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What happened in the room after that... remained a mystery.
By the ti Bokue Keikain finally stirred awake, it was already solidly mid-morning—sothing the harsh sunlight streaming through the window made very clear.
"What ti is it?"
Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Bokue turned his head toward the curtain, already hot from the sun, then reached over to grab his phone from the nightstand and tapped the screen.
9:09 a.m.
"Huh... I'm getting up later and later these days."
He tossed the phone back onto the nightstand, entirely unfazed.
That was just how he was—laid back and unapologetically relaxed. During the school year, he'd wake up to alarms and daily routines. But now that it was sumr break? No obligations, no rules. He'd sleep until whenever, and that suited him just fine.
"Sleep is a blessing. Forcing yourself to stay awake when you can sleep? That's just self-inflicted suffering."
Still, since he was already awake, might as well get up.
With that in mind, Bokue moved to sit up—his abs tightening as he pushed himself upright—only to pause halfway out of bed when a cool breeze from the blanket's edge brushed his skin.
"…Huh?"
Reflexively, he looked down at himself.
No clothes.
The T-shirt and shorts he'd worn to bed? Gone.
Glancing to the floor confird his suspicion. Yep, there they were—crumpled by the bedside like discarded evidence.
He rembered how this didn't use to happen back when he lived abroad. But ever since returning to Japan—and settling down a bit—Kuroka had made it a habit to sneak into his bed nearly every night. At so point, she stopped pretending and simply moved in full-ti.
Worse, she had this twisted hobby of stripping him while he slept.
Every. Single. Night.
Co morning, he'd always wake up completely naked, with a just-as-naked catgirl curled up beside him claiming it was for the sake of "Emotional bonding."
"Yeah, sure. 'Emotional bonding.' I still have no idea what kind of bonding requires this much skin-to-skin contact."
Eventually, the bizarre routine had rubbed off on him. Nowadays, even if he went to sleep fully clothed, he'd end up unconsciously stripping in the middle of the night. Kuroka called that "proper training."
He called it madness.
Groaning, Bokue rolled out of bed, tossed on his clothes, and stepped out of the bedroom. The faint scent of laundry detergent lingered in the air, and the soft sound of running water ca from the bathroom.
Yukina was doing laundry.
"Jeez… up at the crack of dawn doing chores??"
As he shuffled toward the bathroom doorway, he peeked in to find the Sword Shaman kneeling over a washbasin. She was pulling out a pair of light-blue sleep shorts, now spotless after being rinsed clean several tis, and wringing them out with practiced hands. Then she set them aside in another basin beside her already-washed pajama top and underwear.
Just as she stood up with the basin in hand, she turned—only to lock eyes with Bokue peering around the doorfra.
Their eyes t.
For a second, Yukina froze. Then, as if jolted by lightning, she quickly averted her gaze, her cheeks erupting in crimson.
"…?"
Still groggy, Bokue raised a ntal question mark.
"Morning, Yukina."
"G-Good morning…"
Her voice was soft—almost fragile. She didn't linger, slipping past him in a hurry and heading for the balcony to hang her clothes.
'What was that all about?'
Bokue was now thoroughly puzzled.
Sure, he'd sohow ended up naked again last night, but the bed was huge—they each had their own side—and they'd both been under separate blankets.
There was no way she'd have seen anything. Right??
'Unless she got curious and peeked under the covers before I woke up… Nah. Yukina's not that kind of girl.'
As Bokue struggled to piece things together, a knock sounded at the door.
"I got it."
Since Yukina was out on the balcony, Bokue headed to the front door.
Opening it revealed none other than Nagisa Akatsuki.
Nagisa grinned, totally unfazed to see Bokue greeting her. If anything, she looked pleased—her lips curling into a knowing smile as she leaned in and peered past him into the apartnt.
"Ooh~ Yukina's already up and doing laundry this early? Morning, Yukina-chan! Ya-ha~!"
"…Eh?"
Out on the balcony, Yukina had just finished hanging her laundry. Hearing her friend's voice, she turned in surprise.
Before she could respond, Nagisa had already skipped into the apartnt and was now heading straight toward the balcony.
Upon seeing the pajamas Yukina was hanging up, she tilted her head in confusion.
"Huh? Washing your PJs again? Didn't you just clean those yesterday?"
"U-Um, yeah."
Yukina's eyes darted away again, guilt written all over her face.
"It was hot last night, so I sweated a little. Thought I'd wash them again this morning."
"Eh? Sweating at night? But you have air conditioning…"
Nagisa blinked, clearly baffled.
"Wait, are you the type who sweats in her sleep? You should take care of your body, Yukina-chan. And look—your face is all flushed! Are you feeling okay? Fever? Headache?"
"N-No! I'm fine, really!"
Overwheld by Nagisa's flurry of questions, Yukina frantically waved her hands to deny any illness. No sweating issues, no fever, no nothing.
Still, Nagisa squinted at her suspiciously.
"Well, if you're sure. But if you ever feel unwell, you have to tell soone, okay? Oh—and did you two eat breakfast yet?"
"…Not yet."
"Perfect! I haven't either. Let's go out for breakfast. I need to hit the shopping district anyway—might as well eat while we're there."
"Sure, just let grab my things first."
Yukina turned and headed back to her room—probably to fetch her Spear.
❁❁❁❁
anwhile, Nagisa returned to Bokue's side, bumping him with her elbow and smirking.
"Wow, Big Bro. Moved fast, didn't you? So… how many tis did you make poor Yukina-chan fold last night?"
"…Nothing happened."
Back in her room, Yukina stood in the corner—well out of sight—both hands pressed to her chest as she took deep, shaking breaths, desperately trying to calm herself down.
But it wasn't working.
Even without seeing him, even just thinking about Bokue was enough to make that strange, lingering sensation from earlier flood back through her body again.
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