Once I heard that life ain't a merry go round, it is a roller coaster, filled with excitement but it also has its peacefulness, and right now, I wish I could stay this peaceful forever.

I passed the page of the book I'm holding in my hands. An affectionate hand carefully cleansed my hair off my forehead, leaving it out in the open.

“Hey!”

“Shhh, relax. Hehe.”

“Mhmm…”

I made myself comfortable once again in the soft and comfy laps of the girl that was caressing my head and continued my reading.

“It's really that interesting, Eriko?”

“Mmm… You could say that.”

“I see.”

She said with a smile on her face while still caressing my forehead.

She was sitting on the floor, with her back leaning on the sofa that we somehow decided to avoid, so I could lay on the ground with my head resting on her thighs.

I must say that at first I couldn't manage to calm myself due to the embarrassment, but right now I feel amazingly calm, almost as if I was about to fall asleep.

Of course, there's no way we’ll do something like this out in the open, so right now we are in the middle of my house's living room. Furthermore, there's no one else here. There's no way I’ll accept something like this otherwise.

I closed the book that was in my hands and hold it close to my chest. Then, I started talking while looking at Sotoka’s face. Of course, she didn't stop touching my forehead even after that.

“Well, let's see… It's about this girl that wanted to travel around and explore the world. Then, after she reaches a certain age, she turns into a Witch and starts her journey while writing her adventures and shenanigans in her diary.”

“Sounds funny, can you read a bit for me?”

Sotoka asked innocently, still smiling. She truly seemed to be interested in the story I was talking about, but…

“I-I can lend you the book if you want, it’s really interesting!”

“I prefer to hear you reading, you know?”

“Ugh…”

I knew it. I knew that, even if Sotoka is someone that really likes different kinds of stories, there's no way she’ll read a book. No, maybe if I honestly tell her to read something, she’ll read it, but there's no way she’ll start reading something on her own.

While I was thinking about that, Sotoka was still looking at me, as if she was telling me that I should really start reading the book to her. After all, I was still leaning my head on her thighs, so it was a fair deal, maybe…

I gathered all of my resolve and grabbed the book. I searched for a good point to start reading, cleaned my throat and…

Just when I was about to start reading, I heard some keys trying to open the front door.

I jumped away from Sotoka’s lap. I mean, I couldn't let anyone see me in a situation like this. However, at the same time, the book that I was holding jumped away from my hands.

I stretched my arm in order to reach it while leaning my knees on the floor. I was so hasty and nervous that my body started to tremble. Luckily, Sotoka managed to grab me from my waist just in time to prevent me from falling, but…

“Uhmm? What are you…?”

“M-Mom!”

“Miss…!”

Sotoka jumped away from my waist (and back). However, since she was preventing me from falling, I ended up falling on my back, with my legs wide open and my skirt at my upper thighs.

“You should rent a room, you know? Or at least go upstairs…”

My mother said with a monotonous voice. This was clearly something serious.

“M-Mom!”

“I’ll stay in my room, but we’ll talk about this later, Eriko.”

Did I just fail her as I daughter? I couldn't help but start shouting at her to wait for an explanation but…

“Wait, Mom!”

“Miss…!”

“Take care.”

It was useless. My mother walked away from us and straightly headed to her room and locked the door behind her.

“Well, I guess we should continue then. Hehe~”

Sotoka said while getting close to me and putting one of her hands on my left thigh.

I could feel the boiling blood rushing to my head, and I couldt manage myself to do something else but scream out of embarrassment of what had just happened.

“You, lewd!”

Life surely is like a roller coaster…