Underneath The Bandages, You Are Prettier Than Anyone - CH 19

Posted on June 30, 2022by ynlucca

Translated and Edited by: ynlucca.

Common Honorifics:

-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.

-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.

-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.

Even though it was only for a short time, Yuki had a gleeful smile on her face as we both walked through the festival together. Meanwhile, I was just happy for having her by my side.

After walking a bit, we went to the waffle stand to try a special flavor in collab with a famous restaurant around here. Unfortunately, we saw a “Sold Out” sign hanging up on the stall, and Yuki sighed in disappointment.

However, as soon as I showed her one of those waffles in wrapping paper, which I’d bought before her show, she hugged me tightly. She ogled that dessert with sparkly eyes.

We enjoyed the time we could together, and we went back. I thanked Akina for our outing before the show, and soon the whole festival came to a close.

Yuki’s success at the festival only enhanced her popularity to astronomical levels. Her angelic voice made her famous not only at our school, but at the neighboring ones. She was looked at as a diva due to her talent and overwhelming charisma. An endless number of people wanted to get close to her, even more than before.

After our class finished cleaning, we both went back home and relaxed in the living room. And that same girl who captivated the hearts of many sat glued to me. She rubbed her head against my shoulder like a purring cat, smiing ever-so-happily as I spoiled her.

“Haru-kun, I worked very hard today.”

“Mhm, I know Yuki. I loved your performance up there.”

While petting her head, I told her how I felt about today. Her eyes closed gently with my endless praise, and I couldn’t help but find her excruciatingly adorable.

“Your voice was so beautiful,” I continued. “My ears were happy just by listening to you sing.”

“Ehehe~ I love your praises, Haru-kun. C’mon, pet me, pet me!”

“Here, here. Good girl, good girl,” I kept stroking her hair gently.

“I’m so… so happy.”

“Oh, and you looked incredible in your stage costume, that black dress.”

“Akina worked very hard on it during prep. She even took it home to complete it in time.”

“Ah, so that’s the prep she was talking about.”

“She told me she was good at sweing, so she helped me out tons during prep. I’ll have to thank her lots next time, since she wasn’t at the launch.”

“Wasn’t she there during the council launch, though?”

“Yeah. Though I heard there was something she couldn’t miss, so she left…”

“I see. I’ll invite Akina and Rikka next time so we can all go out together. It’d be nice if we can say our thanks while we treat them.”

“Fufu, I look forward to having lots of fun with everyone.”

“Yeah, that makes me think about elementary school, when it was just the two of us… Now there are a lot of people to play with, and it’s fun for me, too.”

During our conversation, I kept gently stroking her head. Sometimes she almost purred like a cat, and I couldn’t hide the rising thrill in my heart at that cute sight.

“Hey, hey, Haru-kun. Could you please, um… do that thing we talked about when we left school?”

“Yeah, sounds good. Hold on a second.”

As soon as we were leaving, she asked me to do something for her. I then headed to the kitchen to carry out my “mission”, all so I could reward her for all the hard work she put into the festival.

Then, I took a pudding out of the refrigerator. It wasn’t just any pudding, however. It was an extremely expensive one I grabbed at a store.

Yuki’s request is that I feed it to her, so I returned to the living room with the dessert on one hand and a spoon on the other. I’d satisfy her wish with a smile on my face.

“Here’s the pudding, Yuki.”

“Wow, thank you very much!”

She welcomed me and the pudding while clapping her hands. The dessert was an exquisite cream color, and the moment I opened the lid, the sweet aroma of caramel spread through the room.

I enjoyed its sweet scent for another second, then sat down next to her. Scooping up a bite with the spoon only served to enhance the experience, seeing all the soft and thick of that special vanilla pudding bounce on the silverware. My appetite only grew with that simple gesture.

“Here’s to your request. Yuki, ah~n,” I gestured the spoon near her mouth.

“Ah~n!”

The contrast between the caramel, shining almost like an amber gem, and the glossy white of the vanilla were softly captured by her glossy lips. She had a taste while playing around with it, rolling the dessert around her tongue with her eyes closed and relxaed mouth. If there was one word to describe her smile, it’d be “squishy.”

I could tell how delicious the pudding was just by looking et her face, and I couldn’t help but smile along with her. After enjoying her happiness for another second, I scooped up another bite, thinking that I should’ve bought more if I knew she’d be this happy.

“Haru-kun, this is very, very delicious!”

“That’s great! You can eat as much as you want.”

“Mhm!”

I offered her the next bite, which Yuki ate with a snap. The way she wriggled her lips was so cute I couldn’t stop myself from patting her. I felt her silky hair under my fingers, and it was comfortable and soft. She then happily rubbed up against my hand, squinting her eyes while almost purring like a kitten.

Then, out of nowhere, she shifted her position to sit on my lap.

“Haru-kun, now feed me while I sit here.”

“O–Okay…”

“Ehehe~ Yay!”

I could feel her bottom resting on my thighs, and I could sense that particular softness only girls had through her skirt. Needless to say, I was very conscious of it. However, she wasn’t bothered by it in the slighest, smiling happily to herself.

If Yuki’s smile was that same devilish grin she’d shown a while back, I’d know she was doing it on purpose. However, her expression was gentler and natural. She just genuinelly wanted to be pampered, nothing else.

“Here, Yuki. Open your mouth.”

“Ah~n!”

After that second serving, she flashed me a squishy smile… Cute. She really was too cute. While she captivated countless people with her performance today, the way she opened herself up to me alone was too much for my heart, and our time alone together filled my chest to the brim. It was almost unbearable.

“I’ll feed some to you now, Haru-kun.”

“Eh, but that won’t be your reward, Yuki…”

“What are you talking about? I still have to reward you for supporting me every day until now.”

With a flick, she took the spoon from my hand, turned around on my lap, then scooped up a bite. She straddled me while urging my compliance.

It was so fast I couldn’t even say a thing, but wasn’t this an indirect kiss…? By the time that though ran through my mind it was far too late. The same spoon I fed her with was already in my mouth, and I relished in that dessert before I even knew it.

The richness of every ingredient overwhelmed my mouth, everything working together to create that wonderful experience. Before I could even swallow, I felt vanilla and caramel mixing together in harmony.

Though the fact I ate from the same spoon she ate from overwhelmed all that, and I could feel my face flush with that indirect kiss.

All I could see was her innocent smile, and it seemed she didn’t even notice that exchange. With a smirk on her face, she scooped up another bite of the dessert.

Until the moment that jar was emptied of every bit of pudding, we both enjoyed our sweet time together, even more so than the very dessert we were eating.