My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

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It was so close to success! The atmosphere was already perfect! It's all my fault for backing out at the last minute! No, no, it's because I was genuinely scared! Even though I knew it in theory! But he... that adorable old man who'd become the cutest ever, suddenly... suddenly changed like that...! Waaaaaaah!

Honestly! I usually don't get nervous in other situations, so why did I have to be nervous then! All that effort to appear calm was for nothing; I looked like a virgin!

It was almost a success... just one step away... although the location was a bit... no, that's right, even though there were no outsiders, it was still not quite appropriate in a public place... a bit... yes, I'm just a person with a conscience, and I was just being selective about the location, um... but it was just one step away...

I should go to bed early tonight... I was thinking of just lying down in bed, but the bunny girl outfit I was wearing under my yukata prevented me from doing so.

What should I wear next time?

While thinking about these things, the young man reached for the zipper on his back.

Irito Water Bucket ◆ Once the plug is pulled

"……Um?"

After playing video games in the boys' room for a while, I wandered around the hotel looking for a suitable place to read, and ended up running into a familiar face.

"Ah, Mizuto-kun."

"........."

Isana and Yume were sitting on the sofa in the quiet and elegant lounge. Isana looked up at me from the tablet on her lap, but Yume looked away awkwardly as soon as she saw me.

"What's wrong? Are you being ostracized by the boys in the dorm?"

"...No. It naturally became a matter of each person acting freely."

I was concerned about Yui's expression, but I decided to finish talking to Isana first.

"And you?"

"We are too~ The hotel seems to have a lot of facilities, so my classmate Jie and I came out to take a look. I'm showing her the paintings I did during the day and the photos I took."

"Right."

Has she already drawn enough to show to others? Curious, I approached, about to peek at Isana's tablet...

"Ah... I... I need to use the restroom!"

It was as if I had bounced her away; the girl stood up and ran off in a flash. And she was in the opposite direction from the restroom.

...I remembered what happened at the foot bath.

Looking back now, I don't understand what significance that period held; it just feels like a daydream.

It's as if, in a moment of emotional impulse, I crossed the line that I've always maintained with composure. A feeling of unease, akin to guilt, still lingers in my heart...

"Mizuto-kun, please have a seat~"

"……good."

I temporarily shook off this feeling of gloom and sat down in the seat that Yui had just been sitting in, next to Isana. The cushion still had a trace of Yui's body heat, making me hesitate to put my weight on it for a moment.

"The Strange People's Mansion is really great to visit—for example, look at this composition, doesn't it have a great feel to it?"

Izana, completely oblivious to my annoyance, leaned her shoulder against mine and showed me the screen on her tablet.

...This is bad. I don't know why, but today feels like that kind of day.

Her lustrous hair, gently stroking her neck; her fair and slender neck; and the glimpse of her chest beneath her yukata—all these were more captivating than usual. Could it be the extraordinary experience of travel that made me this way—no, it must have been the time spent in the foot bath that unleashed the shackles of my rationality.

Izana knew nothing of this. So, as usual, she pressed her body against me playfully. Her body was completely different from a man's, light and soft. She whispered in my ear, tickling my earlobe.

"But trying to draw them is so difficult—I have no idea how each item ended up in its place. Maybe I should learn more about it? It's so troublesome..."

"...You can learn it when you need to, right? If you have to look up information from the beginning, I think you'll get bored very quickly, given your personality."

I forcefully pushed aside my burning emotions and tried my best to speak to her in a calm manner.

It's alright, this is just our usual sense of distance. There's nothing wrong with it...

Just as I was barely managing to calm the heat that was gradually rising from somewhere, something happened.

Suddenly, Izana started patting and touching my shoulders and chest with her palms.

"Hey... what are you doing?"

Suppressing my wavering feelings, I asked, "Ee-hee-hee~" Isana laughed happily and said:

"I feel most at ease when I'm with Mizuto-kun~"

After she finished speaking, she cupped my cheeks with both hands and squeezed them inwards.

The soft, supple palms of his hands felt like they were covered in adhesive, clinging tightly to my skin.

"I'm a little nervous because I'm surrounded by unfamiliar people. Please let me take this opportunity to recover my strength."

"...Don't talk about people like they're save points."

"If I had to put it another way, it's more like a rebirth point."

...Does that mean it will eventually come back to me?

Izana pinched and squeezed my cheeks. I wanted to push her away, but I felt it would be awkward to touch her anywhere right now, which made me unable to move.

"Hmm?"

Seeing me like this, Isana tilted her head slightly.

"Why isn't Mizuto resisting this time? Watch out, or I'll kiss you!"

"Please don't... It's just that the yukata fabric is thin, and I'm a little embarrassed to touch you..."

"Huh? I've already been touching Mizuto all over like this, so it's okay for you to touch me too?"

No way! Take a good look at those two things hanging around your neck before you start talking to me!

"Hmm...?"

Isana frowned suspiciously and brought her face closer to mine. I tried to turn my face away, but her cheek was trapped between mine, limiting my range of motion.

"Why does Mizuto seem kind of cute today?"

"W-What did you say?"

"Should I say it stimulates one's sadistic tendencies... or is it just that teasing them is fun...?"

Hey, wait a minute. Is this guy up to something?

"Hey!"

Izana wrapped her arms around my neck and lunged at me, hugging me tightly!

I felt two large, soft lumps flattening against my chest. I realized the water-balloon-like sensation was transmitted directly to me with hardly any barrier between us, and a flash of insight shot through my mind: This girl isn't wearing a bra!

"(Is your body becoming very stiff?)"

The murmurs sneaked into my ears.

"(Could it be that she's only now starting to feel something for my breasts? She can even melt away Mizuto's iceberg of rationality... This must be the power of Arima Onsen!)"

Izana thought it was hilarious and insisted on rubbing and pressing her breasts against me. Their elasticity, which allowed them to spring back to their original shape no matter how flattened they were, almost made me roll my eyes.

"(Hehehe, this kind of opportunity doesn't come often. As a memento, let me let you be nervous and shy a little longer! I'll rub it in~)"

"No, stop it...!~~~!"

I usually don't react at all, and Izana didn't say anything either, but she probably minded it a lot, and took this opportunity to keep retaliating.

Asuka Yoruichi ◆ How could that be?

"~~~~~!"

I hid in the corner of the corridor, unable to do anything but tremble all over.

A minute ago, I saw a familiar face in the empty common room. When I realized it was Mizuto Irito and Higashigo, the disgusting behavior began.

For example, if they were just huddled together, that would be fine, but they actually...! Like, like touching each other's faces, cheek to cheek, and hugging and cuddling...! Even if there were no outsiders, this is a public place!

Judging from the way Mizuto Irito and Higashigata usually interact, I knew their relationship wasn't just casual. No matter how much the two parties deny it, a man and a woman who maintain that distance from each other can't possibly be just friends.

Higashi-chan seemed very well-behaved, so I casually assumed that Irito Mizuto must be pursuing her... However, what happened in the lounge showed that Higashi-chan was actually the one taking the initiative...

I... I'd had a feeling something was off for a while! It was strange even while we were in the hot spring; she kept staring at my chest! But I never imagined someone who looked so quiet and well-behaved could be such a wanton girl…! I even momentarily thought I could share my body image struggles with her—how incredibly stupid of me!

...So this is what couples are like. It's not just about physical intimacy. It's like all worries and hesitations have been cast aside, and two hearts are truly intertwined...

It was then that I realized this was probably the first time I'd observed couples so closely. Although I see couples on the street, it's always just a superficial act, preoccupied with other people's opinions. When no one's watching, that's what couples really do...

...I neither envy nor yearn for it. Just like seeing animals in cages only evokes curiosity, but I don't wish to become like them.

However, I have a question.

If Mizuto Irito hadn't spent his time on this kind of thing, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to get first place, right?

Just like the midterm exam last semester, if I could just focus the effort I put into studying on Higashi-san, I should be able to beat Iri-san and get first place, right?

...I really want to be number one. Just once isn't enough; I want to be number one forever.

But are boyfriends and girlfriends really that attractive, enough to make someone willing to give up their ranking...?

……I don't understand.

I can not understand.

So, do Irito-san, Asou-senpai... or Kurenai-sama, do they understand?

"........."

No, it's impossible.

How could someone like Chairman Hong, an unparalleled figure, possibly do something so intellectually reprehensible to a boy?

Kawanami Kogure◆ Paradise Exile

"Yo-ho! I've come to play with you... Strange?"

As I lay on the quilt looking at my phone, Xiaoyue, wearing a bathrobe, suddenly peeked in from the doorway, looking around the room.

"Kawabata, are you alone? Where are the others—?"

"Freedom to move around. There's no other way, most of us here are lone wolves."

Hoshino is the same; he's very sociable when he's with everyone, but I think his personality leans towards preferring solitude. And Irito and Haba-senpai are even more so.

However, I don't think that the reason it has become disbanded is just due to personality differences.

I continued lying there, gazing at the dawn moon, and said:

"Aren't you alone too? Did the girls' group disband as well?"

"I guess so—shouldn't we all be doing our best now?"

"Hehehe. I thought so too."

The reason our group gradually disbanded is because we discovered that Haba-senpai had disappeared sometime during the day. I witnessed the student council president whispering something to Haba-senpai at Starbucks earlier, so he must have been called out by the president. Does anyone know where they're flirting now?

"How disgusting, he's secretly laughing to himself."

Xiaoyue stood next to my pillow, looking down at me with the same gaze she would give me as if I were trash.

I watched as the hem of Xiaoyue's bathrobe swayed in front of my eyes and said:

"I saw your underwear."

"You better see it. I'm not wearing anything at all."

"...Really?"

"Just kidding—♪ Are you looking forward to it?"

Xiaoyue leaned closer to look at my face and said with a grin. I was instantly annoyed.

"Expectations my foot. I was just scared to death by the thought of a female monster walking around without underwear."

"Don't worry, it won't be noticeable, the hem is so long. And it won't show any panty lines, it's actually quite nice."

"...Hey, wait a minute. You're wearing clothes, aren't you?"

"Should we check?"

Xiaoyue lifted the hem of her bathrobe, revealing a bit of her fair thigh, deliberately provoking me. Although I was no longer flustered by her actions, I felt that continuing to pull the slingshot would only lead to deeper trouble, so I decided to remain silent.

Xiaoyue plopped down next to my head and said:

"So, how was your trip to Kobe?"

"This is so much fun. I never imagined I could witness the student council's romantic scenes up close like this."