a warning.
Still, Sugar opened the door boldly.
“Is anyone here?”
“Hey… wait a sec…!”
When she followed in a daze, it was crowded.
Everywhere was filled with various items, and they were neatly arranged, giving a slightly pathological feeling.
“Wow… there’s everything. Books, stationery, teacups, jewelry, staffs… staffs? Why is there a magic staff here.”
A wand-shaped staff that was easy to carry in one hand was placed inside the display case.
In the corner, there were a couple of staff-shaped staffs that required two hands.
“Is the shop owner a mage?”
“ … I don’t know. They might have just put it there for show.”
Even though they couldn’t use magic, there were people who collected magic items.
“Indeed. The owner seems to have a strong collecting instinct. Collecting items is the main goal, and business is secondary?”
Sugar whispered, and Ryly nodded. While they were looking around the shop.
The door opened from inside the shop.
“What are you kids doing?!”