POV Tsubaki Yuki

I don't remember when I started liking him. But, when I realized it, I was already in love with Kiyotaka.

Back in those days when we didn't even know each other's surnames were Tsubaki and Ayanokōji, it feels like just yesterday we were spurring each other on in that white-stained room.

It was Kiyotaka who spoke to me first.

Since I was better at the swimming curriculum, I think it started when he asked me how I could swim so fast. When I taught him the trick, Kiyotaka quickly got faster at swimming. No, it wasn't just swimming. Whether it was studying or sports, even if he couldn't produce great results at first, his ability improved as he repeated things. Kiyotaka is a master of effort.

Kiyotaka was always worried about me.

He always asks if I'm keeping up with my studies, and when I fail at sports, he teaches me the tricks. Every time that happened, my feelings for Kiyotaka grew.

But, the time for parting came suddenly.

When I turned 11, Shirō disappeared, and the only fourth generation students left in the White Room were me and Kiyotaka. The curriculum at that time was no longer at a level that an ordinary person could handle, and I was in a situation where I could barely keep up.

Amidst all that, I eventually couldn't keep up anymore.

The instructor told me I had failed and I was kicked out of the White Room. I struggled, trying somehow to stay, but in the end, I had no choice but to be led out by the adults. Kiyotaka also looked sad, but it was a relief that he quietly said, "See you later."

If it weren't for those words, I would surely have been broken. But, because I had the hope that we would meet again someday, I somehow managed to live.

However, I don't care about unknown parents or family. The only one I needed was Kiyotaka.

Then, three years passed since I failed out of the White Room, and because the White Room's activities were suspended, I was finally able to reunite with Kiyotaka.

Kiyotaka had grown up and become good-looking, but his atmosphere hadn't changed one bit from before. He listened to my stories kindly, just like always.

However, Kiyotaka hadn't completely left the White Room either, and he said we wouldn't be able to see each other again soon. I hated it. I didn't want to be apart from Kiyotaka anymore. I wanted to be together forever.

As I was shocked, Kiyotaka spoke with a serious face.

If I could enroll in a school called Advanced Nurturing High School, I could meet Kiyotaka again. Kiyotaka wanted me to come to that school too. He said he wanted me to help him.

This isn't the time to be remembering the White Room and throwing up. For the first time in his life, Kiyotaka needed me. If I can't respond to that, I might as well die.

Use whatever is usable, I groveled to the man calling himself my father, had him prepare facilities to regain my academic and athletic abilities, and even returned to school to enter Advanced Nurturing High School.

Since I was transferring in from the third year of middle school, I didn't make any friends, but I didn't care since Kiyotaka wasn't there anyway. I had to use all the time I had left to acquire power surpassing my past self.

A girl who seemed to be my younger sister, was watching me worriedly. My parents were happy I had gotten better, but seeing my intense expression, only my little sister was worried about me.

However, even my little sister's concern is just noise to me now. What I need is the ability to be useful to Kiyotaka. I don't need anything else.

I passed the exam for Advanced Nurturing High School. Apparently, according to my father, that school decides which students to accept even before they enroll, and it seems he used his connections to forcibly secure a spot for me. I had no interest whatsoever in what kind of person my own father was, but if it meant I could reunite with Kiyotaka because of it, I decided to be grateful. I even showed a smile to my little sister. I apologized for treating her coldly.

This family will be useful to Kiyotaka in the future, if so, I shouldn't incur their displeasure. Not just me personally, but all the relationships I build belong to Kiyotaka. Even so, that's only for now. In Advanced Nurturing High School, where contact with the outside is prohibited, family doesn't matter. I wished for the entrance ceremony to come as soon as possible, even if it was just one day earlier.

* * *

And then, April arrived, I enrolled in Advanced Nurturing High School and reunited with Kiyotaka.

It had been about a year and a half, but Kiyotaka had grown even more handsome. I feel like being held by him right this instant. If Kiyotaka wished for it, I would give my body to him right now, this very moment.

But, Kiyotaka ordered me to live normally at this school. He said there's no one here to tear us apart anymore, so I should take it slow and live a normal life.

If Kiyotaka says so, I'll obey.

I don't know if you can call them friends, but I managed to make a few classmates with whom I'm at least on a first-name basis. On the first day, a girl named Horikita was trying to get Kiyotaka's attention, but she's just a little cute; in the White Room, she'd be in the failing student class.

I also noticed a delinquent-looking guy named Sudō, so I tried pretending to be a little scared to attract his interest, but it didn't seem to work much on Kiyotaka, who knows my abilities. I would have been happy if he hugged me, but the world isn't that simple.

But, my feelings were the same as Kiyotaka's.

After the entrance ceremony, Kiyotaka called me out. I went with the expectation that maybe I’d get lucky and then Kiyotaka told me, "I love you." I know Kiyotaka doesn't have the emotion of love. But, what was important was that he wanted me, even if just in form.

If he wants me, I'll accept. I gave Kiyotaka my first time.

It hurt, but more than that, I was happy. I can do anything if it makes Kiyotaka happy. I'll do anything Kiyotaka wishes.

After a while, Kiyotaka also got involved with a girl named Kamuro Masumi.

But, I don't blame him for that. Kiyotaka told me I'm the number one. Because Kiyotaka said he can't do it without me. Rather, Kiyotaka seemed to dislike it when the girls he'd slept with fought among themselves. In that case, as the number one, I should keep the girls in line. Knowing Kiyotaka, he's sure to end up with more girls than he can count on two hands sooner or later.

Yes, as I was thinking that, Kiyotaka told me, "You're the number one."

Okay, I'll do my best. For now, since Kiyotaka was staring intently at my swimsuit, I've decided to do it for him in my swimsuit today. Kiyotaka looked puzzled, but I can easily tell what Kiyotaka was thinking.

* * *

POV Kamuro Masumi

It wasn't like I had a particular reason. I'd done it in middle school too, so I just thought I'd keep shoplifting in high school as well but, I never dreamed, not even for a second, that it would land me in a situation like something out of an erotic novel.

When he first called out to me, I just thought some reasonably good-looking guy was trying to pick me up, but when he told me to show him the contents of my bag, my heart started pounding immediately.

It's not like I'd fallen in love or anything. It's just that I thought, he'd seen me shoplift.

Of course, I didn't let it show on my face. However, even though I played dumb, he'd been recording a video. Playing dumb was completely pointless.

If this got out, I'd be expelled, I'd finally gotten into such a good school, only to be expelled in my first week? My parents would be angry. But, what's done is done.

I became resigned to my fate. If I'm getting expelled, then so be it, but this guy didn't intend to have me expelled; he demanded my body instead.

I never thought something like in a story would happen in real life, but with him holding the evidence over me, there was no way I could resist. If I'm not getting expelled, that's for the best. If it were anyone else, I might have chosen expulsion, but fortunately or unfortunately, a male student named Ayanokōji Kiyotaka was good-looking.

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about my first time happening like this. But, Ayanokōji was kind to me. It didn't take long for the pleasure to outweigh the pain, and before I knew it, I was the one seeking him out.

When morning came, I was enveloped in an unpleasant feeling, as if waking from a dream. I didn't want to think I was such an easy girl. There was no way I could look at the face of the man sleeping next to me.

My body still felt like something was inside it. There was a dull ache, too. But, that pleasure wasn't a dream. What I did with him had something different from the thrill of shoplifting.

I don't know what that is. But, from that day on, I started to become interested in this man, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.

Rumors quickly spread that he was in Class D, 1st Year, and ranked 5th in the handsome guy rankings, but there was almost no other information about him. However, it's not like I had any friends either, so I had no connections to get information beyond rumors.

But soon, a certain rumor circulated. It was that Ayanokōji Kiyotaka was dating Tsubaki Yuki, a girl in the same class.

I was momentarily speechless. So, that guy had slept with me even though he had another girlfriend.

An indescribable anger enveloped me, I truly hate men who can't cherish one woman.

* * *

A few days later, I got a message from Ayanokōji.

This guy was telling me to come to his room again today. Fine, I'll go. I'll vent this anger at him in the heat of the moment.

I stormed in ready to do just that, but my anger was quickly extinguished.

What he wanted was purely a physical relationship, not a romantic one. When I slowed down and thought about it calmly, I wasn't even dating the guy, so there was no real reason to be that angry.

It's true that I hate men who can't cherish one woman.

But, fundamentally, this guy didn't have a woman he cherished in the first place. Sleeping with women is just a hobby for him, he's a playboy with the fleeting mindset that as long as both parties are satisfied, that's fine. Our relationship is just me relieving stress and him getting sexual pleasure.

In the end, I let him sleep with me again. Partly because he has leverage over me, but also because when he clearly stated that he doesn't love me, it pissed me off a little.

To him, I'm probably just a convenient woman. It pisses me off, but he's openly said as much, and it's true that I let him sleep with me understanding that. But, letting it go at that felt somehow unsatisfying.

And anyway, he's just as bad. If all he wants is to sleep with women, he could be rough and treat them like objects, but instead, he's strangely gentle.

Why? There's no reason for him to do that.

He says, "I just want to see the look on your face when you're feeling good," but what's so enjoyable about seeing that? It just feels like I'm being toyed with.

This guy is the worst. But, at least, I never felt uncomfortable entrusting myself to him.

However, the fact that only I feel this way pisses me off. It pisses me off that he makes me react emotionally to his actions, while he doesn't think anything of me.

I've decided.

Someday, I'll make him fall for me. I'll make him cherish me deeply, make him unable to think about anything but me eventually… anyway, since he's blackmailing me, this relationship is going to continue. Setting a goal like that is just about right.

Right now, I admit he's toying with me. But, I have no intention of losing like this. I'll make it so he can't bear to be apart from me soon. Once I resolved myself to that, I could become a little more proactive in this relationship too.