Chapter 52: Shall We Hold Hands?

“Mira, what do you plan to do with the money?”

Yuriko asked.

Carmilla placed her index finger against her lips, looking thoughtful.

“Hmm, I haven’t decided yet. I’ll probably save it for now and use it when the need arises. Maybe I’ll use it to help out with household expenses.”

“Even though your father is so cold to you, you still think of your family first? If it were me, I’d definitely keep it for myself and buy whatever I wanted.”

“Regardless of everything, he is the father who raised me. Besides, the Academy’s tuition is quite high. Even though there are subsidies for commoners like us, it’s still a significant burden on the family.”

Since Carmilla put it that way, Yuriko didn’t feel like she could say much more.

‘My older sister doesn’t lack money at all, so even if I wanted to help her, I couldn’t.’

Anyway, even if Carmilla ran out of money, wasn’t she still there?

She would just take care of Carmilla when the time came.

***

They walked in silence for a while, and the atmosphere between them grew quiet.

A considerable amount of time had passed since school ended.

Aside from the students still participating in club activities, the Academy was nearly deserted.

On the wide, empty road, they were the only two people walking.

In such a peaceful environment, saying nothing felt quite relaxing.

At the very least, Yuriko found the feeling quite pleasant.

However, Carmilla suddenly stole a glance at Yuriko.

“Yuriko.”

“Hmm?”

Carmilla was holding her handbag with both hands, but she released one and held her empty hand out in front of Yuriko.

“Shall we hold hands?” she asked out of the blue.

Yuriko’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

She stared blankly at Carmilla’s outstretched right hand.

Carmilla also stopped and turned back to look at Yuriko.

She pulled her hand back toward her chest, her fingers curling slightly.

Her gaze shifted nervously as she hurriedly tried to explain herself.

“I see a lot of girls in the Academy holding hands. I’ve never tried walking while holding a friend’s hand before, so I wanted to try it with you, Yuriko…”

Seeing Carmilla’s nervous state, Yuriko couldn’t help but laugh.

It wasn’t the polite smile she had practiced for others, but a gentle, heartfelt one.

It wasn’t that she disliked the idea of holding hands with Carmilla; she was just surprised that such a reserved and shy girl would take the initiative to ask.

“I understand.”

She reached out and, mimicking Carmilla, held her palm open in front of the other girl.

“So, shall we hold hands?”

Carmilla looked down at Yuriko’s hand, her eyes shining with anticipation.

She carefully reached out and grasped it.

This wasn’t the first time they had shaken hands, but this time, it wasn’t out of politeness or to complete a task.

Holding Carmilla’s hand, Yuriko felt a bit nervous, a bit happy, and a faint sense of peace.

Although she had plenty of complaints about turning into a girl, the feeling of holding hands with Carmilla as a friend and walking home together was surprisingly nice.

‘Being a girl isn’t all bad, I guess~~’

A faint smile played on Carmilla’s lips.

She gently turned her hand within Yuriko’s grasp, interlocking their fingers together.

“Wait, what?”

Yuriko was a bit flustered.

“Why did Carmilla suddenly interlock their fingers? What was she doing?”

A hint of mischief that Yuriko had never seen before appeared on Carmilla’s exquisite face.

She deliberately swung their joined hands back and forth.

“People who are close and trust each other interlock their fingers like this. Don’t you think so, Yuriko?”

“…Yeah, I guess.”

Yuriko’s face turned red in a pathetic display of embarrassment, and her heart skipped a beat.

It was the first time she had seen Carmilla play a little trick like this.

But when she thought about how the usually serious Carmilla had shown a slightly mischievous smile just to hold her hand, Yuriko’s heart pounded.

Carmilla was being so proactive today, leaving Yuriko feeling overwhelmed.

She secretly pinched her own thigh to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

It hurt. It seemed it wasn’t a dream.

“Mira has learned to be bad,” Yuriko mumbled, turning her head away.

“Mmm, that’s Yuriko’s fault.”

Carmilla gently squeezed their interlocked hands.

“If Yuriko weren’t so lovable, I wouldn’t have learned to be bad for Yuriko’s sake.”

‘Good grief, am I being teased?’

But even though she was being teased, why was her heart beating even faster?

Now, Yuriko’s face was burning even more intensely.

She lowered her head, feeling like she couldn’t show her face to anyone right now.

She wished she could bury it somewhere.

If anyone saw her in this pathetic state, she would definitely want to find a hole to crawl into.

In truth, Carmilla’s condition wasn’t much better than Yuriko’s.

If Yuriko were to look back now, she would see that Carmilla was also desperately suppressing her shyness, her gaze drifting elsewhere, not daring to look at Yuriko.

Because Yuriko was holding Carmilla’s hand, Phantom could only follow behind them.

She watched the two of them as things progressed swimmingly, taking in the entire ambiguous and sweet scene.

‘Is this what love feels like? Not sure. I’ll observe a bit more.’

There were very few people on the road.

They walked for nearly two minutes without seeing anyone, until they turned onto another path and saw a few students walking along the side.

Yuriko and Carmilla let go of each other’s hands at the same time, lowering their heads and walking forward in silence.

Even though it was normal for best friends to hold hands, they couldn’t maintain their composure when someone else was actually there.

They were now feeling incredibly guilty.

‘Why did you let go? I haven’t seen enough yet.’

‘What’s there to see? Seriously, didn’t you see there were people there?’

‘But what does that have to do with holding hands? Didn’t you say it’s normal for best friends to hold hands? Unless there’s something else weighing on your conscience?’

‘There isn’t! And besides, I wasn’t the one who let go first!’

Nothing on her conscience? How could there be nothing on her conscience?

Yuriko didn’t know what Carmilla was thinking, but she couldn’t stop herself from fantasizing about things—what would it be like if Carmilla really became her girlfriend?

Mira is so cute; I really want to hug her and be close.

The moment she thought about how “filthy” her thoughts were, Yuriko felt like a tea kettle coming to a boil, her mind letting out a silent, sharp scream of embarrassment.

“We’ve reached the school gate,” Yuriko said, stopping.

They hadn’t spoken since, and the atmosphere was a bit subtle.

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

“Bye-bye.”

“Bye-bye!”

***

After parting ways with Carmilla, Yuriko returned home.

As soon as she got home, she collapsed onto her bed, hugging a plushie and rolling around.

“Hehehe~~”

“The way you’re giggling foolishly is so stupid,” Phantom said disdainfully.

“Cough.”

Yuriko reined in her smile.

Still hugging the pillow, she asked Phantom, “Mira took the initiative to hold my hand… Do you think she likes me?”

“Didn’t you say you’d be satisfied just being friends?”

“I—I’m just asking… What if she does?”