My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

Page 367

Mizuto turned his back to me and walked into the banquet hall, leaving me with these words:

"I'll handle the rest—leave it to me."

As the buffet began, as if a prophecy had come true, the opportunity he spoke of arrived.

"Ah—Yui-Yui, I'm so sorry this time."

As I was carrying the tray and picking up food from various places, Yoshino came up to me and said something that looked a little awkward.

Today, Yoshino wore an oversized women's top that concealed her upper body curves, paired with black leggings that showed off her long, slender legs, making her look as stylish and cool as a supermodel. Although her outfit exuded confidence, her expression seemed much more delicate than usual.

"I did it just for fun, I didn't expect the person involved to find out... Ah—that doesn't sound quite right. Anyway, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pried into your privacy!"

"Ah...you mean the travel guidebook?"

I finally understand.

They tried to find out who I was dating using the coded communication method in the travel guide—I should have been upset about this, but I was so preoccupied with my relationship with Asuhain that I completely forgot about it.

Seeing my reaction, Yoshino looked surprised.

"Are you saying you didn't care at all? Wow—that's incredibly magnanimous!"

"No, it's not about being magnanimous. It's just that I've been focusing on other things these past few days... Besides, I don't think you really meant any harm, and I shouldn't have made those suggestive remarks..."

"No way! If I were you, I would definitely say the same thing. I would definitely tell the other person that I already have a boyfriend and they are not allowed to come near me anymore."

"More than this matter, I'm worried about whether this will cause a rift in the class... Aren't we already divided into two factions because of my situation?"

"Oh—you don't need to worry about that at all! Xiaoyue and I have already reached an agreement on behalf of both sides!"

What kind of people are they?

"Remember that spy car chase we played before? It was pretty fun, wasn't it? So everyone forgot about it! You don't need to worry about anything, Yui!"

"That's good……"

Yoshino is actually quite considerate, so I still think she's not a bad person at heart. It's just that her dress is a bit flamboyant and she's a bit too distant.

"Ugh~ This school trip was a disaster... I embarrassed myself so many times, and I couldn't have any fun at all..."

Yoshino looked unusually dejected, but then said:

"But hey, playing in the water at the beach was so much fun, and I even saw some super cute dolphins at the aquarium! If you add the positives and negatives together, it's probably still a positive, right?"

"Oh, I see... That's great..."

My dark side was almost cleansed by her bright and positive thinking.

I can only say I envy her for being so good at enjoying life.

"That's all for now! I just wanted to apologize!"

Yoshino almost ran away like a typhoon, but I suddenly remembered what Mizuto had asked me to do earlier.

"Wait! Mizuto has something he wants me to tell you..."

"Huh? Mizuto-kun? What did he say?"

"I don't quite understand what he means either... He said—"

I carefully recalled what Mizuto had asked me to say, and then used my throat as a radio to broadcast it.

He said, "It might be too late to say this now, but it's better to inform the teacher first."

All of a sudden...

Yoshino's radiant expression froze as if solidified.

Huh...? Why?

I didn't understand what that sentence meant, but it seemed only Yoshino could grasp its meaning—Yoshino continued with a stiff expression, speaking in a voice so soft it was almost inaudible:

"Mizuto-kun... is that what you're saying?"

"Uh...yes. But he wouldn't explain it to me clearly..."

"Oh...I see...Thank you. Actually, I don't understand what he meant either. I'll go ask someone else!"

Although Yoshino quickly regained her cheerful demeanor, I can't forget her expression just now.

It's like—a mask has been ruined.

Even though it's impossible for that to happen, I have this strange feeling... as if I can see huge cracks appearing on Yoshino's face.

I watched Yoshino leave in front of me without saying a word, as she went back to find her friend.

--I will handle the follow-up matters.

I think there's nothing else that requires my attention.

Because that's what Mizuto said. He said what I must do now is enjoy the school trip with Asuhain-kun.

Since that's the case, I'll just focus on doing my own thing well.

I suppressed the expression on Yoshino's face that I had just seen and returned to the table where Asuhain and the others were waiting for me.

In the locker room, a hero was born.

"Huh...? It's so big... so big...!"

"What kind of supplements do you usually eat? Do you do gymnastics or anything like that?"

"I think he's still a man! So it's true that being rubbed by a man makes you bigger!"

"C-C-C-C-Can I touch it...?"

The excited female classmates surrounded Dongtou, who had taken off her top, revealing her bra. She found herself in a position like a superhero surrounded by children, dizzily uttering words like "ah-ooh" or "this and that" without any clear meaning.

The biggest difference between the hotel on the third day and the previous two days was the addition of a large public bath—and a hot spring bath at that. The female students felt they absolutely had to go, so they gathered at the bath's changing room, which led to the current situation. It was bound to happen…

Is it any wonder? The girls in the class had already noticed that Dongtou was a busty girl. In the past, she seemed to try to cover it up with clothes, hunching her back, or trying to keep a low profile, but it was inevitable that she would be seen when changing clothes during PE class, especially since her breasts were so impressive that they were far beyond what could be concealed.

Before this, the female classmates rarely had the opportunity to directly tease her about this. Because Shuidou, who was publicly believed to be dating Dongtou, was extremely protective of her. Unless it was a private occasion with only me or Xiaoyue present, if there were outsiders around, that guy would absolutely not allow anyone to harass her verbally or physically.

The girls didn't want to offend Mizuto, whom they idolized, so it was an open secret, wasn't it? Everyone tacitly avoided making jokes about her chest—this atmosphere had already formed in the class.

However, now that we're in this space—a changing room where only girls are present, and everyone is naked in front of each other—it creates a sense of openness.

With the right timing, location, and people, the girls' curiosity finally exploded.

"Alright, alright, step back, step back—"

Instead of Dongtou, who could do nothing but blush, Xiaoyue stepped between the two sides, acting like a guard to make the girls step back.

"Line up, line up—one rub and you get a thousand coins—"

"It's too expensive!"

"One thousand yen... Waaaaah!"

"10,000... If it's under 10,000, that's fine...!"

"Go for it! Watch me pull out the allowance my parents gave me for souvenir gifts!"

"Hey! Don't get ready to take out your money!"

As a member of the student council, I simply couldn't stand idly by. As soon as I started swearing, the girls scattered like birds and beasts.

Dongtou, now free, breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest in contentment.

"Thank you, Ms. Yui..."

"No. Otherwise, the water fountain might yell at me later."

"If that had continued, I almost developed a weird fetish for being gang-raped by high school girls."

"...I think you need to be scolded more than I do."

Let's just consider this a joke from Dongtou.

Then, I turned back to look at Xiaoyue, who had already stripped down to just her underwear.

"Xiaoyue, you're also not allowed to let others sell their souls and bodies!"

"I thought asking for a thousand yen would scare them off—but I didn't expect them to be so persistent! It scared me to death! Hahaha!"

"Really..."

Well, Xiaoyue and I have already done it once in Kobe, so we were able to stay calm. If we didn't have experience, we might have had the same reaction as everyone else... No, of course I would never go so far as to actually pay 1,000 yen.

Dongtou was finally able to reach for her bra clasp and snapped it open. However, I had already noticed that the girls who had run away were glancing at her out of the corner of their eyes. When the bra cup slipped off Dongtou's chest and her breasts bounced out like released balls, everyone even gasped in surprise.

However, I must say that Dongtou becoming the center of attention did help me a little. I have to admit that I'm almost joining the big-breasted group myself, but thanks to Dongtou, I haven't received too much attention.

More importantly, it was completely quiet around Asuhain.

Asahi-no-Yuan quickly took off her clothes and used a towel to cover her rounded breasts. Of course, a mere towel could not conceal her breasts, which were disproportionate to her petite figure, but Higashi-no-Yuan perfectly executed the illusion.

I think Asuha-in is even less likely to deal with this kind of thing than Higashi-go... and I was the one who brought her to the hot springs, so thankfully I didn't upset her.

"...Irito-san?"

Asuha-in looked at me with a puzzled expression. Perhaps I was taking too long to take off my clothes.

I took off my shirt and put it into the storage basket while saying:

"I still need to tie my hair up, you can go in first."

"oh……"

Despite saying that, Asahi-in-class didn't leave my side.

I thought of my younger self and found her kind of cute. When I was in junior high school, I was also always reluctant to leave the side of people I could talk to.

That being said, standing naked in the changing room might be a little awkward. After taking off my clothes and leaving only my underwear, I turned around and, with my back to Asuhain, said:

"Could you help me tie my hair up?"

Upon hearing this, Asuhain, who seemed to have nothing to do, looked up and said, "Okay." Then she carefully touched my hair.

After combing my hair with her hands, she also used her hands to tie it up. I rolled up the extra hair myself and finally secured it with hair clips.

"Thanks."

I turned to her and said, "No." Asahi-no-in seemed a little embarrassed.

Then I took off my bra and panties and put them in the basket, and then picked up a towel. Just then, Xiaoyue, who was openly naked and didn't even need to cover herself with a towel, came over with Dongtou.

"Yume, let's go~"

"Um."

I nodded and turned around.

Asahi-no-in walked beside me, while Higashi-to, who shyly shrugged, walked to my other side.

At this moment, Xiaoyue suddenly quieted down and began to examine the three of us in turn.

“Wha…what’s wrong?”

After Xiaoyue observed our chests, waists, and hips with a blank expression...

"Beep beep beep beep—Bang!"

She first made a gesture of something exploding near her ear, and then suddenly pointed at Asuhain-san.

"86, 53, 74."

Then it was the student pointing to the east.

"Unmeasurable, 63, 94."

Finally, her finger pointed directly at me.

"85, 56, 79."

After uttering a series of mysterious numbers, Xiaoyue quickly retreated, putting distance between herself and us.

"I'm sorry, I really can't stand next to you."

"what?"

"The combat capability detector has malfunctioned!"

Xiaoyue shouted this as she rushed into the public bathhouse like a startled rabbit.

That's way too exaggerated...