Inside the elevator going upstairs, the two of them were unusually quiet.
Sawamura Haruno was doing fine—his attention was focused entirely on the delivery box in his hands.
But Miyazawa Maki, standing beside him, was far less calm on the inside.
Although the "strategy" of tempting Sawamura Haruno had already been decided long ago, actually hearing her own mistaken identity spoken aloud by someone else still filled her with a strange sense of moral transgression—one that made it even harder to stop herself.
Especially given how… special their actual relationship was.
Just thinking about it made Maki's breathing grow uneven, and even her legs felt faintly weak.
"We're here."
Sawamura Haruno spoke suddenly.
The elevator doors slowly slid open. Maki jolted awake from her near-exposed state of mind and quickly followed behind him, forcing herself to look composed.
No, no—this wouldn't do.
She was the one trying to lure him. She couldn't be the first to fall into the swamp herself. Otherwise, even if she somehow "won" against Mana, she'd still lose to Sawamura Haruno.
What's more, she still couldn't shake the suspicion that he might abandon her at any moment and get back together with Mana instead.
"You didn't even clean up what you ate this morning."
After changing shoes, Sawamura Haruno carried the box straight into the kitchen.
The half-open cabinet doors and snacks casually tossed on the counter all silently testified to the unfair treatment they'd suffered.
Tch… those were the snacks I just bought yesterday.
Fine. Tonight, when Mana shows up, I'll make her pay for all of this.
"I forgot."
After taking off her shoes, Maki followed him into the living room. After a small, quiet excuse, she stood at the entrance to the kitchen, wearing white ankle socks.
"What are you doing? Still hungry?"
Sawamura Haruno had just taken out a knife when he noticed her staring straight at him, and asked in confusion.
"I'm not eating."
Maki shook her head.
She was already full. What she was thinking about now was how to continue carrying out her plan to beat Mana.
She felt it was necessary to understand Sawamura Haruno a bit better. Compared to her, Mana clearly knew him far more deeply—not just his hobbies and interests, but possibly even more private things.
If she wanted to take him away from Mana, she couldn't do it without understanding those things.
Right now, her only advantage was that they were still living together. She needed to observe him as closely as possible.
With that in mind, Maki quickly figured out what she needed to do.
Clearing her throat, she pretended to be casual and asked,
"Is that delivery… snacks?"
Before he could respond, she subtly leaned against the side of the kitchen doorframe.
At the same time, she lifted her knee slightly, bent forward just a bit, and gently hooked the edge of her white sock with her slender fingers—deliberately putting on an innocent, defenseless pose.
This was based on a small detail she'd noticed during their limited contact last night—
Sawamura Haruno seemed to be a closet leg guy.
After she'd finished showering yesterday, his gaze had repeatedly swept over her smooth thighs. And back when Mana was still in school, she also seemed to deliberately change up her stockings often—something she'd never done before middle school.
No… not just middle school.
To be precise, Mana only started doing that after she began dating Sawamura Haruno.
Which meant—
Sawamura Haruno was, without a doubt, a leg guy!
What a shame I'm not wearing one of those button-down shirts, Maki thought smugly.
If I could undo a few buttons and show a little more skin, the effect would be even better.
Still, this should be more than enough firepower.
She'd deliberately put on a cool, detached gaze, paired with this soft, vulnerable posture—it should be easy to provoke that desire to "conquer," that urge to break someone's composure.
To push him until he could no longer maintain that calm, indifferent mask!
However, Sawamura Haruno's very next sentence shattered the atmosphere she'd worked so hard to create.
"Did you wash your socks yesterday?"
"…Huh?"
He asked with genuine confusion,
"If you're taking them off, do it at the entryway. Who taught you to take your socks off at the kitchen door?"
"..."
Maki's eye twitched violently, as if she were about to explode at any moment.
No. Calm down.
Maki, calm down.
If she lost her temper here, all her follow-up plans would be ruined!
"These are… for the drinks."
Sawamura Haruno paid no attention to her rapidly changing expression. He took out the glass bottles from the box one by one and shrugged.
"Just a small personal hobby. I've been ordering some every now and then for a while now."
Strictly speaking, this habit went back to his previous life.
Back then, he used to mix drinks for himself at home all the time. Over time, it became a habit.
Even though he still hadn't reached the legal drinking age in this country, habits weren't something you could just quit that easily—especially after moving out on his own.
Buying them directly was troublesome, but ordering online?
As long as the money was there, it wasn't really a problem.
Just like how people say you can't buy alcohol or cigarettes under twenty—he didn't believe every under-twenty-year-old in the country obediently followed that rule.
"Alcohol?"
Hearing this, Maki's curiosity was instantly piqued.
She didn't care at all whether Sawamura Haruno was old enough. Instead, she leaned closer, staring intently at the bottles on the counter.
Some of these she'd already noticed in the morning, but she'd assumed they were cooking ingredients and hadn't thought much of it.
"Can I have a glass?"
As she looked, Maki started to feel restless.
She'd never been the obedient type to begin with. In the past, it was only because her family constantly compared her to Mana and told her to learn from her that she'd forcefully suppressed her nature.
But as the saying went—the more you suppress something, the harder it rebounds later.
So when she heard that Sawamura Haruno was secretly buying something they technically weren't supposed to drink yet, her heart started pounding wildly.
She suddenly had a strong urge to taste this so-called forbidden fruit.
Even if sneaking a drink wasn't as sweet as seducing her sister's ex, at least this forbidden fruit was right in front of her—practically within arm's reach!
"You really want to drink that badly?"
Noticing the eager look in her eyes, Sawamura Haruno suddenly seemed to realize something. A not-entirely-kind smile appeared on his face.
"I'll say this, Maki."
"If you're asking for something… you should at least look like someone asking properly, right?"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. Comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read 60 chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/zain_18