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"Hitori, open your mouth and take it in—"
Kitahara Makoto handed the biscuit stick to Bocchi-chan's mouth.
Cannot bite.
Because the biscuit stick is quite crispy, even a little force from the teeth would crush or break it.
"Ah…"
Hearing the instruction, Gotō Hitori instinctively opened her pink lips and obediently took the Pocky into her mouth.
Introverted and socially anxious people tend to instinctively obey others' commands.
By the time Gotō Hitori reacted and mustered the courage to refuse, it was already too late.
Kitahara Makoto lowered his head and directly bit the other end of the biscuit stick.
"…"
The air in the storage room suddenly became quiet.
A Pocky stick is only a dozen centimeters long. As Kitahara Makoto bit the other end, the distance between them instantly shortened to where they could feel each other's breath.
Their eyes met.
Gotō Hitori could clearly see her reflection in Kitahara Makoto's eyes.
(Too close, too close, too close!)
(The distance is really too close!)
Gotō Hitori's heart rate instantly soared to 120 beats per minute. She wanted to move away, but her body felt rusty, completely unable to move. The only part of her body that could still move were her eyes.
After no more than three seconds of eye contact, Bocchi-chan's long eyelashes trembled in panic, her small face was dyed crimson, and then her peach blossom eyes shyly closed.
In contrast, Kitahara Makoto unhurriedly ate the biscuit stick.
Crunch, crunch.
The crisp sound entered her ears, and with every inch closer, Gotō Hitori's heart rate increased by a beat.
(This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!)
(The Pocky seems to be almost finished!)
(Will Kitahara-kun take advantage… take advantage to kiss…)
(Don't be nervous, Kitahara-kun wouldn't take advantage of someone's vulnerability…)
He certainly wouldn't take advantage of someone's vulnerability, but if it's mutual consent, there's no problem.
Perhaps Gotō Hitori herself didn't realize it, but Kitahara Makoto was quite clear.
Would Hitori casually agree to such an ambiguous punishment as the Pocky Challenge?
Of course not.
No matter how indecisive Bocchi-chan was, she wouldn't do something like this with a stranger. If it weren't Kitahara Makoto but someone else, Hitori would have long since fled in panic.
Forget about keeping one's word; it's not like the story of Wei Sheng who died clinging to a pillar. How many people in reality can truly do what they say?
Besides, Bocchi-chan wasn't paralyzed or unconscious. If she wanted to refuse or avoid it, she would have already run away.
All of the above completely proves one thing:
Bocchi-chan was not subconsciously resistant to intimate contact; in fact, she was subtly anticipating it.
Since that was the case, Kitahara Makoto naturally wouldn't pretend. As the Pocky was finished, without any hesitation, he directly kissed Hitori's moist, pink lips.
(Again, again I was kissed…)
Feeling the burning sensation on her lips, Gotō Hitori's body instantly stiffened.
However, she couldn't bring herself to dislike it; instead, there was a feeling of a heavy stone falling and things settling down.
(H-hold on…)
(The punishment will be over after the kiss…)
However, Gotō Hitori soon realized that today's kiss was different from the previous two.
The first kiss happened when Kitahara Makoto was walking her home, and they encountered two stray cats fighting on the way. They took a detour through an alley and met a strange woman in a windbreaker in the alley.
The second kiss was on the strange train in the Otherworld, where everyone lined up to offer kisses.
Both kisses were fleeting, merely simple touches.
However, this time… this time… a terrifying foreign object Bocchi-chan had never experienced clearly invaded.
Boom—!
As her tongue was caught, Gotō Hitori felt her mind buzz, and her brain instantly went blank.
A few minutes later.
Kitahara Makoto, satisfied, released the oxygen-deprived Bocchi-chan, raised a hand to wipe the corner of his lips, and said:
"Challenge failed, we'll continue later."
"Hoo… hoo…"
Gotō Hitori's small face was flushed, her breathing rapid, and steam was vigorously rising from her head. She didn't even have the strength to sit up straight, leaning limply in Kitahara Makoto's arms. Hearing him, she reluctantly looked up with her small face:
"W-what continue?"
Kitahara Makoto said righteously:
"Of course, we're continuing today's unfinished punishment."
"Eh eh eh?!"
Gotō Hitori immediately panicked: "I-it was clearly over, why continue?"
"Because it wasn't completed." Kitahara Makoto took out his phone, opened the album. When Bocchi-chan rolled the dice earlier, he had taken a screenshot and saved it in advance. "Hitori-chan, look closely, the punishment requires you to keep your eyes open, and the Pocky must not break during the process. Hitori-chan closed her eyes at the very beginning, so the punishment failed and must be restarted."
Gotō Hitori: "…"
She forgot.
Her head was spinning, she only remembered the Pocky Challenge, and all the conditions were forgotten.
So… d-do they really have to do it again?
Seeing Hitori's teary eyes, Kitahara Makoto couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted:
"How about this, I'll give Hitori a choice: we can rest for a bit and do it again, or we continue tomorrow?"
"T-tomorrow continue!"
Gotō Hitori frantically chose the latter, completely unaware of Kitahara Makoto's little scheme.
"Then tomorrow it is." Kitahara Makoto smiled, "When you go home today, don't forget your homework again, otherwise tomorrow will be a double punishment."
Gotō Hitori: "…"
After a short rest.
Once her body regained strength, Kitahara Makoto led Bocchi-chan out of the storeroom.
"I-I'm going back first…"
Hitori lowered her head, hugged her backpack, and quickly ran away.
She ran all the way downstairs, and only after confirming that Kitahara Makoto hadn't followed, did Gotō Hitori quietly let out a sigh of relief, slowing her pace, her small face flushed as she recalled what had just happened.
(It was that kind of kiss, like the French…)
(It felt… so strange… just like the manga said, my mind went completely blank…)
Gotō Hitori carefully touched her slightly swollen lips, and the warmth on her face rose again.
(Can't think about it anymore, go home, go home!)
Bocchi-chan quickly shook her head, clenching her fists:
(I must finish tonight's homework, double punishment is too scary…)
Regarding Kitahara Makoto's desire to start a harem, Gotō Hitori actually didn't have a very clear opinion.
All along, Gotō Hitori had a very clear self-perception: a water flea, a paramecium, plankton… in short, an insignificant, transparent person who would never be noticed.
How could someone like her be liked?
Then Bocchi-chan slowly realized that Kitahara Makoto seemed, probably, possibly… indeed liked her.
Verbal confessions might lie, but eyes and daily interactions couldn't.
The inner world of a socially anxious person is always extremely sensitive and delicate. Gotō Hitori didn't even need to ask the answer book to clearly determine whether Kitahara Makoto truly liked her.
After confirming that she was being treated gently by a boy, shyness, nervousness, unease, and a little bit of happiness… various emotions surged in her heart, making Bocchi-chan constantly evade.
Next was the harem self-explosion on the Otherworld train.
Hearing Kitahara Makoto say he wanted to start a harem, even she, of course, would get angry.
But over the past few days, Bocchi-chan gradually understood that if everyone else agreed, she actually wouldn't mind… If everyone could be together forever, it should be very happy, right?
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