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

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Is the order a bunny girl?

Part 1:

It was the beginning of a new week, Monday after classes.

Keiki called his friend Shouma to the courtyard. The tennis ace and his classmate from class 2B. The ikemen wearing a white shirt. The lolicon that loves little girls.

"Why did you call me out here? Don't tell me; is this a confession?"

"No. Why in the world would it be that?"

"Figures. Keiki is a big-breast-loving siscon, so there's no way you'd be interested in men."

"Exactly. So don't say stuff that would get a fujoshi excited."

Especially their classmate Nanjou Mao, because she actually was a hardcore fujoshi who already was drawing BL manga with Keiki and Shouma as the characters. Keiki certainly didn't want this meeting to become yet more 'material' for her.

"Actually, there's someone I'd like you to meet, Shouma."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You can come out, Ootori-san."

"Y-Yes."

From behind Keiki, a single girl stepped out. Since the season had changed, she was now wearing a pink skirt instead of a blue one. Her uniform was perfectly hidden by her parka, bringing out a cuteness induced by her small body.

Clearly showing her nervousness, Ootori Koharu greeted Shouma with a "H-Hello."

"………Keiki."

"What is it?"

"Is it okay if I take this girl home with me?"

"How about we just calm down for now?"

It looked like the ikemen lolicon had taken the bait.

"U-Uhm, my name is Ootori Koharu."

"Ootori-san, huh? I'm Akiyama Shouma."

"Akiyama… senpai."

"Being called 'Senpai' by a girl like you really lifted up my spirits!"

"Eh?"

"Ah, my apologies. I happened to get a bit excited."

No wonder he would. No matter how you looked at it, Ootori Koharu had the body stature of a loli, with a beautiful face. But it was all according to plan. Specifically the 'Koharu-chan is a first year ☆' plan. A lolicon like Shouma would never go out with a girl older than him. Buying pictures of legal lolis was one thing, but Shouma lived by an important principle: No going out with legal lolis. In fact, every time a girl had confessed to Shouma, he would always decline her with an "I'm a lolicon after all." That's why Keiki and Koharu decided to deceive him by making it look like Koharu was actually a first year. First, Keiki wanted to build a solid relationship between them, and when the time was right, she would confess her actual age. The reason they had waited to enact their plan until this week was because it was officially time to switch uniforms, which a welcome chance for them.

After all, the skirt of the uniform was colour-coded by the year of the student. They had to keep the fact that she was a third-year a secret at all costs, or Shouma probably wouldn't look at her again after seeing her skirt color. In addition to that, they had hidden her blue ribbon with the parka, and she had changed her way of addressing him from 'Akiyamkun' to 'Akiyamsenpai'.

With her young-looking face, her still growing (?) breasts, and body, she completely was in strike-range for a lolicon like Shouma.

"By the way, why is Koharu-chan wearing a parka? Aren't you getting hot like that?"

"I have weak skin, so I'm trying to protect myself from the sun."

"Huh, I see."

Koharu probably had never expected that her parka could be so useful.

"I got to know Ootori-san through my library work. It seems like she watched a match of the tennis club, and when we talked about Shouma she said that she'd really like to meet you."

"Eh, really? Then did you see the match between athlete Nishimori and his opponent?"

"Y-Yes, I did. I did."

As Shouma asked, Koharu was still a bit nervous as she answered. But, that was also pretty charming.

"Uhm, it really was a wonderful match. It really got me excited how neither of them stepped down even once."

"They're both aiming for the top, after all."

"At first I was cheering for Nishimori-san, but in the last half of the match, his opponent got the better of him."

"Yeah, exactly. And even though athlete Nishimori wasn't playing poorly, his opponent's serves were too good."

"Yes, yes. Just what you would expect from the former number 1 in the world. Even after his injury, he managed to jump back into the game like that."

The two of them continued talking on and on about tennis-related stuff. After Koharu found out that Shouma was a member of the tennis club, she had started becoming interested in the sport, and began to watch official matches on TV. She even studied the rules and so on, and Keiki soon found himself completely left in behind.

"Oh, shoot. I have to get to my club now."

"Uhm, Akiyamsenpai? I would like to talk about tennis with you again so, uhm, would it be okay if we exchanged email addresses?"

"Of course. Actually, I should be the one asking you."

Seeing them taking the first step by exchanging addresses, Keiki couldn't hold back his smile.

This guy… his face looks so happy right now… I hope that everything ends well for the two of them.

He thought that, even though he had been basically threatened with a photo to help her out. For now, he just decided to apologize inside his heart for deceiving his friend.

Thinking about photos, Keiki remembered the countless photos of Shouma inside the astronomy club room.

"Hey, you two. How about we take a commemoration photo for your newfounded friendship?"

"Oh, that's a good idea," Shouma agreed to Keiki's proposal.

"So he says. Now, Ootori-san, stand next to Shouma."

"Y-Yes."

Inside the courtyard, the ikemen with the tall stature and the small girl wearing the parka stood next to each other. While Shouma wore a carefree smile, Koharu still looked a bit nervous. Having become the cameraman by default, Keiki took out his smartphone and took a photo.

"Did you take a good picture?"

"Yeah, it looks like it turned out good. How do I say it… the difference in height is crazy."

Instead of a Senpai-Kouhai picture, this looked more like a family photo between siblings. After Keiki sent the photos to their phones, Shouma went on his way. Until his back completely disappeared, Koharu kept staring at him.

"To think that I could talk with Akiyamkun like this… it felt like I dream."

"I'm glad for you."

"I don't think that there's anything keeping me in this world."

"No no no. You merely exchanged your contact addresses."

"It's not just that. I actually managed to get a photo together with him."

"Ah, I see… this is the first picture you have of him that also has you in it."

Koharu had taken countless pictures of Shouma. But none of them had her in the frame.

"Thank you, Kiryuu-san. I'll treasure this photo," Embracing her phone, she had a blissful smile on her face.

And that face was beautiful enough that you could fall in love with her even if you weren't a lolicon.

Part 2:

Hello everyone. I am the prince searching for the Cinderella who dropped her panties, Kiryuu Keiki. It might be a bit sudden, but might you be familiar with the term 'bunny girl'? Just as the name suggests, it refers to a girl wearing bunny ears. Additionally, a bunny girl will wear sexy black tights, a shirt with a revealing breast region, a bunny tail, and so on. Basically everything that could get your heart racing. Every adolescent boy at least dreamed of meeting one once, but the chances are too slim for that, so they have to be satisfied with either the world of their dreams or videos on the Internet. But, that day, I happened to meet one. In front of me, there was an extremely cute bunny girl with blonde hair.

"…What's going on? W-What is this situation?"

It was a certain weekday after classes. As Keiki opened the door to the calligraphy room, there was a bunny girl. With shoulder-long blonde hair. Her small body was wrapped in a black costume. On her butt there was a fluffy round tail, and on her head were long bunny ears. Although the volume of her chest region was lacking, it gave off even more of an immoral feeling, and it became the most impactful part of the costume. Her fidgeting gestures and embarrassed expression were also quite the strategic weaponry. Keiki declared in his heart that this cute bunny girl in front of him was second to none. That precise cuteness made Keiki mutter the words "What's going on here?"

Hearing this expected question, the bunny girl Koga Yuika answered.

"There is a reason for this. Yuika has to wear this bunny girl costume for a day."

"To be honest, I don't really get it, but there's only one thing I have to do now."

"Keiki-senpai? Why are you taking out your phone?"

"Well, I just thought that I'd take a commemorative photo."

"For what?!"

"And, cheese~"

Without asking for permission, he took a photo. That day, for the first time in his life, Keiki had seen a bunny girl, so he just had to take a photo. Now safely saved to his pictures folder was the bunny girl Yuika in an embarrassing pose.

"Alright, I'll just name this 'The day my Kouhai became a bunny girl.'"

"Will you stop already? Yuika doesn't understand anything."

"So why did you dress up as a bunny girl, Yuikchan?"

"—Because this girl wants to join the calligraphy club."

Answering Keiki's question wasn't Yuika, but rather a girl with long black hair who appeared behind her. The girl with black hair reaching down to her thighs and big breasts was Tokihara Sayuki, the third-year club president of the calligraphy club.

"She wants to join the calligraphy club… why?"

"It's totally unfair, don't you think? You spent way more time in the calligraphy club with this Witch-senpai than you did in the library committee with Yuika, right? Yuika also wants to spend more time with Keiki-senpai."

"Eh? Yuikchan, by that, do you mean—"

Yuika's words made Keiki's heart beat faster. Seeing her expression, he could feel his hopes starting to rise.

"Yuika needs more time with Keiki-senpai so that she can turn him into her slave!"

"…Yup, that's what I thought." His hopes were immediately dashed.

In a normal love-comedy, if the heroine were to say 'I want to spend more time with you,' then that would be a clear flag, but reality wasn't so kind towards Keiki.

At first glance, Yuika might look like a lovable angel, but her interior is nothing more than an evil devil who wants to make Keiki her slave; a super hardcore sadist.

On the contrary, Sayuki wants to become Keiki's dog; a super hardcore masochist.

And the both of them were fighting over Keiki. Like there was only one boy like Keiki in the entire world. Like a pair of siblings fighting over the last slice of a cake.

"Anyway, Yuika couldn't stand it anymore. That Witch-senpai has such an advantageous position."

"I really don't think that our world is actually 100% fair all of the time."

"Yuika is also a student here, so she should have the right to join the calligraphy club…!"

"That's right. Kogsan is planning to take Keiki-kun away from me, and it really bothers me to no end, but I don't have any solid reason to reject your application. Although it really bothers me."

"Why did you have to say that it bothers you twice?"

"Yuika also hates Witch-senpai," Said the bunny girl while pouting.

Really, even her angry face is cute… This is the problem with beauties like her.

"Well, it's true that I can't deny her application, but just letting her join would've been boring, so I told her to wear this bunny girl outfit the whole day as a condition."

"I see. I don't really get why it has to be a bunny girl, but I'm not complaining."

"I thought that Keiki-kun would understand. Leaving out her real personality, her outer appearance certainly is cute, so I was sure that it would fit her."

"Yuika doesn't want to be told that by a female molester."

"I also tried that costume on once, but it didn't fit me."

"Bringing up the topic of Yuika's breasts is a declaration of war, you know?"

"Fufufu, it really bothers you that you have small breasts, I see. Seeing you react to a provocation of that level… it seems like both your outside and inside are childish."

"Ahaha. So it seems that your personality is as overblown as your breasts. Keiki-senpai won't like it if your personality is so rude."

You could almost see sparks flying inside the clubroom. It felt like they were having a war over the endless topic of breast size.

But I really wanted to see Sayuki-senpai dressed as a bunny girl too…

It was a shame that he couldn't see it, but you would probably have to add a R-rating if you wanted to show that. If the stimulation was too high, Keiki might just lose consciousness from blood loss. But, maybe that could be a saving grace.

"Now, Bunny girl-san, could you pour us some tea?"

"Ugh, Witch-senpai is always acting so high and mighty…"

"Oh, so you don't want to join the calligraphy club?"

"…Understood," With a frustrated expression, Yuika turned away.

And, seeing that the two of them had resolved their dispute, Keiki could finally focus his attention on the other person who was also present.

"So… why is Nanjou here?"

Sitting on a chair, Nanjou Mao lifted up her head from the book she was reading with a "Mhm?" This girl, who had reddish-brown hair tied together in a side-tail, opened her mouth with a displeased expression.

"Why, you ask…? I also joined the calligraphy club, that's why."

"What… did you just say?"

"Now that we've become fellow club members, I hope that you'll treat me well~"

"Treat me well you say, you—."

Before Keiki could finish his sentence, the girl returned to her book. It seemed like she'd still be acting as she always did even after joining the club.

"Just when I thought that things would calm down for a bit… but wait? Senpai? Is it fine for Nanjou not to wear the bunny girl costume?"

"Nanjou-san is perfectly fine. She already paid me the compensation."

"Compensation?"

"This~"

"T-That's—?!"

Sayuki took out a thin book. On the cover, there were two people: A boy who looked exactly like Keiki, and an ikemen who looked exactly like Shouma, who was pulling a kabe-don on said Keiki look-alike. Keiki immediately understood that this was a copy of Mao's new BL manga 'Shouto's and Keeki's creamy showdown.' It seemed like she had finished it while Keiki was busy playing cupid for Koharu.

"W-Why do you have that, Sayuki-senpai?"

"Actually, I'm a huge fan of Nanjou-san, or rather, Minami Mao-sensei."

"A faithful fan in a place like this?!"

And this was the first time Keiki had heard Mao's pen-name: 'Minami Mao'. Since she had given Keiki's character the name 'Keeki', it looked like her naming sense wasn't all that great in general.

"So you accepted her club application in return for this book?"

"No, that's not it. I actually waited in line at the official event to get this."

"Then what did she give you in the end?"

"As soon as her newest work is completed, I will receive the first copy."

"Uwaa, this sounds like a shady deal to me…."

"By the way, I'm collecting every single book of the 'Shouto and Keeki Series.'"

"Ehhhhh……"

"This new work was also superb. Seeing Keeki's expression as he was completely overwhelmed by Shouto made me so excited. So did their thick cream."

"It has the complete opposite effect on me, though…"

It was a tragedy to be forced to listen to Sayuki's detailed summary of what happened to a character when you're the actual model for him.

In that moment, Yuika returned to the group with a plate and several cups of tea on top if it.

"This is the book that Mao-senpai drew, right? What's it about?" Since she was a real bookworm, that question was to be expected.

But no matter how much she was interested, this wasn't just a normal book.

"No, Yuikchan! These books aren't meant to be seen by kids!"

"Yuika is a high school student, though, same as everyone here."

"If you're interested, I can give it to you. As a token of you joining the club."

"Eh? Really? Isn't it an important book of yours?"

"I don't mind. I have two other copies at home, after all."

"Okay…? Then Yuika will take you up on that offer. Thank you very much."

Confused by the sudden turn of her personality, the bunny girl took the book with caution. Keiki, for his part, gave up on everything when he saw this scene unfolding in front of him.

Yuika then proceeded to open the book, only for her blue eyes to open up wide in surprise.

"T-This is—?!"

Mao's book started the climax at page 1. The stage was a love hotel, with an erotic atmosphere surrounding the characters. Resting on the bed, Shouta (butt-naked) spoke with a "Trying to run away? What a bad boy you are…" as he brought his body closer to Keeki, who responded with "N-No more, I will go crazy…" as he tried to get away (butt-naked). However, with no great resistance from Keeki at all, the fiendish Shouta came closer to Keeki's butthole, opening it enough to have his way with it.

"K-Keiki-senpai is in grave danger…!"

"That's not me! I was just being used as a basis for the character, okay?"

"T-This is…… so immoral! Indecent!"

"You say that, but you won't avert your gaze. Kogsan, you're quite the unexpected lecher, I see."

"But… Buuuuut…"The blonde-haired girl's face was bright red and her eyes were spinning.

It was safe to say that although she was embarrassed, she was still interested. Seeing Yuika's first encounter with this stuff, Sayuki showed a soft smile.

"You don't have to be embarrassed. Every woman will be charmed by this world sooner or later."

"Tokiharsenpai……"

Their relationship seemed to have improved.

"A friendship born by BL manga is something wonderful."

"Like hell it is," Mao muttered as she gazed at the two girls.

"Mao-senpai, will you give Yuika your autograph?"

"Sure~"

As the scene played out in front of Keiki, he could only let out a sigh.

"Ahhh, that's another faithful reader……"

"I'm happy for every new fan of Nanjou-san."

"It only means more tragedy for me…" Keiki moaned.

"Well, it's time to get down to business," Sayuki changed the topic with a serious expression. "Hiding it at this point won't work anymore, and we've already talked about the circumstances with Nanjou-san. What me and Kogsan really are, and how we're competing for Keiki."

"…Well, you've been talking about 'slave' and 'female molester', so I'd guessed something like that."

"So Kiryuu actually was a candidate for being an owner or being a slave, huh. It seems like you also have it hard," Mau said.

"You're saying that as if you're a bystander but you're one of my problems," Keiki answered.

She was the one who drew the BL manga, after all.

"…Mhm?"

At that moment, his phone in his pocket vibrated. As he checked it, he saw that he had received an email. It came from Mao, who was still present in the room. It read 'Keep the reason why I joined the club a secret from the two of them. Otherwise I'll show Mizuha the BL manga you're a model for.' Answering with an 'Anything but that', Keiki accepted her request.

What kind of wicked person would make his little sister read that BL in front of him? The secret she was talking about was that she was trying to be a hindrance for every possible girlfriend for Keiki. After all, if Keiki actually managed to get a girlfriend, he would spend less time with Shouma, and that would result in less material for Mao.

And for her, him becoming the master of Sayuki or the slave of Yuika would probably have the same result as him getting a lover. Though, in their case, he couldn't be happier that she was trying to get in their way.

"Now then, since we've cleared everything up, let's start with some real club activities."

"Yes. Yuika also wanted to start her own work."

"I also gotta work on my new project," Mao said.

Sayuki headed towards the low table inside the room. Yuika sat down on a chair close to that, and Mao, who was already seated, took some manga materials out of her bag.

All of them started their own work. His classmate started drawing her BL manga with him as a model, the bunny girl continued writing her picture book about the princess and the prince, and just when he thought that Sayuki would be the only one doing serious club work, he caught a glance of the paper in front of her. It read 'Punishment is a reward.'

"What is wrong with this club…"

There was not a single normal girl in this club. Although he should have been happy that the club had gotten new members, the selection of people in it was very questionable.

On that day, the calligraphy club was haunted by perverts.

On the way home from school, Keiki happened to cross paths with his little sister Mizuha, who spotted him.

"Oh? If it isn't my Nii-san."

"It is I, yes. Was Mizuhsan out to buy our food and groceries?"

"Yes. We're still missing some things at home."

She was wearing casual clothes and holding her favorite eco-friendly reusable bag. It was filled to the brim with various foods and other household materials.

"I'll hold it."

"Thanks."

"Oh, it's pretty heavy, isn't it?"

"It did buy some soy sauce after all."

"I really wish you'd tell me beforehand. It's the duty of the Onii-chan to carry this stuff for you."

"Mhmmm, but I thought that Nii-san was still in his club."

"You say club, but I almost never do any club activities."

"You're always cleaning the room or reading a book, right?"

"Exactly. That's why you can always call for me."

"Mhm, I get it. I'll do that next time."

And with that the siblings started walking next to each other. At the home they were living at, it was only Keiki and Mizuha. Their parents were often busy with work, and could only come home very rarely.

"Oh? Was there always an ice cream store here?"

"It seems like they just finished it. The girls in my class were talking about it."

"Alright, then your big brother will treat you to some today."

"Really? Yay~"

"Let's eat it in the park."

"Yup."

Ordering two portions of ice cream, they headed towards the nearby park. Over there, countless kids were playing. Sitting down on a bench, Mizuha took out a plastic spoon. Inside a paper cup were five ice cream balls, every single one with a different color. Chocolate, strawberry… everything a girl's heart could desire.

"Mhm…~ So cold, and delicious."

"Right~? Even though it's only June, it's pretty hot today, so it tastes even better."

"Thanks for treating me, Nii-san."

"You're welcome."

With that, Mizuha took another scoop and made a blissful face. As only three portions were left, she stopped her hand.

"That reminds me, Mao-chan and Yuikchan joined the calligraphy club, right?"

"That was fast… Ah, yeah they did. Sadly…"

"Huh? Did something happen?"

"It's more a problem of what's going to happen…"

He couldn't tell her that the calligraphy club was infected with perverts. And he didn't want to let her know that these girls would be competing for him.

"Everyone is just doing what they want. Nanjou's drawing a manga, while Yuikchan is creating a picture book."

"Even though it's the calligraphy club?"

"Even though it's the calligraphy club. Well, it's not like I'm doing any club work either."

"It really seems like you have a lot of freedom."

"Since they have more members now, I doubt that Sayuki-senpai really needs me anymore."

After all, he had joined the club so that it wouldn't be dismissed. He only did so out of a choice to help Sayuki. And since the number of members had gone up, he started to think that it wasn't necessary for him to go there anymore.

"…Really, Nii-san is always like this."

"Mizuha?"

Her tone sounded abnormally aggravated.

"I'm sure that Tokiharsenpai is extremely thankful to Nii-san, you know? I'm sure that she would be sad if you said something like that."

"……"

When he had treated her to a parfait in that cafe, she told him that she was thankful. Thankful because Keiki had saved her beloved calligraphy club. And her words, paired with a bright smile, were without a doubt her real feelings.

"If Nii-san said that he wanted to stop being a family, I would be sad too."

"…No, there's no way I would ever say that…"

"I wouldn't have anyone who'd treat me to ice cream anymore."

"That's the reason?!"

But Keiki understood what Mizuha was trying to say. He also thought that Sayuki would be sad if he left the club. Whether it was because of romantic feelings, or simply because she was thankful to him, it was still a fact. And Keiki also thought that he would get lonely without the calligraphy club.

"Thanks, Mizuha."

"I don't know what you're saying that for, but if you want to thank me, I'd like some caramel flavored ice cream."

"You'll gain weight, you know?"

"I don't mind if I get to eat more ice cream."

Accepting her wish, he presented some of his own ice cream.

After they finished eating, they decided to head home. In that moment, a baseball rolled in front of Mizuha's feet, and she picked it up. A second later, a boy wearing a glove and sports trousers came running over.

"I'm sorry! Thank you very much!"

"Ohh, how energetic. Here you go~" With these words, she threw the ball back.

But, instead of going back, the boy just stood there and looked at the two of them.

"Are you two a couple?"

"You're wrong. We're siblings."

"Really? Wooow, I really couldn't tell."

"Ahaha, is that so. I don't think that we look like a couple, though," Mizuha said with a smile, but the boy still wasn't satisfied.

"Ohhh, but Onee-chan is so cute."

"Huh? Am I being hit on right now?"

Even if the other person was a kid, Keiki couldn't just watch this silently, which is why, to protect his little sister, he stood in front of the young boy.

"Hey, young boy."

"What is it, mister?"

"I won't hand over Mizuha that easily. If you really want to marry her, you have to have an annual income of ten million yen."

"Ah, this person's a siscon!" The boy said as he ran back to his friends.

And Mizuha saw him off with Keiki's favorite smiling face.

"Fufu, it's true that Nii-san is a siscon."

"It's fine. I'd rather be a siscon. Unlike lolicons, police forgive us much more easily."

"Uwa, that's heavy."

"Let's go home already. The food will go bad if we don't put it in the refrigerator."

"Yeah, you're right."

As Keiki started walking, Mizuha followed suit.

"Hey, Nii-san?"

"Mhm?"

"Do we really look like lovers?"

"Mhm, I wonder. I do have confidence that we are closer than lovers."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Eh?!"

"I'm joking…… Let's go home, Nii-san," With these words, she waved her skirt as she picked up the speed.

Before he even realized it, the sun started setting and colored the sky a strong orange.

"By the way, Mizuhsan, what's for dinner tonight?"

"We'll have some japanese food. Salty-grilled mackerel with some eggs, seaweed with miso soup, and spinach as the finishing touch."

"Ohhh, spinach, huh. Very nice. That wins a perfect score for healthy nourishment."

"You're happy about that? Be more happy about the mackerel, they're really expensive right now."

Even though it was a conversation with little to no importance, Keiki could feel the warmth coming from it. He wondered if that was because he felt the safety of his own family. It was a feeling that told him 'This is the place where you belong'.

Fast forward until 11pm.

Keiki was sitting in his own room. Having finished eating Mizuha's delicious dinner, he hopped into the bath and was now back within his own four walls. Lying face up on his bed, he had one piece of paper in his hand. Right in the middle of the white paper, there were the words 'I like you.'

"Even if you say that you like me, why won't you appear in front of me…?"

At the beginning of May, he had received his first love letter. However, neither on the pink envelope, nor on the letter itself, could any name be found. And for some reason, in addition to that love letter, there were also a white pair of panties left behind on top of that table. Calling the mysterious girl 'The Cinderella who had dropped her panties,' he had determined three candidates that had the highest possibility of being the sender.

Tokihara Sayuki.

Koga Yuika.

Nanjou Mao.

They were the girls that were present during the cleaning operation on that day. There was another girl helping out, but since that was Keiki's sister Mizuha, he removed her from the list of possible candidates. While he was on the search for Cinderella, he happened to unravel the secrets of all three girls. Every last one of them was a closet pervert.

"…Haaaah," Letting out a sigh, he put down the hand that was holding the letter, "So who's my Cinderella now?"

After finding that letter, he hadn't had any more contact with Cinderella. Judging from that, the girl didn't have any intention of revealing herself. Even now, the prince of this story still hadn't found the faintest trace of his Cinderella.

Part 3:

"—Are you listening, Kiryuu-kun?"

"……Eh?"

As Keiki came back to his senses, he found himself in the astronomy club room. The curtains were opened, letting in a ray of light that illuminated the room. And, as always, countless pictures of Shouma were covering the walls, all the way to the ceiling. And in the middle of all of that, Koharu was sitting on a chair. Since there was no need to hide her ribbon, she kept her parka open, maybe because she had gotten hot over the day.

"Kiryuu-san, have you been spacing out? You have to listen to me. We're in the middle of our operation meeting after all."

"Sorry…"

The reason for that was because he didn't get enough sleep. The night before, he couldn't stop thinking about Cinderella, and found himself unable to fall asleep. He hadn't been able to focus on today's lessons, either, and had spaced out during his conversation with Koharu as well.

"Kiryuu-kun, you don't seem to be in good spirits. Do you want to talk with me about something?"

"Is that okay?"

"Of course, I still owe you quite a bit, after all."

"It might take a while to explain, though."

"I don't mind. If it's time, I have plenty of it," His Senpai answered with a smile.

Although they hadn't known each other for all too long, Keiki already knew that she was a good girl. That's why he decided to tell her.

"I see… So you're searching for the Cinderella who dropped her panties, huh," Having explained the circumstances, Koharu muttered to recapitulate. "A love letter without a name. And a pair of white panties. And an unlocked door without a key… This is quite the mystery."

"Since the love letter was left inside the clubroom after the cleaning, I had guessed that it must've been one of the girls who took part in it."

"But it turned out that all the girls were total perverts, right?"

"Yes, regrettably."

"By the way, is there anybody else who knows about this?"

"Only Shouma. But I've kept the girls' real identities a secret. They're trying their best to hide it, after all."

"Understood. Then, I'll make sure that your secret is safe with me."

"I'd really appreciate that, yes."

"Fufu. Kiryuu-kun just keeps gathering secrets."

"Yes, it feels like I'm their accomplice."

"Let's return to the topic at hand. When you returned from washing the bucket, there's a chance that your Cinderella was still in the same room with you, right?"

"Yes. Even though I'm 100% sure that I locked the door, the club supervisor checked later and told me that the door was open. Someone must've opened it from the inside while I was gone."

"I see, but that also means that it might've been a girl who wasn't a part of the cleaning operation. When all the other girls left, she might've snuck into the room and hid when she heard you returning."

"But why would she take that risk?"

"Of course, I'm not saying that it's any less likely that it was one of the girls that were present. But, looking at the current situation, I think you should consider that it might be someone from outside the club."

"Meaning?"

"Instead of four girls, or three girls if we're not counting your little sister, there might be a fifth candidate."

"A fifth person… so someone from outside the club…"

That is something that Keiki and Shouma hadn't thought of of at the beginning. After all, Cinderella could've just left the love letter in Keiki's shoe locker, or on his desk in the classroom. There should've been no need to risk getting caught by putting it in the clubroom. But since the other candidates showed no current signs of being Cinderella, he had to consider the possibility of it being a girl from outside the club.

"But if it really comes to that, then I have no hope of finding her."

"It would mean that every girl in this school is a possible Cinderella candidate."

He had no other lead than the white panties. Meaning that, unlike the real Cinderella with her glass shoe, he couldn't just ask every single girl in the school if the panties belonged to them.

"Well, it means that every girl who went to that part of the school on that day is a possible candidate…"

If only he had some more information——

"…Wait a moment. What about Okitsensei?"

She was the adviser of the calligraphy club. Since she came to check on the room, she might have seen someone walking around at that time.

"Thank you very much, Ootori-senpai. Thanks to you, I might've found another clue."

"I'm glad if I was able to help. I hope that you find your Cinderella soon," She smiled at him.

Thanks to her, Keiki had found another ray of hope. Keeping that in mind, his motivation returned.

"So a fifth candidate, huh……"

After leaving the astronomy club, Keiki stopped in front of his shoe locker. The only thing he could think about right now was the Koharu's hypothesis.

"If there really is a fifth girl, I wonder what she's like…"

As he took out his shoes from the shoe locker, he went to check if he had gotten any messages on his phone — but as he went to take it out of his pocket, he realized.

"Ah, dammit. I must've forgotten it in the classroom."

When he had changed for gym class, he had put it inside his desk. Since he couldn't just leave it there until tomorrow, he headed back to the classroom once again. Since most of the students already had either gone home or were busy with their club activities, the main building was almost completely empty. As Keiki went up the stairs to the second floor, he saw the shadow of a person walking down at the same time.

With her hair in a short bob, her bangs barely hid one of her eyes. She was carrying a huge number of printouts in her hands. She was someone who Keiki also was fairly familiar with.

"Ah, it's Fujimoto-san."

The girl's name was Fujimoto Akino. She was one of Keiki's fellow second years, and was the vice president of the student council. Since she was in the student council, she had occasionally visited the calligraphy club for her duties, which is where Keiki had met her.

…But in that moment, the topmost paper of the stack she was holding fell down. As she went to take another step——

"—?! W-Watch out!"

"—Eh?"

She couldn't stop her foot in time. When she stepped on the paper, she slipped.

"Kya?!"

"Dammit!"

Seeing her starting to fall towards him, he decided to use his own body as a cushion. After the impact, the rest of the papers fell all over them. Seeing as how he had managed to stop her painful descent, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Fujimoto-san, are you okay?"

"My heart was beating like crazy…"

"Mine did too," He thought his heart would stop, that's how much he had panicked.

"Oh, if it isn't Kiryuu-kun from my neighbouring class. Thank you, you really saved me."

"You're welcome. You're not hurt, are you?"

"……It doesn't seem like it. I'm fine."

"Then could you let go of me now?"

"Ah, yeah……… huh?"

As she started raising herself up, her movements came to a sudden halt and she quickly lifted up her head.

"………, ………, ……?!"

The eye that wasn't hidden by her bangs opened wide like the eye of a startled cat.

"This… this is… don't tell me…"

"Fujimoto… san?"

Akino's cheeks started turning red. And as if she was reunited with a loved one she hadn't seen for years, she started pushing her head into Keiki's chest.

"Ehhhh?! W-Wai— Fujimoto-san?!"

"Please. Let me stay like this a bit more? I don't…… want to be separated from Kiryuu-kun right now……"

"?!" These words echoed inside Keiki's head like a clap of thunder.

It felt like his heart was being stabbed. And the soft feeling on his chest robbed him of any logical thinking. Not to mention the gentle aroma coming from her.

W-What kind of situation is this?!

As he had been going his way towards his classroom, there was suddenly a girl falling towards him, and he happened to catch her inside his chest—

Since he had never had a girlfriend in his entire life, this felt like a huge flag for him. Without picking up the scattered printouts, they both of them stayed like this. Earlier, his heartbeat had been pounding from surprise, but right now, it was pounding for a completely different reason.

Chapter end