Isagi arrived at school the next day, an hour earlier than usual. It wasn't for any special reason. Just that today was a rest day for his body after going to the gym three days in a row, and he didn't want to risk falling back asleep and failing to wake up in time for class, especially since the routine of the past few days had taken a heavy toll on his tired body. Although, strangely, he still felt oddly energetic...
There was another small reason he arrived early at school. He had classroom duty today. Not only were the students organized in this school by their student numbers, but this also determined classroom duties, which the students carried out in pairs with the classmate sitting next to them. In other words, he would be working with Alisa today.
Although he acknowledged that he was lazy when it came to school due to always being focused on soccer and his career (at least his predecessor was), he always made an effort not to inconvenience anyone (asking Alisa to show him her textbook when he forgot his didn't count, in his opinion). Therefore, he never skipped school when he had classroom duty, no matter how boring it was for him...
After half an hour of work, Isagi nodded with evident satisfaction as he observed the empty classroom from the teacher's podium. The desks and chairs were beautifully aligned, with each student's notebook neatly arranged on their desk after being checked by the homeroom teacher. There wasn't a speck of chalk dust on the blackboard, and the erasers had also been perfectly cleaned.
Alisa usually did this alone during classroom duty; it wasn't a requirement. But since he woke up early today, he wanted to see Alisa's expression when he said, "Huh? Oh, you mean the stuff you usually do? Yeah, I already finished all of it." So, he returned to his seat and waited for Alisa to arrive early as usual. Only a few minutes passed when Alisa finally arrived. The moment she opened the classroom door and saw Isagi, her eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yo, yo, yo. Good morning."
"…Good morning, Isagi…"
Alisa frowned as she looked around the room and realized that her usual tasks had been completed in their entirety.
"I woke up really early today and had a lot of free time, so I thought I'd clean the place up on my own." Isagi seemed smug.
"…You woke up early? I need to go outside and check if pigs are flying."
"Oh, Alya. You've always had a unique way of expressing yourself."
"You'd better not fall asleep during class."
"…I'll see what I can do…"
Alisa rolled her eyes and sighed, then said quietly but firmly, "I'll take care of the blackboard erasers after our morning classes are done."
Isagi smiled. It was clear she simply didn't want to feel like she owed him anything. That wasn't his intention at all, but after getting to know her over the past year, he realized Alisa was a proud person, and there was nothing he could say to change her mind.
"Alright. Thanks," he replied.
Although she still seemed a bit dissatisfied, she nodded and headed awkwardly to her desk. Curious about why she was walking like that, Isagi looked her up and down until he noticed that her knee-high socks were wet, but a glance out the window made it clear it was a bright, sunny day. It had rained the previous night, but not a single dark cloud was in the sky now.
"What happened to your socks? Stepped in a puddle or something?"
"Please, I'm not as clumsy as you."
"What kind of idiot do you think I am?! You think I'm constantly distracted or something?!"
"I never said that… Sigh… Anyway, a passing truck splashed water on me."
"Wow, that sucks."
"I suppose it's kind of my fault for walking too close to the edge of the road, though. At least I have an extra pair of socks to change into."
Although she spoke as if she didn't care, she sat at her desk and made a face of disgust as she took off her shoes. She then placed her right foot on the corner of her chair and quickly began removing her socks in front of Isagi. Her radiant, slender, milk-white legs wrapped in white knee-high socks were exposed in all their splendor right before his eyes, gleaming in the sunlight streaming through the window. Her thigh peeked out slightly from under her skirt as the sock slid down her raised leg. After taking it off, Alisa stretched out her bare, wet leg as if basking in newfound freedom. Isagi quickly averted his gaze, feeling as though he was looking at something he shouldn't. Despite only watching her take off her socks, he felt a strange sense of guilt, as if he were peeking at her undressing or bathing. Her beauty was no surprise to him, yet he felt as if he had just been reminded of exactly how beautiful she was. His heart started beating faster.
"Phew…" Alisa let out an obvious sigh after removing the other sock and drying her legs with a small towel she always carried with her, just in case it rained. When she casually glanced to the side, she noticed Isagi looking away, avoiding her gaze. Alisa blinked in surprise; the usually serious and airheaded Isagi seemed strangely nervous and embarrassed… and that made her smile. A sadistic, mischievous smile. She quickly turned to face him and extended her right leg, deftly grabbing and tugging at his pant leg with her big toe and index toe.
"Hey, can you grab some extra socks from my locker for me?"
"What?"
"I took these off before grabbing the spares, so now I can't go get them."
She crossed her left leg over her right as if to say, "Did I really need to explain that?" Isagi quickly looked away before he could see too much, making his nervousness even more obvious. Alisa's sadistic smile grew as she rested her chin on her hand with her elbow on the desk. Seeing her smile with amusement with the morning sun behind her was nothing short of picturesque. She was like a selfish princess who enjoyed watching her servant perform a nearly impossible task, or a cruel boss or sergeant being unreasonable with her subordinate.
Alya would probably look pretty cute in both a dress and a military uniform…
With his thoughts drifting in that direction, he stood up from his chair and walked to Alisa's locker at the back of the room. He glanced at her one more time to make sure it was hers, then opened the locker door, revealing neatly organized textbooks and a pencil case. In the back, there was a folded umbrella and some socks in a clear plastic bag. He grabbed the bag of socks, still feeling a lingering sense of guilt, and quickly returned to his seat.
"Here."
He shoved the socks toward Alisa, casting a sidelong glance at her.
"Good. Now help me put them on," she demanded, dropping a verbal bombshell as she casually leaned against the window.
"Wait… what?" Isagi blinked in surprise, but when he turned to face her, she had already raised her right leg in the air toward him. She was tilting her head with an air of superiority. Perhaps because they were the only ones in the room, she didn't hide her amusement: "What's wrong with you today?"
"What? Me? What's wrong with you? I'm rewarding you for getting my socks."
"Rewarding me? Uh… Maybe some people would like that, but…"
"Oh? So you don't want to?"
Alisa looked surprised as she crossed her arms and re-crossed her legs.
"No, it's obvious that I…" Isagi replied, looking directly at her. Unlike his predecessor, he knew life wasn't just about soccer, and letting a girl take the lead like that without being bold went against his principles… However, before he could say another word, he heard Alisa whisper in Russian:
"я хочу, чтобы ты положил"
(I want you to put them on.)
When he looked to the side, her mischievous smile was nowhere to be seen. She was playing with her hair while looking away, a slight blush on her cheeks. The sight alone sent Isagi's mind straight into the boldest imagination.
What were these embarrassed whispers in Russian that Alisa always said? According to his predecessor's conclusion: Alya was a mental exhibitionist. Alisa was a dedicated perfectionist. That was her ideal self, so she was always her own harshest critic and worked tirelessly. However, the more people repress their desires, the more pent-up stress they have to release, at least that's what he'd heard somewhere. So, he believed her shy whispers in Russian were related to that somehow. In other words, she would whisper something embarrassing in front of others and enjoy the thrill of being caught, just like exhibitionists who go out in public without wearing underwear. In other words, following his predecessor's logic, what he was trying to say was…
It's fine since it's consensual!
If his assumption was correct, it would mean Alisa was someone who enjoyed the thrill of exposing herself. In other words, she was happy, and he was happy! It was a win-win situation!
…It was easy to imagine what people might say if they heard his conclusion:
What kind of reasoning is that?
What's a mental exhibitionist?
I'm sure plenty of perverts believed what they were doing was consensual.
Be that as it may, unfortunately, there were no mind readers who could give him any judgment.
Isagi wanted to do it, though. Even if he had her consent, it was in Russian. He wanted to get her consent in Japanese first.
"What was that?" he asked, staring at Alisa with a completely polluted mind. She smiled teasingly and tried to change the subject exactly as he expected.
"I called you a coward."
He was expecting her to say that. He let his jaw drop while mentally raising his arms in the air as if he'd won a boxing match. Alisa then laughed scornfully and crossed her legs again.
"Anyway, it's fine. I can put the socks on myself…"
"That won't be necessary."
"Huh?"
He promptly knelt before she could take the socks from his hands. She blinked in confusion for a moment, but as soon as Isagi placed his hands on her right leg, her eyes trembled with surprise.
"Eep?!"
Alisa let out an uncomfortable and ticklish squeal as she felt someone running their fingers over her foot, from heel to ankle. Confused, she raised her leg in the air and held her skirt down.
"Hey, stay still."
"E-excuse me?! …Hey?!"
Alisa slapped her left hand over her mouth to keep from letting out a squeak, while continuing to pull her skirt down with her right hand. Isagi looked at her as if he were exasperated, but his lips curled into a smug smile.
"What's your problem? I thought you wanted me to help you put them on?"
"I know… what I said… but…!"
"I couldn't let you call me a coward like that and get away with it. My pride wouldn't allow it."
"Wait…! I still need time to mentally prepare…!"
Isagi paid no heed to her protests as he pinched the sides of the sock with his thumbs and slowly pulled it up her leg. A shiver ran down her spine as the sock went up.
"Ahh…"
When Isagi's thumbs brushed her thigh through the thin fabric…
"What do you think you're doing?!"
"Bfff?!"
Alisa suddenly kicked her foot upward, hitting Isagi square in the chin and sending his backside straight to the floor. The back of his head slammed against his own chair.
"…!"
"Ah! S-sorry. Are you okay?" Alisa asked, clearly worried. She even forgot her embarrassment and irritation when she saw Isagi curled up on the floor, clutching his head in agony: "…Pink?"
"…?!"
She instantly grabbed her skirt while blushing with anger and embarrassment.
"Ngh…! Tsk…!"
She seemed to be having trouble staying mad at someone writhing in pain on the floor. Grunting unintelligibly, she grabbed the other sock from Isagi's desk and quickly put it on her left foot.
"Я не могу тебе поверить! Идиот! Оно сломается!"
(I can't believe you! Idiot! You're going to break it!)
Alisa shouted childishly in Russian after slipping her feet into her school slippers, despite Isagi nearly dying on the floor. The moment Alisa was storming out of the room, two classmates walked in and hurriedly stepped out of her way, their eyes wide at the unusual sight.
"Huh? What was that? Princess Alya was shouting."
"That was Russian, right? What's going on? Has the princess gone mad?"
They watched her storm out with their mouths agape before turning and noticing Isagi rubbing the back of his head.
"Good morning, Isagi… What happened?"
"Good morning… Nothing happened."
"Hey, Isagi… What's up with your head?"
"Oh, it's… I just have a pimple that's bothering me."
"Oh, I see…"
After everything calmed down and Isagi returned to his seat, he realized something important…
"What am I going to do now?"
He realized he had gone too far and thought he should probably apologize, but he knew how proud Alisa was; a hasty apology would only make things worse.
"Oh. I guess I'll think about what to do when she comes back."
After all, Alisa wasn't a child, so he figured she'd return to normal after cooling off a bit.
Except that's not what happened.
.
.
.
.
.
"Anyway, that's all for the roll call today. Oh, don't stand and bow. I have to go…" the homeroom teacher muttered hurriedly before promptly leaving the room.
The morning roll call ended surprisingly early today. There were still five minutes until the first class. Even so, the first-year students didn't get up from their chairs as they began whispering something to each other. There was only one reason for the homeroom teacher's early exit and the heavy energy filling the room. It was because Princess Alya wasn't wearing her usual blank expression but was resting her chin on her hand with her elbow on the desk. She was clearly in a bad mood.
"Hey… What's up with her?"
"I heard something happened between her and Isagi, but that's all I know."
"Makes sense. He's the only reason she'd be in a bad mood. But what exactly did he do?"
"I heard Princess Alya shouting earlier."
"Seriously? What was she shouting about?"
"No idea. It was all in Russian."
As all sorts of speculations spread like wildfire, one of the students discreetly got up from their chair, crouched down, and made their way to Isagi's side.
"Psst. H-hey."
"What do you want?" Isagi whispered back to avoid drawing attention.
"Spill it. Did you really piss off Alya? And did she really give you an enzuigiri?"
"What the hell?!"
Alisa instantly shot him a piercing glare, and he shrank back. An enzuigiri was a move where you kicked the back of your opponent's head. Not even the most rebellious kids would try to mimic that wrestling move.
"Alya would never do something that dangerous."
"Y-yeah, I figured."
"All she did was give me a roundhouse kick to the chin."
"That's still pretty disturbing, dude." The student who asked laughed bitterly, thinking it was a joke.
It's closer to the truth than you realize, Isagi thought with an ambiguous smile.
"So? What happened with Princess Alya that got her so upset?"
"Uh…"
"Come on, I know you did something. Confess."
"Well… I guess you could say it was my fault?"
Honestly, it was his fault. He did something he shouldn't have. But if he admitted to touching her feet and accidentally seeing her panties, he'd be immediately put on trial at a school tribunal, where they'd unanimously vote for his execution. So, he skillfully dodged the questions while racking his brain for a way to fix things with Alisa.
"Uh… Alya?"
He decided to start by apologizing.
Isagi turned to his neighbor, Alisa, who was resting her chin on her hand and looking out the window. She turned only her eyes toward him while replying firmly:
"What do you want, Isagi?"
"Ты извращенец с фут-фетишем"
(You pervert with a foot fetish.)
There were many things he'd like to say about this new Russian title bestowed upon him, but he couldn't say anything since he was still pretending not to understand the language. On the other hand, maybe it was better not to tell her that wasn't possible because he was a "butt lover." Alisa's market value in him would plummet, and all the girls in the class would rush to sell off their friendships with him…
"But the more I think about it, the more I feel like I didn't do anything wrong." Alisa's cold behavior toward Isagi slowly led him to think this way.
It was Alisa herself who ordered him to touch her feet, and it was Alisa who got embarrassed and kicked him. Showing her underwear was beyond his control, and although he probably shouldn't have said the color of them as if they were his last words, he was just trying to show he wasn't upset about her resorting to violence. So, he felt a bit unhappy about ending up looking like the villain. Be that as it may, he understood that men are generally in a vulnerable position in situations like this, so he decided to apologize and keep his other thoughts to himself.
"I… I'm sorry… for what happened and everything."
"Hmm? No need. I'm partly to blame too. Besides, I'm not even mad anymore."
Then why are you in a bad mood? Isagi wondered, perfectly in sync with his classmates, who collectively thought, "Yeah, that's a big lie."
In fact, it wasn't a lie. Alisa really wasn't mad anymore. What she felt now was the embarrassment of having her leg touched and her underwear exposed. On top of that, she was embarrassed with herself for asking him to help put on her socks, even if his reaction was priceless. There were plenty of other little things she was feeling embarrassed about, like screaming like a child, for example. She just wanted to crawl under a rock, build a little soundproof room, and scream. She was only putting on a facade of being in a bad mood so her true feelings wouldn't spill out of her heart. Unfortunately, no matter how knowledgeable a man is about the female mind, he was still too inexperienced to understand the complex nature of a young woman like her and was completely lost. The bell eventually rang, and the teacher for the first class entered the room.
"Alright, everyone. Let's get this class started. Let's see who's on duty today… Ah, Kuj—Isagi. Go ahead. Start us off."
After checking the name on the blackboard, the math teacher glanced at Alisa and immediately pointed to Isagi without missing a beat.
I know exactly how he feels.
Every student in the class, except one, shared the sentiment.
"…Everyone, stand at attention. Bow. Good morning."
"Good morning."
Naturally, the tense atmosphere in the classroom continued after the awkward morning greeting. As expected, sleepiness hit Isagi since he had woken up extra early that day, but even he wasn't brave enough to nap in an atmosphere like this. Still, that didn't mean he'd be able to pay attention in class, so he spent the entire time thinking of a way to improve the princess's mood.
"Alright, then. I'd like to wrap up the class if there are no questions… Kuze, wrap things up."
"Everyone, stand at attention. Bow. Thank you very much."
"Thank you very much."
The math teacher left the room without looking at Alisa even once. Isagi left the room right after and headed straight for the vending machine near the emergency exit.
After getting what he needed, he hurried back to the classroom and reverently presented it to Alisa.
"Princess, please accept this offering as compensation for what happened earlier today."
In his hands, he held a can of sweet red bean soup with mochi… which had been the number one least-ordered drink for the past fourteen years at Seiren Academy. It was basically an extremely sweet liquid bean paste that always left you ridiculously thirsty.
Red bean soup?!
Everyone in the classroom looked at Isagi as if he had completely lost his mind and was trying to start a fight with the princess, but he knew… she drank this bizarre form of liquid diabetes from time to time.
"…I didn't say I was mad?"
"Heh. I know. I'm simply apologizing with respect."
"…Fine. I'll accept it."
"It's an honor."
After handing her the can, she pulled the tab and drank it all in one go. Everyone in the classroom shuddered.
"Thank you."
"Oh, allow me to throw away that can for you."
"I can throw away my own trash."
"I can't let you trouble yourself with a task like that, my princess."
"Can you stop talking like that?"
"Alright."
Her tone was still sharp, but Isagi could tell she was a little more in a better mood, so he returned to his seat feeling only relief… when he had a sudden realization.
Oh, crap… I don't have my textbook for the next class.
Normally, he'd turn to Alisa in a moment like this, but asking her to share her book might very well put her in a bad mood again. And if that happened, he wouldn't be able to handle the disapproving looks from his classmates.
Great…
Had his predecessor's habit become his too?
Isagi was rummaging through his desk and backpack when Alisa shot him a suspicious glance. He immediately looked away to avoid hers and asked the girl sitting on his other side: "Sorry, but do you think I can look at your book with you?"
"Huh? Oh… Sure."
She must have understood the situation because she smiled and nodded sweetly at him. Isagi then moved his desk closer to hers while thanking her before letting out a deep sigh of relief.
"Мошенник."
(Cheater.)
The air suddenly grew colder with the sound of that Russian whisper.
What was I supposed to do…?
But his laments were in vain; the classroom remained tense for the rest of the day.
__________________
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