[175] Parents Not at Home

Chapter 175: Parents Not at Home

——Is this woman trying to show me that she's stunning even without makeup?

Shunsuke suddenly thought.

Though she wasn't wearing any makeup, the invincible charm of youth was the most effective beauty enhancer in the world. Kasumigaoka Utaha was as beautiful as ever today, completely makeup-free.

So, while he initially thought the reason Utaha wasn't wearing makeup was because she considered their relationship close enough, it was also possible that she just wanted to flaunt her natural beauty.

"Thud."

As Shunsuke stepped into the entryway, the sound of the door closing immediately followed from behind, accompanied by a "click" as Utaha casually locked the door.

"..."

After locking the door, Utaha naturally turned around, bent down, and pulled a pair of slippers from the shoe rack. As she did so, she said, "We rarely have guests over, so we don't have extra slippers. But since my parents happen to be out today, Trash-kun, you can wear my dad's slippers."

Parents aren't home?

Shunsuke instantly grasped the key point.

As for the lack of spare slippers... Utaha had invited him over several days in advance. With all that time, couldn't she have bought a pair of slippers?

Shunsuke was more inclined to think that Utaha was using the slippers as an excuse to hint at something, though the likelihood of that was actually quite low... Given Utaha's personality, it was more likely she was teasing him in her usual mature, slightly superior way.

The chances of anything actually happening were pretty much nonexistent.

"Trash-kun, what are you thinking about?"

Utaha, who had just placed Shunsuke's shoes on the rack, tilted her head slightly and looked up at him with a faint, teasing smile.

"You probably know exactly what I'm thinking, Utaha."

Shunsuke shrugged, showing no sign of embarrassment. This was clearly a situation Utaha had deliberately set up, so why should he feel awkward?

Utaha lowered her head and subtly clicked her tongue, making sure Shunsuke didn't notice.

When she looked up again, she blinked and pulled out her phone, waving it in front of Shunsuke. The screen clearly displayed the numbers "110."

"It's fine to think about it, but just so you know, I've already set this as my emergency contact."

"Hey!"

Shunsuke really didn't want to end up at the police station again, especially after just going there. If someone caught wind of this and posted it online, his reputation would be ruined!

"Just kidding."

Utaha smiled triumphantly and put her phone away.

—If you're kidding, then change the emergency contact first!

Seeing that Utaha had only turned off the screen, Shunsuke couldn't help but want to complain.

"Let's go. The manuscript for the new book is in my room," Utaha said, leading the way. "Excited? You're the first man besides my dad to enter my bedroom."

Shunsuke smirked. Did she really think he was some inexperienced guy like Aki Tomoya?

But as he stepped into Utaha's room, Shunsuke felt not a single ripple of emotion. The reason? Utaha's room could be described in one word: messy!

The only room that could rival this level of chaos was Mashiro's. It was that messy.

Though he knew Utaha didn't seem like the type to do housework, seeing her room in such disarray without any effort to tidy up still surprised him a little.

And, much like Mashiro's room, scattered across the bed were several pairs of black stockings, each with slight variations.

Noticing Shunsuke's gaze fixed on the stockings on her bed, Utaha smiled smugly and lightly ran her hand over the glossy black stockings she was wearing.

"So, what do you think? The pair I'm wearing now was carefully selected. Do they look good?"

Shunsuke nodded honestly, "They look good."

"So, has your fantasy about a girl's private room been shattered? Though I'm sorry to say, a girl's room isn't as mysterious as boys might imagine. If it were a dorm room, it might even be messier."

"I wouldn't say shattered, but comparing yourself to a dorm room? Utaha, your standards are way too low."

Shunsuke grinned. For some reason, in his past life during college, the girls' dorms were often even messier than the boys'. He couldn't understand why or how those girls, who always looked so polished on the outside, could tolerate living in such conditions.

Seeing that Shunsuke wasn't particularly surprised by the state of her room, Utaha realized he must have seen it all before. This made her grit her teeth secretly: As expected, the nickname Trash-kun suits him well. He's been around too much.

Thinking this, her enthusiasm for teasing Shunsuke waned a bit. What she wanted to see was him blushing, but now that it seemed unlikely, she lost interest.

With little enthusiasm, she sat down at her desk and picked up a thick stack of manuscript papers, handing them to Shunsuke. "Here's the draft of my new book. I'll leave it to you to critique, Fujii-sensei... Oh, and feel free to sit anywhere."

Shunsuke glanced around the room after taking the manuscript. "You say 'sit anywhere,' but..."

Aside from the bed, was there even a place to sit in this room?

But sitting directly on the bed felt too rude—it was a girl's bed, and there were even discarded stockings on it. Shunsuke wasn't as carefree or oblivious Kitagawa Marin in this regard. After all, this was his first time visiting Utaha's home.

"Oh? Is Trash-kun feeling shy? How pure of you," Utaha teased, covering her mouth with a faint, mocking smile that was oddly irritating.

Seeing this, Shunsuke naturally didn't back down. If she didn't care, why should he?

He sat down on the bed, making sure not to sit directly on the stockings.

But even then, Utaha leaned in closer. "Trash-kun, you seem really interested in my stockings. Do you have a thing for girls' stockings?"

"From the moment you walked in, your eyes have been glued to them."

Shunsuke shrugged. "Well, of course. After all, you went through the trouble of picking them out just for me. It'd be rude not to appreciate your effort."

"A woman dresses up for the one she admires. Since you spent so much time choosing these for me, how could I not notice?"

If it were Aki Tomoya, he'd probably be flustered by Utaha's teasing, but Shunsuke, who had plenty of experience and knowledge, found her tactics rather amateurish.

So instead of getting embarrassed, Shunsuke counterattacked effortlessly.

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