"Why are you so bored, kouhai?"
"Well, Kanade, we're heading out first."
"Honestly, I'm disappointed in you."
…
Bored, empty, heavy… An endless pressure seized Natsukawa Kanade's chest, unable to hold back any longer.
"So heavy…"
He stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, dazed.
Going out to have fun, meeting Kasumigaoka, making things difficult for each other, living in the same room… and now.
He lay obediently on the floor, while Kasumigaoka had somehow claimed the bed, even fearing he'd die of heat and stealing most of the blanket.
You're very considerate, senpai.
"Kasumigaoka-senpai, care to explain?" he tried to stay calm and not disturb the crime scene.
"Let me sleep, Kanade-kun…"
"Then sleep a bit more. I'll go to school alone. Anyway, your foot's fine, right?"
She still had the energy to attack him at night. From any angle, Kasumigaoka's foot injury couldn't be that serious.
Kasumigaoka reluctantly opened her eyes, showing a surprised expression.
"Oh? After not seeing me for a while, have you turned into a carnivore? Can't resist anymore and want to make a move on the senpai you've admired for so long?"
Natsukawa Kanade rubbed his eyes and didn't want to say much.
The warmth constantly radiating from her side was comforting, but the consequences were natural.
Thanks to Kasumigaoka, he was now fully awake. One side of his body was so numb he could barely move, and it felt like a stone was pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe. But the rest of his body felt alert.
In short, it was painful and pleasant.
I don't mind that my senpai stole the blanket, but could you get up first? You're really heavy.
Kouhai! Talking about a girl's weight is taboo!
"If senpai is really aware of being a girl, she shouldn't sleep next to a guy so easily," Natsukawa Kanade sighed.
He really couldn't understand Kasumigaoka. She had clearly rejected his confession, yet kept interfering with his relationships and acted ambiguously from time to time.
Unwilling to be tied down by a relationship and just enjoying the flirting? Your personality is broken, senpai…
But it didn't matter. He had never seen these heroines act according to established logic for so long. Each had her own ideas and always surprised him.
It was as if they had been given a soul and appeared before his eyes in their true form…
Natsukawa Kanade was stunned for a moment, then smiled in relief.
Why had he only realized this now? He had been interacting and getting closer to them for so long.
"What a creepy smile, kouhai. Do you think you've become the lucky guy you talked about?"
Kasumigaoka's face blushed slightly.
Last night, when I woke up, I saw my kouhai's sleeping face looking so cute I couldn't help but lean in and watch. I got so absorbed that I fell asleep without meaning to.
Looking back, I feel inexplicably embarrassed.
Kouhai, you probably didn't notice her embarrassment, did you?
"Senpai, you'd better get up quickly. If you don't, you'll miss the first train."
After moving his hands and feet a bit, he found the remaining numbness had mostly faded, so he got up directly.
"I'll brush my teeth and wash up first. Please try to be quick too, senpai."
Unlike Kasumigaoka, who wore pajamas, Natsukawa Kanade had slept in his clothes last night.
It was true he liked sleeping naked, but he preferred wearing clothes when going out at night. Maybe it was psychological. He wasn't keen on wearing the hotel's pajamas, so he simply didn't change.
After both finished washing up, they finally caught the first tram on time.
"Ugh, I'm so tired…"
"Your stamina is really weak. You're already complaining after running such a short distance," Natsukawa Kanade grumbled.
"It's because I spent so much time with my kouhai yesterday, and you were so stubborn this morning, not letting me rest more…"
Kasumigaoka looked at him resentfully.
Her lazy, charming voice drew the attention of nearby office workers.
"Don't act clever just to nap, senpai," Natsukawa Kanade sighed helplessly.
The jealous stares from the nearby office workers were so sharp it felt like they wanted to eat him alive.
The innocent love between high school students eventually wounded the hearts of these early-rising workers.
"There's a pervert!" a rough voice suddenly shouted.
Natsukawa Kanade narrowed his eyes and immediately shielded Kasumigaoka.
The voice came from nearby. It was possible the pervert was targeting his senpai, so he had to stay alert.
However, shortly after, he felt someone grab his hand.
"?"
He frowned and was about to move when he was interrupted.
"It's you! Still trying to hide!"
Following the voice, he saw a girl dressed like a beauty grabbing his hand and pointing at him.
…
Was this a misunderstanding? Natsukawa Kanade wondered.
Naturally, it was impossible for him to behave like a pervert, not to mention he had Kasumigaoka in front of him. Even without her, he wouldn't commit a crime in public.
"You misunderstood, I'm not—"
"It's you! Don't try to lie!"
The girl holding him looked indignant, but her eyes wandered, her cheeks were flushed, and she didn't even have the courage to look him in the eye.
Something was off.
If she had really mistaken someone, she wouldn't have made such errors. It was clear she was pretending to be righteous and confident, but couldn't meet his gaze. She was faking it.
Natsukawa Kanade immediately realized he was being set up.
He had heard before that some malicious women falsely accused men of being perverts on the tram to extort them.
Because under Japanese law, in such cases, women are considered vulnerable, and the rule is "no guilt if there's evidence." So unless the accused can prove their innocence, they're deemed guilty.
In this society, once someone is labeled a pervert, they can basically say goodbye to social life. At best, their family breaks apart; at worst, they lose their job and main source of income.
So most people swallow their anger and settle privately by paying compensation to make the matter go away.
Just as Natsukawa Kanade was wondering whether to challenge the other party to a Bushido duel, Kasumigaoka Utaha suddenly spoke.
"A pervert? Him? Do you know what you're saying?"
Any normal person would know what to do, right? Ignoring the cute and charming girl beside me, he'd choose to harass a heat-struck stray barking in the street?
I'm curious about your mindset. Were you in such a rush to leave that you forgot to bring your brain, or did you never have that kind of advanced knowledge?
"Could it be that when humans evolved, they forgot to bring you along?"
…
In the past, Natsukawa Kanade had only seen fights between Kasumigaoka and Eriri. Though they were fights, they were really just flirting, and both won and lost.
But this time, Kasumigaoka had the upper hand. Not only was she giving it her all, but her words were even more brutal, leaving the attractive girl unable to lift her head.
"Yes, I'm sorry, maybe I made a mistake…"
The girl was humiliated by Kanade's companion in front of so many people, but couldn't defend herself. Just as the tram reached a stop, she fled in embarrassment.
"This person… this person hasn't been able to sleep for a while…"
"What's wrong? Feeling sorry for me, kouhai? You can come up and comfort me now. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding."
Kasumigaoka's tone was a bit sour.
Instead of praising her as the heroine who saved the pretty girl, they worried about the victim? That was too much.
"It's her fault. If you want to extort, you should accept the consequences of failure."
Natsukawa Kanade was speechless. Since when did she care about others? She was clearly gloating.
Kasumigaoka said nothing more.
She also felt her tone had been inappropriate. Though she trusted Kanade's character and knew he wouldn't sympathize with that kind of person, she felt inexplicably irritated thinking that girl had coveted her kouhai.
Maybe it was intuition. She saw at a glance that the girl only desired Kanade's body and wasn't after money.
How else could someone grab a supposed chikan's wrist so weakly? She was so shy she couldn't even look him in the eye. Anyone would think she was playing some kind of shame game.
Kasumigaoka clenched her teeth.
It didn't matter. As long as she was by his side, she wouldn't let anyone touch him. Even if she wasn't his girlfriend, even if she hadn't accepted him, even if she didn't deserve him… she wouldn't let him be defiled.
And if anyone dared to try, they'd have to face her. Even if she had to use words like blades, even if she had to become the villain.
Because that kouhai of hers, even if he didn