Waking Up Engaged to a Cool Yandere Beauty: My Wild Journey with a Love-Obsessed Senior - Episode 44: Blitzkrieg Strategy \"The Pure White Road\" - Concept by College Student RU

Episode 44: Blitzkrieg Strategy “The Pure White Road” – Concept by College Student RU

The red carpet in the hallway. On top of it, something white stood out against the crimson.

It was—white panties. “Alright, this should lure them in, no doubt.”

“Are you serious about this?”

Next to me, Akira sighed deeply, scratching his head in frustration as we stood by the corner of the hallway.

“What’s your issue? If we’re going to catch the Panty Thief, panties are essential, right?”

Surely, someone calling themselves a Panty Thief must have an unhealthy obsession with them.
Using panties as bait is a perfectly logical tactic, or so I thought.

“Let me ask you this—if you saw a line of panties scattered like this on the floor, wouldn’t you get suspicious?”

“I’ve thought of that, obviously.” That concern was accounted for.
Of course, anyone in their right mind would think something was fishy if their favorite thing was conveniently lying around in plain sight.

But. “The Panty Thief, I’m guessing, is the type whose impulses outweigh their reason. Seriously, would anyone sane even go around stealing underwear?”

“Ugh, can’t argue with that.” “Ha! Thought so!”

“God, you’re annoying.” “Shh, someone’s coming!”

A figure emerged from the other end of the hallway. A man dressed in a tuxedo, with a solid build.

“Alright, will he take it? Will he grab them?!”

“Rei, you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” “Hey, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m furious, okay? What boyfriend wouldn’t be, after someone stole his girlfriend’s panties?”

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps stopped.

The man’s gaze was fixed downward, at the first pair of panties in the lineup. “No way this plan is gonna work…”

“Shut up, Akira.”

I needed to focus. There was a chance this guy was the infamous Panty Thief Extraordinaire!

“Wait… he picked it up.”

The man tilted his head, gingerly pinching the edge of the panties with his thumb and forefinger, staring at them intently.

“No way! Could it be?!” “Uh, Rei? What’s with you now?”

I realized my fatal mistake. That pair of panties… “Damn it! He’s into the frilly ones!”

“Rei, I don’t think I’ve ever thought you were as dumb as I do right now.”

The man, apparently losing interest, let the panties drop unceremoniously to the ground.
It felt like bait stolen from a fishing hook.

“But wait!!” The panty parade wasn’t over yet.

All of them, white panties that my instincts and preferences had deemed the most enticing.

“See?! My intuition was right!” The man reached for a second pair.

“Rei, did you even sleep last night?” “Not the point, Akira! Also, no, I was too nervous and dry-heaved twice!”

As I shouted back, the man’s behavior changed. Until now, he’d merely been staring. But now—

“He’s glaring at the crotch area like it’s his mortal enemy!” Like he was looking at the killer of his parents.

There’s no doubt about it. This guy is not normal. “Hey, Rei.”

“What now?!” “That guy is definitely looking at you.”

“What?! No way!” It hit me far too late.

He wasn’t glaring at the crotch of the panties.

—He was glaring at me.

“…” Our eyes met, and an incredibly awkward silence fell between us.

I couldn’t just run, and he probably didn’t know how to react either.

In essence, a showdown was taking place between a weirdo who laid out panties and a weirdo scrutinizing them.

What should I say? That man’s build promised a world of hurt if he decided to punch me. Yet walking away wasn’t an option either…

My indecision. His silence. The one to break it was— “It’s not what you think.”

—The man himself. “Huh?”

“No, seriously. I just picked these up because they were lying here. I’m not sniffing them or checking for stains or anything weird like that.”

Wait. Oh no. This guy’s the real deal. We’ve hooked a big one.

“I mean, come on, right? If you see panties lying on the floor, you’d pick them up, wouldn’t you? Like finding a 500-yen coin on the ground—you’d pocket it, right? Same thing!”

He was speaking at lightning speed. I couldn’t catch all of it, but I got the gist.

“So yeah? It’s not my fault. It’s whoever laid these out that’s the problem. I was just being a good Samaritan by picking them up. Totally innocent. No interest in panties at all, got it?”

The guy rambled on, even muttering something like “Unbelievable!” under his breath. He even turned to me for agreement.

“I mean, right? Isn’t it messed up? Like, who does this?!” “Y-yeah. Man. Messed up.”

“Exactly! And these are all brand new, too! What kind of sick joke is this?!”

“I, uh, wouldn’t know. Anyway, go home, dude.” Akira, utterly merciless, dismissed him with an icy glare.

“Tch!” The man, looking strangely defeated, stomped off back down the hall and disappeared.

“So, Rei? Got anything to say for yourself?” Akira’s eyes said, I told you so.

“Okay, think about it, Akira. That was a near miss, wasn’t it? I mean, we might as well call him the culprit, right? That guy’s definitely a pervert.”

“Look, our target is the Panty Thief. Creeps like him, who aren’t hurting anyone, we just let slide.”

“Fine, you’re right.” In the end, my trap only caught an ordinary pervert. Like setting a trap for a stag beetle and catching a dung beetle instead.

…Wait, that’s an insult to dung beetles.

“Alright, let’s head back to the bar. The others probably have their own plan in motion by now.”

Akira straightened up and pointed to the door leading to the deck.

“Yeah, sure. But before that, Akira…” There was something I needed to ask.

“Hm? What is it?” “Just one thing I need from you.”

Something only he could do. Something only he could be trusted with.

“Don’t bother asking for money.” “No, it’s not that. It’s just…”

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I turned to Akira. “…Help me pick up the pants.”

I did my best to smile brightly.