Does Clothing Really Hold Fingerprints?

The night was utterly quiet, waves surging against the embankment.

Streetlights cast a dim glow over the benches nearby.

Now and then, a couple of leaves drifted to the ground, then swirled away again with the wind.

Kikyou Kushida, who had been kicking the railing nonstop, carefully lowered her foot from it.

Her expression icy, she looked around. In the dim light, a dark shadow seemed to flicker behind her, and a predatory gleam flashed in her eyes.

But then she seemed to remember something.

The cold look vanished from her face, replaced by her usual gentle, understanding expression.

Meanwhile, Yuki Gyakukai, fishing below, quickly yanked up his rod.

This was kind of interesting. No fish before, no fish after—of all times, one had to bite now.

Yuki Gyakukai gripped the rod with both hands. He had no intention of playing the fish; he simply hauled it straight out of the water as it struggled.

Holding the fish and his gear in one hand, he climbed over the railing and appeared in front of Kikyou Kushida, who was watching him.

Kikyou Kushida looked at the man before her and gritted her teeth. This was genuinely becoming a problem.

She hadn't expected to be discovered when she'd deliberately chosen such a secluded place to vent. It was her first time doing this, too.

Wait. Maybe he hadn't heard her?

Clinging to that faint hope, Kikyou Kushida kept smiling, tilted her head cutely, and gazed at Yuki Gyakukai in confusion.

"Yuki, what are you doing here so late?"

Yuki Gyakukai didn't seem the least bit awkward. He lifted the fish in his hand.

"Obviously, I'm fishing and cultivating my temperament."

Judging by the lively fish and Yuki Gyakukai's wet clothes, he really did seem to have been fishing.

Kikyou Kushida cautiously asked, holding on to one last shred of hope:

"Then, Yuki, you didn't hear what I was saying just now, did you?"

"Hmm... What do you mean? I got here a lot earlier than you. As far as I can tell, I've been listening since you started talking. And I should thank you for the compliments, of course."

Yuki Gyakukai blinked confidently. "Thanks to you, I learned for the first time what other girls think of me when I'm not around."

Ugh, this is so annoying!

So he'd heard everything she'd said from the very beginning?!

Kikyou Kushida's ever-present smile twitched, as if it might fall apart at any moment.

The thought of her words from tonight getting out filled her with fear.

She couldn't let that happen!

A cold glint flashed through the darkness of her pupils.

She fixed Yuki Gyakukai with a ferocious stare.

Noticing there was still some distance between them, Kikyou Kushida kept up her cute act and cautiously started chatting.

"This was the first time I'd said those things. Honestly, I'm a little embarrassed."

She clasped her hands together, pretending to be shy as she edged toward Yuki Gyakukai without drawing attention to herself.

As she reinforced her carefully crafted image, she kept a wary eye on his movements.

"Is that so? It's not nice to talk about people behind their backs, but it has nothing to do with me, so there's no need to worry about it."

He paid no attention to Kikyou Kushida's little movements.

"Well, I didn't want to, either. I don't want to bad-mouth people behind their backs. Now that you've said that, Yuki, I feel much better. But..."

Now standing in front of Yuki Gyakukai, Kikyou Kushida abruptly changed her expression.

Her gentle face gave way to one of savage fury, and the smiling eyes from before turned dark and cold.

A moment ago, she'd looked like a little angel. Now she was a demon from hell.

The stark contrast made Yuki Gyakukai click his tongue in admiration.

The next second, she grabbed his collar. Sensing that she wasn't strong enough to pull him in, he didn't resist. Instead, he bent toward her of his own accord, his expression inscrutable.

He looked into Kikyou Kushida's eyes from inches away, but instinctively glanced toward the embankment beside them.

What was Tomie doing?

Hadn't she said she was only testing whether Kikyou Kushida was a cheating hussy?

Why wasn't she coming out yet? Was there not enough evidence?

Tomie was really bad at this...

Oh no... Tch!

Yuki Gyakukai's eyes suddenly widened. He'd forgotten that Miss Tomie wasn't tall enough to climb over the railing. If she came around the other way, she'd have to walk quite a distance...

Kikyou Kushida, however, didn't know any of that.

She looked coldly at the face inches from hers, mistaking his expressions for signs of guilt.

She immediately reached out with her free hand toward his handsome face.

Seeing Yuki Gyakukai looking a little surprised, she felt a flicker of pleasure.

A cold smile tugged at her lips.

"Yuki, even though you told me not to worry about it, you still heard what I said. And I don't trust you. What am I supposed to do?"

Her tone had grown intimate. Kikyou Kushida had gone so far as to call him by his first name instead of "Yuki Gyakukai."

Yuki Gyakukai didn't care about the change in how she addressed him. He merely replied with some uncertainty:

"I don't know what to do if you don't trust me, either. But aren't you worried someone else might be here?

"If Tomie catches us like this, I'll be finished."

It sounded like a guess, but he was really trying to warn her.

After all, he had no idea how much longer it would be before Tomie arrived.

At his words, Kikyou Kushida tilted her head slightly.

She swept the area with a suspicious, icy gaze. After confirming no one was there, she turned back to him.

Her slender fingers gently traced his handsome face again and again, her thumb lightly rubbing his sexy lips.

"Still trying to fool me." She slipped her thumb directly into Yuki's mouth, touching his soft tongue. Kikyou Kushida's gaze was dark and cold, though she felt a hint of pleasure inside.

"If you dare tell anyone what happened today, I'll report you to the school for sexual harassment."

The fingers on his face suddenly pressed harder, digging into Yuki Gyakukai's cheeks.

At the same time, the hand gripping his collar abruptly let go, changed direction, and seized his free left hand, pressing it against something soft.

Huh?

Why was Kikyou Kushida still giving him this kind of treat, just like in the original story?

His left hand felt the soft curve, and he couldn't help squeezing it. In his mind, he compared it with his fiancée's.

D > C. His fiancée lost badly!

Kikyou Kushida's cheeks had turned bright red. She felt an electric sensation in her chest.

Her body felt as if bugs were crawling over it. It was unbearable, as though something were trickling out of her.

But when she saw Yuki Gyakukai wearing an inexplicably regretful expression, a storm erupted in her heart!

She quickly pulled her hands away, stepped back, and slapped away the large hand that was still resting on her chest!

"What the hell are you squeezing my tits for?!"