Alice ordered a box of curious things online.
(Mature content.)
"Ryo... Play with me."
He stood there, frozen, staring at Alice as if she was speaking a foreign language. "Excuse me, miss?"
"Play with me," Alice repeated, without an inch of hesitation in her voice.
"I'm... Not sure you understand the weight of what you're saying, miss," he said, trying to sound level and cool, as if he wasn't distracted by her cleavage, or the way her nipples poked through the fabric of her silk pajamas. "You could get us in trouble."
It had been a fairly ordinary morning, with Ryo holding onto an obnoxiously pink delivery box labeled to Alice Nakiri. "Miss," he knocked on her door. Unlike Alice, he liked to think he had manners and at least had the decency to knock. "Are you awake? You have a delivery."
"Come in, Ryo!" Alice called out, and Ryo opened her bedroom door just to see her stepping out of her bathroom, a face towel around her neck, hairband on her head, as if she'd just finished washing her face. "A delivery? I didn't expect it this early, now."
It was early, indeed, with Alice still in her pajamas and only just gotten up to wash her face. Ryo noticed she hadn't even put on a bra--the white lacy thing still dumped over a chair beside her desk. Being childhood friends, Ryo wondered if she was too comfortable with him at times.
But Ryo was long used to it by now, and had developed some sort of talent for keeping his eyes on Alice's face and ignore her boobs trying to escape her button-down pajamas first thing in the morning. He simply set down her delivery package on her coffee table, and watched Alice excitedly make a beeline for it, grabbing a box cutter on her desk, and going to town on ripping the box open.
He always hung around whenever she unboxed one of her online orders. It was somewhat amusing to see what the hell Alice ordered this time. She usually ordered clothes or bags-- stereotypical girly things--but sometimes she would just have something completely random that she impulse-bought.
Ryo never saw this one coming, though.
"Oh my God! It's finally here!"
Alice waved around something that looked like one of those adult... "massagers".
Ryo blinked, wondering if he'd been staying up and watching porn a little too much.
He blinked again, and now Alice was shamelessly waving the thing around. It looked like an adult massager, but perhaps it was some new molecular gastronomy device?
The thought was dashed from Ryo's mind as he stepped closer and saw the rest of the contents of Alice's online shopping haul.
Alice ordered a box of adult toys.
Ryo gave a discreet glance at the box on Alice's lap, with curious toys and gadgets she had started unboxing and scrutinizing. She was really doing this, in front of him. Ryo wondered if she'd forgotten he was even there to begin with.
"I'll excuse myself, miss..." Ryo said, figuring he should leave before he saw anything more uncomfortable.
"Hmm? Do you need to be off elsewhere, Ryo?" Alice asked, as if genuinely surprised.
She really was so shameless. "I think you need some time alone, Miss Alice."
Growing up closely together, it was true that he knew a lot about Alice--far too much sometimes--but not this much. He had never caught her doing anything sexual, and he tried to avoid thinking of her in that way.
But it was hard not to, with that gorgeous body of hers, and how often he saw her in swimsuits or underwear. It was hard not to, with how damn touchy and clingy she was. It was hard not to right now, with the gape between the buttons on Alice's chest clinging on for dear life, nearly coming undone, showing off a strip of the naked flesh underneath it.
Alice looked down thoughtfully at the contents of her shopping haul, and then back up at her aide. And then a surprising command came out of her mouth:
"Ryo... Play with me."
He stood there, frozen, staring at Alice as if she was speaking an alien language. "Excuse me, miss?"
"Play with me," Alice repeated, without an inch of hesitation in her voice.
"I'm... Not sure you understand the weight of what you're saying, miss," he said, trying to sound level and cool, as if he wasn't distracted by her cleavage, or the way her nipples poked through the fabric of her silk pajamas. "You could get us in trouble."
If anyone found out, if anyone knew they were even together in Alice's room this very moment while she had a sex toy in her hand, the rumors will spread. Ryo hardly cared for himself, or his own reputation, but Alice might end up being known forever as that one promiscuous Nakiri. He knew that Alice liked to pretend that she didn't care, but the truth was she did.
"What are you thinking, Ryo? I mean you just open boxes and press buttons for me," Alice said, completely matter-of-factly. "If something doesn't work, I need to return it or claim the warranty."
The very logical way she was presenting it was starting to convince Ryo that he was overreacting. That was fair enough.. Right?
Against better judgment, Ryo walked back into the room, plopping down onto the floor besides Alice's massive box of... stuff. "Fine," he said. "Where do I start, miss?"
Alice gave a little delighted squeal, and sat down on the floor beside him. She opened up the box with the excitement of a kid opening up Christmas presents, handing Ryo various boxes of adult toys.
"...It's like you ordered the whole store," Ryo remarked, raising his brow ever so slightly at every box Alice thrust into his arm. "Why'd you even buy all this?"
"I was curious," was all Alice said, as she pulled out another item from a box, a fancy-looking glass phallic object. She carefully checked it for any breakage.
Ryo took her eyes off of her, attempting not to be distracted by how absorbed she seemed to be by a glass dick. Alice always had an amazing curiosity, and when she was curious about something, she often went all out to learn all about it. It was not uncommon for Ryo to find her deep in some research hole about something mundane like sweet potatoes or the origins of a deep fryer.
He never thought that curiosity would manifest for sex toys.
Maybe she'd seen one of those questionable "romance" (lowkey porn) movies again.
Ryo opened boxes and pressed on buttons just as Alice asked, trying to be detached by the whole process, trying not to imagine what Alice intended to use them for. Like she said earlier, one or two of the items ended up being defective or were damaged in shipping. Alice snapped photos of them to be able to return them for damages.
Ryo felt himself relax a bit, nearing the end of the box. He was able to get through it, and try to be professional despite the miss' yet another absurd request. All that was left was the last few items--
That was when Ryo realized that the bottom of the box was all lined with various lingerie.
Alice pulled one out from the packaging--a top and bottom pair that were nothing more than tiny strips of fabric triangles. She had her share of skimpy swimsuits, but this was far worse. Ryo knew they would barely cover anything on Alice's body. Everything would just spill out.
"Miss...? Why did you order all these... costumes?"
The thought that she was going to put these on for some guy crossed his mind. And Ryo honestly did not like that thought.
"They seem to be really trendy these days," Alice said, still with a cool, detached tone in her voice "I'm just curious how I look like in them. Maybe post some pictures online, spice up the social media a bit!"
Oh. So that's why. Ryo couldn't figure if that was better or worse. "That's... Probably not a good idea, miss," he said. "Your father would take the first flight out just to scold you."
Alice pouted. "What, you don't think I'd look good in this, Ryo-kun?"
The image of Alice wearing the thing stuck in Ryo's mind. If he'd only been moderately aroused before, he was definitely turned on now, trying to shift his legs to hide the raging hard-on in his pants.
He left the question hanging. He was usually so good at just agreeing with whatever Alice said and singing her praises with a deadpan, but he was failing today.
Alice was not pleased with this non-response, and took out another set of lingerie. "Okay, then what about this, then, Ryo? Will I look good in this?"
She repeated this question for the rest of the lingerie in he box, all the sorts that were skimpy, see-through, and left little to the imagination. Ryo managed to regain some semblance of function, just absently nodding, giving an agreeing grunt, or a dismissive, "sure, miss."
But deep down, Ryo couldn't help but imagine Alice in those ensembles... Bent over below him as he--
No, no. Stop. Think about something terribly dull. Like, math. Food costing.
"I guess that's everything," Alice said, stretching her arms a bit in the air as she finished checking out the last of all her purchases. As she did, Ryo couldn't help but again notice her nipples poking through her thin silk pajamas... A little more pronounced now, as if saying he wasnt the only one turned on about this whole situation.
"Good. I'll be going now then, miss," Ryo said, almost hurriedly getting up, as if trying to flee the situation. He had to leave, before he inevitably ripped that top off of Alice and--
"What's the rush?" Alice asked him. "Do you need to be elsewhere right now, Ryo?"
Yes. In my room. Beating the shit out of my dick. "I think you probably want some time alone now, miss."
"You think so?" Alice said, raising a brow slightly. "Hmm, if you're in such a rush, maybe you're the one who needs some alone time, Ryo-kun."
It took Ryo some time, given how confused he was by the whole situation, but eventually he heard something familiar in Alice's tone of voice.
It was a challenge.
It was a challenge, and she was testing him, the way she often tried to get a rise out of him and tease him, only to challenge him to a shokugeki later on.
And Ryo didn't like backing away from challenges.