Chapter 3: My Female Friend’s Cute Friend

After a few peaceful days—

Minato and Hazuki continued to visit each other’s homes, hanging out.

Occasionally, Hazuki would mock Minato from behind while he played Legendary Heroes or accidentally spoil the drama they were watching.

Of course, they didn’t play the “show Minato my panties or take off my safety shorts” game every day.

Minato didn’t push for it.

Though sometimes Hazuki gave him looks that seemed to carry deeper meaning—

Maybe she wanted to play that “game” again too.

But Minato didn’t want to rush and risk her disliking him.

So, he kept things at this pace with Hazuki.

“Oh~ I see. There’s that playstyle too…”

During lunch break—Minato stood by a hallway window, staring at his phone.

He was watching Legendary Heroes gameplay videos.

You’d never improve without studying pro players’ techniques.

Nearby friends were cheerfully chatting about trivial topics.

Of course, Minato had other friends besides Hazuki. At school, he spent most of his time with them.

“What’re you watching, Minato? Oh, Legendary Heroes, that FPS game? My little sister’s obsessed with it.”

“Oh, I heard it’s got a lot of female players too.”

“My sister’s such a loner, ugh, always gaming.”

“Hey, are you indirectly calling me a loner?”

“Haha, I’ve got no room to talk. We’re different from those guys.”

One friend pointed toward the classroom.

A group of flashy girls was gathered near the door.

At the center, naturally, was Hazuki.

“But even if you’re not a social butterfly, you’re pretty tight with Hazuki-san.”

“Hazuki’s just easygoing, that’s all.”

Minato replied with a wry smile.

Though Hazuki was his friend, he couldn’t say he was friends with her clique.

He’d hung out with those girls a few times over the summer, but he felt they didn’t quite click.

Clicking with Hazuki was already a miracle, so Minato didn’t expect to get along with her friends too.

“Really? But it feels like Hazuki-san doesn’t have many guy friends. Look, that group’s all girls.”

“She’s gotta have a boyfriend, right? I mean, Hazuki-san’s too popular to be single.”

“Yeah, totally. I bet she’s dating an older guy.”

His friends eagerly discussed Hazuki.

Minato was used to this and didn’t mind much.

As for whether Hazuki had a boyfriend—while he couldn’t be 100% sure, he guessed probably not.

If she did, she wouldn’t be at his place nearly every day.

She was a stunning social butterfly with a wide circle of friends, yet not dating anyone—that was indeed puzzling.

But then again, she so casually let Minato see her in such a private way…

Even Minato who’d sworn off high expectations, couldn’t help but wonder if he was misreading things.

“Um…”

“…”

Sure, Hazuki probably didn’t like Minato but her easygoing attitude—

During their time together at home, Minato kept anticipating the next “game.”

“Um, excuse me…”

“Hey, Minato someone’s calling you.”

“Huh?”

A friend tapped his shoulder.

When Minato looked up from his phone—

“Um… Sorry, Minato-kun…”

“Eh? Oh, yeah.”

A female student stood before him.

No, not exactly before him—she was a bit farther away, which is why he hadn’t noticed right away.

She had long black hair, fair skin, and a slender frame.

Her navy blazer was buttoned neatly, her tie perfectly tied.

Her skirt hem was just above the knee, more modest than most girls’ at school.

“Se-Serina-san…”

“H-Hello, Minato-kun…”

It was Serina Ruka, a classmate.

A quintessential pure beauty, secretly very popular.

Why “secretly”? Because she gave off an air of either a refined young lady or an untouchable sanctity.

Even guys felt hesitant to make her a topic of casual gossip.

“Um… Minato-kun, could I speak with you for a moment?”

“S-Sure, no problem.”

Though Minato had gotten somewhat used to talking to girls through Hazuki, he still felt uneasy with Serina.

Maybe it was her refined aura, using polite language even with classmates.

“Um… It’s a bit inconvenient here…”

“O-Oh, got it.”

Minato glanced at his friends.

Though they seemed curious about Serina, her untouchable vibe probably kept them from teasing.

Minato pocketed his phone and walked down the hallway with Serina.

They reached the end of the corridor, stopping in front of an empty classroom, facing each other.

“Sorry for interrupting your chat.”

“No worries, it was just small talk. So, what’s up?”

“Minato-kun… You’re friends with Aoi-san, right?”

“Aoi? Oh, you mean Hazuki?”

Since Minato usually called her “Hazuki,” it took him a moment to register.

“Being asked directly if we’re friends feels kinda hard to answer, but yeah, we’re friends. Are you friends with Hazuki too, Serina-san?”

At that moment, Minato recalled something.

Hazuki had mentioned Serina’s name before.

But he didn’t dare bring up the terrifying thing Hazuki had said about “wanting to see Serina’s panties.”

“Yes, Aoi-san and I went to the same junior high.”

“Oh, really?”

It was the first time Minato had heard this.

Though it was common in their first year of high school for students from the same junior high to stick together, the clique from Hazuki’s junior high didn’t seem to have much overlap with Serina.

Even among those from the same junior high, not everyone knew each other.

“While we don’t talk much in class, we occasionally hang out after school.”

“Oh…”

Minato didn’t have a complete grasp of Hazuki’s every move.

Even now, they sometimes went their separate ways after school.

Though he didn’t know who Hazuki hung out with then, Serina being one of them was a bit surprising.

The social queen and gyaru-type Hazuki, and the refined, pure-type Serina with her ladylike aura.

Despite their starkly different appearances and personalities, they were friends—

“…Is something wrong?”

“Ah, no, nothing.”

Perhaps because Minato’s gaze was filled with doubt, Serina looked a bit puzzled.

“How do I put it… I’m just surprised that you and Hazuki, with such different personalities, became friends.”

Minato accidentally voiced his true thoughts.

“Hehe, maybe so. But I was also surprised at how close Aoi-san and Minato-kun are.”

“Hahaha, fair enough. I can’t really talk.”

When it came to “having a vastly different personality from Hazuki,” Minato was in the same boat.

“Oh, but we just grab drinks together after school sometimes…”

“I see.”

Hazuki gave off a Starbucks coffee vibe, while Serina seemed more like someone sipping matcha at a traditional café.

“Aoi-san’s been mentioning you a lot lately, saying you’re really good at gaming.”

“Ha, hahaha, not that good. I mostly play PC games, not much on consoles.”

As Minato answered, he felt a bit puzzled.

Could Serina keep up with gaming talk?

“Oh, for CPUs, Ryzen’s the way to go, right? For cost-performance, Ryzen’s a no-brainer. But Intel’s performance isn’t far behind, and for software compatibility, it’s a solid choice too. Though the GPU shortage has eased a bit, prices are still steep. I’m debating upgrading to the 40-series, but given the current situation, the 30-series is—”

“…”

“…Oh, never mind. Forget I said anything.”

“R-Right.”

Her words, so incongruous with her pure appearance, completely threw Minato off.

Serina seemed surprisingly knowledgeable about PC components.

“No, it’s just—I’ve been troubled because I couldn’t make sense of something Aoi-san said before. But talking to her other friends is a bit…”

“Ah, I kinda get it.”

Minato understood what Serina was getting at.

Hazuki’s usual friends were all social butterfly types.

For the introverted Serina, it might be hard to chat with them.

But in terms of school hierarchy, Serina—a top student and beauty—held a status comparable to the popular clique.

“Oh, I don’t dislike Aoi-san’s friends! They’re all kind to me. It’s just…”

“The vibe’s a bit different, right? I got dragged along with them a lot over the summer, and it was honestly exhausting.”

“Exactly!”

“What?”

Minato tilted his head in confusion.

“Huh? During the summer, when I went out with Aoi-san, you were there about three times, Minato-kun…”

“W-Were you?”

Minato had completely forgotten.

No, rather, hanging out with Hazuki’s clique was so stressful that he couldn’t properly register who was there.

“It’s fine, I’m pretty unremarkable…”

“I don’t think so.”

To miss someone as stunning as Serina—how nervous was he back then?

Sure, it was because he was thrown into an unfamiliar popular group, but it was still embarrassing.

“So… you have something you can’t even tell Hazuki’s friends?”

“Um… Aoi-san suddenly said something weird… Er, how do I put it… She said she wanted to see my… p-panties, or take off my safety shorts…”

“…”

What kind of insane request did that idiot make to such a pure friend—Minato felt a headache coming on.

So Hazuki really did want to see Serina’s panties.

And even take off her safety shorts.

Though wanting to see a friend’s panties and removing their safety shorts—Minato had asked Hazuki for both.

“Though Aoi-san quickly laughed it off, her eyes were serious… Is something wrong with Aoi-san’s head… No, does she have some kind of issue?”

“Uh, she’s fine… I’ll ask Hazuki about it next time. But maybe it’s not literal—maybe it’s some game popular kids play that we just don’t get?”

What was he even saying?

Minato was terrible at covering things up.

But Serina seemed genuinely worried about Hazuki’s mental state.

Yet Minato couldn’t just say, “Yeah, Hazuki’s head is messed up.”

“I-Is that so? That must be it. Normally, girls wouldn’t want to see or take off another girl’s… undergarments for fun… I mean, such shameless things, right?”

Serina was kind of weird too.

She nearly let her true thoughts slip a few times—thoughts that made her sound a bit unhinged.

“S-So, Minato-kun, I’d like to ask you…”

“Ask him what~?”

“Eek!”

With a strange yelp from Serina, her skirt was suddenly yanked up.

Her snow-white thighs and black undergarments at their base came into view—

“Kyaa, kyaah! W-What are you doing?!”

“Hahaha, I should be asking you two what you’re doing, Minato, Ruka?”

The skirt fell back down due to gravity.

But Minato had already clearly seen the view under Serina’s skirt.

“Aoi, Aoi-san… What was that?!”

“What’s the big deal? You’re properly covered underneath, right?”

Hazuki, who’d darted behind Serina, grinned and stepped to her side.

Hazuki was just as friendly with Serina.

They really were friends.

Come to think of it, Hazuki always called her “Ruka.”

But more importantly—

“Wait, Serina-san… You, you’re not wearing them?”

“Huh?! Ruka, you’re not wearing panties?!”

Hazuki’s eyes widened in shock.

“R-Ruka… Even with a long skirt, going without panties is way too much! A-Are your desires pent up? Since when did you start playing that kind of game?”

“I’m not secretly indulging in some thrill!”

A sharp retort.

“N-Not wearing… I am wearing panties! When you said not wearing, you meant not wearing something over them, right, Minato-kun?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Minato realized his mistake and panicked.

It seemed Serina wasn’t wearing the kind of safety shorts meant to be seen.

“Th-Though what I’m wearing looks like p-panties, it’s not exactly that. Um…”

“Hm?”

Hazuki leaned in toward the stammering Serina, eager to hear.

Blushing, Serina whispered into Hazuki’s ear.

“What? Didn’t catch that—Huh? Bloomers?! Ruka, you’re wearing bloomers?!”

“Aoi, Aoi-san! T-Too loud!”

Serina’s face grew even redder. She stole a glance at Minato.

“Ah~ Sorry, sorry. I was just a bit shocked.”

“I-It’s fine… That’s the deal, Minato-kun.”

“Bloomers…”

Minato muttered the word, then it clicked.

Though he’d never seen them in person, he’d come across them online.

The athletic wear girls used to wear for gym class.

Usually black or navy, they looked like panties and embarrassingly exposed the thighs.

It was hard to believe girls used to wear those around school.

“Bloomers… Ruka, your tastes are so weird.”

“I-It’s not about taste…”

Serina shook her head vigorously, still blushing.

“S-Safety shorts or regular shorts don’t feel right to me… So I bought new ones to wear.”

“They still sell those?”

Hazuki was spot-on.

Minato thought they were a relic of the last century.

“Some schools still use them, apparently. Since they’re still made, you can find new ones if you look.”

“Yeah, safety shorts or regular shorts can feel uncomfortable.”

No wonder Hazuki always took off her safety shorts the moment she got home.

“They’re comfortable to wear… But Aoi-san! These aren’t meant to be shown off!”

“Bloomers are basically like panties, right? Minato loves panties, so he must be thrilled.”

“I-I didn’t wear them to please guys!”

Still blushing, Serina stole another glance at Minato.

Seeing her bloomers made Minato feel like he’d done something wrong.

While he occasionally saw girls’ safety shorts, bloomers were a whole different thing.

“W-Well… Sorry, Serina-san, I saw them clearly by accident.”

“It’s not your fault, Minato-kun… Let’s just drop it. I’m used to Aoi-san’s antics anyway…”

“Wanna let me lift it again?”

“No need.”

Serina shot Hazuki a glare.

In that exchange, probably only Minato came out ahead.

Whether bloomers or whatever, getting to see the stunning Serina’s underskirt view was incredibly lucky.

“Hahaha, don’t be mad. Hmm~ Ruka’s really cute, huh? Mwah♡”

“Aoi, Aoi-san…!”

Hazuki slung an arm around Serina’s shoulders and kissed her cheek.

Watching two different types of beautiful girls playfully interact was both heartwarming and a bit provocative.

“So, what were you two talking about?”

“…?”

Suddenly, Hazuki shot Minato a sharp glare.

For just a moment, he felt a hint of menace.

Was she jealous—

Minato immediately dismissed the fleeting thought.

After all, he and Hazuki were just friends, not dating.

“N-Nothing. We were just saying how you and Minato-kun seem close lately, Aoi-san.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s all, Hazuki.”

They couldn’t exactly say Serina was worried about Hazuki’s mental state.

“Oh… Well then—”

Hazuki hooked an arm around Serina’s neck.

Then she did the same to Minato pulling him toward her.

Hazuki’s ample chest brushed against Minato’s arm.

“Today, I’ll hang out with both of you. A friend’s friend is a friend, so I want Minato and Ruka to get along too!”

Reaching the twelfth floor and exiting the elevator, they walked a short distance down the hallway.

“Come on in~ No one’s home today, so make yourselves comfortable.”

“E-Excuse me.”

“Alright~”

Hazuki opened the door, and Serina and Minato followed her inside.

Minato was still reeling from the unexpected turn of events—hanging out with Serina was unimaginable.

“This is my first time at Aoi-san’s place. It’s really nice.”

“It’s pretty average, right? Not some fancy skyscraper.”

“No, it’s really great. It’s the top floor, after all.”

When Hazuki asked, Minato replied casually.

Regardless of the apartment’s internal hierarchy, people did view top-floor residents differently.

This place probably cost a lot more than Minato’s place on the tenth floor.

“Ugh, whatever, it’s not like I bought it. You two head to my room; the living room’s too plain.”

Hazuki giggled and opened the living room door.

White rug, white sofa, black table, and a large LCD TV.

The furniture was standard, but the black-and-white color scheme gave it a sleek feel.

“My mom’s obsessed with tasteful stuff and hates cluttered, lived-in rooms. Such a pain.”

“No, I think it’s a clean, lovely place.”

“Haha, your place is pretty impressive too, right, Ruka? I heard it’s like a samurai residence.”

“Just an old single-story house. It’s pretty rare nowadays.”

Serina said with a wry smile.

It seemed Serina’s home matched her Yamato Nadeshiko appearance—a traditional Japanese house.

Minato had always wanted to see one—

But he probably wouldn’t visit any girl’s house besides Hazuki’s.

By the way, today he was pretending it was his first time at Hazuki’s place.

He had to be careful not to head to the bathroom without asking Hazuki where it was.

Also, the fact that he lived two floors below was a secret.

He didn’t think Serina would spread it around school, but it was better to avoid misunderstandings.

In that sense, both Minato and Hazuki had common sense.

Though, frankly, a guy and girl who weren’t dating spending every day at each other’s place was pretty uncommon sense.

Led by Hazuki, they entered her room.

“Oh, Momo, you’re here.”

A brown Scottish Fold, surrounded by rabbit plushies, sat there.

Even when Hazuki called, it didn’t budge.

Though Momo seemed awake, it appeared uninterested in Hazuki or her guests.

Buried among the dolls, it was hard to see clearly.

Minato was a bit moved—this might be the closest he’d ever gotten to Momo.

He’d always suspected Momo disliked guys.

Maybe because another girl was here today, Momo was less on guard.

“She doesn’t pay much attention but won’t scratch either, so don’t worry. Oh, I’ll grab drinks. Hehe, iced tea okay?”

“No need to trouble yourself.”

“Curry for Minato?”

“Is curry a drink?”

“Hahaha. Be right back~”

After joking, she left the room.

Being alone with Serina in a small room—Minato felt a bit uneasy.

She was someone he barely spoke to in class, and an exceptionally beautiful girl at that.

Minato wasn’t composed enough to handle a one-on-one with her calmly.

“Aoi-san seems a bit off today.”

“Huh? That’s her being off?”

“Yes. I’m not entirely sure… but it feels that way.”

“Hm…”

From Minato’s perspective, Hazuki seemed in better spirits than usual.

But in terms of their history, Serina, who went to the same junior high, knew her far longer.

Serina’s instincts might be more accurate—

“If she’s in a bad mood, would she invite people over?”

“Maybe she has something to talk about?”

“She just wants to hang out, right? Probably nothing special.”

“Maybe I’m overthinking…”

Serina tilted her head slightly.

It didn’t seem intentional, but the gesture exuded a calculated cuteness.

Plus, the table was small, so Minato and Serina were quite close.

Her black hair carried a soft, sweet-tart scent.

“But this room’s really cute. Very Aoi-san’s style.”

“Yeah… It’s tidier than I expected.”

The first time he came, Minato thought it’d be messier and was surprised.

He was also shocked by how many plushies and cute decorations there were.

“By the way, I’m surprised this is your first time here, Serina-san.”

“I thought Aoi-san didn’t like bringing people home.”

“Huh? Not really…”

Minato rarely came to Hazuki’s because her household was all female, and he felt cautious.

But Hazuki always acted welcoming.

“Even among our junior high classmates, I rarely heard of anyone visiting Aoi-san’s place.”

“Oh… She seems so outgoing, though.”

In many ways, Hazuki was indeed very open.

Especially with Minato even letting him see under her skirt.

“Oh, come to think of it… I didn’t have many friends in junior high and wasn’t that close to Aoi-san, so I don’t know the full picture.”

“That’s surprising too.”

Hazuki was so conspicuous that even those in her grade who didn’t want to know her would end up aware of her.

Or was she less noticeable in junior high?

Rumor had it she was already part of the popular clique back then, so that seemed unlikely.

Though Minato was curious, since this was practically his first real talk with Serina, he didn’t pry further.

“By the way, I heard from Hazuki-san that someone from our high school lives in her apartment building.”

“Ah, y-yeah… Really?”

That was definitely about Minato.

After discovering Hazuki lived here, he’d checked if any other students from their school were in the building.

It’d be troublesome if someone found out he and Hazuki were always at each other’s places.

The result was that while a few households had high schoolers, none attended their school.

“Yeah, I think it was this spring… I recall her saying someone who moved into her building went to our school.”

“Tch, maybe they moved in for the school term.”

Minato was sweating internally. How much detail had Hazuki given?

Secrets often slip out in unexpected places.

With Hazuki’s wider social circle, the risk of leaking info was higher.

“…Hm, that’s odd.”

“What’s up, Minato-kun?”

“This spring? You heard about it in spring?”

“Yes, I think it was shortly after the school year started.”

“…”

Did she get it wrong?

Hazuki had asked Minato to tutor her around July.

And they only found out they lived in the same building during summer break.

He didn’t recall the exact date, but it definitely wasn’t spring.

Did Hazuki know I lived in this building before we even talked—?

“Here we are~ Sorry for the wait! Ice-cold cola!”

“What happened to the iced tea?”

“I-It’s fine, I like cola too.”

Though Serina smoothed things over, Hazuki probably just found brewing tea too much hassle.

“Don’t complain. Cola poured by yours truly would have guys lining up for it.”

“Cola’s the same no matter who pours it, right?”

Grumbling, Minato took the glass of cola.

Hazuki handed Serina a glass too, then plopped down next to Minato.

Though probably unintentional, Minato was now sandwiched between two beautiful girls.

Even if he was used to Hazuki, adding another person made him incredibly nervous.

And Serina was an extraordinary beauty, which only heightened his tension.

As for when Hazuki learned about Minato—that inconsistency didn’t matter now.

“So, what’re we playing? Wanna mess with Ruka?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Serina’s eyes widened in alarm as she eyed Hazuki.

“Hahaha, kidding! But picking up from earlier—aren’t bloomers a bit wild? If you’re gonna wear something, might as well just wear panties. They’re about the same level of exposure, right?”

“N-No way, that’d be way too defenseless with a skirt…”

“But bloomers often get mistaken for black panties, y’know?”

“My skirt’s this long, so it’s never been lifted. Unless someone does it on purpose…”

“Oh, little Ruka-chan, you got a problem with me?”

“N-No… Sorry…”

The skirt-lifting victim ended up apologizing.

“But even with a long skirt, wind could lift it. If that happens, Ruka, people might think you’re acting all ‘I’m so pure!’ while wearing kinky black panties underneath.”

“I-I’m not acting pure… A kinky girl… I-Is that how it is?”

“With just a glance, no one can tell bloomers from panties. It’s pretty likely, right?”

“Huh… I-I don’t have black panties…”

“Whoa, for real? Black panties are totally normal these days. Wanna have one of my unopened pairs? A super sexy one?”

“S-Sexy… N-No thanks, I don’t have the courage for black…”

“Ugh, you two, if I don’t say something, are you gonna keep talking about this?”

“Ah…!”

Serina let out a startled yelp at Minato’s quiet mumble.

“Hazuki, Serina-san, you forgot I’m here, didn’t you? This isn’t a topic for guys to hear.”

“It’s the kind of topic guys love, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right. I take it back—Hazuki totally remembered I’m here.”

Looks like Hazuki was just teasing Minato with spicy topics.

“Hazuki, you’re really something… Serina-san’s completely different from you, right?”

Serina wasn’t the type to openly discuss panties.

Her flushed cheeks made that clear.

“By the way, I don’t like safety shorts, so I took them off in the changing room earlier.”

“Why report that…?”

But today, Hazuki had taken them off herself.

Minato was pretty sure it was true that Hazuki ditched her safety shorts the moment she got home.

“…Um… Are bloomers really that weird?”

“No, no, don’t take Hazuki seriously. They’re about the same exposure as safety shorts, but they cover your panties, so wear what you want.”

“But, Minato weren’t you all excited earlier? Shouldn’t make guys that excited, right?”

“That’s ‘cause you suddenly lifted her skirt! Of course I was shocked!”

“So, if you saw them casually from the start, would you get excited?”

“…No.”

“He’s lying! Look, everyone, we’ve got a liar~!”

“There’s no ‘everyone’ here!”

Minato and Hazuki started playfully shoving each other with elbows and shoulders.

“But maybe I shouldn’t wear bloomers… Being seen as a kinky girl would be troublesome…”

“How about showing Minato again? Let him decide if it’s kinky. You wanna see, right, Minato?”

“Why?!”

“You don’t wanna see?”

“Well… I do.”

“Minato-kun…?”

Swish! Serina, still seated, subtly scooted away from Minato.

“Ah, sorry, I didn’t— Hazuki, stop saying random stuff!”

“Blaming me now… It’s no big deal, right, Ruka? He said he wants to see. It’s just bloomers, no problem, you’ve shown them once already.”

“T-That’s true… But there’s nothing interesting about them, right?”

Suddenly, Serina stood up—

And in a swift motion, she lifted her long skirt, revealing her fair thighs and thick-material bloomers.

The seemingly pure Serina Ruka so casually showed off her underskirt view.

“…”

Minato couldn’t help but swallow hard.

Though he was stunned by the absurdly comical turn of events, the provocative sight of the pure beauty Serina lifting her skirt stole even more of his attention.

“H-How is it? Is it kinky—I mean, is it weird…?”

“Ruka, turn around a bit.”

“Oh, okay.”

Serina faced Hazuki, her back to Minato.

No, since she was standing and Minato was sitting, her petite backside was right in front of him.

And—

“Ugh…”

Minato nearly swallowed again.

The bloomers hugging Serina’s cute backside were slightly shifted, revealing a glimpse of white fabric underneath.

As expected, the pure Serina Ruka’s panties were white.

Unbeknownst to Minato this was a common “panties peeking out” scenario with bloomers.

“Man, Ruka, you’re way too sexy. Bloomers are totally kinky.”

“What kind of conclusion is that?”

Serina quickly dropped her skirt and sat down.

But Minato’s mind was now vividly imprinted with the image of Serina’s white panties peeking from her bloomers.

“B-But…”

“Hm?”

“My heart’s racing a bit… I-I feel kind of happy. Sh-Showing bloomers isn’t kinky… or weird, right?”

“I-I’m not sure…”

Serina’s shocking statement left Minato dumbfounded.

While he’d been eager to see her bloomers, he never expected this pure beauty to admit she enjoyed showing them.

“Hm… Even if bloomers themselves aren’t kinky, you wanting to show them off is pretty kinky, Ruka.”

“I-I don’t want to show them! I-I’m just a little excited!”

“…”

Wasn’t Hazuki saying that reaction was kinky?

Minato thought it immediately but now wasn’t the time to quip.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Ruka’s exhibitionist side… Nice.”

“Nice? No, it’s not a fetish!”

Serina had been dishing out sharp retorts nonstop.

Minato had thought she was a quiet girl who never raised her voice.

In just a few hours, his impression of Serina had shifted dramatically.

But that shift wasn’t a bad thing at all.

Since becoming friends with Hazuki, Minato felt his world had changed immensely.

And after seeing this side of Serina today, that change was bound to grow even more intense—he had a strong premonition of it.