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As an artificial island city, the weather of Itogami Island had always been notoriously unpredictable.
From the moment he woke up in the morning until past ten, the sky remained clear and sunny. But by noon, dark clouds had quickly gathered overhead, turning the skies gloomy. At two o'clock in the afternoon, it was already as dark as midnight.
With a sudden crack of thunder, fierce wind and torrential rain poured down, violently sweeping across the city, drenching every corner and leaving not a single dry spot untouched.
The downpour continued relentlessly for two hours before gradually weakening.
In the top-floor bedroom of the upscale apartment, the dim room was illuminated only by the faint glow of the television screen, which had already returned to the main menu of the game console.
The wall-mounted air conditioner diligently hummed along, but the air still felt slightly humid, carrying a subtle and ambiguous scent.
On the bed, Asagi Aiba lay limply upon the youth beside her, her arms and legs weakly clinging onto him. She resembled a sloth lazily sprawled around a tree trunk, feigning practice for climbing while actually just loafing around. Her neck tilted back, lips parted slightly, and eyes somewhat vacant.
For the past two hours, Asagi felt like a fragile little boat caught in a violent storm upon the Grand Line. Above her, an endless deluge poured relentlessly like the Milky Way falling into her small cabin; beneath her, immense dark waves surged like mountains, lifting her high into the heavens with every crest before plunging her deep into the sea with each trough, again and again.
Fortunately, she had somehow endured this "storm," though now she didn't even have the strength to move a single finger.
Drip.
Outside the window, the last drop of rain hit the air conditioner's exterior casing, breaking apart upon impact.
Separated only by the glass, Bokue Keikain embraced the girl—now limp like melted wax—in his arms and carefully turned over.
Yet even that slight movement made Asagi Aiba softly gasp in discomfort.
"Wait—don't move…"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
Bokue immediately stopped.
However, his words earned him nothing but a pair of feeble, annoyed eyes from the blonde girl in his arms.
"It hurts…"
Honestly, asking what's wrong—this was her first time doing something like this, and she'd been tossed around so thoroughly she nearly lost consciousness several times.
Of course, if you asked whether it felt good, she'd have to admit it really did. Her sore, slightly hoarse voice was ample proof of how loudly she'd cried out over the past two hours.
"Ah…"
Bokue finally realized what she meant. He glanced sideways at the bedsheet; under the faint illumination from the TV screen and outside light, a small patch of dark red was visible.
Strictly speaking, Asagi was the first truly normal girl he'd ever done this with. In contrast, whether it was Rias or Irina, one was the princess of a pureblooded devil family, and the other a former Protestant Church warrior. Both had physical conditions far surpassing ordinary humans.
And there was no need to even mention Kuroka. Being from the most powerful combat subspecies of the Nekomata race—the Nekoshou—her physical prowess had already been superior enough to take on both Rias and Irina single-handedly before she even met Bokue.
But Asagi was just an ordinary human girl. Such intense activity practically equaled her entire year's worth of exercise.
"You jerk, Bokue…"
Asagi found a more comfortable and less exhausting position, gently nestling herself into his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her burning face into his shoulder, whispering softly and hoarsely:
"Seriously, you went at it so hard…like some sort of industrial piston. Did you want to kill me or something?"
"Nothing of the sort…"
"Hmph, sure you didn't."
Blushing, Asagi pouted slightly, but she soon breathed a sigh of relief, lightly patting the youth's back:
"Anyway, go turn on the lights. Let me check your back to see if you need some ointment. I probably scratched you pretty hard."
"Not really."
Bokue gently moved his hands to support her.
"Then I'll put you down first, be careful."
"S-slowly—Ah!"
With a gentle gasp from her, a soft popping sound echoed, almost like a bottle uncorking. The rain outside, seemingly stopped, made a brief, small return.
Bokue approached the bedside and flicked on the wall switch, illuminating the entire room with bright, warm light.
Turning back, he saw that Asagi—who had recovered a little bit of her strength—was sitting up, hugging her knees tightly, curling into a small ball. Her crimson-flushed face hid shyly behind the barrier formed by her knees, her delicate feet crossed carefully to block anything important from view.
"W-what are you looking at…?"
Seeing the boy staring straight at her, Asagi shrank her head down even lower, peering at him with watery, wine-red eyes.
"Nothing, just thinking you're pretty cute right now."
Bokue casually walked back to the bedside.
"Wah—! Why would you just turn around like that?!"
Before Bokue even finished approaching, the blonde girl let out another shriek.
Her reasoning was straightforward: neither of them had showered or put their clothes back on yet after everything they did. When Bokue went to turn on the lights earlier, he had his back turned, but now, returning to the bed, he naturally had to turn around—
"What's there to be shy about now? Haven't we already done everything?"
Bokue sat back down nonchalantly and pulled the curled-up Asagi gently back onto his lap.
"A-ah…!"
She trembled slightly as a burning sensation spread up her spine.
Even though this wasn't intentional on her part, the sudden contact instantly reminded her of the image she'd glimpsed right after the lights were turned on.
So, guys…were really that scary down there? After all that…she actually endured for two full hours straight. She couldn't help but marvel at her own strength.
"Do you want to shower now?"
Bokue's voice came from above, almost against the top of her head.
"Y-yeah, I probably should. I'm so sweaty and sticky, it's uncomfortable…"
Asagi unconsciously responded but quickly realized something felt off. She whipped her head around sharply.
"Wait, wait, wait! Bokue, you're not suggesting we shower…together?"
"Otherwise?"
Bokue raised his eyebrow, delivering his familiar rhetorical question with an unperturbed expression.
"You make it sound as if you're in any condition right now to shower by yourself."
"Ugh…"
She really couldn't refute that point.
But just then, out of the corner of her eye, Asagi spotted a series of water droplets on the floor, leading in a dotted line from the bed to the doorway—as if someone had walked out, wandered around, then returned.
"Um, Bokue…what's that?"
"Hm? Oh, that's probably…"
Following her gaze, Bokue understood instantly:
"When we were halfway through earlier, you suddenly said you were thirsty, so I carried you downstairs to get a drink."
"…Wait, what time is it now?"
"About 4:30."
"Eh?! Doesn't that mean mom's almost home?! Wait, wait, stop! Hold off on the shower—hurry and clean up all the traces here first! It'll be terrible if Mom sees this!"
"Oh, that's not gonna happen."
Bokue shrugged calmly.
"Your mom called earlier. She said she'll be back around eight after having dinner."
"Called…? When?"
Asagi's smile froze instantly.
Bokue thought briefly.
"Around half-past three. Your phone rang on the bedside table. You were so into it you didn't even notice, so I answered for you. I wanted to cover your mouth, but you were just too loud. I think she probably heard everything pretty clearly."
"…"
So when he said, "That's not gonna happen," he didn't mean her mother wouldn't find out—he meant she already had?!
Realizing this, Asagi felt her vision darkening rapidly, her consciousness fading away.
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