"Yes, don't worry, I'll be staying at a friend's house today. What? Is the friend a boy or a girl? That—That's obviously a girl! Honestly, don't say such strange things!"
After arriving at the Rabbit House, Kita Ikuyo, who had decided to borrow a bed for the night, called her parents to inform them.
As Asakura was coming downstairs after tossing Momoka onto the bed in her own room, this was the scene he witnessed.
Although he felt that speaking up now to tell the girl that the bathroom upstairs was ready for her to bathe at any time would make things very interesting, considering that this might cause his favorability with the girl to drop below freezing point, Asakura ultimately gave up on this option with regret.
Waiting for the girl to put down her phone, he then spoke up: "Your parents are really at ease letting you stay out overnight by yourself."
"Because I occasionally stay at a friend's house, my parents are more or less used to it."
Kita Ikuyo asked: "How is Momoka-san?"
"Um, her current situation, should I say it's exceptionally normal, or completely silent~" Asakura said with distress.
"Why do you make Momoka-san sound like some kind of humanoid ultimate weapon..." The girl's shoulders slumped slightly, looking at him with some helplessness: "Asakura... your true nature is completely different from the impression you gave at the beginning."
"Although I'm curious about how you view me, I feel like I'll hear some non-praising evaluations, so forget it."
"Unexpectedly self-aware? But to be honest, I don't dislike the current Asakura, or rather, I quite like him."
"Sorry, I have a girlfriend."
"Even though I don't know why Asakura misunderstood, let me declare that the sentence just now was not a confession."
Kita Ikuyo let out a somewhat helpless sigh.
"Then you can talk about your view of me now, I will try my best not to let myself sink into depression." Asakura walked to the bar: "Do you want to drink something? Coffee or black tea are both fine."
"Starting to push your luck right after hearing me say I don't dislike you, in a sense, it's quite the style of the current Asakura-kun..." Kita Ikuyo looked at Asakura with a bit of annoyance, but in the end, she couldn't help but laugh, "Also, forget the drinks, no matter which one I drink, I feel like I won't be able to sleep tonight, and tomorrow is Monday, I still have to go to school."
"Regarding this point, is it really no problem for you to stay here?" Asakura asked with some concern: "If Momoka knew that taking care of her caused you to be late for school or even get scolded by the teacher, she would definitely feel very guilty."
"I'll get up as early as possible to catch the first train home to wash up and change into my uniform, so Asakura doesn't need to worry."
Kita Ikuyo waved her hand, appearing as if she had already thought through this problem, saying directly without even a script: "Even if I'm really late... well, as long as we don't tell Momoka-san what happened, won't it be fine?"
Asakura gave a thumbs up: "The bath water is heated, do you want to go first?"
"Ugh, but if that's the case, won't Asakura-kun have to soak in the bath water I used?"
"I won't drink it."
"That's not what I'm worried about! Please consider my modesty as a girl! Rather, it would be too perverted if you actually drank it!"
"No, I won't drink it?"
"Why did you become uncertain instead?!"
"You soak in the bath water I used, or I soak in the bath water you used, choose." Asakura asked calmly.
"Both feel like subtle and unpleasant options..." The red-haired girl muttered unhappily.
"By the way, with Momoka's current state, don't take her to bathe, I'm afraid she'll drown in the bathtub."
"Ugh, sorry Momoka-san, for your reputation I clearly should refute it, but I don't know why I always feel like I can vividly see that scene..." The girl clutched her chest with one hand and leaned against the wall with the other, in a posture somewhat similar to a wall-slam, muttering something quite guiltily.
Finally, after a long period of thought, the girl decided to go first, letting Asakura soak in the water she had used.
Probably because she wasn't living in her normal home, Asakura originally thought the other party would be in there for a long time, but as a result, after only ten minutes or so, Kita Ikuyo came out of the bath.
When the bathroom door opened, milky white steam billowed out first, followed by the girl stepping out slowly amidst the hazy mist, her body wrapped in a moist warmth.
Even though she had pinned up her long hair while bathing, at this moment the girl's crimson hair was still clinging to the side of her neck, droplets of water winding down her fair neck, leaving moist paths at her collarbone where a large area of porcelain-white skin was exposed.
An oversized men's shirt wrapped most of the girl's beauty within it, the shoulder line slipping softly, and the sleeves were bunched up in layers at the crook of her arms.
"...Why is the clothing left in the basket for me to change into Asakura-kun's shirt?" The girl's amber eyes looked at Asakura with some suspicion and a hint of wariness: "Couldn't I use Momoka-san's clothes?"
"As a perfect gentleman, I would not go through a lady's wardrobe without obtaining her consent."
Asakura said solemnly.
His shirt was obviously too big for the girl; the hem of the shirt even covered a small portion of the girl's snow-white, smooth thighs, and that flickering absolute territory even gave people the false impression that "she might not be wearing underwear."
However, Asakura knew this was indeed a false impression, because the other party was definitely wearing underwear—that was the travel pack of three disposable women's underwear he had spent five hundred yen to buy at a convenience store not far from the shopping street.
By the way, the patterns were all blue and white stripes.
"A true gentleman usually doesn't stare intensely at someone's thighs." The girl muttered with some embarrassment.
"I feel like looking further up would be even more rude." Asakura said.
After all, the top was truly empty. Although Asakura's shirt wasn't a specialty item, the thickness was decent enough that it wouldn't immediately become transparent due to the moisture of the steam, but one could still more or less see a bit of the silhouette.
"Ugh..."
The girl also seemed to realize this point, letting out a small whimper from her throat, and ran away from Asakura's side in a panic, fleeing toward Momoka's room: "I, I'll go see how Momoka-san is doing."
"Then I'll go take a bath."
Asakura didn't feel hurt by the girl's attitude, but just said happily.
"That..."
Kita Ikuyo peeked out half of her face from behind the door of Momoka's room, her face flushed with extreme shyness: "Absolutely! Ab—so—lute—ly—not allowed to drink it!"
Asakura didn't answer, but only showed the girl a dazzlingly bright and meaningful smile, then strolled into the bathroom, leaving the girl hiding alone behind the door with a heart in turmoil.