This place was an urban village, and the public toilet sat tucked away in a far corner. By now everyone had finished dinner at home, and the alleys were mostly empty.
Yūto Shō led Sato Ruri toward the restroom and stopped a few paces short. He turned to look at the girl, only to find her thighs pressed tightly together, teeth clenched as if she were holding back something fierce, her pretty face flushed crimson.
Yūto Shō guessed the reason at once, eyeing her with a half-smile. "Sato Ruri, you didn't leak something, did you?"
"You're the one leaking! Pervert!" the girl shot back anxiously, then felt a flicker of guilt at how sharp her reaction had been. She quickly added, "I'm just tired. Whose fault is it for dragging me here so fast?"
"Because I was worried you wouldn't make it in time," Yūto Shō replied, smiling like a man whose every move was pure benevolence.
Sato Ruri drew in a long breath and told herself not to lose her temper at him, otherwise she'd end up dying of rage one of these days.
"Hmph, expecting decent words out of you is like expecting Bakugo to say thank you." She snorted coldly. "I'm going to the bathroom. Don't you dare follow me, or I'll call the police and have you hauled off."
She suspected Yūto Shō might try to trail her into the women's restroom, so she gave him a warning before turning toward the squat little building nearby.
But just as she took a step forward, she froze, cheeks flaring red again, and spun back to glare at him irritably. "Let go!"
Up until that moment, Yūto Shō had been holding her hand the entire time, and she hadn't even registered it!
"Sato Ruri, this is technically our second date, and yet I just realized you've never once given me a present. Don't you think that's kind of strange?"
Yūto Shō said this with a perfectly serious expression.
Sato Ruri frowned. Was he saying he wanted to give her a gift?
"We're just ordinary classmates. You don't need to give me anything," she said flatly. The last thing she wanted was a present from Yūto Shō.
Yūto Shō looked startled. "What are you talking about? When did I ever say I wanted to give you a gift?"
She blinked, confused. "Then weren't you the one who just brought up a gift that's never been given?"
Yūto Shō nodded slowly, as if patiently explaining a plot twist. "You misunderstood. I meant you haven't given me a gift yet."
Sato Ruri's slender frame trembled, and she stared at him in disbelief — this guy was actually shaking her down for a present!
So shameless.
Absolute scumbag.
Inside, Sato Ruri was practically combusting with frustration, but she nodded and forced out, "Fine. Whatever you want, I'll buy it for you."
After two days of being railroaded by Yūto Shō, Sato Ruri had begun to grasp how he operated. He never let go until he got his way. Compared to being groped or cornered, simply buying him something and escaping was the lighter toll. Besides, her bladder was at DEFCON one, so she agreed without further argument.
"Anything I want?" Yūto Shō asked, eyes glittering like a Death Note villain mid-monologue.
The girl didn't catch the sly look in his gaze and nodded urgently. "Anything is fine, just say it already!"
She couldn't hold it much longer.
Yūto Shō's lips curled, and then, with the righteous tone of a shounen protagonist declaring his dream, he said, "Since you put it that way, I won't hold back. I want your, Sato Ruri… pantsu."
"What did you say?" Sato Ruri doubted her own ears and stared at him in horror.
"Didn't hear me? I'll repeat myself: I want your pantsu, Sato Ruri. Right now. Just imagining a pair still soaked in your scent gets me fired up. Hurry up and hand them over."
Yūto Shō's gaze burned as it locked onto the girl.
As long as I'm not embarrassed, the embarrassment belongs to her — basic Joseph Joestar logic.
Sato Ruri saw the unmistakable hunger in his eyes and went rigid — he was actually serious!
This pervert! How could he say that out loud!
The girl trembled with fury, her pretty face scarlet, shame crashing through her chest like a tidal wave.
What did he want her panties for? Some kind of degenerate purpose?
For some reason, certain unwholesome images flickered through her head, and her face went even redder. She snapped, "Don't even dream about it!"
She would never, ever hand them over, no matter what.
"You just said anything I wanted. Pantsu count as a gift. Are you going back on your word? Because if so, then I'm afraid I can't allow you to use the bathroom."
Yūto Shō put on a wronged expression and tightened his grip on her hand, his tone laced with a clear threat.
Sato Ruri's scalp prickled instantly, and she cursed him a thousand times in her heart. She was already at her absolute limit, and yet Yūto Shō wouldn't let her go — wasn't this just a deliberate plan to watch her wet herself in humiliation?
To strong-arm her for her panties he'd actually stoop this low. This guy was the worst kind of villain — not even the cool kind, like Aizen. Just the gross kind.
The girl was livid and mortified at once. A surge of helpless emotion crashed over her. She gasped, her legs trembling uncontrollably as she squeezed them together, cheeks burning.
Yūto Shō took his sweet time admiring her stricken expression. "What, can't take it anymore? Promise me the gift that's rightfully mine, and I'll let you go."
"Despicable!" Sato Ruri ground out through clenched teeth, on the verge of crumbling. Her face went pale. She tried to wrench her wrist free and failed, then finally broke into tears, her voice ragged. "I promised, okay? Just let go, please, I'm begging you!"
Yūto Shō loosened his grip the instant the words left her mouth, and watched as the girl shot toward the public restroom like a missile fired straight from a Gundam, vanishing inside to handle her crisis.
Yūto Shō felt a flicker of shame — maybe he'd pushed it a little far. But what choice did he have?
If he hadn't, the other option had been to follow Sato Ruri into the women's restroom and "sample her holy water," and that route would've left her wishing the ground itself would swallow her whole, or worse.
Every route choice on this system was unhinged in its own special way. He could only pick the lesser freak between two freaks. As for ignoring both options entirely?
He didn't dare risk it, half-expecting some kind of erasure or punishment from the system itself.
A few minutes later, Sato Ruri emerged from the restroom.
Yūto Shō walked over to her and extended his hand, palm up.
Sato Ruri looked at him with a complicated expression, then gritted her teeth and stretched her clenched fist over his palm. A pair of panties with a black butterfly pattern dropped into his hand, faintly carrying her warmth.
Yūto Shō gave them only a glance, didn't dare look properly, and quickly folded the fabric and tucked it into his pocket.
Watching his movements, Sato Ruri's expression flickered through something strange — but she also felt a wash of quiet relief. Yūto Shō hadn't held the freshly-removed pantsu up in front of her to gawk at, which preserved the last shred of her dignity.
His task complete, Yūto Shō was in genuinely high spirits and said to the girl, "Come on, I'll walk you home."
Only then did Sato Ruri remember she still had to get home. She drew a deep breath to steady herself, then left the urban village, stepping back onto the sidewalk and continuing toward her apartment.
After about another kilometer, they were less than a hundred meters from where she lived. Yūto Shō stopped, glancing at the dazed girl beside him. He was about to wish her goodnight when a new route abruptly surfaced in his vision.
Route 1: Steal a kiss while she isn't paying attention.
Route 2: Publicly produce the girl's pantsu, plop them on top of her head, and shout, "Go out with me!"
What a troublesome heroine — straight out of a rom-com from hell.
Yūto Shō sighed inwardly, then chose without hesitation. He stepped up to the girl, took advantage of her distraction, caught her chin and tilted her delicate face up to his.
Sato Ruri had been lost in her own thoughts, oblivious to what was about to happen, and stared at him blankly.
Yūto Shō took in the girl's stunning face — porcelain skin, dark lashes still wet from earlier tears, lips slightly parted — and his pulse hammered in his ears like a taiko drum. He clenched his jaw and leaned in, pressing his mouth to her soft lips.
Sato Ruri's eyes flew wide, never having imagined he would actually kiss her like this. Feeling her mouth being claimed without permission, she was shocked, furious, and yet a strange, unfamiliar warmth bloomed up from somewhere deep inside her, and her fingers curled helplessly against the cool night air.