Chapter 26 – Let’s Knock Before Entering the Changing Room

When I got to the changing room with my jersey for the change of clothes, Shigure-kun suddenly started fidgeting.

“Um… who’s going to… get undressed first?”

“Oh, are you embarrassed?”

“No, it’s just… yeah.”

What a cute guy.

When someone with androgynous looks says something that adorable, you can’t help but feel a little pang in your heart, even if they’re a boy.

While Shigure-kun stood there nervously beside me, I slowly started pulling off my T-shirt.

I may be in the go-home club, but I never skip my workouts, and I make sure to have a protein shake every morning. My body isn’t something I’d be ashamed to show off, even to a pretty boy like him.

Shigure-kun, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be making any move toward his clothes.

“Should we go in one at a time, then?” I suggested, trying to be considerate.

But Shigure-kun didn’t respond.

He stared intently at my well-trained upper body, then blushed and looked away. Maybe he really is gay.

Still, if he was getting cold feet about taking a bath with me, he could have just quietly slipped out of the changing room.

The fact that he didn’t probably means it’s not that big of a deal.

I hooked my thumbs into my shorts and got down to just my underwear.

Meanwhile, the pretty boy next to me was still fully clothed. If we were to fight, I’d be at a massive disadvantage.

And then, finally, I reached for my underwear.

　＊＊＊

“Huh? Shiromizu-kun is actually a girl?!”

The voice of a certain girl with a brother complex echoed through the girls’ room.

Her initial expression was one of utter shock, but it gradually shifted into the cold, hard look of an assassin. It was anger at having been so completely deceived.

“Shigure has this… special proclivity. She apparently gets a kick out of people thinking she’s a boy—” Chifuyu began to explain the details.

Naturally, their teacher, Matsumaru Ten, knew that Shigure was female.

But Shigure herself had asked to be treated as a boy.

Shigure was simply someone who got a sense of accomplishment from being mistaken for a boy, but Ten found the whole thing amusing.

And so, she had deliberately put Shigure in the boys’ room.

“That teacher… I’ll kill her.”

The one who growled those words was, of course, Karin, the girl with the brother complex.

A fierce, murderous intent toward both Ten and Shigure writhed within her.

Karin had also been completely fooled into thinking Shigure was a boy. The fact that her brother, Akira, had introduced Shigure as a male club member, combined with Shigure’s androgynous appearance, were likely contributing factors.

“I knew it,” Hinami thought.

She had realized it the moment she saw Shigure’s triumphant smile.

Like Akira, she had been treating Shigure as a boy, assuming Shigure was Chifuyu’s boyfriend. But she had noticed that the look in Shigure’s eyes as she gazed at Akira was unmistakably a girl’s.

“Let’s storm their room right now.”

At Karin’s madness-tinged voice, their feet were moving toward the boys’ room before they even had time to think.

That poor, clueless idiot Akira probably has no idea. Is he having a nice chat with Shigure right now, thinking she’s a boy?

With every such thought, Karin could feel her murderous intent toward Shigure growing stronger.

“He’s not here… Aki-kun?”

“Karin-sama, maybe… the bath?”

“The bath?! I’m the only one who gets to take a bath with Aki-kun!”

“Are you a virgin, Karin-sama?”

“Of course I am! My chastity belongs to Aki-kun!”

After that disorderly conversation, the three of them ran—together—to the bathhouse.

Not to the girls’ bath, but to the boys’.

　＊＊＊

“Akira-kun.”

Just as I finished taking off all my clothes and was standing there completely naked.

Shigure-kun, who still hadn’t removed a single item of clothing from top or bottom, finally spoke.

“Are you dense?”

“Huh? What’s this all of a sudden?”

“Even in this situation, you seriously don’t notice? Or are you just pretending not to?”

—Notice?

Hearing Shigure-kun’s question, it suddenly hit me.

Of course. Shigure-kun is gay.

“Actually… I kind of thought that might be the case.”

“…You finally noticed, huh—”

“—You’re gay, aren’t you, Shigure-kun.”

“What?!”

At my words, Shigure-kun’s shoulders jumped in surprise.

Okay, that was probably a little too direct. With delicate topics like this, you’re supposed to lead in more carefully.

“Sorry, it’s not like I have a problem with it or anything. I think it’s totally valid, just another form of diversity. Oh, but, I’m not gay, I’m straight.”

“Ngh…”

Shigure-kun was looking at me with tears in his eyes.

His gaze was fixed directly on my face, not once straying to my lower half.

Well, I guess that makes sense, since there’s nothing covering it anymore.

“You really are dense, Akira-kun. Chifuyu has a yandere side, but you have a dense side, don’t you.”

I’ve never thought of myself as dense, and no one’s ever called me that before.

For the record, I can’t stand dense protagonists in light novels.

That’s why my favorite is Saionji Oscar, the protagonist of The Maverick of Hero Academy Wants to Make Power Moves*. He’s fully aware of the heroines’ feelings for him.*

The author, Ace Koumei, really is the best.

“I wonder if you’ll finally get it if you see this, Akira-kun.”

Shigure-kun, with a somewhat resigned look on his face, reached for his T-shirt.

Looks like he was finally going to start undressing.

It felt kind of awkward, since I was already completely naked.

I could see Shigure-kun’s stomach.

A slender, smooth stomach.

It didn’t look like it belonged to another guy.

“AKIIIIII-KUUUUUUUUUUUN!!”

At that moment, the changing room door was thrown open with tremendous force.

A familiar scream assaulted my ears.

Shigure-kun stopped undressing and turned around. He probably had a good idea of what was happening from the sound of my sister’s voice.

Next to my sister were Chifuyu and Hinami.

They were a little out of breath, as if they had rushed here. For even Hinami to be winded, they must have really been booking it.

My sister had a terrifying look on her face, but as for Chifuyu and Hinami, their faces were just as red as Shigure-kun’s had been a moment ago, if not more so.

—Ah…

Come to think of it, I’m completely naked.

The reason for their blushing was obvious.