“—…san!”

“—Otomi-san!”

Her vision was hazy. Somewhere deep in her wavering consciousness, the sound of someone calling her name echoed faintly.

“…Huh… me…?”

The evening glow had faded into blue, the time when night was about to fall.

When Otomi Asuka opened her eyes, for some reason she found herself sitting in her own seat in Class A. 

“Eh… ah…?”

Fragments of memory slowly returned.

She had been having tea in the student council room—and then, partway through, she suddenly lost consciousness.

“…!”

Asuka quickly lowered her gaze, checking her lower body.

She was still fully dressed, and there was no pain. Everything was just as it had been before she went to the student council room.

Then, a voice she clearly remembered surfaced in her mind.

“O-Otomi-san! It’s okay now! You’re going to be fine!”

“—Kokonoe-san!!”

The desk and chair rattled loudly as she sprang to her feet.

Kokonoe Touka had come to save her. After that, what had happened to her?

There was no way Touka could have come out of that situation unscathed while she alone was saved—

A fear that felt like her chest was being torn apart crushed down on Asuka.

“No way…!”

She gasped, and at that moment—

The classroom door slid open with a loud sound.

“—Asuka!”

“Huh—”

A male student burst in, his loud voice echoing as he ran straight toward her.

He slipped between the desks, and just as she realized he was right in front of her—he pulled her into a tight embrace.

“Kyah!?”

“Asuka…! Asuka, Asuka… are you okay!? You’re really okay…!? I saw your message and rushed over as fast as I could…! I thought you might be in danger…!”

That voice, and those arms wrapped around her, belonged to Fukase Kazuto.

The moment Kazuto saw the SOS Asuka had sent, he had sprinted to the school with everything he had.

Finding her in the classroom, all the worry he’d been holding back finally overflowed, and without a second thought, he pulled her into his arms.

“H-hey…! At least let go first!?”

“Ah—sorry…”

Kazuto only then realized he’d been holding Asuka, and hurriedly let go of her.

“Um… Mayu-chan invited me, and even though I wasn’t planning to go, I ended up going along to the student council tea party… I think they put something like a sleeping pill in my tea there. I don’t remember anything after that.”

“Wha—”

At her words, Kazuto caught his breath.

What she described went far beyond anything that could be brushed off as mere misconduct.

And with the student council involved, there was even the risk it could be covered up—he could feel the danger hanging in the air.

“But… I was okay. I think Kokonoe-san saved me.”

“Huh!? Kokonoe did!? Then that means—”

The clouded look on Asuka’s face pierced his chest, and the worst-case scenario flashed through Kazuto’s mind.

But then—

“Uwaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!”

The door burst open even more forcefully than when Kazuto had arrived, and Kokonoe Touka came charging in, tears flying everywhere.

“Kokonoe-san! Are you okay!?”

“Kokonoe!? You—”

“Fukase-kuuuuuuun!!”

“Whoa!?”

Kazuto had been the one holding Asuka just moments ago, but now it was Touka clinging tightly to him instead.

Even though her appearance had completely changed into that of a beautiful girl, the way she cried was still just as pitiful as it had been before.

“Kokonoe… are you really okay!? They didn’t do anything to you, right?”

“Bweeeeeeh…!”

“Hey, if you just keep crying, I can’t tell… explain already…”

Burying her face against Kazuto’s chest, Touka finally managed to force out some words.

“T-they… did nothing to me…! S-someone I didn’t know helped me… s-so—”

“I see… thank goodness… but who could that person have been…?”

Questions still remained.

But more than anything else, the fact that Touka was safe was a huge relief.

“Kokonoe-san… you’re the one who saved me, right…?”

“O-Otomi-shan… um… y-yes…”

“I see… thank you so much. If you hadn’t come, I don’t know what might’ve happened to me…”

“It’sh fine… it’sh fine…”

“You say that, but you’re crying… even though you were scared, you still took my place…”

Asuka’s eyes trembled, and the two girls looked at each other, as if confirming each other’s safety.

But—right after that.

Something completely outside Kazuto’s expectations happened.

“F-Fukase-kun!”

“W-What?”

“I… I…! I want to have sex!!”

“Huh?”

“What?”

Touka declared it openly, right there in front of Asuka.

Kazuto was left speechless—and in the next instant, Asuka’s expression hardened.

Her gaze stabbed straight into him.

“Hey, you! You didn’t do something to Kokonoe-san, did you!? Are you holding something over her!?”

Asuka was already aware of Touka’s feelings.

She’d noticed them back when they talked at the café.

But pressuring someone for a sexual relationship despite not even dating wasn’t normal.

From Asuka’s perspective, it looked as though Kazuto was taking advantage of Touka.

“H-huh!? I didn’t do anything! K-Kokonoe just acted on her own…!”

“I—I can’t hold it in anymore! This time really made me realize it…! If I’m just going to be taken by someone else someday… then I want it to be you, Fukase-kun—right now!!”

Touka had realized something frightening about herself.

She had realized that she was now seen as a beautiful girl, to the extent that she could even be offered as Asuka’s substitute.

It was a fear that would never have existed with her former appearance.

She realized that it wouldn’t be strange if someone forced themselves on her.

That was why Touka, her body trembling, desperately wished—

—to offer herself of her own will, to the person she chose.

“Kokonoe… calm down. I-I like Asuka. You know that too, right…? I get that you’ve got a lot going through your head right now, but this isn’t something we can deal with here. And Asuka could get the wrong idea…”

Touka was harboring the idea of forming a harem for Kazuto that included Asuka.

But now wasn’t the time to bring it up, and Kazuto desperately tried to stop her by skirting around the issue.

—However, there was no way today’s Touka was going to be stopped by something like that.

“…I-I’m going to prove my love for you, Fukase-kun, right now!”

“Huh? No, wait, what are you—”

“Nnngh—!”

“Mmgh!?”

“Haaah!?”

In the next instant, Touka threw herself against Kazuto, pressing herself against him and forcibly stealing his lips.

Her long hair swayed softly, a sweet scent drifting close.

Soft lips were pressed against his with force, and Kazuto’s eyes widened.

And Asuka, her face turning bright red at the sudden kiss, let out a scream.

“Nn… gh… hah… hah… I- I won’t stop anymore! Until Fukase-kun does it with me, I’ll say it as many times as it takes!”

“H-Hey, wait—! Th-this isn’t the time for that…! Asuka’s right in front of us…!”

Kazuto’s cheeks burned as the sensation lingered.

His first kiss was stolen. It was the worst possible situation, but Touka was undeniably a beautiful girl—and it was true that her softness had momentarily sent his thoughts scattering.

“O-Otomi-san… I-I’m sorry… I… I like Fukase-kun…! I know it’s strange in this society, but… my chest hurts so much… I can’t stop myself…!”

“Uh… y-yeah… I mean… just looking at this, I can kind of tell…”

Touka’s overly straightforward confession left Asuka feeling a little overwhelmed.

Her feelings came through clearly—but what Asuka did next easily surpassed anything Kazuto had anticipated.

“Then… can I say one thing too?”

“Huh? Y-yes…?”

“You know… when Kokonoe-san helped me, I was really happy.”

Asuka fidgeted with her fingers, looking oddly restless.

There was a hint of shyness in her demeanor.

“This isn’t because of what just happened just now… my heart’s been pounding this whole time.”

“Huh…?”

“And then, when I saw Kokonoe-san, I understood a little.”

Touka, still confused, waited for Asuka to continue.

Then Asuka said it plainly.

“Hey… would you like to try going out with me?”

“Eh?”

“Huh!?”

“…I think I might have started to like you, Kokonoe-san.”

It was sudden, shocking, and impossible to process at first.

Asuka, who was supposed to be clueless about romance, had been shaken by Touka saving her, and somehow took that feeling to mean love.

Her face flushed red as she fidgeted and looked away.

No matter how you looked at it, she was the very image of a girl in love.

But—

“Nooooo!!”

Touka had expected Asuka to fall in love with Kazuto, build a harem that included herself, and then have the promised sex—that was how it was supposed to happen.

And yet, for some reason, Asuka’s feelings were pointing straight at her.

That was why Kokonoe Touka let out a shout of denial that echoed through the classroom.