286: Her Plan Backfired

Utaha slept in until nearly 2 p.m.

Last night, after Chisato came home for the first time, he brought her a bouquet of purple baby's breath. 

The moment she accepted the flowers, she couldn't help but lift the corners of her mouth in joy.

The flower language of a baby's breath is "longing," symbolizing care and love for one's beloved.

At the time, Utaha felt that her recent frequent visits, constantly making her presence known around him, seemed to have had some effect.

But this joy didn't last long.

While she was still in a good mood, Chisato told her that he wouldn't be coming home tomorrow night—he was going on an overnight trip with Kazusa and planned to watch the sunrise by the beach early Sunday morning.

Utaha's emotions plummeted as if she were on a rollercoaster, plunging from the peak straight to the bottom.

Still, she didn't say much, only locking herself in her room, trying to calm her emotions through writing.

It wasn't very effective—she couldn't settle down even past 2 a.m.

She took a bath to relax and finally started feeling sleepy, but on her way back, she passed by Chisato's room. 

On instinct, she pushed the door open slightly to take a peek—what she saw immediately reignited her frustration.

The person responsible for her turmoil was sleeping soundly, the corners of his lips slightly curved, as if lost in some pleasant dream.

Dreaming of Kazusa, huh?

Looking forward to tomorrow's date that much, huh?

Feeling utterly unbalanced, Utaha let out a cold chuckle.

Driven by jealousy, she stepped into his room.

She quietly lifted the blanket covering him…

…

"So basically, to make sure Chisato wouldn't have the energy for his date with Kazusa today, you deliberately woke him up and made him hold you while chatting all night about pointless things?"

"Mm… Pretty much, glug glug~"

Utaha spit out the toothpaste foam in her mouth, rinsed, then picked up a hair clip to tie up her hair before washing her face.

"I really don't know what to say about you… You could've just not done something so meaningless, you know?"

From the phone playing on speaker nearby, Eriri's helpless sigh came through.

"It wasn't meaningless! After being disturbed by me all night, he obviously didn't get enough rest, so naturally, he won't have the energy to enjoy his date with Kazusa." 

"Their time together today surely won't be anything exciting."

"I doubt that…"

Eriri knew very well how weak Utaha's stamina was. At the same time, she also knew how absurdly strong Chisato was in this regard.

He had taken her seven times in one night, and the next morning, she was practically falling apart—yet he was still full of energy as if nothing had happened.

Based on that alone, Utaha's little scheme last night was probably completely ineffective.

"You can't just sit back and do nothing."

"If you're thinking like that, you might as well take the initiative yourself—seduce him, make him obsessed with you." 

"If you're lucky, he might cancel the date and stay home with you all day instead."

Unlike Utaha, who was anxious about the situation, Eriri still had the mood to joke around.

After washing her face, Utaha let her hair down, grabbed her phone, and walked into the kitchen.

"I actually did try that. And to some extent, it worked."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. When a man and a woman are alone in the same room at night, lying on the same bed… How could nothing happen?"

"Wait… You're serious?!"

Eriri's voice instantly shot up several octaves, clearly shocked.

"Calm down, it's not as complicated as you think."

Utaha took out a slice of toast from the fridge, leisurely spreading butter on both sides.

"It was just some hugging and a few kisses, that's all."

Saying this, she suddenly smirked mischievously.

"My charm isn't bad, you know. The moment I climbed into his arms, I could clearly feel his breathing get heavier… and other reactions, too."

The other end of the call went silent for a while before Eriri spoke again, her tone subtly different.

"And then… nothing else happened?"

"What else could happen? I wasn't ready, and the timing wasn't exactly romantic. There was no way we'd go all the way."

Utaha tossed the bread into the toaster and pressed the timer button.

This time, she waited a long while, but Eriri didn't say anything.

"Did you disconnect?"

"…No."

"Then why did you suddenly go quiet?"

"Because your ridiculous actions just now made me short of breath for a moment. I only just recovered."

Utaha frowned.

"What are you trying to say?"

Eriri let out a deep sigh and started analyzing Utaha's actions from last night.

"You said you didn't want Chisato and Kazusa's date to go too smoothly, so you decided to keep him occupied all night."

"That's right. He woke up at 11 a.m., held me while we talked for a bit, then got dressed and left around 1 p.m."

"That part isn't important. The key point is—what the hell did you do last night?!"

Eriri suddenly got worked up, leaving Utaha confused.

She picked up her phone and switched to earpiece mode, leaning against the kitchen counter. Even wrapped in a bathrobe, her figure exuded an irresistible allure.

Her tone wasn't particularly pleasant.

"Stop beating around the bush. What exactly are you trying to say?"

Eriri took a deep breath, as if trying to contain her frustration.

"Think about it. You got your lover all fired up and left him with no way to release it, then sent him off to go on a date with another woman." 

"What were you thinking? You would've been better off doing nothing!"

…Eh?

Wait a second…

Now that she put it that way…

That might actually be a problem…

Realizing this, Utaha lowered her head slightly, rubbing her temple with her free hand.

"It's fine. I trust Chisato—he wouldn't do that."

"Yeah, well, you better pray he doesn't! Otherwise, you'll be regretting your actions today!"

Eriri's tone was still sharp.

Utaha started getting annoyed too.

"What's done is done. I won't regret it. But you—what's the point of analyzing all this now? If you had been here last night, would I have gone this far?" 

"If you had used your pitifully small body to satisfy Chisato properly, this wouldn't even be a problem!"

"You damn woman! Don't turn this on me! If it weren't for the nonsense you spread to my mom, I wouldn't even be under such a strict curfew lately!"

"I don't want to bring up the past."

"You mean you're guilty!"

"Think what you want."

"Tch."

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

Eriri vaguely heard it too.

"Was that the doorbell? Is Chisato back?"

"I don't know. I'll check."

"Hey! If it really is Chisato, don't hesitate!" 

"Even if you don't go all the way, there are plenty of ways to keep him occupied. That seductive body of yours exists for this exact purpose—use it!"

"Enough! Shut up!"

Utaha tossed her phone onto the kitchen counter, ignoring the still-babbling Eriri.

As she walked to the door, she smoothed her hair, pursed her lips slightly, and adjusted her bathrobe.

But when she peeked through the peephole, the person outside wasn't Chisato.

It was an unexpected visitor—

Isshiki Iroha.

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