Chapter 48: A Storeroom and a Locked Room
"Sigh. That was so embarrassing."
"The voices in my head got the best of me…"
After finishing their work on the rooftop, Alisa and Masachika began heading toward
the schoolyard to check out the gymnasium storeroom. Out of the remaining rumors, the two
that they could investigate during the day were the Invisible Cat and the Weeping Clubhouse,
so they decided to split up into two groups. The running partners for the upcoming election
were grouped together, save for Maria, who was sent to the clubhouse with Yuki and Ayano
due to its size.
"Who impulsively screams like that? You looked insane."
"But…I made sure to keep my voice down so that nobody in the schoolyard could hear
me…"
Alisa and Masachika's exchange continued like this until they reached the storeroom.
Once they opened the heavy metal door, they were hit with a blast of hot, dusty air, and they
reflexively grimaced. Countless particles of dust illuminated by the sunlight danced in the
air, making it seem as if stepping even one foot inside was a health risk.
"Wow… Are we really gonna go in there?"
"…Complaining isn't going to help anything. Let's just get this over with."
Soon after coming to terms with reality, they stepped inside and began to listen carefully
to see if they could hear any cats meowing.
"..."
"..."
"————ow."
"…! I heard something!"
"Seriously? Where was it coming from?"
"Shhh!"
Masachika walked over to Alisa's side, strained his ears, and heard…
"Nice! Let's go for another!"
"We've got this!"
"""Yeah!"""
"Ugh! Masachika, go shut the door! I can't hear anything with all that noise!"
"Yes, ma'am."
He closed the heavy door just as his irritated running mate commanded, immediately
preventing the wind from passing through any longer, which made the already blistering
storeroom feel hotter. Nevertheless, they decided to continue listening for a cat while they
told themselves it wouldn't be for long.
"..."
"..."
But even after twenty seconds of complete silence and concentration, all they could hear
were the voices of the students playing sports outside. It wasn't long before Alisa muttered
in annoyance:
"I can't hear it anymore. Sigh… I could hear something up until a few seconds ago,
but…"
"Hey, it's not a big deal. Here, let me open the door. It's getting hot, and it's really dark
in here," suggested Masachika, trying to calm her. He reached for the door, and—thud!
"Hmm?"
The door wouldn't open. He could almost crack it slightly open but not all the way, as
if it was getting stuck on something.
"…? What's wrong?"
"Oh, it's just this door. It's…"
Fearing the worst, he grabbed the handle with both hands and began to pull as hard as
he could, but it still wouldn't budge.
"What? C-can you really not get it open?"
"…It's stuck."
Alisa's expression was a mix of panic and skepticism as she approached him, so he
stepped aside and let her have a go, but the door still couldn't be opened. That was when
Masachika's phone began to softly vibrate. When he slipped it out of his pocket, he noticed
he'd received a message from Yuki:
> Hey, it's your understanding, genius sister, Yuki.
He already wanted to throw his phone at the wall, but he decided to painfully wait for
her next message instead. Thankfully, not even a minute went by before he received it:
> I decided to create a wonderful situation for my good-fornothing brother, who brought Alya back to his place multiple
times and still didn't have the courage to do anything.
…They actually went on what was essentially a date the other day, but since Yuki didn't
know that, he couldn't say anything. It didn't help that he couldn't remember what happened
during the second half of the date, either.
> Just so you know, I basically combined a good old rom-com
cliché with something that's been popular lately among a few
communities. It's called The Only Way Out of the Storeroom Is by
Having Sex and—
"The hell?!"
Unable to take it any longer, Masachika immediately threw his phone into the giant blue
high-jump mat, where it sank as if it were being absorbed into the abyss. Meanwhile, Alisa
jumped, startled by his sudden screaming, and turned around.
"Wh-what's wrong?"
"…No, it's nothing. I was just a little irritated since I couldn't get in touch with Yuki."
It was actually the opposite, but contacting the person behind this and asking her to save
them surely wasn't going to work. Furthermore, Masachika found himself now skeptical of
the meowing Alisa had heard earlier as well. It probably wouldn't be that much of a stretch
to assume that Yuki was playing videos of cats meowing on her phone to trick them, and it
was all so she could lock Masachika and Alisa in this storeroom from the outside.
Yukiiiiiiiii!!
He clenched his teeth so that he wouldn't yell; meanwhile, he inwardly screamed her
name… Then another message appeared on his phone screen:
> Don't worry. I'll make sure to unlock the door a little
later so you two don't get heatstroke.
Oh, gee! Thanks!
> So you better squeeze a boob or two before then. In fact,
if you do decide to go all the way, I'm fine with that, too.
She can't honestly believe we'd really do anything like that, right?!
As he retrieved his phone, he was so angry, he could practically feel the fumes of rage
escaping between his clenched teeth.
"…I can't get in touch with Masha, either," Alisa suddenly said, shaking her head.
"…Oh. All right."
That was something Masachika was already expecting, since Yuki was obviously going
to consider that before even doing all this. It wouldn't surprise him if she had told the people
playing sports outside not to worry if they heard any noise coming from the storeroom.
…Which was why Masachika came to a single conclusion.
"Well, I sent a message to the student council group chat, and I'm sure one of them will
come to check on us after they finish their side of the investigation, so the only thing we
can do is wait."
He didn't have much of a choice.
"All we can do is wait? Why not yell for help? Surely, someone out there will hear us."
"Don't even try. They wouldn't be able to hear you. Trust me. All that would do is make
you hot and thirsty."
"Hmph…"
Alisa didn't argue, since they didn't have any water. Instead, she thought for around ten
seconds of other ways they could escape, but absolutely nothing came to mind.
"…How about we search for the cat until someone comes to help?" She shrugged.
"Wow, look at you. You're really serious about this, huh?"
"What's wrong with that? That's the whole reason we came here in the first place, and
I actually heard a cat meowing, too."
"Mm… Yeah, that's… Yep." Masachika nodded and hummed noncommittally. In his
mind, it was highly likely that sound was also Yuki's doing, but he couldn't tell Alisa that,
since he didn't have any evidence, and there was no way he could tell her why he believed
Yuki was behind this. Alisa, perhaps seeing his response as agreement, decided to turn on
the lights first, and flipped the switch by the door.
"Uh…?"
"Oh, right. That reminds me… The lights don't work in here."
There were two fluorescent lights on the ceiling, with one being completely burned out
and the other only emitting a faint orange light that was hardly useful at all. Furthermore,
now that the door was closed, the only half-decent source of light was a tiny window high
on one wall and close to the ceiling. Unfortunately, most of it was blocked by various pieces
of equipment and supplies, so while Alisa and Masachika could see each other, most of
whatever was by the walls was shrouded in darkness.
"…Well, we're not going to find anything when it's this dark, so let's just wait for
someone to come help us."
"We can use the flashlights on our phones. Come on. Let's keep looking."
"Seriously…?"
Masachika failed to persuade Alisa, who was determined to track down the cat, as one
might expect from a straight A student like her, so he decided to help, albeit reluctantly.
They split up to search for clues, each taking one side of the storeroom, until around five
minutes went by.
"It's too freakin' hot!"
They still hadn't found any cat, let alone heard one, and the humid heat of the storeroom
was getting so bad that Masachika had to take off his uniform jacket. After undoing his tie
as well, he hung them on the side of a basket for balls nearby, then began flapping his shirt
collar to cool his sweaty chest.
"Sigh… I hope Touya gets the summer uniform changed fast. I can't take this
anymore…"
"…Yeah, it really is hot."
He hadn't been expecting an answer, so when he heard Alisa agree, his eyes were
naturally drawn in her direction…where he saw her also taking off her school jacket. She
undid the ribbon around her neck as well, then proceeded to pull her jumper's straps off her
shoulders, leaving it on only to cover her lower body. Alisa softly exhaled while she fanned
herself with both hands.
Mmm…
Seeing her like this inevitably reminded him of what had happened over a month ago
in the student council room when she was hypnotized, immediately making him feel
uncomfortable in a way no word could describe. That was when Alisa suddenly looked over
in his direction as if she could feel him staring at her, and the moment their eyes met, she
knit her brow and swiftly turned her back to him, covering herself.
"What do you think you're looking at?"
"O-oh, sorry…"
It wasn't like she was scantily dressed. If anything, it looked like a school uniform worn
by students at any other school during the summer. All she did was lightly undress a little,
so why did it look so strangely suggestive?
Ugh… The only way I can stop thinking about it is if I focus on finding that cat.
After coming to that conclusion, Masachika began hissearch for the cat once more, but…
"…Nothing. Not a single clue."
He tried opening and moving boxes and equipment, but there was no sign of a cat ever
being there. Then again, the name of the mystery was the Invisible Cat, so not seeing the
cat made sense.
"If the cat's not down here, then maybe they're up there?"
Masachika shifted his gaze toward a shelf around head-high and frowned. Sitting on the
shelf were small cones, a line marker with bent wheels, a cardboard box with who knows
what inside—countless items usually not used were scattered about, and even trying to take
one thing off the shelf seemed like it would be a real pain in the ass.
…I mean, if we're going to be investigating tonight as well, then maybe we should wait
to do this until we have Masha's help?
There's no reason for us to aimlessly search in this heat when we can do this at night,
thought Masachika, so he looked over at Alisa to ask her what she thought.
"Hey, Al—"
His breath caught in histhroat…because Alisa was on all fours under the hurdlesstacked
by the wall as if she was looking for something in the very back. Her rear shook side to side
while the hurdles rattled, bumping into one another. Sst! Sst! The hem of her skirt danced
to the beat, entering dangerous territory, perhaps due to her keeping her upper body low so
that she wouldn't hit her back on the bars. Since Masachika was standing, he couldn't see
anything, but he would probably have a clear view of her underwear if he squatted.
…Seriously?
One corner of his lips curled at the unexpected chance to see up Alisa's skirt. It was
as if her gently rocking butt was inviting him. There was something undeniably seductive
about seeing her perfectly plump, milky-white thighs, only barely visible in the darkness,
with sweat dripping down them. Ah, where is that sweat coming from? How I wish I could
check with my own two eyes—
"Mmph!" grunted Masachika as if he was violently coughing, and he drove his fist into
his temple to rid his mind of these lewd thoughts. He then exhaled deeply to cool his
overheated brain, since it seemed the humidity was doing something to him.
Relax, Masachika… Randomly catching a glimpse of panties is what makes it so
incredible. It's something you have to be lucky to see. Purposely looking up someone's skirt
is peeping! It's not even close to being the same thing!
Masachika scolded himself, although perhaps not for the reason most people would, and
he continued to twist his fist into his temple while glaring at Alisa's skirt.
It doesn't matter how wide-open she's making herself right now. Using that to my
advantage to take a peek is something only a monster would do! It would betray her trust…
and that's why I'm not going to peek, no matter what! No matter what… She has really nice
legs, though.
Her legs were mysteriously alluring—tightly wrapped in knee-high socks with only the
top of her thighs spilling out as they squished against each other. Masachika's eyes were
naturally drawn to every move they made.
Yeah… This isn't peeping. So…I'm okay, right?
Grinding his fist into his temple, Masachika gazed intently at Alisa's legs in a daze as if
he was delirious with a fever… All of a sudden, the phone in his hand started to vibrate. He
jumped in a panic, as if he had fallen asleep in class and someone had poked him to wake him
up. His eyes pointlessly wandered to each side before he looked at the screen and noticed it
was another message from Yuki:
> It must be so hard seeing Alya on all fours with her
beautiful hips facing you. It must be sooo hard—
Although he was midsentence, Masachika promptly turned off the display in silence
and was immediately overcome with unbelievable embarrassment and discomfort. His eyes
darted around the storeroom in search of the eyes watching them, when—
"E-eek!"
He reflexively turned in the direction of the shriek, only to find Alisa recklessly trying to
crawl backward out from under the hurdles as they banged and clanked together. And seeing
her desperately try to escape with no regard to appearances or modesty—
"…?!"
—Masachika promptly looked up and away before he actually did see her panties. Alisa,
on the other hand, immediately ran over to his side as if that was the last thing on her mind,
and she threw both her arms around him with a tense, twitching expression.
"Wh-what's wrong?!"
"Th-th-there's a rat…!"
"Huh? A rat…?"
Knitting his brow, he lowered his gaze as Alisa looked up, and their eyes met. That
was the moment that she apparently realized she was wrapping her arms around him, and
she promptly looked down at her arms in disbelief and let go in a panic. Immediately, she
wrapped her arms around herself as if to suppress goose bumps, then set her eyes on the
darkness beyond the hurdles, her expression twisting in fear and disgust.
"I…I found a dead rat…behind those hurdles…"
"…Gross. Seriously?"
Masachika grimaced as well at the sound of those unfortunate yet disgusting words…
He noticed Alisa was now staring at him again as if to say, "Go see for yourself just in case,"
so he reluctantly held up his phone and walked over to the hurdles.
"All right, then…"
After getting on all fours, he slipped under the bars, then timidly held his smartphone's
flashlight up and illuminated the area around the wall.
"Guh…!" He grunted with disgust the instant he found the rat to his right, hidden in the
shadow of a giant rope used for tug-of-war. He scooted back out from under the hurdles in
a fluster and returned to Alisa's side.
"…Did you see it?"
"Yep. Blech. That was disgusting!"
He had actually never seen a rat up close before, which was why he only had a vague
image of them being unsanitary creatures…but all he felt from seeing its decomposed body
was disgust.
"Hmm… But isn't this kind of proof that there was a cat? I think I saw teeth marks in
it…"
"Y-yeah… But it's not like we can take a picture of that and use it as proof, right?"
"Yeah, of course not. Even if we blurred the picture, people would be crying and
vomiting and whatnot. It'd be hell. Everyone would probably start avoiding this area like
the plague if we did that."
Both Masachika and Alisa rubbed their arms while trembling. They had experienced
fear unlike anything these seven school wonders could have ever given them. An eerie chill
ran down Masachika's spine as a clammy sweat began to drench his body, so he promptly
walked briskly over to where he had hung his jacket and began undoing the buttons on his
collared shirt.
"Ugh… Man, that was gross! I feel disgusting!"
With only an undershirt covering his upper body, he pulled a handkerchief out of his
pocket and began wiping the sweat off his neck and chest.
"H-hey?! What do you think you're doing, getting undressed in front of me?!" muttered
Alisa with panic in her voice.
"Huh?" Masachika turned around as he wiped the sweat off his body. He noticed that
Alisa's eyes were restlessly wandering in the darkness.
"I'm not getting any more undressed than this, you know. Besides, you can hardly see
me, right?"
"True…but that's not the issue here."
"Really? But you're going to see me in a swimsuit at the beach, which means I'm not
going to be wearing a shirt, so…"
"L-listen. Any girl would be worried if she was locked in a small room with a guy and
he started stripping, okay?!"
Masachika was at a loss for words. After all, it was obvious that some girls might feel
threatened in a situation like this, even if it was someone they knew.
"…You're right. That was insensitive of me."
"O-oh, uh… I mean, it's not that big of a deal…," Alisa replied awkwardly as Masachika
sincerely bowed.
"<You're making my heart race… That's all…,>" she added softly in Russian.
Because you're wary of what I might do…right?
Masachika immediately came up with that self-serving interpretation and ignored what
she was saying. Awkward silence followed for the next few seconds until Masachika
suddenly smirked to clear the mood and joked:
"But, well, I guess I'd feel worse if I was talking to some weak little girl, but you? I
don't know."
"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?!"
"I vaguely remember you smacking the crap out of a guy when you two were alone in
a small room together not too long ago."
"Th-that was… That's because…"
Alisa stammered as she thought back to what happened in Masachika's room a few days
ago. Her eyes began to wander even more restlessly than a few minutes ago untilshe suddenly
shot Masachika with a piercing glare.
"That's because you completely ruined the mood!"
"Huh…? Did I…?"
"Yes!" she snapped before looking the other way as if to say that this conversation was
over.
"If you say so." He wryly smirked back.
"<If you actually tried, then I would have…>"
His smirk froze the moment he heard her whispers in Russian.
Uh… What could she mean by that?
She would have…what? What would have happened if the mood wasn't ruined…?
Alisa's expression was hardly visible in the darkness, but she was fidgeting with the ends of
her hair like she usually did. Alisa must feel—
"Meow."
""?!""
Their hearts skipped a beat, and they immediately looked up to see where the sudden
meow came from…and on top of a cardboard box on the shelf was a black cat.
""...""
"..."
Masachika and Alisa silently observed the cat after their unexpected encounter…while
the cat, just as surprised, stared hard back down at them as if to say, "What are these two
creatures doing here?!" Their quiet staring contest went on for a few more seconds after that
until Masachika came to his senses. But the moment he pulled out his phone to get a picture,
the cat slouched, ready for battle. Masachika froze for not even half a second, but that was
still more than enough time for the cat to turn around and disappear into the shadows of the
cardboard boxes.
"Ah…!" he grunted, overcome with surprise, and immediately began to chase after the
cat in a panic. But when he quickly moved the cardboard box that the cat was hiding behind,
his eyes were met with by the blinding rays of the sun, and he squinted.
"…? What the…?"
Facing him in the wall was a square hole…and beyond that hole was what appeared to be
some sort of rain cover with its opening facing down. Masachika lightly jumped and looked
down the hole, discovering that he could see the ground outside.
"Hmm…? Did there used to be an exhaust fan here or something?"
That was the feeling he got, and after examining the edges of the hole, he noticed that
there were marks from something having been installed there.
"Is this how the cat is getting inside?" wondered Alisa after coming over to see what
he was looking at.
"Yeah, sure seems that way."
He casually glanced in her direction…and froze for a few seconds before quietly facing
forward once more.
It's basically see-through. Ha-ha.
Put simply, the light peeking inside from the hole was illuminating Alisa's upper body.
Clearly visible under her collared shirt, which was soaked from sweat due to the heat and
fear, was a lacy yellow bra, and to make matters worse, it was tightly sticking to her skin.
The curves…were incredible, and far too stimulating for a boy in the middle of puberty.
That Time I Avoided Seeing Panties and Ended Up Seeing a Bra Through Her SeeThrough Shirt.
The unexpected twist caused Masachika's brain to short-circuit and inwardly perform
terrible monologues, but Alisa didn't even seem to notice as she faced the wind coming in
through the hole and exhaled with relief.
"Finally, some cool air," she muttered. But Masachika, if anything, was feeling hotter
than before, and his brain felt like it was going to explode thanks to this unexpected gift
from the gods. Nevertheless, he quietly moved the cardboard box back to where it had been
in order to keep himself from staring into the gates to heaven any longer. He then began
moving things back into place while pretending not to notice Alisa's annoyed gaze. It was
as if her eyes were saying, "Why did you move the box back after I just told you how good
the air felt?"
"…Well, we found the cat, and if we cover that hole, then we won't have to worry about
them sneaking in here any longer."
"…? Yeah…"
Although confused by Masachika'ssudden gloomy tone, Alisa began to clean up as well.
It took only a few minutes until everything was back to where it was… Just then, they could
hear Yuki's voice coming from outside the storeroom.
"Masachika? Alya? Oh my. Whyever is the door locked?"
After what Masachika considered a shameless remark, the door handle began to rattle
and click as if it was being unlocked.
"About time." He shrugged…when it suddenly hit him.
Hold up… I can't let Alya go outside looking like that!
Although there was most likely nobody around, it would be a complete disaster if a guy
saw her like this. Even Yuki wasn't going to let something like this slip by without saying
something, which was already bad enough. There was a 100 percent chance she would call
Masachika later to mess with him, saying something like, "So? How was it? It looks like you
made Alya sweat until you could see her underwear. It must have been fun."
Wh-wh-what should I do?! I have to do something to cover Alya, but what? Just pointing
it out might not be a good idea, but if I don't say something, then there's no way I can get
her to do anything about it, so— Ahhh! There's no time!
He desperately racked his brain for a solution for those two seconds, then Masachika
grabbed his jacket, which was hanging on the basket nearby, and gently draped it over her
shoulders from behind.
"…? What are you doing?"
Alisa turned around with a skeptical glare and was greeted with a gentle, confident grin.
His eyes brimming with compassion made her jump in surprise. They gazed into each other's
eyes asthey stood so close that they could almost feel the other breathe. It waslike a romantic
scene from a movie where a guy put his jacket over the girl's shoulders under the eaves of
a building after her clothes got soaked in the rain. Alisa almost felt as if she was being held
tightly in his arms from behind. It wouldn't be odd if she felt like she was in danger, and
yet she didn't move. She simply squeezed his jacket tightly in her hands with her eyes still
opened wide. Masachika's gaze affectionately narrowed even more as he softly added:
"Madam, I can see your bra right through your— Bfft?!"
His speech was interrupted by a powerful slap, knocking him flying back.
"Y-y-you should have said something sooner, you jerk!" yelled Alisa in almost a shriek
as the door to the storeroom opened, revealing Yuki. But when she stepped inside, all she
saw was Masachika buried in the mat used for the high jump, and she blinked in a daze.
"Um… What is going—?"
"Hmph!" snorted Alisa, cutting off Yuki as if to clear up any doubt, and she immediately
stomped her way over to the door. Yuki moved out of the way in a fluster, and just like that,
Alisa stormed off into the distance.
"Oh, you must have been able to see her bra through hershirt," she muttered with evident
satisfaction a few seconds later.
"How the hell did you figure that out just from that?"
"Hmph! I have rom-com radar, so I can easily detect the waves."
"Wow… I bet that's really useful…," muttered Masachika wearily as he slowly sat up
on the mat.
"We found the cat and found out how it was sneaking into the storeroom."
He decided to make the first move after seeing his sister's gleeful expression.
"…Seriously? Show me."
Masachika escorted his seemingly curious sister outside and around to the back of the
detached storeroom.
"See that? At first glance, it looks like nothing more than a hole for ventilation, but there
isn't actually an exhaust fan installed anymore, so it's basically a tiny door to the storeroom,"
he revealed, pointing at the rain cover hanging over the wall.
"Oh…? Hmm…"
Yuki thoughtfully surveyed the area…untilshe suddenly came to some sort of realization
and stopped.
"…? What's wrong?"
"…Hey, did you actually see the cat using this hole to go inside?"
"Hmm? I mean, I didn't actually see the cat walk through it, but I followed it to the
hole in the wall when it disappeared, so it's safe to assume this is how it's getting inside,
especially since there didn't seem to be any other way in."
Yuki slowly lifted her head and argued with a serious expression:
"How would the cat get inside from here?"
"Huh?"
"How could the cat use this hole to get inside?"
Only after she mentioned it did he finally realize it. The area behind the storeroom was
almost completely flat, and there was nothing the cat could use to climb their way up.
Although cats in general could jump high, this cat would have had to jump around a meter
and a half to reach the ventilation hole.
"Good…point…"
A chill instantly ran down Masachika'sspine. Thisis one of those storiesthat getsscarier
the more you think about it, he thought. Then a faint sound could be heard coming from the
slope to their left, getting their immediate attention.
"…!"
Standing in the grassy slope was the black cat from the storeroom, looking at them as if
to say, "What's your problem?" They stared at each other for a few seconds until Masachika
finally came to his senses and swiftly pulled out his phone to take a video. But the instant
he hit the record button, the cat glanced over at the storeroom, then took off like a cheetah
chasing a jackal before leaping high into the air and effortlessly climbing up the concreteblock storeroom's wall like a ninja.
""That was…insane…!!""
The video Masachika took was posted online later and went viral.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone