The car pulled into the underground parking lot beneath the apartment.
Hiratsuka Shizuka turned off the engine, unbuckled her seatbelt, and looked toward the backseat with a playful smile and twinkling eyes.
Chisato, who was being stared at so directly, looked helpless.
He turned to glance at the sleeping Yukino beside him.
Perhaps because the car was warm and gently rocking the whole ride, the fatigue she had built up over the past few days had finally caught up with her.
She was still fast asleep on his shoulder, showing no signs of waking.
She slept peacefully, completely at ease, while Chisato sat frozen, afraid to move too much.
This unexpected moment left him with a slight headache… though perhaps a small part of him didn't mind it.
"So what now? Want to just stay like that? My car's got heat, so the two of you can spend the night in the backseat if you want,"
Hiratsuka said with a smile that made it clear she was joking—but also watching them with keen amusement.
After receiving the dead-eyed stare from Chisato, she let out a cheerful laugh, leaned over happily, and reached out to rub Yukino's head.
"Hey, Yukinoshita, wake up, we're home."
She tried calling her softly, but Yukino continued to sleep soundly, showing no sign of waking up.
With no other choice, she resorted to a firmer method—pinching her cheek.
That finally got a reaction from Yukino.
Her eyelids fluttered slightly, and her parted lips let out a whisper-thin murmur:
"Mmm—"
Since she was still resting on Chisato's shoulder, the sound she made was transmitted almost unobstructed, crystal clear into his ear.
He didn't physically jolt or anything, but in that brief instant, his thoughts did momentarily drift into unfamiliar territory.
"Hiratsuka-sensei... ah! I'm so sorry!"
Upon opening her eyes, Yukino found herself face to face with her homeroom teacher's amused smile.
After a moment of confusion, she quickly registered her surroundings—and more importantly, who she had been leaning on.
From birth until now, she had never had such intimate physical contact with any man who wasn't a family member.
That deeply shocking realization sobered her up instantly. For once, she panicked, and her cheeks turned bright red.
It wasn't just Chisato—even Hiratsuka Shizuka found it all very amusing.
As far as she could recall, this was the first time she'd seen this particular student react in such a way. Giving them a ride home today turned out to be quite the gain.
Next time she met up with Haruno for dinner, she'd have some new material for gossip.
"Don't worry about it. This kind of thing could've happened to anyone."
Chisato shook his head lightly, telling her not to mind it, then undid his seatbelt and got out of the car.
Yukino pressed her fingers to her brow and sighed softly.
Her ears were still burning hot—clearly, her little moment of embarrassment would haunt her for quite a while.
"Alright, Yukinoshita, don't overthink it. This is as far as I go. You can handle the rest, right?"
"No problem. Thank you, Hiratsuka-sensei."
"You've worked hard these past few days. Go take a nice bath and get some rest."
"Yes."
Yukino also got out of the car and stood next to Chisato, watching as Hiratsuka Shizuka drove away.
Without a word, the two of them turned and headed toward the elevator.
Inside the narrow elevator, the awkward atmosphere between them quickly built up.
For some reason, Chisato suddenly recalled the time he and Haruno were briefly stuck in an elevator together.
These two sisters, strictly speaking, had both had moments of being alone with him—and both had shared some level of physical contact with him…
Strange... Why was he thinking about that now?
"Speaking of which, there's still a celebration banquet after this. They said we'll be going out to eat."
In awkward moments like this, even time seemed to slow to half speed. Though Chisato felt like ages had passed, in reality, the elevator had only ascended a few floors.
Feeling that he had to say something to break the silence, he brought up a random topic.
"Mm. The event chair showed us a few venues she liked. Said she and the student council president from Minejo picked them out.
She personally prefers a yakiniku place—with private rooms and karaoke. You can eat and have fun at the same time. Sounds like it'll be quite lively.
Most people seemed to agree, so barring any surprises, I imagine we'll end up there."
Yukino had already calmed down from her earlier panic.
Thanks to that, Chisato also settled down quite a bit.
"Sounds like fun."
"Are you planning to attend, Suzumiya-kun?"
Yukino sneaked a glance at him.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because, even though you said you would, your expression makes it clear you're not interested. You don't look the least bit excited."
"Haha, caught me."
She was right. Chisato had been thinking about bailing on the celebration from the start.
After all, from his point of view, it was better to visit the band members at the company than to attend that kind of gathering.
He was far closer to them, and he'd promised Seika he'd show up when he could.
As the head of the company, it would be irresponsible to keep handing everything off to his subordinates.
"To be honest, I was thinking that."
"I see…"
Hearing Chisato's answer, Yukino fell silent.
Their conversation seemed to end there.
But when the elevator doors opened and they stepped out, walking toward their respective doors, Yukino suddenly spoke again after a brief pause.
"However, as the person most responsible for the success of the joint sports festival, I'm sure your presence at the celebration would make a lot of people happy, Suzumiya-kun."
Just as Chisato lifted his hand to unlock his door, he turned around at her words and denied it.
"I doubt that. In my eyes, the success of the festival was thanks to the entire activities committee.
And if someone had to be singled out for contributing the most, I wouldn't say it was me—I'd say it was you."
Yukino looked at Chisato, who was speaking so seriously. For some reason, seeing the overly earnest look in his eyes made her laugh.
The mood Chisato had carefully built up instantly deflated. He sighed helplessly.
"What? I wasn't just saying that to be nice, you know."
"I get it. I really do… but for some reason, when such serious words come out of your mouth, Suzumiya-kun, I just find it kind of funny."
Chisato looked a bit speechless.
"That's pretty rude. What kind of person do you think I am?"
Yukino tried to suppress the smile on her face, but her gently curved eyes and brows made her expression softer than usual.
"You're probably the type who seems a bit unreliable on the surface but is actually quite capable underneath."
"Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment."
"Suzumiya-kun."
Chisato smiled lightly and waved his hand casually, intending to say goodbye and head home, when Yukino called out to him again.
He turned back, confused. Yukino stood there, her expression earnest.
"This time… I really want to thank you."
She didn't specify what exactly she was thanking him for, but Chisato could guess. It definitely wasn't just for lending her his shoulder earlier.
It must have been for taking the baton from her in the relay and managing to bring in all those sponsorship prizes.
Chisato shrugged.
"One thank-you is enough for the same thing."
Yukino said nothing, just looked at him.
The familiar atmosphere of silence settled between them.
Click—
The sudden sound of the Suzumiya family's front door opening interrupted that atmosphere without mercy.
An unexpected person, in unexpected clothing, appeared at an unexpected time and in an unexpected situation.
Chisato turned around in surprise.
Standing at the entrance in a spaghetti-strap nightgown that exposed her shoulders and a large part of her chest was Utaha, smiling with that unreadable expression of hers.
Her hair was damp, with droplets of water still clinging to her neck and shoulders—clearly, she had just come out of the bath.
As she opened the door, the warmth from inside the house surged out, clearly felt against the chill outside.
Utaha first looked toward Yukino. Their gazes met midair.
She smiled politely and nodded slightly in greeting, then turned to look at Chisato.
"Chisato, it's cold outside. If you need to talk, why not come in?"
"Ah, well—"
Before Chisato could respond, Yukino quickly shook her head.
"There's nothing that really needs to be discussed in detail. Sorry for the trouble."
She said that, turned immediately, and opened the handle of her own front door under Utaha's gaze.
After entering her apartment, she shut the door, changed into indoor slippers, and sat down on the sofa. She closed her eyes and leaned back.
A long while later, she slowly opened them again.
Sitting up and looking down, she gently placed her right hand over her chest. A faint, ambiguous sigh escaped her lips in the otherwise quiet living room.
…
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?"
Inside Chisato's home, Utaha happily hummed to herself as she took his schoolbag and helped him remove his coat, hanging it up on the rack in the entryway.
It had only been a little over a week since they last saw each other, yet somehow it felt like her feminine charm—no, more like her wifely aura—had grown even stronger. What was going on?
"Would it have made a difference if I told you? You're so busy you wouldn't have made it to the station anyway, so I figured I'd just show up and surprise you."
Utaha pulled Chisato into the living room. After a period of separation from her beloved, the first thing she did upon reuniting was bury her face in his chest.
Chisato thought she was initiating intimacy and moved to embrace her—only to realize she had other intentions.
She leaned in to unbutton his collar and took a short breath near his upper body, clearly trying to detect something.
He gently cupped her face and asked with faux innocence, "What are you doing?"
Utaha casually replied, "Giving you a check-up."
"Only a novelist would phrase it that way."
"Got a problem with that?"
"Not really."
"Then hold still. If you move, I'll bite you. Right here."
She pointed a sharp fingertip at his throat.
"…"
Chisato leaned back against the sofa, looking up at the ceiling in resignation, completely letting down his guard as Utaha—now sitting across his lap in a duck-sit—continued her inspection.
Perhaps because Yukino didn't use perfume like her older sister did, Utaha found no suspicious traces.
In the end, she blushed and smacked away the hand that had been misbehaving on her bottom during the whole time.
"You understand, Utaha, I've always been faithful to you."
Utaha pinched Chisato's cheeks.
"To be able to say such sweet lies with such a sincere tone… only you could do that. I dare you to say the same thing next time that blonde idiot is around."
"I would. Eriri wouldn't mind at all."
"So what you're saying is—only shallow women like me enjoy hearing shallow sweet-talk like that?"
Utaha squinted her bewitching eyes and pulled at his cheeks with both hands.
"Ow, ow, ow…"
Chisato began to beg for mercy.
Utaha grinned triumphantly, proud of having won this little skirmish—until suddenly she was lifted into the air.
The shift in weight, the sudden pressure on her backside—she realized too late that Chisato had scooped her up.
He strode off from the living room with clear intent toward the bedroom.
"Hey! Put me down! I haven't even asked you what you and that Yukinoshita neighbor were talking about outside!"
"It's fine. We can talk about it in the bedroom."
"Who's talking to you in the bedroom!? Chisato, I'm serious—don't you dare—"
As Chisato kicked the door shut in a practiced move he'd done countless times, the bedroom closed behind them.
From the door's gap came Utaha's voice—a mix of surprise, anticipation, and something else.
Alongside her final protests to maintain dignity—phrases like "Don't touch me until you explain everything…" "You haven't even showered…" "No, stop…" and soft, indistinct murmurs—
Her resistance swiftly crumbled.
Before she could even question him, Chisato had already thrown her thoughts into complete disarray—both physically and mentally.
Though judging by the sounds coming from the door…
The physical side seemed to be winning out.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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