Chapter 20
Chapter 20
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Naked Dogeza
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Two days later.
Inside a private room at a hospital near the academy.
The door burst open as someone came rushing in.
Short hair, a refreshingly slender figure that stretched straight and tall. It was Saki, the Theater Club President who was popular among the girls at school.
She must have run here in such a hurry that her face was pale as a ghost, sweat pouring down in streams.
But before she could even catch her breath, she shot in front of me like lightning and dropped to her knees.
"I'm so sorryyy!!"
Bam!
Doesn't that hurt her knees?
"Hey, that's enough. You're making me uncomfortable—get up."
"N-nooo!! I-I'm really, truly sorry!! Naked dogeza? Dogeza on a hot plate? I'll do anything!! I-I'm sorry, forgive me!! If you tell me to strip, I'll strip!"
In her panic, she pressed her forehead to the floor in dogeza.
A woman's hips are oriented outward unlike a man's, so when she prostrated like that, her butt cheeks spread wide apart.
'Saki's got some surprisingly nice...'
I'd always seen her as kind of boyish and hadn't paid much attention, but suddenly flaunting her figure like this made me look at her in a new light.
"Ah, th-that's right... I, I still have my cheeks!"
"Huh...? Why your cheeks?"
"B-because...! What Yuu said meant 'Do you really believe that ridiculous nonsense?' but... ugh... I didn't even check properly... I twisted it on my own, misunderstood, and slapped you! H-here, hit my cheek too... please!"
Saki thrust her face forward as if offering her cheek for a slap.
The shampoo scent unique to girls wafted pleasantly.
She was trembling, eyes squeezed shut like she was begging for it, but I had zero intention of actually hitting her. A delicate girl like that could drop dead from a slap from my hand. And smacking an actress in the face would ruin it anyway.
That aside... naked dogeza?
Damn. This girl knows her stuff.
"Alright? Then forget the cheek slap—naked dogeza it i—"
"Yuu-san... that's..."
Ren, who had been sitting beside me peeling an apple into a bunny shape, froze mid-motion, her face turning ashen as she tried to intervene. But Saki didn't back down.
"N-no, Ren-chan. This is entirely my fault. If it was just a simple misunderstanding, that'd be one thing, but... in front of all those other students... I insulted Yuu like that. It's a crime worthy of death... and I even slapped him... ugh... If naked dogeza can earn your forgiveness... it's a bargain."
"...That... is true... but."
Ren bit her lip, perhaps recalling how she'd treated me like trash in the past, avoiding my gaze.
She's still awkward at expressing it outwardly, but Ren's a good girl at heart.
She must feel mortally sorry.
Tremble tremble tremble
I could see Ren's delicate hands, gripping the knife, shaking violently.
"You'll hurt yourself like that."
"Eek...!"
I smiled softly and wrapped my hand around hers.
For a moment, our eyes met—Ren's and mine.
In that illusion where time slowed...
I spoke in a low, serious tone.
"So, are you two offering a double nude dogeza? Will you even fold your panties neatly and set them aside?"
"A-are you joking?!"
"Puhahahahaha!"
As I burst into roaring laughter, Ren shot up from her seat.
Hm?
Did I piss her off?
Did I tease too hard?
"I'll do it..."
"Huh?"
"If that'll make you forgive me... I'll do it. I'm sorry. If that lets me earn forgiveness... whatever it is, I'll do it."
Seeing her expression, on the verge of tears, and her feet inching toward Saki, it seemed genuine.
Whoaaaa...!
Double nude dogeza from Tsumetai Ren, the top beauty in the prefecture, and Saki, the idol of the school's girls!? Jackpot!?
But unfortunately, my honest tongue moved on its own.
"You can stop. Saki, you too—stop. Just sit in the chair."
Ugh... what a shame. But thinking of the future, I should hold back. Demanding special plays or services only after fully conquering them—it's too soon for that.
"But...!"
Saki's face darkened, as if she couldn't accept such easy forgiveness.
"It's fine, I said. We're friends, right? I'm not gonna hold a grudge over something like that, so just be more careful next time."
"Wha...? Fr-friends! W-we're still friends? Really... it's okay?"
Her face lit up with overwhelming emotion.
I met Saki's eyes and gave a light grin.
"Totally fine, you idiot."
"Y-Yuu! Waaahhh~! Thank youuu!!"
Whoosh!
Saki crawled over on her knees, grabbed my blanket-wrapped legs, and rubbed her face against them, bawling her eyes out.
She's even dropping the honorifics now. Next thing you know, she'll be calling me by name.
But then Ren cut in, looking somewhat uncomfortable.
"Saki. Yuu-san's still recovering. I don't think clinging like that is good."
"Waaahhh!"
Honestly, more clinging wouldn't hurt.
This monstrous body of mine has recovery powers beyond human limits too, so after stitching the wounds, putting on casts, and one IV drip, my condition improved astonishingly. Maybe my race value is something like 'Protagonist Clan'.
"Speaking of which, Yuu-san... that day, when you were holding a camera in front of the changing room...?"
Wanting to clear the air completely, Ren asked hesitantly.
"Well, yeah, obviously. But think about it, Tsumetai-san. On a Sunday, who'd be changing in the locker room? If I were a creep filming girls changing, why would I bother with an empty room?"
"...Y-yes. Everything Yuu-san said is right. I was too hasty back then... I'm sorry..."
Ren apologized in a cowed, low posture.
Seeing her look like a guilty puppy has its own charm.
"The reason I was struggling to film inside the locker room was because those two punks, Kyosuke and Daisuke, were sneaking in to retrieve their hidden camera. I sent that footage straight to the Academy Director the moment I came to, so she probably handled everything."
"So that's what happened..."
Through Kyosuke's blabbing yesterday—like 'We got rid of that Korean bastard'—they could've already guessed those two Mid-tier Class thugs were behind it.
Saki, who had been standing there dazed, made a dumb face at hearing something she didn't know, then exploded in fury.
"A-ahh~ Th-those trash bastards! I've never liked them since way back!!"
Saki vented hotly while sneaking glances at me. Feeling guilty, she was lashing out on my behalf.
With her rough-and-tumble look, she has these cute sides sometimes.
"I'm sorry, Yuu-san. Let me apologize again."
Ren bowed deeply to me.
At that moment, a system message popped up before my eyes.
👍 Likes:Neatly made beds, puppies, rabbits, the smell of shirts dried in the sun, theater, hospital visits, big strong hands, knowledgeable people, people who protect me.
👎 Dislikes:Violence, sudden physical contact, enclosed spaces, carelessly misunderstanding others, speaking ill of Yuu-kun, my own cold personality.
Ooh!?
Seeing "Analyzing..." for the relationship level is something I only saw rarely even after hundreds of playthroughs in the game.
That appears when affinity drops or spikes so hard it skips two or more stages.
Our last relationship was "Wary Target," so it might've skipped classmate and affinity straight to trust.
If I'm lucky, it jumped trust to "Reliance"... that'd be a jackpot.
Affinity is like "This guy's a decent friend."
Trust means "A reliable friend"—a bestie, basically.
From there, you could say sparks start flying.
Reliance is even deeper.
Someone you want to rely on. Or someone you want to lean on you.
At this point, it's basically dating—you just haven't said the words yet.
"Yuu-san, from now on, I'll help with all your hospital care. The Academy Director said she'll handle the absence approval, so no worries there."
Straightening up, Ren volunteered for nursing duty with serious eyes. Is this Reliance stage 3? I could feel her pure wish for me to rely fully on her.
"Ah! Th-then I—"
"No, Saki, head back to school. You're the Theater Club President. Club leaders must have tons to do."
Hm?
Wasn't her response a bit too quick just now?
Almost like she was blocking Saki from nursing with her...
"Eh...? But you're a class officer too, Ren-chan."
"...Don't worry about that. I'm fine, Saki."
"Ugh... Got it, Ren-chan. I'll go to school. But if there are still kids misunderstanding, I'll grab each one and clear it up!"
Nice, Saki.
"Excellent judgment."
And so began my hospital cohabitation with Ren...
This might actually lead to sex.