But when Shiginomiya picked up the panties and examined them closely, she realized—
These are kind of… lewd.
Wait a minute—weren't these the exact panties from her dream last night?
The really saucy ones?
In that dream, she'd been wearing them while Akira stared at her like a man possessed, breathing heavily…
Why is that dream still so vividly burned into my brain?!
Hold on… why were these panties in her pillow?
Whose were they?
By process of elimination, the only suspect would be… Kobayashi-obaasan?
But would she really wear something this flashy?
Aren't older ladies all about thermal underwear?
This lacy, risqué style looked more like something a Kabukicho hostess would wear for work.
And why would someone stash underwear in a pillow, of all places?
There was someone who could answer that. Her roommate.
But for now, Shiginomiya didn't have time to play detective.
She had a choice to make.
To wear them—or not.
In the end, lady-like pragmatism won out over shame.
She slipped on the scandalous panties.
---
Downstairs, Akira had just finished brushing his teeth and washing his face. He was warming up in the living room, stretching out his legs, when he spotted Shiginomiya coming down the stairs.
"Oh, all set?"
Shiginomiya wore a troubled look. After a moment of hesitation, she decided to just ask.
"Akira, I have a question."
"Huh? What's up?"
"Well… I just found a pair of panties in my pillow."
Thud.
Akira felt his heart drop into his stomach.
No way—she found them already?!
I'm toast. She's going to think I'm a pervert…
All the good impression points he'd built up early on—about to go up in flames?
He panicked—but thanks to the [Soulful Performance S] talent he'd copied yesterday, he managed to keep a poker face.
Play dumb! I have to play dumb right now!
"Oh wow, panties growing in pillows? Must be a divine offering to a beautiful maiden from the gods!"
Unfortunately, his acting hadn't quite reached Level 1 yet—it sounded painfully fake.
Shiginomiya remained unmoved, cutting straight to the point.
"They're yours, aren't they."
Not even a question—more like a verdict. Her tone made it sound like the conclusion was already obvious.
"Uh…"
Should he keep denying it?
…Forget it. No point.
Besides, those panties were a "token" from the class rep—a precious item. Even if Shiginomiya had discovered them, he wasn't about to throw them away.
So, Akira decided to own up to it. Boldly. Shamelessly.
"Yeah. They're mine."
A real man takes responsibility. What's with all this hiding and dodging?
If I'm a perv, then I'll be a proud perv!
No wait—I'm not actually a perv.
To his surprise, Shiginomiya's reaction was fairly neutral. She just gave a knowing nod. No disgust. No look of horror. He couldn't tell if she was suppressing her expression, or if she genuinely didn't think it was a big deal.
After all, a guy hiding a pair of women's panties—especially this kind of sexy style—the implication was obvious.
It wasn't to wear.
It was to… use.
Although… there were guys who did wear them too, but Akira didn't seem that far gone.
If he were, he probably would've done "certain things" to her last night.
The thought made Shiginomiya blush. Truthfully, she'd assumed the panties were Akira's precisely because they matched the kind of thing she imagined a boy might like.
Her dream had just left too strong an impression.
She could practically see it: wearing those panties, and him grabbing her thighs, burying his face…
Shiginomiya instinctively squeezed her legs together.
She was currently wearing the panties he had… used.
Were there… any residues left on them…?
Before putting them on, she'd sniffed them—out of caution, of course. They didn't have that pungent scent people said was like a Chinese lilac tree. In fact, there was a faint, pleasant fragrance. Did he use cologne?
Well… since there were no visible traces, logically speaking, just wearing them shouldn't get her pregnant or anything.
And ultimately, Shiginomiya felt like this was kind of her fault. If she hadn't ruined her own underwear, she wouldn't have been forced into this awkward situation with these… heart-racing panties.
She realized that ever since meeting Akira, she'd given up a lot of firsts in a short amount of time.
Akira, meanwhile, was growing increasingly uneasy. She'd gone quiet. He had no idea what she was thinking. For some reason, he felt like a cheating husband caught red-handed—even though in his past life, he'd never even been married.
The silence was unbearable. His toes were practically curling into the tatami in secondhand embarrassment.
He finally broke.
"So… do I need to explain why I have those panties?"
"No… no need…"
Shiginomiya shook her head, then lowered her gaze. Her voice was small, but resolute.
"It's just… I'll borrow them for now. I'll wash them and return them later."
Washing them will take away the "essence"…
Wait, no. Her response actually wasn't that bad?
Does she… get it? Does she understand a teenage boy's burning need to "generate electricity with love"?
What a kind, understanding girl…
Akira respected her for issuing that temporary requisition order with such dignity.
Girls, after all, had those few days every month. He could empathize.
"It's fine. Go ahead and use them. I mean, that's what underwear is supposed to be for, right?"
"…"
So he admits he was using them for things they weren't supposed to be for after all…
Shiginomiya squeezed her thighs together again. Her posture now screamed "pigeon-toed embarrassment."
Akira, meanwhile, was silently relieved she hadn't asked about where those panties had come from. If she knew they belonged to the class rep—an active high school girl—she might not have been willing to wear them at all.
Most people would feel weird about putting on someone else's underwear.
At most, there'd just be a trace of the class rep's sweat still clinging to them… Not that dirty, right?
What a waste… I didn't even get to sniff them before the scent got covered up.
"Also, Akira… if you ever need to… you know, take care of things… just tell me in advance. I'll give you some privacy until you're done."
Since they'd be sharing a room from now on, they were bound to run into some awkward situations. Might as well start establishing some ground rules for cohabitation.
"Oh…"
Akira was moved by her thoughtfulness—and also felt a deep sense of injustice.
Because truth be told, since transmigrating, he hadn't done any self-service at all.
Most of his excess energy had been burned off through exercise. And his focus on language studies had kept him too busy to think about "pleasures of the flesh."
More importantly, he didn't have any decent "catalysts" on hand.
Back in his previous life, he was a seasoned consumer of ahem specialized literature—an apprentice on the verge of becoming a great archmage. No real-life experience, sure, but his knowledge base was vast.
And now? This was still the flip-phone era.
No smartphones. No streaming. 3G speeds that were absolute trash. Wi-Fi wasn't even widespread yet.
People still relied on good ol' VHS tapes and thin little booklets.
And while Japan might be a land of oniichan culture, broke kids like Akira couldn't afford to buy any of it.
He couldn't exactly bank on stumbling across a discarded H-mag in the bushes by the riverbank, either.
All those years of collected "research materials"…
Gone up in smoke the moment he transmigrated.
Wait… the hard drive!
He hadn't wiped the hard drive!
Gaaahhhh! I don't want my family or friends to discover my XP after I die!
For the first time since he arrived in this world, Kuroba Akira was overwhelmed with a deep, bitter regret—
Why the hell did I transmigrate?!
Let me go back! I wanna go back!!