My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 154

I noticed something inadvertently. I noticed a terrifying possibility.

Assuming Xiaoxiao really has those feelings, she'll cling to me and act all cute with me—

Wouldn't that mean I'd have to worry about his allergies, pretending to be serious all the time...?

........................

That...that would be hell...

◆ Irito Yume ◆

The hot air from the hairdryer hummed and gently caressed my hair.

"Why do I have to do this kind of thing...?"

"Long, long hair is so hard to style. Would it be okay if I took a break once in a while?"

With his slender fingers, Mizuto gently pressed or combed my hair. Hair clearly has no sense of touch, yet I felt a strange flutter in my heart. His tone was rough, but his hand movements were gentle, which made my heart race even faster.

Oh my god, why is my heart racing?! I should be the one making him feel something for me!

According to Xiaoyue, no matter how indifferent the other person pretends to be, as long as they expose their back without any defenses, their gaze will definitely become suspicious—or so it seems. He completely ignored me just now, but now that he's in my blind spot, he'll probably casually peek at the back of my neck, shoulders, or chest...! If I can catch him red-handed, I can gain the upper hand on a mental level.

Without making a sound, I secretly glanced at the water bucket behind me.

Those eyes were only looking at my hair.

He remained calm and composed, showing no sign of being attracted to my naked skin.

...I started to get angry.

I even did something I'm not used to, and you didn't react at all! You should be able to tell this is obviously unnatural! You were never this slow before!

Let's go all the way...!

I loosened the knot in the bath towel a little.

I... I didn't mean to take it off. I really didn't... I just loosened it a little, letting it look like it naturally became messy...

There was a little extra space between my body and the towel. Maintaining this position, I let go of the towel and started scrolling on my phone without any precautions.

Look...aren't you about to expose yourself? You're concerned, aren't you? You can't possibly ignore it, right?

Shuidou's hand movements showed no sign of panic.

But—I unexpectedly turned on the front camera with my smartphone.

In an instant, I saw the water bucket reflected in the camera lens behind my face, and quickly looked away.

Yes, yes, yes, yes!

I instantly became excited and subtly puffed out my chest. I won! You repressed pervert! If you wanted to see it so badly, why didn't you just openly look from the beginning?!

I was too careless.

As the old saying goes, "Victory should not lead to arrogance, and constant preparedness is essential." In my case, I should always keep my bath towel tightly wrapped around my neck.

One slip...

Suddenly, I experienced a feeling of freedom in the area below my chest.

“…Huh?”

With a soft thud, the bath towel fell onto the sofa.

My body, hidden under the bath towel, was completely exposed under the LED light.

That's right.

Exposing the bare skin, freshly showered and slightly red—

—And underwear for sleeping, and strapless bras.

"...Huh?"

"………………!"

Without saying a word, I quickly pulled the bath towel up.

(Illustration 009)

He...he's been caught.

More embarrassing than the shame of being seen in only underwear was the awkward atmosphere that made me break out in a cold sweat.

That's right—the insurance measures I took in case this happened were exposed.

My attempt to seduce him has been exposed.

"...I see. I see, I see, I see..."

The water jet turned off the hair dryer.

A voice, chillingly cold, spoke to me from behind.

"How simple-minded."

“Ugh!”

"It seemed to work last time, so you're going to try the same thing again? You think the same trick will work on me again?"

"Waaaaah...!"

"I don't know if you're trying to mess with me or use those rules to order me around, but if you're going to try to seduce me, at least do it more subtly. Your nervousness is showing, and now I have to worry about you instead."

"Mmm...!"

Go easy on me... Don't be so ruthless!

Just when I was so devastated that I couldn't refute it...

"—I'll tell you, Yume."

The way of addressing me, which I wasn't used to hearing before, deeply touched my heart.

"I became better at hiding my true colors because I hung out with Dongtou."

My heart skipped a beat.

You mean... so from just now until now, you haven't been ignoring me...

"I always say this to Dongtou, and I'm saying it to you now too."

A voice, deeper than usual, pierced my brain from my ears.

"—I'm a man too, okay?"

"Ugh!"

What... that... "Haa wooa..." sound, that sound... is stuck in my mind...!

"I'm going to take a shower now. Hurry up and put your clothes on, or you'll catch a cold."

The sink returned to normal and left the living room.

After he walked away, I collapsed onto the sofa.

...That's so cunning!

"I'm a man too, okay?" That's completely against the rules! You can't say things like that! That's a crime!

Was he doing it on purpose? Was he trying to get revenge on me? Because I tried to seduce him? That's so malicious of him! Seriously! That's why Dongtou fell for you! What am I supposed to do if you make me unable to hide my feelings for you?!

As a result, I rolled around on the sofa until my mother came back.

◆ Nan Xiaoyue ◆

Goodbye then. Goodnight.

He just let me go like that.

If we were still dating, he would definitely have let me stay overnight, but now he just lets me go home. However, my house is less than a ten-second walk from his, so it makes sense.

I went back to my room and collapsed onto the bed with a thud.

...How can that guy's mysterious allergy be cured?

I, the culprit, have already reformed, so he should be getting better by now, right?

Well, whether he gets better or not is none of my business right now. I just think it would be troublesome if he misunderstood things and made himself feel unwell.

...By the way, I wonder what happened to Jie Nu later.

If everything had gone incredibly smoothly, I might already be with Irito-kun...

"........."

Watch me be the third wheel.

Watch as I interrupt them with my phone ringing.

I picked up my phone and called Jie. It would be hurtful if she didn't answer or hung up as soon as she picked up; just as I was thinking this, she answered the phone.

Hello—

"Hey, Yui? Is now a good time?"

"Yes, that's convenient."

She didn't seem anxious at all. It seemed she was alone, and I breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"How's it going—? How did the suspense-building operation go?"

"Huh? Hmm, it's alright...hehe."

……Ouch?

That shy laugh... that hesitant tone... that "just ask me" atmosphere...

Does this mean... the whole thing is over...?

"Is...is the progress going smoothly?"

"Hmm—perhaps that's a fair way to put it...?"

"Huh? Huh? What does that mean?"

"hey-hey."

I'm just asking you what you mean!

Explain! I'm asking you to explain! Don't just shyly chuckle with a hidden meaning!

"Let me tell you... he told me, 'I'm a man too, okay?'"

"Um?"

that's it?

That was my initial thought, and then... umm?

"Well, actually, the operation didn't work at all... Not only that, he also found out I did it on purpose... But, I'll tell you, then what? It turns out it didn't completely fail; he said he'd just become very good at hiding it... He said he's a man too, and told me to be careful!"

"Huh...huh! Huh?! What the heck?!"

Just imagining it makes my heart race.

Huh? What's this? A trailer for a romance movie starring an idol?

"Did Irito-san step out of a shoujo manga?"

"Right! And the way he says those things is so unvarnished, that's what makes it so scary!"

"And she's so cute, I feel like she'd look really cool delivering those witty lines, it's infuriating...! Guess what I said?"

"Huh? Xiaoyue used that trick too? Against Kawanami?"

"Oh, yeah, it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. And then, I told him I might get hit on, and he actually said, 'Do you want me to leave you a hickey to keep you from being hit on?' How disgusting!"

"Wow! He's pretty handsome! Don't you think he's pretty handsome?"

"Does Yui find that kind of thing acceptable?"

"It depends on who said it, but it's generally acceptable!"

"I see... Okay, well, actually I'm not really against it."

"What a hypocrite!"