Kawaikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasu ka? Volume 1 Chapter 2

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Editor: Daxar

My senpai can't be this abnormal

Part 1:

"—–Hey, Keiki-kun. The thing is, I've been in love with you for a long time now."

After class. The calligraphy club room was illuminated by the setting sun as Keiki was confessed to by the senpai he had always admired. Confronted with the frozen stiff Keiki, the girl once more started talking with a marshmallow-like soft voice.

"I really like you, Keiki-kun."

The girl was, of course, Tokihara Sayuki.

Being Keiki's senpai with a one year difference, she had slightly flushed cheeks, making her look incredibly cute right now.

"Keiki-kun, close your eyes."

What exactly these words meant, the virgin Keiki didn't know. He just closed them as he was told. In complete darkness, there were only two things he felt as clear as day.

The heat of her hand touching his cheek, and the gentle wind of her breath close to his face.

"…….."

Even now, his heart was about to leap out of his chest. Since this was the first time ever in his life, he was incredibly nervous. Towards Keiki's lips, Sayuki came closer with her own.

"S-Senpai—–"

Their breaths mixing into one, her soft-looking lips were about to touch his own.

In that moment, Keiki's head felt a ‘bang'.

………………….Bang?

Like that, he woke up. Not in the clubroom, but in his own room. The sunlight shone through the openings of the curtains, telling him that it was morning already.

Keiki could sum up in a few words what had just happened.

"The ‘it was all a dream' ending, huh."

Yes, during his sleep, he happened to roll out of bed and hit his head on the floor. It was a tragedy for him, considering what had happened in his dreams. His memories of the dream were still fresh, although not for too long, and he grit his teeth in frustration.

Part 2:

Just recently, Kiryuu Keiki had received his first love letter. With only the words ‘I love you' written on a piece of paper, there was no name of the sender, or even an indication of who it might be. As a paperweight, the girl had used a pair of panties, hence the codename ‘The Cinderella that dropped her panties', but her feelings for Keiki were almost certainly not a fluke. To get his first girlfriend ever, he had decided to investigate the identity of said ‘Cinderella'.

"I see. So the last person who left the room was Tokiharsenpai."

"Yeah. Mizuha told me yesterday."

Classes were over. In a deserted classroom, Keiki and Shouma were sitting near the windows. Today's agenda was, once again, figuring out Cinderella's identity.

"Since Tokiharsenpai was the last person who left the room, the possibility that she is Cinderella is extremely high."

Keiki had spotted the love letter after the big cleaning operation inside the calligraphy club room. He had left the room for only a short amount of time, 10 minutes to be precise. From that, it was obvious that one of the members of the cleaning operation was likely the sender. Considering that the letter was left on top of a table, it could be further surmised that the last girl who left the room that day was Cinderella.

"By the way, Keiki. Where did you hide the evidence (panties)?"

"I'm keeping them secure in my own room. I can't have Mizuha find them, after all."

"You'd be in for a lot of trouble if she were to find something like that in your room, I'd imagine."

"Just imagining her saying something like ‘I don't like a perverted Onii-san' robs me of my will to live."

As a siscon big brother, being told something like that would result in a fatal wound. It would probably smash his pride as a big brother. This was on a completely different level than something like his porn magazines being discovered.

"If only it were an actual glass she instead of a pair of panties, huh."

"With panties I can't just go around checking to see if it fits any girls, after all."

"If you were to do that, it wouldn't just end with expulsion."

Going to a girl and blatantly asking her something like "Would you try on these panties, please?" would probably end up in court as a case of sexual harassment.

"Well, the panties are one thing, but I do think that Tokiharsenpai is a strong candidate. You two are rather close, after all, and she seems to really trust you."

"Y-You think so?"

"Oya, your face says that you wouldn't complain if that were the case."

"Well, of course I'd be happy if Sayuki-senpai was in love with me."

"She's really popular, after all. In the tennis club, she's at the top of the list of who the guys would want their first time to be with."

"Wha!? Wait, first time you say…."

Although it might sound a bit blunt, Keiki could understand the feelings of the boys.

I mean, what's up with those proportions?

Mixed with her long legs and slender figure, she had these magnificent melons. Keiki was sure that a lot of boys would die to get a feel of them. Just yesterday, actually, Keiki also had a fantasy of copping a feel of her marvellous chest.

"Though, I don't really have that much interest in big breasts, myself."

"Shouma is a bit different in that regard, isn't he?"

"Ahaha. I'm a lolicon after all," The pervert confessed with a refreshing smile.

Sayuki's body features where the exact opposite of Shouma's preferences.

"Keiki. Rather than small in general, I prefer it when they're still in a growth spurt."

"I'll pass. I don't have the time to listen to your tastes."

"For example, someone like Kogsan would be great."

"You're basically insulting Yuikchan with that."

The first year library member Koga Yuika and Akiyama Shouma were acquaintances. After all, Shouma would visit Keiki during his working hours from time to time.

"Now then, I have to go to my club now."

"Sorry for keeping you here."

"I'm also interested in the identity of Cinderella, you know. You're planning on going to the calligraphy club after this, right?"

"Yeah, that was my plan. I wanted to talk with Sayuki-senpai once more."

"That so? Go get 'em, my prince."

"Yeah, I won't back down. If Senpai really is Cinderella, then I'd get a big-breasted girlfriend, after all."

"This is probably the first time where the prince is trying to uncover the identity of Cinderella because of her breasts."

After all, Kiryuu Keiki is but a normal high school student. He's nothing like how a prince should be. Even so, that love letter was addressed at him and only him. Merely remembering the words ‘I love you' inside that letter made his heart burn up in passion. That was why he wanted to respond to the girl's feelings as fast as possible. This feeling of his was his motivation.

Having separated from Shouma, he went to visit the calligraphy club room. Even after knocking, he wouldn't receive an answer, so he used his key to open the door. At times like this ‘The girl' was in her own world.

"Ah, just as I thought."

Past the door, he saw a familiar scene. In the middle of the room, a female student with long black hair was writing something.

Tokihara Sayuki.

The third-year calligraphy club president. The person Keiki thought had the highest possibility of being Cinderella.

"She looks really cool when she's working like that."

She always tied up her hair into a ponytail while she was working. Her soft fingers put her rich words onto the paper. No matter where one looked, she was breathtakingly beautiful. He had seen her like this countless times already, but now, Keiki found himself captivated by her once again. Without taking a seat, he merely stared at her until she noticed his presence.

"I wonder if Keiki-kun has some sort of superpower, always appearing right in front of me."

"I only opened the door like always, but you didn't notice."

"Is that so? Then, when will you learn some real superpowers?"

"Why are you trying to force superpowers onto me? I don't have any intentions of acquiring any skills like that."

"What a shame. I would really like to see the boy who leapt through time."

"What kind of unreasonable request is that…?"

"It seems today's youth are giving up way too quickly. Why don't you just try flying through time right now?"

"I can't even fly normally, so how could I achieve that?" Keiki retorted as he pulled up a chair and sat down, leaving his bag in the chair next to him.

Facing him was Sayuki, untying her hair.

"What were you writing? Your entry for the competition is already finished, right?"

"I just felt like writing something. If I don't write something, I can't really calm down."

"So you're that kind of person, I see. Similar to the people that can't calm down without smoking a cigarette."

"You might be right. This might count as poisoning, too."

"There's quite a difference, I believe."

Their usual banter. This atmosphere was really relaxing for Keiki. However, at the same time, he felt something tickling inside his chest, like he wanted something to change.

"Senpai is…..just like always I see."

"I guess. I don't feel any different."

"Muu… How frustrating."

"Eh, what is?"

"No, it's nothing."

She really was acting like usual.

Even after what had happened, she didn't have an embarrassed look or anything. Yesterday after school, she had kissed Keiki's manly cheek. For Keiki, that was one of the biggest events in his life, but it didn't seem like Sayuki felt the same way about it. Thinking about that, Keiki felt a bit frustrated.

"Uhm, there's something I want to ask you, Sayuki-senpai."

"Something you want to ask? …D-Don't tell me?!" She put her arms in front of her breasts as if she wanted to hide them.

"I'm sorry, but telling you my cup size is too embarrassing, so I can't answer that."

"No, that's not what I wanted to ask, you know…"

"Muh…..when you say it like that, I feel like I want to tell you."

"I don't even want to reply to that."

Their conversations were always drifting in the wrong direction like that, but Keiki didn't have the time to enjoy that.

"So? What did you want to ask, then?"

"Uhm, that's… Mhm? Huh?"

Keiki mustered all the courage he had, but in that moment, a certain question entered his mind.

What if Sayuki-senpai actually isn't Cinderella?

And that wasn't exactly limited to Sayuki. Even if he were to ask his potential Cinderella something like ‘Were you the one who sent me a love letter?', what would happen if she were to answer with ‘Eh, I don't know what you're talking about.'? That would be too cruel for Keiki's soft heart. He wouldn't even be able to apologize.

Additionally, there were two other points he had to keep in mind when asking.

Point Number 1:

[The panties left together with the love letter.]

He had to avoid that topic at all costs. After all, he couldn't just go and ask a girl ‘Are these your panties?'. That would be sexual harassment, and it would brand him forever as a pervert. So, he had decided that the part about the panties was a forbidden topic for his investigation.

Point Number 2:

[The reason why the girl didn't write her name in the letter.]

Keiki could only think of one reason. Not because the girl simply forgot about it, but rather because she wanted to hide her identity. There's no way that he would receive a simple ‘Yes, it was me' after asking a candidate.

There was no doubt that Sayuki was under suspicion, but until he could ask her with more confidence, he had to investigate more.

"…Keiki-kun? What's wrong?" Sayuki looked at him with a worried expression.

The risk of her not being his Cinderella was still too great. He had to gather more information so that he wouldn't ruin this important friendship between Sayuki.

"Uhm….the room is really clean now, isn't it?"

"You're right. That's pretty obvious, since we just recently cleaned it."

"Makes sense~"

"…….."

"…….."

Their conversation stopped in an instant.

"Really, what's wrong with you, Keiki-kun? You seem really weird today."

"I'm always weird, though?"

"That might be true."

"You're not denying it?!"

He really wanted her to deny it. It seemed like she always thought of him as weird.

"Leaving that joke behind, if you need help with anything, you can ask me, okay? Are you worried about something sex-related?"

"You're wrong."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And why would I ask a girl for advice about that?"

"I really don't get you, Keiki-kun."

"What a coincidence. I don't understand Sayuki-senpai, either."

She's really cool-looking when she's writing. But when she's not, she always acts like a child.

Even though yesterday she kissed him on the cheek, which should be a rather special occasion, she's acting like nothing happened at all.

It seems like there are times when I have no idea what she's thinking, even after being around her all this time.

"…I see. Actually, I don't know anything about Sayuki-senpai." Of course, he had a certain degree of knowledge concerning her even though they had barely known each other for a year.

What kinds of books she likes. What kinds of food she likes. What types of music she likes. What makes her happy. This should be enough for a rough profile. However, he didn't know how she felt about her Kouhai Kiryuu Keiki. Until know, that was perfectly fine. He was fine with their current relationship. But, to judge whether she was Cinderella or not, that knowledge wasn't sufficient. Just one more step was missing.

If you want to know more about another person, it's important to touch a side of them that you normally wouldn't. For example, Keiki didn't know what Sayuki was doing when she wasn't working on her calligraphy. He really only ever saw her in the calligraphy club room, so Keiki knew nothing about her life outside of the club.

Sayuki Keiki didn't know what she was like outside of school - Keiki wanted to know more about her, so maybe he should ask her if she wanted to go out sometime.

But, wouldn't that mean I'd have to invite her on this so called ‘Date'?

That's right, dates were an opportunity for a boy and girl to get to know each other. Of course, it's not like Keiki had any experience going on dates with girls. None at all. Zilch. Zero. Nada.

Now, the question was….

"I wonder how I could invite Sayuki-senpai on a date……"

"Eh….?"

Hearing a faint voice, Keiki lifted up his head, his eyes meeting those of the baffled Sayuki.

Her lips then slowly formed the words "Date?" as her quiet voice leaked out. As if she had seen into the heart of her Kouhai with pinpoint accuracy. Or rather—-

"…..Eh? D-Did I say that out loud?"

"Keiki-kun wants to go on a date…..with me?"

"…….Eh?"

He had received an unexpectedly affectionate answer. Sayuki looked at him with expectant eyes. Keiki felt like his face had gotten hot.

Did I unconsciously manage to invite her?

"If Keiki-kun wants to go on a date….I don't mind going with you, you know?"

"R-Really?"

"There's a store near the train station that added a new parfait to their menu, but I'm kind of out of money for this month."

"This person is trying to sponge off me for her own desires?!"

With something like that, there is no way that a new love-comedy could be born.

Rather, she's saying 'this month' but the month barely started… just how did she manage to use up all of her allowance in such a short amount of time…?

"It it no good?"

"Uhh, looking at me like that is unfair…."

Women really are unfair. Especially when a beauty like her is giving me the puppy eyes.

Boys are built to be weak towards that girly attitude. Being attacked with such a powerful weapon, they have no choice but to admit their defeat.

"…I got it. I'll treat you to that parfait."

"Now that it's decided, let's go! Immediately!"

"Hey, don't start pulling! It won't run away, so we don't have to hurry!"

"It will. They only make 11 of them per day."

"O-Okay…?"

It seems like even eating a parfait has turned into a war. The world of sweets really is terrifying. I've heard that girls have an excessive sweet tooth, but Senpai seems to be even more extreme about it.

As they took a seat in the cafe near the train station, the waitress came to take their orders. Of course, Sayuki ordered the parfait while Keiki made do with a coffee.

His coffee came in a simple cup while they brought the parfait on a big plate. The powdered green tea on top of the vanilla ice cream was matched perfectly, and seeing the cream combined with an accent of adzuki beans, it looked extraordinarily delicious.

"Ah, just looking at it makes me happy. It seems like such a waste to eat it."

"If Senpai won't it eat, I'll gladly take it."

"I do feel bad for Keiki-kun, but that's the one thing I can't allow."

"Okay, okay, then please, go ahead."

"T-Thank you," Seeming a bit nervous, she picked up the spoon.

Scooping away the top part, she put the spoon inside her mouth.

Having tasted her first scoop, she closed her eyes in happiness with a "Mhm….!"

"It's really delicious. The flavours fit together so well!"

"I'm glad that you like it."

"Do you want a taste as well?"

"No, we don't have another spoon, so I'll pass."

"I'll feed you."

"No thank you."

"What a shame. I really wanted Keiki-kun to share this happiness with me."

"Just seeing Senpai like this has filled my stomach up to the brim."

Merely seeing her happy face like this was plenty for Keiki. Girls may like sweets, but for boys, a girl's smile is just as wonderful.

"By the way, what did you use your allowance for?"

"It's a bit embarrassing, but I had a destined meeting with a beautiful brush."

"You make it sound so romantic, but you probably bought it on a whim, right?"

"It's fine. If I think that it's worth it, then I won't regret it."

"That's why you had to give up on this parfait for so long."

"That's also fine. I got to go on a date with Keiki-kun, after all."

"……."

Really, women aren't playing fair.

Showing Keiki a bright smile like that, she could probably squeeze all of his money out of him.

"Thank you, Keiki-kun."

"No problem, this parfait wasn't that expensive."

"That's also true, but I didn't mean that. I'm really grateful to Keiki-kun. We managed to avert the dissolving of the calligraphy club thanks to you joining."

"Ah, that's right. It's been one year already, hasn't it?"

One year ago, Keiki joined the calligraphy club for Sayuki's sake.

"After my senpais all graduated, I was the only one left, and no one seemed to be interested in the club, either. But, Keiki-kun came to help me—" With a very nostalgic sounding voice, she smiled at Keiki, "At that time, I was really happy."

These words continued to reverberate inside his chest. Being told Sayuki's honest feelings like this, he felt the blood rushing to his face.

"It might be a bit late to ask, but were you really fine with joining the calligraphy club?"

"Eh?"

"I mean, you don't have any interest at all in calligraphy, right?"

"Well, that's right, yes."

"Even though you would've been fine as a ghost member, you still come around from time to time… Isn't that way too stressful for you? Your name on the registration form would've been enough, right?"

It's true that Keiki isn't exactly a calligraphy club member. His club activities were merely cleaning the room from time to time, reading a book, or watching Sayuki during her work.

Even so—

"I'm really glad that I joined the calligraphy club. Senpai is beautiful, after all, and she looks so cool when she's working hard— Senpai is someone I look up to."

He was showing his face at the club exactly because Sayuki was there. Because the person he admired was sitting there.

"Also, when I'm with Senpai, I'm always having fun."

That would be the most important reason.

"……"

"…? Sayuki-senpai?"

"I-It's nothing."

As Keiki raised his voice again, Sayuki quickly averted her eyes with flushed cheeks. Seeing this rare response, he reacted the same way. But it wasn't exactly a bad feeling.

After that, Sayuki continued to eat her parfait in silence. Keiki did the same, drinking his coffee. As time passed, the coffee disappeared, along with the parfait. The moment Sayuki used a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, Keiki gathered his resolve.

"Sayuki-senpai."

"What is it?"

"Are you hiding something from me, by any chance?"

"Hiding something?"

"For example, uhm, some sort of emotion towards me or something……"

"……….."

"……….."

Time— had stopped.

The reason for that was clearly Keiki's spontaneous question. He had tried avoiding the topic of the love letter and the panties, but even so, he thought that this still turned out pretty bad.

He expected Sayuki to say something like "You're too self-conscious. Stop with these fantasies." However, the expected verbal abuse never came. There was no answer at all, to be precise.

"…..?"

Checking her expression because he thought something was off, he saw a look on her face like some kind of startled cat, frozen up in surprise. That sight was something he had never seen before.

"Uhm, Sayuki-senpai?"

"…..?!"

The moment her name was spoken out loudly, she jumped up from her seat.

"——-, ————,"

She seemed like she wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. Her face was as red as an apple and her eyes were wide.

This was one of the faces that Keiki had not seen yet. A Sayuki outside of school.

"….Sorry, I'm going home for now," Saying that with a quiet voice, she quickly grabbed her bag and rushed out of the cafe.

Even after silence had returned to the shop, Keiki could only space out, looking at the door Sayuki dashed out of.

"This is the first time I've ever seen her like that."

With just a simple question, he managed to rob her of her usual calmness.

"Don't tell me… Sayuki-senpai really is Cinderella?"

That one response was enough to soften his doubts.

Sayuki's red face.

To find out what kind of emotion that facial colour symbolized, he decided that it was necessary to shorten the distance between him and her even more.

"Mornin', Keiki."

"Ah. Good morning, Shouma."

At 8 o'clock in the morning, Keiki met Shouma at a road intersection.

"How rare for you to be without Mizuha."

"Yeah, she has class duty today, so she went on ahead. Same to you, though. Don't you have morning practice?"

"I don't have to go every day. Taking breaks is also important."

Having greeted each other, they continued their walk to school.

"And did you manage to get Tokiharsenpai?"

"No, not at all. I did move forward, though. I think."

"I see. So yesterday was also no good….Ah, speak of the devil."

Following Shouma's gaze, Keiki spotted the girl they were talking about at the school gate. The moment he did, he dashed towards her.

"Sayuki-senpai—"

"….Sorry, I'm busy right now."

As he raised his voice, her shoulders twitched slightly. After leaving these words, she ran away quickly.

"…….Just as I thought, she's avoiding me."

"Yeah…."

After that incident in the cafe, she was constantly avoiding him. Every time they happened to meet, she would try to get out of his way. It was as if they'd had a lover's quarrel. Because of that, he hadn't been able to speak to her at all these past few days.

"Good morning, Keiki-senpai."

"Ah, Yuikchan, mornin'."

Wearing a blazer, the blonde-haired foreign-looking Kouhai greeted Keiki.

"Good morning to you too, Akiyamsenpai."

"Morning~! You're as cute as ever, Kogsan."

"Eh? T-Thank you very much?" Yuika muttered after hearing Shouma's words.

Akiyama Shouma was always nice to girls, but towards younger girls, he acted like a true gentleman. Even more so when the girl had a young-looking face. A true lolicon.

"Keiki-senpai, did something happen with Tokiharsenpai?"

"Ah, did you see that just now?"

"Yes, she looked weird."

"Well, a lot happened, I guess…."

"Don't tell me; did she find out that you're always staring at her breasts?"

"You're wrong?!"

"Ehhh? But, Keiki-senpai, you do glance at them quite frequently, you know? She must've realized that for sure."

"…Are you serious?"

"Women are quite sharp, after all. You should probably hurry up and apologize."

"Well, but, you're still wrong….."

It's true that he was always fantasizing about her breasts, but he was, after all, an adolescent boy. Of course he'd be interested in something like that. And this clearly wasn't the reason that Sayuki was avoiding Keiki…..or at least he thought not.

"But it's true that I have to do something quickly…."

Nothing would change like this, so he had to do something to shorten the distance between them again.

Though it didn't prove as easy as he had hoped.

Sayuki didn't show her face for club activities, nor was she in her classroom when he went there. Whenever he caught so much as a glimpse of her, she would ran away at full speed. Of course, he couldn't overstep his bounds any more, otherwise he'd clearly be labelled a pervert, or even worse a stalker.

Knowing that the possibility that Sayuki was Cinderella was high, he thought that he could make progress quite quickly, but it wasn't turning out that way at all. And, being rejected like this, the damage just kept on rising.

Right now, he was sitting in a deserted classroom, taking a deep breath.

"That's a big sigh alright. Your happiness will get out, Kiryuu."

"Nanjou…."

Raising his voice, Keiki saw the source of that mocking voice. With a short skirt and bright hair, tied together with a side ponytail, it was a classmate of his. Sitting down in front of Keiki, Nanjou Mao once more opened her mouth.

"It's pretty rare to see you like this. Did something happen?"

"Ah, well, recently, a certain person has been avoiding me and it's made me feel a bit depressed."

"A certain person…so Tokiharsenpai."

"Well…..yeah."

"…..Hmpf."

"Why do you look so displeased now?"

"I'm not, though? It's nothing."

She never was the happy-go-lucky type to begin with, but her mood seemed to be even darker than usual as she said that. Although she always seemed to have no expressions, she was easy to see through at times like these.

"If you don't want the girl to run away, how about you pull a ‘Kabe-don'?"

"Kabe-don? Is that the thing you often see in shoujo mangas and dramas?"

"It's not just limited to that… but you're not wrong. So, how about it?"

Kabe-don— a technique that ikemen boys use on the beautiful heroine. Pushing the heroine into a corner, you gradually pull closer to her and make her heart go ‘Doki Doki'.

However, for boys that aren't as good-looking, doing something like this would probably result in something worse than just rejection.

"Have you ever done it? A kabe-don?"

"Never. As if I'd ever do something like that."

The only people who can pull something as embarrassing as that off are the ikemen who have a heart of steel. Ikemen really are amazing after all.

"But, what do real girls think about that?"

"Well, it certainly won't work if they aren't interested in the boy. It might even end with them reporting the boy to a teacher for sexual harassment."

"Oh? I see."

"Though, if it's someone they like, their heart will go ‘Kyun' for sure."

(TLC: throb)

"O-Okay…."

"What is it?"

"No, it was just weird hearing such vocabulary from you."

"………….."

"Ouch?! Can you stop pinching my sides?!"

"Shut it. Kiryuu said something rude after all."

With a displeased expression, she pulled her hand away.

"But it's fine as long as you're not as down anymore. Go and make up with Senpai already. I can't keep watching you like this."

"Eh?"

"Well, I'll be going home now."

"Ah, Nanjou."

"What is it?"

"Uhm….thanks."

Replying with a "Yeah," over her shoulder, she left the classroom.

Although she didn't show it, she was probably worried about Keiki.

"As always, she's a kind tsundere."

Because she always seems rather cold, people often misunderstand her. Still, Keiki knew that as well, and he still decided to become friends with her. Just as she had indicated, Keiki had to make a move himself. If a man won't go on the offensive, he will die out.

"Alright, I'll challenge her one more time."

The time to sulk is over.

Luckily, Sayuki was still at school. Guessing that she wouldn't be in the club room, he tried his luck at her classroom, where he happened to meet up with her in the hallway.

"Keiki-kun….."

"Sayuki-senpai, I want to talk with you."

"I'm sorry. I have something important to do today."

"And what would that be?"

"A fan of mine is waiting at the venue."

"Please only start sleep-talking after you've actually fallen asleep."

"Then I'll hurry home and jump into my futon."

However, it didn't end like this. Instead, Keiki stood in front of her, blocking her way forward.

He then managed to corner her into a wall and blocked her escape routes with his arms. Of course— a kabe-don.

"……"

Having lost any chance of running away, Sayuki merely looked up at Keiki. As a third-year, she was taller than most of the other younger students, but she still wasn't as tall as Keiki. Seeing her small, shaking shoulders, he actually started to feel bad.

This is rougher than I thought it would be.

This was not romantic at all. Instead of an accelerated heartbeat, a girl would probably be shocked if something like this were done to her.

"Uhm….Senpai?"

He wanted to check that she was okay, to make sure that he hadn't scared her. The moment their gazes met, however, her cheeks went red in an instant. And then she pouted slightly, averting her eyes soon after.

Woah, what's with this cute reaction?!

Judging by her reaction, she didn't seem to be scared. On the contrary, it looked like her heart went ‘Kyun', exactly like Mao had told him.

So, is there still some room for me in that heart of hers?

"Keiki-kun… let me go."

"I don't want to."

"I'll scream."

"If you really hate me, then go ahead."

"That's unfair, Keiki-kun."

"I don't care."

His words were calm, but he clearly felt the heat in his face. Still, these exact words were influenced by that feeling.

Why did I say that ‘If you really hate me, then go ahead' anyway? I already feel like I'm dying, and I'm still in the middle of the conversation.

"I'm serious today, I won't let you get away now."

"You merely stopped me in my tracks. You can't force me to talk. I have the right to remain silent."

"Right to remain silent, you say….well, that's fine. Even if Senpai doesn't talk, I sure as hell will."

"….What do you mean?"

"I know Sayuki-senpai's secret."

"Wh?!"

Just as he had expected, her reaction fit. Keiki's words had caught her off guard.

If she had just answered with "I don't know what you're talking about," it would've been Keiki's loss. However, her own reaction sealed off her escape route.

Keiki's speculations were right. The ‘secret' he was talking about was of course the love letter. Her being the last person who left the room, her behaviour around him, everything pointed to the fact that she was Cinderella. Although he didn't have any solid proof, all he had to do was make her spill the beans herself. That's why he decided to take the risk. And it looked like it was a success.

"…How long…?"

After a short pause, she continued, "How long ago did you figure it out…?"

"Just recently. I didn't have any proof, but I deduced it from your attitude."

"I see…" She dropped her shoulders in defeat, only to look up at him shortly after.

Her eyes started to get watery and her shoulders where shaking softly. Like she was afraid. Like she was in despair.

"Does Keiki-kun…" With tears in her eyes, she opened her mouth once more, "After finding out about my secret… did you start to hate me…?"

"Of course I don't hate you."

"Eh…?" Maybe because she didn't expect that response, her eyes went wide.

"The moment I realized that you thought that way, I was surprised, yes. But, uhm, I didn't hate… it, I guess. Rather, I was really happy…"

There's no way that Keiki wouldn't be happy if the Senpai he was looking up to had feelings for him.

"R-Really?"

"Yes, really."

Hearing his response, Sayuki looked at Keiki as if she didn't expect it at all. Seemingly making up her mind, she brought her hand to her chest and spoke up.

"……..After school."

"Eh?"

"Tomorrow after school, will you come to the clubroom? I have something important I want to talk about." Leaving only these words behind, the both of them separated.

There was no reason to chase after her anymore. That promise was enough for Keiki.

That evening. Keiki was lying face up on his bed, stretching his arm out towards the ceiling. Of course, he was looking at the pair of panties in his hand.

If someone were to see this scene, it would be an immediate red card for Keiki. However, these panties where the only hint besides the love letter that connected him to Cinderella.

"Now that I think about it, this is quite the elaborate design."

For boys, the appearance of undergarments don't matter at all as long as they fit. For girls, the complete opposite is true.

"Just thinking that these might be Sayuki-senpai's panties…..gulp."

"Onii-san?"

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!" Keiki almost fell out of his bed.

Having entered the room, Mizuha, the source of the voice, tilted her head.

"What happened to make you scream like that?"

"Can you knock, please?! Even if we're family, I still have my privacy!"

"I did, but you never responded."

"Eh, really?"

"Yes. I didn't expect you to be so surprised, though."

"S-Sorry."

"Were you looking at some porn magazines?"

"I-I wasn't……"

It was actually something more dangerous. He had hurriedly stuffed the panties behind him, so she shouldn't be able to see them.

"So what did you want, Mizuha?"

"Ah, yeah. The bath is free, so I wanted to tell you that," Having come out of the bath just recently, she was wearing her pyjamas as she stared at Keiki.

"Somehow, it seems that Onii-san is spacing out all the time recently."

"Eh, you think so?"

"Yeah, even now, you looked like a lost kid or something."

"Ah, well, I was thinking about some stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah, love(TLC: koi)-related stuff."

"Not the fish (koi), right?"

"Nope, not the fish."

An endless topic in dramas and novels. People fall in love in mysterious ways, and no matter how much they try to get away it always comes back to them one way or another. And Keiki didn't have any experience with that whatsoever. He didn't know if he simply looked up to Sayuki as his senpai, or if he had real feelings for her.

"Tomorrow, I might get confessed to by a girl."

"Is that so? Congratulations?"

"Why did you say it like a question? Well, thanks."

The girl would be the sender of the love letter. Being called to the clubroom after school and talking about something important, was it? There was no mistake that it would be a confession of love.

"If I really get confessed to, what do you think I should do?"

"Well, if you think that she's nice, then go out with her. If not, then you turn her down, right?"

"Is that so….yeah, it makes sense."

If Sayuki really is in love with me, and if she were to confess to me and we started going out… Keiki tried imagining that scenario.

Talking with her in the clubroom, letting her scribble on his face, walking to the cafe… nothing much would probably change. But he would finally have his long-waited lover, and that time with her would be even sweeter than before.

This future with her would be surely be a blessing for him. It was safe to say that Kiryuu Keiki was attracted to Tokihara Sayuki. To say it in the words of Mizuha, he thought of her as ‘nice'. Keiki was sure that this feeling would turn into love. He was absolutely sure about that.

Part 3:

The next day, he wasn't able to concentrate during school at all. The whole time, one girl was the only thing on his mind.

And then, it was finally time. Knocking on the clubroom door, he received a "Come in," as an answer. As Keiki entered, Sayuki was sitting next to the window, merely gazing at the setting sun. Her long black hair was swaying and she called out to him like she always did.

"Keiki-kun."

"Just as promised, I'm here."

"Yes, I was waiting."

He realized that her cheeks were slightly flushed. She was probably just as nervous as Keiki.

"I have something important I want to talk about. Will you listen to me?"

"Yes, please tell me."

Sayuki took a deep breath and looked straight at Keiki. She then opened her mouth.

"For a while now I've thought that Keiki-kun was ‘nice.' And I was sure that you would accept my everything."

"Sayuki-senpai…."

"Hey, Keiki-kun, close your eyes."

Just like he had dreamed. He reacted just as he had in that dream, expecting that soft feeling on his lips to follow.

"…………………………………………………….Huh?"

However, no matter how long he waited, that moment didn't arrive. Rather, he heard a metallic clattering sound.

"You can open your eyes now."

"Ah, yes…………Eh?"

As he opened his eyes, he saw something he never expected, not even in his dreams. To be specific, Sayuki had taken off her blazer and opened the upper part of her blouse, revealing a large part of her breasts. He could even see her bra.

"Wha—, Sayuki-senpai?! What are you doing?!" Even though he turned around immediately, that sight, paired with her pure white skin, was burned into his memories.

"P-Please don't scare me like this, cover yourself up please!"

"It's fine, so look, okay?"

"No, even if you tell me that…"

"Are you embarrassed?"

"Of course I am?! Senpai is embarrassed too, right?!"

"……Yes."

"It figures!"

"But, I want you to look…."

"No, but….."

"Then, what about this?"

With these words, she hugged him from behind. A bold hug like lovers would do. And of course, two soft balloons were pressing against Keiki's back, sending shockwaves throughout his entire body.

"Senpai?! Your breasts are hitting me?!"

"That's trivial."

"Your breasts are too big to actually call them trivial, though?!"

For a boy like Keiki with no experience concerning that, the impact was way too big to just label it ‘trivial.' And she wasn't even wearing her blazer. With the blouse opened up, that soft feeling was transmitted almost directly to his skin, only stopped by her underwear.

Is this going to end up like one of those R-18 scenes? Wouldn't that be a bit too fast?

As lovers, they would arrive at that point sooner or later, but they weren't even going out yet, nor had they even officially admitted their feelings for each other.

"If Keiki-kun won't look at me, then I will have to go completely naked."

"Why?! P-Please don't do that!"

"Then, will you look at me?"

"I got it! I got it already, so let me go!"

If she were to undress even more, his mind would probably go blank.

Accepting his conditions, the girl separated from Keiki. Taking a deep breath, Keiki mustered up his resolve and turned around.

"Uwa…"

Standing there was, as expected, the same girl from before, her breasts still clearly visible. The sight of her was so beautiful that his heartbeat accelerated immediately. It robbed him of his ability to think— that's why he realized the presence of the abnormality far too late.

That something, with a deep red colour, shouldn't be there. Not in this scene, not in this situation. Yet, it was.

Around her slender neck, there was collar.

"A coll….ar……? Eh…?"

It looked similar to the one he had seen just recently around Vegetarian's neck. But for what reason would a collar like that be around her neck?

In front of the frozen stiff Keiki, Sayuki took out a leash. Connecting it to her collar, she handed it to the poor boy. Just like she would hand her loved one a love letter.

With fittingly flushed cheeks, an expression befitting a young maiden, Tokihara Sayuki said the following words.

"Keiki-kun….please make me your pet!"

"………………………..Excuse me?"

Kiryuu Keiki. Sixteen years old. A high school student in his second year.

He received his first ever confession. Yet it was so abnormal that he instead fell into despair.

Chapter end