Reona and I searched for a way out of the equipment storage we’d been locked into. None found. Please design these things to also open from the inside.
“Neither of us has our phones — can’t reach anyone outside. Once practice ends, people leave as they finish — we could just get left here without anyone noticing.”
“If we don’t show up at the shoe lockers, Riona will catch it. Although she might take a while to think to check the equipment storage.”
“So if we wait, Riona comes to rescue us.”
If I were the searcher, equipment storage would not come to mind quickly. Lucky that Riona was sharp.
I sat on a mat on the floor. Practice had wiped me out.
“Mats are softer than I expected.”
“Yeah, weirdly soft. I almost never have classes that use them.”
“Same — I think I used one in middle school once for pole vault.”
I lay down. Could sleep with a pillow. Reona, seeing me lying down, smirked.
“Wait — are you planning on sleeping here, Ryouya-kun?”
“No, just tired.”
“If you’re sleeping over, I’ll join.”
“That would be a disaster.”
Just being in the storage was bad; adding teenage boy and girl together overnight would compound it geometrically.
“You’re not going to do anything lewd just because we’re alone, are you?”
“This is not an ero-manga scenario.”
In ero-manga, locked-in-storage couples invariably do the thing. In reality, no. Most high schoolers are virgins; only a fraction of the normie elite are experienced. Some of my classmates had crossed that line, apparently — envy.
“Hearing that as a girl is a hit to my pride.”
“What was the correct answer…”
“How about: I can’t hold back anymore, please?”
“That is literally the worst answer.”
If I’d answered that, even Reona would have been alarmed. Or would she? While I was thinking that, Reona suddenly tried to remove her gym shirt — I stopped her.
“Hey — what are you doing!?”
“It’s hot, taking off my gym shirt.”
“That is not okay.”
The storage was indeed hot, fair, but Reona stripping was not okay.
“What’s not okay?”
“I’m right here.”
“You’ve seen me fully naked, underwear is nothing by comparison.”
“If someone walks in now — guaranteed misunderstanding.”
If a rumor took root, the consequences would be catastrophic. I would be killed by Reona’s fanbase.
“If that happens I’ll defend you: Ryouya-kun was better than I’d expected.”
“That is not a defense.”
That was — strategically — a coup de grâce. Persuasion failed; she stripped to her undershirt. Right then, the sound of the key in the lock from outside.
“Quick — put it back on—”
“Where did I put it…”
“At your feet, hurry—”
I lunged for the shirt at her feet — overshot — and both of us went down onto the mat. As we landed, the door opened.
”…Am I interrupting?”
Riona, looking at the scene. Maximally bad framing, unavoidable.
———
This was teased at Kimirano so I can announce: Volume 1 from Hifumi Shobo’s Brave Bunko releases around 2025-02-25.
Cover art will likely be revealed closer to the date.
Kimirano link: https://kimirano.jp/detail/38098. Star ratings welcome.