Dormitory Suspicion

After finishing dinner with Ichinose, Konoe returned to his dormitory. He took two steps before he couldn't resist lunging onto his bed, his school bag also thrown to the floor.

"...So tired. It feels like a lot happened today... Ah, I forgot to check the dossiers at the Student Council..." Konoe suddenly remembered the Sudo Incident and forced himself to sit up from the edge of the bed.

"But tomorrow is the weekend. Worrying about it now is useless." Konoe then lay back down, feeling his eyelids grow heavier.

Suddenly, Konoe thought he heard someone touching his dormitory door, startling him awake. He sat up and listened carefully.

There was indeed someone outside! Konoe confirmed. Although the person's movements seemed cautious, Konoe still heard them shifting their feet.

Just as Konoe was about to stand up to lock the door from the inside and perhaps call Ayanokoji, who lived next door, another sound came from the door.

This time, it was a voice Konoe was very familiar with, one he heard every day: the sound of his Student Terminal scanning to open the dormitory door.

It's unclear what Konoe was thinking at this moment. In this emergency, he uncharacteristically lay back down on the bed and closed his eyes. He was like an ostrich facing a crisis, burying its head in the sand.

'They dare to open the door at this hour... They must have a way to control me. Could it be... the Student Council's files?' Konoe controlled his heartbeat and breathing while recalling the only valuable item in his dormitory.

'Even against a trained girl one-on-one, I might not win. Let alone someone who dares to trespass into another's dormitory... Feign weakness, look for an opportunity...' In this critical moment, Konoe decided to drop all his defenses.

Suddenly, Konoe's mind entered a strange state, like a Mind Palace. However, he wasn't searching for information in his mind; he was focusing all his attention on controlling his senses.

'They'll definitely come to observe me, then search the room, right? The computer has a password, the USB drive is hidden in my bag... When they search, maybe they'll check the bathroom. That might be a chance to escape... And Ayanokoji's dorm is on the way to the elevator... Hold on...' Konoe was lying on the bed in his school uniform. To escape, he only needed to get up and run.

After Konoe finished thinking, his body completely relaxed, and his breathing gradually became steady, as if he had truly fallen asleep.

The sound from the door came, and Konoe noticed that the person even took the time to take off their shoes before entering, perhaps to avoid leaving footprints on the floor... but socks would leave them too.

Before Konoe could analyze further, the footsteps grew closer. Konoe perfectly controlled his breathing, pretending to have accidentally fallen asleep, and didn't even change out of his school uniform.

"..." Konoe's breathing was steady and prolonged, taking one full breath every two to three seconds.

Judging by the footsteps, the person should have entered the room by now and observed him sleeping.

The footsteps approached again. This time, it was different from what Konoe had imagined. The person didn't search his room but came directly to his bedside.

'...Are they trying to confirm if I'm really asleep? Or... is it safer to control me?' Konoe thought, resolving not to show any weakness, no matter what.

A few seconds later, Konoe suddenly felt a faint breeze on his face, followed by a faint fragrance.

'...Are they observing me up close?' Konoe imagined a terrifying scene, perhaps their face was right next to his.

Konoe felt the frequency of the breath on his face increasing, making his face feel a bit itchy, but he endured it without moving.

Several minutes passed. Finally, Konoe felt the pressure recede. The person seemed to have moved their head away, and footsteps sounded again in the room. However, before Konoe could breathe a sigh of relief, he felt pressure at the foot of the bed.

'...Are they... getting on the bed? What's going on?' Konoe held his breath for two seconds. The other person also seemed unwilling to wake Konoe and stopped moving. Only when Konoe resumed his steady breathing did they slowly shift their body.

Konoe tried hard to suppress his panic, unable to figure out the other person's intentions.

Konoe felt the other person's movements were very slow, as if they were afraid of waking him. Then, the person slowly crawled to the inner side of the bed against the wall, the opposite side from where Konoe was sleeping, and slowly lay down.

Konoe didn't dare to open his eyes, unsure if the other person was looking his way.

Tens of seconds passed. The breathing beside him seemed unstable, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

A few minutes passed. The breathing beside him gradually became steady.

More than ten minutes later, the breathing beside him sounded like they had fallen asleep, long and deep.

Twenty minutes passed. Mentally exhausted, Konoe could no longer maintain his concentration. He couldn't help but open his eyes, his breathing becoming chaotic, sweat dripping from his head.

He immediately looked beside him and saw a head with its back to him. He immediately wanted to get up and escape.

But he had overlooked his mental state. As soon as he stood up, his head throbbed painfully, and he couldn't help but fall to the floor, his knees hitting the ground with a sound.

He looked worriedly at the bed. He saw a body with its back to him, its legs curled up, still wearing a skirt. Even though Konoe had accidentally made a noise, the person remained motionless on the bed, as if truly asleep.

'A... girl?' Konoe was stunned. Seeing that the person didn't react, he relaxed, regulated his breathing, and the figure on the bed slowly became familiar. As he stood up, he also recognized the person's identity.

"Kushida... Kikyo?" Konoe's initial feeling of panic quickly turned into anger.

But as he took out his mobile phone, preparing to sneak away, for some reason, his anger, like a deflating balloon, rapidly dissipated.