Time for a Lecture

Before Hoshino En could savor what came next, Kushida Kikyo pushed his left hand away and darted back to the chair, putting some distance between them.

As if she hadn't been the one to offer him a treat just moments ago.

"So, what exactly are you trying to say, Kushida?"

Hoshino En stared into Kushida Kikyo's eyes, trying to figure out where she had hidden the camera from her involuntary reactions.

If she'd gone this far, she must have prepared some sort of backup plan. All he had to do was suppress her the moment she made a move, strip her of her equipment, and turn her into a compliant subject.

But... no.

Hoshino En didn't notice Kushida Kikyo's gaze shift at all. She kept her eyes fixed on him, with a hint of smugness in them.

Hoshino En: ...??

No way! If she was going to pull out some kind of countermeasure, now was her only chance. Otherwise, knowing I might make a move later, I could flip the table before she even got to play her cards.

What was she so pleased about?

"Hoshino-kun, if you betray me, I'll tell everyone you tried to rape me."

"And this is the evidence!"

She pointed to her clothes and warned Hoshino En.

"This has your fingerprints on it. I'll keep these clothes, so you'd better do as I say!!"

Hoshino En: "..."

Hoshino En: "..."

Hoshino En: "..."

"sigh"

He let out a long sigh, suddenly feeling incredibly foolish for all the scheming he'd just done.

"W-what do you mean by that?!"

His reaction displeased Kushida Kikyo.

The girl had imagined all sorts of possible responses: he might fly into a rage and deny it, panic and beg for mercy, or even lunge at her and try to take her clothes... But she'd never expected this kind of almost indifferent disappointment.

As if... in his eyes, her threat was completely insignificant.

No, this wasn't right! His reaction wasn't right! Wasn't he supposed to look ready to surrender? Why did he seem... disappointed and helpless instead?

"Kushida, come over here. I want to show you something."

Hoshino En beckoned to Kushida Kikyo.

"W-what?"

Nervous because Hoshino En's reaction was so unexpected, Kushida Kikyo slowly walked over and sat beside him, about a fist's width away.

"I'm warning you, if you try anything weird, I'll tell everyone else too..."

"Before that, I think you'd better take a good, patient look at this."

Hoshino En pulled up a video on his phone and turned the screen toward Kushida Kikyo.

"You don't need to come any closer. You can see it just fine from there."

Kushida Kikyo shifted her attention to Hoshino En's phone.

Then she saw herself on the screen.

It showed every move she'd made after entering the living room, every expression, every word she'd said, and even her offering to let him "leave his fingerprints" and threatening him.

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

Wait, what... gasp

Following the camera's angle, she looked up and spotted a camera high on the wall behind Hoshino En. It was easy to mistake for a decoration if you didn't look closely, and its red light was glowing as it recorded.

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

Damn it...

"So, Kushida, even if you use your fingerprints as evidence, I have proof that you framed me and that I'm innocent."

"And your reputation would take a nosedive, too. After all, you present yourself to everyone as a pure and kind little angel, not a scheming fake innocent."

As he spoke, Hoshino En kept his eyes on Kushida Kikyo, afraid she might suddenly snap and try to snatch his phone.

Of course, he was watching her, too. He especially hoped she'd make a counter move that fit his expectations, like pulling out a phone or voice recorder she'd been using to record him and threatening him again.

But she didn't.

Kushida Kikyo first stared at him with wide eyes, as if she'd taken a major blow. Then her brows furrowed, as though she were weighing her options. Finally, she gave Hoshino En a sweet smile.

"Hoshino-kun~ Hoshino-kun~ I'm sure there's been some kind of misunderstanding between us, right?"

"I was only joking earlier. Don't take it so seriously~"

As she spoke, she edged closer to Hoshino En, as if she were about to wrap both arms around his left hand again.

"Stop!"

This time, Hoshino En didn't let her get her way.

The moment she started to move closer, he held up a hand to stop her.

"Kushida, go back to acting like yourself and sit there quietly. Watching you force that sweet, affectionate act makes me feel sick."

"Or I'll make you a laughingstock right now."

At that, Kushida Kikyo immediately stopped fawning over him. She stayed in her seat, her face once again collapsing into a cold, strained expression.

"Are you a pervert or something?! Who installs surveillance cameras in their own room? What are you, some kind of shut-in security guard?!"

She looked genuinely shaken.

First Semester of First Year :

Chapter 30: Time for a Lecture

Hoshino En suddenly regretted getting involved with Kushida Kikyo.

Judging by how readily she'd given in, she really had followed someone she barely knew into his room without preparing at all.

He'd thought she had the "social butterfly" trait and would be a tough opponent. He hadn't expected her only move to be offering her body and letting him "leave his fingerprints"!!

Never mind that the threat she'd made with those supposed "fingerprints" was complete nonsense and made no sense in theory.

"sigh"

"What was that supposed to mean?"

Kushida Kikyo, who'd been endlessly complaining and cursing Hoshino En, finally noticed his sigh.

She had him dead to rights. Why did he look so miserable?

She was the one who should be miserable!

"Nothing. I just realized... you might be kind of stupid, Kushida."

Kushida Kikyo: ...?!!!

"What's that supposed to mean? I admit you got the better of me this time, but that's obviously not my fault—it's because you're such a pervert!!"

Kushida Kikyo knew she wasn't the smartest person around, but she didn't think she was stupid.

This was clearly because Hoshino En was too good!

"Forget it. Just tell me the real reason you called me over. You didn't bring me here just to show off your 'deduction skills,' did you?"

"My reason?"

Hoshino En looked at her oddly when she asked.

"Didn't I tell you from the start? 'I thought you might be under a lot of pressure, Kushida, so I wanted to offer you a private place where you could let it out.' That's the real reason I called you here."

Kushida Kikyo: ...Huh???

"Why?"

"Because... didn't I tell you that, too? After what happened yesterday and this morning, I felt bad about it, so I wanted to help you relieve some stress."

Of course, what he'd really wanted was to use her as a way to get used to being around women... He definitely couldn't tell her that.

Thinking about it, Hoshino En suddenly felt that it was a very good thing Kushida Kikyo was a little slow. Sakayanagi had almost figured out what he was really thinking at lunchtime. Fortunately, he'd managed to talk his way out of it.

"Since it involved a dark secret you didn't want anyone else to know, I'd planned to get you worked up first, then explain that I wasn't your enemy. But I never thought you'd come in and pull an even bigger stunt."

Remembering her outlandish "fingerprint" move, and all the brainpower he'd wasted on it, Hoshino En started to get annoyed.

Still, she was only "stupid." He could handle that. She wasn't as far gone as Karuizawa.

Meanwhile, Kushida Kikyo was completely dumbfounded by his explanation.

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

So this had all happened because I'd overthought everything? And I'd handed him leverage against me with my own two hands???

Seriously...

For a moment, she empathized with Hoshino En. Could I really be that stupid?

"Kushida, putting that aside, I'm annoyed now, too."

"Huh?"

"You. Sit over there on the floor and kneel properly!"

Hoshino En pointed to the floor in front of him and raised his phone slightly with his other hand, indicating that he'd make her a laughingstock if she didn't obey.

But perhaps because she'd realized how foolish it had been to create leverage against herself and hand it over, Kushida Kikyo didn't even try to resist. She obediently knelt in front of Hoshino En.

But after she sat down, she realized something seemed off.

Kushida Kikyo: Wait! This position...

She looked at Hoshino En's crotch directly in front of her, and her face immediately flushed.

He... he'd just said he was annoyed, right? Did that mean...

"Kushida..."

"No, no! I'm still a virgin. Starting with something this advanced is too much for me!!"

This time it was Hoshino En's turn to be speechless.

"What are you thinking? I'm going to lecture you. You, 'Stupid Kushida,' had better listen carefully."

Hoshino En took the phone from her and set it on the table beside his own.

"Wait, I still need to reply to my friends..."

"Do that after the lecture."

Hoshino En spoke with a stern expression.

Since Kushida Kikyo had annoyed him, he wasn't going to let her off easy.

For someone as sociable as her, leaving her friends' messages on read was a serious punishment. In the worst case, it could even get her bullied.

But Hoshino En didn't care. If Kushida Kikyo couldn't deal with even that, she shouldn't bother him. She might as well bow out now.

"First, why did you think of something as ridiculous as 'leaving fingerprints'? Given the material of the Kodo Ikusei uniform, it's hard to leave fingerprints on it. Even if you did, they'd be partial prints that couldn't identify anyone. What were you thinking?"

Kushida Kikyo: "..."

"Um... I panicked, and that was the first thing that came to mind, so..."

"Then couldn't you have anticipated this situation and prepared a voice recorder or a small, portable camera?"

"Who brings weird stuff like that when visiting a classmate's room!!! Besides, those things sound expensive. I can't afford them."

"Fine. But speaking of that, I have something else to say."

"You're a girl with a great figure. Why did you agree to enter a guy's room without any precautions? You heard my introduction, too. I work out regularly. I could overpower someone like you and have my way with you without anyone noticing."

"...Weren't you just bragging?"

Hoshino En: "..."

Kushida Kikyo: ...!!!!