Chapter 354: Yukinoshita Upup!

“Didn’t Yukinoshita wear it either?”

Really or fake?!

Um…

Fake, it had to be fake!

After all, those words came from Kasumigaoka, the Evil God-sama herself.

Himekoji, who had been fooled too many times already, had built up strong resistance to the Evil God.

Of course, even then, he still couldn’t help but steal a sideways glance at Yukinoshita.

Dragged into such an awkward talk about underwear, Yukinoshita must have been really mad right?

He meant to just check briefly like that, but unexpectedly, the moment he looked over, he locked eyes with her.

“What are you looking at me for, Pervert-kun?”

Like Himekoji expected, Yukinoshita seemed in a really bad mood.

The girl narrowed her eyes and glared at him, her cheeks faintly red.

Hey, wait a minute!

Why did she seem to give off a bit of a bad girl vibe now?!

It was an illusion, it must be an illusion!

After all, she was Yukinoshita!

The totally perfect, flawless, and straight-A Yukinoshita.

How could she have any link to a bad girl?

Really?

“N-nothing… it’s nothing…”

Facing her crushing aura, Himekoji stammered without meaning to, his head just barely recovered from the drinks.

“Lying again!”

Then, the bad-girl version of Yukinoshita glared fiercely and narrowed her eyes. Holding a sake bottle, she pointed it straight at Himekoji, her face flushed red,

“You dared to tell me ‘I’ll trick you next time’ before? So full of yourself, Pervert-kun! Well, I won’t fall for your lies ever again! So… hurry up, out with it! Why were you looking at me? It can’t be ‘nothing’ like you said… your eyes totally screamed you had something to say, absolutely, absolutely!”

“Huh?”

After hearing Yukinoshita’s long rant, Himekoji paused for a bit.

It felt like she was way more chatty than usual now…

Was that also an illusion?

“Nothing… really nothing.”

Himekoji had no choice but to say it again.

It was the only way out.

After all, you couldn’t let him actually ask her if her underwear was on or not, right?

If he did that, the second the question left his mouth, she would kill him.

“Hmph, I know even if you won’t say it—you want to ask if I have underwear on? Did you really think I didn’t overhear you?”

“Huh?”

She said it?

She said it!

Yukinoshita actually said it herself!

“Hehe, I don’t mind telling you at all.”

“Listen here—”

“Under my yukata…”

“Is fine.”

The moment he heard her answer, Himekoji let out a deep sigh of relief.

“Whew—I knew it.”

Kasumigaoka was just talking nonsense after all!

That was good, that was good.

Even though Yukinoshita changed completely after getting drunk—from her personality to how she talked—as if she were two different people, at least her core values like modesty and self-respect couldn’t change no matter what.

He’d rather believe the sky was falling than some silly lie about her not wearing underwear.

But just as he thought that, she added something totally unexpected—

“My yukata is fine… fine not wearing it.”

“Pfft!”

Himekoji had just taken a sip of water to calm himself, but before he could swallow it, he spat it all out.

“W-what did you say?”

He didn’t even bother wiping his own wet yukata, just stared wide-eyed at her in shock, totally stunned.

“I said, under my yukata, I’m fine not wearing it.”

Yukinoshita explained patiently.

But Yukinoshita being patient about that…

Something had to be wrong!

“‘Fine not wearing’? N-no, wrong! How is that fine? It’s not fine at all!”

Picturing what it was like under Yukinoshita’s yukata…

Himekoji felt like he heard a sharp “crack,” as if glass had shattered.

Her perfect image in his mind crumbled away!

…

“When you wear a yukata, you don’t wear underwear underneath. That’s proper etiquette, right?”

Facing his shocked look, Yukinoshita stayed calm and composed like always, explaining with total ease.

“That Edo-period etiquette isn’t still used today, is it?!”

“Pervert-kun, what are you on about? Putting on underwear under a snug yukata would ruin its smooth beauty.”

She suddenly turned serious, oddly strict and stubborn about this.

“… You’re way too old-fashioned.”

He finally blurted out after struggling with it for a while.

“Oh? Got a problem with that?”

“Yes! A big problem! How are you like this after drinking?! Give back the real Yukinoshita!”

“Drunk? I’m not drunk at all!”

Hehe…

That’s what every drunk person would say.

“Really, I’m not drunk…hic!”

Seeing Himekoji’s doubtful expression, Yukinoshita repeated this point once again.

Unfortunately, the hiccup at the end completely betrayed her.

“Saying you’re not drunk? Then what was that hiccup?!”

“That sound wasn’t from me…”

As she mumbled this, Yukinoshita’s eyes were already glazed over, losing focus.

Her upper body had started swaying at some point; the intoxicated girl could no longer maintain her usual proper seated posture.

“No matter how you look at it, she’s drunk! And very drunk at that!”

She’d obviously been drunk like this since they were in the Onsen!

“Mmm…haa…”

The girl’s breath was hot and uneven.

Yukinoshita held the sake bottle the Female Teacher had pressed into her hand with one hand and gripped her cup tightly with the other.

“Ah…”

Just as she was about to bring the cup to her lips once more—

“Hey! No more!”

Without letting her argue, Himekoji snatched the cup from her grasp.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

This whining voice couldn’t possibly belong to Yukinoshita.

Deprived of her cup, Yukinoshita scowled, her face practically screaming “Give it back – now!”

The next moment, she lunged straight at Himekoji, reaching out.

“Hey! Seriously, you can’t have any more!”

Himekoji hadn’t expected such aggression. Caught off guard, he was knocked to the floor.

Through the thin fabric of her yukata, he could feel the warmth of her body.

Soft, with a wave of fragrance mixing with the strong scent of alcohol.

“Hey… are… are you okay?”

He quickly placed the cup far out of her reach.

Then, flustered, he pushed her away and scrambled to his feet.

However, during this, the neckline of Yukinoshita’s yukata suddenly loosened and slipped open…

Himekoji hadn’t looked away fast enough; he caught a clear, unplanned glimpse of her exposed skin showing.

Not just her underwear…

She hadn’t put on anything underneath after the Onsen!

Maybe noticing his lingering gaze, she hurriedly crossed her hands over her chest.

It was an accident, but he’d still seen it. He was sure Yukinoshita wouldn’t let him off lightly.

He braced himself for her fury, mentally preparing.

Instead, Yukinoshita uttered something completely unexpected—

“What’s wrong, Pervert-kun? Want a closer look?”

“Huh?”

“It’s all bare.”

“N-No need!”

I already saw!

Saw everything, clearly!

“Well, yes… this body of mine doesn’t have anything worth looking at anyway…”

Huh?

She was doing it again!

Suddenly sinking into self-loathing again, Yukinoshita muttered this while turning her back on Himekoji. Curling into a ball on the floor, she began tracing imaginary circles with her finger.

It was textbook… perfect… purest form of a pout.

…Cute?

Wait!

He found her cute like this?

Was he crazy?!

Okay, sanity could wait. Right now, Yukinoshita clearly needed cheering up.

“Yukinoshita cheer up!”

The words burst out of Himekoji’s mouth almost instantly.