Because It's Me
Ian was in the period when she harbored a slightly different, unknown affection for friendship.
Sugar, who had been constantly invaded by bad thoughts while sitting in the cafe, soon pushed her seat away and stood up.
She had been able to maintain some mind control focused on the goal of 'I need to find out Leon's inner thoughts,' but now, in this alone time.
The moment when she had no one by her side—neither Ryly nor Ian.
After thinking and thinking and thinking again, she finally reached a conclusion.
She needed to select someone.
After all, she couldn't just meet anyone.
Her heart burned with a sense of mission. I have to do this. I have to protect my precious existence from those foxes.
The feeling to protect others is strong. Especially if protecting family, that heart is unfathomable. Like a mother bear doing anything for her cubs.
The girl grew up to be a woman, and even then, the feelings for the boy she cherished had been amplified through years of separation.
Her first boyfriend, the childhood friend she cherished and who cherished her. Sugar's Ryly.
The more she thought about that appearance, the warmer her chest became, but there was also a sinking feeling. As the image of her leaving came to mind, her stomach churned.
So, find a woman who doesn't make her stomach churn.
A woman who doesn't feel unpleasant when seeing Ryly next to her. A woman who is pretty, kind, gentle, strong, and excellent.
Those who get distracted by appearances and flirt are useless. It doesn't help at all. Ryly has books, after all. Who knows when bad things will appear? She needs a woman to protect him from the side and help him.
The Saintess of the Evil God with her eyes wide open set out on the road. Slowly, lightly. The magic power in the air vibrated according to her emotions. With every step, the vibrating magic power made the surrounding students look at Sugar, then hurriedly turn their heads.
As she walked while thinking, before she knew it, she was on the rooftop of the shop building.
Sugar isn't very good at magic detection. Always the voices of nearby magic power are heard, making it distracting. She can see the forest well, but finding trees is hard.
But there's one thing. If it's within a certain range, she can immediately find that existence. There's a being that has firmly remembered that flow in her body.
“… Sugar.”
Ryly was sitting on the rooftop structure and looking down at Sugar. It was a good position to see the cafe where Sugar was.
“Ryly. Why are you here? This isn't the time.”
“Why am I here? Of course… I have to watch out for any incidents.”
The promise to protect wasn't just for show. He came right after leaving Stille and immediately chased after her from behind.
“Why is there an incident? There's Ian-nim and Leon too.”
“Right now, there isn't. And that Leon guy. He saw him yesterday and today, so why believe him already?”
“Because he has the Saint's Staff. He believes in the Saint's choice.”
“… What are you thinking? Why do you have interest in him?”
“It might be possible to have interest. Because of him, the school is noisy. And… he might be helpful to us.”
“Helpful to us.”
“Because we have many enemies.”
“The first one I saw being helpful? What does he know about the cult?”
Ryly frowned.
His words from yesterday weren't believed or listened to. Even now, he's trying to rely on a complete stranger. That was the source of his irritation.
Sugar, who had been maintaining a neutral expression, also frowned. The man's words seemed jealous.
She was surrounded by women and was being teased.
“Why are you jealous…”
“You too. From yesterday, from just now, you've been spacing out and poking at me repeatedly. Talking about girlfriends that don't exist to me. After that, do you know what else is strange?”
“It's just your mood. I did that because you said you wanted to keep distance. Because of that, I'm a bit depressed. No problem. Whether you make a girlfriend or not doesn't matter.”
“… Really? Really no problem?”
Hmph. She's asking at the perfect time.
“Yeah. So you can go. You can stay far away. Even if I'm next to you, it will damage your reputation. But since you're precious to me, I'll watch from afar. I'll filter out the women approaching you. I'll pick out the best woman from them.”
“What? What? What the hell… what does that even mean.”
Nonsense. Ryly's head was in a mess.
What does she think I'm? Big question. From the way she clings, it's clear Sugar has feelings, but every time she says 'little sister', 'older sister', 'friend'. It feels like her thinking is different from normal people.
Ryly gets jealous and upset when talking to women even a little. On top of that, make a girlfriend, I'll filter them for you?
I don't know how to handle this. Even if I speak, will he understand? A sigh came out involuntarily.
“Haa… Hey. Come here. No. I'll come.”
Ryly jumped down from the structure and approached Sugar.
If Sugar took a small step back, he, with much longer legs, landed right in front of her.
“… What.”
“What 'what'. Stop poking me for no reason. You said there's no problem, so why are you crying?”
“… I didn't.”
“You really are strange, you know?”
“Not strange.”
“It's strange. Your head is strange. Your thinking is strange.”
“Why are you suddenly saying bad things… that's too much.”
“It's the truth. You keep mentioning reputation, but it's not about my reputation, it's about yours. In the Holy City, you don't know because you always stick with Ian-nim, but originally, if a woman sticks closely with a man, she gets bad rumors.”
“What does that have to do with it?”
Ryly said it while stumbling a bit, and Sugar showed a displeased expression and raised her head.
“Anyway, I'm sticking with you. In the future, I'll stick with you too. What does the gaze of others, reputation matter?”
“…”
The question that sincerely doesn't understand, Ryly swallowed.
It's getting scary. Even with this, she has no awareness.
“That's… for now, let's set it aside. Penalties. Aren't you thinking about penalties? 30 points in one day is believable?”
“You can fill the shop.”
“The speed of filling penalties is much faster than the shop… It's like pouring water into a broken bowl. But you have to graduate, right? You made a promise. Let's enter Stille together. Now that we've arrived, we have to graduate. Entering isn't the same as graduating.”
“… Then, is it because of a girlfriend?”
“Hey, I'm asking sincerely… Why do you think 'I want to make a girlfriend'? What reason did you come up with that thought?”
“… You haven't met people freely because of training… You're so handsome… Since you're an adult… A man would naturally want a girlfriend…”
“Why are you leaving me…”
Ryly stopped talking and sighed. Then Sugar's mood slightly softened.
“… No?”
“I won't make one. I don't need it. Seriously… I've said it many times.”
“Really?”
“Please believe me, Sugar.”
Have I ever broken a promise?
It sounds like that.
She returned to Sugar's side as per the promise from childhood. She entered Stille together. Ryly always listened to Sugar. She thought of her as priority.
But making a lover or something.
Sugar felt uneasy somewhere. Seeing Ryly's firm attitude, something made her anger subside.
She hesitated for a moment and immediately asked.
“… Set aside the surrounding gazes and penalties. Do you like being close to me, or not?”
“What…?”
“I like being close to you… but you?”
“…”
“You don't hate it, right?”
Confirming her heart. Hoping you have the same feelings as me.
The way she asked without courage was pitiful. Worried that a negative answer might come out.
To fill the lonely heart. Because her feelings were out of control. She clearly wanted something, but she didn't know what it was.
Ryly tightly hugged Sugar. Instead of answering, he wrapped her slender body in his arms and put her in his embrace.
Sugar's expression melted. The expression of a woman dreaming of happiness. She pressed her chest, abdomen, waist, thighs tightly and got close. She buried her nose in the man's embrace and enjoyed his scent to her heart's content. After being apart for just a day, she was hugged like this.
“… Will you be the closest to me?”
Ryly didn't answer immediately. Because old memories came to mind.
They fought and made up that day too.
And how did the girl answer the boy's jealous heart? It was a shameful thing.
This is like revenge. Revenge against the woman who mocked and deceived him from childhood. The childhood wish to 'when you grow up, I'll leave you two to watch'.
Even though she likes being hugged so much, she's talking nonsense about girlfriends. Honestly, it's annoying. What does she think I'm?
“Hey, Sugar.”
“…?”
Ryly slightly pulled away, bent his waist, and put his mouth to Sugar's ear. With the sound, Sugar stiffened her body.
Huu—
“Ah…!”
Her shoulders jumped and shrank. Ryly firmly hugged Sugar's body. He held her tightly so she couldn't escape and blew warm breath into her ear with sweet scent.
“Ah, wait, Ryly, stop…”
The breath starting from inside Ryly's body entered Sugar's eardrum. That ear gradually turned red. Her body trembled slightly.
How do you feel when you receive it? Ryly ignored Sugar's resistance ruthlessly and overpowered her with a much larger body.
Occasionally, the rough breathing sounds. Haa, haa, when breathing in, the voice scraping the throat. The thick sound that couldn't come out of Sugar's throat reached her ear.
“Ah… Haa… Wait…”
Every time the breath mixed with the man's scent touched, the strange pleasure that went directly to the brain through the eardrum made Sugar's body shiver.
Something's wrong. Haa, haa, every time she was done, her mind went blank. The bad feelings and emotions she had been holding were all painted over with Ryly's scent. It dyed her.
“No, stop… Ugh, strange, strange…”
She said 'stop' with words, but the resistance was only holding his back. She grabbed the man's shirt and bit her lip to hold in the sound.
She could escape using magic. But she didn't.
Just feeling the other person's body temperature, feeling her body soaking in that affection, and subtly smiling with a mix of excitement.
“Huu… Sugar. Listen well.”
“Uh, uhn…”
Continuously warm wind coming in, suddenly low voice. The eardrum vibrated and her belly tickled.
Ryly whispered in Sugar's ear.
“My most precious… childhood friend. Don't make strange worries. I won't make a woman closer than you.”
- My most precious childhood friend. Don't worry. I'll follow as you wish.
At some point, Sugar had said similar words. Ryly, who spat out the words from his memory, immediately kissed her ear.
In the past, like the girl imprinted on the boy. A peck.
Since one was not enough, another peck.
Because her ear was cute when it turned red. Ryly attached his lips again and slowly stroked that soft small area.
He stroked the ear, gently the earlobe. Stroked the earlobe, towards the ear canal.
The hot lips tormented Sugar. Stimulated by the breath seeping out between the lips, Sugar had no choice but to let out a weak sound 'Ah… A…'
“Ryly…”
The name called while slowly wrapping the other's back was pitiful. Such actions and voices were too dizzying, and she almost lost her mind.
“Huu…”
Before it gets more dangerous, let's stop a bit.
Ryly exhaled and pulled his face away. And when he looked at Sugar, eh?
Tearfully moist eyes. Slightly unfocused eyes with red cheeks as she was breathing heavily. The chest was swelling and shrinking roughly.
She couldn't match her gaze well when looking at her eyes. At first glance, she looked like she had drunk.
“Ah… Haa…”
The warm breath coming out from the small, plump lips had a distinct scent. That breath soon mixed with Ryly's breath. The warm air mixed with the scents of woman and man was thick.
Was it too much?
While surprised by the unexpectedly lewd appearance, Sugar said one thing.
“Ryly… you're lewd…”
“…”
“Too lewd, Ryly… You said not to go over the line with your own mouth…”
“This, this is. So. Revenge from childhood–”
“We're not children anymore… We're adults…”
She closed her mouth because she had nothing to say.
“What do you do to a person's ears like this, this, this… With such a big body… With thick arms… Making me unable to move… Me, me, blocking…”
Sugar kept muttering while trembling, and eventually she flipped her cloak over her. That is, she hid.
Even though lewd Sugar, but that's when she does it herself. When receiving, she becomes endlessly weak. No tolerance.
“Lewd… lewd… lewd Ryly… lewd Ilya…”
By giving Ryly an infamous nickname and trembling.
Ryly thought this was really unfair. He had done the wind blowing in the ear and ear picking when he was young.
No, if that's the case, it's endless.
He closed his eyes tightly.
It seems he had crossed the line a bit. He had decided to keep the line a few days ago. Even the day he said he wanted to keep distance was yesterday. He couldn't do the same behavior as in childhood now.
If I knew this, I would have done it plenty when I was young– No, no, this isn't it.
Ryly opened his mouth with a repentant heart.
“Sorry.”
“…”
“… Did I make you unhappy?”
Sugar, instead of answering, peeked her face out from behind the cloak. Her slightly unfocused eyes looked at Ryly.
That feeling, swallowing the saliva, Sugar hid back inside the cloak again.
“That isn't it…”
The small whispering voice was cute, cluck, cough. Ryly grabbed his chest.
Then, the cloaked Sugar was fidgeting.
“You know, Ryly…”
“… Uh.”
“You can't do this to other women…”
“…”
“Because it's me, you'll accept it. Got it?”
It was meant to mean 'keep the line', but the possessiveness included in it was sticky.
Ryly immediately hugged Sugar. This, this, this, this lecherous thing. Rampantly, just rampantly, damn it!
He held back the urge to pick her up and take her somewhere.
Sugar enjoyed the hug with her mouth corners relaxed inside the cloak. Because the words Ryly whispered in her ear were so good. Her heart melted at the affection he showed.
This can't be done. I have to say it more strictly. Doing this to a woman so casually. I have to punish her.
The pride of being an older sister raised its head, but…
- Kkok.
What. For now, let's overlook it.
Sugar entrusted her body to Ryly and slightly closed her eyes.