A Late Bloomer's Powerful Restart ~My Second Life Starts at a Prestigious School Where the Gender Ratio Is Totally Off, and for Some Reason, All These Talented Girls Get Attached to Me...!?~

Chapter 19: The Nightmare of Sleeping Together

When I woke up, I found myself sleeping on the sofa instead of the bed.

…If that had been all there was to it, things would have been truly fine.

Who would have thought that I, of all people, would commit the blunder of sleeping in the same room as a girl and a guy.

I had been careful about honey traps ever since the first loop, yet I still let my guard down.

Was it because I went back to my student days? Did I get too relaxed? Get it together… Taiki Kashiwado!

“Let’s sort out the situation.”

There shouldn’t be any reason for Sasa to deliberately come and sleep on top of me.

Which means the most likely explanation is that she fell asleep while half-awake and just passed out like that.

“…I can still cover this up, right?”

I carefully lifted my body so as not to wake her, moving slowly.

At the same time, I lifted her body and carried her to the bed on tiptoe.

Even though she had seemed reluctant about being carried on my back earlier, her body was lighter than I expected.

…She’s only just become a high school student, after all.

Maybe because I stayed up late, I managed to complete the mission without waking her.

Now the next problem was how to get her back to the girls’ dormitory… No matter how much I thought about it, no good idea came to mind.

Even though there aren’t many boys, at this hour it still seemed nearly impossible to leave the boys’ dorm without anyone seeing us.

“If only she had come wearing her uniform…”

If that had been the case, there would still have been room for an excuse.

Or perhaps if she hadn’t been alone… As soon as that thought crossed my mind, something suddenly hit me.

“If someone could just bring her uniform here—that would solve everything!”

Teimon Academy provides spare uniforms.

If I could somehow get one of the girls who is close with Sasa to bring it over, the problem would be solved, and Sasa would also have someone to walk with her.

Compared to her being alone in the boys’ dorm, the chance of misunderstandings would definitely go down.

…But wait a second? Either way, the girl who comes to help is going to suspect something about me and Sasa’s relationship, isn’t she—

“Wait. There is one!”

A girl who knows that I don’t have those kinds of feelings toward Sasa!

And above all, she also has something to lose, so she’s the one person I don’t have to worry about her spilling everything.

The moment I realized that, I immediately opened the chat app.

Thank goodness I exchanged contact info with her ahead of time for situations just like this.

[Taiki: Good morning, Kagurazaka-san. Are you awake?]

[RUMI: I’m awake, but who are you? You sound completely different in chat lol]

Since I’m the one asking for a favor, it’s only natural to use polite language. That’s basic business etiquette.

…No, actually, we’re not really on that kind of relationship.

But right now I’m in a desperate situation, so no matter how much she teases me later, I can’t back down here.

[Taiki: I have a serious request. Could you please bring a spare uniform to my room without asking any questions?]

[RUMI: Huh? No way, seriously? I already said you have zero tact, but isn’t this a bit much first thing in the morning?]

Damn it… That’s completely reasonable.

Asking for help without explaining anything at all really was pushing it.

This just looks like a creepy pickup attempt!

Calm down… Let’s think the other way around.

If it’s going to get out anyway, why not just—let it all come out?

I turned on my smartphone camera and took a photo of Sasa lying on the bed in her pajamas, making sure my own face wasn’t in the frame.

Then I sent it straight to Kagurazaka.

[RUMI: Huh? What is this… Sara-chan!? Kidnapping!?]

[Taiki: No! We both fell asleep in the same room. Please help me!!]

After that message, she went completely silent for a while.

Did she abandon me!?

I really don’t want to think she would report me.

All I could do was believe… The reason she wasn’t replying was because she was somehow getting the uniform and coming over right now. Right!?

Time kept passing minute by minute, and as the time to head to school drew closer… Sasa finally woke up.

“Yawn… My head feels kind of fuzzy today. Oh? Why is Taiki here? I must still be dreaming.”

“Sasa, listen to me calmly. This isn’t a dream. It’s reality!”

“Hehe, no way! Look, it’s already past 7:30. If this were real, we’d be late for school, wouldn’t we?”

“Haha… You really get it! If we stay like this we’ll be late… haha…”

“…Huh!?”

Finally realizing the situation, the color drained from her face in an instant.

“No way… Does this mean I ended up spending the night sharing a room with a man!?”

“Wait! W-We didn’t, right!? Look, you were sleeping on the bed, and I was on the sofa!”

“That’s impossible! I remember sleeping together with you on the sofa!”

Why did you sleep on top of me!?

If you got that sleepy, there’s a bed right there! Normally you’d go sleep in the bed, right!

What is this? Do modern young ladies sleep on sofas now!? …I don’t get it at all.

“Yeah. I thought back on it, and I’m absolutely sure! I was wondering whether I should wake you up, and while I was hesitating, I fell asleep too!”

Even if you make that smug detective face like you just solved a mystery, I wish you would realize this is actually bad for both of us.

Has she never heard of the phrase “look the other way”?

“So… this is one of those responsibility issues… right?”

“…!? Calm down! You must have just been half-asleep, Sasa.”

I can’t admit it.

Maybe the buttons on her pajamas came loose naturally, because they were slightly open, making her look kind of alluring… but if things continue like this, I might seriously fall into a honey trap.

I somehow managed to calm my racing mind.

Time was running out, so I had to convince her quickly—right when I was thinking that.

—Ding-dong!

My spine froze.

It must be Kagurazaka, the one I asked for help, who came.

But the timing couldn’t be worse.

I still haven’t convinced her yet. She’s mistaken—no, she’s not mistaken, but I can’t let a girl who keeps insisting we slept together meet the visitor like this.

Still… it’s Kagurazaka we’re talking about, right…?

Her grades might be low, but she seems like she can read the room.

I stood up immediately and steeled myself.

“Eh, wait, Taiki!? What are you—mmph!!”

For now I lightly wrapped Sasa in the blanket.

All I needed to do now was buy time. As long as I could get the uniform in the meantime, it would be fine. I could still convince her afterward.

Convinced that I had avoided the worst-case scenario, I started heading toward the entrance—only to have my foot grabbed. She was stubbornly trying to follow me.

“Res…pon…si…bility…!”

“Are you serious!? Ugh, don’t get mad even if I drag you, okay?”

She wasn’t in any state to be seen by others. I wanted to shake her off somehow, but her body really was so light that even while being dragged, she followed me all the way to the entrance.

Since I couldn’t keep Kagurazaka waiting, I opened the door while bracing myself for what she would see.

“Sorry, I’m a bit late—”

“This is… quite an interesting situation, isn’t it?”

The person standing there was not Kagurazaka, the one I had called.

Instead, it was the same person as always—no, wearing an even more unsettling smile than usual: Kurumi from Kano.

I’m definitely still inside a nightmare… Even when I rubbed my eyes, the reality didn’t change, and the blood drained from my face.

Oh man, I’m dead.