Kaoru couldn't quite remember the last time he'd been in a hotel room.
"Wow, I've never seen a room like this before."
From the moment they entered, the two girls temporarily set aside their shyness, fascinated by everything they saw.
The room was spacious enough to accommodate three or four people.
Though there was only one bed, it was far better than their student dormitories.
"There's a TV!"
Ichinose Honami's eyes lit up—it was her first time seeing such a large LCD television.
Meanwhile, Karuizawa Kei was staring at the bathroom, which had translucent glass walls revealing the interior.
"This bathroom is so gross."
Just imagining it gave Karuizawa chills, convinced it was the designer's malicious intent.
Kaoru was similarly speechless. Why would a school have such a room?
He walked to the window.
Though curtains obscured the view, drawing them back immediately revealed half the campus, including students passing on the roads below.
"Mmm... don't..."
Suddenly, strange noises emerged from the television.Kaoru turned around to see two girls frozen in place—one holding the remote control, the other sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Eeeeeeh?!"
Ichinose Honami finally snapped out of her daze, fumbling frantically to turn off the television.
As the sound abruptly cut off, the tips of her ears turned even redder.
"Why would something like this be here?"
Karuizawa Kei pointed at the television with utter disbelief.
"Hey, I don't know!"
Ichinose Honami flung the remote onto the sofa as if it were a burning coal. "It wasn't me! It was already like this when I turned it on!"
For these two innocent girls, the earlier visuals had been far too impactful.
"It must be a specially prepared recording," Kaoru said helplessly.
The Keyaki Mall wasn't directly managed by the school but sponsored by certain financial groups.
To be honest, the very existence of such establishments near the school had always made him somewhat uncomfortable.
Considering there were teachers and staff around, he could reluctantly accept some discreet conveniences being provided.
The real issue was that the front desk had actually let them come up here.
This reminded Kaoru once again that Japan's social norms were different—for high school students here, visiting a love hotel might be as casual as going home.
If short on money, some might even use karaoke booth rooms.
Of course, Koudo Ikusei at least maintained surface-level decorum.
The front desk had charged him ten thousand yen.
Kaoru was too exhausted to complain, especially seeing how unfazed the staff appeared.
Still, he knew he had no right to judge—after all, he was part of this situation too.
"This is... too disgusting."
Karuizawa Kei's first impression of the room was terrible.
She had no intention of coming back, privately thinking Kaoru's dorm room felt much cozier.
Kaoru chuckled. "We can still check out now. Let's just pretend nothing happened today."
"N-no... We can't!"
Ichinose Honami's face flushed red. "We've finally come this far!" No matter what, I'm seeing this through!"
Finally, Kaoru understood—this must have been what she secretly discussed with Karuizawa Kei earlier.
Tonight was also the "surprise" Kei mentioned yesterday.
"I see. But does it have to be here?"
Kaoru sat down beside Karuizawa Kei.
The bed here was indeed different from the dorm ones.
"The best weapon against rumors is to overwhelm them with even bigger facts!"
Ichinose Honami huffed. "If reality becomes increasingly exaggerated, their rumors will cease to be rumors anymore."
Kaoru paused momentarily—there was some logic to that.
If people discovered two girls were here with him, it would likely shock everyone. Interactions in the dorm could at least be reluctantly explained as close friendships, but this situation was indefensible.
If Kaoru were to rotate through girls like Kushida Kikyo, Horikita Suzune, Tachibana Akane, etc., one after another, people would probably become desensitized.
Such scenarios would exceed most people's imaginations.
In other words, rumors emerged because people were instinctively curious about intriguing matters.
If all facts were laid bare, the loss of mystery would cause topics to lose their popularity.
However, Kaoru suspected some might become even more fascinated with hypnosis techniques afterward.
"So..."
Kaoru looked at the two girls with an amused smile. "Do we have plenty of time tonight?"
Although Ichinose Honami was the one who planned this, she suddenly became shy, burying her head in the bed and hugging a pillow like an ostrich.
Kei Karuizawa and Kaoru exchanged glances, her ears turning red.
"I... I'm the experienced one here, so... so we thought... I should slowly teach little Honami..."
The usual strong front she showed in public had completely vanished, leaving only a bashful young girl.
"Yesterday's portion... today's first time... can be on me..."
Kaoru understood—today, Kei was the teaching tool.
This was terrible. How exactly did Ichinose Honami persuade this adorable girl?
Since there were classes tomorrow, they didn't stay long.
Before midnight, Kaoru checked out at the front desk.
However, he couldn't help but feel the receptionist's gaze was somewhat strange.
Kaoru decided not to overthink it; he had already fulfilled his wish.
On the way back, Ichinose Honami's walking posture seemed a bit off, so he simply picked her up and carried her all the way back, taking advantage of the empty streets at night.
At first, Ichinose Honami tried to struggle, but realizing it was futile, she quickly gave up.
"You two don't have any more surprises, do you?"
Although the outcome was enjoyable, Kaoru was a bit concerned.
Every time, it ended up with both of them joining in.
Was this a birthday celebration or a sound party?
Would they start treating this as the norm from now on?
"N-No, we don't."
Kei Karuizawa felt somewhat embarrassed.
Truthfully, the reason she agreed to this was because Ichinose Honami had made a deal with her.
For example, Honami would invite Kei to her future birthdays as well.
If it meant spending more time together, Kei didn't mind the "two-person arrangement."
"Aren't you happy?"
Ichinose Honami felt awkward in his arms.
Although they were unlikely to run into many people at this hour, Kei Karuizawa was right beside them.
"Generally speaking, I am happy, but I thought you two wouldn't like this kind of birthday celebration."
Kaoru said, "Kikyo is one thing, but you two..."
"What do you mean, 'you two'?"
Ichinose Honami pouted, "In your eyes, should we be wearing crowns, blowing out candles, singing happy birthday, having a pajama party, and crying tears of joy over gifts?"
"I just feel like something's missing."
After Kaoru said this, both girls sighed simultaneously.
"If possible, I'd rather spend the whole day in the room with you."
Kei Karuizawa said, "Being a hot girl is fun, but sometimes I just want to laze around and not go out. It's not that I hate going out—having fun outside can be great too."
"But whether it's enjoyable or not depends on who's accompanying us."
Ichinose Honami wrapped her arms around Kaoru's neck, kissed him on the cheek, and smiled playfully, "Hehe, you can put me down now, my gentle boyfriend. We've already reached the dorm."
Their coordinated responses left Kaoru speechless, so he had no choice but to set her down.
"I won't go back with you two. We need to discuss exam strategies tomorrow."
Kei Karuizawa had spare clothes in Kaoru's room, whereas Ichinose Honami—the "official wife"—did not, so she had to return.
Otherwise, she would have to wake up early tomorrow.
After she left, Kaoru took Kei Karuizawa back to his room."Don't you have any wishes for today?"
Kaoru asked with complete seriousness, "We can disregard earlier. You can treat me as a wish-granting machine now."
Karuizawa Kei, who had just taken off her shoes, froze momentarily.
"Can... can I ask for a hundred wishes?"
"I'll hear you out for now."
"Hey!"
Karuizawa Kei glared at him indignantly, only to have her cheeks pinched by him.
"I take back my previous words. This isn't a wish - it's a reward for you and Honami. What reward would you like?"
"Uwah, that sounds disgusting, like some lewd reward."
"Someone who thinks that way must have their mind full of lewd things."
"A foot fetishist has no right to say that about me."
"..."
Perhaps even Karuizawa Kei remembered Kushida Kikyo's appearance, as she couldn't help but laugh.
Kaoru hadn't minded initially, but her laughter made him somewhat frustrated.
"Hehe, foot fetishist."
Karuizawa Kei hugged his arm, "Though I don't understand your taste, if you let me hug you while sleeping tonight, I might just reward you?"
This girl was really pushing her luck.
With a dark expression, Kaoru simply scooped her up by the waist and in two or three steps tossed the exclaiming girl onto the bed.
"W-wait, I meant actual sleeping!"
"Same here."
"Re...really? Aah! No tickling! Uwahahahaha yamero... gomenasai... hahahaha..."
Afterward, the girl's laughter continued for several minutes.
Kaoru would only stop when she was breathless, then resume tickling once she recovered slightly.
The result was Karuizawa Kei becoming desperate, bravely resisting Kaoru's devilish hands as the two engaged in battle.
During this process, some glistening trails slowly traced paths across the girl's pale, soft thighs.
In this particular battle, Karuizawa Kei accidentally gained more experience.