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Maybe it was because of spring break, but there were noticeably fewer people around the second-year dorms when Yukio headed over to Kiryuin's room.
She'd said she had something she wanted to ask him for help with, so Yukio was pretty curious what kind of trouble could stump her badly enough that she'd actually call him over.
"Knock, knock."
He'd barely tapped twice before the door swung open. Looked like Kiryuin had been waiting by the door for a while.
To be honest, today's Kiryuin caught Yukio completely off guard. For once, she wasn't in her uniform. Instead, she'd just thrown on a simple crew-neck short dress.
Put simply, it looked a lot like a girl wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt. The hem of that short dress just barely covered the very top of her thighs.
That kind of outfit, with its round neckline framing those delicate collarbones that looked like they could hold wine, and that short, short hem revealing ivory-white legs as smooth as carved jade—every bit of it was designed to tug at a man's soul.
With such simple yet devastating styling, even Kiryuin's usual wild, defiant air got pushed to the background, replaced by a more languid, bewitching charm.
Kiryuin seemed very satisfied with the momentary daze in Yukio's eyes.
She lifted a hand and swept the white strands at her temple back behind her ear, crimson eyes gleaming with mischief.
"This is the first time my dear underclassman has come over as a guest, isn't it?"
"So—do you want to eat first? Take a shower first? Or… eat me first?"
"Pft." Yukio almost choked.
He hadn't expected a car going that fast straight into his face the instant he stepped in the door. It was honestly beyond anything he'd mentally prepared for.
"So straightforward, huh, senpai." Yukio bent to change his shoes as he walked into Kiryuin's room.
Watching her walk ahead of him, that short dress barely doing its job, and the way her hips swayed with every step, he couldn't help thinking—was this favor she mentioned today… referring to this?
"What can I say? I'm bored." Kiryuin clearly caught his drift and looked thoroughly unimpressed, stretching lazily. "Sure, students all love vacations. But once vacation starts, it means ANHS stops giving me any stimulation to enjoy."
"I want to get on a plane and skydive from thousands of meters up."
"I want to ride a hot air balloon over mountain ranges, and if possible, climb Fuji, put on a wingsuit, and leap off in one go, gliding all the way down."
"Too bad those will have to stay fantasies. The moment I seriously consider the possible dangers in all that, the thrill stops being attractive."
That really was peak Kiryuin—someone who only liked stimulation that was absolutely safe and carried zero danger.
And asking for something like that from the real world? Good luck finding even a handful of such things anywhere on earth.
Yukio felt he and Kiryuin differed there. She thought mundane daily life was boring. He, on the other hand, thought it wasn't bad at all.
Especially when his spring break daily life was full of little amusements—from making that deal with Chabashira, to Sakayanagi using aloe to mess with Ibuki… there was no shortage of entertainment.
With that in mind, Yukio tried to nudge Kiryuin's thinking a bit.
"Senpai, have you ever thought about it this way? A person's 'threshold' in their heart keeps rising over time."
"Take that time you were riding your motorcycle slowly. Back then, you could get a certain thrill from it. But as your mental threshold goes up, it gets harder and harder to feel anything from low-speed riding."
"It's the same with any other kind of rush. If you can, why not try searching for more unique joys in everyday life instead?"
Kiryuin raised an eyebrow, crimson eyes narrowing with that "Do you really need to explain that to me?" look.
"Isn't that exactly why I called you over?"
"Calling my underclassman over is precisely so I can find some unique fun in everyday life."
As she spoke, Kiryuin set her hand on the hem of her dress, her voice going low and husky, tinged with an extra layer of seduction.
"Today, I specially put on my decisive victory underwear for you, you know~"
"Mn?" Yukio perked right up.
He'd heard of that before—it was apparently a very particular local phrase.
Just like the name implied, it was the ultimate gear meant to secure a decisive victory and take down the man you had your eye on at a single glance.
That kind of underwear was, of course, designed with ruthless efficiency when it came to fabric usage—even to the point where it might "accidentally" fail to cover certain key areas at times.
It only had one core purpose: to capture the heart of the person you wanted.
Of course, as times changed and society moved forward, decisive gear wasn't just about romantic conquest anymore. It gradually turned into a little life ritual in itself.
Like in Yukio's home country, where people wore red underwear for their zodiac year for luck—in Japan, victory underwear could be worn for things like a first post-graduation job interview to pray for success.
That said, Yukio was absolutely certain that the decisive battle set Kiryuin was talking about right now was definitely the fabric-saving, man-slaying kind.
Starting at this speed…? He hadn't even had time to fasten his seatbelt.
"What's wrong?" Sensing Yukio's brief hesitation, Kiryuin's crimson eyes flashed with playful malice. "Think I'm too direct? Not romantic enough?"
"No, I just… have high expectations." Yukio coughed lightly.
Joking aside, Kiryuin had already gone this far. Whatever you thought about "directness" or "romance," this was clearly something she'd thought through.
He couldn't very well tell her, "It's not romantic enough, I'll pass." That wasn't rejection, that was outright repudiation, and it would probably stomp all over Kiryuin's pride.
But as soon as Yukio's answer—tantamount to go ahead—left his mouth…
Kiryuin's fingers at her hem suddenly stopped.
Her expression froze.
And Yukio got to see something incredibly rare—a Kiryuin whose face was completely, utterly red.
Even back on the training camp exam, when Yukio had gone in for that slide tackle and ended up with his face pressed right against Kiryuin's, she hadn't blushed this much.
Right now she looked like a crab steamed to bright red, or like a priceless ruby just polished to a high shine.
"W-what is it?" Realizing something was off, Yukio couldn't help asking.
She wasn't just now getting embarrassed and nervous, was she? That would be way too off-brand for Kiryuin.
"I f-forgot…" Kiryuin seemed to have sunk into a sort of unfamiliar fluster. Her voice dropped, low and muffled.
"…I forgot my panties…"
"Mm?" Yukio blinked once.
Then blinked again.
And finally, his face lit with sudden understanding. He lightly bumped his clenched left fist into his open right palm.
No wonder she was this embarrassed—she'd actually forgotten to put them on.
"Pff—hahaha!" He couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
First she'd acted all strong and domineering—only for the punchline to be this sharp a contrast. It was just too damn funny.
"D-don't laugh. I'll go… put them on right now." Kiryuin was so embarrassed she couldn't even look at him anymore. She turned and started for the wardrobe, wanting to fix the issue immediately.
But Yukio caught her wrist in time.
He'd stopped laughing by then; his expression had taken on a faint seriousness.
"How about… you leave it like this."
Even now, Kiryuin really did look a little shy, worried things wouldn't be perfect.
"Is that… really okay? If I'm missing that one piece… the overall effect won't be as good."
In the end, Kiryuin still went to fix the problem—but that one extra piece stayed hooked around her ankle the whole time after that.
Yukio never really got a chance to properly appreciate it anyway.
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