By visual estimation, it was a room of about fifty square meters.
There was only one independent bathroom, with the rest being an open-plan design.
The bedroom, kitchen, and living room all shared one space. She was lying on a bed made of six tatami mats, directly facing an older model television.
Shokuhou Misaki could confirm with certainty that she had never been here before.
"This is my room."
"It certainly seems that way!"
But there was nothing to worry about.
If this were a normal situation, waking up in such an unfamiliar environment would immediately put her on high alert, watching her surroundings warily.
But now there was no need for that.
Because the moment she opened her eyes, she had already seen him—the man who could make her completely let down her guard and trust completely.
He would absolutely never harm her.
She could place her complete trust in this man.
"Tch, boring. Is that all?"
Haramura Makoto pursed his lips and returned to his chair, sitting down with disinterest.
Sitting up straight, standing, pulling down her skirt hem that had rolled up to the edge of absolute danger territory.
Shokuhou Misaki completed this entire series of movements with deliberate but fluid, elegant nobility.
"So you were expecting me to scream and show a shy expression, weren't you?"
That's right, exactly that.
All those psychological activities in the previous chapter were pure nonsense. The claim that there wasn't time to take Shokuhou Misaki back to her dormitory was all lies.
Although the academy dormitory required passes, illegal entry wasn't difficult—there were plenty of paths that could bypass security and go directly inside.
Not knowing Shokuhou Misaki's dormitory location was also just an excuse.
The powerless gang "Leo" had been developing for three years. While ordinary members might be questionable in combat ability, the members were absolutely outstanding in intelligence gathering capabilities.
All thanks to Haramura Makoto's training.
As long as he wanted to know which room Shokuhou Misaki's dormitory was, such information that barely counted as a secret could quickly be placed before him.
As for avoiding the dormitory supervisor and entering the room—
Being able to skillfully use grappling hooks to move between buildings made this an even simpler task for Haramura Makoto.
So!
His purpose in bringing Shokuhou Misaki to his room was naturally singular.
(Naturally, to take off her clothes and while she's still sleeping, seize the opportunity to XXOO her...)
Uh, scratch that above—no, don't think randomly.
(The real purpose was, of course, to see if Shokuhou Misaki would panic and show a different expression when brought to his room.)
That was his real purpose.
So his disappointment was naturally justified, since Shokuhou Misaki's response could only be described as bland.
"Where's my phone?"
Without saying anything else first, Shokuhou Misaki extended her small hand toward Haramura Makoto.
Haramura Makoto directly picked up a white, obviously expensive handbag from the table and tossed it toward her.
"Remote control, wallet, phone, whatever—I stuffed everything into your bag. Nothing should be missing."
"Mm."
Without checking for missing items, after finding her phone, Shokuhou Misaki closed the handbag and found a phone number to call.
"Water Tower Park."
"Right, the contents need to be dealt with quickly."
"If there are witnesses, control them first. I'll handle the details tomorrow when I get to the research facility."
The call wasn't long—just a few brief words before Shokuhou Misaki hung up, having arranged everything.
"Originally tonight I planned to return to the dormitory briefly, then go directly to the research facility to spend the night."
"After all, so many corpses need to be dealt with early."
"If too many people discover them, it becomes a slightly tricky problem."
Shokuhou Misaki casually placed her phone aside, propped herself up on the tatami with one hand, and smoothly stood up.
"But there's no help for it. Since you brought me here, I can only postpone it until tomorrow."
"Can I borrow the bathroom?"
"Being all sticky isn't very comfortable."
With her hands behind her back, walking barefoot with small, delicate feet to stand before Haramura Makoto, Shokuhou Misaki tugged at her clothes, furrowed her golden brows, and pouted.
"Ha—"
He let out a long breath.
"There are disposable bath supplies in the bathroom cabinet. Use those—they're all clean."
...
There was no bed in the room.
After all, adding a bed to this design would only make the already narrow and cluttered space even more narrow and cluttered.
So he usually slept on floor bedding.
Now that Shokuhou Misaki was here, he would naturally sleep on the floor too.
Well, Shokuhou Misaki would as well.
"But I think I'm being dominated by her."
There's a saying that goes quite well: as long as you're not embarrassed, someone else will be.
He brought Shokuhou Misaki back to see her embarrassed appearance.
But now Shokuhou Misaki was acting so naturally, even calmly taking a bath in his apartment.
Honestly, he was starting to feel that the embarrassed one wasn't Shokuhou Misaki but himself.
"It's not really being dominated."
"It's just that in front of certain people, girls can put aside some of their reserve."
"Similarly, some things would feel shy and awkward in front of certain people."
"But perhaps in front of specific people, there wouldn't be such psychological states."
Just as Haramura Makoto was talking to himself, a playful voice reached his ears.
Saying such words, Shokuhou Misaki emerged from the bathroom with steam and moisture, wearing only a towel around her body, holding another towel and drying her wet golden hair while smiling at Haramura Makoto:
"Otherwise I wouldn't have borrowed the bathroom."
Shifting his gaze from the book in his hands to look at Shokuhou Misaki, who was wrapped only in a towel with her body's curves completely exposed before him, Haramura Makoto shrugged.
It was the most obvious fastball pitch—Shokuhou Misaki was being very clear in her intentions toward Haramura Makoto.
However...
"Get some sleep early. I'll take you back tomorrow morning."
Now wasn't quite the right time yet—it hadn't reached that point.
Whether it was Shokuhou Misaki, who seemed a bit eager today,
Or Haramura Makoto, who maintained his calm state throughout.
Both of them knew this very clearly.