Truthfully, Haru had no intention of doing anything further.
A beautiful girl's figure was always pleasant to look at, but that was all it ended at admiration.
Last night's shameless antics had already left him very satisfied; there was no need to torment them further.
Still, seeing Utaha's usual composure mixed with faint irritation was amusing in its own way.
So he sat at the edge of the bed and reached for the blanket, as if the next second he would pull it away.
"Stop!"
Utaha finally couldn't sit still. She didn't dare gamble.
"Relax, I just wanted to chat with you two," Haru said, his tone seemingly sincere.
Yukino cut in coldly, "Do you really think this is the right time for conversation?"
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"We're girls. And we're not wearing clothes," Utaha added.
"Doesn't that make it better?"
"???"
After his teasing, Utaha glanced at Yukino, who clearly had no intention of helping her. Her gaze returned to Haru's hand gripping the blanket. Her expression shifted, she opened her mouth a few times, then finally sighed as though giving up.
"Forget it, do as you like."
With that, she closed her eyes and leaned back against the headboard, adopting a defeated posture.
Haru withdrew his hand, smiling in admiration. "Even when panicking, you can stay composed and even turn it into a reverse play. That deserves praise."
Utaha opened her beautiful eyes, her expression already calm again. "So I guessed right?"
"Yeah, you did."
"I thought so."
She casually ran her fingers through her hair, trying to smooth out the mess from waking up. Then, with a hint of complaint, she added:
"If you'd actually tried anything just now, I don't have a spare pair of stockings."
Haru's eyes instinctively darted around the room.
Sure enough, two shredded pairs of black stockings "lay dead" on the floor.
Both, of course, were his handiwork.
"How about this," Haru suggested, "since today's a day off, I'll take you girls shopping this afternoon? I can help pick out some stockings."
The idea of personally choosing stockings for them just imagining it felt wickedly tempting.
But Utaha shut him down immediately. "That won't be necessary."
At that moment, Yukino slowly sat up and asked, "Have you made breakfast yet?"
"Not yet. I've prepared all the ingredients, just waiting for you to wake up."
"Then you can start."
"Alright."
Once Haru left the room, Yukino finally turned to Utaha and gave a lukewarm compliment. "Your quick thinking just now was… impressive."
Utaha could tell it wasn't genuine praise, but she still replied, "It just occurred to me that since you were right beside me, if he had gone for 'morning exercise,' you wouldn't have escaped either."
Morning exercise?
Yukino's face darkened. "Next time, could you use more precise wording?"
"Wasn't that precise enough?"
"Sorry, I didn't hear precision I only heard perversion."
Utaha chuckled softly and let the subject drop.
But when her eyes fell on the ripped stockings on the floor, she sighed. "That guy's tastes are seriously strange."
This time, Yukino wholeheartedly agreed.
The pair she'd worn last night hadn't been cheap.
Of course, she knew Haru would happily reimburse her for stockings. In fact, if she asked, he would probably reimburse her for underwear as well—and might even volunteer to help pick it out.
But still, seeing her stockings lying there in tatters felt a little unnatural.
After all, they had been in close contact with her skin.
Meanwhile, as Haru was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, a message from Haruno popped up on his phone.
As expected, the contents were nothing of substance. Either she was teasing him about what happened last night, or bringing up the pair of stockings she'd sent him.
Haru replied: I put your stockings in the closet. If you want them back, you can come pick them up anytime.
After sending the message, he froze.
Because while typing, an image of those black stockings automatically surfaced in his mind.
And then he thought of the ones Yukino had been wearing last night.
Wait. Something didn't add up.
He set his phone aside and quietly peeked out of the kitchen.
After waiting patiently, he saw Utaha enter the bathroom. That was his chance.
Returning to the bedroom, he happened to run into Yukino, already dressed.
The girl gave him a doubtful look. "Why did you come back?"
"I'm cleaning up the room," Haru answered smoothly.
"Oh. Then I'll leave it to you."
She didn't think too much of it.
But just as she was about to head toward the bathroom, Haru called after her. "By the way, the stockings you wore last night… did you buy them yourself? I don't remember seeing them before."
Yukino paused mid-step and said casually, "Of course you haven't. I don't recall ever shopping for stockings with you."
Haru feigned realization. "Ah, I see. So you secretly bought that pair of… rather questionable stockings on your own."
Her face immediately turned cold. But that was the confirmation he wanted.
Yukino replied flatly, "I bought them when I went shopping with my sister last time. I wasn't interested, but she dragged me into it. In the end, she picked out the same pair for herself."
The same pair!
Just as he suspected.
Haru kept his face neutral. "Could it be that Haruno-senpai noticed your fondness for stockings, so she took you to buy them?"
"Are you stupid? If anyone's suspicious, it's you. I've never had a habit of wearing stockings before."
Throwing that remark over her shoulder, Yukino walked off.
Haru took a deep breath, then re-entered the messy bedroom.
He crouched down, picked up the torn stockings, and headed for the wardrobe.
In under twenty seconds, he found what he was looking for Yukino's designated spot for stockings.
And there, sure enough, was the exact same pair: same design, same texture, same lace trim.
But the stockings he'd put away yesterday? Gone.
At that moment, his phone buzzed again.
Another message from Haruno.
Feeling conflicted, he unlocked the screen. Her text read:
So you didn't like them after all? In that case, I'll drop by sometime and take them back. Don't miss them too much when I do~
Haru: Haruno-nee, I have some unfortunate news for you.
Haruno: …What do you mean?
Haru:Your stockings… they're dead.
Haruno:???
On the other end of the line, Haruno was completely baffled.
She hadn't even gone out yet just lounging comfortably in her bedroom.
She could recognize every character in the message Haru sent her, but strung together, they made no sense at all.
What do you mean my stockings are dead?
Thrown away?
No, that didn't sound like him. At worst, he'd just stash them somewhere and leave them be.
After turning it over in her mind for a full minute without an answer, Haruno simply hit the video call button.
~~~~~~~~~~
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