I Could've Asked You to Scrub My Back

"Sakura, charge my phone for me."

"Sure."

"Sakura, clean up for me."

"Sakura, take off your glasses."

"Sakura..."

"Sakura, I'm going to take a bath. Come scrub my back for me."

"N-no..."

"Hm?"

"I won't! Why would I..."

Sakura turned out to be so useful that Ju Ji was starting to get a little addicted to bossing her around. But he hadn't forgotten his original goal. He'd gotten caught up in the fun earlier and only remembered it rather late.

She'd turned his extremely messy room neat and tidy. Was Sakura really good at housework? Of course, it was also possible that she often tidied her room because she took selfies.

Knock, knock!

"Ju Ji, are you home?"

Oh no, had it already gotten to the time when Kikyo usually came over?

That was right. Kikyo came to Ju Ji's room every day to engage in some very friendly and passionate exercise with him. Of course, they passionately beat each other up to relieve stress. There was nothing improper about it at all.

But Ju Ji had gotten so caught up in the fun of ordering Sakura around that he'd completely lost track of time, leading to this disaster. He had to stop Kikyo from finding out. Even though Kikyo wouldn't betray him, he still didn't want to leave a bad impression on her.

"[Sakura, hide.]"

"Yes."

Under Hypnosis, Sakura quickly hid in the wardrobe. For some reason, she pulled Ju Ji in with her, too. Ju Ji was completely unable to resist Sakura after she'd been hypnotized. Had the Hypnosis brought out some hidden potential in her body?

The wardrobe was so cramped that it was barely big enough to hold both of them. As a result, Ju Ji and Sakura were now in a very intimate position.

"Strange. Is he not back yet? But I'm sure I heard a noise earlier. Did a thief break in? I'd better go inside and check, just in case."

Then came the sound of a door being unlocked. It was the spare key Kikyo had made earlier. Ju Ji had initially thought about taking it back, but after a few failed attempts, he'd given up. Letting Kikyo have a key wasn't really a problem for him anyway. Now that decision had come back to bite him.

The space was so cramped that he felt extremely uncomfortable, and he couldn't help shifting around.

"Please... don't move."

Perhaps her body had been stimulated to some extent, because Sakura had already come to her senses. This was clearly the worst possible time to wake up. Maybe it was because she was pressed so closely against Ju Ji, but Sakura's face was bright red. And without her glasses, her naturally pretty features stood out. He couldn't help thinking she was kind of cute.

"Hm? I smell perfume... There's still juice left on the table. Did Ju Ji bring a woman back to the dorm and hide her because I showed up? Hmm... I have to stop him from getting into an improper relationship. He's not ready for that yet."

Is your nose really that sensitive, Kikyo? And are you some kind of detective from a mystery show? Kikyo's guess was so close to the truth that Ju Ji couldn't help grumbling to himself. But mostly, he was panicking. He had no good solution, so he could only silently pray that she wouldn't find him hiding in the wardrobe.

"Under the bed... no. Behind the curtains... no. On top of the wardrobe... no. There isn't enough room in the wardrobe for two people. Maybe I guessed wrong and they already went out? I'll ask Ju Ji when he gets back. I should head back for now."

Then Ju Ji heard the dorm room door close. Kikyo seemed to have left, and he felt a little relieved.

"Did you think I was going to say that?! What are you two doing?"

"No, Kikyo, let me explain—no, that came out wrong. Sakura, help me explain, too."

Then the wardrobe door was suddenly flung open, and Kikyo's demonic face appeared before Ju Ji. Well, this time she really did look like a demon.

Ju Ji desperately tried to explain, but he was so flustered that he misspoke, making Kikyo's expression even darker. In his desperation, he tried to ask Sakura for help. But it seemed the shock had overloaded her brain. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.

Only then did Ju Ji realize that people really could faint from their brains being overloaded, just like in novels, with their eyes rolling in circles. What? The world of Classroom of the Elite came from a novel? Then never mind.

A few minutes later, Kikyo helped Sakura onto the bed to rest. Ju Ji, meanwhile, was kneeling in front of Kikyo. He didn't even know why he was doing it. Maybe Kikyo's presence was just too intimidating. He felt like resisting would lead to trouble, so when she told him to kneel, he simply went along with it.

"So... why was Sakura in your room?"

"Well..."

With no choice—in fact, he had no choice but to tell her—Ju Ji explained the whole story. Of course, he kept the Hypnosis to himself. He also portrayed himself as a good person with high moral standards who only had his classmates' best interests at heart. Kikyo kept nodding as he spoke, showing that she was listening. Only the heavens knew how much of it she believed.

"So that's what happened... Did you think I was going to say that? Even so, bringing a girl back to your room is too much. Couldn't you have chosen a better way?"

After hearing Ju Ji's explanation, Kikyo had mostly believed him. She didn't think Ju Ji had the guts to bring a girl to his room and mess around with her. If he had, she would have already gotten somewhere with him. He wouldn't have waited until now.

"Sorry. That was the only quick and effective method I could think of."

They only had a month, and a week had already passed. There wasn't much time, so they had to take a risk. He wasn't about to admit that part of him had also been looking forward to getting close to a beautiful girl and becoming friends with her. He wasn't exactly fond of Sakura's personality right now, but once she overcame her timidness, she could make a good friend.

"So what should we do about Sakura now?"

"We'll have to wait until she wakes up, then take her back. She's not in any condition to move, and I don't want people thinking I'm a pervert."

"I didn't expect Sakura to be so cute under those glasses. Are you going to tell me you didn't have any other thoughts?"

"Of course... probably."

"How can you be unmoved by such a cute girl? Are you even a man?"

Now, that was a question that could get him killed. So how was Ju Ji supposed to answer?

"If you wanted someone to scrub your back, you could've just asked me."

"Did you say something, Kikyo?"

Kikyo had muttered so quietly that Ju Ji hadn't heard what she'd said at all.

"I said it's too dangerous to leave Sakura in your room, so I'll take her back myself."

"Do you think I'm some kind of beast?"

After a few more twists and turns, Kikyo carried Sakura back to her own room. Well, Ju Ji hadn't expected Kikyo to be so strong. It seemed her martial arts training had paid off...