Kiyoharu Is Tricked Into Ayano's Private Domain

Kiyoharu looked at his fingers hesitantly.

Having lived together for three years, he was already thoroughly familiar with Chihaya Airi's sweet allure… well, "sweet" in every sense of the word.

What truly made it difficult for him was the psychological barrier. The act of secretly licking the Young Lady's saliva felt like that of a pervert harboring a crush on her, completely contradicting Kiyoharu's own intentions.

He was just a pure employee with no designs on Airi!

The system seemed to sense Kiyoharu's hesitation and quickly urged him, "Host, this is for Energy Points, it's definitely not you succumbing to the Young Lady's temptations!"

"Just… for Energy Points?"

"70 Energy Points can allow us to provide you with a lot of help. It's ultimately for survival, right? It's not shameful!"

Truth be told, the system's words aligned with Kiyoharu's inner thoughts. He was a simple pragmatist, seeking a leisurely and happy life. To deal with Kitahara Ayano, that unstable factor, being a little perverted in private was no big deal!

After sufficient mental preparation, Kiyoharu raised his trembling hand, closed his eyes, and steeled himself.

A strange sweetness, mixed with the familiar rich fragrance of Chihaya Airi, rushed straight to Kiyoharu's nerves, making his already restless blood tend to surge and boil again.

At the same time, the system chimed with a mission completion notification.

This mission was originally for Kiyoharu to commit an impropriety with Airi's used tableware—to honestly be her househusband, wash her dishes, gain her trust after a period of time, and then, when she wasn't paying attention, slurp~

Speaking of which, when they first started living together, Chihaya Airi was indeed very distrustful of Kiyoharu. Every time Kiyoharu washed dishes, she would watch him from the side, afraid he would do something bad with her used chopsticks.

However, this mission was actually completed through Kiyoharu's fingers, which was truly remarkable.

Who would have thought that in just three years, Airi would transform from a girl so wary that she wouldn't even let Kiyoharu wash her chopsticks without supervision, into one who actively sucked his fingers to fish?

Of course, Kiyoharu didn't think Airi had developed any feelings for him. It was just that after spending a long time together, they became familiar, and consequently, the torture methods befitting a demon became even more cruel.

If he hadn't held himself back outside just now, he would have received the punishment of not being allowed to touch games for a week.

Fortunately, Kiyoharu ran fast.

"Knock, knock, knock~"

The bathroom door was knocked, followed by Airi's playful voice.

"I say, could someone be hiding in the bathroom, secretly doing disgusting things while savoring the feeling of feeding me fruit?"

"It's just a slight stomach discomfort. Do you need me to open the door for the Young Lady to inspect?"

Airi outside the door imagined the scene and immediately took two steps back in disgust, "No need. Hurry up, there's something important to tell you when you come out."

Kiyoharu washed his face with cold water, tidied his appearance, and returned to the living room.

Airi sized him up, not noticing anything amiss, and let out a bored hum, informing him of Kitahara Ayano's outing invitation.

"Let's tentatively set Saturday as the date."

"Morning, afternoon, or all day?"

"All day."

"Received."

"Alright, you've had enough fruit. Go play games."

"Re-… Huh?" Kiyoharu was quite surprised. "Shouldn't the punishment period include tonight?"

"Changed my mind temporarily. You've performed well, so I'm rewarding you with an early end. Aren't you going to thank me?"

"No need. I'll just follow the normal procedure, after all, it's our agreed-upon protocol."

Kiyoharu smiled indifferently and went to the study to read detective novels.

It wasn't that he didn't want to play games, but the Young Lady's favors weren't easily accepted. Who knew what traps lay hidden behind them?

"Going shopping…"

The Young Lady, Junior Shimamura, and Kitahara Ayano, these three people gathering for a shopping trip, with Kiyoharu having to accompany them the whole way… just imagining the scene made Kiyoharu put on a pained expression.

He had to guard against Ayano causing trouble, and also prevent Airi and Airi's loyal follower from seeing any disharmonious scenes.

Well, this was also part of the job.

For the sake of rice, he'd endure.

The next day. Friday.

As Kiyoharu walked into the office in the early morning, he saw Kitahara Ayano and Shimaura Hitomi excitedly discussing something.

He didn't even need to listen to know it was definitely about tomorrow's shopping trip.

The gossip guru also arrived early today. Seeing the situation, he teased, "Why don't you just move your office into this room, Teacher Kitahara? That way, you won't have to run up and down between floors."

"I wouldn't mind… but it seems there's no extra space in this office. What a shame."

"It's okay, you can switch with me. I don't mind trying Teacher Kitahara's single room," Haneda Miho joked.

Kiyoharu imagined Kitahara Ayano joining this office and couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

This subtle expression was caught by Kitahara Ayano, who narrowed her eyes.

She had an intuition that Kiyoharu harbored feelings of keeping her at a distance, or even aversion. Logically, she, who appeared harmless to outsiders, shouldn't be disliked by Kiyoharu. So, was it possible that Kiyoharu's distance was due to witnessing her actions during Time Stop?

Perhaps it was because of what she said in the gallery.

Kitahara Ayano wasn't entirely sure.

Ah, it didn't matter. Whether Kiyoharu could remain conscious during Time Stop or not, Kitahara Ayano was determined to lure him into her trap, guiding him step by step into the abyss of depravity.

Shimaura Hitomi, completely unaware of their subtle intentions, continued to discuss her plans for Saturday.

She quite enjoyed shopping under these circumstances, as it meant she could see Kiyoharu even on a day off. After all, she could never go shopping with Kiyoharu alone. The fact that he could appear as Airi's fiancé was already a great perk.

While Airi wasn't paying attention, she'd sneakily touch Kiyoharu's hand or arm. Even just looking at Kiyoharu was enough to make Shimaura Hitomi happy.

There were also some rather underhanded games she played, like when Kiyoharu used a tissue. Shimaura Hitomi would pretend to help him throw it away, but secretly pocket it herself... Eating something of Kiyoharu's right in front of the Young Lady gave Shimaura Hitomi a strange sense of joy. These were all borderline actions, not leading to Kiyoharu cheating passively, so Shimaura Hitomi's conscience could accept it.

It was almost time for class. Kitahara Ayano prepared to return to her private office upstairs. Before leaving, she said with a troubled expression, "My computer seems to have a small problem. Could I trouble you to take a look at it, Teacher Chihaya?"

The two male teachers who were about to volunteer to fix the computer immediately withdrew their eager offers upon hearing Kitahara Ayano call out Kiyoharu's name.

"No problem."

Kiyoharu followed Kitahara Ayano upstairs to her room.

This room, which had been vacant before, had only recently become her office. The small decorations inside already bore Kitahara Ayano's personal style.

It was evident that Ayano was indeed a woman with artistic taste, which was probably why she'd made a move on her best friend's husband for the sake of her art.

"Do you like these?" Kitahara Ayano took a string of origami from the hanger that Kiyoharu was admiring and handed it to him.

"I can't quite say what's so wonderful about it, but it's quite pretty."

"In Tokyo's so-called high society, I'm probably the only one who'd like these 'boring' handicrafts, hehe... Airi isn't interested at all anyway. The ornaments in her home follow only two rules: expensive and limited edition."

"As expected of the Young Lady's best friend."

"Of course. I know very well what a boring woman she is, so I also know how agonizing it must be for you, Kiyoharu-kun, to pretend to be a loving couple with such a boring woman..."

Kitahara Ayano plucked an origami bird from the string and hung it on Kiyoharu's shirt pocket.

Her fingers then slid to Kiyoharu's chest, tracing circles lightly and slowly.

Kiyoharu took a step back to avoid her, saying seriously, "Miss Kitahara, it's not appropriate to talk about the Young Lady behind her back, is it?"

"Oh? Do you think this is a betrayal?" Kitahara Ayano closed the distance between them, gazing into Kiyoharu's eyes. "Then, as the Young Lady's fiancé, doesn't getting excited by another woman count as betrayal, Mr. Chihaya?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

A fleeting look of panic crossed Kiyoharu's eyes, which Kitahara Ayano caught.

She was now certain of her guess, or at least highly suspected it.

"Let's look at the computer first," Kiyoharu said, turning towards the screen on the desk.

But Kitahara Ayano hugged him from behind.