Unraveled Ties-Chapter 36: The Art of Proximity

The clubroom was quieter than usual.

Reiji sat on the chair, arms crossed, as he listened to Sena flipping through a notebook. She had come prepared again, determined to keep him from slipping away from her so-called lessons.

"Alright," Sena said, closing the notebook with a sharp *thud*. "Now that we’ve covered eye contact, the next step is proximity."

Reiji raised an eyebrow. "Proximity?"

Sena leaned forward slightly. "How comfortable are you being close to someone?"

Reiji shrugged. "Depends on the person."

Sena smirked. "Then let’s test it."

Before Reiji could react, she stood up and walked over to him, stopping just beside his chair. He could feel the warmth of her presence before she even said a word.

"Stand up."

Reiji hesitated but complied.

Sena took a step closer. Just enough that if he moved even slightly, they would bump into each other.

Reiji felt his muscles tense instinctively.

"See? You’re already stiff," Sena noted, a teasing glint in her eyes.

Reiji exhaled. "This is ridiculous."

"It’s part of social interaction," Sena countered. "If you tense up just because someone’s near you, how do you think you’ll act if a girl actually gets close?"

Reiji frowned, unwilling to admit that she had a point.

Sena took another step forward.

Now, she was *too* close.

He could see the small details of her face—the slight arch of her brows, the soft curve of her lips, the way her hair framed her features.

His heartbeat quickened against his will.

"Relax," Sena muttered, peering up at him.

Easier said than done.

Reiji took a slow breath, trying to ignore how absurdly aware he was of the distance—or lack thereof—between them.

"Okay, next part," Sena said, reaching out.

Before he could react, she grabbed his wrist.

Reiji stiffened.

"See? You flinched again."

He scowled. "You *grabbed* me out of nowhere."

Sena rolled her eyes. "This is normal human contact. If you’re this bad with it, how do you plan on holding hands with someone?"

Reiji sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Fine. Let’s just get this over with."

Sena smirked. "That’s the spirit."

She adjusted her grip, her fingers loosely intertwined with his.

Reiji swallowed.

It wasn’t like he had never held someone’s hand before. But this was... different. It wasn’t casual. It wasn’t accidental.

It was intentional.

Sena watched him closely. "How does it feel?"

Reiji tried to answer normally. "...It’s fine."

Sena narrowed her eyes. "Liar. Your palm is a little sweaty."

Reiji clicked his tongue. "That’s just the weather."

Sena let out a short laugh but didn’t push further. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Instead, she gave his hand a small squeeze.

Reiji flinched slightly before glaring at her. "What was that for?"

"Just testing."

"For what?"

Sena shrugged. "Reactions."

Reiji sighed, feeling like she was enjoying this a little too much.

But strangely enough... he wasn’t entirely against it.

—

After the Club Meeting

As they exited the school, the sky had begun to shift into soft shades of orange and pink. The streets were quieter than usual, a comfortable silence settling between them.

"Tomorrow, we’re doing the same thing," Sena said casually.

Reiji scoffed. "I think I got the idea already."

Sena shot him a side glance. "If that were true, you wouldn’t have flinched earlier."

Reiji didn’t have a comeback for that.

"Anyway," Sena continued, "we’ll keep practicing. Until it feels natural."

Reiji exhaled, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You sure you’re not just making excuses to mess with me?"

Sena smirked. "Who knows?"

Reiji shook his head.

Somehow, even though he had originally agreed to this to *stop* thinking about his feelings for Aoi... he couldn’t ignore the fact that Sena was beginning to take up more space in his mind than he had expected.

And that was something he wasn’t ready to deal with just yet.

—