The door opened... which meant someone was about to come into this classroom.
Run now? Hide? It was already too late.
Mei and Rika had gone completely rigid. They were in the middle of undoing their blouses, their bras exposed, and there was no way they could run anywhere in this state.
"(At least... at least if it's a girl...!)"
That thought flashed through Rika's mind.
No, even if the one opening the door was a girl, seeing them like this might still give her leverage to demand something from them.
But if she tried to blackmail them, I would call the police.
But... if it was a guy... if a guy caught them with dirt on them and tried to demand their bodies instead of money...
Of course I would still call the police.
But there was also the possibility that they would end up being forced to give up their bodies at least once.
"(I can't stand something like that...!)"
Rika's body trembled with fear.
Then she saw one person carefully step into the classroom...
"Ogiwara-kun..."
The person who entered was a man.
But Eiji Ogiwara was someone I considered one of the better kinds of guys.
He froze the moment he opened the door, his eyes widening.
Judging from how shocked he looked, he hadn't opened the door knowing what was going on.
If you opened a door without knowing anything and saw this scene, shock was only natural.
The two campus idols most adored by the boys and the girls at this academy were somehow half-naked from the waist up and kissing, their bodies sticking together.
"...Anyway, could you put your clothes back on?"
"Ah, y-yeah..."
When Eiji said that, they both froze as well. But once they remembered they were half-exposed from the waist up, they hurriedly pulled their shirts back on.
Even so, in that state they couldn't fasten every button properly.
"Sigh..."
Eiji let out a sigh, then walked over to Rika and Mei.
"(I-I knew it...!?)"
Eiji was just like every other man, then.
He must be one of those lowlifes who saw a woman naked and immediately demanded her body.
Rika shut her eyes tight without meaning to, hugged Mei close as if shielding her, and waited for the devil's hand to strike.
At last, he reached the distance where he could touch them...
"Huh?"
Instead of reaching for Rika and Mei, Eiji breezed right past them and started searching for something at the seat beside Rika's.
That left the two of them staring blankly at him.
"...I forgot to bring my stationery. Textbooks are fine, but if I don't have any stationery, that gets kind of annoying."
Seeing their questioning looks, Eiji answered flatly.
It was as if he were saying, "No big deal, you two aren't my target."
After taking his stationery out of the desk, Eiji stuffed it into his bag...
"See you. This may be none of my business, but doing that kind of thing here might get you caught."
With that, he passed by the two frozen girls and tried to leave the classroom.
"W-wait..."
Seeing him like that, Rika called out almost reflexively.
Eiji, who had been stopped, turned back with a puzzled look.
There was something Rika absolutely had to ask him.
"...You're not going to demand my body?"
"...Huh?"
Hearing Rika's words, Eiji stared at her, slack-jawed.
Then he gave a shocked sigh.
Seeing that, Rika realized she'd said something deeply strange and her cheeks went faintly red.
"Why would I do something like that?"
"Eh---? But the reason seems obvious. Because Mei and I are both cute!"
"Huh?"
"...Sorry."
The noisy Mei shrank back at once when Eiji turned a sharp look on her.
Rika was a little surprised that he could shut down Mei, who was usually so high-energy and oblivious to the mood, with just one glance.
That said, Eiji hadn't glared at her fiercely; he had only looked at her, but the pressure of his serious expression was more than enough.
"A... well... use a little common sense. You think I'd use the fact that you were fooling around together as leverage and do something to you, right? That would be a crime, wouldn't it? Besides, is being gay still considered leverage these days? I'm not really sure about that."
Hearing Eiji's words, Rika finally understood.
Strictly speaking, blackmail was a crime. That was exactly why Rika had planned to call the police if someone tried to blackmail them...
"Y-yeah... but men still chase after women because of lust, don't they..."
"Boys are wolves, aren't they---? The way everyone looks at me is scary."
Ignoring Mei's exaggerated behavior, Rika looked at Eiji.
With a build that massive and muscles women could never hope to have... if he wanted to, he could overpower them both in an instant.
"Ah, I see. Sure, there are guys like that. But what exactly do you think men are?"
"...clumps of lust"
"Pervert monkey~"
"...That's cruel."
When he heard Rika and Mei's assessment of boys, Eiji's face started twitching.
But he pulled himself together and pushed back firmly.
"Well, most men do have a sense of reason, so almost none of them would do something like that kind of threat. I don't either."
"...I see."
...So that's how it was. Rika had never trusted men before... or rather, even now, but they were people, and it was only natural for them to have reason.
They still had to stay cautious, but maybe they didn't need to worry too much.
"Besides, I don't think the two of you are attractive enough to make me commit a crime."
"...Oh."
Hearing that rude comment, Rika didn't get angry. She just nodded.
That made sense. He'd only just met them that day; how could he possibly know their charms?
Besides, everybody had their own preferences. He was only saying they weren't his type.
Rika thought that...
"-----------Huh?"
One woman couldn't take it anymore.
It was Mei, staring at Eiji in stunned disbelief.
"N-no, wait... huh?"
"...What?"
Mei gave a bitter little laugh, as if to say, "What are you talking about?"
Eiji looked at her as if to say, "That's my line."
The mood between them started crackling with tension, and Rika got a little nervous.
"Hmm... maybe my ears are broken. I could have sworn I just heard this muscle freak over here say I wasn't attractive."
"Who're you calling a freak? And yes, it's the truth that you're not attractive."
"(...No, he's definitely a freak.)"
Eiji seemed ready to deny it, but Rika was thinking the same thing.
His muscles looked hard and huge. Calling him a freak fit him perfectly.
Setting Rika aside, Mei's mouth dropped open so far after hearing Eiji's words that it almost looked like her jaw had dislocated...
"Huh? Huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"
She let out a scream. Even Eiji, standing a little farther away, twisted his face at the sound, while Rika, hearing it up close, went slightly dazed.
"This beautiful black hair! This cute face! These huge tits! This tiny waist! This nicely shaped ass! And my sexy way of moving and talking that drives men wild! I'm basically flawless, aren't I!"
"What are you talking about?"
Each time she named a feature, she shifted her body slightly to emphasize it.
She flicked her side ponytail, flashed a brilliant smile, lifted her breasts from below and kneaded them, then traced the line from her waist to her hips with slender fingers.
But the answer she got wasn't agreement, only surprise.
"Actually, I'm way more popular with guys than Rika-chan. You could even say it's at an absurd level!"
"...Is that so?"
"Huh?"
At Mei's words, Eiji glanced at Rika.
It was true that if you judged by the reactions of men, Mei would get the better response.
Compared to Rika, who avoided men because she disliked them, the friendly, approachable Mei was naturally more popular.
And as Mei herself said, the way she acted had a way of making men flustered, which was another reason she was popular.
On the other hand, Rika was more popular with women... with members of her own sex.
But just as Rika was about to use her gaze to ask why he would bring that up...
"No, compared to you, you annoying girl, I like Onizuka better."
Hearing Eiji's words, Rika's eyes widened.
She had never imagined he would say that.
And she had assumed Eiji would prefer Mei.
"...Th-thank you?"
"Huh? Don't ask me that..."
Rika didn't exactly fall for him because of that alone, but she wasn't completely unhappy either.
So when she looked at his face and asked whether she should thank him, he seemed a little flustered.
The atmosphere was strangely soft, yet not tense at all...
"Uraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Why did you leave me behind and go press Rika-chan!? You male monkey!"
"Who're you calling a monkey, you brat?"
Mei exploded.
She grabbed Rika's head and growled at Eiji like a dog.
"Rika-chan is mine! I don't want her getting close to some gorilla like you!"
"That's a bit much..."
Rika could hear Eiji's dumbfounded voice, but with her head buried in Mei's deep valley she couldn't see anything at all.
Seriously, I can't breathe. Let me go. I'm going to suffocate.
"And you should take another good look at me. I'm really, really cute, aren't I?...That's exactly why I'm more popular than Rika-chan."
It looked like Mei muttered a few more things at the end, but Rika, struggling to be freed from the breasts pinning her down, couldn't catch them clearly.
When Rika was finally released, she found Eiji looking exasperated.
"...Your looks may be pretty good... but what's inside you..."
"That's so infuriating! You're the first person who's ever looked down on me like that!"
"(...I feel like I've heard that somewhere.)"
Faced with Eiji's disappointed look, Mei went wild.
"You got some nerve! You really got some nerve! Hey, gorilla!"
"Then stop it already."
Ignoring Eiji's tired tone, Mei pointed at him with her index finger and declared loudly,
"I'm going to show you what my charms are really made of!"