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[Fuyumi's Apartment — Afternoon, 3:47 PM]
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Although Sasaki's explanation had been detailed enough to make Rei's cheeks flush her curiosity outweighed her embarrassment. Something else had clearly happened. Something that left him looking this devastated.
"And then..." Sasaki's expression twisted, pain flickering across his handsome features. "My crush got really excited. She reached down and touched me... there. But I didn't react at all."
Rei's breath caught.
"At first we both thought I was just nervous," Sasaki continued, his voice hollow. "She kept reassuring me. She rubbed me through my pants for a while, trying to help, telling me it was okay, that first times are always awkward..."
He clutched his head, fingers digging into his dark hair.
"But nothing happened. I couldn't... I just couldn't. Eventually she got this look on her face—like I disgusted her—and she left. Told me never to contact her again."
No reaction at all? Rei stared at him, her mind racing. He means he couldn't get... hard?
But that didn't make any sense. He'd been kissing his crush. They'd been touching each other. How could a teenage boy in the prime of puberty not react to that? At his age, guys were practically walking bundles of hormones. Even the slightest stimulation should have set him off.
Unless... there was something wrong with his body?
What she'd assumed was a simple lovers' quarrel suddenly seemed far more serious. Seeing the genuine anguish on Sasaki's face, Rei pushed aside her own flustered thoughts and reached out, her voice softening.
"Sasaki, don't be so hard on yourself. Maybe you were just overwhelmed? It was your first time being intimate with someone. The pressure alone could have—"
"That's what I thought too." He cut her off, misery dripping from every syllable. "She tried so hard to help me. She used her hand, rubbed me for ages, but I felt nothing. Rei-nee... do you think there's something wrong with me?"
The image of some girl desperately stroking Sasaki through his clothes flashed through Rei's mind before she could stop it. Her face grew hot.
Focus. This is serious.
"I... I don't think we can say for certain yet," she said carefully. "What if it really was just emotional? Sasaki, do you normally... I mean, have you had this problem before?"
Sasaki's cheeks reddened. "I haven't really paid attention. Sometimes people send me videos and stuff, but I never open them."
Rei didn't ask what kind of videos. She had a pretty good guess.
"What about mornings?" she pressed gently. "Boys usually... wake up with a reaction, don't they?"
The question was mortifying to ask, but she kept her expression calm, professional—like a concerned older sister merely gathering clinical data.
Sasaki blinked at her, genuinely confused. "Morning? What reaction?"
Rei's heart sank. He doesn't even know what morning wood is? No, wait—that can't be right.
She thought back to two days ago, when Sasaki had tripped and landed on top of her. She remembered the weight of his body pressing her into the couch, the warmth radiating through his clothes, and—
Oh.
She remembered exactly what she'd felt pressing against her thigh. Hard. Insistent. Very much alive.
That had been only the day before his confession to his crush. One day wasn't enough time for a teenage boy to suddenly become... incapable.
A strange suspicion began forming in her mind. Her eyes widened as she stared at Sasaki, seeing him in a new light.
"Rei-nee? What's wrong?" He shifted nervously under her gaze.
"Nothing." She shook her head, her thoughts still churning. "Sasaki, can I ask you something?"
He nodded.
Rei swallowed hard, fighting down a wave of embarrassment. "Have you ever had a wet dream? And that morning thing I mentioned—waking up with your... with it already reacting? If those have happened, it would prove your body is fine."
Sasaki mumbled his response, unable to meet her eyes. "I think... yeah. Both of those have happened. So I'm okay? But then what happened yesterday? I used to think about her constantly. Sometimes I'd dream about her and wake up with..."
He trailed off, too embarrassed to finish.
Rei studied him, her suspicion crystallizing into something sharper. But she needed to be sure.
God, I can't believe I'm about to ask this.
She kept her voice light, almost casual. "Sasaki, that time you fell on top of me... how did that feel?"
He froze. His gaze dropped to the floor, and she watched the tips of his ears turn bright red.
Rei's own face was burning, but beneath the embarrassment, she felt a strange flutter in her chest. An anticipation she didn't quite want to name.
"This is important," she said firmly. "This affects your whole future happiness. If I'm going to help you, I need to understand exactly what's going on. Don't hold back."
Sasaki's blush deepened until his whole face was scarlet. "When I fell on you... my heart was pounding. I couldn't breathe. It felt... exciting. And... good."
The words hung in the air between them.
Rei's breath hitched. Heat crept up her neck, spreading across her cheeks in a telltale flush. She quickly looked away, unable to hold his gaze.
He got aroused. When he touched me.
Several seconds of charged silence passed before she trusted herself to speak again.
"That's... completely normal," she managed, keeping her voice steady through sheer willpower. "Just a natural physical response. And honestly, if you hadn't reacted to that, I'd be pretty insulted."
Wait, that came out wrong—
She hurried to course-correct. "What I mean is, this is probably why your girlfriend got angry. She thought you didn't care about her. But based on what happened when you fell on me, we can confirm your body works fine."
Sasaki looked up at her, confusion still clouding his features. "Then... what happened yesterday? Why couldn't I—"
"You said you used to fantasize about her all the time, right? That just thinking about her would make you react?"
He nodded, embarrassed.
"When did you first notice you'd lost interest in her?"
"Yesterday. When we were together."
"But the day before that, when you were on top of me..." Rei's voice wavered slightly. She couldn't quite bring herself to finish the sentence.
Sasaki said nothing. His silence was answer enough.
Rei's pulse quickened. Her throat felt dry, her thoughts scattered.
He reacted to me. Not her. Me.
"There's an easy way to test whether you have a problem or not," she heard herself say. The words came out calm, clinical. Nothing like the chaos raging inside her chest. "Come closer. Like you did that day."
Sasaki hesitated, uncertainty flickering in his eyes.
Rei steeled herself. Her cheeks burned, but she met his gaze squarely.
"This is for your health, Sasaki. You helped me with something difficult—let me help you now. Don't be embarrassed. Don't you want to know if your body is actually broken?"
Something shifted in his expression. Resolve hardened his features as he stepped forward, closing the distance between them until they stood barely a foot apart.
Rei reached out and took his hand in hers. Her fingers trembled slightly as she traced her thumb across his knuckles, skin brushing skin.
"Anything?" she whispered.
He shook his head.
Okay. Escalation time.
Before she could lose her nerve, Rei guided his hand to her chest. She pressed his palm flat against the swell of her breast, the soft warmth of her flesh yielding beneath his touch.
Her breath stuttered. She forced herself to look away, unable to face him.
"Wh-what about now?" Her voice came out thin, shaky.
For a long moment, Sasaki didn't respond. Then—
"I... I think so. A little."
Joy sparked in Rei's chest, surprising her with its intensity. She squeezed her eyes shut, adopting what she hoped looked like a resolute expression—like a soldier preparing for battle.
"Then do what you need to do," she said quietly. "Move your hand. If your body reacts to me... then we'll know for sure there's nothing wrong with you."
Inside, her thoughts raced down a very different track.
That day... he saw everything. He touched my breasts. He got so overstimulated by my body that he lost interest in other girls. This is my responsibility. I have to help him.
First step: confirm that his... equipment... still functions properly.
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