They were floating, man.

"Ah, I feel like a new woman!" Chisaki exclaimed after having washed off the

salt water and suntan lotion. She then excitedly rushed over to the bathtub and

placed her feet in the water, her eyes narrowed with pure bliss.

"Nothing beats a hot bath after a swim in the ocean." She smiled euphorically as she slid

into a large bathtub big enough to fit around six people.

"You can say that again. ♪ It's like I'm at a fancy resort ♪, " Maria agreed, washing her

body off as well. While this was the Kenzaki cottage's bathroom, it wasn't like any ordinary

bathroom. Not only did it have a door that led to the inside, but it also had a door that led

to the outside world, too, letting you wash off right after playing in the ocean. Thanks to

that, everyone was able to rinse off the salt water almost immediately, so they didn't have

to worry about being itchy or feeling gross later.

"There is no better reward after a fight than a warm bath. Ahhh, I feel refreshed already."

"Oh my? A fight? Do you mean with the jellyfish?"

"No, with two sharks."

"You're so wild. ♪"

However, there were "only" three showers, so all five of them couldn't bathe at once and

had to take turns. Chisaki and Maria actually offered to wait so that the first-year students

could go ahead, but they declined—especially Yuki, who claimed that it would take them far

too long to wash off, since they all had really long hair. Chisaki and Maria also figured that

the first-year students would try to rush instead of relaxing if they went before the others,

so they decided to take the lead. Incidentally, the two guys in the group had already quickly

rinsed off in the shower and were done. It was their way of being gentlemen.

"Excuse me? Could we come in?" Yuki's voice echoed from the other side of the door

leading outside.

"Oh, be our guest ♪, " Maria replied, having finished.

"Thank you."

The three first-year students stepped into the room right as Maria descended into the

tub. Each of them removed their bathing suits and placed them on the top rack, where the

soap and the like were.

"…"

Quietly, Yukistared hard at the freshly removed bathing suits, which were of all different

shapes and colors and lying next to bottles of shampoo and body wash.

How…lewd.

There stood an example of an old man in a young gentlewoman's body. After the creep

nonchalantly chose the shower in the middle, she proceeded to stare at Alisa's naked body

out of the corner of her eye.

Whoa…

It was incredible. She could tell Alisa had a nice body when she had clothes on, but

without clothes—phenomenal. Yuki almost audibly gasped at the nude work of art, and her

ladylike mask nearly came off.

Ack! I've got to stop staring, or Masha and Chisaki are going to notice.

Yuki looked forward once more before glancing in the mirror to check if anyone else

was staring…

Wow… They've got some nice goods themselves.

Her eyes instantly locked on their naked bodies in the mirror. Like…if you added their

muscle mass with the amount of fat they had, then divided by two, you would have the perfect

body. They both had extraordinary bodies but in contrasting ways.

It's like one's from a rom-com, and the other's from some adventure-fantasy world…

After Yuki nerdily evaluated Maria's fat-in-all-the-right-places body and Chisaki's

ripped figure, she began drying off her wet hair with a towel, when…

"Lady Yuki, shall I wash your back?" Ayano asked suddenly with her own hair neatly

put up in a hair clip.

"Hmm? I am fine, Ayano…"

"…? Lady Yuki?"

When she casually looked in Ayano's direction and saw her body…

Ah… What a comforting sight…

But that was a thought she kept to herself.

"Ah."

"Hmm?"

Right as Masachika stepped out of the living room and into the hallway to go to the

bathroom, Yuki and Ayano coincidentally left the bathroom at the same time, and their eyes

met. After Yuki promptly checked her surroundings, she handed something in a plastic bag

to Ayano and whispered what seemed to be orders to her. Entrusted with her master's will,

Ayano swiftly but silently peeked inside the living room, then checked the second floor as

well. Once finished, she made an okay gesture with her fingers from above, which

immediately curled Yuki's lips into a genuine grin.

"Bro, bro, bro," she repeated, scuttling over to his side.

"What?"

Masachika got just a bit of a bad feeling in his gut, and he smiled uncomfortably, but he

decided to hear her out. Yuki then stood slightly on her tiptoes and whispered into his ear:

"I just saw some huge tits floating."

"I knew you were going to say something like that!"

He sandwiched his hands around her head after hearing the not-so-unexpected garbage

that spewed from her mouth and prepared to give her the worst noogie of her life, when he

suddenly looked down at her with a serious expression.

"Whose were they?"

"Alya's and Masha's. And they were perfectly shaped, too. I'm talking perfect

hemispheric—?!"

"I didn't ask you to tell me all that."

He grinded the base of his palm against her temples, and she yelled, "Ahhh?! Pretty

unreasonable to ask me only to silence me once I start giving details!"

"You're unbelievable…"

After squeezing his sister's head for five or so seconds, he let go with an exhausted look

on his face.

"Ouch, bro… It was the highlight of my evening and a sight to see, and all I wanted was

to share the joy with you. That's it," she snapped venomously, rubbing her temples.

"'It was the highlight'? I know I shouldn't be saying this, but don't you get the chance

to see stuff like that all the time? Like during school trips?"

"I mean, I do—kind of, but they had these massive knockers that were like nothing I've

ever witnessed before, especially compared with the average Japanese person. It's hard to

describe what made them actually different besides size, but…yeah. They were something

else."

"Are you sure you guys aren't just too skinny? Just spitballing ideas here."

"Those two are just as skinny. They have these tiny waists, but their asses are firm, and

they don't sag, despite their colossal sizes. It has got to be the shape of the pelvis. That's

all I can come up with."

"Okay, I don't care."

But Yuki was staring off into the distance as if she didn't even notice her brother's cold

gaze.

"Grandpa told me a long time ago: Real big breasts are the ones that float in water."

"The hell is wrong with that old man?"

"He also said that hair without hair whorls and boobs that don't change shape when

lying down are fake."

"He just loved cramming useless information into your head, huh?"

"Heh-heh-heh. Don't worry, kid. I can vouch for them: Those two were the real deal.

Genuine and au naturel."

"I don't care."

"Uh-huh. Suuure you don't. Besides, what they had was more beautiful than anything

man-made. But the way they jiggled, their texture—those were real. They looked so soft,

to boot."

She gave him an energetic thumbs-up with an unnecessarily smug grin.

"You had to have been a middle-aged, pervy man in a past life."

He glared at her with a disgusted gaze, but deep down inside, he was thinking, Yeah, you

could say that again… He did get to experience them "firsthand" only a little earlier, after all.

…! Ack. No. Bad, Masachika.

He promptly put the lid back on his memories before he could remember anything else,

but it was already too late. His sister was sharp. Too sharp. And she could read her brother

like a book.

"By the way, my dear brother, did something happen between you and Alya?"

She gazed up at him skeptically.

"What do you mean?"

Masachika tried to play it cool like his life depended on it, looking vaguely curious in

response to her sharp observation.

"A man and a woman wearing nothing but swimsuits…hidden within the dark shadows

of the rocky grotto on the beach. There's no way something wouldn't happen." Yuki nodded

with a knowing grin, her arms crossed.

"Whatever you're imagining, it didn't happen. And there was no grotto. Just a bunch

of rocks out in the open."

"Oh? Then that means that something else—"

"No. Nothing," he denied, cutting his sister off. She still continued to stare with the

most curious of gazes, but she simply replied, "Oh, okay," and easily accepted his response

without question. "By the way, I have some great news for you, bro."

"Hmm?"

"Alya's all alone in the bathtub right now."

"I ain't gonna peep on her."

"I ain't suggestin' ya do."

Yuki looked as if she was overcome with surprise by his reaction while she placed a

hand on her hip.

"Who do you think I am?"

"I think you are my beloved sister, and the most important person in the world to me."

"Ah. ♡ I wuv you, too ♡," she sweetly assured, immediately throwing her arms around

him.

"What is this? A two-panel comic?"

He peeled his sister off him with an exhausted expression as he urged her to finish what

she was saying.

"So…? Go on."

"Mmm… It's simple, really."

Yuki then lowered her already soft voice and cupped her right hand over her mouth,

whispering:

"Wouldn't you like to see Alya right out of the bath?"

"…!"

"Wouldn't you like to see her slightly flushed skin—her somewhat damp hair?"

They were like the devil's whispers. Yuki drew back without even waiting for a response,

then passed by Masachika and patted him on the shoulder.

"But you're free to do whatever you want. Oh, just to let you know: I'll be keeping

Touya busy, and Ayano will be keeping Masha and Chisaki busy, so nobody is going to be

in this vicinity for a while…meaning you're free to do whatever you want."

She left her brother with those words before disappearing into the living room.

Masachika proceeded to look up at the second floor, where he saw Ayano step inside the

room Chisaki and Maria were staying in.

"…"

He stood stock-still in silence for a few seconds, then he started heading to the toilet

once more as originally planned.

Yuki's such a nerd that she lets her imagination run wild sometimes. What am I going

to do with her?

After finishing business, he sighed at his sister's nerdy need to try out every anime trope

possible while they were there.

What was she thinking, though? Of course I'm not going to be like, "Well, don't mind

if I do," just because she arranged all that. Young teenage boys in puberty are shy. Clearly,

they're going to do everything they can to pretend like they're not interested.

Once he washed his hands, he went to the second floor and shook his head with another

sigh.

But, well…

However, the instant he passed the laststep, he froze with a smug grin and turned around.

…as a fellow nerd, it would be wrong of me not to see this event through!

He hid at the top of the staircase and waited for Alisa to arrive so he could pretend to

run into her and say, "Oh, hey. Enjoy your bath?" Could he be blamed, though? He was an

otaku before he was a teenage boy! He couldn't help it!

"Why…? Huh? Why?"

Meanwhile, Alisa, who was alone in the changing room after her bath, was stricken

with panic and bewilderment. The girls had been getting out of the bath in pairs because the

changing room wasn't that big and there was only one hair dryer. Therefore, Alisa stayed,

as she often took relatively long baths, while Yuki and Ayano had left first. But when she

eventually did decide to stand to dry off and change…she was stunned. Before going outside

for a swim, she'd left a plastic bag with a change of clothes in the changing room…which

happened to be absent of any kind of underwear, even though her shorts and shirt were still

there.

"Huh? I brought underwear. I know I put a change of underwear in this bag…didn't I?"

No matter how many times she recalled everything she did, she clearly remembered

putting underwear in the plastic bag. And yet in reality, there was no underwear inside. She

hung on to the sliver of hope that they were somewhere on the floor and searched the changing

room, but she couldn't find them at all.

"I can't believe it… Did I really forget? Did I drop them on the way here? But…"

Wrapped only in a towel and clutching her head, she seemed to have come to the

conclusion that she'd messed up somehow. The fact that she never thought that someone was

pranking her and stole them showed just how innocent she was. Even if she did consider the

possibility, she surely would have immediately rejected the idea, since she was oblivious to

a certain someone's true nature.

"What am I going to do now?"

She could do without the bottom half. It would be uncomfortable, but she'd be able to

bear through it until she got to her room. The problem was the top half. It would be obvious.

It would stick out like a sore thumb. It was only a ten-second jog to her room, but if she

was to run into someone before she got there…especially one of the two guys, she would

die. No exception.

Masachika already saw just a little while ago, but still…!!

The situation reminded her of the accident from earlier, turning her cheeks bright red.

"Mmm…!!"

She slid her hands down her head to cover her face, squeezing her bangs tightly between

her fingers. She'd told Masachika himself not to worry about it anymore, and she had been

working really hard not to think about it, but…it was hopeless the moment she remembered

what happened. Alisa always had her guard up. It was to the point that people might have

considered her uptight or fastidious. She was proud to not rely on others and stand on her

own two feet, so to her, submitting or committing herself to someone was no different from

admitting defeat. Dating, of course, was out of the question.Just imagining herself depending

on, flirting with, and desiring to be loved by someone made her skin crawl.

Her thoughts on the matter had changed recently, but this was how she genuinely felt

only a year ago. That was why she always kept her guard up and would make sure to sternly

reject any man who casually tried to hit on her…which was part of why she almost made it

a habit to let her guard down in front of a certain someone of the opposite sex by whispering

in Russian. It was a thrill like nothing she had ever experienced before, but that was another

story.

At any rate, she wasn't going to let any player touch a single strand of hair on her head,

and if anyone tried, she would relentlessly knock their hand away. Whoever persisted even

after that was slapped. There were never any openings in her guard, just like a real princess.

And yet…

"Mmmmmmaaagrrrrrr!"

…he'd touched her. Not only touched but grabbed. He'd grabbed her bare chest. And to

top it all off, he saw everything. After calmly thinking about it, she realized that he'd also

wrapped his arms around her bare stomach and sat her in his lap. They had to get married

now. He was going to have to dedicate the rest of his life to her to take responsibility for

what he had done.

"Hff! Hff! It was an accident… It was an accident…"

She put a lid on her sense of virtue, stopping herself from obsessively repeating that they

had to get married, but no matter how many times she tried to persuade herself, it was still

something she couldn't let go. If it was some guy whom she didn't know, she would have

punched him until he forgot what happened, then slammed her head on the ground until she

forgot what happened as well.

It was unforgivable. She couldn't let him get away with it…and yet she'd almost

surrendered herself to him when she was in his arms. His muscular arm tightly wrapped

around her stomach, and his hard, large body pressed against her back—her heart had raced

wildly, and she'd had a hard time breathing. That was why she couldn't immediately start

moving again after falling. And there was something surprisingly comforting about being

held from behind—

"No!"

Alisa verbally dismissed her own thoughts. There was no way she would ever open

herself up to someone after that happened. There was no way her heart would ever race just

because someone helped her a little. It wasn't like she was a protagonist in one of those girly

comics Maria loved. She wasn't some weak little princess whose heart easily throbbed

because some guy saved her. She was simply confused due to something unexpected

happening. She panicked. She was confused, she froze, and her heart malfunctioned. That

was it, she believed.

"…Maybe I shouldn't forgive him."

Thinking deeply about it only made her feel her pride and dignity as a woman had been

damaged in some way. She took back what she'd said earlier and began to seriously consider

(physically) erasing Masachika's memories, but that would have to be put on hold. Right

now, she had to think of how she was going to get herself out of this mess. Her predicament

hadn't changed. She still had no underwear, and she was in danger.

"…"

She reset for the time being and started racking her brain for ways to get out of this

unscathed. The safest method would be to wait for one of the other girls to walk by and ask

them to bring her a pair of underwear. She would no longer have to risk having someone catch

her with no bra on, but even that was still pretty embarrassing. It'd be a memory she would

cringe about yearslater, and it would make her look like an idiot. Plus, it would inconvenience

whomever she asked…which meant her only other option was risking it all and running to

her room.

Yuki and Ayano should be in our room already, though, right? But if they're not, I can

change there, and if they are, I can just grab my underwear and change in the half bath, I

guess? It won't be easy…but I don't have any other options!

Regardless of her decision, she was out of time. Someone would surely start to wonder

and check up on her if she waited any longer. Therefore…

"…Let's do this!"

After making up her mind,she put on hershorts and shirt over her bare skin, then quickly

dried her hair before stuffing her towel and bathing suit into the plastic bag.

"…Maybe I could just hide my chest with this?"

Once the thought came to mind, she clutched the bag with both arms, but…it looked

really unnatural. Maybe she could just take the towel out, but now her bikini was clearly

visible through the thin plastic bag, and that was embarrassing as well. Plus, holding a wet

towel against your chest was icky in general. Yep. That was all this was. She didn't just

discover she was an exhibitionist. Not at all. Nope.

"…It'll be okay. I just need to go back to my room without being seen," Alisa muttered

to herself before she lifted the plastic bag with her right hand, slowly opened the sliding

door, and peeked out into the hallway. After making sure there was nobody coming from

each side of the hallway, she suddenly heard Yuki and Touya talking in the living room, and

she mentally celebrated.

Yesss! If Yuki's in the living room, then that means Ayano is there with her! And if the

president is there, then Masachika should be as well… Yes, I can do this!

Alisa dashed out of the changing room, thrilled to discover that her biggest fear was

gone. She prayed that nobody would leave the living room while she climbed the stairs to

the second floor…when she suddenly heard a voice coming from above.

"Oh, Alya. Can I talk with you about something?"

Her head went blank.

"…? Alya…? What's wrong?"

"Noth…ing…"

Masachika casually started to walk down the stairs with his "what a coincidence"

expression, but he almost immediately felt something was wrong when he saw how

uncomfortable Alisa seemed. Her downcast eyes were restlessly wandering about as she

fidgeted with the dirty towel–filled plastic bag in her hands.

She was wearing a plain shirt and simple shorts, which would make some people look

like a bum, and yet it mysteriously looked really fashionable on her. Perhaps she seemed

badass because she didn't care how she looked?

Dammit… Good-looking people can do anything and get away with it…

He keenly felt that, shooting her a questioning look as he descended the stairs, when

all of a sudden…

Hmm?

His eyes were naturally guided up from the plastic bag in her hands, and he froze.

Furrowing his brow, he looked once more…and then a third time…before smoothly

redirecting his gaze and looking straight up into the air. He thereupon screamed in his head

as hard as he could:

Why isn't she wearing a braaaaaaaaa?!

An image of Yuki sticking her tongue out and winking suddenly manifested in his mind.

Even with absolutely zero evidence, he had no doubt it was her doing.

Yukiiiiiiiii!!

His sister's words from earlier suddenly began to play back in his head: "It was the

highlight of my evening and a sight to see, and all I wanted was to share the joy with you.

That's it."

This is not how you share!!

He inwardly shouted with rage again, clenching his teeth with his eyes still looking

straight up. It was seeing him like this when Alisa finally realized that he had noticed.

"Hey."

"Huh? Huh?!"

Grabbing him by the wrist, she suddenly began dragging him to the second floor while

he awkwardly stumbled behind, missing a step or two on the way. She ended up taking him

to the room the first-year girls were staying in.

"Lie down right there."

"…What?"

"Just do it!" she sharply demanded, pointing at the bed.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Masachika jumped. Although he was uncomfortable due to the no-boys-allowed

atmosphere of the room, he timidly climbed into the bed and hesitantly lay down on his

back…when he suddenly heard the door being locked.

"A-Alya?"

"…"

He'd lifted his head and called out to Alisa, who was standing in front of the door, but

she didn't say a word. She turned around, covering her chest with her right arm, and slowly

approached. Without saying a word, she climbed onto the bed and straddled Masachika's

stomach.

"U-uh…?"

"…"

A locked room. Two teenagers of the opposite sex in bed together. While this would

seem like a very lewd situation to most people, there was something ominous about Alisa's

downcast gaze that caused his heart not to race but to shrink with fear.

"Masachika…"

"Y-yes?"

She finally opened her mouth and slowly lifted her head, revealing a threatening half

smirk. Her entire face was illuminated with a burning crimson hue. She looked down at him

with glassy eyes, and only her lips were curling into a stiff smile.

I'm starting to feel a sense of déjà vu. Ohhh, something just like this did happen only a

little earlier today. Ha-ha, he thought, trying to preoccupy his mind as if he was attempting

to escape reality.

"I'm sorry. I want to apologize in advance for what's about to happen," Alisa announced

in between her irregular breathing.

"F-for what—?"

"I know. I understand that it's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong, and I get

that. But I need to vent these emotions that I can't contain any longer. Do you think you

could be that outlet?"

Her voice trembled, making it clear thatshe wasstruggling to suppressthese overflowing

emotions. Masachika briefly looked up at the ceiling…and prepared himself.

"Sure, I've got you. We are partners, after all." Plus, this was my stupid sister's fault.

He gave her the thumbs-up while keeping the last part to himself.

"Thank you," she softly replied before immediately…

"Hmph!"

"Mmm!"

The entire world before his eyes was erased as a pillow covered his face, followed by

suppressed grunts of rage paired with a violent air strike pulverizing said pillow.

"Hmph! Hnnn!"

Two, three—the missiles only continued to drop. She seemed to be slapping the pillow

over his face, but…

…It doesn't really hurt at all.

There wasn't much power behind each slap in spite of how loud her grunts were. She

was probably holding back since she was a guest here, and this wasn't her pillow. Plus, she

was avoiding hitting where Masachika's face was, to boot. The strikes perfectly hit only the

sides of the pillow, so he hardly felt any pain.

"Nnng! Mn!"

"…"

And once he got used to it, he started to focus on Alisa's butt sitting on his stomach.

I-I'm sure there's a fetish for whatever this is called.

Every slap made it jiggle over him, gradually making him feel funny. They say that your

other senses heighten whenever you close your eyes, and it seemed like that was true in this

case. Masachika clenched histeeth under the pillow while Alisa's butt danced on hisstomach

and the bed made an absurdly loud creak.

Gaaaaaah!! Hurry up and finish already!!

He begged for the torture to end but not because it was painful. Perhaps his wishes were

heard. Because after a few seconds went by, the attacks stopped, and only Alisa's frantic

panting could be heard. Silence followed. As Masachika emptied his mind, Alisa pushed

against the creaking bed, climbing off asifshe had finally managed to get her emotions under

control. However, Masachika still didn't move an inch.

"Hey, uh…Masachika? Are you okay?" she called out to him from the edge of the bed.

"…Yeah, perfectly fine," he replied in a voice as if he was suppressing a myriad of

problems. After all, he wasn't exactly "fine," but it was because of a different reason from

what she was thinking. Alisa sounded like she was almost trembling uncomfortably, perhaps

feeling she had overdone it when…

Hmm?

He suddenly felt light pressure pressing down on the pillow around where his nose was,

making him wonder what this never-felt-before sensation could be.

"<I'm sorry.>"

But Alisa immediately removed her hand (?), muttered something in Russian, and took

the pillow off his face. Masachika turned away from the blinding light while slowly sitting

up. After blinking until his eyes adjusted, he looked over at Alisa, who was now holding the

pillow to her chest with an uncomfortable expression.

"I… I'm sorry… I'm okay now."

"O-oh. Well, I'm glad you feel better. Like, uh… It didn't hurt at all, so don't worry

about it, okay?"

"O-oh…"

"Y-yeah… Anyway, I'llsee you later…and I don't care at all,so you don't need to worry

about a thing, either."

"…Okay."

He decided to leave immediately, partly since she seemed so uncomfortable that she was

shaking, and promptly unlocked the door before leaving the room, not once looking back.

"Phew… I'm exhausted." He sighed, closing the door with his hands behind his back…

when he suddenly felt someone watching him, and he reflexively looked to his side.

"Ah…"

"…? Chisaki? What's wrong?"

Masachika wondered about the sight. Chisaki was poking her head out from the

neighboring room, but her gaze slowly wandered toward the ceiling and appeared troubled.

"I, uh… I heard some noise, so…?"

"Some noise…?"

His brow furrowed…and then it hit him. She was talking about the creaking bed, Alisa's

muffled voice, and the sound of a man unlocking the door and leaving once the creaking and

grunting stopped.

"It's not what you think!" he yelled—practically shrieked.

Although he was denying what she was most likely thinking, there was no way he could

tell her that Alisa was actually straddling him while slapping a pillow over hisface. Therefore,

he racked his exhausted brain for anything he could say to clear the misunderstanding other

than the bizarre truth.

"Alya? I'm coming in. ♪"

During Masachika's desperate attempt to explain himself, Maria somehow quietly left

her room and snuck right by him. She opened the door to the first-year students' room and

let herself in before even waiting for a reply. There, she found Alisa curled up on the bed

with a pillow in her arms.

"Oh my. What's wrong? …Did something happen?" she asked, taking a seat on the edge

of the bed. However, Alisa only stuffed her face in her pillow without saying a word. Maria

asked once more:

"Did Kuze do something to you?"

"…"

Alisa still didn't reply but instead looked away as if to say, "I don't want to talk about

it." Maria's expression immediately turned grim, and her fists clenched.

"I want you to tell me if he did anything to you that made you uncomfortable, because

I'll talk to him if you need me to."

"…That's not it," Alisa finally replied, perhaps worried that Masachika would be

unfairly blamed for something if she remained silent. "Masachika didn't do anything wrong.

It's just…"

"Just what?"

"…"

"Hmm?"

Alisa glanced up at her sister, who was gently encouraging her to elaborate, then quickly

looked away and muttered:

"It was all an accident. I made a little mistake…and he ended up seeing something very

embarrassing. That's all."

It was an abstract response, but Maria instinctively understood that her sister was

embarrassed as a woman and not as a perfectionist who'd made a mistake in front ofsomeone.

And that was why Maria spoke with a more cheerful tone and exclaimed:

"Oh, it was an accident… That's great! You're really lucky it was Kuze!"

"Huh…?"

"If it was an accident, then it could have been anyone here, right? It could have been

the student council president."

The instant she said that, Alisa's face twisted with disgust. Maria inwardly laughed a bit

at her easy-to-read reaction and continued:

"It could have been someone you didn't even know, so in a way, you're kind of lucky

it was the guy you're closest with, right?"

"We're not that close…"

"Hmm? You definitely are."

"There just aren't any other guys I get along with, so he wins by default. That's all…,"

muttered Alisa, burying her mouth in her pillow.

"Even then, you still trust him more than any other man, right?" Maria added sweetly.

"…"

"Then everything should be okay. Besides, I believe Kuze is the kind of guy who will

go out of his way to make sure you're comfortable. ♪"

"…I know that."

Alisa finally sat up, seemingly a bit annoyed by Maria's know-it-all way of speaking,

and gave her sister a sharp look.

"I don't want you getting the wrong idea, either. I trust Masachika, and I consider him

a friend, but nothing more."

"Oh my. ♪ Really?"

"Really. So don't let your imagination run wild. Mom's already been acting weirdly

excited, so I don't need any more aggravation."

"Oh, she did meet him during the parent-teacher conference, huh? I remember her being

thrilled that you finally had a male friend."

"She has been grinning every time I've gone over to Masachika's house during summer

break, too…even though it's just to do homework."

"Hmm… But you're all alone with him at his house, right? I don't think people usually

do that unless they're really close."

"That's…! That's because…I've never had any close male friends before, so I'm not

sure how I'm supposed to act…"

Her voice slowly trailed off as she averted her gaze, causing Maria's face to light up

with a smile.

"You're so cute, Alya."

"…! Tsk."

"Just continue being yourself. ♪ Ah! I'm not even going to let Kuze have you!"

"Hey?! Stop!"

Alisa used the pillow to shield herself from her sister's embrace and pushed her back

until Maria eventually slipped off the bed.

"Come on, Alyaaa. What's wrong with a little sisterly love?" Maria pouted after taking

a few steps back.

"We're not kids anymore."

"Hugging and expressing love for family are still important."

"We kiss each other on the cheek whenever we greet. Isn't that enough?"

"Ngh!"

She glared at hersister, but Alisa refused to even glance in her direction—as ifshe didn't

care in the least. After a few seconds went by, Maria looked away as well before briskly

walking to the door.

"Hmph. ♪ If Alya's going to be a jerk, then I'll just have Kuze cheer me up," she

complained, whispering audibly so her sister would hear.

"…Go ahead."

Alisa's eyebrow slightly rose, but she dismissed her sister's so-called threat.

"Okay, I think I will, then," Maria replied childishly asshe left the room. She then leaned

against the door in the empty hallway and whispered:

"…I really am going to have him cheer me up."

She seemed like a completely different person as she looked back over her shoulder. Her

expression was far more mature yet somewhat sorrowful as well. Nevertheless, after but a

briefsigh, her brilliantsmile immediately returned. She opened the door to her room, when…

"I-it's fine. You don't have to lie to me…"

"I'm not. We really—"

"Chisaki? How much longer do you plan on torturing him like that? Alya said nothing

happened. Sigh. You're so dirty, Chisaki. ♪ Get your mind out of the gutter. ♪"

"Wh-what?! Me?!"

And just like that, Maria came to Masachika's rescue with her usual radiant smile.