It was the morning after the Beautiful Girl Trio and Tanaka had invaded Ryouta's Room.
"…Hmm? Oh, it’s morning already."
The wall clock read 6:13 AM.
I woke up in high spirits, bathed in the faint, lingering fragrance of the beautiful girls who had been here just hours before.
"Man… what a truly magnificent morning."
Having survived the absurd ordeal of hosting the Beautiful Girl Trio in my own room, I felt invincible. Sure, they’d seen plenty of my creepy otaku merch, but Miyama and Kuroki hadn’t seemed repulsed. More importantly, they hadn’t discovered my secret stash of Ero-goods. All things considered, I’d handled the situation pretty well.
In hindsight, letting them in might have been the right call. After all, I got to wake up like this, savoring the sweet, mellow scent of girls.
"Right, time to wash my face…"
I stopped. My phone buzzed.
(A LIME message? Already?)
It was from Kuroki. She probably sent another selfie. She had a habit of regularly bombarding me with (providing me) photos of herself, which I felt obligated to (never failed to) check.
It wasn't that I had romantic feelings for her or was being manipulated. Not at all.
(I mean, if a beautiful girl with a face and body like that sends you a selfie, anyone would look at it—and save it. Don't underestimate an adolescent boy's instincts.)
I might have been dancing right in the palm of her hand, but a private selfie from Rui Kuroki was the kind of treasure her hardcore fans at school would be dying to get their hands on.
(Now then, let's see what today’s offering is…)
I opened the chat with bated breath, but there was no photo waiting for me.
『Rui: Thanks for yesterday, Ryouta-kun. I had so much fun! But… just one thing. You really should fix that habit of hiding indecent things under your bed. ♡』
"…………"
I stood frozen in front of the bathroom sink for a solid five minutes.
☆☆
"I-I’m leaving!"
After the crushing realization that Kuroki had seen my Oppai Mousepad, my eroge, and even my ●●●●● and ●●●, I slumped out of the house, my spirit broken.
(That Kuroki… So that was her game? She only came over yesterday to dig up dirt on me?!)
As I brooded, I caught a glimpse of a girl's Summer Uniform sleeve peeking out from behind my front gate. Someone was waiting by the nameplate.
It had to be Rui Kuroki. Fine. If she wanted to play dirty, I was going to give her a piece of my mind.
"Hey, Kuro—"
"Ry-Ryouta! Good morning!"
"Wait, Yuria?"
The person waiting wasn't Kuroki; it was Yuria. Because of the heat, she’d tied her usual flowing brown hair back into a ponytail and was wearing short socks.
"Yuria? What are you doing here?"
"I told you before, didn't I? I’m walking to school with you from now on."
"Oh, right. I think you did say something like that."
I remembered now. On That Day, when I’d walked to school with Kuroki, Yuria had caught us, and things had gotten messy. Since then, Kuroki had only shown up occasionally because of her Track and Field Club Morning Practice, but still…
"Let's go, Ryouta."
"Y-Yeah, sure. But… are you sure about this? People might get ideas if they see us together."
"Well, if you walked with Rui, her fan club would probably stab you out of jealousy. But with me, it should be fine, right?"
Actually, I was pretty sure the reaction would be exactly the same.
Yuria was obsessed with her image as a gyaru, but she was strangely oblivious to the fact that her Appearance was every bit as striking as Rui Kuroki’s. She kept most boys at arm's length, so she probably didn't realize just how popular she really was.
(Parading those ridiculously sexy thick thighs around without a hint of self-awareness… she’s just as dangerous as Miyama and her oblivious massive chest.)
"Ryouta, you're staring again!"
As I stood there lost in thought while ogling her thighs, Yuria delivered a sharp, light chop to my head.
"Honestly… you look at me way too much. Especially my legs."
"S-Sorry. Force of habit."
"What kind of habit is that?!"
"Well, it's just…"
"Is it because… you think I'm a beautiful girl?" Yuria asked, her voice turning defensive.
Well, obviously. I figured this was as good a time as any to give her some self-awareness.
"Of course you're a beautiful girl, Yuria. You’re tall, your hair is gorgeous, you’ve got a killer figure, and your eyes are so sharp. I don’t think there’s another girl who pulls off the gyaru look as well as you do. And more than anything, those thighs are—"
"W-Wait! Time out! Stop! …Don’t just pile it on like that!"
Yuria slammed her hands over her face, which had turned bright red. It was rare to find someone so completely unprepared for a compliment.
"Topic closed! We’re going to school! Now! We’ll be late!"
"Uh, right…"
She snapped at me and started power-walking ahead. For a girl at the Class Caste Top, this man-hating Otaku Gyaru was surprisingly weak to praise. Her character traits were just too much to handle.
(I wonder what she was like in Junior High School, though.)
She’d mentioned that she started admiring the gyaru lifestyle because of a Slightly Lewd Manga some kid gave her in elementary school, so she might have made the change back then. But since I was her first Otaku Friend, she must have been a Hidden Otaku that entire time.
(I feel like I shouldn't pry too much, though…)
"What's with the face, Ryouta? You look so serious all of a sudden."
"Oh, uh, nothing. I was just thinking about the script. I still haven't memorized all my lines."
"Really? I’ve already got mine down."
"Well, the Prince doesn't show up until the final scene. It’s an easy role."
"Hey! It is not! I don't have many lines, sure, but think about the kiss scene! It’s going to be so hard to make that look convincing for the audience!"
The kiss scene… Right. There was no avoiding that if we were going to do this play.
"We aren't actually going to kiss, but we have to make it look real. You won't be mad if I kiss you on the cheek or something to sell it, right, Ryouta?"
"I mean… I wouldn't mind."
If anything, it was a total win for me.
"…T-Then that's what we’ll do! I told you, I’m the lead, and I’m going to give this my all!"
"Yeah. I hear you."
Even though we’d become close, Yuria probably wasn't thrilled about the idea of a kiss scene with a guy like me. I felt a little guilty about it. But if she was that committed, then I had to step up and take it seriously, too.