#komuiro

   She had totally tuned out the conversation which had been ongoing around her. She, Komugi, Mayu, and Yuki were all on the rooftop together. Satoru was busy with Biology Club duties today and they could see him in the yard below if they craned their necks for the view. So whilst he was gone, he was very much not forgotten whilst the girls spent some time together.

   The yapping and chatter had been pleasant background noise to Iroha’s reverie as she watched how Mayu and Yuki sat together. Slumped against one another, Yuki nuzzled into Mayu’s side and Mayu doing her best to stay upright against the force of such affection and the weight of Yuki’s long and limber body.

   “A few things.” Mayu blushed.

   Iroha blinked owlishly.

   “She doesn’t kiss me as much as she used to.” Yuki pouted.

   “Eh!?” Mayu exclaimed. “You never liked being kissed to begin with!”

   “That never meant I disliked it.” Yuki replied. She dabbed at her mouth with a handkerchief. Her eyes closed. The fickleness on display in her words were completely ignored lest the inherent hypocrisy to them be addressed. “Thank you for the food.”

   “Kissing…?” Iroha mused aloud.

   Her heart thumped in her chest. She was fairly certain she knew what Mayu meant by that. Yuki was a cat. She was soft and fluffy and smelt good more often than not. What Mayu most likely meant was kissing Yuki on the side of her face, the top of her head, or even the undercarriage of her belly.

   Not like… Proper kissing. Mouth to mouth. That would be gross. Iroha wasn’t even fond of it between humans. She never really got romance. She was still at that age where even her parents kissing grossed her out. Keep it in the bedroom, Mama and Papa!

   “Kissing?” Komugi piped up.

   “Yes, kissing.” Yuki confirmed.

   Iroha glanced at Komugi and she felt an inexplicable tingle in her lips as she saw Komugi, the side of her face, the way sunshine illuminated her features and how she smiled. She looked lovely in the mid-afternoon daylight. It flattered her greatly to highlight all her good and cheerful qualities.

   “Do you not know kissing?” Yuki asked upon realising that Komugi’s expression was a little… Naive.

   Not understanding.

   “What’s kissing?” Komugi asked.

   “It’s um…” Iroha tried to explain but she hindered herself by blushing. She jittered, her chopsticks loosened in her hand as her grip diminished for no reason whatsoever. 

   “It's like this.” Yuki smirked.

   “Yuki!” Mayu exclaimed.

   Before anything could happen, in quite a reversal of roles, Mayu “cat punched” Yuki to keep her away but the closeness could not be denied. Nor the swiftness. Yuki leaned in, Mayu’s hands kept her away. Yuki pouted. The concept was still clear as mud in Komugi’s mind so whilst Mayu blushed, Iroha decided it was up to her to lay down the law.

   “It’s something adults do.” Iroha said. “So, you don’t have to worry about it.”

   “Exactly, exactly.” Mayu vibrated in agreement. 

   Yuki clicked her tongue in disagreement but she relented. Komugi, in the meantime, accepted this non-explanation as an explanation. And so, the conversation moved on without acknowledgement of the non-sequitor in the middle of it and that was fine by Iroha except…

   She couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

   There was a reason as to why Komugi didn’t know what kissing was and it's because that kissing was off-limits. Dogs have all kinds of germs. So do humans. Her mother was a veterinarian and that was the one rule that she really enforced with Iroha and Komugi. There was no need for that kind of cross-contamination. So there was to be no kissing, no smoochies, and no licking. That was where the line was drawn and Iroha had no complaint.

   After all, for all her Mother’s fretting about germs and grottiness, she was still allowed to sleep with Komugi on her bed with her. So, Iroha was happy enough with that but something about seeing the bond that Mayu and Yuki had. It made her wonder even more.

   She didn’t have that kind of special someone in her life but there was someone who made her feel, well, wonderful. It was Komugi. If Mayu and Yuki could act that way then maybe… It would be okay for Iroha to feel that kind of way as well about Komugi even though Komugi was her pet and not really human.

   Later, after school, the two of them cooped up in her room. Iroha sat on her bed, Komugi ran around: her claws harsh to the floorboards as she played. The sunset dyed the yellowy beige of her walls a vivid orange. It was so bright and warm outside for early autumn, it was beautiful. Iroha threw a ball back and forth for Komugi to chase. 

   Komugi had done her homework to Komugi standards and Iroha was fine with that. She, meanwhile, had her other hand occupied by a pen and would occasionally write a couple words down to prove she was studying. At least kind of.

   But it was obvious that her thoughts were far, far away from where she was, nestled into the corner; her back against the wall, one leg up over the other. She looked relaxed, a little sprawled out but her expression was distant and vexed. Her ball throws increasingly limp but Komugi didn’t mind. She chased endlessly at the thrill of bringing the squishy, red ball back to Iroha over and over again.

   “One more, wan-wan.” Komugi barked as she dropped the ball in front of Iroha.

   Iroha mumbled as she straightened herself up. She lowered her legs onto her bed and bumped against the ball. 

   “Oops.” she mumbled.

   Komugi tilted her head, “Is everything okay, wan?”

   “Yes, just thinking.” Iroha said and she perked up straight away.

   It wasn’t in her character to over think things and make them more complicated than need be. She was Iroha. She knew exactly who she was and what she was about: she loved her nearest and dearest to the moon and back, she wanted to befriend each and every animal in the world, and above all, be a hero to those in need. She grinned and she scooped Komugi up.

   Komugi laughed, her fur ruffled but her voice shrill from the sudden hug. She loved it though, once she was all safe and tight in Iroha’s arms. Iroha rubbed her face against Komugi’s fur and inhaled its scent. The smell of a dog was warm and earthy. Iroha couldn’t get enough of it as she sighed in luxuriance of the small, mundane pleasure of hugging and kissing her dog.

   “Wan, wan?!” Komugi barked, spooked.

   “Mwauh, mwauh, mwauh.” Iroha noisily kissed Komugi over and over again.

   The noise she made was loud and exaggerated as she threw herself into this little cheat pleasure. But she liked it. She loved it, even. Komugi, too. She eased into it and wagged her tail slightly.

   “Wh-What are you doing, wan?” Komugi asked. “It feels all warm and sparkly when you do that, wan!”

   “I’m kissing you.” Iroha said.

   She gave Komugi another big old kiss on the side of her face, to her soft and fuzzy fur. Komugi had such a shiny coat and was well groomed. Iroha went above and beyond in taking care of her. To be up close and personal with that hard work was quite special to her as she exploded with glittering endorphins on the inside. All the warm and happy hormones.

   “Ehh?” Komugi puzzled. “I thought kissing was something to do with adults, wan?”

   “Ack!” Iroha paused, she reefed herself back from Komugi’s body and allowed Komugi to shuffle around in her arms so their eyes could meet. Iroha erred but she found an explanation.

   It wasn’t a good one.

   And it made her tummy all squirmy, too…

   “That’s a different kind of kiss.” Iroha explained in a small voice. “For humans, between humans. Only for married people, people who are bonded like Mama and Papa for example…”

   Komugi looked up at her with big and shiny, but ultimately blank, eyes. She didn’t get it. Or so Iroha thought, briefly, before whoosh. Komugi transformed in an instant: all it took was a glance in her compact mirror and a glow of pink light and tada. She was human.

   Ergo, she could kiss like a human could.

   “I wanna try it.” Komugi insisted.

   “Try… kissing?” Iroha went red. Oh, goodness, she had created a monster.

   Her heart thudded in her chest. She stared, dumbfounded, at Komugi who was all bright and perky as she normally was. In the blaze of twilight, her hair looked auburn and her eyes akin to garnets. Her hands were in front of her, she kneaded the mattress underneath as she practically vibrated in excitement to her idea. She panted, tongue lolled as she waited for Iroha to find courage to go forward, to further enter the key into Pandora’s Box. 

   She shouldn’t, Iroha told herself. It was naughty and wrong and ethically dubious but when she tried to sort out her feelings, well and true, all she could think was how wonderful it would be to express the breadth of her love to Komugi. Komugi was hers. Her pet, her partner, her very reason for being the person she was today as Cure Friendy. 

   It didn’t have to mean anything beyond that appreciation and love that she had.

   Iroha didn’t feel that way towards Komugi, or at least she thinks she doesn’t. She can’t imagine ever feeling that way towards anyone: she loved everyone equally. She couldn’t imagine anyone ever feeling that way about her. Romantic or whatever. It was too out there, even for Iroha and everything she had seen and witnessed thanks to being exposed to the magic of Niko Garden and the mysteries of the Mirror Stone.

    And yet, when she closed her eyes, to simply blink, she saw a flash of Mayu and Yuki. What the heck did that mean?

   “Iroha?” Komugi prompted her in a small, offended voice. As though she was worried she had done something wrong and between the two of them, it wasn’t Komugi who had done anything wrong.

   “Ah, it's nothing.” Iroha stammered. A lie? No, no way, Iroha was terrible at telling lies so it couldn’t possibly be a lie as she smiled half-heartedly, grateful tears flecked her eyes as finally. Something genuine and real occurred. 

   A kiss.

   It wasn’t nothing. It was the overflow of all the confusing feelings of puberty and love that Iroha had been feeling for quite some time and had kept pent up. She loves her friends. She loves Komugi. That wasn’t nothing at all just because it wasn’t something in particular either beyond experimentation and wonder.

   Their kiss was clumsy but Iroha did her best. Komugi had no idea what was going on. She had to trust Iroha to take that lead, like they always did when they were out walking with a leash – or hand in hand. It was trust after all. 

   Komugi had bad breath and chapped lips. Iroha fared little better with the lingering afternoon tea and snacks on her mouth. She kissed slowly. She kissed with her lips pressed together and pursed against Komugi’s. She kissed with her eyes closed and with her hands in front of her, her fingers burrowed into her bedding as she let the moment pass at its natural conclusion. 

   It was the best twenty-two seconds of her life. And yes, Iroha counted. Komugi couldn’t believe it. Her lungs seized as they held on too long. The connection between them was full of sparks and treats. Or at least, that’s how it felt like with all the sparkly, sweet feelings they both emanated in the wake of the kiss.

   “Aah!” Komugi breathily exclaimed at the end of it.

   Iroha breathed deep herself, her hand curled upwards and inwards to rest against her chest. She could feel her lungs die and her heart ache. She had been wrapt in magic and it was a tremendous feeling full of rainbows and sparkly lights so she could say with certainty: kissing was magical. 

   She smiled and blushed slightly, “What’d you think?” she asked in a small voice.

   “We should kiss again.” Komugi said as her arms flung outwards in her excitement. “We should kiss every morning, lunch, and dinner, before bed and, like, all the time. It’s wonderful!”

   Iroha laughed, “I don’t think we can kiss that often.” she said. “But I'm glad you liked it. I liked it, too. I’m glad we tried because… You're my first, Komugi.”

   “First?” Komugi blinked owlishly.

   “Ah, don’t worry about it.” Iroha brushed her off. “Forget I said anything.” First kiss, naturally, meant nothing to a dog and Komugi seemed fine with that.

   But that didn’t diminish how special it felt for Iroha.

   Her gaze went all gossamer and hazy as she smiled. Komugi was so dear to her. She loved Komugi so much. This kiss between them wasn’t nothing even if Iroha was hesitant to call it something. Or even anything. Komugi was hers but she was Komugi’s just as much. They were best friends forever, they were sisters, they were pet and owner. It was messy and muddled but that was part of the fun. Iroha could love and be loved as she pleased, affection and trying different things was all a part of that, wasn’t it? That’s how she was content to label it as fine.

   She indulged Komugi one more kiss.