When I woke up, the first thing I did was check the time. 5:30 AM. It was that ambiguous hour, too late to be called the dead of night, yet too early to truly be morning.
Since I had collapsed into bed around 8:00 PM the night before, it was only natural that I'd woken up ahead of schedule. Finding myself unable to drift back to sleep, I forced my body upright.
'I should probably wash up first and then figure out what to do.'
I grabbed a change of undergarments and headed for the shower. As per my routine, I spent a good while zoning out under the stream of water, and it wasn't until thirty minutes had passed that I finally stepped out of the bathroom.
Towel-drying my hair with a casual messiness, I started back toward my room when I spotted a familiar figure ahead.
"Shoko!"
At my call, Shoko Ieiri stifled a yawn and turned around. She seemed surprised to see me awake at such an hour, her eyes widening as she scanned me from head to toe.
"Touya? What are you doing up? And this early, too. Did you just finish showering?"
For some reason, a faint flush crept into Shoko's cheeks. I nodded and replied.
"Yeah. I turned in pretty early last night. Do you usually get up at this time?"
"No. I just happened to wake up early today. It looks like you had quite a lot of fun yesterday, didn't you? You were out cold the moment you got back."
Shoko's words brought back the memory of yesterday's events. Feeling the heat rise to my own face, I partially shielded my eyes and spoke.
"Uh... yeah, it was fun. But more than that, it was exhausting. Trailing along on a woman's shopping trip is no small feat. I thought Mei Mei-san might be a bit different, but I was wrong."
"All women are the same in that regard. They go crazy for shopping. Though I wouldn't know exactly how Mei-san behaves."
As she spoke, Shoko looked at me intently, sensing something was off. She leaned in closer, trying to lock eyes with me. When I tried to look away, she reached out and firmly gripped my face, locking my head in place.
"Oho? What's with that expression? Something definitely happened yesterday, didn't it? No wonder—you two left looking so chummy, but the atmosphere was a bit awkward when you came back."
Startled by her intuition, I met her gaze and asked, "Wait, did you see us coming back?"
"Yep. The infirmary window gives a perfect view of the school entrance. Now, stop trying to dodge the question. What happened to make your face turn that red? Spill it. Quickly."
Looking at the playful, mischievous grin on Shoko's face, my resolve to stay silent only hardened. I clamped my mouth shut.
"No. I'm not telling you."
"Hmph... So that's how it's going to be, huh?"
Shoko rested her chin on her hand, appearing to think for a moment. I watched her warily until she suddenly smirked, her fingers beginning to wiggle rhythmically.
"Wh-what's with the hands? Your intentions look extremely impure right now."
"These? These are the torture devices that are going to open your mouth."
The moment she said it, she lunged forward, her fingers digging into my ribs. I squirmed violently, overcome by the tickling.
"Ahahaha! Stop! Stop it, Shoko!"
"I don't think so. You'd better talk fast. Otherwise, the tickling continues."
I twisted my body back and forth, desperate to escape her reach. "Seriously, stop it! I can't handle being tickled!"
"Then just tell me what happened. If you don't, I'll just have to fill in the blanks with my own impure imagination, won't I?"
Eventually, pushed to my limit, I gave a violent lurch to throw her off. However, I had overlooked one crucial detail: her sense of balance. With her support suddenly gone, she lost her footing and tumbled toward me. Since I was already off-balance myself, the added weight of her body sent us both crashing to the floor.
"Ouch... You okay, Shoko?"
Instinctively, I had reached out to catch her as we fell, and now I was pinned on top of her. My body was draped over hers, with my thighs wedged between her legs as she lay flat on her back. The position looked exactly like I had tackled her with intent. A thought flashed through my mind.
'Is this... is this that "Lucky Sukebe" trope?'
As I stared down at her, I noticed Shoko was silent, her face turning a deep crimson. Realizing the situation, I hurried to plant my hands on the floor to push myself up, but then I felt something strange.
'Why does the floor feel like this? It's soft, squishy... almost like...'
"How long are you planning to keep touching me? You pervert..."
She looked up at me with glaring eyes and a blushing face, and it finally clicked.
'Oh, god... that was her chest!'
Panicking, I snatched my hand away. As I scrambled to stand, my knee accidentally brushed between her legs.
"Hngh! You... did you do that on purpose?"
Shoko questioned me through her blush. I finally managed to get to my feet and frantically waved my arms in denial.
"No! I swear, that wasn't on purpose!"
Wrapping her arms around herself, she eyed me suspiciously before taking the hand I offered to help her up.
"Pervert. Did you enjoy it? Handling a girl's body so recklessly like that?"
"On purpose? It only happened because I was trying to get away from your tickling!"
Quickly regaining her composure, Shoko flashed a sly smile and asked, "See? If you'd just told me what happened earlier, we wouldn't have had this little incident, right, Touya?"
"I didn't have any reason to tell you. I wanted to keep it to myself."
Shoko gave a small, nonchalant tilt of her head. "Fine. Let's say that's true. So... was what happened with Mei-san yesterday even more intense than what just happened?"
She giggled, and I realized I'd been trapped.
'She knew. She didn't know the details, but she knew it was something romantic or suggestive. Her intuition is too damn sharp. Well... I don't know why I'm even comparing the two, but if I had to say, what just happened was definitely more "intense."'
"Uh... no."
Hearing my answer, Shoko grinned with satisfaction. "Heh... Is that so? Then that's fine. So, was it good? Touching my chest?"
At her blunt, teasing remark, I jolted in shock and slapped my hand over her mouth.
"Hey! Don't say things like that! What if someone hears you? You're a girl—have some more discretion!"
Shoko's response was to lick the palm of the hand covering her mouth. I recoiled in disgust, pulling my hand back, only for her to break into fits of laughter.
"I don't think I need to be careful. In fact, maybe I should go around telling people..."
I shook my head at her incomprehensible rambling. She added another jab.
"So... did you like it? I was going to let you touch it one more time if you said yes."
Looking at Shoko's beaming, playful expression, I sighed inwardly.
'Damn it... I'm doomed. She's going to tease me about this for years.'
"Forget it. Anyway, where were you headed?"
Shoko's eyebrow twitched, sensing my blatant attempt to change the subject, but she gave a small chuckle and let it slide. "I was on my way to the shower, too. Then I saw you and figured I'd chat for a bit... which led to that."
"Right. Well, go wash up then. I'm going to head out for a walk."
"Sure. If you feel like touching me again, come find me at the infirmary. I'll be waiting."
I literally covered my ears to block out her provocations and fled the scene. Ignoring the sound of her laughter trailing behind me, I gritted my teeth and hurried toward the dorm exit.