Dormitory Suspicion

After dinner with Ichinose, Konoe returned to the dorm. After taking a couple of steps, he couldn't resist throwing himself onto his bed. His schoolbag landed on the floor.

"...I'm so tired. It feels like so much happened today... Ah, I forgot to check the files at the Student Council..." Konoe suddenly remembered the Sudo Incident and forced himself to sit up on the edge of the bed.

"But tomorrow's the weekend. What's done is done; there's no point worrying about it now." Konoe lay back down, feeling his eyelids grow heavier and heavier.

Suddenly, Konoe thought he heard someone touching his dorm room door. He jolted awake and sat up, listening carefully.

There really was someone outside! Konoe confirmed it. The other person seemed to be moving cautiously, but he could still hear their footsteps shifting.

Konoe was about to get up and lock the door from the inside, then call Ayanokoji, who lived next door, when another sound came from the door.

This time, it was a sound Konoe knew very well, one he heard every day: the sound of his Student Terminal unlocking his dorm room door.

Konoe wasn't sure what he was thinking. In this emergency, he did something completely unlike himself: he lay back down and closed his eyes. Like an ostrich facing danger, he buried his head in the sand.

Whoever's willing to open the door at this hour... must have a way to control me. Could it be... the Student Council files? As he controlled his heartbeat and breathing, Konoe recalled the only valuable thing in his dorm room.

Even in a one-on-one fight, I might not be able to beat a girl who's trained, let alone someone bold enough to break into another person's dorm... Make them underestimate me and wait for a chance... At this critical moment, Konoe instead decided to drop all his guard.

Suddenly, Konoe's thoughts slipped into a strange state, almost like the Mind Palace. But instead of searching his mind for information, he focused all his attention on controlling his senses.

They'll definitely come over to check on me, then search the room, right? My computer's password-protected, and the USB drive is in my bag... When they search, they might check the bathroom. That could be my chance to escape... And Ayanokoji's dorm is right along the way to the elevator... Hold on... Konoe was still lying on the edge of the bed in his school uniform. He only needed to get up and run to escape.

After thinking it through, Konoe's entire body relaxed. His breathing gradually evened out, as if he had truly fallen asleep.

A sound came from the doorway. Konoe realized the intruder had even taken off their shoes before entering, perhaps to avoid leaving footprints on the floor... Though their socks would leave marks too.

Before Konoe could analyze it further, the footsteps drew closer. He controlled his breathing perfectly, pretending he'd accidentally fallen asleep. He hadn't even changed out of his school uniform.

"..." Konoe breathed evenly, lengthening each breath until he was taking only one full breath every two or three seconds.

Judging by the footsteps, the intruder had come inside and seen him fast asleep.

The footsteps drew closer again. Contrary to what Konoe had expected, the intruder didn't search the room. They came straight to his bedside.

...Are they checking whether I'm really asleep? Or... have they decided it's safer to control me? Whatever the case, he couldn't let his guard slip.

A few seconds later, Konoe suddenly felt a faint breeze brush his face. Then he smelled a sweet fragrance.

Could they... be watching me from up close? He imagined a terrifying scene: perhaps the intruder's face was pressed right against his.

The breath against Konoe's face came faster and faster, making his skin itch, but he still resisted the urge to move.

A few minutes passed before Konoe finally felt the pressure lift. The intruder seemed to have moved away, and footsteps sounded in the room again. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he felt pressure at the foot of the bed.

Could they... be getting into bed? What's going on? Konoe held his breath for two seconds. The intruder seemed unwilling to wake him and stopped moving too. Only when Konoe resumed breathing evenly did they slowly shift again.

Konoe struggled to suppress his panic, unable to figure out what the intruder was after.

The intruder moved very slowly, as if afraid of waking Konoe. Then they crawled over to the side of the bed against the wall—the other side of the bed from where Konoe was lying—and slowly lowered themselves onto it.

Konoe didn't dare open his eyes. He had no idea whether the intruder was watching him.

Several dozen seconds passed. The breathing beside him seemed unsteady, speeding up and slowing down.

A few minutes passed, and the breathing beside him gradually became steady.

More than ten minutes later, the breathing beside him grew deep and even, as if the intruder had fallen asleep.

Twenty minutes passed. Exhausted, Konoe could no longer maintain his concentration. He couldn't help opening his eyes, and his breathing grew ragged as sweat ran down his face.

He immediately looked beside him, only to see the back of someone's head. He tried to get up at once and flee.

But he'd ignored his own mental state. As soon as he stood, his head throbbed, and he collapsed to his knees. His knees struck the floor with a thud.

He looked anxiously toward the bed. The figure was lying with their back to him, legs curled up, still wearing a skirt. Even after Konoe had accidentally made a noise, the intruder remained motionless, as if truly asleep.

A girl...? Konoe froze. Seeing that she didn't move, he calmed down and steadied his breathing. The figure's silhouette gradually became familiar, and as he stood up, he realized who she was.

"Kushida... Kikyo?" Konoe's first reaction was to go from panic to anger.

But when he took out his phone and prepared to leave quietly, his anger—for some reason—quickly faded, like air escaping from a balloon.