My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 235

"Yes. It takes an hour each way by tram. If you go directly to and from the station, even students can afford it."

Kobe is in Hyogo, right? It's not far from Kyoto.

"You mean this time, that means it's been done before?"

"Where was it last time? Germany?"

"That was the time we went with the three of us, including the senior student. The student council went to Hokkaido together."

Three high school students went to Germany! Isn't that a bit too much of a drive...?

"So the student council organized trips before... which means..."

This means that despite their trips and overnight stays with senior students Yuba and Hoshibe, nothing progressed whatsoever.

President Hong and Senior Sister Ya Shuang turned their heads and looked at me together.

""how?""

“No…no…”

It's fine if it's just two people, but how can a group tour progress so easily? Hmm! That's normal!

"...Traveling..."

Come to think of it, I don't think I've traveled much. My mom is very busy, and I'm a bookworm. The only trips I have that I can really remember are the school trips I took in elementary and junior high...?

"It's numbers 21, 22, and 23, right?"

"Yes. We should depart on the 21st, for three days and two nights."

Since they've invited me, I'll go along. If I'm not home, Mom and the others can enjoy some quality time together—wait, November 22nd?

...It's a good day for couples.

This might be a godsend. After all, I rarely have the chance to stay out overnight, giving Mom and the others some time to themselves—and if not just me, Mizuto could also leave home temporarily…

"...Um, I'd like to confirm something."

"Hmm? What's up?"

"Can I bring my younger brother on this trip?"

Although I felt it was shameless of me to ask, I still did.

If Shuidou can come along too, then Mom and the others can have some time to themselves.

And more importantly... apart from the time we went back to our hometown for the Obon festival, I have never traveled with him.

Of course, I don't really think it's appropriate to bring a water bucket that has nothing to do with the student council...!

Faced with my mental defenses, Chairman Hong smiled smugly.

"That's great!"

Unexpectedly, the president not only did not refuse, but clapped her hands as if she had heard a good idea and looked at Senior Sister Ya Shuang.

"I was just thinking how pitiful it was that only Ah-zhang was a boy. Well then, Ai-sa, you should also ask Hoshinobe-senpai to join us."

"Huh! Should I ask him out?"

"Who else could it be? Anyway, he's already passed his university entrance exam and has plenty of free time. As for getting a female classmate, go ask your brother for permission. He seems completely uninterested in traveling, so you'll have to use every trick in the book to coax him into going."

"Use...use means..."

How do I use it?

My senior, Ya Shuang, and I exchanged troubled glances. She was right; there was absolutely no way that Shui Tou would join my group's trip. How could I possibly convince him...?

"Isn't there something we can use over there?"

President Hong said this, pointing to the corrugated cardboard box placed next to Senior Sister Ya Shuang.

It's that cardboard box containing all sorts of cosplay outfits.

"If we're afraid we won't stand a chance with a regular deal, then we'll have to resort to unconventional methods, won't we?"

Irito Yui ◆ Honey trap (Do what you think is best)

...My consciousness surfaced from a light sleep.

Strange? I... was asleep.

With a hazy consciousness, I vaguely recalled the events of the previous moment. I remembered just now—

"........."

The moment I slightly opened my eyelids, I noticed someone standing next to me.

Shui Dou was looking down at me.

"────!"

I quickly closed my eyes again. At the same time, the memories before I fell asleep vividly returned to my mind.

That's right... it was at the end of October. The student council president ordered me to take Mizuto on the student council trip, but since my birthday was coming up soon... I put it off for the time being.

However, about a week later, today Chairman Hong urged me: "It's almost time to confirm the number of participants, you should go and make an appointment with him." So the thing that had been sealed away for a week was finally forced to be unsealed.

That thing—that black cat cosplay outfit that's as revealing as a swimsuit.

The biggest mistake was having that thought. I figured that since only Mizuto and the upperclassmen would see it, wearing something a little too revealing that I couldn't wear to the school festival might not be so bad.

Before I could even react, my seniors shoved the dress into my hands, saying things like, "Here, take this. Remember to send me a picture!" "Whether you wear it or not is your choice. If you have something you can use but leave it unused, no wonder people will call you a coward." They cut off my escape route.

I don't remember ever explicitly telling the upperclassmen that I like Mizuto—leaving aside Asou-senpai who just wanted to see other people cosplay, I think the Red Student Council President was definitely committing a crime on purpose, right? Was it revealed during the school festival? Or was it Haba-senpai, who is supposedly good at observing human nature, who told her...?

In short, I didn't dare to take the initiative while wearing this outfit, so I decided to ambush Shuidou on his way home from school. My plan was to use a surprise attack to shake his resolve, and then immediately invoke that sibling rule! That way, I'd get him to agree to the trip.

Originally... that was the plan...

I sat on the edge of the bed in the water tank's room, waiting for the room's occupant to return. I looked down at my own attire, feeling restless, and aimlessly looked around the room—

I don't remember what happened after that.

I am asleep.

Why, why did it have to be at this time...?! Even the little bit of plan we had has been ruined!

It's all my fault for reflexively pretending not to wake up, now I can't even get up. I've completely missed my chance. I can only keep my eyelids tightly closed, feeling the scent emanating from the water basin standing next to me, and the gaze fixed on me.

What...what should I do...! What should I do...!

I can't open my eyes, so I can't see what my skirt looks like now. I only know it's not completely revealing my underwear, but the hem might be messed up. H-I'm alright, right? My underwear isn't showing, is it? I'm pretending to be asleep, so I can't even adjust my leg position…!

My vulnerable chest and buttocks made me very self-conscious. Just the thought that Shuidou might be staring at me right now sent an indescribable flutter through my chest, making me feel incredibly uneasy.

This feels completely different from when I'm actively trying to please him. Wearing it for him and being seen by him are two entirely different things! When I wear it for Mizuto, he's more reserved because he's wary, but when he sees it, it's like he's venting his naked desires directly on me—

No, no, no! I mustn't back down. I'm not the same person I used to be. I've changed completely!

Indeed, it was an accidental situation caused by dozing off. But I had originally planned to use this outfit to force him to comply! It wasn't that he saw it; I pretended to let him see it, but actually, I was deliberately showing it off to him!

I thought of Dongtou. I remembered that girl who treated Shuitou as a friend and completely let her guard down, revealing herself in ways that shouldn't be shown to the opposite sex all day long—that naive, dream-monger-like behavior.

I want to replicate that approach.

I'll pretend to be completely unsuspecting to entice him. If... he actually makes a move, I'll arrest him as a criminal caught in the act and force him to promise to go on a trip with me!

The Copernican Revolution, Columbus's Egg, and the Gordian Knot.

For Irito Yume now, this kind of subversive thinking is nothing!

"...Hmm..."

As I murmured something incredibly realistically, I turned my side-lying body onto my front.

The moment of turning over! From my experience observing Dongtou's classmates, I know that this action is incredibly sexy.

Now, for the first time, I've tried it myself—and I understand the principles behind it clearly.

—A gentle shake.

Because I could feel the force when I turned my body...

Gently... it swayed my chest.

Awoo, woo ah, ahhhhhh!

I was seen...! I was definitely seen! If I were in your shoes, I would have looked too! If Dongtou's chest was jiggling, I would definitely have looked too!

To make matters worse, I lay with my arms outstretched above my head, completely exposed. I could feel him watching me. Although his gaze didn't accompany any physical contact, I felt his unwavering gaze scrutinizing my rounded breasts, exposed to the ceiling!

And with me turning over like that, it became even more impossible to tell the state of the skirt.

Is my skirt messed up? Are my legs too wide apart? But if I awkwardly bring my legs together, he'll realize I'm actually awake...! Waaah, my underwear might be showing...! I remember today... um, I'm not wearing anything too outdated... -- So, maybe it's okay if he sees just a little bit...?

Just as a bunch of things started swirling in my mind, the situation arose.

I was lightly pressed.

Someone poked my bare thigh with their finger.

Huh...? Huh? Huh? Huh!

Me... I was touched? Mizuto touched me? I thought that knowing Mizuto's personality, it would be over before anything happened!

Because I was asleep? When I was awake, I pretended to be cool and uninterested, but as soon as no one was watching, I turned into a beast? This...this despicable person! A repressed pervert! A coward!

With a squelching sound, the bed springs made a squeaking noise.

It was Mizutani who put his knees on the bed. Then, I felt someone put their hand on my lower back.

Huh? What is he trying to do...? What is he trying to do!

A faint breath gradually approached my body. From near my abdomen, it slowly moved towards my face. The breath passed over my chest, and then blew a hot sigh onto my exposed collarbone.

Ah…! Ah, ah…! I feel a tingling, tingling, itchy sensation, and I'm dizzy—

"Wait a minute, not yet!"

I can't keep up the act anymore.

When I came to my senses, I had already pushed away the shoulder that was approaching me and sat up abruptly.

I... I'm not ready for many things! Even if you're my ex-boyfriend, I think we should still do things in order! I don't know how to say it, but in short, indulging in such things like this scares me!

"—Oh, did I wake you up?"

"...Huh?"

Right in front of me, I heard a girl's voice.

That's the person I just grabbed by the shoulder and pushed away.

I stared directly at that face, and blankly began to speak:

"...Dongtou-kun...?"

"Yes. I'm sorry to bother you at your residence."

Izana from the east end greeted me in a very relaxed manner.

Irito Mizuto ◆ Conditions for traveling together

I did say that I chatted with Izana and then went home, but I didn't say that I said goodbye to her before I went home.

There wasn't any particular reason; she just decided to come over to my house today. So, when I found a black cat sleeping soundly on my bed, Higashito Izana was standing right next to me.

Driven by curiosity, she poked the cat's thigh without asking for permission, and then brought her face close to its chest.

"No, it's just that I thought the skin of cosplaying high school girls was so erotic, I couldn't help myself..."

"Why are you only so rude at times like this?!"

The perpetrator's methods were so swift and decisive that even I, who witnessed it firsthand, couldn't react. It gave me a real-life experience of the kind of trap sometimes found in detective novels where "committing a crime openly and honestly goes undetected."

"……so what?"

Then again.

Looking someone up and down without any manners is certainly a serious lack of common sense, but a guy who's wearing a black cat costume and sleeping soundly in someone else's room is even more lacking in common sense.

"Excuse me, little black cat, what brings you to a place like this where you're dozing off?"

"No, you're not allowed to call me little black cat..."

Yui sat on my bed in a W-shape and forcefully tugged at the hem of her miniskirt. Izana stared intently at her gesture, expressionless. Though it wasn't written on her face, it seemed this young lady was quite excited.