The Teasing Game
The changing room door had barely clicked shut behind them when I heard it.
“Heee… Yuzuki, your body’s prettier than I expected, huh?”
“Kyaa! S-Sakuragi, what the hell are you doing right now?!”
It was Dracore practical training time.
I had been waiting outside the changing room until all the girls finished switching into their pilot suits. The moment Yuzuki’s scream burst through the door, I instinctively pulled away from the wall—then immediately leaned back against it again.
“I’m just admiring you. When it’s shaped this nicely… guys really go crazy for it, you know? Here, feel for yourself…”
“W-what are you even saying?! Ah… d-don’t just touch me like that!”
“Why not? It’s not like it’ll wear out. Or… do you want to touch mine too, Yuzuki? It’s just as soft.”
…What the hell are those two doing in there?
The conversation leaking through the door left my head spinning. Just what was happening inside?
Could girls really treat something like this as harmless teasing?
“U-um… Sakuragi… that’s enough now. Yuzuki’s brother is right outside, you know…”
“Hmm? That’s exactly why it’s more fun. I’m doing all this so he can hear every single bit. Poor Yuto’s been waiting out there all alone. Wouldn’t want him to get bored~”
“Ehh…?!”
“….”
I knew I should walk away. I knew it. But my feet refused to move.
Something felt off. My legs were strangely heavy.
In the end, I couldn’t help it. I was too curious about what was happening inside.
From within came the constant rustle of suits rubbing together and the sound of suppressed breathing.
And then—
“Sakuragi! I told you to stop…!”
“Hah… Yuzuki… if you squeeze that hard… mmm…”
“Ah… ah…! D-don’t make those weird noises…!”
“But when I do this… I can feel it all the way to your fingertips…”
“Kyaaah! Seriously… please stop already! Yuto’s listening right outside…! You took your hands off, so just…!”
From the sound of it, Yuzuki was desperately fighting back, but it didn’t seem to be working. If anything, things only sounded more chaotic.
Thanks to the wild thumping and tumbling noises coming from inside, I couldn’t stop a helpless chuckle from slipping out. Somehow… the two of them seemed strangely well-matched.
…Are they actually pretty close?
How much time had passed like that?
The sticky breathing and wet friction sounds kept clinging to my ears. I forced my gaze away and stared at the wall, trying to steady my breathing and clear my head.
After a short while of what could generously be called meditation, the changing room door creaked open.
I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head.
At that moment, Yuzuki stepped over the threshold with her head hanging low, as if trying to swallow down her ragged breaths.
Her disheveled golden hair clung to her flushed cheeks. The collar of her pilot suit glistened with what was either sweat… or something else entirely.
She hadn’t even piloted a Dracore yet, but she already looked mentally and physically exhausted. At this rate, I seriously doubted she could handle proper Coupling.
I was clicking my tongue inwardly when our eyes suddenly met.
A tiny ripple spread through Yuzuki’s pupils the instant our gazes locked.
A long, wordless silence stretched between us. Eventually, Yuzuki was the first to speak.
“…You stayed here the whole time?”
“…Well, yeah. It’s not like I had anywhere else to go.”
“….”
Yuzuki lowered her eyes for a moment. Then her entire face flushed bright crimson. Even her ears turned red.
Her lips trembled like she wanted to say something, but in the end she simply whipped her head around and hurried away without another word.
A little later, the other female students began trickling out one by one.
And at the very end, moving with deliberately leisurely steps—Luna.
Unlike Yuzuki, she approached with a mischievous smile playing all the way up to her chin. Her crimson eyes narrowed slightly as they scanned me.
“…Haa. That was fun. You enjoyed it too, didn’t you, Yuto?”
Enjoyed it… well, it certainly hadn’t been boring.
But as Yuzuki’s older brother, it was hard to give a proper response.
“…Why do you keep tormenting her like that? Take it easy.”
“Heee… Torment? I like Yuzuki so much, though.”
The way Yuzuki looked like she wanted to run for the hills every time she saw your face says otherwise.
When I stared at her in disbelief, Luna stepped right up until we were practically nose to nose. Her soft breath brushed against my cheek. Then she curved her lips into a gentle smile.
“Yuzuki… the more you touch her, the better she reacts. Don’t you think it’s fun watching her get all embarrassed while still trying to resist?”
“…Is that so?”
“Yep. That’s why I’m jealous of you, Yuto. I wish I had a little sister like Yuzuki too.”
Luna glanced sideways and slowly licked her lips.
“If I did, I would’ve trained her nicely, like a little doll. We probably would’ve become the closest sisters ever, don’t you think?”
“….”
A doll, huh… Luna’s voice was sickeningly sweet, and it sent a chill down my spine.
If Luna actually had a little sister, that poor girl would’ve suffered quite a bit.
I still couldn’t understand Luna’s twisted brand of affection.
2.
Climbing into a Dracore cockpit had become fairly familiar by now.
Yuzuki took a slow, expressionless breath and settled into the Bottom position. I naturally took my place right behind her.
Soon the control yokes descended from inside the cockpit. The moment they connected with the sockets on either side of Yuzuki’s spine, a short mechanical click echoed.
“…I’m starting.”
“…Yeah.”
At Yuzuki’s brief reply, I carefully gripped the control yoke.
In that instant, my heartbeat quietly synced with the rhythm of Yuzuki’s heart. Tension and a strangely rising heat seeped into us with the same breath.
As sensation began spreading from my fingertips, the Dracore’s internal instruments lit up one after another.
Heartbeat, breathing, body temperature, and neural patterns all intertwined into one. The pitch-black veil over our vision gradually peeled away.
The moment the outside scenery started flowing in, Yuzuki’s shoulders trembled faintly. That tremor traveled straight through my palms.
I took a deep breath and pulled the yoke more firmly.
Soon a massive frame began to resonate slowly throughout our entire bodies.
The hangar’s heavy shutter gates opened with a deep metallic groan. Light poured through the gap and flooded our vision all at once.
Brilliant radiance flowed down the Dracore’s outer shell. The legs—half machine, half organic—stomped powerfully against the hangar floor.
Then—BOOM—a heavy impact shot from the soles of our feet all the way up the spine.
Slowly, yet with unstoppable weight, the Dracore lifted its head.
The moment its massive frame rose with tension beneath the white lights, I realized something.
……It’s better than last time.
I felt more composure than before. Yuzuki’s thin breathing tickled my ears like an earpiece.
Our heartbeats overlapped in perfect rhythm. It really felt like we had become one giant body moving together.
The fact that every movement flowed more smoothly than before was crystal clear.
The Dracore stepped past the hangar threshold and silently advanced into the bright outdoors.
Once outside, the other students’ units were already scattered around, running system checks or testing their movements.
I paused for a moment to watch them—when Yuzuki spoke quietly from inside the cockpit.
“This time… should we try moving a little faster than last time?”
“Sure. I don’t want to just walk around again either. I’d like to run properly at least once.”
“Hmm… Think you can handle it? Last time you barely managed to walk, and now you want to run?”
At her skeptical tone, I let out a short laugh. Even if I embarrassed myself by falling, I still needed to test my limits at least once.
But right then—
One of the nearby Dracores that had still been in the middle of activation checks slowly twisted its heavy frame and turned toward us.
With heavy footsteps, the organic tissue resembling bone and muscle between the metal armor plates contracted rhythmically. A massive shadow stretched long across the ground.
As the distance closed, the sheer weight of it pressed down on the air itself, filling the center of our vision.
Who is that…?
I opened a comms channel through the cockpit interface. After a brief burst of static, a familiar voice flowed through the speaker.
It was Luna.
Her voice was as playful and relaxed as always, yet something unreadable lingered beneath it.
“Ehh? Miss Sakuragi? W-why all of a sudden…”
That wasn’t Luna’s voice.
It belonged to another female student—most likely Luna’s partner. It didn’t sound like this had been mutually agreed upon.
Yuzuki seemed to recognize the owner of the voice. She let out a short sigh and muttered,
“Looks like Luna’s partner is Suzune. That girl’s so timid… she probably can’t stand up to her properly…”
“…Anyone would get swept up by Luna anyway.”
“True enough.”
Was there even a partner capable of handling Luna?
It would take someone with serious backbone. Even Yuzuki had been completely toyed with by her in the changing room.
Fortunately my thoughts didn’t transmit. Yuzuki turned to me calmly and asked,
“So, what do you want to do?”
“Let’s ignore her. Practice comes first. We don’t have time to play around.”
“Got it.”
Yuzuki answered firmly over the comms.
“What? Tag? No way. We’re not kids. Why would we do that? Don’t you know Yuto needs practice right now?”
“Ugh. You’re so persistent. Just leave us alone already?”
Luna paused for a beat, then let out a low chuckle.
“…Eh?”
Yuzuki’s voice shot up an octave. Through the Coupling, her emotions came through crystal clear.
Pure bewilderment.
I, too, was momentarily speechless at Luna’s threat. I listened carefully amid the Dracore’s subdued vibrations.
Yuzuki slowly drew in a breath inside the cockpit. The mix of tension and embarrassment in her breathing reached me directly.
“…That damn Sakuragi really…!”
Yuzuki muttered in a trembling voice.